Lord spake And Aaron held his peace Aaron's tryal was exceeding great His two eldest sons were consumed by fire from the Lord when they were in the act of sin this judgment was so great that all Israel are commanded to bewail the burning ver 6. yet Aaron who was most nearly concerned in the affliction held his peace and what caused him to do so Moses put him in remembrance of the Word of God This is that the Lord spake see also Job 6.25 How forcible are right words Now all Gods words are right Psal 33.4 The Word of the Lord is right Prov. 8.8,9 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness They are all right to them that find knowledg And therefore they are of great force to quiet and comfort such as are in affliction Psal 107.20 He sent his Word and healed them Though a man be ready to die with sorrow and grief under his troubles the Word of God will revive him for they of whom the Psalmist speaks when he saith He sent his Word and healed them were such as were ready to die with their troubles as you may see Vers 18. Gods Word will make the stoutest heart yield bow to Gods will Jer. 23.28,29 He that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the chaffe to the wheat saith the Lord Is not my Word like as a fire saith the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces 1 Thess 4.18 Comfort one another with these words No words have such force to comfort the afflicted as what are drawn out of the Scriptures Wherefore I have endeavoured to confirm what I have proposed in answer to these questions with suitable and pertinent Texts of Scripture These Propositions being premised I shall now answer the first question and shall divide my Answer into three branches 1. I shall propose some considerations that may tend to the quieting of their minds who have sustained great loss by this fire 2. I shall propose some things by way of practice to help the afflicted to bear their afflictions contentedly 3. I shall endeavour to remove those pleas and reasonings that hinder those that have been sufferers by this fire from setting down contented under their affliction Considerations to quiet the minds of those that have been great sufferers by the late fire SECT 1. 1. Consider who it is that hath consumed your Houses and taken away your Estates It is God hath done this thing Whoever were the instruments of beginning or promoting and carrying on this dreadful fire that hath destroyed so many goodly buildings and so much treasure you must look beyond all instruments at the hand of the Lord. There is no evil befalleth any City or any family or any particular person but it is the Lord which sends that judgment of what nature soever it be Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it There is nothing comes to pass at any time in any part of the world but it is brought about by the Providence of God Rom. 11.36 Of him and through him and to him are all things A Sparrow is a bird of small value yet not one Sparrow falls to the ground without the concurrence of Gods Providence Matth. 10.29 Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father If not one Sparrow suffereth any thing but by the Providence of God then surely there is a Providence that ordereth all the sufferings of every man who is of more value than many Sparrows There is no loss more inconsiderable than to lose an hair of our heads hundreds of our hairs may be taken away and we regard it not but God is so careful of our persons and of all our concernments that he numbreth every hair of our heads and there doth not fall off one hairat any time but by his appointment Matth. 10.30 The very hairs of your head are all numbred And as to this judgment of Fire we finde it oft asserted in the Scriptures that when Cities or other places are set on fire it is the Lord which kindleth those fires and ordereth all circumstances belonging to them It is the Lord that appointeth the place where the fire shall begin and how far it shall proceed and what houses shall be burnt down by it Amos 2.5 I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem Jer. 50.32 I will kindle a fire in his Cities and it shall devour all round about him When a fire rageth with that vehemence that none can quench it it is God which rendereth it unquenchable Jer. 17.27 If ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath-Day and not to bear a burden even entring in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-Day then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched When any men do set a City on fire it is God giveth up that City into their hands and causeth their enterprizes to take effect Jer. 32.28,29 I will give this City into the hands of the Caldeans And the Caldeans shall come and set fire on this City Now the considering and believing that it is God which hath taken away your Houses and Estates by this Fire will silence all murmurings and repinings and cause you to bear your losses and crosses with a contented minde Psal 39.9 I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it VVhen Job had lost all that he had in one day by looking at Gods hand in his losses he bore them very cheerfully Job 1.21 The Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord And yet Job lost a very great Estate for he was the richest man in the East Job 1.3 He did not only lose his Estate but all his Children were cut off also ver 19. and that whilst they were eating and drinking wine in their Elder Brothers house ver 18. at which meetings Job was afraid lest his Sons should sin and curse God in their hearts v. 5. which made the affliction the more heavy Now to make this Argument the more effectual towards the producing of contentment consider who this God is that hath taken away your Estates from you by this Fire 1. It is that God that gave you all the good things that ever you did enjoy 1 Chron. 29.12,14 Both riches and honor come of thee All things come of thee James 1.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights Deut. 8.17,18 Moses biddeth Israel beware of saying in their hearts My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth This quieted Jobs minde when he considered that the same God who took away his Estate and his
of evil Isa 4.5,6 The Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence and there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain Prov. 12.7 The house of the righteous shall stand 4. The preservation which God hath promised to his people is not limited to this or that particular evil or to any period of time but it extendeth to all sorts of evils and to all times He hath promised to preserve them from all evils Psal 121. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil Psal 91.10 There shall no evil befal thee Job 5.19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee And as this preservation is not limited in respect of evils so neither in respect of time he hath not promised to preserve them for a time and then give over his care of them but he hath promised them preservation all their dayes Psal 121.8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even for evermore Psal 125.2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever Isa 46.3,4 Hearken unto me O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel which are born by me from the belly which are carried from the womb And even to your old age I am he and even to hoare haires will I carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you If any say notwithstanding these promises of preservation we see the servants of God do oft-times fall into many troubles as well as other men how then can these promises be any encouragement to us to trust in God I answer 1. We must rely on the promises of God when his providence seemeth to run cross to his promise Rom. 4.18 Who against hope believed in hope according to that which was spoken Job 13.15 Though he slay me yet will I trust in him 2. When God doth not preserve his servants from trouble he doth them good by their troubles he fulfils that promise Psal 85.12 Yea the Lord shall give that which is good Now oft-times it is good for the people of God to fall into affliction Psal 119.71 Wherefore we may with much freedom and satisfaction commit our selves to God in our greatest dangers upon this account that he will make all our troubles work for our good when he doth not preserve us from trouble SECT 14. 14. Take heed to your selves and to your wayes that you do not provoke the Lord to send any more such mighty and dreadful Fires as this late Fire was What counsel our Lord Jesus gave the man that was made whole of his infirmity Joh. 5.14 Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee the same may be seasonable to such as have escaped this late Fire sin no more lest a worse thing than what befel those that were sufferers by this Fire come unto you Pharaoh though he was exceedingly hardened in his sins yet when there had been great thunder and lightning was so affrighted at it that he calls to Moses and Aaron and desireth them to pray for him that there might be no more mighty thunderings and promiseth also to let Israel go which was the sin for which God contended with him Ex. 9.27,28 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned this time the Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked Intreat the Lord for it is enough that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail and I will let you go and ye shall stay no longer If we be not more hardened than Pharaoh was this dreadful Fire should put us upon confessing our sins to God and reforming our lives and cause us to take heed that we do not provoke the Lord to send any more such mighty Fires amonst us If any say What should we do that we may not have any more such dreadful Fires break out amonst us I answer 1. If we would have no more such dreadful Fires we must make a good use of this Fire so as to be led to repentance by it for if we be not reformed by this Judgment we may well expect that God will follow us with more Judgments Lev. 26.21,23,24 If ye walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins And if ye will not be reformed by these things but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins How we should make a good use of this Fire is shewn at large in the second Question and although the directions given therein do chiefly respect such as have been sufferers by the said Fire there are several things hinted that may direct others also as well as the sufferers how to make a good use of this Judgment 2. We must seek unto God with prayers and tears that he would send no more such dreadful Fires When God contended with the Israelites by Fire by the Prayer of Amos this Judgment was removed Amos 7.4,5,6 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold the Lord God called to contend by Fire and it devoured the great deep and did eat up a part Then said I O Lord God cease I beseech thee by whom shall Jacob arise for he is small The Lord repented for this This also shall not be saith the Lord God So also by the Prayer of Moses the Fire was stayed among the Israelites when God had kindled a great burning amongst them because of their murmurings Numb 11.1,2 When the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the Camp And the people cryed unto Moses and when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire was quenched Prayers and tears are very prevalent with God for preventing and removing of personal and national Judgments Joel 2.17,18 Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people When the sentence of death was passed upon Hezekiah by his prayers and his tears he prevailed with God to prolong his life for the space of fifteen years Isa 38.5 I have heard thy prayer I have seen thy tears behold I will adde unto thy dayes fifteen years 3. If we would have God cease
Counsel to the Afflicted OR INSTRUCTION AND CONSOLATION for such as have suffered Loss by FIRE With Advice to such as have escaped that sore JUDGMENT Contained in the Resolution of three Questions occasioned by the Dreadful FIRE in the City of LONDON in the Year 1666. Viz. 1. How may such Persons as have sustained great loss by the said Fire bear their Affliction with a contented cheerful Spirit 2. What use should they make of their Affliction who have lost their whole or any part of their Estates by the said Fire 3. What use should they make of Gods Mercy whose Houses and Goods were preserved from the said Fire In the discussing of which Questions are handled several profitable Cases of Conscience concerning Self-Murder preparing for Afflictions taking up our rest in God c. which are inserted in the Contents By O. S. Isa 25.15 Glorifie ye the Lord in the Fires LONDON Printed by E. Cotes and are to â—e sold by H. Brome in Little Britain 1667 TO THE READER WHat the Prophet Joel saith of the Famine that came upon Judea Joel 1.2 The like may I say of the late deplorable FIRE which the Lord hath sent upon London the Metropolitan City of this Nation Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land hath this been in your dayes or even in the dayes of your Fathers God hath often contended with this Land by Fire but neither in our dayes nor in the dayes of our Fathers hath there been any such dreadful Fire as this which began in London Sept. 2.1666 and continued raging for the space of three or four dayes together with that fury and violence that none was able to quench it until it had consumed the greatest part of that renowned City and had made of a City an heap of a defenced City a ruine Elihu speaking of Thunder and Lightning saith Job 37.1 At this my heart trembleth and is moved out of his place And calleth to Job to consider seriously these great works of God ver 11. Hearken unto this O Job stand still and consider the wondrous works of God If Elihu were thus affected at the sight of Lightning and hearing of Thunder and would have Job stand still and consider these wondrous works of God how should the hearts of all that saw or heard of this dreadful Fire tremble and be as it were moved out of their places How should they be awakened to stand still and consider this wondrous judgment of God It thunders and lightens every year these are Gods ordinary works but it is very rare and unusual for God to send such great and terrible Fires There may be and oft-times are mighty Thunders and Lightnings and no man suffereth any damage by them but many thousands have sustained great loss by this Fire Now the more unusual and afflicting any judgment is the more it ought to be laid to heart and the more we ought to fear and tremble before that God that sent it When the Fire had devoured the pastures of the Wilderness and the trees of the Field this made Joel go and cry before the Lord Joel 1.19 O Lord to thee will I cry for the Fire hath devoured the pastures of the Wilderness and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the Field If the Prophet bemoaned the burning of the pastures of the Wilderness and the trees of the Field how ought we to bemoan the burning of this famous City When Hanani told Nehemiah that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates thereof burnt with Fire and his Brethren the Jews were in great affliction see how he was affected with it Nehem. 1.3,4 It came to pass when I heard these words that I sate down and wept and mourned certain dayes and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven They that are of Nehemiahs disposition that is men fearing God can do no less upon the sight or hearing of Londons desolations then he did at Jerusalems namely sit down and mourn and fast and pray to the God of Heaven that he would turn away from the fierceness of his anger which is kindled against us even as the Prophet Isaiah also did in the like case Isa 64.9,10,11,12 As for such as are of a Gallio like spirit caring for none of these things Londons Ruines call out to them as Jerusalem did in the day of her distress Lam. 1.12 Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above hath he sent Fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them Yea God himself speaketh dreadfully to such persons Psal 28.5 Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands he shall destroy them and not build them up Besides being duly and deeply affected with this sad and solemn providence of God it is every mans concernment to make a good use of it No man should let such great judgments as this Fire and the late Pestilence pass away without being some way bettered in his spiritual Estate by them The best use that we can make of this and those other Judgments of God which of late have fallen upon us is to turn every one of us from all our sins unto the Lord with all our hearts and all our souls For this is the design of all Gods Judgments to lead us to repentance If the fall of the Tower of Siloam wherein but eighteen persons suffered be interpreted by Christ to be a call to all the Inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem to repent upon pain of eternal damnation Luke 13.4.5 With what a loud voice doth God call to all the Inhabitants of this Land to repent of their sins by the fall of this great City wherein many thousands have been great sufferers The rod calls to repentance but it seldom works repentance unless it be accompanied with the word but when instruction goeth with correction it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby Whilst Ephraim was only chastised he was like a Bullock unaccustomed to the yoke but after he was instructed he repented he smote upon his thigh he was ashamed Jer. 31.18,19 The world never beheld such an amazing sight as when the Lord Jesus the Lord of life and glory suffered death from the sixth to the ninth hour of the day there was darkness over the whole earth the Sun was darkned and the Vail of the Temple was rent in the midst c. Yet how few were brought to repentance by these things One of the Thieves is converted and a Centurion gives glory to God but as for the generality of the people though they were struck with some amazement and remorse for the present they return every one to his own way Luke 23.48 And all the people that came together to that sight
beholding the things which were done smote upon their breasts and returned We read nothing of their returning to God till the Apostle Peter came and preached the word to them and then follows a great conversion unto the Lord 3000. are added unto the Church in one day Acts 2.41 Wherefore we should esteem it a great blessing and singular mercy to be taught and instructed by God when we are under his correcting hand according to what the Psalmist saith Psal 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastnest O Lord and teachest him out of thy law And we should readily open our ears to discipline by what wayes soever God shall be pleased to convey his minde to us God can and sometimes doth teach us immediately by his Spirit but most ordinarily he instructeth both those that are in affliction and others also in the use of means When the Apostle Paul was in great distress and at a loss to know the minde of Christ and cryed Lord What wilt thou have me to do he sent him to Ananias to be instructed what he should do Acts 9.6 God could have taught Cornelius by his Spirit or by the Angel that appeared to him but he chuseth rather to send him for instruction to one of his Ministers even to Peter who should tell him what he ought to do Acts 10.3.4.5,6 Amongst other means reading of the Scriptures and other good Books is one way whereby God seals up instruction to us Daniel was a man of singular wisdom full of the Holy Ghost greatly beloved of God yet he had not all his knowledge by immediate inspiration but much of it was given to him by the study of Books Dan. 9.2 I Daniel understood by Books At the request and for the use of some worthy Friends who were great sufferers by the late Fire I have drawn up an answer to three practical Questions concerning the said Fire the design whereof is to instruct and excite both such as escaped and such as suffered by this dreadful Fire to make an holy use and a Christian improvement of this sad and solemn Providence and also to quiet and comfort such as are troubled and cast down at the loss of their Estates The resolution of which Questions are here presented to thy view Possibly thou mayest have already something of the like nature from more able hands however if the Lord who worketh when and by whom he will shall be pleased by the reading of this small Treatise to convey the least beam of light or breath any quickning influence into thy Soul or to promote in any measure thy holiness or consolation it will be no grief of heart unto thee that thou wert at the cost to buy or at the pains to read it If thou sayest I am not concerned in this Judgment having been no sufferer by it nor any Inhabitant in the City where this Judgment fell and so consequently I am not concerned in the matter that is handled in these questions I answer 1. If thou art not a sufferer by this Fire yet art thou not under other sufferings If so there are several things hinted concerning this Affliction that may be of use to thee under thy Afflictions of what nature soever they be 2. If thou art not a sufferer by this or any other Judgment thou hast the more need to study what thou shalt render to the Lord for his great mercy in sparing thee when his hand lieth so heavy upon so many thousands at this day And then the third Question is of great concernment to thee 3. Though thou hast not suffered hitherto thou knowest not how soon thou mayest suffer by this very Judgment of Fire That passage in Isa 66.15,16 may awaken thee to prepare for fiery tryals Behold the Lord will come with Fire and with his Chariots like a whirlwinde to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many And as it is our duty to hear for the time to come Isa 42.23 So it will be our prudence to read for time to come 4. Not only the places and persons that suffer by Gods Judgments but all that hear of them are concerned to make a good use of them When the Lord brought a sore Judgment upon Jerusalem he calls to all people in all Nations upon the face of the earth to take notice thereof and make a good use of it Jer. 4.18,19 Hear ye Nations and know O Congregation what is among them Hear O Earth behold I will bring evil upon this people If any say this Treatise seemeth to be born out of due time it is now several months since London was burnt the impression of this Judgment begins now to wear off from mens spirits c. I answer 1. I hope better things of the greater part that suffered by this stroke of God then that they should so soon forget the hand that hath been lifted up against them but if it should be so that the impressions of this Judgment should be wearing off from many mens spirits there is the more need of using means to revive them again It is to be feared in regard poverty is coming upon many like an armed man and the sad effects of this Fire are and will be felt more and more by the poorer sort that discontent and trouble of minde will rather grow and encrease then wear off and therefore to such at least it will not be unseasonable to minister something by way of consolation though it be some months since they were brought into a suffering condition 2. Such great Judgments as this was are to be kept in remembrance and to be improved for the promoting of repentance and the fear of God all our dayes and not only as long as we live but the memory of them is to be conveyed to the Ages and Generations that are yet to come that they may learn to fear this God who hath done such great things amongst us When there was a mighty Famine in Judah the Lord gives Commandment that the memory thereof should be perpetuated to all Ages Joel 1.3,4 Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten c. We think unworthily of Gods Judgments if we suppose they are to be regarded for a few dayes or for a few years only They are of larger use Judgments upon particular places and persons are admonitions to the whole world that hear of them as long as the world shall stand It is some thousands of years since Lots Wife was turned into a pillar of Salt yet this Judgment of God on a particular person must not be forgotten by us in this generation nor by others to the worlds end Luke 17.32 Remember Lots Wife It is generally computed to be above three thousand years
Children did formerly give them to him Job 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. 2. It is God that is Holy There is nothing of wrong no injustice no iniquity in this dispensation as it proceedeth out of the hands of God Psalm 145.17 The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works When God cometh forth in fiery dispensations we should be so far from murmuring that we should give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness because we know him to be Holy in all his Works Psal 97.3,12 A fire geeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness The with-drawing of Gods Blessed Presence from our souls is a far greater loss than the losing of our Estates or any thing that we enjoy in this world for there is nothing in the whole world yea there is nothing in heaven it self which a godly man esteemeth so much as he doth the enjoyment of God Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Yet we finde David quieting himself upon the account of Gods Holiness when he apprehended himself forsaken of God and the Lord came not to him though he cryed and roared after the Lord Psal 22.1,2,3 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring O my God I cry in the day time but thou hearest not and in the night season and am not silent But thou art holy If David was stayed from repining against God when he apprehended himself forsaken of God and thought God rejected his Prayers by considering that God that dealt thus with him was an holy God then surely the consideration of Gods Holiness may quiet your mindes under the loss of any worldly things what ever they be When the labourers that had born the heat of the day murmured because others that had wrought but one hour were made equal to them the housholder stilled their murmurings by saying to one of them Friend I do thee no wrong Mat. 20.11,12,13 If you finde any murmurings in your mindes at Gods taking away your Estates when others enjoy theirs still endeavour to silence your murmurings by saying unto your souls O my soul God is a just and holy and righteous God he hath done thee no wrong why then dost thou murmur against him 3. It is God that hath a Sovereign Power over you to do with you and all that belongeth unto you whatsoever seemeth good in his sight Job 9.12 Behold he taketh away who can hinder him who will say unto him what dost thou Jer. 18.6 O house of Israel cannot I do with you as this potter saith the Lord behold as the clay is in the potters hand so are ye in mine hand O house of Israel Such is the Sovereign Power of God that he disposeth of all his Creatures both those that are in heaven and all that are in all places of the world Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth and the seas and all deep places If the Lord disposeth of all things in heaven and earth as he pleaseth shall any particular person fret and think much to have all his concernments disposed of at the pleasure and by the order of the great God When the Lord maketh such desolations in any Nation as that the report of them goeth throughout all the world this must still and quiet our minds that it is the great and Sovereign God that doth these things Psal 46.8,10 Come behold the works of the Lord what desolations he hath made in the earth Be still and know that I am God To murmur at Gods fulfilling his own will is a practical denying his Sovereignty and to deny the Sovereignty of God is to deny his Deity He should not be God if he were not our Sovereign Lord his Sovereignty is essential to his Deity 4. It is God that loveth you and is the best friend that you have in all the world that laid these rebukes upon you and hath taken away your Estates by this Fire Every godly man hath God for his Friend Cant. 5.16 This is my beloved and this is my friend And when God rebukes any of his Servants in their Names Estates Bodies or Souls it is out of love Rev. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Prov. 3.12 Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even as a Father the Son in whom he delighteth Will you take any thing amiss that cometh from so good a friend as the Lord is especially that which cometh from this friend in love We are wont to take rebukes that come from friends in good part though they be such as wound and pierce us to the soul Prov. 27.6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend Psal 141.5 Let the righteous smite me and it shall be a kindeness and let him reprove me and it shall be an excellent oyl which shall not break my head Shall we esteem it a kindeness to be smitten and reproved by righteous men and fret and be angry when we are smitten and reproved by the righteous God 5. It is God who is your Father that hath done these things Never any man drank such a bitter cup as was mingled for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ if we consider all the ingredients that were put into it yet because it was his Father that gave him this cup he took it cheerfully John 18.11 The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it We submit our selves to our earthly Parents when they correct us how much more ought we to be subject to our heavenly Father when he chastneth us seeing he hath more power over us than they have and aimeth more purely at our good than they do Heb. 12.9,10 We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live for they verily for a few dayes chastned us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness 6. It is God who is pleased with all his own works Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven and in Earth and in the Seas and all deep places God calleth the judgements that he executes upon his enemies his pleasure Isa 48.14 He will do his pleasure on Babylon Yea even those afflictions which God sendeth upon his own children are the good pleasure of his will The Prophet speaking of the sufferings of Christ saith Isa 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him Our sufferings are in some respects said to grieve the Lord Judges 10.16 His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel But on another account as they are a fulfilling of his eternal
and more excellent than ever we saw or heard of or can conceive in our minds 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Such is the excellency of those things which God hath laid up in Heaven for us that the thoughts and hope of enjoying the glory and joys of heaven may fill our hearts with joy and comfort under all the losses and crosses that we meet with in the world Rom. 5.2,3 We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not only so but we glory in tribulations also 1 Pet. 1.3,4,6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you wherein ye greatly rejoyce though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations Though a servant of God hath lost never such a fair Inheritance on Earth yet he hath more cause of rejoycing in that incorruptible Inheritance that fadeth not away which is reserved for him in Heaven than of being troubled for the loss of his earthly Inheritance SECT 10. 10. Consider what a great evil it is to murmur and to be discontented at your losses and how pleasing and acceptable it is unto the Lord that you should be content and patient under this affliction which it hath seemed good unto the Lord to lay upon you The Israelites went through many difficulties whilst they wandered up and down by the space of forty years in the Wilderness and because they murmured multitudes of them were destroyed neither the greatness nor the long continuance of the affliction did excuse them from punishment and this example of Gods justice on them is set down for an example to us that we might for ever be deterred from murmuring under any of our afflictions 1 Cor. 10.10 Neither murmur ye as some of them murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer To murmur because God hath taken away our Estates is the ready way to provoke God to take away our lives Psal 106.25,26 They murmured in their Tents Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the Wilderness There is more evil in one repining discontented thought than there is in all your losses though they be very great for the one hath only the evil of punishment the other hath in it the evil of sin And there is more of evil in the least sin than in the greatest punishment All Gods dealings towards his people are managed with infinite wisdom and infinite love in order to the promoting of their good and his own glory and what an hainous sin and how offensive to God is it for a man to murmur when God is doing of him good and bringing glory to his Name seeing also that whatever way God takes to bring about our good is contrived with infinite wisdom and is accompanied with infinite love And as it is is a great evil to be discontented at any of Gods dealings so it is an excellent heavenly frame of spirit and that which is highly pleasing to God for a man in all things to submit himself to God and to lie at his foot and to be content with his will and to say in his heart It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good That is of great excellency which is an ornament to a man in the judgment of a wise holy judicious man that may be deemed more excellent which is accounted an ornament by the Angels of Heaven but that is most excellent which is an ornament in the sight of God and of this nature is a meek and quiet spirit 1 Pet. 3.4 The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price When the Lord hath brought us to lie at his foot he is so pleased with this submissive frame of spirit that he is wont to bestow very great blessings on such as are brought to his foot and are content that he should do what he pleaseth with them Isa 41.2 Who raised up the righteous man from the East called him to his foot gave the Nations before him and made him Ruler over Kings Contentment under the cross makes great afflictions to seem but small ones and small afflictions none at all The Apostle went through very great sufferings as we may see 1 Cor. 4.9,10,11,12,13 2 Cor. 11.23,24,25,26,27 yet having learnt in every estate to be content Phil. 4.11 he maketh a light matter of all his afflictions 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction c. Rom. 8.18 I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us But a discontented mind thinketh small afflictions great and intolerable burdens The loss of a gourd which sprang up in a day and withered in a day was but a small loss yet Jonah being under a discontented mind is so troubled at this loss that he faints under it and wisheth that he might die and is angry with God and justifieth himself in his frowardness and saith I do well to be angry even to the death Jonah 4.7,8,9 Discontent is like a nail in a yoke which frets and galls and pains the neck far more than the yoke it self doth When God layeth the yoke of affliction upon us discontent troubles and perplexeth the soul far more than any affliction can do SECT 11. 11. Consider how patiently and contentedly others of Gods servants have endured and gone through far greater losses and sorer troubles than you have met withal Job lost a very great Estate and seven Sons and three Daughters even all that he had in one day yet all these losses did not provoke Job to repine or speak one foolish word against God or do any other iniquity but he bore all with such a quiet spirit that in stead of fretting and repining he blesseth God Job 1.21,22 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord in all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly When David was driven from Jerusalem by his son Absolom who conspired against him to take away not only his Crown and Kingdom but his life also this was a very great affliction and it was the more heavy because it was his own son that came sorth of his bowels that sought to take away his life 2 Sam. 16.11 and this affliction came upon him for his sin in killing Vriah which he knew very well being foretold of it by Nathan the Prophet 2 Sam. 12.9,10,11 yet he submits himself to God under all that was come upon him and is willing that the Lord should lay whatever else he saw meet though he should say of David I have no delight in him 2
know not well where to bestow my self I can't light of an house that pleaseth me but am put to great straits and am much troubled for the loss of my former habitation and the inconvenience of my present abode Answ 1. You have as good dwellings still as many servants had who were too good to dwell in the world Heb. 11.38 Of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth You are as well provided for as the Apostles of Christ Paul speaking of himself and the other Apostles saith 1 Cor. 4.9,11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place You are as well and better provided for in this respect than Christ himself was when he was in the world Mat. 8.20 The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head 2. Every godly man hath God for his habitation and they that have God for their habitation may well be contented how inconvenient soever their habitation be in this world When the Israelites wandered in a desolate Wilderness by the space of forty years where they had no houses to dwell in they were abundantly satisfied in this that God was their dwelling place Psal 90.1 Lord thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations That this Psalm was penned when the Israelites were in a wandering unsettled condition in the Wilderness appeareth both from the Title and several passages in the Psalm 3. When you are troubled at the loss or for the want of a convenient habitation here on earth comfort your selves with the thoughts and hope of that glorious house which God hath prepared for you in heaven 2 Cor. 5.1 We know if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens The Disciples had left their houses and all that they had for Christ and Christ to comfort them tells them of the mansions that were prepared for them in heaven John 14.1,2 Let not your hearts be troubled In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you The like may I say to you let not your hearts be troubled at the loss of your houses though never so convenient but comfort your selves with the expectation of those glorious mansions that are prepared for you in heaven 4. Had not God unsettled you by this Providence it may be you would have settled upon your Lees Jer. 48.11 It may be you would have said in your heart it is good being here and would have neglected seeking the Kingdom of God and therefore God out of mercy to your souls might unsettle you to cause you to shake off a worldly spirit and to stir you up to make sure of an eternal habitation in heaven 5. If you seek unto God though your houses be laid waste and your selves much unsettled and know not where to fix your habitations God will provide you as good habitations as ever you had Psal 107.4,6,7 They wandered in the Wilderness in a solitary way they found no city to dwell in then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses and he led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation Ezek. 36.9.10 Behold I am for you and I will turn unto you and the Cities shall be inhabited and the wasts shall be builded But he adds withal that he expected they should enquire of him to bestow this and what other mercies are promised in this Chapter ver 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do this for them SECT 10. Obj. 10. I am by this providence disabled from following my Calling and thereby rendered useless and unserviceable in my Generation and this is that which most of all troubles and disquiets my mind Answ 1. We should covet earnestly to do God and our Generation much service those few dayes we have to live in the world 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord It is a sore judgement when our dayes are spent unprofitably and inflicted as a punishment of other sins Psal 78.32,33 They sinned still and believed not for his wondrous works therefore their dayes did he consume in vanity It argues great displeasure in God when he suffers us to spend our dayes in an unprofitable manner Psal 90.9 Our dayes are passed away in thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told This Scripture implyeth that it is a great token of Gods wrath when we spend our years as a tale Now then we may be said to spend our years as a tale when we spend them idly and unprofitably for there comes no profit in telling of Tales 1 Tim. 4.7,8 Tales have this Epithite given them in the Scripture Idle Tales Luke 24.11 what our Translation renders At a tale that is told some Translations as the Greek Arabick Syriack and Aethiopick render As a spider or As a spiders web The sense is the same namely when our years are spent in fruitless labours whereby neither we our selves or others are the better for them this is from the wrath of the Lord. 2. If we do earnestly desire and endeavour to serve the Lord and our Generation and do long for abilities and opportunities of doing service and the Lord grant them not or after he hath made use of us awhile shall lay us aside we must in this case submit our selves to God and say as David did 2 Sam. 15.26 If he say thus I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him There is good reason that we should submit our selves unto God if he should refuse to employ us in doing him any farther service though we have never such strong desires to be serviceable in our Generation for 1. We are altogether unworthy to be employed in any service for God and Christ though the meanest that can be thought of What meaner service could any one have than to stoop down and unty Christs shooes or to carry his shooes after him Yet John the Baptist who was a great person none that was born of women was greater than he according as our Saviour testifieth of him Mat. 11.11 He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his Mothers Womb Luke 1.15 He was such an holy man that Herod the King of the Jews stood in awe of him Mark 6.20 Yet this great this holy man thought himself unworthy to do the least or meanest service for Christ he thought himself unworthy to unty or carry his shooes after him Luke 3.16 One mightier than I cometh the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to
upon it as Gods minde that you should embrace it for Gods distributing of abilities for an employment is one principal ingredient in those things which concur to the making out of our call to that employment 1 Cor. 7.17 As God hath distributed to every man as God hath called every one 3. Consider how God enclines your heart after you have sought him for Gods call to an employment may be gathered by his inclining of the heart unto it as in the case of the Levite Deut. 18.7,8 The ardent desire of his minde was one way of evidencing his call to Ministers in the Name of the Lord his God 4. Observe Gods providence which way that guides and leads you whilest you are waiting upon God for counsel for that is one way by which God guides and directs us namely by his providence Ps 32.8 I will instruct and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye By the eye of God with which he will guide us we may understand his providence for so the eye of God is oft-times used to signifie his providence as Psal 34.15 Psal 33.18,19 It is true many men run into great mistakes by pretending to follow providence but this doth dot hinder but that such as regulate their lives by the word of God may in many cases receive light and direction from his Providence 5. Consider what Calling hath least temptations and snares in it and chuse that rather than a calling where you are like to be exposed to many temptations We ought as much as in us lieth to avoid temptations else why do we pray Lead us not into temptation Mat. 6.13 SECT 11. Obj. 11. I am afraid this Judgment came in wrath and that God is angry with me because he hath consumed and burnt all my Estate and that is it which most of all disquiets and troubles my minde namely that I look upon this Judgment as coming in wrath and do apprehend God is angry with me Answ 1. When God sends such great and dreadful Judgments upon any place as the late Fire was it is a token of his fierce anger and of his hot displeasure Psal 78.21 The Lord heard this and was wrath so a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel Isa 66.15 Behold the Lord will come with fire to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire 2. If this Judgement did come upon you in wrath yet you must bear it with a patient submissive spirit Micha 7.9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him To free or murmur at the taken of Gods wrath is not the way to appease but to increase the indignation of the Lord. 3. If you conceive that God is angry with you do what you can to pacifie his anger Solomon observes Prov. 16.14 The wrath of a King is as messengers of death but a wise man will pacifie it The wrath of God is more dreadful thâ—n the wrath of all the Kings in the world and therefore if you do apprehend God to be angry with you endeavour to get the Lords anger pacified and turned away from you If you ask How shall we get Gods anger pacified and turned away from us I answer 1. Turn from your sins and God will turn away his anger from you Jonah 8.9 Let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Jer. 3.12 Return thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you When the people of Israel did at the call of God turn from their sins God saith of Israel Mine anger is turned away from him Hosea 14.1,2,4 2. Turn to the Lord Jesus embrace and lay hold on Christ by a lively Faith and then Gods anger shall be turned away from you and the Lord will be at peace with you Isa 27.5 Let him take hold of my strength that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me By Gods strength here understand Christ who is called 1 Cor. 1.24 Christ the Power of God and the wisdom of God By taking hold of Gods strength understand believing in Christ if then you desire to make your peace with God follow the counsel which God himself giveth you to this purpose namely take hold of his strength for upon so doing you shall make peace with him God testifieth concerning Christ Mat. 3.27 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased If you flee for refuge from the wrath of God unto Jesus Christ and cast your selves into his armes the Lord will be well pleased with you 3. Yield your selves to God to do and suffer his will what Solomon saith Eccles 10.4 Yielding pacifieth great offences 't is true in this case though you have greatly offended God if you yield your selves unto the Lord he will be pacified towards you and turn away his wrath from you 2 Chr. 30.8 Be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were but yield your selves unto the Lord and serve the Lord your God that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you 4. Though this Judgment be the effect of Gods wrath yet there may be much love in it to many persons that have been great sufferers by this Fire The Lord sheweth love when he takes away our outward comforts and enjoyments and chastneth us with his rod as well as when he loadeth us with his benefits Heb. 12.6 Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth Psal 107.39,43 They are minished and brought low through oppression affliction and sorrow who so is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindeness of the Lord. Now if you would know whether this affliction whereby you have been deprived of so great a part of your Estates came in love I will mention two or three things whereby you may know this and they will be of use to you in other afflictions also 1. Such afflictions as draw your souls nearer to God come from love for it is Gods love which causeth him to draw our souls to himself Jer. 31.3 With loving kindeness have I drawn thee Hosea 11.4 I drew them with cords of a man with bands of love Now how do you finde it with your selves in this respect do your losses put you upon seeking reconciliation with God do they stir you up to seek communion with God do they cause you to live and depend more upon his providence and promises if in any respect you finde them drawing your souls nearer to God you may conclude that God hath taken away your Estates out of love to your souls 2. Such afflictions as make us zealous in renewing our repentance come from love Rev. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent 3.
countenance was so sad seeing he was not sick he replyed Neh. 2.3 Why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my Fathers Sepulchres lieth waste and the Gates thereof are consumed with fire We have many instances of Servants of God lamenting Gods judgments on others though they themselves have escaped Isa 22.4,5 Look away from me I will weep bitterly labour not to comfort me because of the spoiling of the Daughter of my People for it is a day of trouble and of treading down and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts in the Valley of Vision It was not his own loss or damage that the Prophet thus lamented but the spoiling of the Daughter of his people so Jeremiah bemoans the sufferings of the Jews as if they been had his own Jer. 8.21 For the hurt of the Daughter of my People am I hurt I am black astonishment hath taken hold on me He did not only weep for the miseries of the Jews his Country-men but even for the Moabites when God was sending great judgments upon them Jer. 48.31,32 Therefore will I howl for Moab and I will cry out for all Moab mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres O Vine of Sibmah I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer 2. Though we may and ought to mourn yet we must not repine at the desolations that are come upon this famous City or at the sufferings that any Persons or Families or the Nation in general hath sustained or may sustain by this fire but we must all acquiess in the will of God and to promote our submission to God under this dreadful judgment I will suggest some few considerations and so conclude my Answer to the first Question 1. It is God that hath done this great work the hearing whereof maketh our ears to tingle and therefore though it cause never so much sorrow to our selves or others we must not say one word by way of murmuring and complaint against God Isa 38.15 What shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul Psal 46.8,10 Come behold the works of the Lord what desolations he hath made in the Earth Be still and know that I am God The reason that made Eli submit when God did to his particular family such things as made both the ears of every one that heard thereof to tingle It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.11,18 The same should make us submit when such things befall a City or Nation as maketh the ears of all that hear thereof to tingle It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 2. God will bring glory to his Name by this sore judgment which he hath brought upon this great City Isa 25.2,3 Thou hast made of a City an heap and of a defenced City a ruine Therefore shall the strong people glorifie thee the City of the terrible Nations shall fear thee So also Isa 5.16 in some of the former verses the Prophet had been speaking of Gods judgments as Vers 9. Many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without Inhabitant And Vers 13 15. Their honourable men are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst the mean man shall be brought down and the mighty man shall be humbled then he tells us that all these judgments should make for the exalting of Gods glory Vers 16. But the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness Now the exalting of Gods glory is of more concernment than all the Cities or Kingdoms of the whole world All things are and were created for Gods pleasure and therefore it is meet that he should glorifie himself by and with all persons and things as seemeth good in his sight Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created We should yield up all that we have and are unto God to be disposed of by him as he pleaseth so he will but glorifie his own Name Joh. 12.27,28 Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour Father glorifie thy Name 3. Though this be a very sore and dreadful judgment and many persons fearing God have suffered deeply by it yet truly God is and still will be good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart When Jerusalem the chief City of Judah was ruined and Judah's fall followed upon Jerusalems ruine yet God commandeth his Prophet to tell the righteous in the midst of these desolations it should go well with them Isa 3.8,10 Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory Say ye to the righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings When God visited Ariel with flaming fire and other dreadful judgments he promiseth to comfort and support his own people in the midst of those troubles Isa 29.6,19 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of Hosts with Thunder and Earthquake and great Noise with Storm and Tempests and the Flame of devouring Fire The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord and the poor men among shall rejoyce in the Holy One of Israel God will make this dreadful judgment so far from hurting any of his servants that it shall conduce to the good of all that love his Name throughout the whole Land Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose 5. Whatever this great City was before its desolation to its own Inhabitants or to any of Gods servants in any parts of the Nation all that God will be to his own people now that it is laid wast I shall instance in some particulars Was this City the glory of England the Crown of the Nation and are we ready to say with Phinehas his wife when we behold the ruines of this City The glory is departed from England or with the Jews when Jerusalem was burnt with fire The Crown is fallen from our head Lam. 5.16 yet let us remember what God promised when he destroyed the glory of Ephraim Isa 28.4,5 The glorious beauty which is on the fat Valley shall be a fading flower In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a Crown of glory and for a Diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people and what is promised Isa 60.19 The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory and Isa 62.3 Thou shalt be a Crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the hand of thy God Was this City a place of great
strength and security and do we look upon the strength of the Nation to be much weakened by this dreadful fire yet remember God is the strength of his people Psal 28.8 The Lord is their strength and he is the saving strength of his anointed Isa 25.4 Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall When the servants of God have no walled Cities to dwell in God will be a wall of defence to them Zech. 2.5 I saith the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her When they have no Bulwarks to secure them God will be their strong City and his Salvation shall be their Bulwarks Isa 26.1 In that day shall this Song be sung in the land of Judah we have a strong City Salvation will God appoint for Walls and Bulwarks This Song was composed for a Song of praise after the Jews were delivered from the Babylonish captivity and at their return they found Jerusalem in a broken ruinous condition and some might be afraid to inhabit a City that had no Walls nor Bulwarks whereupon the Prophet tells them their City should be strong though it wanted outward Fortifications for God would appoint Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks Was this City a Sanctuary and a place of refuge to any of the Servants of God Though this place of refuge be gone the Lord continueth still to be a refuge to his people Psal 62.8 Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your hearts before him God is a refuge for us Psal 9.9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in times of trouble Isa 8.13,14 Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread And he shall be for a Sanctuary Psal 46.1 God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble Isa 32.2 A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as Rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land This Man is the Man Christ Jesus as he is styled 1 Tim. 2.5 And at this time when the Prophet Isaiah tells the Jews that Christ should be their hiding place from the winde and a covert from the storm he tells them of the destruction of their Forts and Strong-holds ver 14. Was this City a place of great Traffick where was vended all kind of merchandize and so was a means of enriching many and is trading now like to fail and poverty coming upon multitudes like an armed man There is a merchandize which is better than the merchandize of Silver and Gold of which we may read Prov. 3.13,14 Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom and the man that getteth Vnderstanding for the merchandize of it is better than the merchandize of Silver and the gain thereof than the gain of fine Gold They that are by this fire disabled from trading may Trade as freely for the merchandize of Wisdom as ever When mony fails God will be instead of mony to us Job 22.25 The Almighty shall be thy Gold So the words may be rendered as is intimated in the margent of our Bibles and according to this Translation the sense is When God doth not give his people silver and gold he will be in the stead of silver and gold unto them and they shall be as well by vertue of what they enjoy in him as any man that hath the greatest plenty of Silver and Gold in the whole world When your Treasure that was wont to come in by trade faileth he will give you better Treasure Isa 33.6 The fear of the Lord is his treasure Are many thousand Families undone by this burning God can as easily provide for many thousand Families that have nothing to live upon as for one man What had all Israel to live upon when they were in the Wilderness besides the promise and providence of God there grew no corn in the Wilderness neither were there any Markets to buy provision yet God fed them forty years together in that desolate Wilderness in a bountiful manner although there was a very great multitude of them There went about six hundred thousand out of Egypt besides children Exod. 12.37 Are divers Hospitals and Alms-Houses wherein many poor people lived comfortably consumed by this Fire and thereby the poor in danger to perish The God of these poor people continues still as mindful of their necessities and as able to help them as ever he was God by his providence taketh a special care of poor distressed persons especially of such poor people as pray to him He hath laid up good things in store for them Psal 68.10 O God thou hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor When they cry to God he will hear them Psal 69.33 The Lord heareth the poor When they are in want he will provide bread for them Psal 132.15 I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfie her poor with bread When they are in affliction he will deliver them Job 36.15 He delivereth the poor in their affliction When any would deprive them of their right the Lord will maintain their right Psal 140.12 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor When they are oppressed if they do but sigh to him he will help them Psal 12.5 For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him When they have no body that looketh after them to relieve them God will relieve their necessities Psal 146.9 The Lord preserveth the strangers he relieveth the fatherless and the widow When they are in straits and dangers if they commit themselves to the Lord he will be their helper Psal 10.14 The poor committeth himself unto thee thou art the helper of the fatherless 5. This great and dreadful Judgment shall promote the spiritual and eternal welfare of all the Servants of God that have been sufferers by it It shall promote their spiritual welfare by making them more holy Heb. 12.10 He chasteneth us for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness None of Gods chastenings are for the hurt but for the profit of his Servants Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes Though their afflictions may cause sorrow and grief yet they tend to the bettering of their hearts Eccles 7.3 By the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better And as this judgment shall promote the spiritual so also the eternal welfare of the Servants of God 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory James 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Thus having laid down some considerations for the quieting and satisfying their mindes that have been great sufferers by this Fire and proposed some things to be practised in order to the obtaining of contentment and having answered the most material pleas that without being removed might hinder those that have been great sufferers from sitting down satisfied under this hand of God I shall adde no more about the first question but proceed to the resolution of the second QUEST 2. What use should they make of their Affliction who have lost their whole or any part of their Estates by the late Dreadful Fire SECT 1. Answ 1. LOok upon this rod as the rod of God It is both our duty and our wisdom to eye God in all our afflictions and to look upon them as coming by his appointment Micah 6.9 The Lords voice crieth unto the City and the man of wisdom shall see thy name hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it There is no trouble whatever comes of it self or by chance Job 5.6 Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground But all afflictions that come either upon Nations or particular Persons are sent and ordered in all their circumstances by the wisdom and Providence of God Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Isa 45.7 I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things Eph. 1.11 Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will When any man is made poor it is the Lord maketh him poor 1 Sam. 2.7 The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich he bringeth low and lifteth up When a Fire is kindled in any City it is God sends it and gives it a commission what houses it shall devour after it is kindled Hosea 8.14 I will send a Fire upon his Cities and it shall devour the palaces thereof Though men or other creatures may be the instruments of conveying our afflictions to us yet we must look beyond them to the hand of God for as Christ said to Pilate John 19.11 Thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above the same is true of every Christian no man or other creature hath any power to do him hurt except it be given them from God There is such an hedge about the persons and substance of every godly man that the Devils themselves cannot touch any thing that belongeth to him without leave from God Job 1.10 When the Sabeans had taken away Jobs Oxen and Asses and the Caldeans his Camels and Satan had caused Fire to consume his Sheep and a great Tempest had blown down the house where his Children were eating and drinking and had slain them he looks beyond all these instruments to the hand of God and cryes Job 1.21 The Lord hath taken away We wrong and be-lye the Lord when we do not own him either in his word or in his works Jer. 5.12 They have be-lied the Lord and said it is not he SECT 2. 2. Lay to heart this hand of God that hath been lifted up against you To be stupid and sensless under the hand of God is a great sin yet many persons offend in this kinde Isa 42.25 He hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of Battle and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew it not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Jer. 5.3 O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction It is mentioned as an aggravation of Pharaohs sin that he did not set his heart to the Judgments of God but made a light matter of them Exod. 7.23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house neither did he set his heart to this also When we do not lay to heart Gods Judgments either threatned or executed this provoketh God to curse our very blessings Mal. 2.2 If ye will not hear if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my Name saith the Lord of Hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart When we do not lay to heart the Judgments of God we despise the chastening of the Lord and we must be as careful to avoid that sin as we are not to faint under Gods Correction Heb. 12.5 My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Such as are careless and regardless under the rebukes of God do thereby provoke God to destroy them Psal 28.5 Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operations of his hands he shall destroy them and not build them up If any ask how should we lay this affliction to heart I answer 1. Consider in your hearts that by this Judgment God testifieth against you that there is or hath been something in your hearts or lives that is displeasing to him Ruth 1.21 I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty The Lord hath testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me and therefore commune with your hearts and say what have I done to provoke the Lord to deal thus with me 2. So lay to heart this affliction as to humble your selves under the mighty hand of God The Lord threatned Israel with dreadful Judgements when they continued stout and proud under former Judgments Isa 9.9,10,11,12 All the people shall know even Ephraim and the Inhabitants of Samaria that say in the pride and stoutness of heart the bricks are fallen down but we will build with hewen stones the Sycamores are cut down but we will change them into Cedars therefore the Lord will set up the adversaries of Rezin against him and joyn his enemies together the Syrians before and the Philistines be hinde and they shall devour Israel with open mouth for all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still God expects that we should humble our selves when his hand is lifted up against us 1 Pet. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time Lam. 3.19,20 Remembring mine afflictions and my misery the wormwood and the gall my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me 3. So lay to heart this affliction as to mourn more for the sin that provoked God to send this affliction than for the affliction it self Lam. 5.16 The crown is fallen from our head wo unto us that we have sinned They bewail
their sin more than the loss of their dignity They do not say wo unto us the Crown is fallen but wo unto us that we have sinned Jer. 3.21 A voice was heard upon the high places weeping and supplications of the Children of Israel for they have perverted their way and forgotten the Lord their God Their Cities were burnt as we may see Chap. 2.15 Yet they bewail the perverting of their way more than the burning of their houses 4. So lay to heart this affliction as to be restless until you have gotten the sins pardoned that brought down this Judgment upon you Psal 25.18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins Psal 79.7,8,9 They have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling-place O remember not against us former iniquities let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low help us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy Name and deliver us and purge away our sins for thy Names sake When they were brought low and their dwellings were laid waste they beg twice with great earnestness for the pardon of their sins O remember not against us former iniquities purge away our sins for thy Names sake 5. Lay to heart this affliction till you finde your hearts willing and resolved by Gods Grace to part with all your sins This is Gods end and design in all afflictions to purge out our sins Isa 27.9 By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin And this is our duty when we are corrected by God to abandon and forsake all our sins Job 34.31,32 Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastizement I will not offend any more that which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more 6. So lay to heart this affliction as to give glory to God Mal. 2.2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my Name But of this more afterward SECT 3. 3. Minde the teachings of God under your present afflictions consider and see what it is which God would have you to learn from this dreadful Fire which hath consumed so much of your and other mens Estates As God instructed the Jews out of the midst of the Fire Deut. 4.12 The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the Fire So if your ears were open you might hear God speaking to your souls and instructing you by this Fire God is wont to teach his people something or other by every affliction if so be they listen diligently to the voice of his rod Psal 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law It is true that some persons learn nothing by their afflictions but the reason is not because God communicates no instruction to them but because they either regard not or do not understand the voice of God Job 33.14 God speaketh once yea twice yet man perceiveth it not Prov. 1.24 I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded We wrong our own souls when we slight the instruction of the Lord whether he instruct us by his word or his rod Prov. 15.32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul and do provoke God to depart from us Jer. 6.8 Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soul depart from thee lest I make thee desolate If any say what is it that God would have us learn by our great losses that we have sustained in the late Fire I answer The way to understand the voice of the rod is to make use of the word by searching into the word we may come to know the meaning of the rod and to understand what it is which God would have us to learn by our afflictions as may be gathered from Psal 94.12 I shall hint a few things to you from the word that God would teach you by this sore affliction 1. God would have you learn that it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against the Lord Jer. 2.15,19 His Cities are burnt without inhabitants Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my fear is not in thee saith the Lord God of Hosts 2. God would have you learn to fear and stand in awe of his great and glorious Majesty and to be afraid of thinking speaking or doing any thing that may displease him Zeph. 3.6,7 Their towers are desolate I made their streets waste that none passeth by their Cities are destroyed so that there is no man that there is none inhabitant I said surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive instruction 3. God would have you learn righteousness by this judgment Isa 26.9 When thy judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness 4. God would have you learn obedience by what you have suffered It is said of Christ Heb. 5.8 Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered This was the lesson that God learn't David by his afflictions Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes Wherefore endeavour to obey God more readily and cheerfully more exactly and more sincerely than you have done heretofore 5. God would have you learn contentation in every condition both how to want as well as how to abound Phil. 4.11.12 I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need When the Apostle wrote this Epistle he was in bonds Phil. 1.13 and had suffered the loss of all things chap. 3.8 and under his sufferings God taught him this excellent lesson of being content in every state 6. God would teach you by this affliction to pray ofther and to pray better to pray more spiritually more fervently more humbly and more believingly James 5.13 Is any among you afflicted let him pray When Gods judgments are abroad God stirs up his people to pray early in the morning and late at night and to pour out their souls and spirits in prayer Isa 26.8,9 Yea in the way of thy judgments O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee with my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early for when thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness Our Lord Jesus alwayes prayed fervently as we may see Heb. 5.7 Who in the dayes of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to
low for their iniquities Isa 42.24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned Jer. 15.13 Thy Substance and thy Treasure will I give to the spoil without price and that for all thy sins even in all thy borders Now the sins for which God is wont to take away our Estates and bring us low and to send poverty are such as these 1. Unthankfulness for what God hath given us and instead of honouring God with our Substance abusing it to the dishonour of God Hos 2.8,9 She did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oyl and multiplyed her Silver and Gold which they prepared for Baal Therefore will I return and take away my Corn in the time thereof and my Wine in the season thereof and will recover my Wool and my Flax given to cover her nakedness Two sins are here mentioned as the ground why God would take away not only what was for delight and ornament as Wine Oyl Gold Silver c. but what was necessary to their substance as Corn and Wool and Flax to cover their nakedness the one was they did not know that is take notice of and acknowledge that it was God gave them their food and rayment and riches and so consequently did not give God thanks for them the other was they served their lusts they prepared that for their Idols which God gave them for his own service 2. Pride When men grow proud of their riches God oft-times takes them away Prov. 29.23 A mans pride shall bring him low 3. Neglect of works of mercy Prov. 11.24 There is that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that with-holdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty 4. Making over-much hast to be rich Prov. 28.22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil Eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him 5. Not heeding the Commandments of God Deut. 28.15,33,43,44 If thou wilt not hearken to the voyce of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandements all these Curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee Thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed away The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low He shall lend to thee and thou shalt not lend to him he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail 6. Not serving God cheerfully for the abundance of all those good things which the Lord hath given us causeth him to take them away and to bring us into straits Deut. 28.47,48 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things therefore shalt thou serve thine Enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things 7. Rejoycing at the ruine and sufferings of others He that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished Prov. 17.5 and the punishment which God sometimes sends on such persons is the spoiling of their Goods and loss of their Estates Ezek. 26.2,12 Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem Aha She is broken that was the Gates of the People They shall make a spoil of thy Riches and make a spoil of thy Merchandise and they shall break down thy Walls and destroy thy pleasant Houses Following of vain persons Prov. 28.19 He that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough 9. Gluttony and Drunkenness Prov. 23.21 The Drunkard and Glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall cloath a man with rags 10. Refusing instruction Prov. 13.18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth Instruction 11. Oppressing the Poor and giving of bribes to the Rich Prov. 22.16 He that oppresseth the Poor to increase his Riches and he that giveth to the Rich shall surely come to want Thus by observing out of the Word of God for what sins God hath either threatned or inflicted this judgment of Fire and for what sins God hath impoverished others and then considering how far you have been guilty of any of those sins you may find out for what sins you have suffered loss in your Estates by the late Fire 4. Consider for what sins God did oftenest rebuke you either by his Word or Spirit or Providences before this affliction came upon you and if those sins were not reformed for which you have been often rebuked then it is probable that they are the sins for which God sent this affliction Deut. 8.5 Thou shalt consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee Now Parents first admonish and reprove their Children and if reproofs will not make their Children reform then they take the rod and correct them When you have found out the sin for which God is correcting you you must confess it to God and humble your souls for it and apply your selves to Christ for the pardon of it and beg grace from God to help you to leave and forsake it and this leadeth me to the next head SECT 5. 5. Look upon this affliction as a loud call from God to repent of and turn from all your transgressions and therefore let this judgment awaken you to set upon a speedy zealous and unfeigned exercise and practise of the duty of Repentance for this is one main thing that God aims at when he sends his judgments upon us the stirring of us up to a present and zealous and incere repentance Ezek. 18.30 I will judge you O House of Israel every one according to his wayes saith the Lord God repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine Rev. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent When the Lord contended with the Jews by the Sword and by Fire his design in these judgments was to bring them to a speedy and sincere repentance Joel 2.3,12 A Fire devoureth before them and behind them a Flame burneth the Land is as the Garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate Wilderness yea and nothing shall escape them Therefore also now saith the Lord turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rend your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God When the Cities of Judah were burnt with fire Isa 1.7 the design of God was to wash away the filth of the Daughters of Zion by the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of burning Isa 4.4 If therefore you would answer Gods design in this Fire let this burning put you upon cleanling of your selves from all filthiness both of the flesh and of the spirit God sets a brand upon such persons for notorious sinners who are not led to repentance by such an awakening judgment as fire Amos 4.11 I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom
and Gomorrah and ye were us a Fire brand pucked but of the burning yet have ye not roturned unto me faith the Lord. I might give you several reasons why this judgment should put you upon repentance and reforming your lives ponder upon these two or three 1. If you will not be reformed by this judgment though this was a great and sore punishment God will lay far greater and heavier afflictions upon you Lev. 26.23,24 If ye will not be reformed by these things but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sin 2. If this judgment will not lead you to repentance nor any other means that God shall use with you to turn you from your iniquities you will perish eternally and be cast both body and soul into Hell fire and that is a far more dreadful fire than that which consumed your houses and goods Luk. 13.3 Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish 3. God lays his command upon such as are under affliction to depart from iniquity Job 36.8,9,10 If they be bound in fetters and be holden in cords of affliction then he sheweth them their work and their transgression that they have exceeded he openeth also their ear to discipline and commandeth that they return from Iniquity Now 't is a contemning of God to rebel against his Commandment and it must needs be a great provocation for a man to go on in his sins when God commandeth him to return from iniquity Wherefore let this affliction prevail with you to set upon the work of Repentance and Reformation and that you may do it the more effectually take these few directions 1. See that you turn from and cast away not only some or most of but all your transgressions Ezek. 18.30,31 Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed for why will ye die O House of Israel 2. Your affliction should cause you to cast away your sins for ever Some deal with their sins as Felix did with Paul Act. 24.25 Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season I will call for thee They put away their sins for a little time but afterwards when their afflictions are removed and they have a convenient season for the commission of their sins they call for them and imbrace them again When Pharaoh saw the Lightnings and heard the mighty Thunderings he was willing to let Israel go out of Egypt and humbled himself for his sin but when he saw that the Hail and the Lightnings and Thunders were ceased he hardened his heart and sinned as much or more as ever Exod. 9.27,28,34,35 But this is not such a repentance as God expects in a time of affliction he would have us abandon our sins for ever Job 34.31,32 Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more that which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more Hos 8.14 I will send a Fire upon his Cities and it shall devour the Palaces thereof and what fruit did God expect that this fire should produce Such a forsaking of their sins as to return to them no more Hos 14.8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with Idols 3. Let this affliction cause you to reform your hearts as well as your lives Jer. 4.14,15 O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee for a voyce declareth from Dan and publisheth affliction from Mount Ephraim Ezek. 18.31 Make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will ye die O House of Israel 4. Reform your Families as well as your own Souls If you discern any thing amiss in your Wives or in your Children or in your Servants or in any that sojourn with you endeavour as much as lieth in you to reform it for this God expects of all those that return to him by true repentance that they should put away all iniquity far from their Tabernacles if they be such as have Families committed to their charge Job 22.23 If thou return to the Almighty thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy Tabernacles Job 11.13,14 If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hands toward him if iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy Tabernacles Gen. 35.2 Jacob said unto his houshold and to all that were with him put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean Joshua did not think it sufficient to serve God himself but resolveth to engage all his family to serve the Lord Josh 24.15 As for me and my House we will serve the Lord. 5. Set upon the work of Reformation speedily make no delay not so much as one day Psal 119.60 I made hast and delayed not to keep thy Commandements Heb. 3.7 Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts Sin is of that subtil insinuating nature that though a man be under convictions of an absolute necessity of reforming his life and take up as he thinks firm and strong resolutions to repent of his sins if he do not presently set upon the work of repentance if he put it off but a day he is in danger of having his heart hardned and of continuing in an impenitent condition Heb. 3.13 Exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin 6. You had need look to your selves that your hearts be sincere and real with God in the exercise of repentance for some that seem to be very forward and zealous in humbling of their souls and reforming their lives in times of affliction do but flatter and dissemble with God and do not turn to God with their whole hearts but only in a feigned manner Psal 78.34,35,36,37 When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God and they remembered that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lyed unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Jer. 3.10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. Now you had need take good heed to your selves that you do not let this judgment pass away without being brought to a true and unfeigned repentance by it for repentance is a very hard work and few persons are wrought upon by their afflictions to forsake their sins and reform their lives though God follow them with one affliction after another till he hath even consumed and destroyed them Rev.
to do God good service Phil. 3.6 Concerning zeal persecuting the Church And Saul out of a blinde zeal to the children of Israel and Judah slew the Gibeonites for which sin though done in zeal the whole Land was punished with three years Famine 2 Sam. 21.1,2 2. Look that your zeal for God be true and real and not pretended Jehu pretended great zeal for God 2 Kings 10.16 Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord But it was rather a zeal to establish the Kingdom to himself than any true zeal for God 3. Let your zeal be chiefly exercised in those things wherein the life and power of godliness consisteth in the essential and fundamental matters of Religion and not in circumstantials Pharisaical zeal that was punctual in tything Mint and Cummin and Annise and neglected the weightier matters of the Law as Faith and the love of God Judgment and Mercy was disallowed and condemned by Christ 4. Look that your zeal be not for a fit while the sence of your affliction is fresh upon your spirits but let it be constant Gal. 4.18 It is good to be zealously affected alwayes in a good thing 3. God aims at the making of you partakers of his holiness by this affliction Heb. 12.10 He chasteneth us for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness These persons to whom the Apostle writes this Epistle had been chastned with the loss of their Goods Heb. 10.34 and this chastning was for this end that they might be partakers of Gods Holiness They were holy before the Apostle calls them chap. 3.1 Holy brethren partakers of the heavenly calling They were such as had been sufferers for Christ and had suffered joyfully they had attained to assurance of their salvation chap. 10.32,33,34 Yet these persons were chastned that they might be made more holy Now seeing Gods design in this affliction is to make you partakers of his holiness let this affliction stir you up to follow after holiness if you had only a form of godliness a shew and appearance of holiness before now follow after the power truth reality of godliness if you had true holiness before labour now to be more holy be more holy in your hearts in your thoughts in your affections in your speech and discourse with all men be more holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 As he which called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation This exhortation though it belong to all Gods called ones is more especially directed to such as are in affliction for to such this Epistle is directed as you may see ver 1 6. Let your sufferings excite you to do the works of your Callings in a more godly sort and to perform your Closet and Family Duties in a more holy manner to be more holy in your relative Duties to be more holy in your converses with all sorts of men and to express more of the power of holiness in all manner of conversation 4. God aims at the stirring of you up to a more close and humble walking with himself and to deal justly and mercifully with all men Micah 6.8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God This God required at such a time as he was pleading a controversie with his people as you may see ver 2. The Lord hath a controversie with his people and he will plead with Israel And while he was pleading his controversie he destroyed Jerusalem the chiefest City of the Jews chap. 3.12 Zion shall be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps And Samaria which was one of the principal Cities belonging to the ten Tribes Isa 7.9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria Micah 1.6 I will make Samaria as an heap of the field I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley and I will discover the foundations thereof Now when God had a great controversie with Israel and Judah for this Prophet was sent to both Kingdoms chap. 1.1 and was laying waste their chiefest Cities that which he required from the inhabitants with whom he was pleading his controversie was that they should do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with their God 5. God aims at making of you more fruitful by this affliction that you may bring forth both more and better fruit John 15.2 Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit When great wrath was coming upon the Jews and the axe was even laid to the root of the tree John the Baptist giveth them this exhortation Mat. 3.8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance Now if you would know what it is wherein God would have you more fruitful in you may be resolved from such Scriptures as these Gal. 5.22,23 The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Col. 1.10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work If then you would comply with Gods ends in your present affliction labour to be filled with the fruits of righteousness abound in all the fruits of the Spirit which are as you heard before love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness and temperance Labour to be fruitful in every good work only remember in so doing that you bring forth your fruit to God and not to your selves Rom. 7.4 That we should bring forth fruit unto God for what fruit is brought forth for selfish ends God accounts next to none Hos 10.1 Israel is an empty vine he bringeth forth fruit unto himself SECT 7. 7. The losses and other afflictions which you have sustained by this dreadful Fire should stir you up to glorifie God Isa 24.15 Wherefore glorifie ye the Lord in the Fires even the name of the Lord God of Israel In the former part of the Chapter the Prophet speaks of a time of great desolation as ver 1. Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it up-side down and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof ver 3. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled ver 11 12. All joy is darkned the mirth of the land is gone in the City is left desolation and the gate is smitten with destruction and then tells them what use they should make of these sore Judgments Glorifie ye the Lord in the fires When God is executing any remarkable Judgments it should awaken all men to glorifie God Rev 15.4 Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy name for thy judgments are made manifest We read Rev. 14.6,7 That when it was an hour wherein God was executing his Judgments that an Angel cryed to every nation and kindred and tongue
and people saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come If this judgment that is come upon you will not prevail with you to give glory to God God will curse your blessings Mal. 2.2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart If you ask how and wherein you should glorifie God under this affliction which he hath laid upon you I answer 1. Accept of the punishment of your iniquity and acknowledge that the Lord is just and righteous in all that is come upon you Then we give God the glory of his Judgments when we confess him to be just and righteous therein Rev. 15.3,4 Just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name Thus Daniel gave glory to God when Jerusalem was laid waste and the Jews spoiled of their goods and carried captive into Babylon Dan. 9.14 The Lord hath watched upon the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works that he doth for we obeyed not his voice Yea do not only confess God to be righteous but also acknowledge him to be gracious in this dispensation say whereas our Houses and Estates are consumed by this Fire it is of the Lords mercies that we our selves are not consumed even because his compassions fail not Thus Lot gave glory to God when his house and goods were consumed in Sodom he looked upon it as a great mercy that he himself was not consumed also Gen. 19.19 Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life 2. Though your sufferings have been very great yet give God thanks and praise his Holy Name for what he hath done for you by so doing you shall glorifie God Psal 50.23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me Isa 42.12 Let them give glory unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands This relates to a time of Judgment I will destroy and devour at once I will make waste mountains and hills ver 14. 15. Even when God is rising up to judgment and devouring and destroying we must declare his praise and so give him the glory of his Judgments Let not this seem strange to you that I exhort you that have suffered great lostes by this Fire to praise God and give him thanks for 1. Job did thus when God had taken away all his Estate and Children he blesseth God Job 1.21 The Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord and Job did not sin or act imprudently in blessing God for his losses for it is said in the next words In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly 2. It is the will of God that in every estate and condition and under every dispensation of his providence we should give thanks 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you 3. There is much mercy mingled with the affliction it is mercy that your Estates were consumed and not your Lives it is mercy that your Houses only were burned whereas you might have been cast both body and soul into everlasting burnings and if you cannot give God thanks for the affliction it self yet at least give him thanks for the mercy that was mingled with the affliction 3. Let this affliction put you upon searching and trying your wayes and renewing your repentance and returning unto God of which you heard before for in so doing you shall give glory to God Rev. 16.9 They repented not to give him glory 4. Let this Judgment awaken in your souls a more lively fear and dread of God let it cause you to stand in such awe of God as to be afraid to offend him for then we give glory to God when we are afraid to sin against him Rev. 14.7 Fear God and give glory to him 5. You shall give glory to God by this Judgment if you be stirred up by it to live a more holy and righteous life Isa 60.21 Thy people shall be all righteous that I may be glorified If also it make you fruitful in good works John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit 6. Let this Judgment awaken you to a more diligent practice of what is commanded 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God It was your duty ever since you were born to make Gods glory the highest and chiefest end of all your actions if you have not done so you have great cause to humble your souls before God for you have neglected the great end of your Creation Isa 43.7 Every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory If you did seek to advance the glory of God before this Judgment came upon you yet now be awakened hereby to seek Gods glory more zealously with more singleness of heart and do all your works both the works of your Calling and your natural Actions as your eating and drinking and your Religious Actions with more explicite intentions to glorifie God SECT 8. 8. Let the losses which you have sustained by this dreadful Fire take you off from laying up your Treasure upon the earth and put you upon laying up treasure in heaven That treasure which you lay up on earth may be taken from you several wayes you may lose it all in one day or if you do not lose it you must leave it all behinde you when you dye But that treasure which is laid up in heaven can by no means be taken from you but you shall enjoy the benefit of it to all eternity Remember therefore and follow the counsel and command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Mat. 6.19,20,21 Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also If you ask What is that treasure which we should lay up in heaven I answer All the good thoughts which you think and all the good words that you speak are treasure laid up in heaven Mal. 3.16 They that feared the Lord speak often one to another and the Lord hearkined and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name You see here that God treasureth up in his book of remembrance all the good words which we speak when
we meet together and all the good thoughts which we think All the tears we shed for our sins and all the sighs and groans which we send up to God by reason of our sins are treasure laid up in heaven for God puts such tears into his bottle and all sighs and groans that come from a penitent heart ascend up to heaven Psal 38.9 Lord all my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee All the prayers that we put up to God in the Name of Jesus Christ are treasure laid up in heaven Psal 18.6 In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God he heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him even into his ears This is plain from the forementioned Scripture All my desire is before thee All the alms we give to the poor in a right spirit are treasure laid up in heaven Luke 12.33 Give alms provide your selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not Matth. 19.21 Sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven Acts 10.4 Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God All the prayers that we make and all the alms that we give to the poor are recorded in heaven as precious treasure All the good works that we do are treasure laid up in heaven Ephes 6.8 Whatsoever good thing any man doth the same he shall receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free All the sins that wicked men commit are treasure laid up in Hell to augment their torments Rom. 2.5 After thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God If all the sins of wicked men are treasure laid up against the day of wrath then surely all the good actions of good men are treasure laid up in heaven SECT 9. 9. Let the losses which you have sustained by the late Fire put you in minde of and make you careful to avoid four other Fires which are more dreadful than this great Fire which consumed many thousand houses in a few dayes 1. Take heed of the fire of Sin Sin is oft compared unto fire Isa 9.18 Wickedness burneth as the fire it shall devour the briars and thorns Prov. 16.27 An ungodly man diggeth up evil and in his lips there is as a burning fire Hos 7.6 They have made ready their heart like an oven whilst they lie in wait their baker sleepeth all the night in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire James 3.6 The tongue is as a fire a world of iniquity so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire of Hell Now this fire of sin is far more mischievous than the late Fire which burnt so great a part of the City for though that destroyed many stately buildings and much Goods this destroyes mens souls and the soul of one man though the poorest man upon the face of the earth is more worth than the whole world Mark 8.36 The late Fire hath burnt up a great part of the City but sin hath set on fire the whole course of nature it hath fired more or less all persons in all parts and places of the world For there is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Eccles 7.20 It hath been burning many thousand years together even ever since the fall of Adam 2. Take heed of the Fire of Gods wrath that burns like fire Nahum 1.6 Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger his fury is poured out like fire Psal 89.46 Shall thy wrath burn like fire The Apostle saith of God Heb. 12.29 Our God is a consuming fire To whom is God a consuming fire To all impenitent persons that refuse to humble their souls and to break off their sins Isa 27.4 Who would set the briars and thorns against me in Battle I would go through them I would burn them together He is a consuming Fire to all that fall off from the wayes of God after they have been enlightned with the knowledge of the truth Heb. 10.26,27 If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries 3. Let this fire put you in minde of that fire which shall consume and burn up the whole world It was a dreadful sight to see London on fire but it will be more dreadful to see the whole world on sire yet such a time will come and it is hastening apace upon us wherein the heavens and the earth shall be set on fire and all persons and things burnt in that fire 2 Pet. 3.10,11,12 The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heav ns shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat This fire that shall burn up the whole world shall be to all the servants of God like Elijah's fiery Chariot a means of conveying them into the Kingdom of Heaven but it shall be a day of destruction and perdition to all ungodly men 2 Thess 1.7,8,9 The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. 2 Pet. 3.7 The Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men Mal. 4.1 Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch 4. Let this fire put you in mind and make you careful to avoid Hell fire If this fire were dreadful think with your selves how dreadful it will be to be placed at Christs left hand and hear him pronounce that terrible sentence Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Matth. 25.41 and yet this will be the portion of all the workers of iniquity Matth. 13.41,42 The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels
Wilderness where no man cometh to satisfie it with Rain from Heaven when it is thirsty Job 38.25,26,27 Who hath divided a water-course for the over-flowing of waters or away for the lightning of Thunder to cause it to rain on the Earth where no man is on the Wilderness where there is no man to satisfie the desolate and wast ground Can it enter into your hearts to think that God should forget you in your necessity when as he remembereth the dry and thirsty ground even that which is desolate and lyeth wast The Sparrows are Birds of a small value yet God doth not forget any of them but gives them their meat in due season Luk. 12.6 Are not five Sparrows sold for two farthings and not one of them is forgotten before God fear not therefore you are of mere value than many Sparrows If God do not forget a Sparrow you may certainly conclude that he will not forget you 3. God wisheth his people were in such a condition that he might without doing them hurt feed them with the very best of his Creatures for The Lord hath pleasure in the prosperity of his sorvants Psal 35.27 He is very unwilling to afflict them either with hunger or any other affliction Lam. 3.33 He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men If we would be obedient to his voice he would continue our plenty if after he hath taken it away our scarcity lead us to repentance he will restore our plenty again Psal 81.13,15,16 Oh that my people had bearkened unto me and Israel had walked in may wayes their time should have eddured for for ever he should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat and with boney out of the rock should I have satisfied them 4. The Lord Jesus takes notice who they are that have nothing to eat and are in danger of fainting for want of food and is very full of compassion toward those that are in such a condition The Bowels of his Compassion did so yearn towards the multitude that had been three dayes without food and were in danger to faint that he wrought a miracle to feed them Mark 8.1,2,3 c. It may be some will say Since God brought me into distress I have manifested much unbelif and distrust notwithstanding I have formerly had great experience of Gods goodness and therefore I am afraid now he will suffer me to starve and look no more after me Answ If you humble your selves for your unbelief God will both pardon your sin and give you a plentiful supply of your wants The Jews who had seen God providing for them in a wonderful manner did in their straits discover a great deal of distrust Psal 78.19,20 They spake against God they said Can God furnish a table in the Wilderness Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams over flowed can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people Yet God did fully supply all their wants ver 25. He sent them meat to the full And also passed by their transgressions ver 38. He being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not God is wont to chasten his children for their unbelief but not to break his promises made to them Zacharias was struck dumb for his unbelief yet his sin did not hinder the fulfilling of the promise that was accomplished in its season Luke 1.20 Behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season Rom. 3.3,4 Shall their unbelief make the Faith of God without effect God forbid SECT 11. 11. If by this affliction you are or should hereafter be brought into such great straits as that you know not what to do but are like a man at his wits end that knoweth not which way to winde or turn himself to get out of his troubles be not dismayed at it but look up unto God and commit your selves and all your affairs unto him cry to the Lord to help you and though he do not presently deliver you yet trust in him that he will deliver you in his own good time and wait patiently upon him for his help how great soever your straits are and though it be very long before he send you deliverance Thus the servants of God in former times were wont to do when their condition was so distressed they knew not what to do they looked to the Lord to help them 2 Chron. 20.12 O our God we have no might against this great company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee Psal 22.4,5 Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them they cryed unto thee and mere delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded Psalm 40.1,2 I waited patiently for the Lord and he â—nclined unto me and heard my cry he brought me up also out of an horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings I will adde some things by way of encourage ment to encourage you to trust in God and to wail patiently upon him when you are in such great straies that you know not what to do 1. When you know not what to do God knows what to do for you We read John 6.5 When Jesus list up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him he said unto Philip Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat Philip was at a loss he knew not whence they should have bread enough to suffice such a multitude as you may see ver 7. But though Philip knew not how or which way such a multitude should be provided for Christ did ver 6. This he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do When a godly mans temptations are such as he knoweth not which way he should be delivered God knows how to deliver him 2 Pet. 2.9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations If such thoughts should arise in your hearts as through the suggestion of Satan possibly they may that your straits are so great that the way of your deliverance is not only hid from your eyes but hid from God also and that it is above the wisdom of God to know how to deliver you abominate all such wicked and ungodly thoughts and remember that Gods Wisdom is infinite far above what we can search into Isa 40.27,28 Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary there is no searching of his under standing Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great power his under standing is infinite Those things which seem invincible
exalted to give repentance unto Israel but what is that to me I answer 1. This Israel had embrued their hands in the Blood of Christ Acts 2.36 Let all the house of Israel know affuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ and in the words immediately foregoing that Scripture where the Apostle tells them God had exalted Carist to give them repentance he tells them Acts 5.30 The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hung upon a tree him hath God exalted to give repentance unto Israel c. Now was Christ exalted to give repentance to them that crucified him and do ye think that he will not give repentance unto you if you go to him for a penitent heart have you committed greater sins than the crucifying of Christ 2. If you question whether Christ will give you repentance you may be satisfied that he will from his own words if you go to him for repentance for he hath said John 6.37 Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Plea 5. I have committed may some say a very foul sin and I am afraid it should come to light and if it should I shall be ashamed to look any man in the face and I had better make away my self than live to be a publick shame Answ 1. This will not conceal your sins to make away your self for there is a day of Judgment coming wherein God will bring to light and publish in the hearing of the whole world all your sins even your foulest and most shameful sins which you have committed with greatest secresie Eccles 12.14 God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Luke 12.2,3 There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be known whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house tops 1 Cor. 4.5 Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts And therefore if you should escape the shame of your sins here you will at the resurrection and the day of Judgment when God shall disclose your sins to the whole world be put to everlasting contempt Dan. 12.2 Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt 2. The way to get your shameful sins covered is to confess them to God and to humble your souls for them and to flee to the Blood of Christ for by so doing God will pardon them and cast them behind his back and when God hath pardoned them they shall not do you any hurt 1 John 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness When God forgives sin he is said to cover it Psal 32.1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered David committed a shameful sin when he murdered Vriah and committed adultery with Bersheba yet upon his confession of these sins God pardoned him Psal 32.5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin Plea 6. I am tempted in my straits to steal and to kill my Children because I cannot maintain them I am tempted also to other sins Now I am afraid if I live I shall fall by my temptations into some foul sin and thereby be a scandal to Religion and to the Gospel and it is better for me to dye than to scandalize Religion and therefore I am of the mind when I can get a convenient opportunity to make away my self that I may not become ascandal to the Gospel Answ 1. You must not commit one sin to avoid another Rom. 3.8 Not as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just It is a good thing to prevent sin and to prevent scandalizing of Religion yet we must not murder our selves which is a great evil to prevent other sins or scandalizing Religion because it is in the judgment of the Apostle a damnable tenent and practice to do evil that good may come 2. What greater sin or scandal to Religion than for a man that professeth Religion to murder himself and therefore it is a strange delusion for a man to design the making away of himself to avoid other sins or to avoid scandalizing of the Gospel 3. If you be tempted to steal or destroy your Children or any other sins and are afraid that you shall one day fall by these temptations there are better means of avoiding these sins than by murdering your selves and they are such as these 1. Pray to God to keep you from those sins to which you are tempted by Satan or unto which you are enclined by your own hearts Psal 19.12,13 Cleanse thou me from secret faults keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me Psal 119.133 Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me 2. Hide Gods Word in your hearts for there is great efficacy in the Word of God when it is treasured up in the heart to keep a man from falling into sin Psal 119.11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee 3. Rest upon Gods Promises wherein he hath promised you that he will not suffer sin to get the dominion over you but when he seeth your sins rising up against you and ready to prevail he will take compassion upon you and subdue your iniquities Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you Micah 7.19 He will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea Go out against your sins in the strength of these promises and though you be often soiled yet renew your combat hanging and cleaving to the promises of God and doubt not but you shall in the conclusion obtain the victory Plea 7. I am a man cast off by God and I am sure to go to Hell when I dye yea methinks I feel the beginnings of Hell already in my Conscience by those terrors of God that are in my soul and a seared Conscience and the longer I live the more I shall sin and the more I shall encrease my torments hereafter and therefore 't is better for me to put an end to my wretched life than to live to encrease my sins and my torments for I do nothing else but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Answ 1. God would not
those that have cast away their hope and hath encouraged them to seek and hope for salvation that have thought there was no hope for such as they were When some amongst the Jews thought God had done with them and given them over and would look no more after them God reproves them for it Isa 40.27 Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God And at another time when they thought there was no hope but they must perish in their sins and looked upon it as an improbable if not as an impossible thing that such as they were should obtain life God swears to them that he did not delight in their death but rather did desire that they should repent that they might live Ezek. 33.10,11 Thus ye speak saying If our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them How should we then live say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil wayes for why will ye die O house of Israel We find also God encouraging the Jews when they were in a despairing condition in Babylon Lam. 3.18,19 I said my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord remembring mine affliction and my misery the wormwood and the gall But though they said their hope was perished God saith it was good for them to hope still Ver. 26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. God may have great mercy in store for them that think there is no mercy for them When the house of Israel said Our bones are dried and our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts God promiseth to do great things for them to put his Spirit in them and give them life c. Ezek. 37,11,12,13,14 And though Satan may make use of some Scriptures to drive us to despair yet he perverts the sense and meaning of those Scriptures for no passage of Scripture was written to drive us to despair but the design of the Scripture is to encourage us to hope in God Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope 4. Prop. No man ought to conclude that he is a graceless person or cast out of the favour of God because he is assaulted with this temptation to make away himself or because he hath often prayed to God to have his temptation removed and it continueth still in as great violence as ever The best of men may be tempted to the foulest of sins What sin is more hideous than for a man to fall down and worship the Devil yet the Lord Jesus was tempted to this sin Matth. 4.9 All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Dost thou think God doth not love thee because he suffers the Devils to tempt thee to make away thy self Christ was the beloved Son of God yet the Devil tempted him to cast down himself from a pinacle of the Temple which was in effect to have destroyed himself Matth. 4.5,6 yea God suffered the Devil to do more than barely to tempt Christ he suffered him to carry him from the Wilderness into Jerusalem and to set him upon the pinacle of the Temple Matth. 4.5 and from thence to carry him to an exceeding high Mountain Ver. 8. This is more than God permits the Devil to do to you yet Christ was the beloved Son of God Did not the Devil tempt Job who was the most upright man that lived in his days by the instigation of his wife to destroy himself Job 2.9 His wife said unto him Dost thou still retain thine integrity Curse God and die And though you pray to have the temptation removed and still it continueth so did Paul who was a chosen Vessel when he was buffeted with a temptation from Satan he prayed often to have it removed and still it continued 2 Cor. 12.7,8,9 There was given to me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to buffet me For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness But let thus much suffice for the preventing of this temptation of Self-murther 5. It is probable that Satan will tempt such as are brought low by this fire to use some unrighteous courses to enrich themselves especially if they be brought into great straits he will be urging of them to help themselves by some sinful means rather than to continue under their straits Agur prayes that God would remove poverty from him and gives this reason Prov. 30.9 Lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of my God in vain which implies that Satan doth usually tempt such as are brought to poverty to help themselves by unlawful and sinful means I might suggest several things to prevent your yielding to this temptation As 1. You will lose more and better things than you will get by unrighteousness in your dealings though you should get a vast estate by this means For 1. Hereby you will lose the favour of God Deut. 25.16 All that do unrighteously are an abomination unto the Lord thy God And what is all this world compared to the favour of God 2. All that you get by sinful courses is the price of blood it is gotten with the loss of your souls Ezek. 18.4 The soul that sinneth it shall die Now the soul is of that value that the gaining of the whole world will not countervail the loss of one soul Mar. 8.36.3 What you get unrighteously is purchased with the loss of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 4. What is gotten unrighteously is gotten with the loss of peace of Conscience Isa 59.8 They have made them crooked paths whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace Prov. 20.17 Bread of deceit is sweet to a man but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel 2. You do not only deprive your selves of all good but you bring upon your selves woful misery by seeking to enrich your selves by unjust courses for 1. Hereby you bring down the wrath and curse and vengeance of God upon your selves Jer. 22.13 Wo unto him that buildeth his House by unrighteousness and his Chambers by wrong 1 Thes 4.6 That no man go beyond and defraud his Brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such Job 20.23 When he is about to fill his belly God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and shall rain it upon him while he is eating This is spoken of such as get their Estates unrighteously as you may see Ver. 19.
dwell with him in heaven to all eternity John 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be Col. 3.24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ 4. We must walk uprightly whatever we do for God or for men we must do it with an upright heart we must put away all guile and dissimulation and hypocrisie and speak the truth from our hearts and be upright and sincere in all manner of conversation for such as walk uprightly while they live shall dwell with God in heaven to all eternity Psal 140.13 The upright shall dwell in thy presence Psal 15.1,2 Lord who shall abide in thy tabernncle Who shall dwell in thy holy hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart Isa 57.2 He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds each one walking in his uprightness Psal 84.11 The Lord God is a Sun and Shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Matth. 25.23 His Lord said unto him Well done good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 5. We must persevere in believing and serving Christ and walking uprightly with him all our dayes Matth. 24.13 He that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life No sufferings whatever must deter us from serving of the Lord Jesus though it be the suffering of death it self 2 Tim. 2.12 If we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him he also will deny us Mark 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels the same shall save it SECT 17. 17. Let this affliction put you upon preparing your selves for all other afflictions that God shall try you withal whilst you are in this world When God had been contending with Israel by Fire he calls upon them to prepare for further Judgments Am. 4.11,12 I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a fire-brand plucked out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Afflictions oft-times come thick one after another Job 16.14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach Psal 34.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous As God dealt with Eli when he began he went on till he had brought upon him all his pleasure 1 Sam. 3.12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house when I begin I will also make an end So it is oft-times in his dealings with others when he begins to afflict he follows on with one affliction after another until he hath throughly humbled them and made them lie at his foot therefore one affliction should warn us to prepare for another and as Christ adviseth us in our sufferings from men Matth. 5.39,40 I say unto you that ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also and if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also We should be so far from quarreling and contending with those that afflict us that one injury should make us willing and ready to suffer another The same advice is very seasonable when we are under any affliction from the hand of God we should be so far from resisting Gods will that when he taketh one mercy we should resign up all the rest When he sends one affliction we should be willing and ready to suffer another We are exhorted Heb. 13.3 Remember them which suffer adversity as being your selves also in the body As long as we are in the body we are liable to all kindes of adversity and therefore we should stand prepared for whatever afflictions it shall seem good unto the Lord to lay upon us If you desire to know how you should be prepared for all sorts of afflictions See Quest 3. Sect 12. SECT 18. 18. Encourage and comfort your selves in the Lord when any perplexity seizeth upon you or any sad and troubled thoughts arise in your mindes upon the account of your own losses or upon the account of the misery and distress that is like to come upon the Nation by reason of this dreadful Judgment When Ziglag David's City of Refuge was set on fire by the Amalekites and both David and his men had lost their Wives and Children and their substance which made them weep till they could weep no more and besides all this David was in danger of losing his life for the people spake of stoning him in this great distress David encourageth himself in the Lord 1 Sam. 30.6 David was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning him but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God You cannot readily be in greater distress than David was at this time and if he in his distress encouraged himself in God when he had lost his Habitation Wives Substance c. and was also like to lose his life may not you finde that in God which may encourage you in all your distresses which are not so great as Davids I will propose briefly some grounds of comfort and encouragement besides what hath been said upon the first Quest Sect. 17. page 118 c. to such of the Servants of God as are cast down either at their own losses or at the distress and misery which is like to follow in the Nation upon the account of this sore Judgment 1. God is all-sufficient to shield and defend you from all those evils which you fear will come upon you and to make up whatever good you fear you shall be deprived of now you have lost your Estates Gen 15.1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Alram in a vision saying Fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward Why should that man fear any evil that hath God for his shield and why should that man be disquieted for the want or loss of any worldly good things who hath the great and all-sussicient God for his exceeding great reward It may be you will say It is true if I knew that God were my shield and my exceeding great reward I think I should be so comforted that nothing would trouble me but I do not know that God is my shield and my reward this is spoken to Abraham and not to me I answer The same promises and blessings which were given to Abraham do belong to every one that believeth in Jesus
and did eat of the corn of the land Josh 5.12 The Manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land The water also that came out of the rock followed them up and down in all places whereever they went to give them drink 1 Cor. 10.4 Now as it was with the Israelites whilst they were in the Wilderness so will God deal with all his servants whilst they are in the Wilderness of this world he will guard them and guide them by night and by day he will send in a suitable and seasonable supply of all their wants Isa 27.3 I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Isa 49.10 They shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor Sun smite them for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them even by the springs of water shall he guide them When your wants are many and you know not how or which way they shall be supplyed remember what is said Phil. 4.19 My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus And be assured of this that God who hath been good to you will follow you with goodness and mercy as long as you live Psal 23.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life It may be you will say I have enough to comfort me if I were but sure that goodness and mercy should follow me all the dayes of my life but though David was sure of this it doth not follow that I may rest assured that it shall be so with me I answer They that come to and close with Jesus Christ shall be blessed with the same mercies that God bestowed upon David Isa 45.3 Encline your ear and come unto me hear and your souls shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David 5. Great calamities are oft-times followed with great mercies and this is true both as to Nations and particular persons when those Nations and persons are humbled and brought nearer to God by their afflictions Jobs afflictons were exceeding great both in respect of what he met with in his soul body name estate and relations yet God turned the captivity of Job and made his Estate more glorious and prosperous than ever Job 42.12 The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning I will instance in some mercies which God is wont to bestow upon his people either in or soon after they come out of great troubles 1. God is wont at such times to give his people greater and stronger consolations than at other times Psal 71.20,21 Thou which hast shewen me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth Thou shalt encrease my greatness and comfort me on every side Psal 66.3,5,6 How terrible art thou in thy works Come and see the works of God he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men he turned the Sea into dry land they went through the flood on foot there did we rejoyce in him When God is doing terrible things he is making way for his peoples joy After David had spoken twice of Gods being terrible in his doings he adds there did we rejoyce in him In the night of affliction God puts such comforts into his peoples hearts as makes them sing for joy Job 35.10 None saith Where is God my maker who giveth songs in the night When they are deprived of outward comforts and are in a solitary straitned condition he giveth them internal and spiritual comforts Hos 2.14,15 I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her and I will give her her Vineyards from thence and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope and she shall sing there as in the dayes of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt When our troubles abound he causeth our consolations to abound also 2 Cor. 1.5 As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded by Christ 2. Great troubles are oft-times followed with great pourings out of the spirit and great measures of grace The Prophet Joel having foretold times of great distress Chapter 1. Chapter 2. to the 12. verse tells us what God would do for his people after those great calamities Joel 2.28 It shall come to pass afterward that I will poor out my spirit upon all flesh The Prophet Zephaniah also having foretold great judgments promiseth that they should be followed with great measures of grace Zeph. 3.8,9,13 My determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie Observe now what mercies follow these judgments Then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth see also Isa 32.10,15 Many dayes and years shall be troubled until the spirit be poured upon us from on high After the Jews had been under sore troubles by their long captivity in Babylon what an encrease of grace and other choice mercies doth God promise them Ezek 36.25,26,27,28,29 3. In times of great trouble God is wont to afford his people more clear manifestations of his love and to give them more communion and fellowship with himself than at other times Zech. 13.9 I will bring the third part through the fire they shall call on my Name and I will hear them I will say It is my people and they shall say The Lord is my God In the day time the Lord went before the Israelites in a pillar of a cloud but in the night by a pillar of fire Divers of Gods servants that are much clouded in the day of prosperity have clear and bright discoveries of Gods love to their souls in the night of adversity When the three Children were in the fiery furnace the Son of God was so evidently with them that their adversaries themselves could not but take notice of it When the Spouse was as a Lily among Thorns compassed about with sharp afflictions the Lord Jesus conversed with her in a very familiar manner He put his left hand under her and embraced her with his right hand Cant. 2.2,6 And as it is thus with particular persons so also with Nations after God hath afflicted them with great judgments he is wont to bestow upon them great mercies when his judgments lead them to repentance After Judea which was like the Garden of Eden was by Gods judgments made like a Wilderness Joel 2.3 The Inhabitants of the Land being brought to repentance
by these judgments the Lord promiseth to do great things for them ver 21. Fear not O Land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things The Prophet Isaiah having set forth the miserable and distressed condition of the Jews both in respect of the corruption of all ranks and degrees of men and of the sore judgments of God that were upon them Isa 1.4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Ah sinful Nation a people laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that are corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger they are gone away backward Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it Your Country is desolate your Cities are burnt with fire your Land strangers devour it in your presence and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers and the Daughter of Zion is left as a Cottage in a Vineyard as a lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers Hear the Word of the Lord ye Rulers of Sodom give ear unto the Law of our God ye People of Gomorrah After the rehearsal of their sinful and miserable condition he promiseth that if they would be brought to repentance by these judgments ver 16 17. God would do great things for them notwithstanding they were brought very low ver 25 26 27. I will turn mine hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy Tin and I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning afterward thou shalt be called the City of Righteousness Zion shall be redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness And in several other places of this Prophesie the Lord promiseth that when he did return with mercy to his afflicted people he would make their estate far more glorious than ever it was Isa 30.26 The light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be seven fold as the light of seven dayes In the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound Isa 60.15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated so that no man went through thee I will make thee an eternal excellency a joy of many Generations Isa 61.7 For your shame you shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be unto thee When the Lord is not only shaking a particular City or Nation but all places and all Nations we should not be startled at it God is but making way for the exalting and setting up of his Sons Kingdom Hag. 2.6,7 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the earth and the Sea and the dry Land and I will shake all Nations and the desire of Nations shall come SECT 19. 19. If you purpose to set upon building your Houses which have been consumed by this fire so manage this work as that it may prosper under your hands If you ask How should we so mannage this work of building as to have it prosper under our hands I answer 1. Seek unto God by Prayer to be with you and succeed you in this great work Psal 90.17 Establish thou the works of our hands upon us yea the work of our hands establish thou it Uzziah built and prospered 2 Chron. 26.9 and how came he to prosper ver 5. He sought God in the dayes of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of God and as long as he sought the Lord God made him to prosper By this means Asa prospered in building Cities and other places of strength 2 Chron. 14.7 Let us build these Cities and make about them Walls and Towers Gates and Bars while the Land is yet before us because we have sought the Lord our God we have sought him and he hath given us rest on every side so they built and prospered Now in regard many persons are wont to neglect seeking God in such undertakings as these it will not be amiss if I add two or three considerations to shew those that are purposed to set upon building how much it is their concernment to give themselves unto Prayer whilst they are carrying on this work 1. It is the will of God that in all our undertakings we should seek unto him by Prayer Phil. 4.6 In every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God Prov. 3.6 In all thy wayes acknowledge him and the more difficult and weighty any undertaking is the more need there is of Prayer 2. Such a work as bulding cannot be carryed on but by the help of God and how should they expect Gods help that do not seek it Psal 127.1 Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it except the Lord keep the City the watchman waketh but in vain When the Lord had promised that their waste and desolate Cities should be rebuilded he tells them he did expect to be sought to that he might do this for them Ezek. 36.33,37 The wasts shall be builded Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them 3. The Servants of God have been wont to carry on this work of building as well as their other works by Prayer Psal 51.18 Build thou the walls of Jerusalem When Nehemiah set upon building Jerusalem he went through very great difficulties in carrying on that work yet by Prayer he overcome them all and prosperously effected what he went about Neh. 4.9 Nevertheless we made our Prayer unto God Neh. 6.9,15 O God strengthen my hands So the wall was finished 4. God hath oft-times visibly appeared against those persons and their undertakings that have gone upon great works without seeking help and direction from God by blasting and confounding them in their undertakings Mal. 1.4 Whereas Edom saith We are impoverished but we will return and build desolate places thus saith the Lord of Hosts they shall build but I will throw down When the Inhabitants of Samaria said in the pride and stoutness of their hearts The bricks are fallen down but we will build with hewen Stones the Sycamores are cut down but we will change them into Cedars and did not seek the Lord Did they prosper No But God threatned to cut them off branch and rush head and tail in one day Isa 9.9,10,13,14 2. If you would carry on this work of building successfully go about it in faith believing that God will be with you therein and rest upon him for his help and assistance Neh. 2.20 The God of Heaven he will prosper us therefore we his servants will arise and build To believe and rely on the
Lord is the way to prosper 2 Chron. 20.20 Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established believe his Prophets so shall ye prosper By the power of faith strong Walls and Cities have been demolished Heb. 11.30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down ver 33. Who through faith subdued Kingdoms Now if faith be instrumental to demolish Walls and Cities Why may it not also be of great force to build them up If any ask What encouragements can you give us for our faith that we may trust and rely on God for his presence and assistance with us in this work of building I answer 1. Building of desolate Cities is a good work and well-pleasing to God and that which conduceth unto the glory of God when it is managed with a right spirit and in a right manner The building of Jerusalem after it had been wasted by fire and the Sword is called a good work Neh. 2.18 They said let us rise up and build so they strengthened their hands for this good work the building of Jerusalem is called also the pleasure of the Lord it being that which pleased him to see those wast places builded again Isa 44.28 That saith of Cyrus he shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem Thou shalt be built and to the Temple Thy foundations shall be laid It did conduce also to Gods glory Psal 102.16 When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory Jer. 33.7,9 I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return and will build them as at the first And it shall be to me a Name of joy a praise and an honour before all the Nations of the Earth That building is a good work and acceptable to God when rightly managed may be evidenced several wayes besides the fore-quoted Scriptures As 1. It is oft spoken of a blessing for God to give a man an house to dwell in Exod. 1.21 And it came to pass because the Midwives feared God that he made them houses 1 Sam. 2.35 I will build him a sure house Isa 65.21 They shall build houses and inhabit them 2. Cohabitation conduceth much both to our civil and spiritual good Psal 133.1 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity The scattering abroad of persons and separating them each from other is threatned as a judgment Isa 24.1 Behold the Lord maketh the Earth empty and maketh it waste and scattereth abroad the Inhabitants thereof If cohabitation conduceth much to our good and scatering abroad be an evil and a judgment then building of Cities in order to cohabitation is a good work 3. By building of houses we prepare Mansions and Recepticles for the bodies of Gods servants which are the Members of Christ and the Temples of the Holy Ghost and that cannot but be a good work to provide Mansions for the bodies of Gods servants The Lord Jesus takes it kindly when we lodge any of his members but for a night or two Matth. 25.34,35 Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was a stranger and ye took me in To provide setled habitations for the servants of God is more than to take them in for a night or two 4. Building of Houses and desolate Cities is a means of delivering those that want habitations from great distress as being wet with the dew of heaven and consumed with cold by night and the heat by day c. and to provide a refuge for the distressed is a good work Neh. 2.17 Ye see the distress that we are in how Jerusalem lyeth wast and the Gates thereof are burnt with fire Come and let us build up the Wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach Now if building be a good work then you may confidently expect Gods presence with you when you set upon it if you manage it with a right spirit Amos 5.14 Seek good and not evil and so the Lord the God of Hosts shall be with you as ye have spoken and if God will be with you in your work this may greatly encourage you in the management of it Hag. 2.4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Joshua and be strong all ye people of the Land and work for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts 2. God is able to carry on those that rest upon him in this work how great and how many dissiculties and oppositions and discouragements soever they meet withal This is evident from the building of Jerusalem after it was burnt and laid wast by the Chaldeans Consider to this purpose 1. What a great work the building of Jerusalem was which had been wasted by Fire and Sword from a forreign power and had lyen in its desolation seventy years Neh. 4.19 The work is great and large 2. Consider how weak and unfit the Jews were for this great work after their strength and treasure was exhausted by seventy years captivity Some of them were so discouraged that they thought they should not be able to accomplish so great a work Neh. 4.10 Judah said The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall 3. The times in which they set upon building of Jerusalem were very troublous times Dan. 9.25 The street shall be built again and the wall in troublous times 4. The Enemies of the Jews opposed this work of building Jerusalem with all their might They scoffed at them and derided their work Neh. 4.2,3 What do these feeble Jews Will they fortifie themselves Will they make an end in a day Will they revive the stones out of the heap of the rubbish which are burnt Even that which they build if a Fox go up he will even break down their stone wall They cast false slanders upon them as though they builded out of a design to rebel Neh. 2.19 What is this thing that ye do Will ye rebel against the King Neh. 6.6 Thou and the Jews think to rebel for which cause thou buildest the wall that thou mayst be their King and when these means would not prevail they attempted by force to make the work cease Neh. 4.7,8,11 They were very wroth and conspired all of them together to come and to sight against Jerusalem And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst amongst them and slay them and cause the work to cease And when none of these means would cause them to leave off building they hired Counsellors to mediate with the Kings of Persia and wrote Letters to hinder the building of Jerusalem Ezra 4.4,5,23,24 And notwithstanding all the attempts of their Adversaries both by fraud and violence though there were some intermissions yet the work was compleated And how by the help and assistance of God as their Enemies
themselves could not but acknowledge Neh. 6.15,16 So the wall was finished And it came to pass that when all our Enemies heard thereof they were much cast down in their own eyes for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God Now that God which helped the Jews to build Jerusalem under all their difficulties and oppositions that they met withal is able also to help you under what ever difficulties do or may beset you in your work 3. Consider what promises God hath made to his servants to encourage them in this work of building when he calls them to it He hath promised to be with them in building Ezek. 36.9,10 Behold I am for you and I will turn unto you And the Cities shall be inhabited and the wasts shall be builded Though their Cities and dwellings have been laid wast a long time he promiseth to help them to build them up again Isa 61.4 They shall build the old wasts they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair their wast Cities the desolations of many generations He promiseth that after their dwellings have been laid wast they shal be built in the same places and in as good a manner as before Jer. 30.18 Thus saith the Lord Behold I will bring again the Captivity of Jacobs Tents and have mercy on his dwelling places and the City shall be builded on her old heap and the Palace shall remain after the manner thereof He hath promised that after they have laid the foundation they shall go on to finish their work Zech. 4.9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this House his hands shall also finish it 1 Chron. 28.20 David said unto Solomon his son Be strong and of good courage and do it fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God even my God will be with thee he will not fail thee nor forsake thee until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the House of the Lord. Though these two last Promises relate to the building of the Temple yet they are applicable by Gods servants in such works as they are called out to by the Lord. He hath promised that when they have built them houses they shall dwell in them and enjoy them a long season Isa 65.21,22,23 They shall build houses and inhabit them they shall not build and another inhabit for as the dayes of a tree are the dayes of my people and mine Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands they shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their off-spring with them The Lord hath promised that after they have built them houses they shall dwell in them with safety and confidence Ezek. 28.26 They shall dwell safely therein and shall build Houses and plant Vineyards yea they shall dwell with confidence when I have executed judgments on all those that despise them round about them and they shall know that I am the Lord their God He hath promised to make their habitations prosperous Job 8.5,6 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes and make thy supplication to the Almighty if thou wert pure and upright surely now he would awake for thee and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous After Jerusalem was burnt with fire and laid waste by the Caldeans the Lord doth not only promise that it shall be built again but that he would put the Jews into a setled and better estate than they were in before Ezek. 36.10,11 The Cities shall be inhabited and the wastes shall be builded and I will settle you after your old estates and will do better unto you than at your beginnings 3. If you would carry on the work of rebuilding your houses successfully humble your selves for your lins which caused God to lay them desolate and get them washed away in the Blood of Christ and then you may expect success and a blessing upon what you take in hand Ezek. 36.33,35,36 Thus saith the Lord God In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the Cities and the wasts shall be builded And they shall say This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden and the wast and desolate and ruined Cities are become fenced The Lord promised also in the 32. verse that he would give them an heart to loath themselves for their sins and after he had humbled and pardoned them he promiseth the re-building of their desolate Cities And as you must humble your selves for your sins so you must put away your sins and return unto God with your whole hearts if you would carry on this work successfully Jer. 24.6,7 I will set mine eyes upon them for good and I will build them and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up for they shall return unto me with their whole heart Job 22.23 If thou return to the Almighty thou shalt be built up 4. Use no unrighteousness but deal truly and faithfully with all men with whom you have to do in building your houses Whomsoever you employ in this work pay them their full wages for if you use any fraud or unrighteousness you will bring the curse of God upon your persons and habitations Jer. 22.13 Wo unto him that buildeth his house in unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong that useth his neighbours service without wages and giveth him not for his work Hab. 2.11,12 The stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it Wo to him that buildeth a Town by blood and establisheth a City by iniquity And as you must pay all whom you employ their full wages so also at the set time for which you make your agreement Deut. 24.14,15 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy whether it be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are within thy land within thy gates at his day thou shalt give him his hire neither shall the Sun go down upon it for he is poor and setteth his heart upon it lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be sin unto thee Incroach not upon anothers right but keep within your own bounds and limits Deut. 19.14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbours land-mark which they of old time have set in thine inheritance Deut. 27.17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbours land-mark and all the people shall say Amen Prov. 22.28 Remove not thy ancient land-mark which thy fathers have set Eccles 10.8.9 Whoso breaketh an hedge a Scrpent shall bite him whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith And take this counsel not only in reference to your equals that are able to contend with you but also be careful that you incroach not upon the right of the Widows and the Fatherless that are not able to plead their own cause for God will plead their cause with
new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby Meditation on the word built up David wonderfully in knowledge Psal 119.99 I have more under standing then all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation The Apostle Paul recommends meditation on Gods word to Timothy as an excellent means to promote his growth in grace 1 Tim. 4.15 Meditate upon these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear unto all So also when he took his leave of the Elders of the Church of Ephesus he commends them to the word of the Lord as the means whereby they might be built up in that grace which they had already received Acts 20.32 And now brethren I commend you to God and to the the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified I might have added in the tenth place After God hath prospered you in this work of building and you have finished your houses dedicate them to God It was a custom among the Jews after they had built a new house to dedicate it unto the Lord as you may see Deut. 20.5 but of this I shall have occasion to speak afterward Quest 3. Sect. 7. p. 313. where I shall shew how we should dedicate our Houses to God and therefore I shall adde no more upon this Question but proceed to the third QUEST 3. What shall they render to the Lord for his Mercy whose Houses and Goods were preserved from being consumed by the late Dreadful Fire BEfore I answer this Question I shall premise five or six things 1. It was Gods Providence not your own prudence or diligence or any other act of yours that preserved you from sustaining any loss or damage by the late Fire Psal 16.5 Thou maintainest my lot Psal 3.8 Salvation belongeth to the Lord. Psal 40.17 Thou art my help and my deliverer When ever a righteous man is delivered from any trouble his deliverance proceedeth from the Lord Psal 34.17 The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles As God ordereth the rain where it shall fall and where it shall not fall Amos 4.7 I caused it to rain upon one City and caused it not to rain upon another so it is he also that ordered this Fire what City and what Houses and Goods it should consume and what it should not consume The Fire the Winds and all other Creatures do nothing but at Gods appointment Psal 148.7,8 Praise ye the Lord from the earth ye Dragons and all deeps fire and hail snow and vapour stormy wind fullfilling his word The fire and the wind are ruled by God they spare those whom God appoints them to spare they afflict those whom God appoints them to afflict they do nothing but by commission from God The same God that sets the bounds of the Sea and saith Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther and here shall thy proud waves be stayed Job 38.11 did set bounds to this raging Fire and appointed how far it should proceed and where its flames should be stayed wherefore such as were preserved from suffering damage by this Fire must not ascribe their safety partly to Gods Providence and partly to themselves but must give all the glory to God and say as David did of his deliverances Psal 4.8 Thou Lord only makest me to dwell in safety Psal 62.2 He only is my rock and my salvation 2. We ought to look upon it as a great mercy to be spared from Gods judgments Neh. 13.22 Spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed especially we should account it a great mercy to be spared from Gods judgments in a time of common calamity when multitudes as good or better than we are have been great sufferers When Lot escaped with his life out of Sodom though he sustained some loss by the burning of that City yet he looked upon it as an exceeding great mercy that his life was preserved Gen. 19.19 Be hold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life 3. When the Lord hath given us any remarkable deliverance or bestowed any other signal mercy upon us it should put us upon enquiring what return we should make unto God for his benefits When David had received a great deliverance he maketh enquiry what he should render to God for so great a mercy Psal 116.12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me This is needful because God expects that when he hath done great things for us we should be returning something to him Isa 5.1,2 My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it and he looked that it should bring forth grapes Luke 17.17,18 Jesus answering said Were there not ten cleansed but where are the nine There are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger Where we may observe 1. The Lord Jesus expects that when we have received any eminent favour from him we should return something for what we receive else why did he ask Where are the nine 2. The Lord takes notice who they are that do and who they are that do not return according to the mercies that they receive from God The Samaritan returned to give glory to God the others did not 3. There are very few scarce one in ten that make a return according to the mercies that they receive There were ten cleansed and only one returns to give glory to God 4. When any man faileth to return according to the benefits which he hath received though he be a good man God is much displeased at it 2 Chron. 32.25 But Hezekiah rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem God had in a wonderful manner delivered Hezekiah from death and though he was a good man so eminently good that he excelled all the Kings that lived before him and came after him according to what we finde 2 Kings 18.5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that were before him Yet this good man Hezekiah failed to reader again according to the benefit done unto him and what followed thereupon wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem for this very thing 5. It is not every return will answer Gods expectation but there must be some suitableness some proportion between the mercies that we receive from God and the returns that we make to God Hezekiah was not wholly wanting in making return to God for he praised God for recovering him from his sickness Isa 38.19 The living the living he shall praise thee as I do this
day and after his sickness he composed a Song or Psalm to set forth Gods praise and resolved to sing this Song in the house of God all the dayes of his life Isa 38.9,20 The writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness then follows the Song it self to the 20. verse where he expresseth his resolution by way of gratitude to sing this Song all the dayes of his life The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Song to the stringed Instruments all the dayes of our life in the house of the Lord. Yet notwithstanding all this Hezekiah is taxed with not returning according to the benefit done unto him 6. They whose Houses and Estates have been preserved from this dreadful Fire may know what they ought to return to God for this great deliverance by observing what the Servants of God have returned unto the Lord at such times as God hath vouchsafed unto them any eminent deliverances though it were not a deliverance from Fire but from some other evil and also by considering what special duties God calleth for in his holy Word from such as have escaped those judgments that have fallen upon other men or have received any other signal mercy from the Lord. These things being premised I shall now answer the third Question SECT 1. 1. Render to God your love for his great mercy in preserving your houses and substance from being consumed by this Fire God deserves to be loved by all those whom he preserveth from any evils Ps 31.23 O love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful When David was in a wonderful manner delivered from the hands of his enemies he resolves with himself that he would love God with an entire and an endeared love for the deliverances he had received from him Psal 18. ver 1. compared with the title of the Psalm A Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord who spake unto the Lord the words of this Song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and he said I will love the Lord my strength The Hebrew word that is used in this place signifieth more then barely to love it notes an inward entire cordial love it is translated by Junius and also by Piscator Exintimis visceribus diligam te And at another time when David was communing with his own heart about what return he should make to God for delivering him from the gates of death upon his crying to him Ps 116.3,4,12 he determins to give God his love verse 1. I love the Lord because he heard my voice and my supplications That thing which a Christian prizeth most and desireth of God above all other things is his love Cant. 1.2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is better than wine Psal 63.3 Thy loving kindness is better than life So it is with God that which he prizeth most from us and that which he desireth above all other things is that we should give him our love Deut. 10.12 And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Cant. 4.10 How fair is thy love my Sister my Spouse how much better is thy love than wine and the smell of thine oyntment than all spices If any ask which way shall we express our love to God for this great deliverance I answer 1. By hating and abhorring all evil and endeavouring to root out all manner of sin both from your selves and your families Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil Sin is an abominable thing in the sight of God and therefore he entreateth us that if we love him we would not do that which his soul hateth Jer. 44.4 Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate 2. Express your love to God by being careful to keep his Commandments John 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments 2 John 6. This is love that we walk after his Commandments God accounted obedience of his Commandments a truer token of love than the offering of a multitude of sacrifices in those times when sacrifices were in use 1 Sam. 15.22 Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams 3. Express your love to God by doing all the service you can for his Saints and Servants You cannot be any wayes beneficial to God but you may be to his people Psal 16.2,3 My goodness extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight And what you do for them the Lord will account of it as done unto himself Math. 25.40 Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me Three times our Lord Jesus calls upon Peter to express his love to him by doing good to his members Joh. 21.15,16,17 Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these He saith unto him yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him Feed my Lambs He saith unto him the second time Lovest thou me He saith unto him yea Lord He saith unto him Feed my Sheep He saith unto him the third time Lovest thou me Feed my Sheep SECT 2. 2. They that have sustained little or no loss by this dreadful fire wherein so many thousands of persons and families have suffered very deeply have great cause to give thanks unto God for sparing and delivering their substance and their houses from this devouring Fire The Prophet Isaiah having mentioned altime of great desolation wherein a little remnant should escape telleth us what this remnant should render unto the Lord Isa 24.13,14 When thus it shall be in the midst of the Land among the people there shall be as the shaking of an Olive Tree and as the gleaning Grapes when the vintage is done they shall lift up their voice they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord Four times in one Psalm doth the Holy Ghost call upon the children of men to praise the Lord for delivering them out of their distresses Psal 107.8,15,21,31 O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men When David was delivered from the hands of violent men he was much affected with the mercy of God and determines to give God hearty thanks for it Psal 18.48,49 Thou hast delivered me from the violent man therefore will I give thanks unto thee O Lord among the Heathen and sing praise unto thy Name To be delivered from the violence
vomit he also shall be in derision for was not Israel a derision unto thee was he found among thieves for since thou speakest of him thou skippedst for joy Do not trample upon those that are under Gods feet it is said of God Lam. 3.33,34 He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth If the great God do not willingly grieve the children of men or crush under his feet the meanest sort of men the prisoners of the earth then it doth not become us to grieve or trample upon or crush under our feet any man how mean soever he be Do not oppress any one in his right that is become poor by this Fire in so doing you will be guilty of reproaching God Prov. 14.31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker it is the ready way to come to want your selves Prov. 22.16 He that oppresseth the poor to encrease his riches shall surely come to want It is said of Sodom Ezek. 16.49,50 She did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy therefore I took them away as I saw good If the men of Sodom were destroyed with fire and brimstone for neglecting to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy what shall be done unto them that weaken the hands of the poor and endeavour to make them more poor Do not exact upon those that are harbourless when they come to hire houses of you by demanding an unreasonable price for your Houses Shops or Ware-houses Nehemiah reproves those Jews very sharply that did exact upon their poor brethren after they had suffered great affliction by the Babylonish captivity Neh. 5.1 to the 14. verse By taking advantage of our neighbours necessity to set unreasonable and excessive rates upon our houses we may be guilty of extortion Our Saviour joyns these two together Extortion and Excess Matth. 23.25 Within they are full of extortion and excess Now Extortion is a great sin as we may see 1 Cor. 6.9,10 Ezek. 22.12,13 Have patience towards such as are endebted to you and are disabled by this Fire from paying their Debts and do not deal cruelly with them by casting them into prison or seizing upon that little which God hath left them but wait with patience till God shall enable them to pay what they owe God hath dealt mercifully with you and therefore you should not deal cruelly with your brethren Remember the parable of him that dealt cruelly with his fellow servant after he himself had found great favour with his Lord Matth. 18.28,29,30 The same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which ought him an hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying Pay me that thou owest and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying Have patience with me and I will pay thee all and he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt And what was the issue of this cruel dealing His Lord was wroth and rebukes him sharply delivereth him over to the tormenters ver 32 33 34. Then his Lord after that he had called him said unto him O thou wicked servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me shouldest thou not also have had compassion on thy fellow servant yea even as I had pitty on thee and his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormenters till he should pay all that was due unto him Do not exercise curelty towards the afflicted any of these fore-mentioned wayes or in any other kinde but let your hearts stand in awe of such precepts as these Zech. 7.9,10 Shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother and oppress not the widow nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart Levit. 25.43,46 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour but shalt fear thy God Over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule one over another with rigour Rom. 12.10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love 1 Cor. 16.14 Let all your things be done with charity If you cast off all pity towards such as are impoverished by this Fire who knows but God may send a fire to consume your houses This very sin of casting off pity towards the afflicted is threatned with fire Amos 1.11,12 Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pity and his anger did war continually and kept his wrath for ever but I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the palaces of Bozra SECT 7. 7. Let Gods mercy in preserving your houses from this Fire cause you to dedicate your houses unto God When God gave David a peaceable and setled habitation he dedicated his house unto the Lord and composed the thirtieth Psalm at the dedication of it which beareth this title A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David Some conceive this dedication to have been after God put an end to his wanderings by reason of Sauls persecuting of him and gave him a setled habitation in Jerusalem Others think it refers to his returning to his house after he had been driven from it by Absalom Whensoever the time was that he made this dedication it may teach us thus much that when it pleaseth God to give us quiet and setled and comfortable habitations we should by way of gratitude dedicate our houses unto God Those mercies which we receive from the Lord we should return back again unto him as Hannah when she had obtained a son giveth him unto God 1 Sam. 1.28 He whom I have obtained by petition shall be returned so 't is rendred in the Margin unto the Lord as long as he liveth If any ask How should we dedicate our Houses to God I answer 1. Reform and cleanse your houses put away iniquity far from your Tabernacles if you be purposed to consecrate them unto God Job 22.23 We must not vow and sacrifice to the Lord a corrupt thing lest we bring a curse upon our selves rather than a blessing Mal. 1.14 Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing If there were any thing of fraud and unrighteousness in building or purchasing your houses make satisfaction to your neighbour before you give your houses to God Isa 61.8,8 I the Lord love judgment I hate robbery forburnt offering Humble your selves for whatever sins either you or your predecessors have committed in your houses whereby they have been defiled for sin defileth not only a mans person but the place where he dwelleth Lev. 18.27,28 Jer. 2.7 2. If you would dedicate your houses to God let holiness to the Lord be written upon your
abide in thy Tabernacle for ever I will trust in the covert of thy wings Psal 4.5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. God was much displeased with the Israelites when they did not trust in him notwithstanding he had done great things for them Psal 78.21,22,23,24 Anger came up against Israel because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and had rained down Manna upon them to eat see also ver 32 33. For all this they sinned still and believed not for his wonderous works therefore their dayes did he consume in vanity and their years in trouble We render that which is very pleasing and acceptable to God when we put our trust in him for The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his mercy Psal 147.11 If you ask For what should great and remarkable deliverances cause a man to trust in God I answer 1. When a man hath had any remarkable deliverance out of any trouble it should encourage him to trust in God under all his straits and troubles that come upon him all the dayes of his life Psal 18.50 Great deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his anointed to David and to his seed for evermore This Psalm was penned upon the occasion of that deliverance which God gave David out of the hands of Saul as you may see in the title of the Psalm and from this deliverance he concludeth that God would deliver him for ever Psal 6.9 The Lord hath heard my supplication the Lord will receive my Prayer see the fore-quoted Scriptures 1 Sam. 17.37 2 Cor. 1.10 But some may say How can this be That deliverance from one trouble or calamity should cause us to trust in God for deliverance from another when as we see they that escape one judgment are cut off or suffer deeply by another I answer 1. When God cuts off and destroys those whom he hath formerly delivered it is usually such as distrust him and turn away from him Jude 5. The Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believed not Josh 24.20 If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you after that he hath done you good 2. When God brings his servants who trust in him into new troubles their faith is not vain but brings down a great blessing for when they are not delivered from troubles they are delivered in trouble and are kept from the evil of trouble that it doth not hurt them and this is a great deliverance Job 5.19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee 2. Deliverance from temporal evils should encourage the servants of God to trust in the Lord for deliverance from spiritual evils and the bestowing upon them spiritual blessings As for instance 1. When they have had deliverance out of trouble they should conclude that God will also deliver them from all their sins and preserve them in a state of grace till he hath brought them to himself in glory Thus Paul concludes from his deliverance that he had from Nero that God would deliver him from every evil work 2 Tim. 4.17,18 I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom 2. The servants of God that have escaped great calamities and been delivered from great dangers should trust in God for a broken heart to mourn for their sins for God promiseth this mercy to such as escape great judgments Ezek. 7.16 They that escape of them shall escape and shall be on the Mountains like Doves of the Valleys all of them mourning every one for his iniquity 3. When the servants of God escape out of great troubles it should cause them to trust in God to deliver them from the deceit of their own hearts and to direct the work of faith and repentance in truth in their souls Isa 10.20,21 The remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the House of Jacob shall no more again stay upon him that smote them but shall stay upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel in truth the remnant shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God This remnant unto whom God promiseth faith and repentance in truth are such as should escape the great calamities that were coming on the Jews as you may see ver 21 22. 4. When the servants of God have received any eminent deliverances they should be encouraged thereby to trust in God for power and strength to walk before God in holiness and righteousness as long as they live Psal 56.13 Thou hast delivered my soul from death wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of the living If any say What grounds have the servants of God to take encouragement from temporal deliverances to trust in God for all spiritual blessings Amongst others that may be named I will mention these two 1. Redemption from outward troubles is given to the servants of God by vertue of the Covenant of Grace as well as spiritual blessings Psal 111.9 He sent redemption unto his people he hath commanded his covenant for ever Psal 106.44,45 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry and he remembred for them his Covenant Now when we finde God remembring his Covenant in one kinde it may encourage us to trust in God for all the other blessings which are promised to us in Gods Covenant 2. Redemption from outward troubles is given to the servants of God from the same love of God that spiritual blessings are bestowed upon them Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Isa 38.17 Behold for peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption Psal 18.19 He brought me forth into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me Now even outward deliverances being tokens of Gods love to his Servants they may thereby be encouraged to trust in God for spiritual blessings Psal 36.6,7,8 There is much of Gods love seen in his preserving our persons and goods O Lord thou preservest man and beast how excellent is thy loving kindeness his loving kindness should cause us to trust in him therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings And this loving kindeness of God should cause us to trust in him not only for outward but also for spiritual blessings as appears from the eighth verse SECT 12. 12. Let this deliverance cause you to prepare
whom resist stedfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world Fear weakens the heart and makes it faint at approaching troubles Luke 21.26 Mens hearts failing them for fear Now Faith conduceth much to the fixing and establishing the heart against fears Psal 112.7 He shall not be afraid of evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. Psal 56.11 In God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me And therefore it conduceth much to the preparing of a man to undergo his afflictions I might shew you here what you should believe in reference to your afflictions to enable you to bear them with chearfulness among many things that might be instanced in I will mention only these three 1. Believe that no affliction doth or ever shall befal you but by the wise and gracious providence of God and that not only every affliction but every circumstance in every affliction is ordered and disposed by the infinite wisdom of God This is agreeable to such Scriptures as these Rom. 11.36 Of him and through him and to him are all things Ephes 1.11 Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Matth. 10.30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered The believing that Gods hand is in our afflictions will bow our hearts and make them stoop and submit to God though it be a smarting Rod wherewith the Lord corrects us They were dreadful judgments which Samuel denounced against Eli yet he submits himself readily to it because it came from God 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 2. Believe that in every affliction God designeth the bringing glory to his Name and the doing good to your own souls you have good ground to believe this for the Scriptures do assure us that God aims both at our good and his own glory in all our afflictions Heb. 12.10 He chastneth us for our profit Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Rom. 11.36 To him are all things All things are not only of God as the efficient but they also tend to him as their end Isa 5.16 The Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment This made the Apostle joyful in his afflictions that they did illustrate the glory of God 2 Cor. 12.9,10 Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake He rejoyced also in his afflictions because they did promote the good of his soul When some preached Christ out of contention with a design to add affliction to his bonds Phil. 1.14 Was he troubled at the affliction they created to him No for he saith I therein do rejoyce yea and will rejoyce ver 18. And what made him to rejoyce herein He gives us the reason of his joy ver 19. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your Prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ 3. Believe that you shall be delivered out of your troubles this will be a means to support you under them Psal 27.13 I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living You have good ground from the Word of God to believe that you shall be delivered out of all your troubles though they be very many Psal 34.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all And though they be great as well as many such as you never met with or heard of the like yet you may rest upon God that he will deliver you out of them Jer. 30.7 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacobs trouble but he shall be saved out of it What is your affliction Is it the rod of men God will not suffer it to lye over-long upon you Psal 125.3 The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hand unto iniquity Is it the Rod of God that is upon you Do the arrows of the Almighty stick fast in your soul doth he contend with you This will not last alwayes Isa 57.16 I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wrath for the spirit should fail before me and the soul which I have made Doth the Lord do more then contend with you doth he seem to reject and cast off your soul you may be assured that he will not deal thus with you alwayes because he himself hath said it that he will not cast off for ever Lam. 3.31,32 The Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies Is it a temptation of Satan that disquiets you wait but a while on God and he will tread Satan and all his temptations under your feet Rom. 16.20 The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly Is it some sin that vexeth and troubleth your soul wait a while upon God and he will deliver you from your sins as well as your other troubles Mich. 7.19 He will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities Psal 130.7,8 Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities When David was under many sorrows that disturbed and cast down his soul he bore up himself with hope of a better state that though for the present he was in a mourning condition the time would come wherein he should praise God for helping him out of his troubles Psal 42.5 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance 3. If we would be prepared to undergo every affliction that God shall lay upon us we must labour to get Gods strength engaged with us for us Though of our selves we can do nothing yet through the help of God we shall be able to do and suffer great things Psal 60.11,12 Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man Through God we shall do valiantly Psal 18.29 By thee have I run through a Troup and by my God have I leaped over a Wall By the help of God we may do and suffer every thing Phil. 4.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me If a man have God for his strength he
should then have perished in mine affliction It was by the help of the word of truth that the Apostle went through his manifold troubles with great patience 2 Cor. 6.4,5,7 Now there are variety of promises which do relate to an afflicted condition which may be of great use to us in our afflictions which we shall do well to store up against an evil day I will mention some of them 1. God hath promised to moderate our afflictions and to lay no more upon us than he will enable us to bear 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Isa 27.8 In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it he stayeth his rough wind in the day of his East wind Jer. 15.11 The Lord said Verily it shall be well with thy remnant verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction This promise is added after the mentioning of Gods unalterable purpose to send four sore Judgments upon the Jews Death the Sword Famine and Captivity verse 1 2. So also after mention of a time of trouble such as there had not been the like God comforts his people with his promise that he would not correct them out of measure though he suffered them to partake of the common calamity Jer. 30.7,10,11 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacobs trouble Yet the Lord encourageth Jacob not to be afraid Fear thou not O my servant Jacob saith the Lord neither be dismayed O Israel for I am with thee saith the Lord to save thee though I make a full end of all Nations whether I have scattered thee yet will I not make a full end of thee but I will correct thee in measure and will not leave thee altogether unpunished 2. God hath promised us his presence in our afflictions Psal 91.15 He shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble Isa 43.1,2 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel Fear not When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee This promise hath dependance on the last verse where the Prophet telleth us what calamities were come upon Israel He hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle and it hath set him on fire round about and then addeth but now thus saith the Lord Fear not When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee God would not have his people fear any trouble because he will be with them in all their troubles in one as well as another and that not only when they first enter into them but till they are safely passed through all the troubles of this life 3. God hath promised to strengthen and support and uphold us in all our troubles I have mentioned several promises to this purpose already as Joel 3.15,16 Isa 41.10 I will add two or three more Nahum 1.7 The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him Psal 37.39,40 The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord he is their strength in time of trouble And the Lord shall help them and deliver them he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they put their trust in him Isa 41.14 Fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy redeemer the Holy One of Israel see also Isa 25.4 4. God hath promised to comfort and revive our souls when we are in affliction Psal 138.7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble thou wilt revive me thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies and thy right hand shall save me Micah 7.8 When I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me Psal 71.20,21 Thou which hast shewn me great and sore troubles shall quicken me again and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth thou shalt encrease my greatness and comfort me on every side Isa 66.13 As one whom his mother comforteth so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem John 14.18 I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you 5. God hath promised to sanctifie our afflictions and he hath promised they shall purge out our sins and make us more holy and shall be all of them so blessed unto us that they shall work together for our good Isa 27.9 By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away their sin Zech. 13.9 I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose 6. God hath promised in due time to deliver us out of all our afflictions 1 Pet. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time Job 5.19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee Psal 34.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all God hath promised when he seeth it to be most for our good and for his own glory to preserve us from afflictions Psal 121.7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil he shall preserve thy soul Psal 32.7 Thou art my hiding place thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance but when he doth not preserve us from trouble he hath promised to deliver us out of trouble Psal 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me SECT 13. 13. Endeavour to demean your selves in such sort towards God that you may prevail with him to continue still to watch over and preserve both your persons houses and substance If you ask what you should do that you may engage the Lord to continue his preservation of your persons and substance I answer 1. Walk in the fear of the Lord and serve him with an upright and sincere heart Satan saith of Job who was an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil Job 1.9,10 Doth Job fear God for nought Hast not thou made an hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and encreased his substance in the land Prov.
from sending any more such dreadful Fires we must cease from those sins which did provoke God to send this sore Judgment Until the cause of a Judgment be removed we can have but little hope it should cease What sins they are that provoke God to send this dreadful Judgment of Fire hath been shewn before Quest 2. Sect. 4. If we cease from our sins and return unto God we may hope and expect that God will cease from his mighty Judgments Mal. 3.7,11,12 Return unto me and I will return unto you saith the Lord of Hosts And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes And all Nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a a delight some land After Judea had been wasted with Fire and Sword the Lord promiseth if they would cease from their sins he would remove his Judgments Isa 1.7,16,17,19,26 Your Cities are burnt with Fire cease to do evil learn to do well If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land And I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning afterward thou shalt be called The City of Righteousness the faithful City 4. If we would have no more such dreadful Fires we must labour to pacifie Gods anger that is kindled against us The mighty Judgments of God that have fallen upon us viz. the Sword the great Pestilence and this dreadful Fire are tokens of great wrath against this Nation and we may fear in regard there is so little reformation that notwithstanding all that is come upon us the anger of the Lord is not turned away but that his hand is stretched out still as it is said three times of Israel after mentioning great and sore Judgment For all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still Isa 9.12,17,21 Wherefore we must endeavour to pacifie and turn away the Lords anger else we may expect that the same Judgments will return or some others as dreadful as any of these will fall upon us Now if you ask How shall we get Gods anger turned away from the Nation I shall instance only in these two means 1. Gods chosen ones must get into the gap and cry mightily to God in the Name of Jesus Christ that he would turn away his fierce anger that is kindled against us The Prayers of impenitent sinners cannot prevail with God to turn from his wrath but the Prayers of his Saints and Servants will cause him to lay aside his anger Psal 106.23 He said he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before in the breach to turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them Jer. 18.20 Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them What Prayers the servants of God put up to God in the Name of Jesus Christ are presented by the Lord Jesus unto his Father Heb. 7.25 Rev. 8.3 and when the Lord Jesus interceeds with his Father for the turning away of his wrath from a Nation or a particular person his request shall certainly be granted Zech. 1.12,13 The Angel of the Lord said O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years And the Lord answered the Angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words and presently after comes tidings of the ceasing of Gods wrath and his returning with mercy to Jerusalem ver 16. 17. Thus saith the Lord I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies My Cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem 2. We must every one turn from his evil wayes and turn unto the Lord with all our hearts and then his wrath shall be turned away from us Jonah 3.8,9 Let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Hos 14.1,4 O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity and when Israel did return at the call of God hear what God saith unto him ver 4. I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him Jer. 3.12 Return thou back-sliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever 5. If we would have God cease from sending any more such dreadful Fires we must set our faith on work on the blood of Christ and on the Promises of God It was the blood of the Sacrifice that made atonement under the law both for particular persons and for the whole Congregation of Israel Lev. 17.11 It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul And as the blood of the Sacrifice made atonement for particular persons so also for the whole Congregation of Israel Lev. 4.13,14,17,18,20 These Sacrifices did type out the blood of Christ and signified to us that faith in Christs blood is the way to procure an atonement for our souls and to render God propitious after he hath been provoked to anger by our sins Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood This blood of Christ is available to make atonement for whole Nations as well as particular persons Isa 52.15 He shall sprinkle many Nations And as we should set our faith on work upon Christs blood so also on Gods promises If you ask what promises I answer such Promises wherein God hath promised to cease his Judgments after he hath for a long time been sorely contending with a people We have divers promises to this purpose I will mention some of them Lam. 4.22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished O Daughter of Zion he will no more carry thee away into captivity he will visit thine Iniquity O Daughter of Edom he will discover thy sins Nah. 1.12 Though I have afflicted thee I will afflict thee no more Isa 51.21,22,23 Hear now this thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine Thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling yea even the dregs of the cup of my fury thou shalt no more drink it again But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee Isa 60.18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy Land wasting nor destruction within thy Borders but thou shalt call thy Walls salvation and thy Gates praise Isa 57.16 I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wroth for the spirits should fail before me and the souls which I have made Zeph. 3.15 The Lord hath taken away thy Judgments he hath cast out thine Enemy the King of Israel even the Lord is in the midst of thee thou shalt not see evil any more Faith is of great force for preventing and removing of National Judgments and the procuring of National Mercies Heb. 11.32,34 Who through faith subdued Kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of aliens We may see here what great things have been done by faith it hath subdued Kingdoms it hath vanquished and put to flight great and puissant Armies it hath prevailed against the â—orest of Judgements as Fire Sword wild Beasts c. By Faith and Prayer we may even as it were hold Gods hands from destroying a Nation when they are lifted up to destroy a sinful people Exod. 32.9,10 And the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation Though the Lord was exceedingly provoked against Israel yet by the Faith and Prayer of Moses his hands were held that he did not destroy them Moses takes hold of the Covenant and pleads that in Prayer and thereby prevailed with God to turn from his wreth and to repent of the evil that he thought to do unto the people of Israel ver 11 12 13 14. The Lord stir up the like Spirit of Faith and Pryer in his Servants in this Nation that they that make mention of the Name of the Lord may never hold their peace day nor night but may cry mightily to the Lord and give him no rest until they have prevailed with him through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ to turn from the fierceness of his anger and to cease contending with us by his mighty Judgments and until he establish and make us a praise in the Earth FINIS
bereaveth himself of all good he hath no enjoyment of God no enjoyment of himself no enjoyment of any good in any of the creatures He hath no enjoyment of God for They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord Prov. 11.20 Psal 18.26 With the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward He hath no enjoyment of himself but is like a man dispossessed of his soul Luk. 21.19 In your patience possess ye your souls He hath no enjoyment of any good in any of the creatures though he be one that hath great possessions Prov. 17.20 He that hath a froward heart findeth no good He is in continual pain and anguish like a man that walks among thorns Prov. 22.5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them 4. It is a very hard matter to bear afflictions with a cheerful contented spirit When a man is crossed of his will his heart is ready to fret against the Lord even at such times as he brings afflictions upon himself by his own folly Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord. When God rebukes us and binds us in the cords of affliction we are apt to fret and fume like a wild Bull in a net Isa 51.20 Thy sons have fainted they lie at the head of all the streets as a wild Bull in a net they are full of the fury of the Lord the rebuke of thy God Nothing less than the mighty power of God will quell and keep down all the risings frettings and murmurings of the heart and make a man patient and cheerful in his afflictions Col. 1.11 Strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness There is the power the glorious power of God the power of God put forth in a mighty manner to enable a Christian to suffer afflictions with patience and joy 5. No man that is destitute of the grace of God can bear afflictions with a contented spirit There may be stupidity and insensibleness of Gods hand and there may be a restraining of murmurings in some natural men but true contentment is found only in godly persons 1 Tim. 6.8 Godliness with contentment is great gain As for unregenerate men when God doth not lay a restraint upon them they do not only fret inwardly against God but break out into open blasphemy when they meet with great and painful afflictions Isa 8.21 They shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God and look upward Rev. 16.10,11 They gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds 6. The Saints and Servants of God have found it an hard matter to bear their losses with a quiet contented spirit when God hath taken away from them those things which have been near and dear to them When Jacob did but suppose that he had lost his son Joseph he was over-whelmed with grief Gen. 37.34,35 Jacob rent his cloaths and put sackloth upon his loins and mourned for his son many days and all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him but he refused to be comforted and he said for I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning thus his father wept for him When God took away Absolom how was David cast down at his death 2 Sam. 18.33 The King was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept and as he went thus he said O my son Absolom my son my son Absolom would God I had died for thee O Absolom my son my son Jonah was a man that feared God a Type of Christ no ordinary man but a Prophet yet what abundance of discontent did he manifest for the loss of a gourd because it was a refreshment to him by keeping him from the heat of the Sun He fell into a great passion fainted was weary of his life wished that he might die and when God reasoned with him about his froward carriage he stands upon his justification Jonah 4.8,9 He fainted and wished in himself to die and said It is better for me to die than to live And God said to Jonah Dost thou well to be angry for the gourd And he said I do well to be angry even unto death Yet this gourd came up in a night and perished in a night and Jonah had not laboured at all for it neither did Jonah but God made it to grow Vers 10. When we find such a man as Jonah in such a great passion for such a small loss as a gourd which grew up and perished in a night and a day we may cry out Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him And if we are kept from fretting and discontent at our losses we must give glory to God and say as the Apostle in another case Not I but the grace of God which is with me keeps me from being discontented at my losses 7. Though it be hard to attain a cheerful contented spirit in all estates and conditions yet it is possible to be attained The Apostle Paul went through variety of afflictions as hunger thirst nakedness shipwrack imprisonment beating with rods stripes above measure cold watchings c. 2 Corinth 11.23,24,25,26,27 yet he had learned to be content in every estate Phil. 4.11,13 I have learned in whatsoever estate I am therewith to be content I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me And as he was contented so also cheerful and joyful in all his troubles 2 Cor. 7.4 I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation Now what the Apostle Paul attained to in this kind that through the help of Christ we may attain also 8. A word of counsel and advice suitably and seasonably administred to such as are in a suffering condition availeth much for the quieting comforting and supporting of their spirits under their greatest afflictions and deepest sorrows Prov. 12.25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop but a good word maketh it glad Prov. 27.9 Oyntment and perfume rejoyce the heart so doth the sweetness of a mans friend by hearty counsel Job 4.3,4 Behold thou hast instructed many and thou hast strengthned the weak hands thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthned the feeble knees Prov. 15.23 A word spoken in due season how good is it 9. No arguments or other means that are made use of either in preaching writing or private conference have such force and power to quiet support and comfort the hearts of those that faint and are disquieted and cast down under their afflictions as those that are drawn from and bottomed upon the Word of God Lev. 10.3 Moses said unto Aaron this is it that the