So then to seeke Gods face containes these three things in it First to have his face revealed to you and to see him as a father To seeke him as sequestred from punishments and rewards To seeke him alone in opposition to your selves And that all this ought to be done we will give you one reason and so come to the uses And that reason is drawne from the holinesse of the Lord Esay 6. 3. One Angell cryed to another holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the proclamation of Angels and that upon this occasion The Lord sends Esay the Prophet to pronounce a Iudgement to his people and that a great one the rejection of the Iewes and at the same time the Angels are sent to proclame Gods holinesse now holinesse is the appropriation of a thing to the Lords use and a sequestration of it from common use and so the holinesse of God himselfe which is the rule of all other holinesse is an appropriation of his actions to himselfe as his end he is then said to be holy when he doth things for himselfe therefore being about to doe so great a worke peculiarly for himselfe and his glory as when he would destroy his owne people and destroy Kingdomes for his owne best advantage and ends the glory of himselfe then he lets them know this as the only reason because he is holy for if he should not respect himselfe he should not be holy So Rom. 11. 33. to the end The Apostle having spoken of this rejection here prophecied concludes with this His Iudgements are unsearchable and his wayes past finding out c. of him and to him and through him are all things and to him bee glory for ever As if he should have said God hath done all this but I know not the reason of it nor any one else onely God is for himselfe for he being of no cause but himselfe therefore he may doe all for himselfe if he were of another he might doe all for another yea else he were not holy Now if this be Gods holinesse then the holinesse of man is to do all for God which he is therefore to doe because he is of another cause above himselfe and therefore is to seeke another end above himselfe namely the Lord and then he is said to be holy when he hath no eye to himselfe but to God when in his recreations the use of riches c. and in his whole course he hath his eye and ayme at God and not himselfe The nature of holinesse is expressed in two things First in purenesse Secondly sequestration to God so that holinesse purity and chastity are much alike as it were as there is also much affinity between the Greeke words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chastity in a Wife stands in keeping close to her husband and being sequestred from all other and Gods holinesse consists first in the purenesse of his nature and secondly in a sequestration of all things to himselfe Now our holinesse is not so but wee being of another cause wee must doe all for another end our holinesse stands therefore in giving up our selves to the Lord therefore sayes Esay Sanctifie the Lord and make him your dread as if he had said if you make any thing else your dread you doe not sanctifie the Lord. What he says of feare is true of all our affections and actions holinesse dedicates all unto the Lord and some actions are holy for the substance of them as Prayer keeping the Lords day c. and all such immediate duties of his worship some by putting a right end upon them and so all actions may be holy of what kind soever as recreations which are common actions and eating and drinking all which when done to the Lord doe become holy It is the nature of morall actions to take their specification from their circumstances especially their end more then from the substance it selfe and so all such common actions may bee holy to the LORD and so that place of Saint Peter is to be understood bee holy in manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. in all the turnings of your lives even in common actions this being the nature of holinesse in the generall both as in God and in our actions There is a double holinesse required in every man A giving up a mans selfe to the Lord as 2 Cor. 8. 5. They first it is said gave themselves up to the Lord. To give a mans selfe up as a Sacrifice to the Lord that is the holinesse of a man and when any thing is sacrificed it is given up to the use of that Lord to whom it is sacrificed The second is a giving up all things with himselfe his understanding will thoughts affections life liberty credit goods all his power might whereby he is able to doe any thing to resigne all these to the Lord and by this hee sanctifies the Lord and this is the holinesse of a man to doe all for the Lord onely So that the reason is cleare let a man doe what he will keepe the Sabbath pray c. If there be not this holinesse in his heart all his labour is lost as you all grant for without holinesse no man shall see God Now it is not holy except it be given up to the Lord alone excluding himselfe and the creature Is all our labour lost except we seeke Gods face though otherwise a man goe never so farre then there is great reason to examine our selves whether we seeke the Lord for himselfe or no for otherwise all your labour is lost for then you doe not set up God for your God in your hearts but something else namely that which you seeke besides him as in marriage we say when a man marries a woman not out of love to her person but for riches that hee marries not the woman but her wealth so it is here And then secondly you will never hold out in seeking the Lord and if you doe not hold out then all your labour will be lost Ezek. 18. though a man hath beene righteous all his dayes yet if he fall from God all his righteousnesse shall be forgotten and such a man as seekes not the Lord for himselfe will fall away as appeares by that Hos. 7. 16. They returne but not to the most High they are like a deceitfull bowe that is when a man turnes to the LORD but not for himselfe he will returne againe and start aside like a broken bowe for if hee attaine those ends for which he sought the Lord his seeking is at an end See this in Amaziah 2 Chron. 25. he went farre in obedience but yet he did not seeke the Lord in it he was content to lose an hundred talents and to send backe the Israelites he
sinne not If a man stand in awe of the Lord he would be afraid of every sin he would be afraid of vaine thoughts to bee vaine in his speeches and to give way to the least wickednesse afraid of every inordinate affection hee would be afraid how hee spent the time from morning till night and how to give an account thereof afraid of recreations least he should sleepe too much or sleepe too little eate too much or eate too little as knowing all is but to whet the sithe to make him the fitter for his harvest worke and therefore would be afraid to forbeare refreshments too-much or to use them too little I beseech you therefore that are in Covenant with the Lord and nearest to him that know your selves to bee within the Covenant to consider this and learne to feare And to helpe you in this take two places of Scripture 1 Pet. 1. 7. If you call on the Father who judgeth without respect of persons according to every mans worke passe the time of your sojourning here in feare that is seeing you have such a Father that judgeth every person all his children he will certainely afflict you if you offend him Therefore feare to do it The other is Heb. 12. 28 29 Let us serve him with all reverence and godly feare for even our God is a consuming fire our God whom we worship is not made all of mercy he hath other Attributes joyned with them to you he is a consuming fire If you will not serve him with feare though not immediately to consume you utterly yet to afflict you and thereby to consume your lusts so as it is a dangerous thing to be negligent of him to meddle with him who is a consuming fire How sharply did God deale with David who was yet nearer him than any of us first he tooke away the child from him which to him was a sharpe affliction he being a tender Father and had a strong affection to his life as appeares by his fastings and the like hee had to Absolon who yet was a Rebell against him and then to have almost all the people to fall from him when he was an old King to have Concubines abused so openly and the sword never to depart from his house all these sate close to him went neare his soule besides his shame to have his sin discovered to all the world as appeares by Psal. 51. Have not wee cause then to spend oâ—r time in feare if hee dealt thus with David and doe not say that though he dealt thus with David offending of him that yet he will not doe thus with me for is he not a Father that judgeth all his sonnes and that without respect of persons as the Apostle saith Consider also what he did to Iacob and Rebecca for consulting and agreeing to get the blessing by a lye for though the thing shee went about was good and they had a warrant for it and their end was good yet they used ill meanes a lye But GOD met with them both for it Iacob was therefore put to live twenty yeares from his Mothers house whereas he should have staid Gods leisure and not have beene too hasty for the accomplishment of that promise for he that believeth doth not make haste and so God promiseth riches and all good things to his children as much as they can desire but they must not make haste that is their fault and when he was comming home againe what a feare was hee put to from Esau that lye of his being the cause of their falling out and how did Rebecca also for all that while want the comfort of a sonne shee loved and had none to live with but Esau And so Moses was dearer to God than any man upon earth hee never spake with any face to face as with him yet he would have slaine him in the Inne for not circumcising his Child and also because of that other sin at the waters of Meriba he chuseth an affliction for him wherein he most of all crossed his desires denying him to goe into the Land of Canaan it may bee some small affliction in shew as this seemed to be which yet pincheth sorely and some great affliction on the contrary in bulke to others that is not so to him that beares it And thus he also deales with Eli a zealous man would any of us were so in these dayes for when newes was brought that his sonnes were dead and many of the people slaine he was not so much troubled at that as that the Arke of the Lord was taken and this amazed him so as that he fell backward and brake his necke you see the holinesse of the man yet because he had preferred his sonnes before the Lord did not governe them well God did not onely thus take away his life and of his sonnes but the Priesthood also from his house for ever and have not wee all cause to feare then How did hee deale with the good Prophet that was slaine by a Lion his fault that he beleeved another mans word pretending that he had Gods Word when hee had Gods Word expresly given to himselfe this sinne was as the sin of Eve who beleeved the Divels word when she had Gods Word expresly and therefore let us when we have the Word of the Lord sticke close to it And so however hee deale with Gideon a worthy man reckoned up among those worthies Heb. 11. yet when he made an Ephod see what judgement fel upon his children Iudg. 9. and all his house was cut off These examples are usefull for you to consider that you might know and feare the Lord and the want of this is the cause of this remissnesse and loosnesse in our profession and that we doe not so consider our waies Saint Paul was an holy man and one that stood in neere termes with Iesus Christ yet feared exceedingly 2 Cor. 5. Wee knowing the terrour of the Lord perswade men And Iob that was very exact in his life which appeares by the 31. Chap. which Chapter is nothing else but an expression of the manner of his carriage which was very exact verse 23. he gives this as a reason the punishments of the Lord were a terrour to me and so in the 2. verse the reason why he would not give liberty to his eys to looke on a Maid was for that hee considered what portion then shall I have with the Almighty and this feare of the Lord is needfull at this time when God hath discovered himselfe to be angry with the Land which is not onely for the grosse sinnes of wicked men but the sinnes of the Saints also It is your coldnesse remissenesse and laxitude I have two grounds for it first in the Revel 2. because Ephesus was fallen from her first love therefore he would remove her Candlesticke that is the whole Church among them carry them into Captivity for I cannot see by the Candlesticke how only the Ministery should be
they were vaine Secondly because that the LORD will not forsake his people for his great Name sake because it hath pleased him to make you his people as if he had said I would not have you lessen the sinne seeke out excuses as indeed that is our fault in such cases no that is not the way you have committed a monstrous transgression yet forsake not the Lord. Samuel said this because that which keepes men off from the Lord is discouragement for many a man if hee had it may bee a voyce from Heaven that would assure him if he came in his sinnes would be pardoned I doe not think but they would come in though they love their sinnes well But the maine thing that keepes them off is men doe not thinke God so ready to receive and pardon them Now therefore saith Samuel you are his people and the LORD cannot forsake his owne let a man have a child of his owne even when it is young and troublesome and nothing pleasant in it yet because it is his owne his affections will not off from it yea his affections will hold on although when it is growne up it provokes him an hundred times because it is his own Now if they should aske how it comes to passe that they are his Samuel tels them because it pleased him to make you his people there is no other reason can be given of it so that if any of the children of God looking upon all the world lying in wickednesse and should aske the reason why I should be in this good condition rather then they there is no other than that it pleased GOD to make him so GOD loves for no merits which should teach us to looke out of our selves lesse into our hearts in this case and more to the Attributes of GOD to returne in Ier. 3. GOD saies there it is true indeed that if you come to any man in the world when his wife hath played the harlot will he receive her againe no a mans heart in this case cannot relent he hath not mercy enough his heart is too narrow But thou hast played the harlot many a time yet returne to me saith GOD for looke how much larger GODS heart is then a mans so much larger are his mercies If GOD bee thus exceeding mercifull and pitifull this should leade men to repentance there is that in the thing that leades you so Romans 2. 4. when either GOD expresseth his mercies towards us by his behaviour and mercifull dealings with us or causeth his Ministers to offer mercies unto us it leades to repentance It hath indeed a contrary effect almost in all in the world for whom doe not GODS mercies leade from him rather then to him but take heed lest you turne the grace of GOD into wantonnesse which yet men ordinarily do The more favour the more meanes they have enjoyed the more wanton they grow that is the more bold losing their respect to GOD even as a child is apt to doe when his father carries himselfe kind towards him hee cannot beare it he hath not the discretion to consider that it should leade him to obedience but growes bold and wanton And you should also make this use of mercies that the meditations of them should stirre up your hearts to a more kindly sorrow for your sinnes to thinke that you have deserved to be cut off long agoe and that you have committed such sinnes for which many are in hell long since God expects this at your hands and let us make this use of it in these dayes of humiliation the maine worke whereof is to humble your selves and we are to labour to humble you not only by denouncing Gods judgements but by expressions of his mercies also A digression concerning Fasting to the occasion THere is a double manner of doing this duty one wholly publike which should bee from morning till night in publike by the whole land that al together might confesse and humble themselves for the sinnes of it which is more extraordinary But secondly as for these dayes which are kept from weeke to weeke thus it is well ordered that the time is so limited for these publike exercises as that there is time left for the private for the businesse of particular humiliation goes forward better then and these publicke exercises tend but to that end and what is the meanes without the end be attained that is that every man should mourne apart so Zach. 12. when it was a businesse of mourning every family did it apart and the wives apart the wife and the husband are the nearest and if any should be together one would thinke they should and yet they must be then apart and the reason is because nothing humbleth so much as particular sinnes those wound the heart which in publick are not so much confessed but in generall onely but when you are every one in private then you may consider what your lusts your actions have beene and the circumstances of them then you may search your hearts and wayes looke backe and reflect upon your selves and that is the maine businesse and duties of these dayes Some of you it may bee will say I know not how to spend my time in private when I am from the Church but consider hast thou not committed many sinnes consider them canst thou not speake and confesse them and say Lord I confesse I have fallen backe into this againe and againe But secondly when you have done this seeke reconciliation and beg it earnestly which the heart will doe when it is touched with the sence of sinne and the enumeration of them will worke your hearts to it when you see the multitudes the circumstances the aggravations of them and because this is the greatest of all your requests therefore you must be the most earnest in it and therefore God doth purposely with-hold assurance often to teach men what it is to be reconciled to him and fasting serves to intend your prayers that they may be the more earnest Thirdly renew your covenants also consider what sinnes you are most inclined to and what occasions draw you most to those sinnes and vow against them Consider what good duties you have slighted most and that your hearts are most apt to faile in and promise better obedience Fourthly not only make a promise but labour to bring your hearts to be willing to leave those sins in good earnest and to performe those duties and when the heart is strongly byassed any way it is hard to alter it it is no easie matter to get an inward willingnesse you must therfore have much reasoning with your hearts to bring them to it Fiftly when they are brought into a good temper they are easily subject to be distempered again our affections shoote too far into worldly businesses your love your feare your griefe is subject to be too much in something and it is not easie
to bring the soule backe againe you must therefore take a great deale of paines with your hearts That which is said of Ministers fullones animarum fullers of mens soules that is every man now to be himselfe to wash out the staines of his heart and to make his soule whiter as it is Dan. 11. and that will move GOD either not to bring afflictions or to remove them and therefore clense your hearts from all pollution of flesh and spirit and know that to get staines of a deepe dye out will cost a great deale of paines you must scoure till your soules ake againe and though it cause the skinne to come off and if you do the worke your selves thus and plow your owne hearts GOD shall not need to doe it by afflictions therefore doe it and give not over till you have done it and have brought your hearts to be throughly humbled for them for that is a great meanes to doe it What else is the meaning of that in Iames 4. Cleanse your hearts yee sinners c. but how should we doe it would some say afflict your selves and mourne and let your laughter be turned into mourning bee content to sit alone get out of company and not to take your former liberties and mourne and humble your selves and doe it constantly for it is not bowing downe the head for a day which God regards but let sorrow abide in your hearts It is continuance that God regards doe it and doe it to purpose for the want of this is the reason of the coldnesse and remisnesse in our profession namely that we are not throughly and constantly humbled it is the ground of every grace and the growth of it What seed is sowne in a heart broken in pieces thrives and prospers but all instructions falling upon an heart not broken will bring forth no fruit If you were humbled wee should find wonderfull fruit of our Ministery Doe this therefore but one day and you will be the fitter for it the next Sorrow should be as a spring that runs a long constantly from day to day The sorrowes of many are but as land-flouds and take heed that the continuance of this duty from weeke to weeke make you not slacken your course herein suffer not your hands to faint When these duties are new you are apt to do much but when a while continued to bee perfunctory in them And let not any man complaine that he loseth a daies work for is there any work so necessary as the salvation of the soule Neither complaine that a daies study is lost for is there any excellency to the saving Image of God stampt on the heart Wee are hence to be exhorted to chuse the Lord for our God when you heare hee is so mercifull a God for no man ever served the Lord but he first made choyce of him to be his Master Every man when he comes to yeares of discretion and to be master of himselfe adviseth with himselfe what course he should take whether he should serve God or the world Now all the Saints of God have made this distinct choyce we will serve the Lord and goe to no other Moses when both stood before him the pleasures of Aegypt on the one hand and God and his people with their afflictions on the other hee chose the latter before the former Heb. 11. 25. So David sayth he did I have chosen the way of truth thy Iudgements have I laid before mee Psal. 119. 30. for to chuse is when a thing lyes before a man and hee considers and takes it So Ioshua I and my house will serve the Lord. Now I exhort you that seeing you are to make some choyce that seeing God is such a God so exceeding mercifull that you would make this choyce let him be your God for what moves a man to make choyce of one course of life rather then another the ground of it is some happinesse that he seekes when men consider what makes most for their happinesse that they will chuse Now if men were perswaded that to chuse God were the best way for happinesse they could not but chuse him and surely if God be so exceeding kind and mercifull a God their chiefest happinesse cannot but be found in him alone and surely there is no husband no friend so loving as he no father so kind as he so tender hearted he goes beyond all the sonnes of men for love and tendernesse and kindnesse for if there be any kindnesse in any man or woman the Lord hath put it in him That naturall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and affection in Parents c. is not a drop to that Ocean not as a beame to the Sunne to what is in him And if the kindnesse in them be an excellency then surely it is in him And if the Lord hath commanded us to be amiable and full of bowells and goodnesse and easie to be entreated as being a part of that his image and that holy frame of heart which ought to be in us is it not then much more in himselfe but that I may not urge a bare exhortation without some reason Consider how mercifull the Lord hath beene to us and how gracious he is to them that make choyce of him for first hee giveth them the comfort of his presence and there is no comfort like that For joy and comfort is nothing else but the agreeablenesse of a thing to a mans minde applicatio convenientis convenienti Now there is nothing that better agreeth with mans minde then the presence and face of God for lusts and pleasures are the diseases of the soule and the pleasures that agree to them are the destruction of it Besides when thou art reconciled to him thou art out of all debt and danger he will set thy soule at rest that was rest lesse before And besides when thou hast the Lord to be thy God thou hast one to whom thou maiest goe and unbosome thy selfe to advise withall when thou canst not gâ—â— to any in the world one thou maist fetch comfort from when thou seest no comfort any where else thou maist runne to him as to a refuge when thou art overwhelmed with oppositions slanders and ill reports and besides all this and the glory which we shall have in heaven consider what there is that thy heart can desire that hee will not doe for thee If thou hast any businesse to doe God will doe it better for thee then thou canst for thy selfe the Lord workes all our workes in us and for us Esay 26. 12. Art thou a Scholler and hast studies to bring to perfection a Tradesman and hast enterprises to bring to passe art in straights he will be entreated of thee to doe all for thee if thou go to him and hee will bring it better to passe then thou canst with all thy policie Againe Art thou fallen into poverty into sicknes into disgrace thou shalt finde
him exceeding kind when thou art sicke he will be carefull and watchfull over thee this David acknowledges Psal. 31. 7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast knowne my soule in adversities When others overlook and forget thee in adversity as the Butler did Ioseph he will not but take care of thee Againe if thou beest persecuted and hast enemies to deale with as who hath not that liveth godlily so that as David saith of himselfe My soule is among Lions yet thou shalt find God stand by thee as he did by S. Paul to del ver thee out of the mouth of those Lions thou shalt finde him to bee as a Rocke as a place of defence to shield thee against them and all their incursions so that all their plots and malice shall not hurt thee David had often tryall of God in this Againe if thou doest want any thing he hath promised to grant whatsoever thou shalt aske But if thou shalt say I provoke him day by day yet know that he is exceeding kinde and will passe by many infirmities for hee knowes whereof we are made one ill turne causeth not him as it doth men to forget what was done before the Lord keepeth for us the sure mercies of David that is such mercies that the Lord shewed David and not to him only but to all his posterity so as he will not only be a God to thee whilst living but when thou art dead to thy seed also Such a God you shall finde him therefore take him for your God and for your husband If men knew him they would chuse him as Saint Paul said to Agrippa I would that thou wert altogether as I that is if thou didst know him as I doe and his service thou wouldest not be halfe a Christian but one al together doe but try if thou likest not his service thou mayest leave it But the Saints who have experience of both conditions holding out may be an argument of his kindnesse unto all his and this also should move us to chuse him for our master As the other use was to those without to chuse the Lord so this use is to all those that are already in the covenant to exhort them to confirme themselves in their choyce to bee more and more well perswaded of him that so they may love the Lord more and more and cleave faster to him One that is married may love her husband well and yet by seeing more and more the excellencies that are in her husband shee may bee more confirmed in her choyce In all afflictions labour to thinke well of God and ill of your selves This was the praise of David hee alwayes laboured to extoll God in all and still hold this conclusion yet God is good to Israel we are apt to faile much this way we are ready to thinke that God deales hardly with us and his people but wee must learne to correct this errour and to have a good conceit of him to labour to extoll his mercy But this we will not doe till we see these two things First Gods exceeding great kindnesse Secondly our exceeding rebellions you looke onely to Gods dealings and so are ready to thinke that God hath dealt hardly with you but never thinke how abominable your carriages have beene to him But learne to think that however he is a God full of bowels even in your worst condition and that you have deserved worse at his hands that he is exceeding kinde labour to thinke of this for your selves and also for the Church God hath beene mercifull to it in all ages and is so still so he saith I have beene her habitation that is a house for the Church to dwell safely in from one generation to another from Abrahams time to the time they were in Aegypt and there I was their habitation and so in the wildernesse and so in all the times under the Iudges and so to our times look on the Church when it was in the worst condition take the Church of God even when it deemed to bee cut off as in that great massacre in France yet then was the Lord an habitation to it a company was kept alive that grew greater than the former So the Church in Queen Maries time he suffered the storme to overtake them a little but it was soone blowen over he was an habitation to keep off the storm from destroying them and so he hath been and will be to Bohemia and the Palatinate but so he hath beene found to be to our Church above all the rest for our Nation hath beene like Gideons Fleece when all others about us have beene wet and wallowed in bloud we have been dry therfore labour to see how good God is and how base we are and take heed of abusing his kindnesse lest he make this Nation wet with bloud when all others shall be dry and we come to have warre when all the rest have peace the way to continue his favours is to remember them and to humble our selves before him in thankfullnesse Thus much of this Doctrine The next may be this third Doctrine The Lords Name is called upon his people that is they are called by his Name for the opening of this point we must know first that it is the Lord that putteth his name upon them for who durst take this honour but those upon whom the Lord himselfe pleaseth to bestow it this is no small thing where God puts his name it brings something with it So as secondly it is not an emptie title Titulus sine re but there is a reality in it for where God gives his Name to any man or people there he bestowes himselfe and all he hath is theirs because they are Gods 1 Cor. 3. ult As an husband when hee bestowes his name upon his wife then he also giveth himselfe to her Now in the Scripture the Lords name and the Lord himselfe are put one for another so that it is no small priviledge to have the Lords Name called upon us And to open this further let us consider who they are yet that are called by anothers name amongst men First wives are called by the name of their husbands Secondly children by the name of their Parents Thirdly Temples are called by their names to whom they are dedicated Lastly they that addict themselves to some man to follow his opinion are called by his name As the Platonists Aristotelians Ramists c. from their masters In the same respects those that are called by Gods Name are such as are married to him and that are borne of him for they are his children and all such as are his Temples dedicated to his service Lastly all such as are addicted to follow him as Ioshua was who said I and my house will serve the Lord and as Iacob was thou shalt be my God and I will serve thee all these are called by the name
into your hearts And let the Name of the Lord not onely be upon you but also in you As we have it in Exod. 23. 21. spoken of the Angel that went with them in the wildernesse my Name is in him My Name is not only upon him so that he is not only called my Angel but my Name is also in him that is he is so affected as I am he hates sinne as I doe and therefore will punish it in you and loves what is good as I doe So let the Lords Name bee in you that is labour to be of the same mind and disposition that God is of to have a heart after his heart to be affected as he is labour to be thus minded and you shall be the Glory of the Lord as the Wife is the glory of her husband as shee is called 1 Cor. 11. 7. because when shee behaves her selfe wisely and vertuously those that see her doe commend her husband Therefore so behave thy selfe in the world so shew thy selfe like thy husband that thou bee his Glory shew forth the vertues of Christ as the Apostle hath it in 1 Peter 2. 9. A man must so behave himselfe as the Image of God may appeare in him and then he shall be his glory as a wife when she carries herself as the image of her husband so as his wisdome and vertues appeare in her then she is his glory Consider this seriously you are called by Gods Name if you make this but an empty title then you shall have but an empty benefit by it but if in earnest you cleave to him and follow him then he is yours and you his and all that is his is yours If at any time you sinne against God this should be a great motive to humble your selves the more that you should sin against him whose Name you beare to whom thou hast given up thy name and made a vow and promise to obey him Thus learn to aggravate your sin for it doth aggravate it and this use also I make for the day There is a double humiliation one comes from selfe love and that sometimes makes way for grace but is not grace but there is another that comes from a tender affection and love to God and Christ for when a man loves one he desires to please him and therefore when hee displeaseth him it grieveth him And this is such a humiliation as is required of us on these days of Fasting therefore labour to worke your hearts to this Now there is nothing will worke our hearts kindly to be humbled more then love and neerenesse will surely make us love GOD for why doth the wife love the husband and the husband the wife but because they are neare one to another Now when the Name of the LORD is called upon us it is an argument that wee are neare unto him therfore let that soften thy heart that thou shouldest carry thy selfe unworthy of this nearenesse That was that which smote the heart of David when he considered how kind and loving the Lord had beene to him the LORD himselfe when hee comes to humble his people hee taketh this course with them to â—ell them of the nearenesse that is betweene them and himselfe as is plaine in Ier. 2. 2 3. Thus saith the LORD I remember thee that is put thee in mind of the kindnesse of thy youth that is which I shewed thee in thy youth the love of thy Espousalls when c. Now when wee see the LORD take this course we should take the same when he would humble David he sent Nathan to humble him this was one part of his message to tell him of GODS kindnesse to him 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. thus saith the LORD I annointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul c. And this doubtlesse was the chiefest cause that made him confesse and say I have sinned against the LORD as it is in Psal. 51. he repeats against thee twice there lies the Emphasis I have sinned against thee against thee have I sinned that wounded him in a manner alone that there was so great a nearenesse betwixt the LORD and him When a man commits a sin there are two things to be considered in it first in that he sinnes against the Law of GOD and so hee sees a great obliquity in sin when he lookes on sin and the streight Law of GOD he sees a deformity in it but this alone doth not humble us in that kindly manner this will make us vile in our owne eyes this will make us to see a wonderfull deformity in our selves but now there is another thing to be seene in sinne and that is the person against whom we commit it and that is the LORD and sinne so looked upon comes to have another relation put upon it not onely as an obliquity and deformity but as an injury as a rebellion an unkindnesse recompensing evill for good The first way sinne is considered as an obliquity from a straight rule but in this latter as against the Person of GOD as against thy husband Now therefore to humble thee doe thus Goe through all the particular dealings of GOD with thee remember all the speciall kindnesses of the LORD his keeping thee from thy youth his many deliverances how many special kindnesses he hath done thee recount his mercies every Fast-day and when thou hast done this then go to thy sinnes and say These are not only transgressions against GODS streight Law but also they are unkindnesses and injuries against his Person and adde to all this the consideration of the patience of GOD though I have plaid the wretch and harlot as never any have done yet he hath been patient and is so kind as he bids me yet to returne and this will cause thy heart to melt towards him labour to doe this more and more There is an exercise of Humiliation which is done after this manner spoken of by seeing the Lords kindnesse to thee and thy injury against him and comparing the one with the other But thou wilt say I would faine do it but I cannot my heart is hard and I cannot get it thus melted Therefore I say exercise thy selfe to this The reason mens hearts are thus hard c. is because men are idle not willing to recount Gods mercies to them Say not thy heart is hard but thou art sluggish this therfore you ought to doe especially at this time In Levit. 23. 29. there was a time set apart for the Israelites for the performance of this duty of humiliation and it was to bee their exercise that day they were then to labour to afflict their soules such as did not were to bee cut off from among his people And this consideration that wee are called by the name of the Lord is a meanes to doe it But you will say I have done this and yet my
say sit up higher all the world cannot hold downe an humble man because the Lord setteth to his hand to raise him up neither keepe up a proud man because the Lord setteth himselfe to depresse and debase them when the wall swells it is not like to stand long when a joynt is luxated and swelled till the swelling abate it cannot be saved and set he hath respect to the low estate of his handmaiden so saith Mary the blessed Virgin Luke 1. 48. So he dealt with Naomi hee was long in humbling her and then raised her up so with Iob when hee was humbled then God doubled his estate thus God deales with the humble and that constantly he never does any great things for any men till hee hath first humbled him how much was Ioseph humbled ere he made that promise to him that the Sunne Moone and Stars should bow to him that is his father and mother and brethren should obey him and yet againe before God made good these promises to him what a doe there was to humble him further which doubtlesse made him more to prize these mercies and so more thankfull to God for them So also in his glorious appearance to Abraham Isaac and Iacob he would still before hand humble them and make them low by some affliction or other still before hee would make any gracious promises to them When Iacob was flying from the face of his brother and was in great streights and so made low in his owne eyes then did God first appeare to him when a man is humbled it is the next doore to preferment one way or other Therefore it should be our wisedome to humble our selves more and more since there is so much benefit to be gotten by it Prov. 22. 4. By humility and the feare of the Lord are riches and honours and life the rule holds constant the Lord makes it good let a man be humble and feare God too that is allow himselfe in no sinne and the Lord will make it good one way or other in his time But you will say we see the contrary proud men are advanced and humble men deprest they have riches when as the humble man is poore and as we use to say where the hedg is lowest there all the beasts goe over and tread it downe every man will be ready to trample upon the humble man I answer first The Lord gives outward gaudy things to proud men but hee gives his Iewels to those that are humble hee reveales his secret to them these are Princes though they goe on foote and the other are servants though they ride on horsebacke But this is not all my answer but secondly I say that even for the things of this life the Lord doth exalt the humble and bring downe the proud onely with this caution hee doth both in season when things are brought to maturity as the Apostle Saint Peter saith 1 Pet. 5. 6. humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that hee may exalt you in due time God doth it not on a suddaine When the proud like the corne are ripe then he puts in the sickle and cuts them downe and casts them into the fire The wall which is sweld must have a time to moulder and fall and so on the contrary there is a due time for the exaltation of the humble And therefore if thou sayest I have humbled my selfe and have not beene healed I have not beene freed from such a temptation for all my humiliation if this bee thy case then assure thy selfe thou art not humbled enough but goe thou and yet bring thy heart lower and then bee confident that this rule will hold the Lord will take off the smarting plaister as soone as it hath eaten out the proud flesh so soone as thy heart is truly humbled the Lord will helpe thee he will either remove the crosse or give thee that which is equivalent and thus the Lord hath alwayes done So he dealt with Ioseph You happily may thinke and hee might thinke it was long before he was exalted but yet that time was not too long for as soone as the LORD had truly humbled him then hee presently exalted him as you may see in Psal. 105. 18 19 20. Whose feet they hurt with fetters he was laid in iron until the time that his word came the word of the Lord tryed him then the King sent and loosed him c. And so he dealt with Iob. All that time that his friends were reasoning with him his heart would not bee brought downe but the Lord himselfe must come and reason with him and then he began to abhorh mselfe in dust and ashes and how soone after was hee restored and al he lost restored double also This being as you see Gods constant course if thou humbling thy selfe yet lyest long under a calamity thou mayest assure thy selfe there is somthing wanting in thy heart and therefore bee content with Gods dealing 2 Cor. 12. lest Saint Paul should be exalted there was given him a thorne in the flesh if Saint Paul needed humility who doth not Remember this rule that if Gods people humble themselves then he will certainely helpe them onely it will bee in due season But you will say how shall wee get downe our stubborne hearts Pride is very naturall and the hardest thing in the world to overcome Let every man consider whether he be released or no from the plague of his heart if that there be not some calamity which hangs continually on him if there be then know thou art not humbled enough the meaning is not that thou shouldest be brought to an apprehension and feare of hell but thy heart is to be brought down more thou maiest be humbled truly so as to be within the covenant and yet not enough to have thy heart wrought to this or that frame God would bring it unto And to bring your hearts lower use these meanes First consider your hearts often consider what unruly lusts you find hid there make it your daily custome to search into this We goe not a daies journey in this life but there is somewhat discovered in our hearts which may serve to humble us further as it was with them in the wildernesse Deut. 8. 2. Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty yeares in the wildernesse to humble thee to prove thee and to know what was in thy heart c. There is not one day but a godly-wise man may discerne something in his heart which may be matter of humiliation to him which he saw not before vaineglorious speeches unlawfull silence cowardize in good causes thy worldly mindednesse thy unruly affections that will be still stirring and something will be discovered without in thy actions also which when thou seest such sparkes ascending remember to looke to the fire the furnace within these are but the buds
you had lost Thou mayest seeke salvation and deliverance from hel out of the strenght of naturall wisedome because it is for thy good and also being convinced of the necessity of faith and repentance to escape hell and obtain salvation Men may thereupon go farre in the performance of many duties and be constant a while in them and yet not seeke the Lords face in all these and then the Lord regards them not Take a thiefe that is arraigned at the bar he will cry earnestly for his life but yet he seeketh not the face of the Iudge i. e. he doth it without love to the Iudge but onely out of the love of life So we may do much to escape hel and to attain the life opposite to it and yet all this while not seeke the presence of God and then GOD regards it not You find this disposition in your selves and see it in others if a man bee never so observant of any of you and performe never so many offices of friendship to you yet if a man can say he loves me not for all this hee doth not prize mee nor desire my love and favour so much for it selfe but for his owne ends in this case you care not for what hee doth So the LORD hee knowes the heart and the reines and what thine end is whether it bee communion with his person immediately or thine own welfare meerely and if so regards not thy humbling thy selfe nor thy prayers The promise you see is suspended upon it it is a distinguishing point and will separate betweene the precious and the vile it is a marke set upon Gods people alone To seeke Gods face Wee will therefore further and more particularly consider what it is to seeke Gods face or presence And there are three wayes to finde it out First by what is here joyned with it If they humble themselves and seeke my face and so by considering the connexion that these two have together find out what seeking of Gods face is Now there is a twofold humiliation wrought in men The one is for that bitternesse and punishment that sin brings with it and this never brings forth either faithfull prayers or seeking Gods face But there is another kind of humiliation which hath a further ingredient in it and that is the sight of the foulenesse of sinne when God openeth a crevise of light to looke upon sin not onely as that which brings bitternesse with it but as that which in it selfe is most filthy and abominable and by that light it is made such in his account for it is one thing to flee from the sting of the Serpent an other thing to hate the Serpent it selfe and so to take heed of the Wolfe because of his cruelty and to hate the Wolfe it selfe are differing things Other creatures may hate the properties and conditions of a Wolfe but a Lambe only hates the Wolfe it selfe Now with this latter kind of humiliation there goes and is conjunct with it an enlightning whereby God shewes to a man his owne glorious face the lustre whereof helpes him further to see the foulnesse of sinne God by the same light of the Spirit whereby he shewes a men the uglinesse of sinne discovers withal his own excellencies which makes the sinner thus humbled to seeke his face to seeke grace as well as mercy But other men either see not Gods face at all or onely see his angry countenance onely those whom the Lord calleth effectually see his gracious face Now hee to whom it is hid and sees it not seekes not Gods face for none can seeke it unlesse they have seene it and hee who sees it onely as angry flies from God but he discovers himselfe to the truly humble the secrets of the Lord are with such Psal. 25. and so Ioh. 15. 15. I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth but I have call'd you friends for all things I have heard of my Father I have made knowne to you Hee reveales himselfe to those who are already his friends or to those he is about to make his friends one of the first things he doth is to reveale his face to them With men indeed men are first made friends and then secrets are revealed but contrarily with God he reveales his secrets to us and his face that we may be made friends with him and then wee grow into further acquaintance with him and they are therefore cal'd the secrets of the Lord because only revealed to the Saints Servants indeed see what is done in the house but there are many things which their masters reveale not to them and so many come here to the house of God and heare what is spoken of GOD and CHRIST but yet there are some certaine secrets that are hid from them that are told only to the children the sonnes and daughters of God The other heare as much and see as much for the outside as Gods children do yet the secrets of things are hid from them and among others Gods face and the excellencies thereof are hid from them This he reveales as his other secrets onely to those that feare him and this revealing it is a speciall worke of the Spirit If a man would see the Sunne all the starres in heaven and torches in the earth could not helpe him to see it or shew it to him unlesse the Sunne it selfe shines and ariseth and there come a light from the Sunne it selfe you cannot come to see it and so all the Angels of heaven and wits of men on earth cannot shew you Gods face unlesse hee opens the clouds and reveales himselfe by his owne Spirit it will not bee done which is therefore called the Spirit of Revelation Ephes. 1. 17. by which God reveales his secrets to his children when he begins to call them effectually they see him and none else wee make knowne the Doctrines about GOD and CHRIST c. to all alike but the Lord makes the difference by revealing himselfe to one and not unto another that which is said especially of the Iewes 2 Cor. 3. 15 16. verses and so on is in like manner applicable to us all The Lords face shines as Moses face did verse 15. and hee gives the knowledge of his glory in the face of Iesus Christ in the ministery of the word every day but there is a vaile lies upon all mens hearts upon all but those whom the Lord calls and upon theirs also till hee calleth them as upon the Iewes hearts verse 16. Neverthelesse when they shall turne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away and untill then Gods face cannot bee seene as Moses face was not and who shall take away that vaile The Spirit of the Lord where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty vers 17. and when hee doth free us of that vaile then we behold the Glory of the Lord as in a
be compared to the Lord they are but as dust blowne away with his breath If our eyes were but opened to see as Gehazies were the host that was about him so ours to see the Lord we should desire him alone and seeke him and then a man would be ready for all varieties of changes put him where you will he will be content to have Gods favour whilest he lives and heaven when he dyes and till this be wrought he doth not seeke God with a perfect heart till a man comes to this choyce I have many things in the world but the LORD is my portion and he is my exceeding great reward and I can live on him alone it being as impossible for me to have him without comfort as to have the Sunne without light so as whatever becomes of him he is able to say I have lost nothing I am not driven out of my inheritance and portion I have Gods presence and that will be a direction and a protection to us in hard times so that we may say The Lords Name is my strong Tower and though others fly to other refuges yet Thither fly the righteous and are safe Thou must seeke Gods presence in time of peace if thou wouldest have it for thy refuge in time of danger Both these we may see Isai. 4. the two last verses The Lord will create upon every place of Mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night verse 5. that is as the People of Israel comming out of Egypt had a pillar of fire to guide them by night and a cloudy pillar by day so God promiseth there to his people I will walke before you and direct your way in all your actions in difficult cases God guides them by an immediate enlightning of his Spirit into those wayes that shall be most safe for them 1 Sam. 18. 14. The Lord was with David and hee walked wisely God directed him and was his Counsellor when as the Lord departed from Saul and he erred in all he did As the Israelites if their two pillars had beene taken away they had beene lost in the wildernesse So was Saul when the Lord departed from him he was as a man wildred in a darke night whereas a godly man shall have a voyce behinde him saying this is the way walke in it whereas if hee went another way he should breake his necke and what a great privilege is this But that is not all the benefit which the presence of God doth afford us but it gives protection also as that place in Isay shewes for it followes upon all the glory shall bee a defence and there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heate and for a place of refuge and for a covert from the storme and from the raine that is looke what a shadow is to a poore traveller in the time of scorching heate in those hot Countries that will the Lords presence be to all his Saints and it shall be a covert also they shall be under it as under a roofe stand like one in an house dry that looks out and sees others in a storme as when the Aegyptians were beaten with haile and perisht in it the Israelites were safe And lastly he will be a refuge to them when they are persecuted by any whether it be by their owne sinnes which follow them as the avenger of bloud or by evill men or the power and malice of Sathan if they run to him he will be their Asylum their Sanctuary See this different priviledge of the Saints from others in Mordecai and Haman both were in distresse Mordecai was persecuted he flew to the Lord by prayer and had him for a refuge but Haman had none when he was out with the King So both Peter and Iudas fell into sinne but Peter had a refuge to fly to even God whom he had been formerly acquainted withall but Iudas had none and so the storme fell on him so Saul being to fight with the Philistimes had no refuge God was departed from him and therefore he fled to a witch but David when hee was in as great a streight and the people talkt of stoning him he had a refuge he encouraged himselfe in his God and therfore you find it so often repeated by him God is my shield and the rocke of my defence In faire weather men care for no such shelter because they thinke they need it not but remember a storme may come and it is good to provide against a rainy day 2 Rev. 5. when the Church was falne from her first love he threatneth to remove the Candlesticke whereby he meanes not the ministry onely as appeares by the last verse of the first Chapter The seven Candlestickes thou sawest are the seven Churches and therefore Captivity is thereby threatned a removall from that Citty which was a place of ease and safety into a barren land where they should live more hardly And this is threatned not because they had utterly forsaken but were fallen from their first love and some degrees of it What cause have we then to feare and if so what cause is there wee should now seek the Lords presence and then we shall be sure to find him a refuge for go whither thou wilt He is there Psal. 139. Whether into the furthermost parts of the earth or the heart of the Sea thou art there sayes David and as nothing is so terrible to the wicked as that go whither they can God is there so nothing is more comfortable to the Godly Now we are come to the last condition which the Lord requires before he will heare prayers and forgive their sinnes or heale the land of his people and that is If my people turne from their evill wayes Whence you may observe this Doctrine That except a man doe turne from his evill wayes hee can have no interest in the promises of the Gospell Now this poynt as the rest hath a double office The one is to shut out those to whom the promises belong not If you turne not from your evill wayes your prayers shall not be heard Another to open a doore of comfort to them that doe it their prayers shall be heard But first for matter of terror to those without and herein our method shall be first to know what it is to turne from our evill waies for when the Lord shall hang all his promises upon these conditions we have reason to examine them narrowly Wherfore for the conceiving of this we must know that every man is borne backward into the world with his backe turned upon God and his face toward sinne and hell and so continues till he heare some call from God to the contrary saying That is not the way c. So that this conversion of the soule is called a turning because it is from one
grace will he give you up to your lusts he will not It is Gods manner to let his children strive and to overcome in the end Iacob wrestled all night till the dawning of the day and then hee let him have the victory and blest him The Lord suffers us to strive long but this is our comfort that we have a promise that if we resist the Divell he will fly And whereas you will say I finde it not The meaning of the promise is not as if Sathan should fly away as thou shouldest heare of him no more or that thy lusts should never returne upon thee againe but that if thou wilt be peremptory thou shalt have the victory in that particular combate As if when thou hast a feaver if one comes and tells thee take such a receipt and thou shalt bee cured his meaning is not that thou shalt so bee cured as never to have Feaver againe but that thou shalt be healed for the present so in that particular combate thou shalt have the victory Oh! but I am still haunted and I doe not overcome Strive constantly and conscionably and though it doth returne againe and againe the Lord takes notice of all thy paines and warring against it that which he sayes to the Church of Ephesus Revel 2. 2. may be applied to this I know thy workes and thy labour though thy corruptions bee too strong for thee yet if thou strivest the LORD takes it for a victory thou shalt not bee condemned for it give not over but rather thinke thus if all this contention hath wonne so little ground of my lusts where should I have beene if I had not contended at all and therefore I must take yet more paines and row harder that at the last I may overcome And because this is of generall use both to regenerate and unregenerate therefore I will goe on to adde some more rules and directions wherein this paines consists which we must take in resisting sinn A third rule or meanes wherein this labour against evill wayes must be bestowed is to strive to take notice of all the wayes of God whereby hee labours to turne thee from thy evill wayes and let them not passe without some impression to that purpose for which God intends them God useth not onely his Word but many meanes else to turne men as by his workes and by many passages of providence hee strives with us all which should bee observed As it may bee some great crosse upon the commission of a sinne some great dangerous sickenesse though not to death sometimes hee sends great feares and terrors of conscience upon some sinne committed somtimes an evill report is brought up of us or hee sends friends to admonish us or executes some Iudgement upon another for the like sinne in our sight When he meets with thee some way or other as he met Balaam hee lookes wee should understand something by it and if we neglect those his dealings with us he takes it ill at our hands and so gives us up to our lusts more and more Dan. 5. 22. there had beene a Iudgement brought upon Nebuchadnezzar in the sight of Belshazzar his Sonne which should have beene a meanes to have turned him but Thou Belshazzar his Sonne hast not humbled thy selfe though thou knewest all this As if hee had said I did all this to one neare thee in thy sight that thou mightest be humbled and turne to me This was the case of Ieroboam 1 Kings 13. God sent the Prophet to him with signes and wonders both in tearing the Altar and withering his hand yet still he went on And verse 23. it is noted and set downe on purpose by the Holy Ghost that after this Ieroboam returned not from his evill way c. as if God had said I looked thou should'st have returned upon the sight of all these Iudgements but thou wouldest not So Ieremy 3. 8. you know that Israel was carried captive long before Iudah I gave Israel a bill of divorcement for her adultery yet treacherous Iudah feared not as if he had said a Iudgement on their next neighbour should have made them to have returned Therefore doe thou think what the Lord would by all such passages of providence towards thee which are all as warning peeces before the great army as crackes before the fall creveses through which the Lord reveales himselfe For you must know that God brings men in by his workes as well as by his word and you may take his workes in vaine as well as his word and to let them passe without profit is to take his Name in vaine for his Name is whatsoever hee makes himselfe knowne by as by these acts he doth and God will not hold him guiltlesse that takes his Name in vaine GOD will utterly destroy such a man for then there is no remedy God cuts not his owne corne till they be ripe and all his dealings with them tend to ripen them nor doth hee bring wicked men to destruction till they be ripe for it and every such passage doth ripen them Now all men are for the most part in one of these three conditions Some take no notice at all of such passages God passeth by them and is not seene and it is said of the Israelites Deut. 29. though they had seene great signes and miracles in the wildernesse verse 3. yet they had not eyes to see them nor eares to heare them verse 4. Others though they doe take notice of them yet the impression they leave behinde them is but slight and like a light colour not well dyed the tincture is soone worne out Marke 6. 25. for they considered not the miracle of the loaves for the hardnesse of their hearts It was spoken upon occasion of their being amazed at this new miracle Christs walking upon the water and is as if hee had said if yee had considered the miracle of the loaves you would not have wondered thus at my walking on the waters that had made so deepe an impression on them as it should by reason of the hardnesse of their hearts But you shall see the case quite otherwise in the Iaylor his affâ—ightment which the earthquake and the opening of the prison dores had wrought in him passed not away as a dreame but left such an impression as brought him home And so should all such passages worke with us And that is the third direction 4 Rule is not simply to goe about to resist a sin and to turne from the evil of our ways but to fil the heart with something that is better for when lusts are mortified the streame of our affections are not dryed up but diverted and therefore the way is not to goe about to stop the current of a sinfull lust but to turne thy heart into another channell set thy heart upon something that is better Take a crab-tree stocke that is sower or bitter the onely way to sweeten it
scandalous sinnes but the first rise of it was his unconscionable walking with God in secret as the Apostle Paul sayes of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 20. to 24. That because when they knew God they glorified him not as God God gave them up to vile affections So Psal. 80. 11 12. But my people would not bearken and Israel would none of mee So I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts and they walked in their owne counsels As if he had said I used all the meanes they still refused and would none of me and therefore I gave them up Seest thou a man given up to a lust his heart so cemented to it as hee cannot live without it know this is in judgment to him for some unconscionable walking before and not practising according to his knowledge 3 There is yet a judgement beyond these when the Lord forsaketh the creature and withdrawes himselfe from a man which though men doe little account of is the fearefullest of all others The losse of Gods presence is a losse unvaluable Take a man that makes wealth or honour his God take that prop from him and how doth his heart sinke within him how much more when the true God shall bee departed from a man that God that is the God of all comfort if hee bee withdrawne the heart sinks into a bottomlesse pit of horrour as when the Sun is gone all things run into darknesse All comfort is from some measure or degree of Gods presence though men doe not take notice of it which when it is taken away there remaines nothing but horrour and despaire when God was departed from Saul 1 Sam. 16. hee from that day ranne into one errour after another in his government till hee was destroyed and the cause of this was sinne he had cast off the Lord and therefore the Lord rejected him The like was Caines case Gen. 4. His judgement was to bee banish'd from the presence of the Lord which hee acknowledgeth to be an insupportable punishment which hee was not able to beare When any trouble is upon thee sticke not in the rind and baâ—ke of it but looke through it and beyond it to the inward root of it looke to sinne as the cause and thou shalt finde it so it may bee the immediate cause and instrument may bee some outward thing some enemy of thy disgrace some sicknesse c. but who hath permitted them to worke is it not the Lord and what is the motive of his permission but sinne men may have many severall motives to doe this or that but nothing moves the Lord but sinne and grace When an enemy comes upon thee say not this man is the cause of this evill but the Lord hath suffered him to worke and sinne hath occasion'd this suffering 2 Chron. 12. 5 7. Shishak was but the violl through whose hands God powred out his wrath so I may say sicknesse is but the violl it is the Lords wrath that is powred out in it Amend this common errour that men are ready to seeke out the naturall causes of the evils that befall them if it bee sickenesse they looke to such a distemper in diet or cold c. as the cause of it so if they miscarry in any enterprize what folly and oversight hath beene the cause of it These are but the naturall and immediate causes but Christians should looke to and seeke out to the supernaturall When there came a famine upon the land of Iudah for three yeares 2 Sam. 21. 1. the naturall cause was evident which was a great drought for that famine was healed by raine afterwards and so in those hot countries famine came by drought alone but David rests not here but went to the Lord and enquired out the reason the sinne that should bee the cause of it And God told him it was for the sinne of Saul and his bloudy house in slaying the Gibeonites as wise statesmen when they find a meane person in a treason they rest not there but seeke further what deepe heads was in the businesse and who was the contriver of the plot When Iacob saw the Angels descend and ascend he lookes to the top of the ladder and saw the Lord there sending them to and fro Looke not to the stayres of the ladder one or two that are next to thee but to the top of the ladder and there thou shalt see the Lord sending one Angell to do thee a mischief another to be a Saviour to thee If you say how shall I know for what sinne it is Pray earnestly and enquire as David did and as Ioshua did when he saw the people flie before their enemies that God would reveale to thee the particular sinne and if thou canst not find out the particular sin for it may bee some sin long ago committed or some secret sinne yet be sure that sin is the cause of it for as in the works of nature we know the vapours arise out of the earth and ascend invisibly but come downe againe in stormes and showers which we are able to see and are sensible of so the judgements may be open and manifest enough but not the sins but some secret sin that past by thee without notice taken is the cause of it Learne hence to see sinne in its owne colours sinne is a secret and invisible evill and in it selfe as abstractly considered is hard to be seene of the best therefore looke upon it as it is cloathed with calamities and when you view it under the cloathing you will have another opinion of it than you had before If you should know a man who whersoever he comes doth nothing but mischiefe poysons one stabs another c. and leaves every where some prints of his villany how hatefull and terrible would he be unto you it is sin that playes all these reaks among us if sin come upon a man cloathed and armed with Gods wrath as it often doth at death then it is terrible Why do we not look upon it thus at other times but because we doe not behold it in the fearefull effects of it as then in the wrath due to it we doe Sin is the same at all times else but our fancy is not alwaies the same as the body is alwayes the same though the shadow bee greater or lesser that which we now count a small sinne as swearing and petty oaths will one day bee terrible such a sinne as was committed by Ananias and Sapphira would seeme small it may be to you in it selfe alone but see it cloathed with that judgement that befell them dying at the Apostles feete so see the sinne of Ahabs oppressing Naboth which you may looke at but as doing a little wrong to a poore man by a great man but see it cloathed with Ahabs death and the dogs licking his bloud and it will appeare to be most hainous so the prophanenesse of Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire Learne