seek their own good directly and immediately in the first place and have more respect unto that than to the Glory and Law of God they are apt to mistake sudden Ease and Pleasure or present Conveniency for real Good and to measure their Obligations and Rules of Duty by what seems to make for or against that If they imagine the thing may expose them to Danger and Trouble then it is asked Doth the Lord require it of them And they will find out a Delusion or conceit to themselves that he doth not or they would willingly be excused nay some run into that Danger and common Error seeing that the Lord hath commanded all his Commandments for our good always they think such an Instance is not for their good and from thence they would conclude that it is none of God's Commandments The Errour lies in their own Mind and wrong Imagination for the thing is true as God hath established it Whatsoever he hath commanded is for our present Peace and Comfort and future Recompence But many through want of Knowledge Faith and Trust on God do not discern it is so Certainly present Peace and future Glory is much beyond the utmost good that was ever had by Sin and Transgression The first is sensible and of the other we have assured Hope and Evidence from the same God whom it is impossible to love and even now gives us the things which we taste see handle and enjoy Such Food is nevertheless good and wholesome though a sick Stomach cannot relish it so but it may seem to that evil and bitter And when by Reason of Iniquity the whole Head is sick and the whole Heart is faint then it cannot so clearly apprehend and perceive the Sweet and Goodness of Obedience and Duty The things are nevertheless real and the very same though Blindness doth not see them and Ignorance doth not know them And so it is of the whole divine Will and Commandment which is excellent and Profitable Her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace Pro. 3. 17. Albeit those who are alienated from the Life of God do not throughly conceive how it is so It was God who put this Goodness into things for that is the Return made upon the several days Work of the Creation And God saw that it was good Gen. 1 12. so it was in their original Nature and so it is in their further Establishment and Order for they are Derivations from his own Essence God who is infinitely good cannot make any thing but what good is Thus it is as to all his Works and Doings He cannot command any thing but what is also good Indeed through the Intermixture of Sin and Evil which came in afterwards there may be Trouble and Resistance Through the Wiles and Hindrances of Satan and the Powers of Darkness there may be Care and Vexation but to avoid and overcome is Joy and Glory To countermine and resolutely go on still to behold Satan falling from Heaven as Lightning and to have the Spirits subject unto us Here is exceeding Triumph and praising God on this Behalf Our Nature loves to have Opposition and rejoyces to get over it The utmost here is but the like Pain and Trouble which others willingly undergo for the things of this World and they are contented though they act upon Uncertainty and Expectation and if they should at length obtain yet they cannot keep but must be taken away from it But for the good things God hath promised the Way to come at them is chalked out in his Word and shewed in our Mind And we know when we do accordingly as plainly as when a Master commands his Servant to go he heareth his Voice and goeth accordingly There is alike and greater Comfort of Mind in doing the Will of God as a Man hath when he returneth from his daily Work in the Evening And there is the full Assurance of Faith and Hope unto the End as when one hath done something more towards it and expects to see an End and enjoy the Fruits of his Labours The present Acts are little and sudden but the good and evil are more remote and distant yet assuredly consequent to them This will render either happy or miserable and as the several Actions will do this more or less so they are to be desired or avoided Is such a thing for our present Happiness or Misery which is for a Moment But how stands it as to our future Happiness or Misery which is exceeding and eternal And this should chiefly sway and determine us in whatever we take in hand knowing that the Time to come will be equally present and remain longer before us than this Moment in which we now live The less Concern must give way to the greater Eternity is to be preferred before Time for our self is as nearly concerned in one as in the other The Commandments of God are said to be for our good always even now henceforth and for ever and ever The good which is now only in Beginning doth increase till it ascends up into eternal Life and Blessedness But as to the Neglect and Violation of them the utmost pretended Benefit thereof is only a sudden Conveniency or momentary Sweetness which soon endeth in Regret of Bitterness and unless God's Mercy and our own Repentance doth interpose it renders us liable unto endless Pain and Punishment In Obedience and Righteousness there is even at this present Time a sensible Comfort Joy and Peace Now what more can be desired in this World What is more valuable than perfect Peace Or that full Assurance and Stayedness of Mind which is contented with the present but withal desires after better and greater things to come Even now to delight in God and to pant and thirst after a more full and close Enjoyment of him To walk with Chearfulness and Pleasure in the Way of his Commandments To have a further hungring after Righteousness but yet a most earnest coveting after the heavenly Reward and Blessedness To take with a quiet Mind all the several Dispensations and kinds of Providence holding our Faith and trust still I will hope yet continually and praise thee yet more and more To magnifie and bless God still when things seem contrary for there will yet be a right and an expected End Although the Fig-Tree shall not blossom yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Hab. 3. 18. The apprehension of him above makes all things here below sweet and the worst such as may be endured For God will in the mean time give strength to bear and assured deliverance out of it By this may be seen the weakness of our condition that we are so very fearful of every Evil that can or we imagine may do us the least hurt And also there is a sense of our want and imperfection of our poor and low Estate that we are so greedy and catching after
tending towards Good or procuring Loss and Evil to themselves Every one Desires good to himself and would avoid evil Hurt and Inconveniency As he is a Man of Understanding and Prudence to let him Judge and do according to the most likely Way to obtain the one and avoid the other See I have set before thee this Day Life and Good and Death and Evil I call Heaven and Earth to record this Day against you that I have set before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing Therefore choose Life that thou and thy Seed may live Deut. 30. 15. VVhoever reads or hears these Lines whether thou examinest them in thy Closet or by a casual View whether this Book be read to thee by another or few or many be present To each Man or VVoman singly I do apply my self and I call the Angels to witness that these things be set home to thy Heart that this doth not turn for a Testimony against thee and when such things were laid before thee thou wouldst not mind but refuse Thou Man or VVoman of whatever Rank or Degree of whatever Age State or Condition of Life young Men or Maidens yea and Children that can in the least apprehend what I say I speak to you all severally and joyntly even in this very Moment of Time in this very Instant now even in the same Day that this is declared unto you I speak to every one of you in the Prophet's Phrase BEHOLD YOVR GOD. And I do most humbly and earnestly intreat of his divine Majesty which he is more ready to do than I to ask him O Lord God Almighty behold thy Sons and Daughters that from this Hour and Day they may take thee for the Lord their God consecrate themselves entirely and universally unto thy Service improving this and all their remaining Days for every Opportunity to do good and carefully watch against and eschew all Occasions of evil Hence forward to mind nothing but God and the things pertaining to him how they may most please and be accepted with him If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them Yea blessed is he that readeth or they that hear that they may know these VVords and immediately without any Delay keep and observe the things written therein CHAP. III. That Surmise and Imagination is spoken unto whereby some People think that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him THe second Hindrance which keeps People off and was proposed to be spoken unto in the Beginning of this Book is that some imagine that they have so grievously offended God that they dare not come unto him The first Example of this we have in our Father Adam And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou And he said I heard thy Voice in the Garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself Gen. 3. 9 10. A Consciousness of his Guilt and Disobedience did make him keep off yea and unwilling to approach unto God when he was called Perhaps he thought that God knew not his Transgression but would discern it by some outward Sign when he came somewhat nearer VVhereas God both saw and heard them talking under the Tree in the midst of the Garden and did more clearly discern their Temptation and Sin than he could inquire and be informed afterwards But he came and would examine the matter after the Manner of Men. Both to vindicate his Justice and also to manifest that he yet continued his Grace and Familiarity to our Nature For even in the Curse and Punishment pronounced Mercy is intermixed A most precious Promise is conveyed into what may seem a terrible Sentence It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3. 15. Thus Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment and even overcometh it at last And whereas it is said I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception In Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life Vers 16 17. Here also is somewhat released of the pronounced Punishment for God who is sovereign doth not execute in so severe a Degree as his VVords did seem at first to import for though indeed there is Trouble Pain and Sorrow in our coming into and Continuance in this VVorld yet blessed be God it is not altogether so continually grievous as what might have been expected when the VVords first proceeded forth Thus is the Lord merciful and gracious even when he is righteous and just And as his Mercy is over all his VVorks so it comes in as a Balm to mollifie his Vengeance God first calls upon our sinful Parents to shew that he had not quite cast them off and that they should not languish under a perpetual Separation from their Maker He finds out a Method of Reconciliation and Accommodation Tho' withal he ordained them and us a Punishment yet we may truly say the Lord hath punished us less than our Iniquities do deserve Hence we may learn and be encouraged that if we have not heretofore obeyed the Voice of his Commandment yet still we ought to come when he calleth us and it shall not be worse but better for us Thus saith the Lord behold I frame evil against you and devise a Device Return ye now every one from his evil Way and make your Ways and your Doings good And they said there is no Hope but we will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart Jer. 18. 11 12. VVhen People have committed much already their Conscience is accused of Sin and they are sensible how that they are obnoxious to God's VVrath and Punishment and fearing they shall one Day suffer under it they think it the same if they suffer for much as for little and so they fall from one VVickedness to another Nay with some there is a most strange and horrid Imagination as Persecutors and such like who conceiving an Hatred and Enmity against God but dreading withal he will be stronger than they when they come to meet him and therefore they take Advantage in this Time of Trial and Forbearance as it were out of foregoing Revenge to act stubbornly rebelliously and contemptuously against him as eveâ— they can It is written in the Revelations of those who gnawed their Tongues for Pain and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their Pains and Sores and repented not of their Deeds Rev. 16. 10 11. Some again did give Glory to God for his Judgments The first Sort whilst they were yet in the VVay did provoke him yet more who at length was too hard for them and hath delivered them over unto the Tormentors Like as we have known or heard of some desperate condemned Rebels who might have their Pardon if they would sue and make Supplication for it but they would not through Stubbornness or a pretended Bravery and therefore they did all the Mischief they could before they died
Contempt and cast them into a bottomless Pit to suffer the Vegeance of eternal Fire In God is first contained and from him is derived every good and perfect thing even what is enjoyed or can be further desired by the Sons of Men. O Lord the Hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from me shall be written in the Earth because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters Jer. 17. 13. God sendeth Rain upon the just and the unjust He giveth common Mercies promiscuously and indifferently to all but there is somewhat more and greater in being the Hope of Israel Somewhat is hidden and reserved there only for those who come unto him as again who forsake him miss thereof And when this shall be opened and actually given then Shame Vexation and Anguish will possess those who by their former demerits and provocation have lost their share and portion in this matter They that depart from me shall be written in the Earth When they have left and gone aside from him above they must cleave unto and pursue after somewhat And they cannot follow after any thing but what is in this place where they live And seeing they have chosen the Earth either the Men or Things therein let them make the most thereof But what will they do when the Earth and all the Works thereof shall be burnt up When themselves and others who inhabit here shall die And if they thought themselves well enough because tho' the things herein are perishing yet themselves are perishing likewise and they serve for their Time Nevertheless they must remain elsewhere for they have immortal Souls and returning Bodies And what shall they do throughout the Length and Space of Eternity when all the things wherein they before trusted are utterly gone and removed from them Even the Men of this World which have their Portion in this Life Psal 17. 14. might thus know and conclude As they thought it worth their while to secure this Place and Time who were for getting the best and fattest things that they might live happily and comfortably who were for the greatest and wisest Company in the whole Country of their Abode they might have looked up and have learned to be acquainted with thee O King of Nations for as much as among all the wise Men of the Earth and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee They might understand and seek after the Lord whose is not only the Earth but the whole World and all that is therein for he made Heaven and Earth and all things Who whilst they lived did bless their own Soul Psal 49. 18. did so hug themselves with the Comforts and Conveniencies of this short Time they might much more hope for and endeavour after the good things of Eternity and take a more diligent and greater Care how themselves might live blessed for ever They might have further trusted unto him who as they experimentally found did good giving them Rain from Heaven filling their Souls with Food and Gladness So the Lord will perfect that wich concerneth them Psal 138. 8. Those perishing and fading Comforts were an Earnest and Assurance that he would give the true and enduring Happiness for such who should endeavour to be found worthy for to receive the same If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon who will commit to your Trust the true Riches Luke 16. 11. As he provided them with the meat which perisheth which was had by Labour Dressing and other forgoing Means and that did preserve Health and Life for the Time so likewise he afforded the Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life which also was to he had by using such Means of Grace And as many as did receive and comply with the Workings of that Grace they shall be crowned and actually invested with the other to which it did tend and grow up As he is the God of the Earth so of the Heavens also And as he hath determined our Dwelling and Abode here for a Space so he will take us up unto the Heavens for evermore Here we have no continuing City but now we desire that which would continue and that must be an heavenly Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. 16. which like himself must remain for ever He took us out of our Mothers Womb and doth hold us up from the Cradle unto the Grave In the mean while he reneweth his Mercies and Preservation every Morning and there is still something more than all this Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with Benefits even the God of our Salvation He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the Issues from Death Psal 68. 19 20. In that Word Salvation is comprised more than can be possibly had in this World Salvation imports to be free from all Evil Fear and Danger which none is in this World For consider of those who are in the most safe Condition and think themselves so yet the last Enemy waits for them which is Death and thence is Fear and Doubt But we have Assurance from our God who brought us into Being who carrieth us thro' here who is Lord of Life and hath Power over Death that he will give a Rising and Deliverance from that Now we have the most doubtful Apprehensions concerning Death and the future State For though on this Earth we are encompassed about with Fear Pit and the Snare yet we know what is the utmost of things here and what usually happens unto others So we are contented and freed from Terror and Amazement But further on if we did consider rightly we have more Hope and Security from the Lord being our Hope and the God of our Salvation And there he declares beforehand that neither he nor we shall be ashamed For hereby he will do more for us than we can ask or conceive and we shall find it to be infinitely more than we could expect and which will make an abundant Compensation for whatever Difficulty Loss or Trouble we did sustain in coming to be Partaker thereof And though our God shall cause us to inherit high Places Isa 58. 12. yet we shall not be in the least Danger or Suspicion of falling Thou shalt be far from Terror for it shall not come near thee Isa 54. 11. We shall be more strongly secured from every Evil or Misery and be wholly exempt from the Thought and Apprehension thereof as we shall be let into the Possession and Enjoyment of all Good and Excellency so the Continuance thereof to everlasting that we shall never lose nor be deprived of it will be made so sure and ratified unto us as they are certain of that Moment wherein they have it or as we are at present sensible that we live and breath or that we have what we grasp at this Instant
contemptuously But yet they do much worse and are worthy of sorer Punishment who are not contented to let God alone but they have a secret Purpose as it were to dishonour him If they think that God may be glorified by such a thing they will with a secret Imagination what lieth in them cross that Intent and Purpose VVho will endeavour to disannul what he hath said and try to defeat what he hath purposed and intends to bring to pass Whom God hath exalted they consult to cast him down from his Excellency They bless with their Mouth but they curse inwardly Psal 62. 4. VVho after the manner of Hypocrites talk of God and his Glory but at the same time they both think otherwise in their Hearts and also practise contrary in their Actions God hath vowed to punish such Iniquity He doth first defeat and then over-rule their wicked Imaginations and Practices to his own greater Glory He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh the Lord shall have them in Derision Psal 2. 4. He doth behold all the cunning Contrivances and Actings of Men towards him For the Lord is a God of Knowledge and by him Actions are weighed 1 Sam. 2. 3. of whatever Kind they be whether good or Evil whether they please or provoke him He knows with what Heart and Intent each thing is done Strange That any of the Sons of Men who are but meer Creatures who are weak and dying subject to Pain here and Misery hereafter liable to Death here and Damnation hereafter so likewise they are capable of receiving Good and Happiness and these come from without or can be manifested from within yet they should not endeavour at all times to behave themselves rightly towards the great Lord and Disposer of all things in the whole World All that we have already is from God and he hath reserved more which he can dispense forth according to his own good Will and Pleasure His Favour and loving Kindness are most worthy to be sought after for it gives Peace and Assurance at present and is better than Life it self which doth relish and perceive all things and then transmits over to an eternal State of Blessedness Who would not partake of this For even the Desire and Enjoyment of Sensuality the Endeavours after being great and highly esteemed redounds all to this at last that he may be an happy Man To be so for all Eternity is rather to be chosen than to be so only for a short Time Nay an assured Hope and Expectation of that is to be preferred before the present Pleasure of Sin for as every one feels within himself and is sensible of there is a certain fearful Expectation of the End of that which is Death and Punishment Who will shew us any Good Psal 4. 6. is the Language of every one Where and how it may be had is the great Thought and searching of Heart yea and there is an actual Endeavour after it where it may be had with some little Pains and Labour as appears by the several Actions Ends and Designs of Mankind And though the Generality of the World hath been long settled on the Lees and they do still continue so They are sunk down into Earthliness and this present Life And they being wholly taken up with the Conveniences and small perishing Pleasures of this Life they do not care to rise and ascend up higher But yet they would do well to give heed unto those VVorkings and Movings of their Soul for that equally reaches after Happiness and covets after somewhat which is wanting in order to it as the Body desires Food and Health towards Preservation of its Life here This is only the Time of Trial and State of Preparation If we can shew our selves faithful and overcome but all our Acts here are in Order and Tendency to somewhat hereafter They are but Means towards the End and as a Scaffold towards the building up an House eternal in the Heavens Nothing here is compleat and for it self All we are still passing on and like wayfaring Men who have a Refreshment but no Abode who make some Stop but no continued sitting down And when we would as it were rest and fix up our Abode yet the very Succession Change Perishing and Weariness of our Acts teach us thus much The Times and Seasons instruct us in this the Four Quarters of the Year Spring Summer Autumn and Winter The constant Course of Day and Night also Infancy Childhood Youth Manhood and declining Age the Times of Labour Recreation Eating and Drinking all these pass on Too many are like Men amazed and astonied they know not what all this means They know not neither will they understand they walk on in Darkness all the Foundations of the Earth are out of course Psal 82. 5. Though the Light hath shined and manifested what their End is of being here and what is required of them yet they are willingly ignorant but go on as the rest do This is the Manner of the Inhabitants of the Earth that dwell carelesly that say in their Hearts We are and none besides us Zeph. 2. 15. There is a secret disowning of God above or if they acknowledge him by a few Acts of outward Worship yet they confine all to that but they have not to do with him in the common Actions and general Course of their Life Here they conclude that they are left to themselves and these things they imagine are in their own Power Some others will have Respect unto God in little trivial Concerns but for those of greater Moment they do not take Counsel of him nor yet are directed by his Law nor yet do they consider rightly for his Glory Were Men verily perswaded and did they act accordingly That God is to be obeyed in all things and at all Times not only in his Presence in the Sanctuary but also when they are more Apt to forget him at home and abroad in their going out and coming in Not only before his Saints and Servants as Paul did intimate concerning the Philippians but also when they are absent and afar off The Lord's Name is to be praised from the rising of the Sun unto the going down thereof So in Man's going forth unto his Work and Labour until the Evening And then we are to lie down in Remembrance of him and to rise up again to glorifie him To think upon him whilst in Bed and awaking and as others Devise Iniquity in their Beds so our selves should forecast which Way we shall most serve and honour him If this were universally practised by all Persons in all Places we should see another kind of World than as yet hath been And do we not think it would be better and more happy with Mankind if they did thus then as now they do in living securely and negligently The Mistake and Errour is that they do not see the different and miserable Effects till it is come upon them So the Prophet
us than with them who flourish and encrease most in worldly Goods May we not more surely rely upon God's infallible VVord that it shall be well with us than the vain and deceitful Promises of others or our own Imaginations in our own Designs and Enterprizes for we know by experience that we are often beguiled and mistaken as to both but the Lord never said to the House of Jacob Seek ye my face in vain Neither is he wanting as some are apt to doubt to make good his Promises at the present time But they do err in misapprehending of them for the great and precious Promises are yet a far off And now the Divine Goodness is only engaged so far as to give us all things pertaining to Life and Godliness to preserve Health and Strength of Body and he puts Grace and Consolation into the Soul that we may Perform And if we are at any time cast down yet we should not then be so discouraged as to neglect utterly and leave from Duty In the name of God let us go on and take whatever we shall meet withal for the time is short and hasteneth away VVnither we Rejoice or Rejoice not whether we Laugh or Mourn whether we are in good plight and steadfastness of Mind or are heavy and cast down It all goes on and we flie away And whatever is done here it is for Eternity Either it passes into Condemnation or it makes way for Repentance There is one Event to him that Sacrificeth or him that Sacrificeth not and this is found so by daily Experience But the same word of Truth saith That we must appear before the Judgment Seat of Chist to receive for the things we have done whether they be Good or Evil. It is certain that the Lord God of Recompences shall surely requite Jer. 51. 56. And this will much exceed both as to the delightful or tormenting Nature whatever is esteemed so here The Acts are suddenly over and so the Joy or Sorrow of of them is suddenly slipt by And indeed it is strange that a reasonable Creature should be so much concerned as to that fugitive thing of Joy or Sorrow but his care and sollicitation should be to what it tends at last Nothing is so good as to be truly desirable and nothing is so bad but what may be endured And therefore the first is not to be eagerly catched after but to be carefully avoided if it should lead and beguile into Misery and likewise the other may be chosen and submitted unto if it makes for and increases our Crown and Reward I mean as to the Delights and Pleasures of Sin so of the seeming pain and trouble of Duty The first are nevertheless to be abstained from the others to be willingly undertaken if they help unto good in the latter end And tho this may seem harsh and uncouth at first yet it is both Practicable and easie to him who is exercised therein It is thus by custom and continuance and afterwards it grows up into Delight and sincere Satisfaction Notwithstanding all vain fears and surmises anxious care or sinful distrust yet by thus doing he shall have more Happiness yea and be sensible of less Misery even as to this present time than possibly the one can be had or the other avoided by all Irreligion or the pretended wisdom and caution of any Disobedience Much more might be said as to this Point But as the truth may be cleared so again the force and perswasion thereof may be lost by multiplicity of words and therefore it is convenient to add no more upon this particular Head of Discourse especially there having been so much demonstrated in the fore-cited Book of Happiness and as to the several Heads of Good and Evil there treated of so that he who will not perceive nor be convinced by what hath been already said neither would he be perswaded if ten thousand words were more added to the same purpose CHAP. V. Herein sundry Things are written against them who will not be perswaded by nor live according to Words and also against following the Multitude BUT why do I mention this In vain is the Pen of the Writer or the Tongue of the Speaker for some obstinate and stubborn Souls do therefore refuse it They will not be tied and confined to live according to Words either they will be despisers or stubborn not to mind at all or practice just contrary or otherwise Indeed one would admire by what kinds of method Satan's Kingdom doth stand by what slender Threads he holds Men Captive at his will for do but once examin and touch them and they will fall and snap asunder Those Imaginations which he puts into the Hearts of Men and Women and thereby works in them with all deceiveableness yet when they are once known they are presently confuted The falshood and danger of them are so clearly laid open that themselves may see it and so they need not miscarry through all his Delusions if they would but receive the knowledge of the Truth that they might be Saved Amongst the several things which Satan Who deceives the whole World Rev. 12. 9. doth suggest and each Man keeps close in the deep of his Heart That aforementioned is a common and generally received Imagination which they hug and hold fast And to confirm them the more therein they will have a seeming excuse for it because so many go about troubling Christians with Words and there is such a multitude of words in the World such hold it the better way once for all to reject them and not to be limited or confined to live according to Words But they should do well in the first place to consider what it is they thus set at naught and cast off even what they shall not prosper nor be blessed in Their root shall be as rottenness and their blossom shall go up as dust because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of Hosts and despised the word of the holy one of Israel Isa 5. 24. These are the words which they will not be guided by nor give heed unto They refuse obedience and subjection unto Almighty God just like their fore Fathers A stubborn and rebellious Generation that kept not the Covenant of God and refused towalk in his Law Psal 78. 10. They rebelled against the words of God and contemned the Counsel of the most High Psal 107. 111. Now these words of God are contained in Scripture which is his Statute-Book for his government of the World All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God 2 Tim. 3. 16. As saith another Apostle For the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of Man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. At this the People are so impatient and will not be governed by it which is downright Disobedience and manifest Sin and shall receive a due Punishment thereof for Sin is the transgression