poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there We have sinned against the Lord. Mizpeh a City in the confines of Judah and Benjamin as Masius and others observe was the place where the States of Israel were wont to be assembled together upon any great and important occasion where there was a place on purpose for them to meet in and an Altar and House of Prayer for the publick Worship of God and therefore it is said Judg. 20. 1. The Children of Israel gathered together from one end of the Land to the other unto the Lord in Mizpeh and there the chief of all the Tribes of Israel presented themselves in the Assembly of the People of God And therefore Samuel chooseth this as the fittest place for them to fast and pray and confess their sins in and to implore the Mercy of God to the Nation We do not read in Scripture of any more publick and solemn Fast of the People of Israel kept with greater signs of true humiliation than this at Mizpeh was for the pouring out of water was used among them either to represent their own desperate condition without Gods help that they were as water spilt upon the ground or the greatness of their sorrow for their sins and the floods of tears which they shed for them And to let mankind see what influence a General and serious Fasting and Humiliation hath upon the welfare of a Nation we find from the day of this Fast at Mizpeh the affairs of Israel began to turn for the better For the Philistines thought they had an advantage against the Israelites by this general meeting and hoped to surprize them while they kept their Fast in Mizpeh and made such an incursion upon them as put them into a great consternation and they came trembling to Samuel praying him that he would not cease to cry unto the Lord their God for them that he would save them out of the hand of the Philistins Samuel prays the Lord hears Israel marches out of Mizpeh pursues the Philistins and smites them and Samuel sets up a stone of remembrance and calls it Eben-Ezer saying Hitherto hath the Lord helped us Yea from hence forward did God help them for it follows so the Philistines were subdued and they came no more into the Coast of Israel and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistins all the dayes of Samuel Never any People had greater reason to be pleased with a Governour than they had with Samuel who managed their affairs with so much wisdom and piety with so much faithfulness and integrity with so much courage and constancy with so much care and industry with so much success and prosperity But people are apt to surfeit upon too much ease and plenty and to grow wanton with abundance of peace they began to be weary of Samuels Government and secretly to wish for a change And when mens discontents grow ripe there seldom wants a plausible occasion to vent them Samuel was grown old and could not go about from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh as he was wont to do but he fixed at his house in Ramah and placed his Sons in Beersheba these not following their Fathers steps were soon accused of male-administration and nothing would now satisfie the discontented Elders of Israel but Samuel himself must be discharged of his Government For they gathered themselves together and came to Samuel in Ramah and said to him Behold thou art old and thy Sons walk not in thy wayes this was their pretence but their design was to alter the Government Their plenty and prosperity had made them fond of the Pomp and Grandeur of their neighbour Nations and whatever it cost them they were resolved to have a King to judge them like all the Nations Samuel tells them what inconveniencies that more absolute form of Government of the neighbour Nations would bring among them as Josephus shews all which signified nothing to them for it is said nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and said Nay but we will have a King over us that we also may be like all the Nations It was not the Monarchical way of Government that was so displeasing to God or Samuel for their Government was of that Form already God himself being their King and appointing such Vicegerents as he thought fit to manage their affairs under him So God answered Samuel They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them Not as though Kingly Government were inconsistent with Gods Sovereignty over his people for by him Kings Reign and they are his Ministers to us for good and that Government is the most agreeable to his own and to the primitive institution of Government among men But wherein then lay this great sin of the Israelites in asking a King when God himself had provided by his Law that they should have a King when they were setled in their own Land And yet we find the Israelites at last confess We have added unto all our sins this evil to ask us a King Their great fault was that they were so impetuous and violent in their desires that they would not wait for Samuels decease whom God had raised up among them and whose Government had been so great a blessing to them and therefore God looked on it as a rejecting him more than Samuel since he had appointed him and they had no reason to lay him aside for his Sons faults but they made use of that only as a colour for their own self-willed humour and affectation of being like to other Nations However God commands Samuel to yield to them and he appoints another meeting at Mizpeh for this purpose where the Person was chosen by lot and at his solemn inauguration at Gilgal Samuel makes that speech unto all Israel contained in this 12th Chapter where of the words of the Text are the conclusion which make these words the more considerable 2. In regard of the Occasion of them being delivered by Samuel at so great a solemnity in which he delivers up the Government into the hands of their King 1. With a great protestation of his own integrity with an appeal to their own Consciences concerning it and they freely give a large testimony of it 2 He upbraids them with their ingratitude towards God time after time that they were never contented or pleased with his Laws or the Governours he raised up amongst them and now at last upon a sudden fright concerning Nahash the King of Ammon they were resolved they would have a King and behold saith he the Lord hath set a King over you 3. Notwithstanding their sin in so unseasonable a demand yet he tells them they might be happy under his Government if they did sincerely keep to their established
be the paternal affection of the Holy Father at Rome if this indeed be zeal for the Catholick Cause if this be the way to reconcile us to their Communion have we not great reason to be fond of returning into the Bosom of such a Church which may strangle us as soon as it gets us within her Arms But there are some whose concernment it is to make men believe there was no such dangerous plot intended I meddle not with that evidence which lies before you but there is one notorious circumstance obvious to all persons and sufficient to convince any which is the horrid Murther actually committed on one of his Majesties Justices of Peace in cold blood with great contrivance and deliberation Do men imbrue their hands in blood for nothing Why no other Person why at such a time why in such a manner There was a Reason for all this he had taken the examinations he knew too much to be suffered to live and they hoped by his death to stifle his evidence and to affrighten others from searching too far and they managed that matter so as though they had a mind to convince the World they had no other end in taking away his life but to prevent a further Discovery And they whom his Death doth not convince neither would they be convinced though he should rise again from the Dead God forbid that we should charge such barbarous cruelties such wicked conspiracies such horrid designs on all who live in the Communion of that Church but we must distinguish between the seduced party who are not thought fit to be trusted with such things for fear their Consciences check at them and their good nature disclose them and the busie Active Faction who are always restless and designing and act by such Maxims of Morality as the more sober and modest Heathens would abhor What hath this Party of men been doing among us this last hundred of years and more but plotting conspiracies inflaming our differences betraying our liberties heightning our discontents and in short undermining the Foundatior s both of our Government and Religion And shall such men alwayes triumph that they are too hard for our Laws and that like the Canaanites and Jebusites to the Children of Israel they will still be as scourges in â—â—r sides and thorns in our eyes If these things must be I hope God designs it not to destroy us at last by them but I am sure it doth prove and try us whether we will hearken to the Commandments of the Lord or to the vain Traditions of Men. God knows I speak not these things out of any malice or ill will to the Persons of any for that I may use St. Paul's words My hearts desire and prayer to God for them all is that they might be saved And although I cannot bear them witness yet my hopes are some even of these may think they have a zeal for God in all this but we are sure it is not according to knowledge Such a blind zeal as the Jews had who when they killed the Apostles thought they did God good service But it is so furious so inhumane so unchristian a zeal that it is charity to them as well as necessary care of our own safety to keep them from a capacity of doing themselves and others mischief But before I conclude the Text suggests to us three things very pertinent to the duty of this Day which I shall briefly recommend to your consideration 1. Matter of humiliation for our sins as they have an influence upon the Nations suffering 2. Matter of Advice Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth and with all your heart 3. Matter of encouragement For consider what great things he hath done for you 1. Matter of Humiliation for our sins Which have been many and great and aggravated by all the Mercies and Deliverances which God hath vouchsafed to us and therefore he may be justly provoked to punish us proportionably to the measures of our ingratitude and disobedience Let us lay our hands upon our hearts this day and seriously consider what requital we have made to the Lord for all the benefits he hath bestowed upon us For the Light of his Truth the Purity of his Worship the Power of his Grace the frequency of his Sacraments the influences of his Spirit and the continuance hitherto of our established Religion in spite of all opposition whatsoever But have we not been guilty of too much slighting that Truth neglecting that Worship resisting that Grace contemning those Sacraments quenching that Spirit and of too great coldness and indifferency about matters of Religion I do not fear that ever the Church of Rome should prevail among us by strength of Reason or force of Argument with all its specious colours and pretences unless it be among those who understand neither one nor the other Religion but if men be loose in their principles and unconcerned about Religion in general there will not be courage and constancy enough to keep it out I do much more fear Popery coming in at the back-door of Atheism and Prophaneness than under all its false and deceitful pretences of Universality and Infallibility And this those have been aware of who have been so industriously sowing among us the seeds of Irreligion knowing that if men be unconcerned as to all Religion they will never have the courage to oppose any but will be sure to close with the prevailing side Next to this I know no greater advantage that they take against us than from the unnatural heats and unchristian divisions which have been among us If men were wise they would consider at least in this our day the things which do belong to our Peace How can men answer it at the great day if in such a critical time as this is they stand upon little niceties and punctilios of Honour rather than Conscience or upon keep up the interests of their several Parties and do not those things which themselves think they lawfully may do towards an Union with us I pray God the continuance of these breaches may not look like an argument of Divine Infatuation upon us But what can we say to that looseness and debauchery of manners to that riot and luxury to that wantonness and prophaneness to that fashion of customary swearing and Atheistick Drollery which have been so much and so justly complained of among us I hope there are many thousands at this day in England whose souls abhor the abominations that are committed and who mourn in secret for them and therefore our case may not be so desperate as that of Jerusalem was May we all this day so heartily repent of all these follies and impieties that the Cause of our Fears which our sins give us being removed we may hearken 2. To the matter of Advice here given Only to fear the Lord and to serve him in Truth and with all our heart As though Samuel had said Your hearts
Religion and obey the Laws of God This he delivers 1. More Generally vers 14 15. If ye will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the Commandment of the Lord then shall both ye and also the King that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God i. e. God will protect and defend you But if you will not obey the voyce of the Lord but rebel against the Commandment of the Lord then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as it was against your Fathers But this being a matter of the greatest consequence to them whereon the welfare of the Nation did depend he delivers it 2. More Emphatically after the Thunder and Rain had affrightned and softned their hearts and they came praying to Samuel and confessing their sin to him then he counsels them not to fear if they did not forsake God and for his part however they had disobliged him he would not only continue to pray for them but give them the best advice and directions he could But I will teach you the good and the right way And then these words immediately follow Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart c. 3. These words are most considerable for the Matter contained in them which lies in these three particulars 1. The influence which continuance in sin hath upon a Kingdoms ruine but if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King 2. The best means for the welfare and preservation of it viz maintaining and practising the true Religion Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart 3. The great argument and encouragement here given for the doing it for consider how great things he hath done for you The first of these will be the main subject of my present Discourse viz. The influence which continuance in sin hath upon a Kingdoms ruine If we believe Moses and the Prophets we cannot question the truth of this concerning the People of Israel for this is the main scope and design of their doctrine Moses assured them that all the strength and force and combination of their enemies should do them no prejudice as long as they obeyed the Laws of God but if they would not do his Commandments but despise his Statutes and abhor his Judgements all the care and policy they could use would not be able to keep off the most dismal judgements which ever befel a Nation I will even appoint over you terror consumption and the burning Ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart and ye shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it And I will set my face against you and you shall be slain before your enemies they that hate you shall reign over you and ye shall flee when none pursueth you And if you will not for all this hearken unto me then will I punish you seven times more for your sins so he proceeds to the end of the Chapter still rising higher and higher according to the greatness of their provocations And to the same purpose he speaks throughout Deut. 28. promising great Blessings to their Nation upon obedience and horrible Curses such as would make ones ears tingle to hear them upon their refractoriness and disobedience The Lord shall send thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do until thou be destroyed and untill thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me To the same purpose all the Prophets speak only applying this general doctrine to the circumstances of their own times If ye be willing and obedient saith Isaiah ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be destroyed with the sword the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it When the Prophet Jeremiah saw dreadful calamities coming upon his people he cries out Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness because it is bitter because it reacheth unto thine heart Ezekiel tells them there was no hope to escape being destroyed but by speedy and sincere Repentance Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your Ruine But here a material question may be asked whether this connexion between their doing wickedly and being consumed were not by vertue of that Political Covenant between God and the people of Israel which was peculiar to themselves and how far it may be just and reasonable to argue concerning the case of other Nations with whom God hath entred into no such Covenant as he did with them To make this clear and to bring it nearer to our own case I shall proceed in this method 1. To shew that God doth exercise a particular providence with respect to the state and condition of Kingdoms and Nations 2. That according to the usual method of Providence their condition is better or worse as the People are 3. That there are some circumstances of sinning which do very much portend and hasten a Peoples ruine 1. That God doth exercise a particular providence with a respect to the state and condition of Nations i. e. as they are united into several and distinct bodies which are capable as such of being happy or miserable For since mankinds entring into society is both necessary and advantageous to them and God doth not barely permit and approve but dispose and incline men to it and hath given them Laws to govern themselves by with respect to society it is but reasonable to suppose that God should call men to an account in that capacity and to distribute rewards and punishments according to the nature of their actions which must either be done in this world or it cannot be done at all for all those bonds are dissolved by death and men shall not answer for their sins by Kingdoms and Nations in another world but every man shall give account of himself unto God Either therefore those societies as such shall go wholly unpunished or they must suffer according to them in this world and therefore here the case is very different from that of particular Persons We say and with a great deal of Reason that it is no disparagement to the Justice of Gods Providence for good men to suffer or for wicked men to escape punishment in this Life because the great day of recompence is to come wherein there will be a Revelation of the Righteous judgement of God But that will not hold as to Nations who shall not suffer in communities then as they have sinned here and therefore it is more reasonable to suppose the rewards and punishments of such shall be in this life according to the measure and proportion of their sins And of this we have suffient evidence in Scripture upon these accounts 1. Because it
stand trembling still at the fear of Gods judgements when he doth but lift up his voyce in the Thunder and shew his Power in the Rain I will tell you how your hearts may be at ease and quiet from the fear of evil Be faithful to God maintain and practise the true Religion sincerely diligently constantly universally and never doubt his protection of you let your enemies be never so many or your dangers never so great Nothing exposes men more to the Wrath and Vengeance of God nor provokes him more to leave a People to their own counsels than false-heartedness in Religion and Hypocrisie do For the Hypocrite thinks to put a trick upon God Almighty and while he seems to carry it fair towards him he is dealing underhand for his own security another way And God is then concerned in honour to let the world see he will not be mocked for he knows how to take the crafty in their own devices and very often brings to nought the most politick fetches of self-designing men For when men seek themselves and not the honour of God or Religion but are ready to betray what ought to be dearer than their lives for some mean and private interests of their own they are oft-times so far from compassing their ends that they become the Scorn and Reproach of men But if men preserve their integrity and hold fast to the thing that is right they preserve their honour even among their enemies and either escape troubles or have the comfort of a good Conscience under them and however things happen to them for a while they are sure to have peace at the last 3. Lastly Here is matter of incouragement For consider what great things he hath done for you When Jacob was sent into Egypt and your Fathers cryed unto the Lord then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron which brought our Fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place When their sins had brought them into great distresses afterwards and they cryed unto the Lord and confessed their sins then the Lord raised up Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies â—n every side and you dwelled safe Now consider the same God who did those things can do as great for you still for his Power and Wisdom and Goodness are the same and therefore you have the greatest reason to put your trust in him at all times since he never for sakes them that seek him Blessed be God that we have this day a farther argument for us to fear and serve him in truth and with all our heart by considering what great things he hath done for us Many deliverances hath he wrought for us time after time for which we ought still to be thankful since we yet enjoy the benefit of them But the memory of former deliverances was almost worn out with many and some began to question whether such holy and innocent men as the Fathers of the Society could be guilty of such horrid conspiracies some were so perswaded of their Loyalty that the Vipers seemed to have changed their natures and to have lost their teeth and to be a very soft and innocent kind of Creatures In somuch that they were hardly brought to believe there could be a plot among them especially of so horrid a nature as this appears more and more to have been when such a viperous brood were suffered not only to lye quiet in the Shade but to sport themselves in the Sun and to enjoy the freedom of their own retreats But God doth bring to light the hidden things of darkness by such wayes as shew his Providence more than our prudence and foresight that while we have the comfort he alone may have the glory of our deliverance But yet methinks we stand as it were upon the brink of a mighty Precipice which is so full of horror that we tremble to look down from it we are at present held up by a strong hand but as by one single thread and can we then think our selves secure from so great a danger Blessed be God for that Unanimity that Zeal that Courage that Constancy You have hitherto shewed in the maintenance of our Church and Religion but there is so much yet to be done for a Firm Establishment of it to all Generations which now by his Majesties Gracious Favour is put into Your hands as calls for all our Prayers and your particular Care lest if this opportunity be let slip You never have such another This seems to be an Honour reserved for this Parliament as the Crown and Glory of all your endeavours for the Publick Good Go on then to raise up this Monument to your Eternal Fame This will not only make you beloved and esteemed by the present Age but this will endear your Memories to Posterity and make Ages to come rise up and call this a Happy Session But lest our sins should yet hinder us from so great a Blessing We have great reason to humble our selves before God this day to bewail those sins which may yet provoke him to punish us and by Fasting and Prayer to implore his Mercy that he would go on to preserve his Majesties Person from all violent attempts our Church and Religion from all the designs of its enemies and deliver us all from Unreasonable and Wicked Men. FINIS Psal â—â— 17 22. Prov. 19. 21. Gen. 25. 25. 2 Cor. 1. 10. 1 Sam. 4. 11. v. 18. 7. 3. v. 4. v. 5. v. 6. Mas. in Jof 18. 21. Drus. in Jud. 20. 1. 1 Sam. 7. 7. v. 8. v. 9. v. 11. v. 12. v. 13. v. 16. 1 Sam. 8. 2. v. 3. v. 4. v. 5. From v. 10. to v. 19. Jose An. l. 6. c. 4. v. 19 2c ch 12. 13. 8. 7. Deut. 17. 14. 12. 19. 8. 7. 10. 17. 11. 15. 12. 3. 4. From v. 6 to 14. v. 18 19. v. 20 21. v. 23. Lev. 26. from v. 3 to 14. v. 15. v. 16. v. 17. v. 18. Deut. 28. 20. Isa. 1. 39. 20. Jer. 4. 18. Ezek. 18. 30. Deut. 21. 1. v. 7. v. 8. v. 9. Numb 35. 33. Gen. 15. 16. Matth. 23. 32. Psalm 75. 7. v. 8. Is. 51. 17. Is. 19. 1 3. 16. v. 2. 11. 13. 14. Je. 27. 3. Ju. 16. 9. Jer. 25. from 18. to 26. Eze. 24. 2 c. 30. 5. Nah. 3. 8 9. Zeph. 2. 13. Is. 45. 2 3. Salvian de Cub Dei l. 7. Disput. in Liv. l. 2. c. 29. H. Jordanus de eo quod in morbis est divinum Conring Epist. 29. Jer. 18. 7 8. Jonah 3. 3. v. 5. v. 8. v. 10. v. 9. 2 Sam. 24. 10. v. 17. 1 King 16. 30. 33. 21. 25. 20. v. 29. 2 King 22. 16. 19. 20. 2 King 17. 2. Is. 33. 14. 1 King 18. 21. v. 15. v. 16. Arist. Pol. l. 4. c. 11. Polit. l. 3. c. 14. Psa. 144. 15. Jer. 25. 26. v. 9. 11. Marsh. Chr. Can. p. 556. Jer. 25. 15. v. 26. 2 Chro. 16. 9. v. 10. Jer. 25. 29 Eze 9. 6 1 Pet. 4 17 Amos â—â— 5. 9 29. hro 16. Jer. 23. 34 36. Ezek. 33. 31. In canticum oris sui vertunt illos Vul. Lat. Pro. 1. 24. 25. 26. Hos. 4. 2 3. Jer. 5. 1. Is. 1. 5 6. Lev. 13. 12 13 14. Jos. 23. 13. v. 8. 9. 10. 11. Ps. 9. 10.
Jovis 14. die Novembris 1678. Ordered THAT the Thanks of this House be returned to Dr. Stillingfleet Dean of St. Pauls for his Sermon yesterday Preached before this House at St. Margarets Westminster And that he be desired to Print his Sermon And Coll. Titus is desired to give him the Thanks of the House and to acquaint him with the desire of this House to Print his Sermon Will Goldesbrough Cler. Dom. Com. A SERMON Preached on the FAST-DAY November 13. 1678. AT S t MARGARETS WESTMINSTER Before the HONOURABLE HOUSE of COMMONS By EDWARD STILLINGFLEET D. D. Deanâ— St. Paul's and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed by Margaret White for Henry Mortlock at the Phâ—â—â— St. Paul's Church-Yard and at the White Hart in Westminster Hall 1678. 1 Sam 12. 24 25. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things he hath done for you But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King IT hath been well observed by some that those who look at a distance upon humane asfairs are apt to think that the good or bad success of them depends wholly upon the Wisdom and Conduct of those who manage them others who look nearer into them and discern the many intervening and unforeseen accidents which often alter and disappoint the Counsels of men are ready to attribute the events of things rather to Chance than Wisdom but those who have made the deepest search and the strictest enquiry have most firmly believed a Divine Providence which over-rules all the Counsels and Affairs of men and sometimes blasts the most probable designs sometimes prospers the most unlikely attempts to let us see that though there be many devices in mens hearts yet the Counsel of the Lord that shâ—â—l stand We live in an age not over prone to admire and take notice of any remarkable instances of Divine Providence either in our preservation from dangers or deliverances out of them for so great is the security of some men that they are unwilling to apprehend any danger till they fall into it and if they escape will hardly believe they were ever in it and such is the concernment of others to baffle all evidences of truth wherein their own guilt is involved that they all agree in robbing God of the honour of his Mercy and our selves of the comfort of his Protection But blessed be that God who hath hitherto defeated all the secret and subtile and cruel designs of his and our Churches enemies and hath given us the liberty and opportunity of this day to meet together to implore the continuance of his favour and mercy towards us in the preservation of His Majesties person for in praying for him we pray for our selves since our own welfare doth so much depend upon His. When we look back upon the History of this Church ever since the Reformation of it we may observe such a wonderful series of Divine Providence going along with it that we have the less reason to be discouraged with present difficulties or disheartned with the fears of future dangers What struglings did it meet with in the Birth And although it were therein like Jacob who took hold of the heel of his Brother and at last obtained the blessing yet the Romish party got the start like Esau and came forth all red and hairy full of blood and cruelty and the old Dragon cast out of his mouth a Flood of Fire to destroy our Church before it could attain to its full growth and maturity But after it not only survived these flames but enjoyed a firm establishment under the care and conduct of a wise and cautious Government what restless endeavours what secret plots what horrid conspiracies what foreign attempts what domestick treasons were carried on during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth And yet which is very considerable while she openly and heartily owned the Protestant Cause it pleased God to deliver her out of all her dangers and to give her a long and a prosperous Reign when two of her Neighbour Princes were assasinated for not being zealous enough in the Popish Cause though they professed to own and maintain it And it is but a very little time since you met together in this place to celebrate the memory of a mighty deliverance which Both King and Kingdom and together with them our Church received from that never to be forgotten conspiracy of the Gunpowder Treason in her Successors Reign May we not then take up St. Pauls argument and say Who hath delivered us from so great death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us Especially if we do not fail in the performance of that duty which God expects from us in order to our own preservation which is delivered by Samuel to the people of Israel in the words of the Text Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things he hath done for you But if they would not hearken to this wise Counsel but go on in their sins he tells them what the fatal consequence would be not to themselves only but to their King too But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be destroyed both ye and your King Which advice will appear to deserve our serious consideration this day if we either regard 1. The Person who gave it 2. The Occasion of giving it 3. The matter contained in it 1. The Person who gave this Counsel to the People Samuel a Person of great Wisdom and long experience in Government and therefore very able to judge concerning the proper causes of a Nations Prosperity and Ruine The People had enjoyed a long and uninterrupted tranquillity while they followed his directions They had before been miserably harassed by the inroads of the Philistins discomfited in several battels and at last the Ark of God it self taken by their enemies and their leaders destroyed at which sad news Eli who had judged Israel forty years fell backwards and so ended his dayes while they were under the sense of their present miseries Samuel puts them into the most hopeful way for their deliverance which was by a Reformation of Religion among them by returning to the Lord with all their hearts and putting away their strange Gods and preparing their hearts unto the Lord and serving him only and then saith he he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistins The miseries they felt and the dangers they feared made them own the true Religion with more than usual courage Then the Children of Israel did put away Baalim and Astaroth and served the Lord only But besides this Samuel appoints a publick and solemn Fast of all Israel at Mizpeh And Samuel said Gather all Israel to Mizpeh and I will pray for you unto the Lord. And they gathered together to Mizpeh and drew water and
and surprizing events but of a lasting and continued state For when God hath been highly provoked to punish several Nations for their sins he may give unexpected success to that Nation by whom he designs to punish the rest and when they have done that work they may then suffer more smartly for their own iniquities Of this we have a remarkable instance in Scripture God designed to punish the Kingdoms of the earth for their sins to this purpose he raiseth up Nebuchadnezar King of Babylon whom he therefore calls his Servant and the first example of his severity was his own People when this was done then follow the desolations of Egypt of Phoenicia Arabia and other Countries in so strange a manner that some have called it the Age of the destruction of Cities But doth the King of Babylon think to escape himself No saith the Prophet the King of Shesbach shall drink after them his turn would come at last when he had accomplished the design God sent him upon in the punishment of others Thus for a time a Nation may seem to flourish exceedingly and be victorious over others while they are as Scourges in Gods hand for the punishment of others and when that work is over may suffer most severely for their own sins 4. It is to be understood of Persons under equal circumstances when we compare the condition of People with each other not the Nobles of one Nation with the Peasants of another nor the Princes with the People but every rank and order of men with those of the same rank and condition And upon these terms we need no other proof of the truth of this assertion than the instance in the Text of the People of Israel which will best appear by comparing the state of both Kingdoms after the Body of the People was broken into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah The Kingdom of Israel by Jeroboams Policy and for Reason of State fell off from the Worship of the true God and worshipped the Calves of Dan and Bethel But did they prosper or succeed more than the Kingdom of Judah The ten Tribes had a much larger territory yet the Kingdom of Judah was stronger and flourished more and continued longer by 135 years than the Kingdom of Israel did and when they were carried into Captivity the ten Tribes were lost as to their name and interest among the People of Assyria but the two Tribes were restored after 70 years Captivity under the Princes of the Line of David If we compare the Kings of Israel and Judah together The Posterity of David was kept up among the Kings of Judah but there were nine Families in the Kingdom of Israel and but one of them lasted to the fourth Generation and that was of Jehu who did something towards the Reformation of Religion Of the eighteen Kings of Israel but eight escaped dying by the Sword and it is easie to judge how miserable the state of that People must be under so many violent changes of Government Among the Kings of Judah those who were firmest to the true Religion prospered most and the Nation under them enjoyed the greatest peace or received the greatest deliverances as in the dayes of Asa Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah If we compare the times of the same Kings together we shall find that while they adhered firmly to God and Religion the Nation prospered exceedingly as for a long time under the Reigns of Solomon and Asa but when in their old Age they began to warp in their Religion and to decline in their Piety nothing but trouble and confusion followed So true did they find the saying of Hanani to Asa The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him But because he said he had done foolishly in not relying on the Lord but on the King of Syria therefore saith he from henceforth thou shalt have wars And from that time his Government was uneasie both to himself and his People when he had imprisoned the Prophet for reproving him III. That there are some circumstances in the sins of a Nation which do very much portend and hasten its Ruine As 1. When they are committed after more than ordinary mercies received such as in reason ought to keep men most from the commission of them as greater knowledge of the Will of God than other People enjoy more frequent warnings of their danger than others have had many and great deliverances which God hath vouchfafed when none of these things nor all of them together do move a People to repent they shew an obstinate and incorrigible temper and therefore God may sooner proceed to punish them God did not forbear to punish other Nations for their transgressions but he began with his own People For lo I begin to bring evil on the City which is called by my name and should ye be utterly unpunished The destroying Angels in Ezekiel were to begin at the Sanctuary Judgement saith St. Peter must begin at the House of God He draws the line of his Justice parallel to that of his Mercy and when every Mercy is put to the account and heightens the guilt the fumm will soon rise so high to call for execution The Prophet Amos tells Damascus and Gaza and Tyre and Edom and Ammon and Moab that none of them shall escape being punished for their transgressions they need not doubt the Rod would come time enough upon them but yet God would begin with his own Children You only have I known of all the Families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities Where God hath given wonderful marks of his kindness and many deliverances time after time and yet they continue to do wickedly there is the greater reason to expect sharper and severer punishments 2. When they are committed with more than ordinary contempt of God and Religion All Ages are bad enough and every Age is apt to complain of it self as the worst of any because it knows more ill of it self than of the foregoing But yet there is a difference in the manner of sinning sometimes the stream of wickedness hides its head and runs under ground and makes little noise although it holds on the same course at other times it seems to break forth like a mighty torrent as though it would bear down all before it as though the fountains of the great Deep were broken up and Hell were let loose and the Prisoners there had shaken off their chains and come up upon the earth When Atheism Prophaneness and all manner of Wickedness grow impudent and bare-faced when men do not only neglect Religion but reproach and contemn it Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this God did forbear his People of Judah beyond what they could have expected waiting