and Aaron took as Moses commanded him and ran into the midst of the Congregation behold the plague was begun among the People and he put on Incense and made an atonement and stood between the dead and the living and the Plague was stayed Aaron he was the High Priest and in that Office a great Type of Christ and in this action a great Type of Christ also it is he by his intercession and mediation steps in between the Living and the Dead if thou art not fallen among them that fall it is because this Aaron hath stept in to thy help because he hath rescued thee and been a Preservation unto thee The 68th Psalm is a Psalm applicable to Christ witness that passage in the 18th verse Thou hast ascended up on high thou hast led captivity captive and received Gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them This you know is spoken of and applied unto Christ by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Ephesians Chap. 4. mark now what follows in this 68th Psalm vers 26. He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death This is also spoken of Christ unto him belong the issues from death so that if thou art spared and saved in a day of slaughter it is from the Lord thou must say thou hast had this issue from death That which I drive at is this that you may not lose my design Have you not cause great cause to see that the Branch of the Lord by your escape be rendered so much the more excellent and comely to you since what escape you have is through him if you are preserved it is by Christ unto whom you are beholding for your preservation 3. Further The escaping of slaughter should render the Lord beautiful and glorious to you seeing it is from him that thou hast not onely thy Escaping but the Good of thy Escape not onely the Thing it self but the Mercy with it by him it is blessed unto you if it be blessed Some there are and O unhappy they unto whom every thing is accursed Psal 69.22 Let their Table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Every enjoyment is a snare unto some The curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked Prov. 3.33 Some men though they have houses to hide their heads in and it may be many things in them that look like mercies they are yet curses to them possibly their houses are full of the things of this World Waters of a full Cup may be rung out unto them their Eyes may stand out with fatness and they may have more then Heart can wish they may have Basket and Store and yet be cursed both in the Basket and in the Store it may be their Houses are full of Children and the Substance they leave is left unto their Babes as is the Psalmists expression but they are cursed also in the fruit of their Womb it may be Health and Life are within their Walls not one sick not one dead all preserved and well but yet it is not well for this their preservation is not blessed Let me tell you that read these lines As God smites some in anger in anger also sometimes he forbears to smite therefore in Isa 1.5 Why should you be smitten any more It was a word of great displeasure The escaping of some may be cursed unto them but if thy escape be blessed unto thee and thou hast it and the mercy with it thou art beholding unto Christ for both Some are preserved in love sweet is that expression and happy they that can say so 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 He was not onely delivered from the pit of corruption but delivered in love unto his Soul in a way of mercy and special kindness happy they that can say Thou hast given me this escape in love to my Soul But how comes a Soul to have such a Deliverance and to have it in love too from that general word Gen. 22.18 there is the fountain-head from whence our mercies flow In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be bâ—essed in Abraham's Seed meaning Christ all the Blessings come that come upon the World Whatever comes to thee or me if it come as a Blessing it is through the Seed of Abraham and upon that score we are to place it Now if thou do'st escape and this Escape be sanctified unto thee and all this be but Fruit growing upon this Branch of the Lord should not thy Escape render the Lord Jesus the more amiable to thy Soul 4. Thou hast not onely the mercy of thy Escape from Christ but skill to walk under it becomingly Vain man would be wise though he is born as the wild Asses Colt untoward untractable good for nothing unruly and perverse and if there be any thing of Wisdom given him it is from this fountain 1 Cor. 1.30 it is Christ that is made of God unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption it is in him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge and from him communicated and given down unto poor Creatures as Paul Phil. 4.12 13. saith 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 I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me that is I can do all wisely I can use and manage every Providence rightly and how canst thou do this Paul Through Christ that strengthens me So to use Afflictions and Distresses Miseries and Mercies becomingly thy strength is in Christ and from him it must be communicated unto thee and therefore the sence of this should much endear Christ unto thy Soul that not only the Mercy of an Escape is from him but also Wisdom to use and rightly to manage it To which adde 5. That by Jesus Christ this Branch of the Lord we have not onely an Escape in time of common Calamity but greater and better things which by our Escape we may be led unto the consideration and meditation of Certain it is that through this Branch of the Lord we have salvations of more kinds then one in that 68th Psalm vers 20. where it is said He that is our God is the God of Salvation Junius renders it thus He is a God powerful to all kindes of Salvation or as the Hebrew is He is the God of Salvations in the plural number So is it with Souls that have really Grace and Mercy from Christ they have Salvations of divers sorts they have Salvation from Sin from that power and dominion that sin is wont to have in the Soul they are wonderfully by Christ delivered
wilt never act Faith upon him But this was the Fruit that this escaping Remnant should bring forth and is that which God expects from preserved ones in a day of slaughter All this confirms the Truth I have been driving at and in the prosecution of it I shall propose two things to be spoken to 1. To show what Engagement there lieth upon them that escape in a day of slaughter to be thereby led unto an esteem of Christ why it should render this Branch of the Lord and Fruit of the Earth beautiful and glorious in their eyes 2. When those that do escape may conclude their escaping hath this issue and effect upon their Souls And 3. Try what Improvement we may make of this Truth First How doth our escaping in a time of Calamity lay an engagement upon the heart to prize and value Christ the more I suppose it is very natural I would evidence it in four or five things 1. Christ hath the management of all Providences and surely then of such as these a Sword goeth not thorow a Land nor a Plague thorow a City Country or Town but Christ hath a great hand in it Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand the Father out of his great love unto his Son and confidence he hath in him that he will do nothing but what is well hath committed the management of all Providences into his hands he hath given him the power of life and death in the World and where he will he spares and where he will he slayes the People of God represented under the notion of the two Witnesses it is said of them that they have a kinde of power to kill People as they will Rev. 11.6 These meaning the two Witnesses have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy and have power over Waters to turn them into Blood and to smite the Earth with Plagues as often as they will but their power is but in a way of Prayer through the great interest they have in the Lord and his Christ they can do much and carry a great stroke for or against a People But now the power of Christ is absolute he can do and govern in this matter as he pleaseth and why hath he this power look Joh. 5.22 23. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all Judgement unto the Son by judging here I humbly conceive Ruling and Government ordering and disposing of things in the World is intended which the Father doth not do without but by the Son the matter is left unto him and why That all men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father therefore is this Government committed unto the Branch of the Lord that it might gain him the more esteem We that have seen so much of Christ in these his Dispensations ought it not to have this effect upon our hearts to teach us to honour the Son as we honour the Father Especially 2. Considering That that Escape which you and I have in a day of Calamity it is through the Son if thou do'st escape this Branch of the Lord hath a great hand in it however we may rob Christ of his honour and attribute it unto second Causes yet indeed and in truth the matter is in Christs hand You read of a Retiring-Chamber for the People of God in days of Calamity Isa 26.20 Come my People enter into your Chamber and shut the doors about you hide your selves for a little moment until my indignation be over-past Are there Retiring-Chambers in the day of Gods Controversie when he comes to contend and smite down unto the Earth I might ask the question Where are they and say as David Psal 139.7 c. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me where may a man be hid in the day of Gods anger I would say Retire into Christ he is a Rock of shelter he is the Munition of Rocks where the Soul shall be hid it is the man Christ Jesus shall be a Covert from the storm a hiding place in the day of distress suitable unto which the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 32.7 Thou art my hiding-place thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with Songs of Deliverance Soul art thou preserved it is Christ hath been thy hiding place There were some in the days of David's Calamity scoffed at him and bid him flee as a Bird unto his Mountain but see what he saith Psal 11.1 In the Lord I put my trust how say ye to my Soul Flee as a Bird to your Mountain It was a Psalm penn'd in the time when he fled from Saul as I conceive and it is as if he should say It is true I have recourse sometimes unto this and that Mountain and I do go up and down from place to place to be hid from the hand of Saul but I go as God leads me as Christ goes before me and where-ever I am and which way so ever I look it is the Lord is my Refuge from him I expect my security You read Ezek. 1.26 of a Throne and upon the Throne there was one like unto a man that Man was the Man Christ Jesus the Throne upon which he sat is the Throne of his Providential Kingdom where he sits and governs all things in the World and where he sits to order all the matters in the following part of this Prophecy Now see what he doth upon this Throne of his And the Lord said unto him that is the Man cloathed with Linen that had the Writers Inkhorn by his side Go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the Abominations that be done in the midst thereof and to the others he said Go ye after him through the City and smite let not your eye spare neither have ye pity slay utterly old and young both maids and little children and women but come not near any upon whom is the mark c. I gather hence that it is Christ hath the marking men for destruction or preservation he upon the Throne of his Providential Kingdom governs and orders for preserving or destroying in a day of slaughter therefore if thou art kept know who hath been thy Keeper This was typified in the Case of Aaron in that sore Plague Numb 16.46 c. And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on Incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an attonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun
slaughter to have Christ become glorious and excellent unto them And 2. That the issue of all those dreadful destroying Judgements that shall break forth in the world shall be the putting of glory upon the head of Christ and that glory upon Christ shall be to the good and benefit of those of Israel that shall escape the slaughter I shall begin with the first namely That it is a good issue of Slaughtering-Judgements upon them that out-live such calamities that Christ is become glorious and excellent in their accounts The Words do certainly relate to a Time of great slaughter such a slaughter that Jerusalem which was once a very populous City and the places of the greatest concourse in it which were the Gates for in the Gates Justice was executed and thither was a confluence of persons from all parts but such should be the slaughter that her Gates should lament and mourn and become desolate at this time there were some should escape God useth to have a remaining Remnant when his displeasure is at highest and what should this sad Judgement work upon them that should remain The Branch of the Lord should become glorious among them You read in the 78 Psalm vers 34 35. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God and they remembred that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer When he slew them that is when he came forth with slaughtering Judgements as he did sometimes against Israel and particularly God smote them with Plagues more then once now what did they that remained and were left alive do they began to have more high and awful thoughts of the Lord then before the esteem of him was a little raised in their hearts they remembred he was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer thus far they went well onely that which followeth spoiled all in vers 36 37. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant if really the esteem of the Lord had been raised in their hearts they had been an excellent People and the Lords Judgements had wrought kindly You shall find the Lord complains for the want of such a spirit in Hos 11.7 God called there to the People and how He called by mercy I drew them with the cords of a man with the bands of love vers 4. that is I treated them kindly he called them by Judgements as you see in vers 6. The Sword shall abide on his Cities and shall consume his Branches and devour them what did God expect should be the answer unto his Call and the fruit of all his Dispensations it was that they should have exalted him honoured him and admired him at a greater rate then before but because they did not God took it ill and reckoned that his Providences had not a kindly reception among them Psal 2.6 Yet says he have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion which words are not onely a Prophecy concerning that Kingdom Christ shall have but declarative of that Kingdom he hath viz. his Providential Kingdom by which he manages and governs affairs in the World now in the management of it what doth he do sometimes as in vers 9. he rules them with a Rod of Iron and dashes in pieces like a Potters Vessel but what should they do that should out-live such Providences you shall see the Fruit that should grow upon this Root Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way Christ expects when he is abroad with his Iron Rod and dashing Earthen Vessels to pieces as he hath this day they that stand on their feet not dashed to pieces as others of the same mould he expects higher thoughts of himself and to be more esteemed by them and if he fail of his expectation let them remember that they are but Clay and therefore in the way not out of danger Jer. 51.50 Ye that have escaped the Sword go away stand not still remember the Lord afar off and let Jerusalem come into your mind God was abroad with the Sword it may be the material Sword and it may be with such a Sword of the Angel as he hath lately been cutting withall what should the Escaped do Remember the Lord Remember him you will say what is that Give me leave to open it unto you a little because I shall use the term again anon To remember the Lord implies two things among others 1. To have the heart wrought up into the fear of the Lord to sanctifie his Name Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy that is sanctifie the Sabbath so remember the Lord that is fear him let his Name be great his honour be dear unto thee Remember thy Creator what is that it is Give up thy self unto the Lord remember who he is and what he is and what he calls for from thee when a People sin against the Lord they are said to forget him many times so suitably to remember him is to fear him to honour him and lift up his Name 2. To remember the Lord is to love and delight in him to have a great esteem of him as the Lord saith Jer. 31.20 Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him Gods remembring Ephraim was his love to and delight in Ephraim so our remembring the Lord is our loving of and delighting in him and this is the frame that should be found upon the hearts of them that escape sore Calamities To fear and magnifie to love and delight in him This indeed is a right Spirit and it is called for elsewhere Ezek. 6.9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the Nations whither they shall be carried Captives Time was when Israel had few and slight thoughts of God their Redeemer but when GOD had been at work among them by severe strokes those that did escape of them their Spirits should be much amended much altered for the better they should come and love him and fear him so as they did not before So Isa 10.20 And it shall come to pass in that day what day was that a day of great slaughter for vers 19. The rest of the Trees of his Forrest shall be few that a Child may write them a Child that is but a bad Arithmetician should be able to number them that should remain the smallness of them should be such It shall come to pass that 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 staying upon the Lord is an Act of Faith and Acts of Faith do greatly glorifie Christ and speak the Heart much delighted in him if thou be'st not taken with him thou
own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your Iniquities and for your abominations The time intended here is the time when they should escape Calamities that were upon that People and God should have wrought graciously for them Then shall you remember your Own evil ways not others onely though you may remember others also you may warrantably look abroad consider the National sins and evils but be sure thou forget not thy own and having remembred to loath thy self for them to be offended with thy self that thou shouldst have any hand in the procuring of any Judgement from the Lord. There is a great mistake very common whether in Practice or Judgement I will not stand to determine we are not careful to mourn over our miscarriages but when the Rod is on our Backs like Children while the Rod is on their Backs they will cry and mourn but when the Father is pacified then forget wherefore he was contending The time of your escape is to be a time for enquiry into your ways and mourning over them look a text or two one you have Ezek. 6.9 And they that Escape of you shall remember me among the Nations whither they shall be carried captives because I am broken with their whorish heart which hath departed from me and with their eyes which go a whoring after their Idols and they shall loath themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations observe what Fruit it is the Lord expects from them that are escaped they shall remember me and remember themselves too their ways and doings and then shall loath themselves to which adde Ezek. 7.16 Escape they shall but being escaped there is a Duty lies upon them They should be upon the Mountains as the Doves of the Valleys every one mourning for his iniquity The Babylonish Captives after they escaped out of Captivity out-lived the distress that had buried many you find that at that time there was found a spirit of mourning upon them Ezra 9.3 is an evident testimony of it And when I heard this thing I rent my garment and my mantle and pluckt off the hair of my head and of my beard and sat down astonied thus did Ezra and thus should every one that escapeth the Day of Gods Controversie Now what is the frame of your hearts truly all our hearing and knowing of what frame we should be in will stand for little unless you compare your Spirits and the Word together and see whether it be with you accordingly This you may be confident of we have all had a hand in the provocation of this day and if so we should have also an eye to look into our hearts and mourn over our evil ways which must be done if we would have a proof unto our selves that this Branch of the Lord is become glorious to us after our escape 2. The Lord expects of them that escape That they should perform their Vows make good the Covenant and Promises which they made in the day when they were in trouble and fear it is very common with men in a day when distress is threatned to make large Promises and when the distress is over to be as backward in performing as before they were forward in promising this was the case of that people Jer. 2.20 For of old time I have broken thy Yoke and burst thy Bonds and thou saidest I will not transgress when upon every high Hill and under every green Tree thou wanderest playing the Harlot the meaning is when distress was upon them they cried if God would but take off that distress and remove the stroke they would be a people not transgressing a holy people but how did they keep the Promise whenas upon every high Hill and under every green Tree thou wanderest playing the Harlot falsified their word abominably that is a great evil that the Lord cannot well pass by that is a known Scripture Eccles 5.4 5. When thou vowest a Vow unto God defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fools pay that which thou hast vowed better it is that thou shouldest not vow then that thou shouldest vow and not pay in this kind delays are dangerous defer not to pay thy Vows for he hath no pleasure in folly it is folly for a man to promise unto God what he means not to perform Better it is not to vow then having vowed not to pay the Devil hath a double design upon creatures in days of distress and our own hearts much deceive us in it First I am perswaded the Devil puts poor Creatures many times upon a great forwardness to make Promises and many times our hearts do exceedingly deceive us by feeding us with some secret hopes by our Promises to buy out an indulgence from the Lord that we may escape the evil we fear and the second design of the Devil is when he hath brought the Soul to bind it self unto the Lord in abundance of bonds then to cool the heart as fast as he can and make it forget its engagements and so wraps the Soul in abundance of guilt I have found that there is no guilt defiles the Soul at a greater rate then the breach of Covenant for God will not endure to be mocked and have the Promises made unto him falsified God will put your Bonds in suit against you and require of you what you have been free to engage for Deut. 23.21 When thou shalt vow a Vow unto the Lord thy God thou shalt not slack to pay it for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee and it would be sin in thee it would be sin not to live up unto Engagements Examine your hearts what Engagements have you passed in the days of your distress it may be Visitations were near you you were in eminent hazard and your hearts troubled for fear did you not say Lord If thou wilt keep me this day if I may but out-live this distress never will I be so vain so earthly so carnal so slight in the Work of God as I have been Have you not past some such or the like promise to the great God Now Jesus Christ he is privy unto all that you have said and done though it were in secret he hath taken an account of all that you have engaged to be and do how do you perform you cannot comfortably conclude that Christ hath gotten ground in your hearts unless you have paid your Vows to the Lord. The Servants of God have been conscientious in the Case Psal 66.13 I will go into thy House with burnt-offerings I will pay thee my Vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble David had his troubles as well as other of his Neighbours and in his troubles he did sometimes make Promises unto God herein he was honest and faithful did conscientiously regard the performing the Promises he had past
hath not Thus if really thou wouldest have Christ become more glorious unto thee thou mayst be accepted in this which thou hast and it shall not be charged upon thee that thou art wanting in that which thou yet hadst not Under the Law when a Thank-Offering was to be returned and the Soul to admire the Lord in some kindness received he that could bring but two Turtle Doves and two young Pigeons if that were the most they had and the best they could bring it was accepted as well as those that brought the greatest Offerings their hearts were enlarged it is like to bring more So though thou hast but little if thou desirest more thy little will be accepted though but two Turtle Doves or two young Pigeons 5. Thou that wouldest prize Christ more know this That the Lord will increase that Grace in thee and thou shalt be able to prize him at a greater rate The Lord direct your hearts into the Love of God 2 Thes 3.5 it is the Lord that must direct thee into the Love of Christ and he will do it if thy heart be really working that way if thou dost prize him as much as thou canst he will help thee to prize him more Prov. 3.9 10. Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst with new Wine If thou dost with the first and best of thy strength endeavour to honour the Lord he will encrease thy strength and communicate unto thee abundantly And that is what I shall say to the fourth Use VSE V. To any such Soul as can say it is escaped and the Branch of the Lord is become glorious unto it I fear these Souls go into a little room there are but few of that sort yet here and there some I confidently believe there are I would all to whom this Book may come might say they find their Escaping-Mercy hath been seconded with such an effect In a word and but a word or two to this sort of persons Ah what is thy mercy O Soul an Escape and the good of it too this is Mercy indeed to be delivered from the pit of Corruption and to be delivered in love to thy Soul What is thy Duty Truly 1. To admire the faithfulness of the Lord in keeping Covenant with thee It is a special Blessing and Promise of the New Covenant That God will not shew his People kindness onely but will also give them the good of that kindness that he sheweth to them To be saved in a day of Distress and thy spirit bettered also look on it as a mercy more then Preservation without which thy Preservation might have been imbittered unto thee O celebrate his praises as a God that keeps Covenant and Mercy and will not alter the good word that he hath spoken to thee 2. Let this incourage thee to press after prizing Christ more as Paul speaking of the Corinthians You love the Lord Jesus see you abound yet more and more so say I O labour to abound more and more Let this goodness by which you are brought to prize him engage you to prize him more and more 3. Communicate thy Experience unto trembling Saints speak to them of his gracious dealings unto thee that their hearts may be incouraged to trust in him Come saith David and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my Soul We have experience every one of us of what God hath done upon our Bodies O let us be careful to shew forth his praise That is what I shall say unto the fifth Use Again VSE VI. I might speak a word to another sort of persons If escaping a Day of Calamity should cause a Soul to see a greater Beauty in Christ what should it work upon them on whom the Calamity is fallen and yet are escaped There are many such if you that read what I have written meet with them and know them you may do well to give them a little account of what may be spoken in such a case How should that kindness be admired when poor Creatures have had Bodies full of pain Spirits full of fear looking the King of Terrours in the face every moment poor Creatures that it may be would have given had they had it all the world to have been assured they should have been raised from their Bed and set upon their Feet poor Creatures that it is like were sequester'd from company whose case was like that of David Psal 38.11 My Lovers and my Friends stand aloof from my sore and my Kinsmen stand afar off Now that the Lord should be with and look after them in such a time and raise them this should have such effects as such a mercy had once upon Hezekiah Isa 38.15 I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my Soul that is I shall retain a sence of the bitterness that was upon my Soul and in that sence I shall go softly the man that walks softly step by step he goes heedfully and carefully and mindes every step he takes so should such poor Souls walk that have been delivered from such hazard and bitterness of Soul they should walk warily the rest of their time To which two things may much engage 1. That certainly the Escape in such a case is thorow Christ I am satisfied in this That this Judgement of the Plague as other Diseases hath in it natural Causes and natural Means are helpful to deliver from it but as it is in other cases whatever natural Causes there are to further any Disease upon the Body of Man the Lord hath a hand in it and makes use of those natural Causes and so whatever Means are useful for recovery in any case the blessing and efficacy of it depends upon the Lord so it is in this case also very eminently that a Soul may say as it is said Isa 38.16 O Lord by these things men live and in all these things is the life of my Spirit some read the words They shall live for whom the Lord is which is a great variation from our Translation They shall live for whom the Lord is that is whose protection he is and whom he stands by 2. If Christ be not glorious to such a Soul he can bring a worse evil upon them John 5.14 Go away sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee God can bring a worse thing upon a Creature then the Plague he can make death to be chosen rather then life as you have it Jer. 8.3 And death shall be chosen rather then life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family c. VSE VII Should a souls escaping publick Calamity render Christ the more glorious Surely it should have this effect upon those into whose Walls it came into whose House it entered and yet it may be their Persons not touched but have been preserved though Death was
Slaughter THis Truth lieth as plainly in the Words as may be and for the prosecution of it I shall propound this plain method First To shew you that in days of slaughter all the Israel of God may not escape Some of them may but others may fall Secondly That the result of the slaughter whoever stands or falls shall be for the raising up Christ and his glory for the getting him a Name Thirdly I shall endeavour to shew you what glory shall be brought to Christ in the end and issue of the slaughters that shall be made in the World And Fourthly That all the glory that shall be put upon the head of Christ shall be in mercy unto those of Israel that out-live and escape the Distresses that shall break in upon the World And then Fifthly The Application will follow First To begin then with the first viz. That in days of slaughter all the Israel of God possibly may not escape some of them may fall to the ground That is clearly intimated in the Text The Branch of the Lord shall be glorious to THEM that ARE escaped of Israel strongly holding out to us that some among Israel may fall I need say nothing to confirm this Truth but onely refer you to our sad experience this day I might bid you go round unto all the Churches of Christ in and about the great City and ask them how it hath fared with the Saints of God this day doubtless you will find every of them reckoning up their Slain and those that have fallen by the Sword of the Angel I might bid you go unto every Soul that knows God in truth in and about this City and see what account they will give you I am perswaded you would find almost every of them making some or other sad complaint for the loss of such and such a Christian Friend and such a one that feared the Lord with whom they had much intimacy and acquaintance this is the general cry among the Saints this day But a little that these proceedings of God may not startle you you shall finde some footsteps of like dealings in the days of old that God hath not walked in an untrodden path but a course he hath sometimes taken in days and times past Sometimes in Scripture you find the Lord threatning of and cutting down onely the Uncircumcised Ones the profane Nations and People of the earth thus Ezek. 32. you have a long Catalogue of the dreadful Judgements of God upon men uncircumcised from ver 20. to vers 30. where he tells you that many of the barbarous Nations that knew not God are gone down to the pit being slain with the sword and he concludes vers 30. There be the Princes of the North all of them and the Zidonians which are gone down with the slain with their terrour they are ashamed of their might and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit c. At other times you find the Lord dealing with his own People as with the uncircumcised and laying them together under the same Calamity and Distress Jer. 9. is a famous instance vers 25. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised God tells us plainly there are such times in which his own People and others may fare alike Calamities and Distresses may make no distinction it may be in some measure unto the Saints as it is to the Sinners You shall find the Lord in Scripture sometimes threatens as heavy things against his Israel as against any Jer. 14. the Prophet begins to beg mercy for Israel O the Hope of Israel ver 8. the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble why shouldst thou be as a Stranger in the Land and as a way-faring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night in which words he seems to intimate that it would be a strange thing a strange way of proceeding if God should turn against his People if thou art the Saviour of thy People wilt thou yet turn thy hand against Israel to whom thou hast been known as a Saviour but God stopt the mouth of the Prophet vers 11 12. Then said the Lord unto me Pray not for this People for their good when they fast I will not hear their cry and when they offer burnt-Offerings and an Oblation I will not accept them but I will consume them by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence This very Israel unto whom God was sometimes known as a Saviour yet at this time he took up a resolution concerning them that he would come out against them and consume them by his sore Judgements So Ezek. 33. God threatens some that out-lived and escaped some Distresses vers 27. Thus saith the Lord God As I live surely they that are in the Wastes shall fall by the Sword and him that is in the open Field will I give unto the Beasts to be devoured and they that be in the Forts and in the Caves shall die of the Pestilence This is spoken of Israel And those of Israel that as yet were not carried away captive God comes out against them with this purpose and determination that though they did remain and were preserved they should at length fall So Jer. 44.13 some there were that in the time of Israel's Captivity fled into Egypt for refuge and what says he I will punish them that dwell in the Land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence observe God sometimes punisheth Jerusalem the Seat of his own People with these great and sore Judgements Sometimes if his own People shall think to take Sanctuary and refuge themselves here and there it shall not avail but the hand of the Lord shall overtake them Let me tell you not onely some of Gods Israel may fall by slaughter but some of the principal of his People some of the choice ones of the flock Jer. 25.34 35. Howl ye Shepherds and cry and wallow your selves in the Ashes ye principal of the Flock for the dayes of your Slaughter and of your Dispersion are accomplished and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel and the Shepherds shall have no way to flee nor the Principal of the Flock to escape We are apt to say when we see God terrible in his doings to the children of men and terrible in his dealings to his own People What do these things mean We are ready to look upon such Providences as things uncouth strange and unheard-of but we finde it is not out of the course and method that God hath observed heretofore So that I may conclude in respect of common calamity it sometimes falls according to that Eccl. 9.2 All things come alike unto all there is one event to the Righteous and to the Wicked to the Good to the Clean and to the Unclean to
him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not As is the Good so is the Sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath But if the Reason be demanded How comes it to pass and whence is it that any of God's Israel should fall in times of slaughter 1. Not to insist upon the Prerogative of God which might be the first thing whereby he is Lord of all his Creatures and his own People as well as others and therefore may dispense unto all according to the good-pleasure of his own Will 2. In the second place the ground of it may be this viz. That God cannot keep his Covenant with his People sometimes at any cheaper rate he cannot be faithfull sometimes to his Promise with his own People unless he let them feel some smarting Rod and taste of that Cup of which he makes his Enemies drink a full Draught God by Covenant stands bound to purge out the folly that is bound up in the hearts of his Children and truly sometimes lusts in the Soul are like rust in Iron deeply eat in and cannot well be gotten out without some severe and ruff usage 3. But thirdly The main Reason the grand and principal Ground why some of Israel may perish in times of common Calamity is this they sin as the world and so God leaves them to suffer with and as the world their provocations are like the wickeds therefore he is pleased to suit out an external punishment something like that that falls upon the rest of the world the Lord saith that sometimes the sin of his own People is not onely as the sin of the world but greater Jer. 5.28 They are waxen fat they shine yea they overpass the deeds of the wicked It is spoken of God's Israel The truth is though the sin of Saints shall never damn them they are interested in Christ and there is no condem nation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 and herein is much of the overflowing Grace of the new Covenant that notwithstanding the sin of Saints may have some such provoking ingredients as the sin of sinners hath not that yet sinners shall perish eternally under their sins but the Saints shall not come into condemnation yet I say the sin of a Saint may lay him under an external dispensation with the sinner the Saints sin against such light as few sinners do and such love as no sinner can and that makes their provocation more provoking than the sins of sinners When it is thus among the Lord's People the Lord is pleased to let them or some of them at least to fall by sore slaughter It is upon such a supposition that God threatens his People in Deut. 28.58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this day that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name THE LORD THY GOD Then the Lord will make thy Plagues wonderful and the Plagues of thy seed even great Plagues and of long continuance and sore sickness and of long continuance The case supposed here is this That God's People may not keep to the Law of the Lord that they may not carry it like a people that know something of God that they may not carry it as a people that know what dread there is in the Name JEHOVAH which is a Name that speaks the Great God able to meet with avenge himself on all them that walk not with him in Truth and Uprightness that they may not carry it as those that have intrest in the Lord Intrest in the Lord doth not give a liberty unto sin but is the greatest engagement unto Holiness and souls may forget that Obligation under which they lie those bonds of God that are upon them that filial Child-like obedience which they are to render unto their Father and upon such defects God threatneth as you have heard Take his threatning in a few particulars and you shall see what sin may bring upon the Lord 's own People he threatneth first Plagues yea all kind of Plagues Judgements of every sort 2dly Such as should be wonderfull that should be full of terrour and amazement unto all that look upon them as God sometimes speaks to his People and tells them he will make them an astonishment to all round about them yea such as should make them a wonder unto themselves 3dly He threatens they should lie under Plagues of long continuance year after year we are apt to think a judgment must be terminated to and ended in such a space of time but God can stretch it out upon his own even for a long season 4thly All the Judgements of Egypt shall come upon them all the Judgements they were afraid of and proved a terrour unto their souls 5thly They might fall under such Judgements as they had not heard or at any time read of before he would create trouble to them Certainly if it be according to that word Lam. 3.33 that the Lord doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men though they are but the children of men the Lord doth not easily afflict them not at every turn contend with them much less will he upon light and slight occasions contend with his own People and the choicest of his own but when he finds them under provocations he is pleased thus to break out against them Observe that where you find God coming out to cut off his People by a slaughtering stroke you shall find some notable provocation was the procuring cause it was not for nothing Deut. 28.21 The Lord shall make the Pestilence cleave unto thee until he hath consumed thee from off the Land whither thou goest to possess it It was spoken to Israel upon what occasion the 15th verse will tell you But it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandments and his Statutes which I command thee this day that all these Curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee And so Ezek. 5.11 12. Wherefore as I live saith the Lord God surely because thou hast defiled my Sanctuary with all thy detestable things and with all thine abominations therefore will I also diminish thee neither shall mine eye spare nor will I have any pity A third part of thee shall die by the Pestilence and with Famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee and a third part shall fall by the Sword round about thee and I will scatter a third part into all the winds and will draw out a Sword after them c. Here are dreadful threatnings and it was upon great provocations there were great turnings aside from God corrupting his Worship polluting his Sanctuary the fire of God's jealousy burns hot about his Sanctuary and if he find his People in the matter of his Worship corrupted he breaks out against them with great severity It was upon some such account David shunned the
also it cannot be otherwise Secondly Christs Glory must needs be for the good of his People in that all the Glory he is intrusted with as Mediator it is in their names for their sakes and for their uses he is Head over all things to his Church Eph. 1.22 I may therefore say unto Saints as they in Cant. 3.11 Go forth O ye Daughters of Jerusalem and behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith his Mother crowned him in the day of his Espousals in the day of the gladness of his Heart Go forth and look upon by the Eye of Faith that Glory that shall be upon the Head of Christ and look upon it with comfort you may account it a joyous spectacle for it is that that shall work out your Mercy if your hearts be upright with God A little further to shew you what benefit shall come unto Saints by Christs being glorious 1. When Christ is glorious glorious Liberty shall come unto the Saints We are now a company of inthralled Creatures not only unto our own lusts but the lusts of men you have a notable expression Rom. 8.21 The Creature it self also shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God The Creatures of the Earth are now in bondage unto the lusts of Men our Rayment is in bondage to our Pride our Meat to Gluttony our Drink to Drunkenness and other things the like the Creatures are held in slavery unto the lusts of Men but there is a time when they shall have glorious Liberty when men shall not be able at their pleasure to inthrall and oppress them Psal 72.12 14. the Psalmist speaking of Christ in his glory saith of him That he shall deliver the Needy when he crieth the Poor also and him that hath no helper he shall redeem their Souls from death and violenee and precious shall their Blood be in his sight It is worth your observing that the whole design of Christ is but to do his People good to save them and therefore at the 4th verse of that Psalm it is said He shall save the Children of the needy and particularly this service he shall do them he shall give them glorious Liberty 2. This shall be their Glory their Reproach shall be wiped away the People of God have been a reproached People greatly reproached but their reproach shall be rolled away When Israel came to Canaan they were circumcised and the place where they were circumcised was called Gilgal and the reason given Josh 5.9 For there he rolled away the reproach of Egypt the lot of the Saints is to be reproached in Egypt but there shall be a time and day and a Place also which he will name Gilgal a time and place when and where he will roll away the reproach of his People For the present sometimes God gives his People unto reproach as you have it Isa 43.28 Therefore I have profaned the Princes of the Sanctuary and have given Jacob to the curse and Israel to reproaches but there is also a time when reproaches shall be taken away Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pity his People yea the Lord will answer and say unto his People Behold I will send you Corn and Wine and Oyl and ye shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproach among the Heathen 3. The Glory of the Saints shall be this They shall be raised up to much height and dignity that the greatest of all the ungodly ones of the Earth shall bow before them for which take one place insted of many Isa 60.14 The Sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soals of thy feet and they shall call thee The City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel It were great arrogancy for any of the Saints to hope for such a thing as this had not God spoken it and it is as great infidelity not to believe it since the mouth of the Lord hath uttered it 4. They shall have this Glory More eminent and uninterupted Communion with God and Christ then ever yet they had and this is the thing that every good Soul longs for long for it they do that is certain and when they are hinder'd in that enjoyment it is their great burthen when their Tabernacles are taken down their communion's broken this is that that makes them go mourning but the Lord will give his People more eminent and glorious communion with himself and his Son then they have yet partaken of It is said Isa 60.7 with respect to a time yet to come The Flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee the Rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee they shall come up with acceptance on mine Altar and I will glorifie the House of my Glory Observe it the Glory of the Temple of old was the presence of God in the Temple he was said to fill the House with his Glory the communion that the Saints had with God was the Temple-Glory God meeting with them in his Appointments and Administrations and now he promiseth here I will glorifie the House of my Glory I will fill my Churches and Saints with more Glory then yet they have seen the meaning is they shall have more of my presence with them and more abundant communion and fellowship with me then heretofore Isa 66.11 it is said They shall be delighted with the abundance of her Glory that ye may suck and be satisfied with the Brests of her Consolation that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her Glory 5. And in the last place this shall be the Glory of Saints Even their glorious Union one with another and this shall be their mercy in the day of Christ in Zeph. 3.8 9. the Lord saith Therefore wait ye upon me until the day that I rise up unto the prey for 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 for 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 It is the great cry among the People of God O that we could come to Unity to love as Brethren all cry for want of it though few endeavour after it as they ought to do but when we have done our utmost endeavours which is our Duty yet it will not rise up to any great height till Christ come in his Glory Wait upon ME until I arise to the prey to do gloriously in the World and then I will work thus and thus that you may come to serve me with One Consent They mistake greatly that think to force People to a Union to make them all of one mind it is the work of
from all your Idols will I cleanse you a new Heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a Heart of flesh There are them who are really impure and grievously polluted and yet think all is well with them witness that known word Prov. 14.12 13. There is a Generation that is pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness There is a Generation O how lofty are their eyes and their eye-lids are lifted up There are some Souls greatly confident of their own purity and yet defiled wofully While they boast of their freedom and brag of their purity and are crying to others it may be Stand by thy self for I am holier then thou they become after this Servants to Corruption Others there are in whom a cleansing-work is really begun but because there are some remains of corruption in their Souls it fills their hearts so much with grief and blinds their eyes so much that they cannot see the cleansing that is begun To clear this therefore I must tell you That where there is really heart-purity there is much of the love of purity If thou hast not attained what of it thou wouldest yet thy heart is really in love with it Prov. 22.11 He that loveth pureness of Heart for the grace of his Lips the King shall be his Friend There are a People it may be have not attained to that pureness of heart they would do but yet pureness of heart they love and Grace is poured into their Lips to such the King will be a Friend they shall find a Friend of Christ and he will not be ashamed to own them in the day of his greatest Glory when the Crown shall be set upon his Head Not a Soul in whom purity is but he is pressing after it in greater measure though he has not attained it yet he does not sit down and cry There is no hope for me but he is going forward and pressing after more of the Image of God to be implanted in his Soul Now what is the answer of your Hearts Can you from hence conclude comfortably you are some of Gods Israel Are the lusts that boil up in your hearts fomented and cherished favoured and allowed served and pleased If so it is sad with you If you lie in the bosom of any Lust as in the lap of a Delilah if thou sayest of any sin in thy Soul as sometimes Lot said concerning his Zoar I cannot escape to the Mountains but there is a City near is it not a little one let me flee thither and I shall live All the Cities of the Plain were doomed to destruction at that day but Lot was earnest to prevail for the saving of one little City that he might delight himself in it There is not a lust in thy Soul but it is doomed to destruction and God requires it should be put to death but possibly thou sayest of it O spare it it is a little one Let me be faithful to thee and tell thee that that sin will be enough to race out thy name out of the Catalogue of the Israel of God and when others will stand with comfort that have escaped this day thou wilt be ashamed and confounded 3. Art thou of the Israel of God Then thou art one that hast learned in some measure to live upon God As it is the certain property of so it is a great excellency in the Israel of God that they live upon him and this was as eminently found in Jacob as ever in any one of the Servants of the Lord When he was going to Padan Aram not knowing what should befall him observe how he speaks Gen. 28.20 Jacob vowed a Vow saying If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I go and will give Bread to eat and Rayment to put on c. The great thing about which he was solicitous was that he might have the presence of God He had a little before in this Chapter a most glorious Vision of God and I must confess Visions of God are exceeding effectual to teach and work up the heart to a living upon God and what does Jacob now say If he might have but God to live upon a very little of other matters should content him Bread to eat somewhat that might support his nature and Rayment to put on enough to cover him and keep him warm he doth not say If I may have Varieties and Dainties to eat and may be decked in costly Apparel no but onely Bread to eat and Rayment to put on If I can have but God a little of the World will serve my turn This is the Spirit of Israel and that with which I doubt very few are acquainted I must crave leave to put this to all your Souls and ask you what is the answer of your hearts Can you say upon good grounds as the Church of God sometimes said The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul Lam. 3.24 Suppose should Satan take you as once he did Christ and set you upon a high Mountain and shew you the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them and tell you All these things you shall have if you will forgo and part with God What would the answer of your hearts be in that case Suppose Christ should come and say to you If you will have a part in me you must expect trouble you shall be hated of all men for my Names sake yea the Parents from whose Bowels ye sprang shall turn against you Can you say Amen so be it Let me have the Lord for my Portion and I can forgo all other things whatsoever This is Israel's Spirit and so far as it â—s thus with you it is right What excellency have you seen in the Lord at any time How have your hearts been taken with him What are the workings of your Souls toward him What are you labouring after Is it that you may know God and enjoy him What is it doth relieve you in the time of your straights Is it this that the Lord is yours It was David's comfort when all went against him when Ziklag was burnt his Wives and all were taken and the People spake of stoning him he then encouraged himself in the Lord his God What is it that sweetens all your enjoyments to you Is it this That you have a part in that which is better then all these that you have a part in the Lord and he is become your God and Father in Christ Happy yea thrice happy are you that can say as once David did The Lord hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is my Salvation and this is all my Joy But O unhappy they who are not able to subsist without their Thousands and look upon themselves as undone for ever if worldly Interest runs but
a little against them And unhappy you if in your Youth and Strength you have few thoughts or few serious thoughts of God if he be little in your thoughts and hearts I tell you it is to be feared you are not of the Israel of God unto this day Though you escape and are preserved yet it is to be feared your preservation will not be attended with mercy to you nor shall you bear a part in that Glory that shall be upon the heads of Israel when the Branch of the Lord shall be glorious 4. If you are the Israel of God then are you Holiness to the Lord you not onely live upon him but to him in some measure Jer. 2.9 the Prophet saith Israel was Holiness to the Lord that is when Israel was in his right spirit then he was Holiness to the Lord. For the expression you have it in Scripture elsewhere Zech. 14.20 21. In that day there shall be upon the Bells of the Horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD and the Pots in the Lords House shall be like the Bowls before the Altar yea every Pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of Hosts that is every Person and every Thing shall be for God for his Work and Service to be to his Praise and Glory Certain it is Saints are not their own as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 6.19 Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price and so Tit. 2.13 14. where speaking concerning the purchase of Christ Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and might purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works The Vessels of the Temple before they were made use of in the Temple they had a legal consecrating and being cleansed they were given up to the work of the Temple to be for that use for ever And so the Saints of the Lord who were typified by the Vessels of the Temple they are first purified cleansed and sanctified by Christ by the work of the Spirit on their Souls and then given up to the Lord and his service It may be said of them as Hannah said of her Son Samuel 1 Sam. 1.28 Therefore I have lent him unto the Lord to be his so long as he lives Every Israelite indeed is one lent to the Lord given up to be for the work and service of the Lord in his whole course and in every thing to exalt his praise to mind his glory Certainly thus it ought to be and this was one end of the Death of Christ that he might have his People be for him 2 Cor. 5.15 He died and rose that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but to him that died for them and rose again and unto this Spirit Saints are wrought up in some good measure as is expressed Rom. 14.7 And none of us saith the Apostle live to our selves Souls what say your Hearts to this matter You profess for the Lord but are you for him as consecrated things in the House of God Which way do your Hearts work day by day This know where there hath not been a solemn resignation and giving up a mans self unto the Lord where there is not a diligent observing of a mans whole course to see to what ends they are directed and whether the glory of Christ be therein sought it is doubtful that Soul is not of the Israel of God to this day The truth is the sins of many witness to their Faces and I make no doubt but that inscription may be written over the doors of many Professors upon too great ground All men seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ If this be the spirit of any to whom these things may come you may fear though you are spared and are not cut down this day you stand but to cumber the ground such as God takes little delight in and such as from whom he hath little fruit such as he doth not reckon among the number of his Israel and such as shall not be blessed with Israels mercies when the Branch of the Lord shall be exalted 5. Are you Israel then are you a praying People Israel had thence his Name from his wrestling and prevailing with God God asked him what was his Name Gen. 32.27 28. he said Jacob and God said Thy Name shall no more be called Jacob but Israel for as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed In his praying there is observable his importunity and that is expressed partly when it is said he wrestled and also in that expression wherein much freedom and familiarity with God is set forth God said Let me go says Jacob I will not let thee go except thou bless me v. 26. which importunity of his is again noted by the Spirit of God Hos 12.4 He had power over the Angel he wept and he made supplication There is also observable that this Prayer it was in secret Gen. 32.24 And Jacob was left ALONE it was between the Lord and himself in secret which I would beseech you to consider heartily That as soon yea at the very first moment when a Soul is enrolled among the number of Israel at that instant he becomes a praying Person as in the case of Saul who was afterward called Paul And let me ask you that attend on the Lord in publick Duties what are you in secret Does God usually there hear from you Cannot you live without seeing the face of God in secret Let me tell you publick Duties have many temptations a man may desire to be engaged in them from many base and bad ends yea it is possible natural Conscience and your Education may carry you into corners sometimes but therefore in secret how do you carry it Doth it satisfie you that you have been in your Closets and have spent it may be a quarter of an hour there and it may be with a slight and formal Spirit This is not the Spirit of Israel But if thou art an Israelite indeed when thou art in secret thou wilt be fervent and earnest with God In publick Duties a man may seem to be zealous that he may get a Name or keep up a Name that he hath gotten or to some such-like end but when in secret the Soul cries mightily to the Lord it is a good sign that there is a sense of want and that it does arise from a Spirit of Grace in the Soul when thou canst in secret sign and mourn before the Lord. Now these things I have gone over with this design to see if I could let you into a little Hope and good Ground that as you have escaped so you are escaping Israelites who shall partake of Glory when Christ the Branch of the Lord shall be made glorious And the Lord help you to be faithful to your Souls
for a time they shall be dealt withall according to the violence done to the Saints of God The violence done to me and to my Flesh be upon Babylon shall the Inhabitants of Zion say Isa 51.22 23. I have taken the cup of trembling out of thy hand that is out of Zions hand 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 which have said to thy Soul Bow down that we may go over and thou hast laid thy Body as the ground and as the street to them that went over They shall suffer too according to the contempt of the Gospel and the dishonour done to Christ that way for he shall come to deal with all them that do not know him and obey not the Gospel and also according to the sin of despising the forbearance of Christ Indeed this day you are escaped and the patience of Christ is exercised towards you but let me tell you if you stand and abide in your sinful state you shall find that the abusing of the patience of Christ is but treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath 5. Those that have escaped and not Israel they shall be compassed about with eternal Sorrows and shall never rise out of them Says the Church Though I fall I shall arise again and though I sit in darkness yet the Lord shall be a light to me Then shall she be confounded that is the Enemies of the Church shame shall cover her That will be the portion of every sinner though he may escape for a season shame shall cover him misery and distress shall abide him for ever VSE III. HAving dispatch'd the Second I come now to a Third Use which the former Uses necessarily lead unto It is a little to encourage the hearts of poor Sinners that possibly may be full of thoughts and desires that they might yet be brought into the number of Israel Methinks I do even hear some poor heart say If it be so well with them that are Gods Israel and so ill with them that are not Gods Israel What is there no hope for me though I am yet none of that number Must I for ever stay in that state of misery in which I am Must an eternal doom of Misery be entaild upon me I acknowledge my state is exceeding desperate and sad but is there no hope in Israel concerning this matter To that I answer If there be any poor sinner sensible of the misery of his condition that would gladly make an escape out of it Soul be not discouraged thy condition is not hopeless but be encouraged for there is a possibility that as thou hast escaped the dread and misery of this present day so thou mayst be delivered from that Christless state wherein thou art There are two Scriptures I would commend to you for this purpose the first is in Isa 44.5 One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the Name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and sirname himself by the Name of Israel The words are both a Prophecy and a Promise and they do respect the Gentile-World that were at that time and long after in their sins in their state of estrangement from God here it is prophesied that yet there should be a flocking into Israel the number of Gods Israel should be greatly augmented and encreased It is promised that God would so prevail upon the hearts of some poor Sinners that they shall come and say I am the Lords and shall come and subscribe their hands to the Lord and shall sirname themselves by the Name of Israel that God would conquer them so far that they should see the need they had to be of that number that they shall resign and give up themselves to be of the Israel of God This is an encouraging word to the Sinner there is a possibility for them that were strangers to come and to name themselves by the Name of Jacob and subscribing to the Lord to take up that Name and so partake of the Priviledges of the Israel of God Take another Scripture Isa 19.24 25. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a Blessing in the midst of the Land whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless saying Blessed be Egypt my People and Assyria the Work of my hands and Israel my Inheritance The import of the words is this Egypt and Assyria were some of the Enemies of God and his People at a very great distance from him but here is a Promise that they should come to be conquered and brought into subjection to the Lord and to be baptized into the Spirit of Israel to be blessed with the Blessing of Israel they shall speak the Language of Canaan they shall be of one Heart and one Lip with the Lords People Souls were you as Egypt and were you as the Assyrians Enemies to God and his People were you at the greatest distance from God that could be supposed Egypt had neither Ordinances nor Priviledges nor ought else that good was more then the creatures of the Earth and such-like things yet the Lord intimates here to us that they shall come to share in and divide a Blessing with Israel If thy estate were as one of them yet mayest thou as and according to the promise made to them be brought into the number that shall share in the Blessing of the Israel of God Therefore Soul though now thou art not of Israel yet it may be said to thee They have obtained Mercy which had not obtained This is the kindness of God that he is pleased to make blessed overtures of Mercy unto poor vile and unworthy Sinners But more then this for the encouragement of any Soul that may yet be in his Sins I would speak four or five things Thy condition is not desperate but thou mayst be brought into the number of the Israel of God and so partake of the same Mercy with them in thy escaping this day if thou dost consider 1. That Gods Israel came to be the People of God by choice and through the Grace and Goodness of God Israel were not born the People of God He chose Abraham and his Seed from the rest of the World to be a peculiar People to himself Hence it is that Israel often-times are called in Scripture Israel my CHOSEN so Psal 105.4 The Lord hath CHOSEN Jacob for himself and Israel to be his peculiar Treasure and in Isa 44.1 Israel is called there the Chosen of the Lord Yet now hear O Jacob my Servant and Israel whom I have CHOSEN They were chosen meerly from the good pleasure of God Choice it is a free Act in which there is no necessity and constraint so it was in God a free Act to pitch upon Israel to make them his People This account the Lord gives of it Deut.
if you are the Lords People in truth you are much in the heart of God and your Good in the very next place to his own and his Sons Glory is designed however he deals with you If he lets loose men upon you it is not with a design to hurt you Psal 66.12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and water but thou hast brought us out into a wealthy place If he comes to thunder down Judgements upon the World it is with a design to do you good it is for your safety Isa 43.14 Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer the holy One of Israel For your sakes I have sent to Babylon and have brought down all their Nobles and the Caldeans whose cry is in the Ships Christ in all his Administrations and in all the Dispensations of his Kingly Power from first to last aims at the good of his People and it is for their benefit that he acts however we are apt through blindness and ignorance to interpret it If he cuts down his People it is to do them good if he spares them it is because he delights in them and will make them partake of sparing-mercy How admirable is the kindness of the Lord and what effect should it have But 1. To teach you to see the hand of Christ in all and to sing forth the praises of the Lord your preservation is through Christ When the Passeover was instituted of old God bid the Israelites to sprinkle the Blood of the Lamb upon the door posts and when the Angel passed by to slay the first-born of Egypt he would pass by their doors that were sprinkled If the destroying Angel hath passed by your Doors and hath not come in it is because your post was sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus the Blood of the Lamb It is to Christ that you own it and O that the praises of the Lord might be sounded forth by you in Psal 22.3 God is said to inhabit the Praises of Israel it is a remarkable expression O Thou that inhabitest the Praises of Israel our Fathers trusted in thee and were delivered Israel should be a praising People and God delights in their Praises He loves to be where his Praises are spoken forth O that your habitations might be the habitations where the Praises of God might dwell and where the goodness of God may be sounded forth 2. Sure your escaping should make 〈◊〉 to be Holiness unto the Lord Hath the Lord written you unto Life as the expression is in this 4th of Isaiah Are you by his appointment and counsel in the Land of the living O then see that you be a People walking with him He says in this 4th of Isaiah to them that do escape that they shall be a holy People vers 3. It shall come to pass that he that is left in Sion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called Holy even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem O that every one written among the living this day might also be called Holy that is might be so for God calls things as they are There be great engagements lie upon our Souls that we live up to this expectation of God 3. Surely your work is to help forward the glory of Christ and your own good by all ways you can Faith and Prayer are the great means by which you may be serviceable to this great end We are apt to be faithless and unbelieving when things succeed not according to our desire and expectation but the work of the Soul is to wait for the salvation of God and to believe for the accomplishment of all that the Lord hath spoken to beg earnestly that God would remember his Promise that he would do according to the Faith of his People Whatsoever God has engaged himself to his People that he will do for them he expects that they should enquire of him for it 4. How much ought it to be your care to be found in a spirit fit to meet Christ in his glory There is great talk in the World of what expectations are upon the hearts of the Saints O that we could see suitable preparations in every Soul putting off the works of darkness and pressing after a Spirit of Humility and Holiness that we might be crucified to the World and raised up to a spiritual frame the day of Christs glory will be exceedingly filled up with spiritual things and a carnal earthly spirit will be loathed and abominable O then shake off the filth of sin and the filth of this World and put on your beautiful Garments that so you may be prepared to meet the Lord in his glory 5. Do you much pity Sinners When Christ shall come in his glory with what shame and confusion will poor sinners stand every heart will tremble and the proudest spirit will then stoop O pity them now for then you will have no pity for them the Righteous shall rejoyce when he sees the vengeance they will then onely triumph in the righteous Dispensations of God O pity them now and mourn over them and pray for them and pray them into Christ if possible and walk so before them that thou maist make them in love with the ways of God This is your work the Salvation of Sinners should be much upon your hearts if you know the worth of your own Souls And the more there are brought into Christ the greater will the solemnity be and the glory of this glorious appearance To close all therefore It is a sad day for the present even with the Saints of God and though we are preserved yet we and all our mercies lie open to we know not how much misery we and our best Priviledges how they may be dealt with we cannot tell however of this be confident That all this time the Lord is at work graciously for his People As he says in this fourth of Isaiah when he had said in the Text The Branch of the Lord should be glorious for them that are escaped he addes vers 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the Daughter of Zion In the â—ean time before this glory the Lord is waâ—â—ing away the filth of his People and purging out their dross that yet is among them that when his glorious appearing shall be you and all your Mercies will at once be delivered and as he says in the fifth verse The Lord will create upon every dwelling place in Mount Zion and upon her Assemblies a Cloud and Smoak by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the Glory shall be a defence Now we have our Opportunities with hazard and little Communion with God in them but at that day there shall be upon the Assemblies of Mount Zion a Cloud The Cloud in the Temple was the token of Gods presence God will be among his People And upon their Glory shall be a defence They shall be safe from the fear of evil and God will bless his People with peace He will bless them out of Zion Laus Deo Opt. Max. FINIS