judgement am I reserved if I repent not And this makes way for the second use If Englands mercies come from free grace let not England presume upon Gods mercies as iâ—… intailed upon them and their posterity for it is as free for God to take away his mercies as it was free to give them And thus Christ tels the Jewes in the forementioned place I tell you nâ—…y but except ye repent ye shall likewise perish and so they did within forty yeares after with a severe destruction And so doe I say to England Except England repent England also shall perish let not England be high minded but feare God hath a devouring sword for England as well as Ireland And therefore let England this day humble it selfe in dust and ashes for though God deferre Englands judgement longer than Irelands or Germanies yet as sure as there is a God in Heaven unlesse wee repent we also shall perish Gods forbearance is no acquittance It is one thing to forbeare a debtor and another thing to acquit a debtor The longer God is fetching about his hand the heavier will the blow be when he strikes What so calme as the Sea but yet when a storme comes what so tempestuous What so blunt as iron but when it is shâ—…rpned what more sharpe None so patient and mercifull as God but yet when he begins to strike and his anger is kindled how unexpressible is his fury Consider this you that forget God lest he teare you in pieces and there be none to deliver you If free grace hath preserved England let England blesse God for free grace and say as it is Lament 3. 22. It is the Lords mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions faile not not because our sinnes faile not for our sins are as many as our mercies but because his compassions faile not It is the Lords mercie that we sinfull men and women are not consumed O give God the glory of free grace as it is expressed Malachi 3. 6. I am the Lord I change not therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed Not because you have not changed your God not because you are good and righteous but because I am unchangeable therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed Let us say as David We have not got our peace and plenty by our owne sword neither hath our owne arme saved us but thy right hand and thy arme and the light of thy countenanâ—…e because thou haddest a favour unto us If thou art converted blesse God for free grace For who made thee to differ from another and what hast thou which thou hast nâ—…t received and if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it Let us ascribe all our Deliverances and all our mercies the mercie of the Pacification the mercy of Reformation the mercy of the Union of both Houses of Parliament the discovery of all plots and treasons against this Church and State our freedome from all our yoaks and all the good things that God hath done for us unto free grace and say as God to Zerubbabel Not by might noâ—… by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts Who art thou O great mountaine before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plaine and he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shouting and crying Grace grace unto it Let grace grace be our constant acclamation If free grace hath preserved England not free will Let England maintaine free grace above free will I find in history that Pelagius the greatest enemie to free grace that ever the world had was borne in England and I am sure that England of late yeares hath been too great a friend to Pelagianisme under the name of Arminianisme Bradwardine an Englishman complains of his time as Hierome before had done of Arianisme That almost all the world was gone after the errour of Pelagius and he cries out Exurge Deus judica causam tuam I am confident that this complaint and this prayer might justly have been taken up in reference to England these few yeares past for there was A mighty faction risen up in the Church so I dare now call it blessed be God who advanced free will above free grace and subjected the power of grace to the power of free will which faction prevailed so farre as that whosoever was not an Arminian was eâ—…mine A doctrinall Puritan as hee was then termed The Universities were poysoned with this doctrine and all preferment streâ—…med this way We were come to that height that the doctrine of Arminianisme was accounted the doctrine of the Church of England And therefore I beseech you right Honourable to take this into your most serious consideration Place free grace in its throne advance free grace that hath so much advanced you roote out Arminianisme settle our doctrine not only our discipline that there may be no shadow of plea in it for an Arminian King James of famous memory in a Declaration written to the States of Holland cals Arminius the enemy of God and a booke of Bertius of the Apostasie of the Saints A blasphemous booke whose very Title makes it worthy the fire and he perswades the Low Countries betimes to roote out those heresies and schismes which if they suffered to have the reines would bring the curse of God upon them infamy through all the Reformed Churches and a perpetuall rent and distraction in the whole body of their State I speake to wise men consider what I say And certain it is if temporall deliverances be the fruits of Gods free grace much more are spirituall and eternall Therefore we are said to be justified freely by his grace and to be Elected according to the good pleasure of his will and whereas the Apostle saith that the wages of sinne is death he doth not adde the wages of grace is eternall life but the gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord It is not free will but free grace that puts the difference between Jacob and Esau It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy It is an excellent saying of Augustine Timeo ego animae meae salutem aliqua ex parte libero arbitrio committere Iam afraid to commit the least Iota of my salvation to free will and the same Father doth much and often commend a saying of Cyprian In nullo gloriandum quoniaem nostrum nihill est We must glory in nothing because nothing is ours Bernard most sweetly Horreo quicquid de meo est ut sim meus I abhorre whatsoever is mine that I may be mine Bucer likewise hath these words Si vâ—…l tantillum boni a Deo non est Deus non est if the least beame of holinesse be in us without the efficacious worke of Gods grace he is no longer a God Now surely the act of assenting to the offer of grace is
silken halters to hang himselfe withall and ponds of sweet water to drowne himselfe withall gilded poysons to poyson himselfe withall O let not your honors and riches c. be silken halters to strangle your soules let not your pleasures be ponds of sweet water to drown your soules let not your preferments be gilded poysons to poyson your soules Say as Nabal did but in a better sense shal I take my health which God hath given me to sin against my God with it God forbid Shall I take the wit that God hath given me to plot against God and his cause with it God forbid 3. Consider the patience of God towards us This is an argument that should drive us to repentance Rom. 2. There is no sin but it is committed in the very bosome of God For God fils Heaven earth and sees all your curtaine abominations And he is able to destroy you he is just and must wound the bairy scalpe of those that goe on in their wickednesse and he is a holy and a pure God that hates your iniquities from his very heart And yet behold how patient this God is towards you At such a time when thou wert in the act of adultery he might have sent thee to hell in the very act he might have made thy tongue to rot the last oath thou sworest Nothing with-held him but pure mercy O let this melt our hearts What a mercy is it to be out of hell Many in hell have not sinned the sinnes that we have done It is his free grace that we are delivered We might have been weeping in hell at this instant And then our teares should have beene our hell but now they will prove our heaven if God worke them in us 4. Consider the Lord Jesus Christ and his love in dying for thee If thy heart be as hard as an Adamant the blood of this scape Goate will soften it There were five men met together that asked one another what meanes they used to abstaine from sinne The first answered That he continually thought upon the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time of death and that made him live every day as if it were his last day The second meditated of the severe account he was to give at the day of judgement and of the everlasting torments of hell and this kept him from sin The third of the vilenesse and loathsomenesse of sin and of the excellency and beauty of grace and this made him abhorre sinne The fourth of the everlasting rewards and pleasures provided for those that abstaine from sinne and this prevailed with him The fifth and the last continually meditated of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his love and this made him ashamed to sin against God This last is the greatest motive of all If the pacification betweene the two Nations of England Scotland will not affect us let the great pacification that Christ hath made for thee between God and thy soule move thy heart to be ashamed to offend God It is the greatest argument I can use to say For Jesus Christ his sake be ashamed and confounded for your evill waies 5. Consider the long enjoyment of the Gospel the powerfull and plentifull preaching of it joyned with peace and plenty And let us mourne for our Gospel sins for our unprofitablenes and unfruitfulnesse under such fruitfull meanes that we have beene like a barren ground which no plowing will make good Let us mourne for our unbeliefe and impenitency Let Gospel sins produce Gospel sorrow Teares are made onely for sin If we mourne our eyes out for worldly losses we cannot profit our selves But if we weep for sin this will quench the fire of hell There are 2 sorts of sins and 2 sorts of curses legall sins Gospel sins legall curses and Gospel curses Legall sins will bring legall curses But Gospel sins unlesse there be Gospel sorrow will bring a Gospel curse which is above al legal curses Of this curse the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 16. 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha that is accursed for the present reserved for the vengeance which Christ will render to all unbelievers when he comes to judgement This is curse upon curse And this is the curse due to them that abuse mercies The Lord deliver us from this curse 6. Let every man consider the personal mercies that God hath bestowed upon him in particular take all these mercies lay them to his heart they wil dissolve the stone in his heart let our hearts be as wax these mercies as the sun to melt them into godly sorrow Make a double Catalogue One of thy sins The other of Gods mercies to thee binde them about thy heart to bring it into a religious frame Thus I have named six other mercies My humble suit is That you would pâ—…nder consider seriously what hath been said unto you Consider what I say saith the Apostle and the Lord give you understanding The Thessalonians had never understood what Paul had said if they had not considred it No more shall we profit by this Sermon if we do not consider what hath bin said And this consideration must have foure ingredients 1. We must consider these mercies distinctly and deliberately If a man hath a sweet Cordiall in his mouth and swallow it downe whole he wil not taste the sweetnes of it but if he chew it by degrees it wil be very pleasant to his taste So these mercies will doe us no good if we swallow them down without serious meditation But if we chew them and consider them distinctly and deliberately one mercy after another they will exceedingly affect us 2. We must consider them with reflexion upon our selves and application to our selves As it is reported of Plato that when he did walk in the streets if he saw any man disordred in his speech or any other way he would say to himselfe Num ego talis Am I such a one as this is So must we say Num ego talis Have I abused these mercies Have I sinned with these mercies And as the Apostles severally asked Christ Master is it I So mâ—…t we aske our hearts Am not I the man that ought to be ashamed and â—…nfoundid for my sins against mercies 3. We must consider these mercies in as neere a propinquity as we can possible It is a true saying of the Philosoper Things that are seen far off are as if they were not A great man a far off seems little or nothing An enemie a farre off or a serpent a farre off doth littâ—…e trouble us So it is with mercies If we looke upon them at a distance they will seeme little and little affect us but if we take them neere to us they will seeme as they are very great and will mightily worke upon us 4. Consider these mercies devoutly with prayer unto God to make them heart-melting
Gods free Mercy TO ENGLAND Presented as a Pretious and Powerfull motive to Humiliation IN A SERMON Preached before the Honourable House of Commons at their late solemne Fast Feb. 23. 1641. By EDMVND CALAMY B.D. and Preacher at Aldermanbury London JOEL 2. 12 13 14. Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your heart and not your garments and turne unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenteth him of the evill Who knoweth if he will returne and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a meate-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God Published by Order of the House of Commons LONDON Printed for CHRISTOPHER MEREDITH at the Crane in S. PAVLS Church-yard 1642. TO THE HONORABLE HOVSE OF COMMONS Assembled in Parliament AMong all the Mercies which God hath vouchsafed to bestow upō this Kingdome by your helpe the procuring of a Monethly Fast from his Royall Majesty during the warres of Ireland and the unsetled condition of England is not the least For by this meanes the Churches of England are set in a monethly posture of warre to fight with Prayers and Teares which are the Churches weapons against all the enemies of our peace and prosperity And may very fitly resemble the Tree of Life mentioned Revel. 22. 2. which yeelded her fruite every Moneth and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the Nations I doubt not but through Gods blessing this Monethly Fast will prove an England-and-Ireland-healing Fast if it be celebrated as it ought to be with weeping mourning and brokennesse of heart for sin and from sin Great is the efficacy and omnipotency of prayer and fasting So great as that it would require rather a large volume than a short Epistle to expresse it And therefore I purposely wave it as a theame in which a child cannot want eloquence in which I should sooner know where to begin than where to make an end As the Jewes had their Monethly Feast which they called their New Moones in which the Word was preached their shops shut up special sacrifices offered up to God And as they had their Feast of Trumpets in which they blowed their trumpets all day long especially in their first New Moone from Sun-rising till night So Blessed be God we now enjoy our Christian New Moones and Evangelical Feast of Trumpets We have not o◅ely our Monethly Sacrament Feast to refresh our soules withall in most of our congregations which would be as the hidden Manna Revel. 2. 17. an unspeakeable consolation to the Religious party if you would be pleased most noble Senators to appoint by your authority some spirituall railes as you have taken away other kind of railes to keepe away all dogs and swine from polluting that holy Ordinance but we have also our New Moone F◅st in which the Word is preached trading ceaseth and Sacrifices of prayer praises and almes are tendred up to God in the name of Jesus Christ We have our Feast of Trumpets in which our godly Ministers throughout the whole Kingdome lift up their voices as a Trumpet and all the whole day are either the mouth of the people to God or Gods mouth to the people shewing unto England their sinnes and to the people of this Land their transgressions and calling them to humiliation and reformation From hence it comes to passe That if Englands just feares and Irelands miseries should so long continue by reason of our sinnes we are likely to be blessed by the providence of God bringing good out of evill with twelve Nationall solemne publike Fasts every yeare which if rightly kept will be as the twelve Gates of the New Jerusalem spoken of Revel. 21. Every fast will be as a Gate to let us in into a part of the New Jerusalem of Mercy and happinesse promised to the people of God here upon earth And there is one thing more which addes much to this new monethly mercy and that is That notwithstanding your most weighty and important affaires you are pleased to keepe this Fast your selves in your own Persons after a most solemne and religious manner every Moneth Which pious example no doubt will be a notable incouragement to all the Kingdome to follow so good a President and a mighty provocation to the religious and solemne observance of it It is said expresly of the King of Niniveh though a Heathen that he came from his Throne laid his robes from him and that his Nobles and people from the greatest of them to the least put on sackcloth And as Chrysostome well observeth Their sackcloth prevailed more with God then all their purple robes Quod non poterat Diadema id saccus obtinuit Such a famous example doe you hold forth who are the chiefest of our Tribes to which I doubt not but the lowest of our people unlesse they will bee worse than Heathens will cheerefully conforme This insuing Sermon was preached at your last Monthly Fast and it is now by your command exposed to publique view There is nothing in it that makes it worthy the Printing but onely your kinde acceptance of it which is as a Royall stampe upon some inferiour metall to make it currant It is the property as of God in Heaven so also of all earthly gods who are truly noble not onely to give great gifts worthy of the givers but also to accept of poore and small gifts though unworthy to be given when given with a thankfull heart as of a * handfull of water a cup of cold water a poore widowes mite a little goates haire and semblably of this following discourse which now becomes publike under your Patronage The Lord grant it may accomplish that for which it was Preached That Englands mercies may be a motive and a meanes of Englands humiliation and Reformation And that by confessing our sinnes with a happy confusion of face as the Text requires wee may prevent that unhappy confusion which is otherwise likely to come upon us The same Almighty God multiply all his gifts and graces upon you be a Sunne and a shield unto you appearing alwaies in the Mount of straits causing all Mountaines to become a Plaine before you inabling you to consummate all those good things which you have begun to doe for this Church and State So prayeth your much obliged spirituall Servant EDMVND CALAMY Die Veneris 25. Febr. 1641. IT is this day ordered by the House of Commons That no man shall Print the Sermons Preached at the last Fast day before the House of Commons by Mr. Calamy and Mr. Marshall besides themselves for the space of these two moneths without the particular licence and approbation of the said House of Commons H. ELSYING Cler. Parl. D. Com. These are to give notice that I appoint C. Meridith to Print my
Sermon EDM. CALAMY A SERMON PREACHED AT A FAST Before the Honorable House of COMMONS EZEK. 36. 32. Not for your sakes doe I this saith the Lord God be it known unto you be ashamed and confounded for your owne waies O house of Israel WE are here met this day to keep a day of humiliation to out-cry the cry of our sinnes by the cry of our Prayers and teares to wrastle with God with our hearts and with the devill With God for a blessing upon England Ireland with our hearts to get and keep them in a frame sutable to the worke with the devill least he steale away the benefit of this day Now as the Wiseman saith Who knowes what a day may bring forth Who knows what a mercy such a day as this may bring forth Who knows what a rare successe this day may have throughout all England The Lord give a blessing unto it To help you in the work of this day I have chosen this Text It is the skill of a workeman not only to make good work but fit worke A garment is not well made though never so good if not fit made This hath been my care to choose a fit text It cannot be denyed but that God hath done much for England and that England hath done much against God Now my purpose is to lay the sins of England against God in one scale and the mercies of God to England in the other scale and to call upon you this day to be humbled and ashamed and broken in heart before the Lord that ever you should sinne against such a God There are but two wayes to breake a stony heart As there are two wayes to cure a stone in the bladder either by cutting out the stone or by dissolving it with soft medicines So there are but two wayes to cure a stony heart either by the heart-cutting threatnings of the Law or by the heart-melting mercies of the Gospell I have this day chosen the latter way I will not carry you up to Mount Eball or Mount Sinai But to the Mount of Blessings And I shall labour by the heart-dissolving mercies of the Gospell to breake your stony hearts It is the duty of a Minister to follow God in his providence When God sends judgements upon a Nation then must we preach judgements to that Nation But when he sends mercies then must we preach mercy Now God hath brought England into the schoole of mercy and hath placed it in the highest forme and hath made it Captaine of the schoole And it is my duty to teach you what lessons you are to learne in this schoole This Text holds forth one lesson which is the proper lesson for this day and that is to be confounded and ashamed that ever we should sinne against such a God I read in the second of Judges that there came an Angell of the Lord from Gilgall to the people of Israel in Bochim and preached a Sermon of mercy in which he commemorates First Gods kindnesse in bringing them out of Egypt and into Canaan and secondly Their unkindnesse in disobeying of God And all the people when they had heard this Sermon lifted up their voyces and wept in so much as the very place was called Bochim that is Weepers This Angell was not an Angell properly so called but a Minister as most thinke And therefore he is said to come from Gilgall not from heaven The Rabbines say it was Pbine has the sonne of Eleazar God hath sent me hither this day as his Angell upon the same Embassage I am to reminde you of Gods merciâ—…s to us And of our ingratitude against him O that it might have the same effect That we may all of us lift up our voyces and weep and that the Church may be called a Bochim a place of weepers In the words themselves we have foure parts 1. A mercy supposed in these words I will do this which intimates That God had promised to do something for the house of Israel 2. The Author of the Mercy proposed in these words I will do this saith the Lord God 3. The false reason of this mercy deposed by way of proclamation in these words Not for your sakes do I this be it knowne unto you O house of Israel 4. The true use of the mercy imposed in these words Be ashamed and confounded for your owne wayes O house of Israel 1. The mercy supposed I will do this If you looke backe into the Chapter you shall find that God promises many rare and great mercies to the house of Israel Mercies in Folio Mercies unspeakable God promises to gather them out of all Countries And to bring them backe to their owne land To cleanse them from Idols And from all filthinesse To sprinkle cleane water upon them To give them a new heart and a new spirit And to take away their hearts of stone and to give them a heart of flesh And to multiply all outward blessings upon them c. Observe from hence That God doth sometimes shew mercy to a Nation when it least deserves it and least expects it This is apparent out of the text When Ezekiel wrote these words the house of Israel was in the house of bondage Captive in Babylon Their condition was so desperate in regard of their misery that Ezekiel compares them to dry bones in the grave chap. 37. And God demands of Ezekiel Can these drie bones live He answers O Lord God thou knowest for my part I know not Their estate was hopelesse and helplesse And it was as desperate in regard of sinfulnesse as appears in the 17 18 19 20. verses of this Chapter When they were in their owne land they were as abominable before the Lord as the uncleannesse of a menstruous woman And when they came into Babylon they were so wicked as that the holy name of God was prophaned by them while the Babylonians out of scorn contempt said These aâ—…e the people of the Lord and are gone forth out of his land And yet behold God doth here promise to performe rich and unexpected mercies to such an undeserving Nation My desire is that this Doctrine may be a Looking-glasse for this Nation in which we may behold the severall miracles of mercy that God hath bestowed upon us A Nation not worthy to be beloved and yet beloved above all Nations of the world God hath made us like Saul taller by the head in mercies than all other Nations There was indeed a time when this Island was called Albion ab albis Rupibus but at that time it was black and defiled worshipping of stockes and stones even the Devill in stead of God We had our Druides our Flamines and Archiflamines We offered our Sonnes and daughters alive in sacrifice Non ad honorem sed ad injuriam religionis Our religion was Tristissimum superstitionum Chaos as Cambden saith but it pleased God presently after the death of
Manoah If the Lord did intend to destroy England surely he would never have bestowed so many mercies upon England Eightly let us make these mercies as so many meanes and instruments of service Let us serve God with our health wealth and parts Let us serve him Cheerefully liberally thankefully fruitfully lest God send upon us that curse threatned Deut. 28. 47 48. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulnesse and with gladnesse of heart for the abundance of all things Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger in thirst in nakednesse in want of all things And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy necke untill he hath destroyed thee Let us rend our hearts and not our garments and turne to the Lord for he is gracious O give thankes unto the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever There is mercy with thee O Lord and therefore thou art to be feared Let us feare to sinne against a God of such mercy Let us admire these mercies and admire him for his mercies And say with David Who am I O Lord and what is mine house that thou shouldest bring me hitherto and is this the manner of man O Lord God And let us pray that excellent prayer Domine da gratitudinem cum misericordia nolo misericordiam sine gratitudine Lord give us thankefull hearts with thy mercies Lord give us obedient hearts with thy mercies Rather let us be without mercy than not to have grace to glorifie thee with thy mercies The third part of the Text is the false reason of the mercy deposed and that by way of Proclamation Be it knowne unto you O House of Israel that it is not for your sakes that I doe this Nec per vos nec propter vos Neither by you nor for you It is I that doe it saith the Lord and for my owne names sake I doe it Not for your sakes This Proclamation is very often inculcated for feare lest men should ascribe mercies to their owne merits which all are very apt to doe It is said in the 22. verse of this Chapter Say unto the House of Israel Thus saith the Lord I doe not this for your sakes O House of Israel but for my holy names sake which you have prophaned among the heathen whither you went Thus Ezekiel 20. 44. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my names sake not according to your wicked wayes nor according to your corrupt doingâ—… O ye house of Israel saith the Lord Thus also Deuteronomy 9. 4. Speake not thou in thine heart for many will thinke so in their hearts though ashamed to speake it with their tongues after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee saying For my righteousnesse the Lord hath brought me to possesse this Land But for the wickednes of these Nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee This is repeated againe at the 5 verse that it may not be forgotten Not for thy righteousnes or for the uprightnes of thy heart dost thou goe to possesse the land c. This is also againe repeated verse 6. Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possesse it for thy righteousnes for thou art a stiffenecked people And in the 7. verse he cals upon us to remember it and not forget it Hence observe That Nationall mercies come from free grace not from free will Not from mans goodnes but Gods goodnes My desire is that this Doctrine may be a third Looking-glasse for England If any shall aske How it comes to passe that England hath beene like Noâ—…s Aâ—…ke safe and secure when all other Nations have beene drowned with a sea of blood Why England is like Gideons dry fleece when all other Nations are like his wet fleece bedewed with miseries and lamentations No other answer can be returned but Gods free grace and mercy I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy May I not doe what I will with mine owne May not a man that hath two debtors equally indebted to him spare the one and not the other as he pleaseth Be it known unto you O house of England It is not for your sakes for you are a stiffe-necked people but for my holy names sake But doth not God indent and Covenant with a Nation upon its repentance to shew mercy how then is Gods mercy free Repentance it selfe is of Gods free grace 2 Tim. 2. 25. In meeknesse instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance Repentance is Gods free gift and therefore Christ is said to be exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sins Repentance is not the cause for which God spares a Nation but onely a qualification of that Nation which God will spare Repentance denotes the Persons whom God hath freely promised to pardon but not the câ—…se for which he promises to pardon as the Gnomon in the Diall is not the cause why the Clocke goes right or wrong but onely an Indication whether it goe right or wrong If Englands mercies come from Gods goodnesse and not our righteousnesse let us not thinke our selves more righteous than Ireland because wee are not wallowing in blood as Ireland Thinke you saith Christ that those eighteene upon whom the tower in Silce fell are sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem I tell you nay I that am the Judge of the world I tell you nay The nature of man is prone to censure Germany and Ireland as horrible sinners above others but I tell you nay saith Christ When the Barbarians saw the Viper skip upon the hand of Paul they concluded presently Sureâ—…y this man is a murtherer but they were Barbarians and in this they acted the part of Barbarians It is a barbarous action to censure them that are punished by God to be the greatest of sinners Judicia Deinm sunt tâ—…mere discutienda sed formidoloso silentio vener and a saith Gregory Be it knowne unto you O England it is not for your righteousnesse you are spared not because you are better but because I love you better not for your sakes doe I this saith the Lord for if Ireland be sinfull England hath a great share in this sinfulnesse because it hath taken no more care to bring those Popish Rebels to the knowledge of the Gospeâ—… of Jesus Christ Let England say as Lysimaâ—…hus did who was on a suddaine called forth out of a house where he was at supper by his good Genius as the Heathen say and as soon as ever he was out of doores the house fell down and killed them all which were within Good God saith he to what evill am I reserved So let Engâ—…and say Good Lord to what super-transcendent
the chiefe worke of conversion And the Arminians deny this to be effectually inseparably and inevitably from God which is to ungod God in the opinion of Bucer If Englands mercies come from free grace let England serve God freely God loves a free people a free-will offering let the service of God come freely from us God gives us freely let us give freely to Ireland The Papists upbraid us Protestants I know not how truly that there was never any Law made for rates for the reliefe of the poore till the reformation of Religion in times of Popery they gave freely without compulsion It is for the hardnesse of our hearts that there needs such a law let us be ashamed to â—…e out-striped by Papists in our free serving of God I deny not but that it is lawfull for a man with Moses to have an eye to the recompence of reward but there is a great deale of difference betweene Amor mercenarius and amor mercedis betweene mercinary love and the love of the reward Mercinary love is to serve God onely for reward this is meretricious love this is to serve our selves not God this is to make use of God to enjoy our selves but the love of the reward is to make Heaven a motive of our service but not the last nor the greatest A right Christian loves Heaven for God not God onely for Heaven He that loves God onely for heaven loves God for that which is inferiour to God Chrysostâ—…me hath an excellent saying If God should command me to obey him afterwards throw me into hell yet I would obey him This is my Heaven to be obedient this is my meat and drinke to do the will of God Merces amoris amor He that loves God that loved us freely will love him freely The fourth and last part of the Text is the true Use we are to make of Gods mercies contained in these words Be ashamed and confounded for your owne wayes O house of Israel The words in the Hebrew are both of the same signification be ashamed and ashamed Erubescite rubore afficiamini So Junius blush for shame and be confounded with shame for your owne wayes that is for your owne evill wayes and for your doings that are not good as it is expounded in the former verse O house of Israel Give me leave to alter the persons and in stead of the House of Israel to put in the house of England and so it will suit most excellently to this Assembly here gathered together this day For the House of Commons is the house of England representatively Let us then read the words thus Be ashamed and ashamed for your owne evill wayes O you house of England That the contemplation of Gods free mercy to Nations and persons ought to be a mighty incentive and a most effectuall argument to make them ashamed and ashamed ashamed for sinne for the time past and ashamed to sinne for the time to come This is a motive that the Prophet Ezekiel doth often use Neverthelesse I will remember my covenant with thee and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant then shalt thou remember thy wayes and be ashamed c. That thou mayest remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord of hosts That is when I shall be graciously reconciled unto thee in Jesus Christ then thou shalt be confounded and ashamed for thy evill doings As also Ezek. 20. 41 42 43. I will bring you out from among the people c. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I shall bring yee into the land of Israel c. And there shall ye remember your wayes and all your doings wherein yee have beene defiled and yee shall loath your selves in your owne sight for all your evils that ye have committed So also in the verse before my text Then shall yee remember your evill wayes and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your owne sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Then that is when I shall bestow my mercies upon you Tken shall ye loath your selves for your iniquities And this is the argument Right Honourable which I spread before you this day to help forward the worke of humiliation It is a day of deep mourning and lamentation a day wherein it is no hypocrisie to appeare to men to weep It is no signe of an effeminate man but of a penitent man to weep this day It is not vain glory but Gods glory to be heard sighing and groaning This is sweet musicke in Gods eares Woe be to that man that is not humbled in a day of humiliation woe be to us if the day breake up before our bearts be broken Now the motive which I will bring to perswade you to loath your selves for your abominations and to be ashamed and confounded for your owne evill doings is from The many rare and great mercies that God hath bestowed upon the Nation in generall and upon our persons in particular And there is great reason why the mercies of God should make us ashamed for sin and ashamed to sin Because to sin against God after mercy is a sin of such a crimson die as that it must needs make us blush if any grace be in our hearts The greater the sin is we commit the greater is our shame to commit it Now it is a sinne of a very high nature to sinne after mercie for these reasons Because every new mercy we receive from God is a new kindnesse and the more kindnesse we sinne against the more unkind it is to sinne and the more shame to be so unkind to that God that is so kind to us Caesar tooke it very unkindly at the hands of Brutus upon whom he had bestowed so many favours when hee came to stab him What thou my son Brutus God takes it very unkindly when a Nation upon whom hee hath bestowed great mercies commits great sinnes And therefore he expostulates with the Jewes What iniquitie have your Fathers found in mee that they have gone farre from mee c. Why are your Fathers so unkind Neither say they Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Aegypt Thus also he complaines Jerem. 31. 32. They have broken my covenant although I was a husband unto them It is a self-confounding sinne to be unkind to a kind God Because every new mercy is a new obligation to obedience and the more obligations we sin against the more shame it is to commit the sin As to sinne against a mans father and mother is a greater sinne than to sinne against a mans brother and sister because wee are more obliged to our parents than to our brethren and sisters Hee that kills his father saith Cicero commits many sins in one he kils him
that begat him and brought him up c. So to sin against God after mercy is to commit many sins in one it is to break as many bonds and to sin against as many obligatiâ—…ns as we have receivâ—…d merâ—…ies Because every new mercy we receive from God is a new talent for mercies are talents betrusted with us by God as stewards for which we must give a severe and strict account at the day of Judgement and the more talents we sin against the greater is our sin and the more shame to commit it To whom much is given of him much shall be required If the man that had but one talent when he came to give up his account was confounded made speechlesse and bound hand and foot and cast into hell fire for not improving it What shame and confusion of face and how many hels do they deserve that have received not onely one five or ten but many hundred talents of mercies and do not onely not improve them but mis-improve them to the service of sin and Satan Because to sin after mercy is a sin of formall unthankefulnesse There is matâ—…riall unthankefulnesse in all sin because every sin is committed against God that is our Creator Preserver and Redeâ—…mer but to sin against mercy is to be formally unthankefull Now unthankfulnesse is a sin that will make any ingenuous man ashamed to be guilty of it Indeed it is the Epitoâ—… of all sin Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris The whole duty of man saith Augustine consists in this Vt animâ—… non sit ingrata Deo to take care that our soules be not unthankfull to God and therefore an unthankfull man neglects the whole duty of man Unthankfulnes is a sin that makâ—… thâ—… times perilous It is a sinne for which God gave over the Heathen to a reprobate mind Because when they knew God they did not glorifie him as God but became unthankefull c. therefâ—…e God gave tâ—…em up to their owne hearts lusts c. And if God dealt thus with the Gentiles for sinning against the mercies onely of creation how severely will he punish us that sin against creating mercies redeeming mercies and against mercies of all kinds For it is a certaine rule The more merâ—…y we receive from God the greater is the unthankefulnesse to sinne against such a God The Romans made a Law that if a Master did free a servant from bondage afterwards that servant proved unthankefull the master had power to re-inslave â—…im The great God hath freed this Nation from Egypt and Babylon from the Gun-powder treason and from many slaveries Now if we prove unthankfull after all these mercies wee may justly expect to be re-inslaved It is a sinne of formall injustice for every deliverance doth bind over the delivered to the service of the deliverer so saith the Apostle You are not your owne for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God with your bodies and with your spirits which are Gods and so also Luk. 1. 74. That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare in holinesse and â—…ighteousnesse c. Among the Romans the parties delivered were the servants of the deliverers And therefore to breake Gods Commandements after deliverance is to be guilty of the horrible sin of injustice Thou art not onely unthankefuâ—…l but unjust which is a brand that will confound any man It is a sin so great that God himselfe stands amazed at it that any man should be so impudent as to commit it Esay 1. 2. Heare O Heavens and give â—…are O earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against mee The Oxe knowes his owner and the Asse his Masters crib but Israel doth not know my people do not consider Ah sinfull Nation a people laden with iniquity c. This is a sinne that makes us worse than the Oxe or the Asse A sin that makes a Nation that is guiliy of it not onely sinfull but laden with iniquity as an Asse with a burden Thus also God calls to the Heavens Jeremy 2. 12. Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid be ye veâ—…y desolate saith the Lord Why what is the matter For my people have committed two evils they have forsaken mâ—… the fountaine of living waters and hewed them out cisternes broken cisternes that will hold no water This is a sin that breakes the very heart of God and it had need breake our hearts to commit it I am broken saith God of his people Israel for their whorish heart If God be broken with it it is time for us to be broken with it It is a sin so great as that it puts a great aggravation upon every sin It makes the least sinne of us in England greater than the greatest sin of the Heathens of the Christians in Germany and Ireland yea than the sin of the devils themselves 1. Greater than the sins of the Heathen because we sinne against greater mercie Tribulation and anguish upon every soule that doth evill first upon the Jew then upon the Gentile Why first upon the Jew Because the Jewes received more mercies than the Gentiles I may justly adde First upon the Christian then upon the Jew then upon the Gentile because the Christian hath received more mercy from God than either Jew or Gentile You only have I knowne of all the Nations of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities because you sin against more light more grace and therefore your sin is more ungracious 2. This makes the least sinne of us in England greater than the greatest sin of Germanie or of Ireland because God hath dealt more mercifully with us than with them therfore Christ saith Woe be to thee Chorazin woe be to thee Bethsaida for if the mightie works which have been done in thee had beene done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long agoe in dust and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of of judgement than for you If Bohemia and the Palatinate had had the mercies and deliverances that we have had they would have repented in dust and ashes therefore it shall be easier for them at the day of judgement than for us And thou Capernaum which hâ—…st beene exalted to heaven shalt be brought downe to hell c. God hath listed us up in mercies to heaven therefore we must looke for the lowest hell if we abuse them 3. This makes the sins of England greater than the sin of the Devils though not simply yet in three respects 1. The Devils never sinned against the blood of Jesus Christ Christ never dyed for them but he dyed for us For verily hee tooke not on him the nature of Angels but he tooke on him the seed of Abraham 2. The Devils never sinned
against Gods patience God was not patient towards them but as soone as ever they sinned hee cast them into hell Deus non expectabat Angelos as Bernard saith but we sinne against the blood of Christ and the patience and long-suffering of God which is very great towards mankind 3. The Devils never sinned against any example For they were the first that sinned and were made the first example but wee have had divers examples of Gods wrath against sinne the example of the Devils and of the punishment of the old world of Sodom and Gomorrah many hundred such like and yet we sin notwithstanding al these examples In these three respects to sin against the mercies of God is more than diabolicall It is a sinne that takes away all excuse and will so confound a man at the day of Judgement that it will make him speechlesse This is excellently set out in the 9 chapter of Ezra the 6 7 8 9 10. verses O my God saith Ezra I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee O my God for our iniquities are inâ—…reased over our heads c. For we were bondmen yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage but hath extended mercy to us c. And now O our God what shall we say after this for we have forsaken thy Commandements What excuse shall we bring What shift shall we plead What shall we say That is we have nothing to say This interrogation is an emphaticall negation Had I not come unto you saith Christ ye had had no sinne but now ye have no excuse Had not God shewne such mercies to England it might have had some Apology to plead for its contempt of the Gospel for its pride for its adultery and drunkennesse but now it hath no excuse To sinne after mercy shuts up all defence What shall we say after this O our God for we have forsaken thy Commandements This Doctrine is a blacke bill of indictment against all those that are not ashamed to sinne against God notwithstanding the mercies they have received from God God hath done mighty things for this Nation he hath heaped deliverance upon deliverance We have had more deliverances than there are Commandements And yet notwithstanding are there not many of us that sinne in the midst of mercies That are like the Horse and Mule that have no understanding Psalme 32. As a Horse the more it is pampered the more it kickes against the rider so there are many the more they are fed to the full with mercy the more they rebell against the God that feeds them Like unto the thicke vapours which are first exhaled by the Sunne and afterwards when they come into the Aire stop the light of the Sunne from shining upon us There are many such vapours whom God hath exalted and lifted up in â—…nour above others that make no other use of their honour but to darken the glory of God and to hinder the light of God from shining upon us Let conscience speake Are we not as proud as covetous as blasphemous as adulterous as ungodly as ever notwithstanding all that God hath done for us May I not say to you as Moses to the Israelites Doe ye thus requite the Lord O ye foolish people and unwise Is not he thy father that bought thee Hath he not made thee and established thee Is not he the God that hath multiplyed mercies upon us The Lord humble us this day for this sinne There are divers sorts of men come under this reproofe 1. Such as sinne notwithstanding mercies 2. Such as sinne under mercies at the same time when God is shewing mercy unto them Of these David speakes Our Fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies but provoked him at the Sea yea even at the Red Sea This was a great aggravation They sinned at the very place where they were delivered and at the very time when they were delivered at the Sea even the Red Sea And as it is at the 13. verse They soone forgat his workes the word in the Hebrew is they made haste to forget his workes This is our condition God hath brought us into the schoole of mercy but are there not many among us that turne this schoole of mercy into the schoole of iniquity that remaine irreformable in a yeare of Reformation that not onely hate to be reformed but hate the very Reformation it selfe that sinne under mercies even under mercies 3. Such as sinne with the mercies of God that like the Spider sucke poyson out of those flowers out of which a Bee suckes honey that sucke their damnation out of those mercies out of which the godly sucke their salvation that make a golden calfe of the jewels of mercy and sacrifice their sonnes and daughters unto devils that turne the grace of God into wantonnesse that improve their honours learning wealth parts to make themselves more active to sinne against God to be Ingeniose nequam facundi sed malo publico As Basil saith of Eve That God gave her to be a helper to Adam and made her of the rib of Adam but the devill tooke this rib and made a dart of it and with this dart shot at Adams heart and wounded him to death Per costam petit cor so God hath bestowed mercies upon us to helpe us to serve him more chearefully more liberally but there are many that play the devils part and that take these mercies and make darts of them to shoot against God and his cause Non hoâ—… quae situm munâ—…s in usâ—… There are thousands in the world that are worser for the mercies they receive from God that are like unto a dunghill the more the Sunne of mercy shines upon them the more they stinke and putrifie in all sin And as the clay is hardned by the Sunnes shining upon it so there are many the more health the more wealth the more honour the more mercy they receive from God the more they harden their hearts against God like Elies two sonnes the kindlier their father dealt with them the worser they were like Absalom that as soone as ever his Father received him into Jerusalem then he began to conspire against him Of these David speakes Because there are no changes in their lives therefore they feare not God because they meet with no crosses and Psalm 73. 5 6 7 8 9. Because they are not plagued like other men therefore pride compasseth them about as a chaine they have more then â—…eart can wish therefore they speake wickedly and loftily and set their mouthes against the Heavens c. like Dionysius that because he prospered in his voyage by sea after he had robbed a Temple boasted and said Behold how the gods love sacriâ—…edge I beseech you Right Honorable let us examine whether we be not guilty of these sinnes â—…or they are such sinnes which we are all very prone
to commit Hezekiâ—… though a good King yet he sinned after mercy when he was recovered of his sicknesse his heaâ—…t was lifted up with pride Lots Wife also as soone as ever she was delivered out of Sodome began to Apoâ—…tize Nâ—…y Lâ—…t himselfe after he had received so great a merâ—…y and had seene so fearefull a judgement yet when he came to Zâ—…r he was drunke and committed incest which he never did while he was in Sodome And Noah also when he came out of the Aâ—…ke was made drunke which he never was when he lived among the wicked in the old World And David also when delivered from all his enemies then he said in his prosperity he should never be moved and then he lay with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah And therefore if we be guilty of this sinne Let us be deepely humbled for it before the Lord this day There is no sinne that doth more provoke God to anger or sooner cause him to destroy a Nation and to destroy it utterly than this sinne To sinne after mercy under mercy and with mercies So it is said Ezra 9. 13 14. Seeing thou O God hast given us suâ—…h a deliverance as this should we againe breake thy Commandements and joyne in affinity with the people of these abominations wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping To sinne after mercy and with mercy procures universall and utter destruction Because I called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded I also will laugh at your calamity I will mocke when your feare commeth c. God is never more angry than when he laughs Quod Deus loquitur cum risu id tu legas fâ—…etu We have never more cause to weepe than when God laughs Zach. 7. 13 14. Therefore it is come to passe that as he cryed and they would not heare so they cryed and I would not heare saith the Lord of Hoasts but I scattered them with a whirlewind among all the Nations whom they knew not thus the laud was desolate after them There are divers reasons besides the reasons before named why this sin to sin with the mercies of God should be such a God-provoking such a Land-destroying sin which I the rather mention that they may be forcible helps to humiliation which is the proper worke of this day Because mercy in it selfe is so rare and excellent a jewell bestowed upon England purposely to serve God withall that to abuse it to the dis-service of God must needs be a God-provoking sin for these rules in Divinity are very cleare 1. The greater the person is we sin against the greater the sin as to offer an affront to a King is a greater offence than to injure a common Gentleman 2. The better the person is against whom we sin and the more good we expect from him or have received from him or the more need we have of him the greater is the offence to offer wrong unto him Now mercy is the greatest and chiefest of Gods attributes In themselves Gods attributes are all equall but in regard of our necessities as oyle swims above all other liquors as the Eagle is the chiefe of birds the Lion of beasts gold of metals so mercy is the chiefe of all Gods attributes and therefore to sin with mercy must needs be a horrible sin Mercy is an attribute that we al stand in need of the best of men need mercy as well as the worst of men Mercy it is the best friend we have indeed the only friend in Gods bosome to plead for us it is the only Orator and Embassador to intercede for us it is the only fiery chariot to carry us up to heaven When Justice pleads against us at Gods barre we have no refuge but to his Mercy-seat And therefore to abuse so deare a friend as mercy and so great a friend as mercy and such a pretious friend and such a necessary friend must needs make us ashamed if not past shame and must needs provoke God to anger though he be full of mercy especially if we consider the superlative mercies that God hath bestowed upon England for this is another rule in Diuinity The more elevated and the moâ—…e distinguishing any mercy is the greater the sin to abuse it to sin Corruptio optimi pessima the best things abused prove the worst sins Because he that sins with the mercies of God fights against God with his owne weapons which must needes provoke God Suppose a man should come into a Smiths shop and take up the Smiths owne hammer and knocke him on the head this were to commit a double sin not onely to kill the Smith but to kill him with his owne hammer Such a double sin are they guilty of who the more wit they have the more they plot against God and the more health and honour and wealth the more they despise God and his Commandements with their wealth and honour If a Chirurgeon should freely bestow paines and charge to cure a man of a lame hand and he should as soone as ever he is cured kill this Chirurgeon with his cured hand this were a horrible ingratitude and a provoking sin Thus do they that when they are delivered from sicknesse and made whole fall presently to sinning against God with their health This sin is so great that the Apostle cries out Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot God forbid the word in the Syriake is God forgive God forbid God forgive I should be so vile and wicked Because he that sinneth with the mercies of God turnes the greatest good into the greatest evill and brings darknesse out of light which is a worke proper to the devill It is Gods worke to bring light out of darknesse good out of evill but it is the devils worke to bring evill out of good Now to sin with Gods mercies is to bring the greatest evill out of the greatest good To bring the darknesse of sinne out of the light of mercy It is to act a devill which God must needes abhorre and which will certainely bring uâ—… to the devill To sin with mercy is to make mercy to be our adversary And if mercy plead against a Nation then looke for speedy destruction Mercy is our best friend as you have â—…eard but when we sinne against it we turne our chiefest friend into our bitterest enemy and mercy it selfe cryes to God against us and the cry of mercy cryes louder against us than the cry of justice As poyson when it is mingled with sweete Wine the Wine puts strength into the poyson and makes it more powerfull so the sweet mercies of God when they are mingled with our sins put strength into our sins and make them more powerfull to destroy us In the tenth of Judges 11. God brings in his deliverances to plead against
the people of Israel Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the câ—…ildren of Ammon and from the Philistines the Zidonians also and the Amalekites c. Yet you have forsaken me therefore I will deliver you no more When justice pleads against a Nation there is mercy to flye unto but if mercy because it is abused to sinne become our enemy there is no way but everlasting ruine To sinne with the rare and choyce mercies of God such as the mercies of England are is a sin of such transcendent unkindnesse as that God cannot but destroy suâ—…h a Person 〈◊〉 such a Nation that is guilty of it When David was used unkindly by Nabal upon whom he had bestowed many courtesies how did this unkindnesse provoke David to anger in somuch as he said Surely in vaine have I kept all that this fellow hath in the Wiâ—…dernesse so that nothing was missing of al that appertained unto him and he hath requited me evill for good so and more also doe God unto the enemies of Daâ—…id if I leavâ—… of all that pertaine to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the Wall Thus is the great Jehovah enraged when we sinne with his favours God will say In vaine have I adorned thee with all the Jewels of my mercy which thou as a swine hast trampled under thy feete In vaine have I given thee learning and riches and my Gospell c. for thou hast requited me evill for good therefore in destroying I will certainely destroy thee Thus also we reade in the 2 Sam. 10. When David sent a kind Embassage to King Hanun to comfort him after his fathers death and he despised and abused the messengers shaving off the one hâ—…lfe of their beards and cutting off their garments in the middle c. this did so far incense David as it made him destroy them al after a rigid manner Gods mercies are like Davids messengers messages of love God lookes we should improve these messages to his glory But if we despise them and abuse him with them he will utterly destroy us O consider this you that forget God You that undervalue his mercies You that contemne his mercies You that sin with his mercies How angry was Christ with Peter because he would not suffer him to wash his feete he seemes to be more angry with him than when he denyed him because he refused an act of Christs love Christ tooke it unkindly at Peters hands When God comes in love to us and offers to wash us and to reforme us if we refuse to be washed and choose rather to wallow in the mire of sin and superstition this will provoke God more than if we did flatly deny him We would have healed Babylon but she is not healed forsake her and let us goe every one into his owne Countrey for her judgement reacheth unto Heaven and is lifted up even to the skies Which words tell us That those that sin with mercies shall be lifted up as high in judgement as they are in mercy Thus it is likewise said Ezekiel 24. ver. 13. Because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not bee purged from thy filthinesse any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee Oh that the Lord would give us hearts to lay these things to heart Oh let us be ashamed and confounded ashamed and ashamed that ever we have sinned after mercies under mercies and with mercies And indeed when I consider seriously how the mercies of England are abused by England I am possessed with exceeding great feare lest all our mercies should be but forerunners of some greater miseries and all our preservations reservations to some greater destruction For though the times are changed yet our people are not changed though the times be better yet the men that live in these times are not better The Sodomites were delivered by Abraham but because they sinned after their deliverance their preservation was but a reservation for a greater destruction by fire and brimstone Lots wife was delivered out of Sodom but because she looked backe towards Sodom her preservation was but a reservation to be turned to a pillar of salt Pharaoh was often delivered by the prayer of Moses but because he hardned his heart after deliverance his preservation was but a reservation till he was drowned in the Red Sea The people of Israel had deliverance upon deliverance but because they continued to sin after deliverance God at last destroyed them with a wofull destruction The Lord open our eyes to consider these things and to be confounded and ashamed for our evill doings and to loath our selves for our former abominations and to be humbled exceedingly for our sins against mercy that God may continue his deliverances to us and our posterity after us as long as the Sun and Moone endureth Seeing God hath done such rare things freely for this Nation Let us be exhorted to subscribe to the obedience of this Text and not onely be huâ—…bled for what is past but ashamed and confounded for the time to come to sin willingly against so mercifull a God Let an argument from mercy prevaile with you It is a great objection against some kinde of Preachers that they preach nothing but hell and damnation This Objection cannot be brought against me this day Behold I come with an Olive branch of Peace in my mouth I come as a Barnabas not as a Boanerges as a Minister of the Gospell all apparelled with rich mercy It is a great mercy that we have mercies to breake our hearts withall What would Germany give if they had these mercies What would Ireland doe for God if they had these mercies O let mercy melt us This was Nathans argument to David Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I annointed thee King over Israel and delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy Masters house and the house of Israel and of Judah and if that had beene too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandement of the Lord to doe evill in his sight Thou for whom I have done so much Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandement of the Lord This made David cry out I have sinned against the Lord Me thinkes I heare God saying unto us here present I have delivered you from many dangers I have recovered you from many sicknesses I have heaped many favours upon you and if this had not beene enough I would have done such and such things wherefore have you rebelled against me O that this might affect our hearts Observe how Davids mercy wrought upon Saul 1 Sam. 24. 16 17 18. David had gotten Saul at an advantage and spared him when he might have destroyed him this did so work upon Saul that he lift up his voyce and wept c. Nothing ever moved Saul so much as the
kindnes of David towards him So when we consider how neare we have beene to destruction and how often God hath spared us when he might have destroyed us let us lift up our voyces and weepe for our sins against such a God Observe how Mephibosheth was affected with Davids mercy in 2 Sam 9. David had cause to be revenged upon the house of Saul but he freely shewed kindnesse to Mephibosheth restoring him all his fathers lands and causing him to eate bread at his Table continually And this Mercy did so melt his heart that he cryes out What is thy servant that thou shouldest looke upon such a dead Dog as I am O let the contemplation of Gods love towards us make us to loath our selves for our abominations and say What am I a dead Dog an impure Swine an uncleane Leper that the Lord my God should doe so much for me Beloved in the Lord it is my comfort that I preach this day to those that are Noble and ingenuous My humble suite is That you would appeare to be such indeed and in truth An ingenuous spirit is more wrought upon by love than feare This Fast might have beene in blood the Land might have beene in confusion this day Let the goodnesse of God drive you to repentance Let the love of Jesus Christ constraine you to obediâ—…nce There is a constraining power in love Though a stubborne and slavish spirit is more wrought upon by judgements than mercies yet a gracious and godly heart is more wrought upon by mercies than judgements And indeed in its owne nature Merâ—…y workes more powerfully more kindly more inwardly and deepely than judgements 1. Mercy workes more powerfully than judgements And therefore the Apostle Paul beseecheth us by the mercies of God he doth not say I beseech you by the judgements of God And in 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all the defilements both of flesh and spirit He doth not say having these threatnings let us cleanse our selves c. Let a Cart loaded goe over a River frozen with Ice the Cart breakes the Ice but it remaines Ice still but let the sun shine upon the River and it will melt the Ice and dissolve it into water so as nothing of the Ice shal remaine The Judgements of God may break a hard heart but it will remain hard still as a Rocke broken in peeces remaines a Rocke But the Sun-shine of Gods mercy and the consideration of Gods love to us in Christ will breake the heart to powder and make it not onely a broken heart but a soft and contrite heart Have you not seene a Malefactor at his condemnation and place of execution when without hope of mercy carrying himselfe desperately and obdurately in sinne and afterwards when informed that there was a pardon provided for him hath beene exceedingly melted and broken in heart at the consideration of the graciousnesse of the King towards him 2. Mercy workes more kindly and sweetly than judgements As a thicke Clâ—…ud that is melted by the Suns shining upon it distills downe sweetly into a fruitfull showre but the cloud that is broken with a thunderbolt makes a mighty cracke and teares the cloud in peeces So the mercies of the Gospel doe kindly worke upon the heart opening it as it did the heart of Lydia and sweetly melting it into teares after a blessed and comfortable manner But the thunder-bolt of Gods judgements makes an earth-quake and a heart-quake as it did upon the Gaoler Act. 16. As the blustering winds teare up the Trees by the rootes So doe the judgements of God rend and teare the heart quite in peeces but mercies will kindly dissolve it 3. Mercies will worke inwardly Take a piece of gold beate it with a hammer never so much and yet you shall never separate the drosse from the gold by beating of it but put the gold into the furnace and the fire will separate the drosse from it The hammer of the Law will batter and bruise the soule but the drosse still remaines in it but the fire of the Gospell the furnace of Gods love will separate a man and his lusts and purge out the filth that is inwardly got into the soule The Sun by its hot beames made the Traveller as it is in the Fable put off his Cloke when the blustering winde made him gird his Cloke faster about him Thus you see how mercy workes more powerfully more kindly more inwardly Oh that it might appeare in our hearts this day that this doctrine that I preach is true I read that Caesar upon a certaine time with a booke in his hand was hearing of Cicero pleading and was so taken with his eloquence and listened so attentively that he let fall his booke Oh that the Lord would so affect you with the consideration of Englands mercies that your sins may fall away from you as Caesars book did from him That you that write may blot your bookes with your teares and you that look upon me may look with teares in your eyes Let us shed penitent teares this day for the sins of many yeares Let us study the duty of this Text let us be ashamed and ashamed for our sins There be many men saith Chrysostome that are ashamed of what they should not be ashamed and not ashamed of what they should be ashamed are ashamed to confesse their sins but not to act their sins not ashamed to be seene at a Play-house but ashamed to be seene at Gods House upon a weeke day ashamed of Christ and his cause ashamed to be accounted precise but not ashamed to be wicked and ungodly And as the same Author saith many men are not ashamed to sin but ashamed to be known to sin not ashamed to commit adultery but to be knowne to commit it not ashamed to be sinners but to be called sinners not ashamed to be covetous but ashamed to be called covetous This shame comes from the Devill and will bring us to the Devill Let us pitch the act upon the right object Let us be ashamed of our evill and not of our good doings Shame is the daughter of sin If there had not beene sin there never had beene any shame But God hath appointed the daughter to devoure the mother As the Worme eates up the tree that bred it so let shame devoure sinne There is no creature capable of shâ—…me but man Bruit beasts are capable of feare and sorrow but not of shame God forbid any here present should be so bruitish as to be past shame To sinne and not to be ashamed of it is Limen inferni the next doore to damnation The Heathen hath a saying Erubuit salva res est As long as there is shame there is hope O let us be confoundâ—…d and ashamed and let Mercy be the Midwife to bring forth this shame and sorrow The Apostle commands us That if our enemies hunger we should feed them if they thirst we
mercies Pray to Christ to looke upon thee as he did on Peter The Cock crew once and Peter wept not the Cock crew twice and Peter wept not because saith Ambrose Christ did not looke upon him But as soone as ever Christ looked upon him then he wept Aspexit Christus flevit We Ministers are as the crowing of Peters Cocke we cannot make you ashamed and confounded for your evill doings unlesse Christ looke upon you The Lord Jesus in his mercy cast his eye upon us this day that we may all of us goe out and weep bitterly as Peter did The very brute beasts have bin wrought upon by mercie Some write though others contradict it of the Elephant that because it wants joynts it cannot kneele if it once fall it cannot rise and therefore when it sleeps it sleepes leaning upon a tree Now the hunts-man observing upon what tree it sleeps desirous to take it comes in the day time and sawes that tree almost asunder and when the Elephant comes to leane upon it the tree falls and the Elephant with it Then comes the hunts-man and lifts up the Elephant which he takes so kindly that ever after he followes the hunts-man where ever be pleaseth This story may be applyed divers wayes When we were all fallen in Adam by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree unable to rise againe Jesus hath lifted us up from hell O let this mercie melt us into obedience When we were all falne of late yeares in this Kingdome into a desperate condition God by the King and Parliamant hath raised us up to a hope of better dayes O let us be ashamed to be disobedient to this God There is another famous story of one Androdus dwelling at Rome that fled from his Master into the wildernesse and tooke shelter in a Lions Den The Lion came home with a thorne in his foot and seeing the man in the den reached out his foot and the man pulled out the thorne which the Lion tooke so kindly that for three yeares he sed the man in his den After three yeares the man stole out of the den and returned backe to Rome was apprehended by his Master and condemned to be devoured by a Lion It hapned that this very Lion was designed to devour him The Lion knowes his old friend and would not hurt him The People wondred at it the man was saved and the Lion given to him which he carried about with him in the streets of Rome From whence came that motto Hic est homo medicus leonis hic est leo hospes hominis Beloved in the Lord the great God by the help of you and the House of the Lords hath plucked many thorns out of our feet O let us not now bring forth thornes and briers Let not our hearts be drie and barren as the thorny ground Let us not kicke against God with our feete while be is plucking out the thornes that trouble us Let us not be worse than the brute beasts But if all this will not prevaile suffer me I beseech you to remind you under new expressions of what hath beene before said and to offer some new motives unto you 1. If the beginnings of hope that now appeare and these inclinings of better dayes will not work upon us to bumble us for and from sin God will take away all our hopes all his mercies from us and give them to a Nation that will make better use of them And as I said in my last Sermon which I preached before this Honourable assembly he will repent of the good things which he intended to bestow upon us Remember what I hinted before of Saul that if hee had tarried for Samuel God would have established the kingdome unto him But now saith Samuel thy Kingdome shall not continue How do we know but that if we humble our selves and enter into covenant to be Gâ—… people and seeke the Lord with all our heart but that God may establish us to be his choice people for ever But if we harden our hearts against God and his wayes God will say unto us tâ—…is day I thought to have made you a happy kingdome but now your happinesse shall not continue 2. When God hath done much for a Nation and that Nation sinnes with his â—…ercies God will not onely take away his mercies but will send curses instead of blessings For so it is said Josh. 24. 20. If yee seeke the Lord and serve strange gods then will he turne and do you hurt and consume you after he hath done you good God may out of his free mercy prorogue and demurre our ruine but be will never remove it till our Nationall sinnes be removed 3. If God should heale us help us and lengthen out our tranquillity and make a reformation among us yet it would be but a lame cure if we be not confounded and ashamed for our evill wayes It will be but a skinning over of our disease and a daubing of us up with untempered morter a smothering of the fire which will breake out the more afterwards But a perfect cure can never be expected from God till thâ—…re be a Nationall humiliation and refoâ—…mation 4. Adde lastly if God should shew us mercy this mercy will be accursed unto us if we be not humbled and reformed A mercy abused is no mercy Mercy turned to sinne takes away the comfort of the mercy and turneth the mercy into a curse As the raine that falls upon the Sea is made salt by the salt water And that which falls upon moorish grounds breeds Toads and Serpents So all the goodnesse and mercies of God falling upon wicked impenitent and irreformed hearts breed nothing but the verâ—…â—…f sinne and iniquity Mercy is like the water of jealousie of which â—…e read Numbers the fifth If the woman was innocent it made her fruitfull but if guilty it made her rot So the mercies of God if we be good make us more fruitfull It is Maximum aptissimum motivum medium obedientiae But when they fall upon a wicked spirit they make him the more rotten and the more wicked The Lord blesse these considerations unto you For the conclusion of all I will do two things 1. I will name some particular sinnes which are most opposite to the mercies God hath done for England and beseech the representative House of England to be confounded and ashamed to commit such sinnes any more 2. I will name some speciall and heroicall Uses which you are to make of Gods mercies besides this in the Text 1. I will name some particular sins c. 1. Be ashamed O house of Egland to forget the mercies you have received from God It is a great mercie that we have mercies to remember and if wee refuse to remember Gods mercies God will take order that we shall have no mercies to remember Let not the brand of the chiefe Butler be justly fastned upon us Yet did