and appearance of Gods anger Who saith Moses considereth the power of his wrath Psal 90. Oh it is a powerfull wrath indeed as Hezekiah and David say It crusheth and breaketh the bones it woundeth and killeth If the wrath of a King who is but a mortall man be as messengers of death what is the wrath of the King of Kings Oh saith David when thou turnedst away thy face I was troubled and Solomon said A wounded spirit who can beare Oh it is the sense of Gods anger troubleth woundeth killeth is the hell on earth at the appearance whereof Gods children are so affected mourne and cry The second reason is because next unto God Gods Church and people are dearely beloved of all the true members thereof as being the people that God hath redeemed with his bloud entred into perpetuall league and covenant with yea the spouse of Christ Ephes 5. 32. and therefore it wonderfully affecteth Gods servants with griefe and maketh them cry when they foresee any judgement or miserie befall them the rather because in the miserie of Gods Church Gods glory seemeth to be stained whereof they are so zealous that rather than that should happen Moses wished to be blotted out of the booke and S. Paul to be separated from Christ Oh how father Eli was afflicted at the report of heavie newes when one told him that Israel was fled before the Philistims his two sonnes slaine and the Arke of God taken It strucke him dead at heart he fell backward from his seat and broke his necke and his daughter in law hearing the same newes presently fell into the throwes of travaile and being delivered of a sonne called his name Ichabod When zealous Nehemiah heard how the people of God were in great affliction Ierusalem broken downe and the gates burnt with fire he could not containe himselfe but sate downe and wept and being the Kings Cup-bearer and as much as his office and life was worth to appeare sad and hee never had beene so before yet now he could not hide it his countenance bewrayed it the King tooke notice of it and asked him Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sicke this is nothing else but sorrow of heart Oh the ruines of Ierusalem lay at his heart which also made the people of God so imprecate themselves If I forget Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning yea let my tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth if I preferre not Ierusalem to my chiefestioy The third and last reason whereof flesh and bloud are more sensible than the two former is That the godly may be wrapped with the wicked in the same temporall punishment and therefore when they see it comming they are much affected and labour to prevent it I say againe howsoever God is marvellous in commonly providing for his children before a judgement come as we shall heare more hereafter yet many times even the godly are wrapped with the wicked in the same temporall punishment and therefore are so affected Shall we condemne all that perished in the waters and all that were consumed with fire God forbid If yee doe yet know that though all were not guiltie of the sinne of making and worshipping the golden Calfe yet it endangered all Let mee alone saith God and I will utterly consume them and blot out their name from under Heaven for Achans sinne Iosuahs armie is put to flight and many slaine for Sauls sinne in killing the Gibeonites there came a famine upon the land for three yeeres together and you know for that great villanie committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah in abusing the Levites Concubine not only vengeance came upon the Citie wherein it was committed but upon all the Tribe of Beniamin because they delivered them not up to be punished but rather would seeme to defend them yea not only upon that Tribe which might seeme justly accessarie but upon the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead because they came not up to the warre to see Gods judgements executed upon those wicked men Let him that readeth that story consider how farre the judgements of God may extend themselves towards all such as are not affected with Gods anger and doe not to the uttermost of their power endevour to punish sin This was it made all the people of Israel so much afraid when they heard how the Reubenites Gadites and halfe the Tribe of Manasseh had erected an Altar on the other side Iordan and supposed it had beene to offer sacrifice on their Commissioners told them if they did so rebell against the Lord the next morrow the Lord would be wroth with all the Congregation of Israel If then the zeale of Gods glorie and love to Gods people will not move yet the love to ourselves and estates may move us to mourne for sinnes and abominations of the land and to take greatly to heart the tokens of anger and threatnings of judgements because wee also may be wrapped up in them But mee thinketh I heare some say such is Satans malice and bloudie murtherous desire to have Gods judgements generall and therefore dulleth the spirits of Gods children thus Alas what profit will it be for me to mourne and afflict my soule if the judgement come I and mine all we are and have shall be wrapped up in it as well as those who take nothing to heart but live joyfully and therefore let us even eat and drinke and let God doe his will Oh fainting soule be not abused and deceived step up for thy part into the breach to stay Gods wrath seeke the Lord amongst the meeke of the earth for Sions sake hold not thy tongue and for Ierusalems sake give God no rest bee one of his remembrancers day and night in all thy supplications and prayers hold up thy hands against Satan and Antichrist and bee thou to the uttermost of thy power an enemie to all the enemies of the Church and helpe the Lord and his people against them with prayer prease and push of pike if thou beest thereunto called and crie mightily unto God for helpe in this that God would generally open the eyes of all men to see our sins and the judgments thereby deserved that all mens hearts may melt into teares as Iosiahs did in the like case and that all as one man may goe out and meet the Lord by repentance before his decree bee executed upon us Yea if none shall joyne with thee but in this case thou mayest complaine with Eliah that thou art left alone yea so farre from helping as that they doe mocke and discourage thee as David complained For thy sake I have borne reproach and shame hath covered my face when I wept and chastened my soule with fasting that was my reproach I put on sackcloth and became a proverbe they that sate in the gate spake against
generall or of his owne deare servants in particular that God will not heare themselves nor others for them but will bring such a temporall punishment as he hath purposed upon them But now me thinketh I heare some say Oh this is an heavie and comfortlesse doctrine indeed and seemeth to checke all devotion and humiliation for will not men hearing this doctrine delivered say If the case be so that for sinnes yea even small sinnes as the sinnes of Moses and David in speaking unadvisedly and numbring the people seeme to be God will be so farre provoked as no praying fasting crying teares of their owne or others for them can prevaile but God will bring a temporall punishment to what end then should we weepe and mourne fast and pray and afflict our soules Let us eat and drinke and be merry as we may we must beare that punishment which God hath purposed to lay upon us let us therefore never make two evils of one but take that which God hath appointed and there an end Gods will be done Oh God forbid that any should hearken and give way to such subtill and malicious suggestions of Satan so seeking to pervert and abuse even the best things Marke therefore and from Gods booke thou shalt learne that the doctrine doth not abrogate but establish the meanes of pacification Dost thou dwell in a nation Countrey or Citie and dost thou feare the sinnes of the people are such as God will bring some judgement upon them Now marke what God requireth of thee even to seeke the Lord to turne to God by fasting weeping and mourning to stand for the land and if the Lord will not heare thee for them yet thou shalt save thine owne soule The Lord is not more marvellous in any thing than in preserving his in some generall judgement and calamitie that have mourned and wept and sought his face as wee see in the deliverance of Noah Lot Iosiah and the marking of those in the forehead that mourned for the abominations of Ierusalem Thou dost not know what good thou maist doe to others even to the whole Church of God wherein thou livest but thou shalt be sure to doe thy selfe good Or dost thou feare that thine owne sinnes are such as God will bring a judgement yet humble thy soule and if thou canst not by repentance fasting and praier alter the decree yet thou maist alter the manner of execution Let Moses repent that he did not sanctifie God and let him begge leave to enter and if that will not be granted yet see with what favour the sentence shall be executed he shall have leave to goe up to the top of Pisgah and see it and if he goe not into the land flowing with milke and honey he shall be translated into heaven which is best of all Let David fast and pray and if the childe die God will give him a Solomon in stead of it Let the people repent and if God will not heare them nor any other for them but they must into captivitie yet God will make even those that lead them away captive to pitie them Oh religion never lost it reward never did any serve God for nought Wherefore Gods will be done but lèt us doe our duties it shall one way or other be requited us and if God heare us not according to our desire he will heare us to our profit Now let us proceed to consider the reasons wherefore the Lord sometimes will not be intreated but will bring some temporall judgement upon his Church and people and they are principally these First to declare the justice of God for if God did threaten and at every intreatie should forbeare to execute this were great mercy but where were justice Wherefore God sometimes will not pardon in regard of temporall punishment no not his deare servants upon repentance and intreatie that thereby he might proclaime to all the world the severitie of his justice and thereby men be warned to take heed of sinne it being a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of God And verily if we had grace the remembrance hereof would be a notable bridle to restraine us from sinne if when Satan tempteth us and wee are in danger of falling wee would say as Ioseph did to his impudent mistresse How shall I commit this great sinne against God It may be this sinne will adde so much to the measure of my former sinnes that God will not be intreated to pardon it but bring some heavie temporall judgement upon me Would not God heare his Prophet Ieremie no nor Moses and Samuel Noah Iob and Daniel though praying for his owne people but cast them off a prey to the pestilence famine and sword Yea would not God heare his deare servants Moses and David praying for themselves but even for small sinnes in comparison brought heavie temporall calamities and chastisements upon them Oh what am I a worme of the earth that I should commit such and such sinnes and presume of impunitie O ye sonnes of men stand in awe and sinne not The second reason is for declaration of his truth for if God should threaten judgements by his servants and upon every humiliation and intreatie revoke the same his Prophets would be found liers and light fellowes and no credit given to their words This was it that displeased Ionah so exceedingly that having threatned Ninivie Yet fortie dayes and Ninivie shall be destroied yet upon their repentance he also repented of the evill and did it not And indeed some of the wicked have in this respect bolstered up themselves in their sinnes against the Prophets of God saying Let us eat and drinke for to morrow wee shall die but the Prophets words are but winde tomorrow shall be as to day and much more abundant yea desperately call for the execution of their threatnings Let the Lord bring to passe and hasten his great worke that we may see it but the dayes are prolonged and every vision faileth Ezech. 12. 22. For this cause both to maintaine the credit of his Prophets and to make the wicked to tremble at his word howsoever sometimes upon repentance he altered the sentence yet sometimes he would not be intreated but executed judgements as he had threatned Which Iehu observed when having strucken Ioram dead the King of Israel and sonne of Ahab he said to Bidkar his Captaine Take and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth for remember how that when thou and I rode together after Ahab his father the Lord laid this burden upon him And againe being told that the dogs had eaten Iezabel he said This is the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying In the portion of Iezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Iezabel Thus hath God made good his threatnings But me thinketh I heare some insult and
world yet all in love As many as I love I rebuke and chasten If we be without correction we are bastards and not sonnes I beseech you remember this No sinnes so displeasing and provoking God as the sinnes of his people for whom he hath done most and who professe most You only have I knowne of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And this is that which God said I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me Nadab and Abihu must die for it if they presume to offer strange fire Small holes in others are great rents in Moses David Salomon they had best take good heed to their walking if they fall they shall be sure to pay for it They are so farre greater sinners than our selves that God will never suffer them to prevaile I answer This is it so offended the Prophets and made them so to expostulate the matter with God as our Prophet Righteous O Lord art thou when I plead with thee yet let me talke with thee of thy iudgements Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper wherefore are all they happy that deale very treacherously And the Prophet Habacuck complained The wicked doth compasse about the righteous And againe Wherefore dost thou hold thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he Whereby it appeareth the Prophet had a great combat in himselfe to thinke that the Babylonians more wicked and ungodly should so prosper and devoure the Israel of God as no doubt but it troubleth many that the Papists such Hereticks Idolaters bloudie men and generally most prophane that they should so devoure the Protestants more righteous than they But let Gods children humble themselves it is just and let not the enemies boast for their day is comming Hearken what God saith by your Prophet Loe I begin to bring evill on the citie which is called by my name and shall ye be unpunished ye shall not be unpunished And againe They whose iudgement was not to drinke of the cup have assuredly drunken and art thou he that shall goe altogether unpunished thou shalt not goe unpunished but thou shalt surely drinke If iudgement first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospell of God And if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appeare Grievous was the calamitie of Gods people the Iewes by the Westerne Babylonians and so affected the Prophet to whom the Lord revealed it that he wished his head were waters and his eyes a fountaine of teares that he might weepe day and night and on which occasion he did write his booke of Lamentations so full of passion but it was nothing to the miserie of Babylon Theirs was a captivitie for 70. yeeres which being finished they were gloriously delivered but Babylon came to perpetuall ruine In the Prophecies of their captivitie many consolations were mixed and they made their miserie the greater through their obstinacie because they did not beleeve nor would obey the counsell of the Prophet bidding them yeeld themselves assuring them they that did so should have their lives given for a prey yea if the King would have done so the citie had not beene burnt with fire But the Prophecies against Babylon are altogether fearefull let me give you a taste thereof When seventie yeeres shall be accomplished I will punish the King of Babylon and the land of the Caldeans and make it perpetuall desolations And againe Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hisse at her plagues And againe Babylon hath beene a golden cup in the Lords hand and all the earth hath beene drunken and the nations mad with her wine but she is suddenly fallen and destroyed her iudgement reacheth to Heaven howle for her Yea he spendeth those two whole large chapters in prophesying the severe judgements of God against Babylon in revenge of Israel and that with such words as who can reade them and not tremble Adde hereunto the prophecie of Esay Babylon the glorie of kingdomes the beautie of the Caldees excellencie shall bee as when God overthrew Sodome and Gomorrha it shall never bee inhabited nor dwelt in from generation to generation the Arabian shall never pitch his tent there nor Shepherds make folds there but wilde beasts of the desert shall lie there their houses shall be full of dolefull creatures Owles shall dwell there and Satyrs dance And againe I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant sonne and nephew I will make it a possession for the Bitterne and pooles of water and I will sweepe it with the besome of destruction saith the Lord of hosts And lastly Come downe and sit in the dust ô virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground there is no throne ô daughter of Caldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate Take the mill-stones and grinde meale uncover thy locks make bare the leg I will take vengeance and thou shalt no more be called the Ladie of kingdomes All which prophesies have long since beene fulfilled by the Medes and Persians But wherefore hath the Lord brought such destruction upon her the Lord telleth her plainly I was wroth with my people and gave them into thine hand and thou shewedst no mercie upon the ancient hast thou verie heavily laid the yoke Oh see what a dangerous thing it is even to be the rod of Gods wrath though his people have well deserved to be scourged if they thinke not so but exercise all manner of crueltie Farre greater is the miserie which the westerne Babylon hath brought upon Gods Church and most cruell instruments are they of Gods anger to his people and for many hundreds of yeeres have oppressed Gods people with the iron yoke of captivitie never more barbarous and bloudie acts heard of than executed by Papists heretofore in this land oh how doe they shew themselves to be the sonnes of that father who was a murtherer from the beginning and of that mother the great whore who is drunke with the bloud of the Saints But that God who by his Prophets foretold and fulfilled the Easterne Babylons destruction hath as plainly fore-told by his Apostle the destruction of this Westerne Babylon and hee hath a Cyrus the Lord of hosts hath a chosen shaft in his quiver wherewith to wound it wee leave the time and meanes to God but doe stedfastly beleeve that the great whore which hath in her forehead a name written Mysterie Babylon the great the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth so long drunken with the bloud of the Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus Shee shall be hated and made naked and desolate yet they shall eat her flesh and burne her with fire that bloudie and
I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand up in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none Oh that is comfortable that though the sinnes of the people being great and God sayd he would destroy that yet he did even seeke for a good man to stand up by prayer in the gap to turne away his wrath and is sorry that he found not such an one but loe here is an holy Prophet ready to stand up in the gap and hee is expresly forbidden to doe so Make no intercession to me Againe Call on me and I will answer cry and I will say here I am Oh that is comfortable that God is more ready to heare and helpe than his people are to call upon him But here God telleth the Prophet he will not heare him oh this is fearefull As then Iacob awaking out of his dreame said How dreadfull is this place this is none other but the gate of Heaven so may I say when I muse upon these words Oh how dreadfull is this text this is none other but the gate of destruction Oh sinne oh sinne whither leadest thou how vile and odious a thing art thou that bindest Gods hands that he cannot helpe stoppest Gods eares that he cannot heare shuttest his eyes that he cannot see turnest compassions into cruelties smiling countenance into frownes promises into threatnings mercies into judgements and of a loving Father makest an angry Iudge Oh wofull the condition of Gods people now That it may not be yours be ware of their sins And this is the maine marke I aime at both in the choyce and handling of this Scripture which that I may the more orderly and profitably doe I will first give you the sense of the words and then raise the Doctrines with their severall Uses and Applications and because they are many and very usefull let me stand a little longer in the inlightning of this darke Scripture because upon the true understanding thereof as on an immovable foundation the ensuing Doctrines are raised and builded The question then is whether this be an absolute interdiction or no whether God meant as the words sound that indeed the Prophet must not pray for them if he did it were a sinne of disobedience against Gods revealed will or no I answer It was an absolute prohibition as the letters sound so as if hee had prayed for them hee had sinned yet with this qualification that he is forbidden to pray for them that they may not be carried into captivitie Their captivitie in Babylon was the burthen of his prophesie and against that he may not pray as a judicious Divine saith on the place hee might not pray for the state of the kingdome hee might and doubtlesse did pray for many blessings of God yea for greater blessings than this was or could be hee might pray to God to give them knowledge faith repentance remission of sinnes redemption from eternall captivitie he might pray to God to give them comfort and patience in their captivitie and to send them deliverance according to promise he might pray for deliverance from some other judgements as famine or pestilence but to pray for the state of the kingdome that it might stand and flourish and the enemie not prevaile so he might not pray God was resolved for their sinnes they should goe into captivitie as their brethren before them had done That this is the true sense seemeth to mee sufficiently confirmed by these foure Reasons First after this time we doe not reade that ever the Prophet did pray for them It may be some that are well acquainted with this prophesie will say I failed in memory for he prayed and prayed most earnestly for them saying We acknowledge ô Lord our wickednesse and the iniquitie of our fathers for we have sinned against thee doe not abhorre us for thy names sake doe not disgrace the throne of thy glory remember and doe not breake thy covenant with us Could there be a more powerfull and patheticall prayer made than this I answer that the very next words to that prayer the last verse of that chapter doth declare that at that time there was a great famine by reason of drought and for remove of that judgement and for the blessing of raine he prayed saying Is there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause raine or can the Heavens give showers art not thou he ô Lord our God therefore we will wait upon thee But I say againe he never prayed that the people might not goe into captivitie which proveth that this was an absolute prohibition Yea for further fortification of this Reason take notice that he was so farre from praying for their deliverance that occasioned from the great wrongs they offered him by the motion of Gods Spirit he doth most fearefully imprecate them Poure out their bloud by the force of the sword let their wives be bereaved of their children and be widowes let their men be put to death and their young men slaine by sword in battaile And againe Let me see thy vengeance upon them for unto thee have I opened my cause Thus humbly did the Prophet subscribe to Gods revealed decree and zealously pray for the execution of it though most contrary to his naturall desire neither did ever any thing so much grieve and afflict him as his Lamentations beare witnesse If any object that herein the Prophet was wanting in love No no we must love one another but it must be in God Abraham must but love his sonne Isaack in God if God command him to take and sacrifice him he must rise earely and go as chearfully about that as if he went to his marriage Eli must not love himselfe nor his sonnes but in God if hee crave such a message against him and his house as whosoever heareth it would make his eares to tingle It is the Lord saith Eli let him doe what seemeth him good Hath not Christ taught us to pray that Gods will may be done This Prophet loved Gods people dearely and appealeth unto God Remember that I stood before thee to speake good for them and to turne away thy wrath from them but when God forbiddeth him to pray he must either hold his peace or pray for execution of Gods judgements Secondly the Prophet ever perswaded the King Princes and people without any resistance to yeeld themselves to the King of Babylon saying Thus saith the Lord behold I set before you the way of life and way of death he that abideth in the Citie shall die by the sword by famine and by pestilence but he that goeth out and falleth to the Caldeans that besiege you he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey for I have set my face against this Citie for evill and not for good
judgement afarre off and like faithfull watchmen from the wall give warning to the City as soone as ever they descry the Lord comming against his people Secondly they must labour by their Ministery to bring the people to repentance that so Gods wrath may be pacified and judgements prevented and to that end they must faithfully reprove them for their sinnes and let them see the hainousnesse of their transgressions and call earnestly upon them for repentance Thus did Noah before the floud Lot before the burning of Sodom the Prophets Isay Ieremy Ezechiel Ioel before the Captivities Rent your hearts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God thus did Christ and Iohn Baptist before the finall destruction of the Iewes Repent repent Except yee repent yee shall all perish Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree and O generation of vipers who hath forewarned you to flee from the anger to come bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life yea thus have all Gods servants done that desire to be free from the bloud of all men for if they give not warning the bloud is required at their hands and therefore it behoveth them to bestirre themselves that if it be possible they may save Gods people from the wrath to come or at least deliver their own soules and be found a sweet savour unto God even in them that perish Thirdly it is the faithfull Ministers duty to be very tenderly affected towards all such as mourne in Sion and with David are afraid of Gods judgements they must be sure to speake a word in due season to such as are weary God gave the Prophet Isay a charge to speake comfortably to the heart of Ierusalem And hence it is that the Prophets Christ Iohn Baptist and the Apostles did ever interlace reproofes and threatnings with heavenly comforts to prepare them for times of triall and tentations that howsoever they lived amongst the wicked and some great judgement and generall might come yet come what will it should goe well with them yea let vs Ministers be assured the Lord will require as strict an account of us how we have cheared and comforted the godly as that we have reproved and threatned the wicked And I say upon this occasion in the word of the Lord Be of good comfort all godly Magistrates and Governors if your hearts be set aright to advance Gods Religion and holy Gospell of Christ and to suppresse and beat downe Atheisme Poperie and all wickednesse whereby Gods anger is kindled and heavie judgements procured Be of good comfort yee Ministers of Christ that watch and warne Gods people having continuall sorrow and heavinesse to see their sinnes and being farre off from serving the time and flattering them saying Peace peace when there is no peace but faithfully reproving them for all their sinnes and earnestly calling on them for repentance And be of good comfort all yee people whose hearts are broken with godly sorrow to see the sinnes of the Land and you that strive to keepe your selves unspotted of the world and to walke worthy the Gospell and such great mercies as God vouchsafeth and humble your soules before God privately in fasting and praiers and so farre as you can and is lawfull labour to draw on others in the like practise of piety know that you are sealed and maintained of God assure your selves the eie and hand of God are on you for good his compassions shall not faile the hils shall sooner remove out of their places than his mercy can be removed from you his covenant with day and night shall sooner be broken than with you you are written upon the palmes of his hands and are ever in his sight and either God will be pacified and spare for your sakes or as he knoweth best will provide for you either take you to himselfe that you shall not see the evill to come or whatsoever evill come his good Angels shall guard you his spirit support you his grace be sufficient for you he shall enrich you with peace patience and joy and in good time make an end of all misery and set the crowne of immortall glory on your head The second duty particular is for the chiefe Magistrate to command such as are subordinate and inferiour to see execution these are to testifie how greatly they are affected with tokens of Gods wrath and appearance of judgements by labouring to reforme sinne and enjoyning fasting and humiliation for pacifying of Gods anger and preventing of judgements Thus did Moses Ioshuah David Iehoshaphat Nehemiah Hesty King of Ninivie It would aske too long a time to shew you how wonderfully God hath beene appeased and how strangely judgements have beene prevented by this most godly and Christian exercise the Scriptures are plentifull in this point Yea it is registred that even Ahab only thereunto moved with a base feare of judgement threatned and but fasting and wearing sackcloth in hypocrisie God deferred the judgement untill his sonnes daies Oh what a blessing did this Land receive hereupon in Ann. 1588. I am perswaded never any did humble themselves before the Lord in true fasting and praier but found a blessing from heaven thereon Oh that I could but perswade you to make triall hereof and to prove the Lord herein I assure my selfe God is the same loving God as ready now as ever most graciously to answer the soule that setteth it selfe aright to seeke God by such waies and meanes as he hath prescribed Now let us come and make application of these things to ourselves That God hath many waies testified his anger and displeasure and not only threatned but also in some measure executed his judgements who so blinde as seeth not But how are men and women affected herewith Doe we in the conscience of our sinnes judge our selves unworthy of any common blessing peace food sleepe apparell and most worthy of all those heavie judgements which either he hath threatned or executed on any others Are we afraid of Gods judgements and specially of those that are spirituall I say againe of those that are spirituall and most dreadfull Doe we grieve exceedingly and mourne in our soules that we have so justly offended God and purchased his anger and displeasure and to have the very floudgates and all the sluces of his judgements drawne up to our utter overthrow and destruction Doe we bend our selves with all our strength to pacific God and prevent his judgements And to that end doe we with full purpose of heart resolve to forsake our owne knowne sins and to put in practise all holy purposes and vowes to reforme presently whatsoever we know to be amisse in us and to shew forth more true zeale of Gods glory and the power of godlinesse in our lives than we have done
desolation a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of the trumpet and alarum against the defenced Cities and high towers bloud shall bee powred out as dust and flesh at dung neither shall silver nor gold bee able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath but the whole land shall bee devoured by the fire of his iealousie for hee shall make a cleane riddance of all them that dwell in the land I say after the Prophet had thus spent and concluded the first chapter in denunciation of severe judgements in that fearefull manner as might make the knees knocke and haire stand upright marke how he beginneth the second chapter with heavenly and good counsell Gather your selves together yea gather together ô nation not desired before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lords anger come upon you seeke yee the Lord all the meeke of the earth which have wrought his iudgement seeke righteousnesse seeke meeknesse it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger Where note that when Gods judgements are threatned men and women must not sit downe carelesly with hand over head Let God doe his will I shall escape aswell as others it concerneth mee the least of many thousands But God would have men to be exceedingly affected at the testimonies of Gods anger and to tremble at his judgements a Doctrine which hath beene raised and largely handled from this Scripture already Secondly note that hee would not have the faithfull content themselves to mourne and pray in secret but to gather together so farre as their callings and gifts will serve to draw on others to the practise of pietie and godlinesse Thirdly note who they are that God specially looketh should seeke him as being his favourites and such as are best able to resist him even such as are meeke on earth i. Such as are meeke to stoope to the instructions of the Word such as are meeke patiently to beare the corrections of his rod and such as are meeke to put up wrongs and injuries still crying to God for the good of his people even when they offer them greatest injuries Such a meeke man was Moses most earnest for the peoples good when they were readiest to stone him Moreover they must be such as have wrought his judgements i. Such as have kept themselves unspotted and specially from Idolatrie such as have still cleaved unto God his Word Law and Commandements doing such things as hee hath judged to be just and right still walking with God as Enoch did these are the men who in all ages have only beene in favour with God and most powerfull with their prayers wherefore Pharaoh intreated Moses and Aaron to pray for him and the people in their distresse runne to Samuel and pray him not to cease to one to God for them And verily how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked world esteeme of them all the hope and helpe of a people that can come from man remaineth in these and their prayers only Againe that their prayers may be the more available it must not suffice that they have beene meeke and have wrought right but they must seeke meeknesse and righteousnessei Labour everie day to be more and more meeke and righteous walking with such care and conscience in all the Commandements and Ordinances of God that the world cannot have the least matter against them except it be as against Daniel for the matters of their God for the more mortified sanctified and holy any are in the greater favour they are with God and the more powerfull are their prayers for themselves and others Whereas God will not heare sinners no not for themselves much lesse for others it being as dangerous for a sinner to come neare unto God as for the drie stubble to come neare the flaming fire Wherefore David would wash his hands in innocencie and so goe to his table and the Priests had their laver to wash hands and feet in before they went to minister to the Lord. Then lastly observe what shall be the comfortable issue of such seeking God viz. That if they cannot prevaile with Gods Majesty for the sparing of his people yet they shall save their owne soules and finde an hiding place in the day of the Lord. One of these two or both they shall be sure to finde and the very lesser of them is an abundant reward for all the labour any can take in seeking God though it were day and night An example whereof we have in our Prophet who taking exceedingly to heart the misery of Gods people which he foresaw and wishing his head were waters and his eies a fountaine of teares that he might weepe day and night for his people and protesting to God that he stood before him to speake good for them and to turne away his wrath howsoever therein he could not prevaile and in the end God forbade him to pray for them yet his praiers and teares were returned into his owne bosome for as God promised him Verily I will make the enemies to entreat thee well in the time of evill and in the time of affliction so God performed it For Ieremy being in prison when Ierusalem was taken Nabuzaradan the chiefe Steward according to the command which Nebuchad-nezzar had given him not only set him at liberty but gave him victuals and a reward with leave to goe whither he would so good a thing it is to be faithfull unto God how ever things goe with his Church Upon these grounds from Gods Word I renew mine exhortation againe Pray pray pray you shall at the least deliver your owne soules Yea let me yet speake a word of further comfort unto you I cannot finde one example in all the Booke of God wherein a people humbling themselves in sincerity in any measure according to the ordinance and word of the Lord but they were ever delivered from that temporall judgement threatned at the least for the present Oh therefore that it would please God that the Lords Ministers could stirre up all the meeke of the Land to seeke the Lord in repentance and praier to step up into the breach intercede and resist God I would not doubt but as to see judgements passe over us so to see peace on Gods Israel abroad There is helpe for Ierusalem in her God and when the Lord hath brought her on her knee and clothed her with sackcloth for her sinnes he will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the King of Ashur and the glory of his high lookes who doth not know that he is the rod of Gods wrath The stripes of Ierusalem shall be healed but the wounds of Babylon are incurable there is no Balme in Gilead for her Ierusalem may be shaken but it is Babylon shall fall and never rise againe Oh then pray and
cleare that such may be the sinnes of a people that God will not regard their owne praying and fasting Hearken how the Lord himselfe threatneth a rebellious people Because I have called and yee have refused I have stretched out mine hand and no man regarded but yee have set at nought all my counsell and would none of my reproofe I will laugh at your calamity and mocke when your feare commeth when your feare commeth as desolation and your destruction commeth as a whirlwinde Then they shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seeke me earely but they shall not finde me Lo how the sinnes of a people may come to that height that in their greatest calamity and destruction and when they cry most fervently and seeke God earely yet God will be so farre from hearing and answering of them that he will laugh and mocke them And againe When yee spread forth your hands I will hide mine eies from you yea when yee make many praiers I will not heare And againe by our Prophet he saith When they fast I will not heare their cry but I will consume them by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence And againe I will bring evill upon them which they shall not be able to escape and though they shall cry yet will I not hearken unto them And againe I will deale in fury mine eie shall not spare neither will I have pitie and though they cry in mine eares with a loud voice yet will I not heare them Loe how plainly and plentifully this is proved though but by a few places in stead of many And as he hath threatned he will not heare themselves though they fast and pray and cry aloud so neither will he heare any others no not the best of his servants for them Marke your Text Ieremy an excellent man of God and sanctified in his mothers womb yet God telleth him if he pray against the peoples captivity he will not heare him yea and telleth him because he should not thinke that he was out of favour that if Moses and Samuel stood before him yet his minde could not be towards his people Cast them out of my sight and let them goe forth and if they say whither shall we goe forth thou shalt tell them Thus saith the Lord such as are for death to death and such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine and such as are for the captivity to the captivity See what persons God hath picked out of all the bunch of the Patriarches Prophets Judges and Kings Who ever prevailed more by praier with God for others than Moses and Samuel When the people had committed that foule Idolatry in worshipping the golden Calfe God said He would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood up in the gap But Moses he besought the Lord and prevailed The Lord repented of the evill and did it not And when the Philistims came up against Israel and they were exceedingly afraid Samuel Oh faithfull Samuel the Lords Priest cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him and thundred with a great thunder and discomfited the Philistims But if Moses and Samuel did now stand before the Lord his minde cannot be won towards this people but they shall goe into captivity And againe by another Prophet he saith Sonne of man when the Land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously and I stretch out mine hand and breake the staffe of bread and send a famine and cut off man and beast though these three men were in it Noah Iob and Daniel they should deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse Or if I bring noisome beasts or bring a sword or a pestilence to cut off man and beast as I live saith the Lord though these three men were in it Noah Daniel and Iob yet should they deliver neither sonne nor daughter they should only deliver their owne soules but the Land shall be desolate Oh see againe what three Worthies he doth instance in Noah that upright man in the old World when all flesh had corrupted their waies Iob that upright man and fearing God in the Land of Vz and Daniel that man of Gods desire in Babylon Three men who could doe much with God for whom God did much yet if they had praied for this people God would not heare them they should not be able to deliver sonne nor daughter but only their owne soules And as such may be the sinnes of a nation or people so also of a particular person yea of Gods deare servants that he will not heare them but bring some temporall punishment upon them How great a favourite was Moses unto God to whom God spake mouth to mouth as a man talketh familiarly with his friend who obtained by his praier so many and great things at the hands of God for others so apparently honoured and graced of God that the Lord asked Aaron and Miriam Wherefore were ye not afraid to speake against my servant Moses Yet this great and good man for not sanctifying God at the waters of strife yea for once speaking unadvisedly with his lips and thereunto much provoked by that rebellious people was threatned he should not goe into the promised land An heavie judgement And though Moses made it his earnest suit unto God O Lord God thou hast begun to shew to thy servant great kindnesse I pray thee let me goe over and see the good land that is beyond Iordan that goodly mountaine and Lebanon yet the Lord would not heare him but cut him off saying Let it suffice thee speake no more to me of this matter David Gods deare servant and a man after Gods owne heart and for whose sake he did much to others how often have we these promises for my servant Davids sake yet he begetting a childe on Bethshebah the wife of Vriah the Lord strake the childe that it was very sicke and though David besought the Lord for the childe and fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth yet God would not heare him but on the seventh day the childe died according to the word of the Lord by his Prophet Nathan Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the childe that is borne to thee shall surely die And againe for his great sinne of numbring the people the Lord sent him a message by his Prophet Gad that he would send either pestilence famine or sword and though David repented and complained that he was in a great strait yet he could not obtaine freedome but according to his choice God sent a pestilence whereof in three dayes there died seventie thousand men Let all men and women then subscribe to this undoubted truth of God that such may be the sinnes of Gods Church in
A wonderfull and horrible thing is committed in the Land The Prophets prophesie falselie and the Priests beare rule by their meanes and my people love to have it so Whereas a false Prophet is the very taile and a most vile person in the eies of the godly and as unsauoury salt yea and God had cast dung in their faces Mal. 2. 3. Now such as in their Ministery would not trouble them by telling them of their sinnes and threatning of judgements but preach pleasing things heale all with sweet words rocke the cradle and let them sleepe in security apply themselves to their humours and play the good fellowes with them oh these were Prophets for the nonst these were commended honoured admired nothing too good for them but such as God sent and in their ministerie dealt faithfully and truly with them they loved them not could not away with them whereas their feet should have beene beautifull unto them they should only have knowne their voices and obeyed have esteemed and loved them as their fathers submitted themselves with reverence given them double honour had them in singular love for their workes sake received them even as the Angels and Ambassadors of God yea as Christ Iesus to have encouraged them in their Ministerie that they might have performed their office with joy duties which God expresly requireth at the hands of his people Now before the captivity they heaped all manner of discontents discouragements and disgrace upon them they would not heare them or else it was but to talke of them when they came home as one that had a pleasant voice and could sing well if they reproved them for sinne or threatned them with judgement they regarded it no more than winde but said evill shall not come upon us we shall neither see sword nor famine They did but mocke and deride and reproch him for his Ministerie his owne countrey-men of Anathoth threatned him to preach no more unto them in the name of the Lord for if he did he should die by their hands yea at another time when he had in a publike and great assembly delivered what he had received from the Lord Priests and Prophets and all the people caught him and said Thou shalt die the death They grievously slandered and accused him as a man that discouraged the people by his preaching and weakned the hands of the men of warre and sought not the wealth of the people but their hurt and therefore the Princes besought the King to put him to death his enemies conspired against him and his owne familiar friends watched for his halting yea they did sinite and imprison him both and much endanger his life with the filth of the prison for he did sticke fast in the mire which made him so bitterly to complaine Woe is me my mother that thou hast borne me a man of strise and a man of contention to the whole earth I have neither lent nor borrowed an usury yet every one of them doth curse me Yea he was so discouraged that he meant verily to have given up his calling and to have preached no more unto them and certainly this he had done but that the word and Spirit of God were in his heart as fire shut up in his bones which made him weary of forbearing and he could not stay Thus have you seene the great corruption that was in the Priests and Prophets generally both in regard of their Ministery and conversation and how the people behaved themselves both towards the good and bad Now let us see what was the generall condition and the sinnes of the people As to beginne with such as were greatest First they were ignorant of God as he complaineth My people is foolish they have not knowne me they are sottish children and have no understanding they are wise to doe evill but to doe good they have not knowledge yea they were more blockish and senslesse than the bruit creatures For the Storke of heaven knoweth her appointed times the Turtle Crane and Swallow observe the time of their comming but my people know not the iudgement of the Lord Secondly Atheisme they professed The Lord hath forsaken the earth he seeth not Neither was this the sinne of the common people onely but the Princes like Atheists devised mischiefe gave evill counsell mocked the threatning of the Prophet and said Iudgement was not neere they might build houses Yea King Iehoiakim himselfe like an Arch-Atheist having heard some of Ieremies Prophesie read unto him he cut the roule in peeces with a pen-knife and cast it into the fire and consumed it Thirdly foule and grosse Idolatry both private in the houses of their imagery in the darke God let his Prophet through an hole in the wall see seventy of the Ancients worshipping Idols and also publike On every hill and under every greene tree playing the harlot saying to a stocke thou art my father and to a stone thou hast brought me forth yea in the Cities of Iudah and streets of Ierusalem offering cakes to the Queene of heaven and powring out drinke offerings to other gods yea they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to defile it See how Idolatry groweth from chambers to hils from hils in the Country to streets in the Cities yea into the Temple This was that spirituall whordome which all the Prophets with open mouth cried out against and no marvell for as a man will beare with much frowardnesse and unkindnesse in his wife but by no meanes will endure her to commit whordome so God will beare with many sinnes in his people but cannot endure Idolatry spirituall whordome and adultery that never escaped heavie punishment Fourthly the taking of Gods name in vaine hearing the word but of fashion custome or sinister respects Behold saith God their eare is uncircumcised they cannot hearken behold the word of the Lord is to them a reproch they have no delight in it Adde hereunto their soule hypocrisie whereby they caused the name and religion of God to be blasphemed Will yee steale murther and commit adultery and sweare falsely and burne incense to Baal and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my Name Is this house become a denne of robbers in your eies behold I have seene it saith the Lord And he told his Prophet Ezechiel the people would say one to another Come let us heare what is the word that commeth forth from the Lord and they come and sit before thee and heare thy words but they will not doe them for with their mouthes they shew much love but their hearts goe after their covetousnesse And againe treacherous Iudah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but fainedly saith the Lord Prophanation of
the Sabbaths another sinne causing their captivity and much reproved and threatned by the Prophets of God Moreover the land was full of bloudie crimes by reason of murder man slaughter quarrelling fighting Also polluted with all manner of carnall uncleannesse adulterie and fornication assembling themselves by troopes in harlots houses and they were as fed horses in the morning every one neighed after his neighbours wife Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soule be avenged on such a nation as this Yea this was so common a sinne that he called them all adulterers yea they committed incest humbling their owne sisters and defiling their daughters in law yea humbling such as were set apart for pollution Likewise they did oppresse defraud and wrong one another by false weights and measures and devoure one another by cruell usurie and unjust gaine and did even set traps and snares to catch men building houses by unrighteousnesse and chambers by wrong using their neighbours service without wages and not giving him for his worke taking usurie and increase and greedily gaining by extortion And all this was spent in sumptuous buildings setting their nests on high and making glorious houses in pride of apparell taking up every vaine foolish and new fangled fashion And when Gods Prophets did most threaten vengeance and they should have humbled themselves in sackcloth and ashes loe then did they most give themselves to garishnesse tricking pranking and painting themselves in scorne of God Wherefore the Lord threatned them that he would punish the Princes and Kings children and all such as were clothed with strange apparell Also they gave themselves to maintaine excesse in diet drinking and making one another drunke which one of the Prophets thus threatned Woe to him that giveth his neighbour drinke that putteth the bottle unto him and maketh him drunken Moreover they were most unthankfull for blessings received never said Let us feare the Lord our God that giveth raine both the former and latter raine in his season he reserveth to us the appointed weekes of the harvest Neither did they amend by gentle corrections the Prophet bewailed it O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder than a rocke they have refused to returne Loe these are the maine linnes which reigned in Iudah and Ierusalem before their captivitie which God sent his Prophets to reprove and threaten but all in vaine for they did trust because they had the Temple and worship of God no evill should happen unto them and therefore answered their threatnings with these words of vaine confidence The temple of the Lord The temple of the Lord The temple of the Lord. Wherefore the Lord assured the Prophet he would cast them out of his sight they should goe into captivitie and he would doe to that house wherein they so vainly trusted as he had done to Shiloh in the dayes of their forefathers As these were their sinnes for kinde so had they long continued in them notwithstanding they had had such faire warning in the captivitie of their brethren for the same which did not a little adde to the measure of their sinne which being full vengeance must needs come and the harvest of their iniquitie being ripe the sickle of Gods iudgement must needs cut them downe and God will not heare his Prophet intreat for them Now to come to our selves and make Application of all we have heard I beseech you with all godly feare and reverence receive and consider well these foure propositions First that we in England by Gods mercy yet are and for many yeeres have beene as happie as ever Iudah and Ierusalem were in our Kings and Queenes Iudges Magistrates Ministers peace plentie prosperitie deliverances from dangers fatherly corrections for amendment but above all for advancing and continuing of his glorious Gospell to be so generally professed in such safetie for making of our kingdome to become an harbour and sanctuarie to Gods afflicted servants of other countries and for many other blessings wherein it hath beene so enriched and preferred that with Capernaum it hath beene exalted to heaven and made the wonder of the world Secondly that we are at this time nothing sound but all swellings and sores a sinfull nation and loaded with iniquitie You have heard what were the sinnes of Iudah and Ierusalem doe you not see them to be our owne Shall I goe over them againe and search for them with candle-light It needeth not they are written in such Capitall letters as he that runneth may reade them Whosoever shall with reverence and conscience reade the writings of those worthy Prophets and compare our times thereto shall finde they doe so lively picture out the iniquities of our daies as if they had beene sent unto us and had prophesied against us and therefore their writings are ours either to admonish us and turne us away from all our evill waies and to prevent the like judgements or to make our condemnation the more just and our plagues the more terrible if in his justice he shall execute them upon us It may be some exception may be taken against one sinne and indeed one of the greatest viz. that we cannot be charged with Idolatry as Iudah was I answer it is true God be blessed that Romish Idolatry is by our Christian and wholesome Lawes suppressed and his Excellent Majesty both by peerelesse labours and exquisite writings hath throughly discovered the Antichrist and by godly Edicts and Proclamations advanceth pure Religion to the utmost wherein the Lord enable him to persist that he and his may be blessed for ever Amen But give me leave to make a few Quaeres Have we not too many Chemarims Seminaries Priests and Iesuites sacrificing to Baal Have we not too many that sweare by the Lord Malcom as all our Church-Papists that professe religion in Gods house and have also their close chambers of Imagerie at home Is not the number of Idolatrous Recusants greatly increased even since that most hellish powder-treason for which no name can ever be devised able to set forth the nature of it which a man would have thought would have beene the bane of Poperie thorow the world it being a fruit of their Religion and practise of their positions and principles oh how fearefull that Idolatrie even since that time should so increase Thirdly as we have many enemies so are they most fierce barbarous truculent and sanguinarie plotting and devising most cruell and unnaturall proiects and stratagems and where they prevaile executing such murders and massacres as were never read nor heard of witnesse our powder-plot the mercilesse French massacre
and the incredible havocke of thousands and millions where Romanists have prevailed Oh cruell and bloudy Rome how are thy children every where knowne by their red liverie Fourthly England hath had as many and faire warnings as ever Iudah and Ierusalem had by strange tokens signes and wonders The captivitie of the ten Tribes was not a fairer warning to them than the calamitie of the Churches abroad is unto us But above all for these many yeeres he hath most powerfully reproved sinne and thundred out vengeance by his heavenly word in the mouthes of his holy servants greater than Ieremie or Ezechiel yea by the testimonie of Christ greaterthan Iohn who was also greaterthan any of the Prophets thereby declaring to all the world how unwilling he is to enter into judgement with us of all other people though wee have provoked him above all people professing his holy and heavenly truth and to this end whereas his hand is so heavie on our neighbours he sendeth us his Ministers unto you as on the one side both to set your sinnes before your faces whereby you anger him and the meanes how to pacifie and appease him that he may perpetually continue a good God to you and yours so on the other side to threaten you that he will make you a spectacle of wrath and misery to all people as he made Ierusalem without speedy and unfained repentance Lastly and which is most fearefull generally men live in security and presumption Yea doe not men and women every where grow in senslesnesse and harden themselves against all signes and tokens and warnings putting farre from them the evill day and say tush we shall neither see sword nor famine Yea are not too many come to that height of impiety as to scorne and deride such as are affected with the threatnings of Gods judgements and will not runne into the same excesse of ungodlinesse they have done Is it not more safe to commit sinne than reprove it Nay is not the practise of piety and zeale for the Gospell in many companies more reprochfull than to lie speake filthily swagger and blaspheme to scorne and jest at Religion and make a sport of sinne Yea that which is worse than all this are not the Ieremies and Ezechiels sent unto them hated mocked scorned and derided and even loaded with malicious slanders as the vilest men on earth and not worthy to live Who so blinde as seeth not these things and who so simple as from them cannot conclude therefore surely God must needs be avenged on such a Nation unlesse we repent speedily and whilst there is time we all meet him with entreaty of peace Oh England at the last know the time of thy visitation and awake out of thy deepe security watch fast and pray But I foresee many objections will be made against this conclusion As first some like the proud Pharisie may say I thanke God I am not an Atheist Idolater blasphemer murtherer adulterer nor such a sinner as you have named and reproved out of the Prophet therefore I need not so take things to heart and humble my selfe I shall escape well enough I answer though thou wertest as just and righteous as thou braggest for yea as righteous as Noah Iob or Daniel yet thou knowest these sinnes doe every where reigne and abound and thou maist be wrapped in a generall judgement The Scriptures afford us memorable examples of great and generall judgements procured by the sinnes of some few and indeed all make but one body quilibet homo est pars communitatis and the sinnes of the wicked are in some sort the sins of all them where they dwell but specially their open and knowen abominations If thou seest an Atheist Idolater a murtherer a drunkard and dost not to the uttermost of thy power seeke to stop and reforme the same or if that way thou canst doe but little yet if thou dost not mourne in thy soule to see Religion thereby disgraced God dishonoured and his anger kindled and dost not pray to God for pardon how just soever thou art in thine owne person yet those sinnes are in some sort thine and the judgements temporall may wrap thee in them Let it never be forgotten that when Achan had stollen the excommunicate thing for which God was angry and Ioshuah lamented saying Oh Lord God what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies God answered Israel hath sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant they have taken of the accursed thing and have stollen and dissembled and have put it even amongst the stuffe See how God challengeth and punisheth all Israel for Achans sinne and at his execution Ioshuah asked him Why hast thou troubled us Oh Lord if this were remembred and beleeved it would justly cause a great deale of feare to see or heare of the sinnes of the Land or Countrey much more of the City Towne or Parish wherein we live and therefore how innocent soever we thinke our selves let us be grieved for the sinnes of others and labour to prevent such judgements as may justly wrap us in them of which more was said from the second Doctrine this being said to be one of the reasons why the godly are so exceedingly affected when they perceive his anger and heare his threatnings Secondly say some we see such as are professed Idolaters and most corrupt in doctrine and profane in conversation in whom all the forenamed sinnes doe reigne yet live and thrive and prosper in the world why should we then be so affected for our sinnes I answer That small sinnes of such a people as have entred into league and covenant with God and have received the knowledge of his truth and make profession of his feare are more grievous and displeasing unto God than great rebellions of professed Atheists and Idolaters God is more offended with the sinnes of Iudah and Ierusalem than ten thousand times greater in Babylon If his children observe not his Lawes nor keepe his Commandements he will be sure to visit their offences with the rod and their sinnes with scourges Hence it is that the Apostle saith Iudgement beginneth at Gods house If a man have a stranger yea an enemy come to him yet he will make him welcome carve to him liberally and of the best beare with his talke and manners though very absurd and displeasing whereas his childe is set at lower end and served with leavings and if hee offend but in looke is rebuked but the stranger goeth his way and commeth no more the sonne abideth in the house and enjoieth the inheritance The wicked whose portion is in this present life are filled with Gods hidden treasure and fatted as against the day of slaughter whereas his children for whom he hath provided better things in the next life are cut short and chastened that they be not condemned with the