cure the Lukewarmness of professors and recover the Power and Life of Godliness in them and to Convince Convert and Reform Ungodly Sinners it had need be done that the Land become not more Sinful and more Miserable I beseech also the Churches of Christ and exhort them to do their utmost that this land may be an Habitation of Righteousness and Mountain of Holiness They must excel abound in Holiness and Righteousness themselves or it can not be so Jerusalem was a Type of the Christian Church The mountain of the Lords House must be a Holy Mountain I beseech you walk worthy of your holy Vocation You are Saints by Calling Eph. 4.1 compared with Eph. 1.1 To the Saints which are at Ephesus Phil. 1.1 To all the Saints which are in Christ Jesus at Philippi Colos 1.2 To the Saints and faithful Brethren in Christ which are at Colosse Rom. 1 7. To all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be Saints 1 Cor. 1.2 To the Church of God c. called to be Saints You ought to be Holy in all manner of Conversation yea to perfect holiness in the fear of God to be blameless and harmless and to shine as lights in this evil Generation and by your Example to shew others the Amiableness of the ways of holiness and righteousness and by your extensive Charity be ready to entertain into your holy Fellowship such whose hearts God shall prepare and incline to seek it Let the Church of God be swept and kept clean by the besome of Discipline Let the hearts and hands of your Ministers be incouraged in the work of the Lord Let the Elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour especially they that labour in the word and doctrine Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls Keep the Worship and Ordinances of God pure from humane inventions as well as from prophaneness And let the Church be built up in the most Holy Faith and be a pillar of Truth and not removed from her Stedfastness Walk in your Houses in a perfect way bringing up your Children in the Nurture and admonition of the Lord. And for reading the Word of God Prayer Family-instruction and Discipline and holy Example Let your Houses be as so many Little Churches Finally be yeâ— followers of God as dear Children in Holiness Righteousness and Charity Love at Brethren yea as holy Brethren partakers of the Heavenly Calling Love one another Care for one another and the things each of other Admonish one another Exhort one another Forgive one another Pray one for another Let all Ranks and Orders of men seek the Increase and Advancement of Holiness and Righteousness and mourn for and turn from and seek the pardon of all our Unholiness and Unrighteousness and that through the plentiful Effusion of the Holy Spirit the Skyes may as it were pour down and Shower down Holiness and Righteousness that this Land may be an Habitation of Righteousness and Mountain of Holiness FINIS Typographus Lectori The Reverend Mr. Grindal Rawson Pastor of the Church in Mendon and the Reverend Mr. Samuel Danforth Pastor of the Church in Taunton spent from May 30. to June 24. 1698. in visiting the several Plantations of the Indians within this Province And the Remainder of this Sheet may be well employed in giving an Account of it IN pursuance of the Orders and Instructions given us by the Honoured Commissioners for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians in the American Plantations in New-England and parts Adjacent We have given the said Indians in their several Plantations in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay a visit and find as followeth At Little Compton we find two Plantations of Indians who keep two distinct Assemblies for the worship of God and according to the best information we could have are constant therein The first Assembly dwells at Saconet Samuel Church alias Sohchawahham has for more than one year past endeavour'd their Instruction and is best capable of any in that place to perform that Service He has ordinarily forty Auditors many times more of these above twenty are Men Diverse here are well instructed in their Catechisms and above ten can read the Bible Here are likewise two Indian Rulers John Tohkukquonnoo and Jonathan George the first of which is a man very well spoken of At Cokesit in Little Compton Daniel Hinckley hath taught here four years twice every Sabbath Eleven families are his Auditors Most of the men here can read and many young ones of whom we had an instance can say their Catechisms Of this Company three persons are in full Communion with the Church settled at Nukkehkummees A person call'd Aham is Schoolmaster here and as we are informed performs his work well Here are likewise two persons improv'd as Rulers Preaching here the two forementioned Teachers at our direction pray'd very soberly and understandingly they gave very diligent attendance and were handsomely cloathed in English Apparel At Dartmouth We find two Assemblies of Indians at Nukkehkummees William Simons ordain'd by Japhet of Marthas Vineyard three years since is their Pastor In the Church here are forty Communicants part dwelling in Nukkehkummees part in Assameeskq Cokesit Acushmet and Assawanupset Here are many that can read well The Word is Preached here twice every Sabbath Twenty families in which one hundred and twenty persons at least are for the most part constant hearers almost all their Children can read Johanan hath been their Schoolmaster but ceases now for want of encouragement We propose his continuance as a person well fitted for the employment William Simons informs that here are four persons annually chosen as Rulers They are well clothed and gave good attendance whilest we dispensed the Word to them Their Pastor praying with good Affection and Understanding and is likewise well reported of by the English At Acushmet John Bryant their Teacher for five or six years past Here are fourteen families unto whom William Simons once in a month ordinarily comes and Preaches some of those who belong to the Church at Nukkehkummees being here settled viz. five men and ten women We find that Scandals are among them reflected upon if any exceed the Rules of Sobriety they are suspended until repentance is manifested By the best intelligence we could arrive to from sober English dwellers on the place we understand they are diligent observers of the Sabbath they are generally well clothed diligent labourers but for want of Schooling their Children are not so well instructed as at the other places though they earnestly desire a Remedy At Major Winthrops Island Mr. John Weeks an English man teaches them on the Sabbath An Indian named Asa chief Ruler among them and a person well reported of teaches them when Mr. Weeks cannot attend it Here are but about nine families most of which can read well are diligent in their callings and generally go well in cloathing
so far as it was of moral Equity it ought to be observed in Christian States and Caeteris paribus and Consideratis Considerandis is of Excellent use to all Lawgivers and Judges to the end of the world for that People were under a Theocrasy and their judicial Laws were of divine legislation for the most part If any were otherwise they had at least divine approbation The moral law is all of it of everlasting equity and amiableness as we have shewed as Holy Righteous and Good in Paul's time as in Moses's time Rom. 7.12 And in our times as in Moses's or Pauls For till heaven and earth pass one jot or title of the law shall in no wise pass Math. 5.18 The Assemblies reflection on this text is How much more needful is this Doctrine when men would make all the law void and not obligatory to believers Its Historys are our Examples either of imitation or caution 1 Cor. 10. Now these things were our Examples that is saith the English Annotations God set the punishment of those Israelites as a glass or image before us that we in them might see what we may expect if we sin as they did In the following verses the Apostle dehorts from Idolatry â—ornication Tempting Christ and the sin of Murmuring from â—â—amples of caution written of old But saith the Apostle they were written for our Admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come v. 11 So Heb. 3.19 compared with Heb. 4.1 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief Let us therefore â—â—ar c. So Esau's Example of selling his birth right for one morsel is urged by way of caution Heb. 12.16 We have also Examples of Imitation taken out of the Old Testament improv'd in the New So in Heb. 11. The Examples of Antediluvian Patriarchs and Postdiluvian Patriarchs and Kings Priests and Prophets Judges and Military Commanders all famous for Exploits of Faith Worship and Obedience are set before Christians for Imitation And the Apostle argues from them Heb. 12.1 That Cloud of Witnesses are to be followed by Christians as the Cloud was followed by the Israelites in the Wilderness So Peter urgeth the Example of holy Women of old and of Sarah in Particular for to teach Christian Women Subjection to their Husbands Conjugal Chastity and Modesty of Apparel So Abrahams faith and his justification by it is set forth for an Example to Christians for their imitation Rom. 4.4 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe The like may be said of Promises and Threatnings which are found Originally in the Old Testament but improved in the New Testament Of Promises some that seem National others Personal are by way of Analogy transferred to Christian People as if they had been made nextly and directly to them So Eph. 6.1 2. The Apostle Exhorting Christian Children to obey honour their Parents urgeth them to this duty 1. By the Intrinsical Goodness and Immutable and Eternal Equity is in what he Exhorts them to Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just 2. By the Authority of the fifth Commandment 3. By the Promise annexed for this is the first Commandment with promise i. e. the first of the Second Table for the second Command hath promise annexed to it Showing mercy to thousands viz. of Generations of them that love me and keep my Commandments i. e. Ordinances and Institutions means of Worship free from Superstition mens Inventions and Will worship When the Apostle saith the first Command with promise he refers to those words that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Which words in their next intention are directed to Jewish Children and mean a long and happy life in the Land of Canaan but the Apostle writing to the Children of the Church at Ephesus that had nothing to do with the Land of Canaan alters the words by Analogy and makes the promise run that it may be well with thee and that thou mayst live long upon the Earth So the promise made nextly to Joshua Josh 1.5 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee is by way of Analogical Accommodation transferred to Christians Heb. 13.5 So Davids confident conclusion Psal 118.6 The Lord is on my side I will not fear What can man do unto me is drawn into argumentation Heb. 13.6 And the words that Solomon spâ—ke to his Son Prov. 3.11 is said to speak to the Christian Hebrews Heb. 12.5 Ye have forgotten the Exhortation or that consolatory Exhortation which speaketh unto you as Children My Son dispise not thou the Chastening of the Lord. Of Threatnings also applied by Analogy Heb. 4.7.9 11. I shall on this head only further show that Prophesies in the Old Testament are of use to Christians they help us in the belief of New-Testament Prophesies many of them being already accomplisht others also of them agree with Those in the Revelation and illustrate one another as the Text and the interpretation So also 2 Pet. 3.13 We according to his promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness and many Prophesies in the Old Testament that flourish in expressions literally expressing temporal felicity yet were intended as Prophetick Types of Spiritual Blessings under the Messias And they had some kind of accomplishment in Temporal Deliverances Peace Plenty c. before the Coming of Christ but were more fully accomplisht in Spiritual Redemption and the Spiritual Priviledges Benefits and Graces Enjoy'd in the Churches of Christ If we consider what cognation there is between History and Prophesy it will not seem strange For Prophesie is History antedated and History is Postdated Prophesie the same thing is told in both If therefore the History of the Old Testament is Example to us and instructive to us so must needs be Prophesy And many things in the Old Testament are first set forth in Prophesy and afterward in History either of them yea both of them beneficial to the Church Besides Prophesies for the most part contain Promises or Threatnings in them And therefore if Old-Testament Promises and Threatnings are of use and may be by way of accommodation applied to us so may the Prophesies also I have insisted the larger on the foregoing head not only to show how genuine the Doctrines raised from the Text are and to strengthen the foundation on which I build the Superstructure of the Application I further intend but to vindicate the just Reputation of the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament from the indignity done them by those that speak of them as of things formerly useful but now antiquated and out of date as also for the benefit of those that esteem them by way of Direction how to use them that the Old and New-Testament may be used by us as two breasts of Sacred
it may be said the Lord bless thee O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness which is the Subject matter of the following Sermon This Elaborate and Pious Discourse of my Reverend Brother Colleague in the Work of the Ministry here at Salem was Preached at Boston on the Anniversary day of Election according to our Custom from the beginning He was called to this Service by the Honorable the Lieutenant Governour and Council and the Publishing of it was Desired Ordered by the General Court There is something in the Text Prophetical something Didactical It is agreed upon by all Sober Divines and Christians that we are not to expect a full understanding of the Prophecies until they be fulfilled and that there may be a gradual and partial fulfilling of sundry Prophecies at several times and yet some special Time be intended for the eminent full accomplishment of them Also that not the Prophecies but the Precepts of Scripture are to be the Rule of our Actions It belongs to God to fulfill with His Hand what He hath spoken with His Mouth and that in the times and by the ways means which are known unto Him but unknown to us it belongs to us to observe His Commandments concerning our present duties whatever the case be leaving all future Events to God Deut. 29 29. Yet are Prophesies a ground of our Faith Hope and Prayer relating to their Accomplishment and so far Prophesies are doctrinal Dan. 9 2 3. And it is the doctrinal part of the Scriptures that mainly concerns us to direct us in all cases in the way of our duty to God men as the Reverend Author according to the Wisdom and Grace given unto him hath declared unto us with much Evidence from Scripture light Hence it is without question the duty of the Church and People of God to be an Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness at all times in all places of the World and because God hath foretold and p omised that it shall be Eminently Conspicuously so at some times and in some places in these last dayes that are come and coming upon the World therefore we are to aime at it and endeavour after it in all the wayes of our duty that it may be so with us in that measure as the Lord shall please to grant the same unto us for it is certain so far as we attain thereunto we shall be a People blessed of the Lord For these two Holiness towards God and Righteousness towards men are like unto the two Pillars in the Temple of God Jachin and Boaz which did signify the Strength and Establishment of the welfare of the Church People of God while they continue in the Righteous and Holy wayes of the blessed God This duty of endeavouring that New-England may be an Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness though it is incumbent upon all yet it is in a special manner committed to and betrusted with Your EXCELLENCY according to that High Station which GOD and the KING have set You in and then it is required of all orders and ranks of men both Magistrates Ministers and People every one in their own place that they move regularly in concurrence with Your Lordship in all things that may conduce unto that end Though it may be SIR You may sometimes meet with difficulties in Your way and find things amiss that cannot presently be amended So did Solomon who though he was the wisest of Kings with a most prudent Council and a morigerous People yet out of his Experience he informs us that which was wanting could not be numbred or that which was crooked could not be made streight and therefore he gives this advice to others Consider the work of God for who can make that streight which He hath made crooked Eccl. 7.13 And therefore it will be no wonder if You should find it so Yet let me tell You from the Word of the Lord that the same Encouragement which the Lord gave unto Joshua for the Substance and Scope of it belongs unto any of His Servants whom He sets in the place of Government over His People viz Be thou Strong and of good Courage in observing all the Commandments of God so shalt thou make thy way prosperous and thou shalt have good Success for I will not leave thee nor forsake thee saith the Lord. Josh 1 from v 5. to v. 10. compared with Heb. 13.5 And when it may be said in any difficult case wherein there is duty to be done Arise for this matter belongeth unto thee as it was said unto Ezra Chap. 10.4 I hope in God it will also be said by all this People as it was then expressed by some in the Name of the rest We also will be with thee viz. That You will have the Hearts and Prayers and endeavours of all the good People of the Land with You in whatsoever may have a tendency to the making of this our New England to be an Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness the Lord grant that it may be so Finally being Old and full of dayes having seâ—n all that the Lord hath done for New England all the Changes of Times that have passed over it from the beginning unto this day and now waiting daily for my own great Change I cannot but express my hearts doing and praâ—er to God for New-England Return O Lord graciously Return to the many thousands of NEW-ENGLAND and cause thy Face to Shine upon it and give unto this thy People a Heart to be continually returning to thee and keeping thy Commandments that thou mayest make them and keep them to be for ever an Habitation of Righteousness and Mountain of Holiness blessed of the Lord And for Your Person That the God and Father of our LORD JESUS CHRIST would Bless You with all Spiritual Temporal and Eternal Blessings in Christ Jesus and in relation to Your Government that He would pour down His Spirit upon You and make You a Minister of God for good unto this People and give You to be like unto David who led and fed the People in the integrity of his heart and by the skilfullness of his hands and like unto Solomon of whom it is said in Psal 72. In his dayes the Righteous did flourish the Mountains did bring Peace to the People and the little hills by Righteousness and there was abundance of Peace That in after times it may be said Because the Lord loved this People therefore He set Your Lord-ship over them and that You left New-England better than You found it And so the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with Your Spirit for ever AMEN YOUR EXCELLENCIES Most Humble Servant in the Work of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST John Higginson Pastor of the Church of Salem Aetatis 82. Salem June 20. 1698. New-Englands Duty and Interest To be an Habitation of JUSTICE AND Mountain of HOLINESS JERE 31.23 Thus saith the
Lord of Hosts the God of Israel as yet they shall use this Speech in the Land of Judah and in the Cities thereof when I shall bring again their Captivity The Lord bless thee O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness WE are here presented with a comfortable Vision in the Prophesies of Jeremiah the man who for the most part was filled wiâ—h bitterness and had his Pen dipped in waters of Gall that like a Comet foretold the fates of Kings and Kingdoms that denounced Sword Famine Pestilence Captivity and such like Judgments against Judah for their Apostacy Impiâ—tâ— Iniquity Impenitency and Incorrigibleness and made the Cup of Divine Fury to go round among the Nations he hath now and then a little sweetning put into his mouth for his own and the Churches Consolation accordingly in this and the foregoing Chapter he cometh with milk and honey in his mouth and treats Prophetically of the Restauration of the Jews the Coming and Kingdom of the Messiah the manifestation of the New Covenant the Gathering Enlarging of the Catholick Church consisting of Jews and Gentiles with all the happy turns and returns of the Church of God in general and of the Jews in particular till the time come that they shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more for ever But I confine my self to my Text. The words read contain a Prophesie with its Preface the Prophesie is in these words as yet they shalt use this Speech in the Land of Judah and in the Cities thereof when I shall bring again their Captivity The Lord bless thee O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness I call this a Prophesie because the matter and scope are especially Prophetical yet are there Doctrinal and Historical Hints evident enough in them if we consider what is implied as well as what is expressed and it serves our occasion to improve what is Doctrinal and Historical in them as well as what is Prophetical Let us therefore look over the words again and search out the Contents more diligently and distinctly 1. And then we shall find that these words shew forth historically what the Land of Judea and more especially Jerusalem formerly had been viz. a Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness 2. That then they were saluted by men and blessed of God 3. That at the time when this Prophesie was written they were far from being a Habitation of Justice or Mountain of Holiness 4. And that they were as far from being blessed of God and man as they were from being a Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness These four particulars result from the word as yet or yet again as some read it for the particle yet notes not a continuation of something in being but a restauration of something that formerly had been in being but now for some time had been intermitted 2. These words shew forth doctrinally what Judea and Jerusalem always should have been viz. a Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness For if while they were holy and righteous they were happy and prosperous and upon their Degeneration their felicity departed and woful miseries ensued and were like to continue till their reformation no doubt in point of duty they ought always to have been a Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holin £ 3. These words as they are Prophetical are also Promissory they contain a threefold promise 1. The promise of a Happy Restauration from their Captivity in these words When I shall bring again their Captivity that is their Captives the Abstract being put for the Concrete the Dutch Translation hath it when I shall turn away their Captivity the sence is the same with that v. 16. they shall come again from the Land of the Enemy 2. The promise of a Holy Reformation of the Jews from their present Impiety and Iniquity For when it is said they shall use this Speech O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness it means this Speech shall be duly and truly used Jerusalem should not only be called but really and truly be what men shall call her the phrase is of like import with that Isa 48.8 wa st called a transgressor from the womb that is truly so called for thou wast a Transgressor from the womb so for Peace-makers to be Called the Children of God means they shall be so Mat. 5.9 From the Speech then we may infer God promised that Religion and Righteousness should flourish again in the Land of Judah and in the Cities thereof 3. The promise of a Divine Benediction men should wish it them and God would give it them they shall yet again use this Speech the Lord bless thee which is the instituted form of Blessing contracted and it intends that as for their Sins God had made them a Curse even to a proverb of reproach and deâ—ision accoâ—ding as God had threatned them Deut. 28.37 so now on the contrary â—t should be obseâ—ved that they were again in favour wiâ—h God and that he had blessed them and did and would bless them and thence men would be encouraged to bless them in the name of the Lord or pray to God to bless them and that more than mans blessing of them is here intended is evident by what follows for in the sequel God plainly promised Temporal and Spiritual Blessings to them so v. 24 there shall dâ—ell in Judah and all the Cities thereof Husband men and they that go forth with flocks that is they shall have peace and plenty v. 25. I have satiated the weary Soul and I have replenished every sorrowful Soul that is I will as surely do it as if it were done already v. 28. I will watch over them to build and to plant v. 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts I will be their God and they shall be my people v. 34. I will forgive their iniquity and rem mber their Sin no more It is manifest by the premises that the Prophesie and threefold Promise is not intended so much of what men should say but of what God would DO for his people viz. Restore Reform and Bless them So much may serve to explain the Prophesy and what is contained in it The preface renders the whole credible the Doctrine must needs be good and the History certain and the promise and prophesy past all peradventure Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel The Divine Veracity Omnipotency and Covenant benignity of God engageth and stands engaged for the performance of what is promised and it is flat Infidelity not to believe it for God wants neither power nor good will to effect what he hath promised So you have the Text explained as it primarily and nextly stood related to the Jews before the Coming of Christ but the Jews may moreover be considered as a Prophetical Type of the Christian Church in the times of the Messias which times are related to in the very foregoing verse A Woman shall compass
although there be not a full discrimination between the good bad at present there shall be at the day of the revelation of righteous Judgment And although God's Justice doth not always appear to purblind man yet it doth so often appear that God is known by his Judgments that he executeth Psal 9.16 So that a man shall say verily there is a reward for the Righteous verily he is a God that Judgeth in the earth Thus you have the second Doctrine Explained and Confirmed I proceed to Explain Confirm the third and last Doctrine DOCT. III. That although Places that have been Habitations of Righteousness and Mountains of Holiness should become very degenerate and for their Sin be made very desolate yet there is ground oâ— hope that God will again Restore Reform and Bless them In the third Doctrine there are three particularâ— contained the two first more implicitely the third most expressly 1. That places that have been eminent for the pâ—ofession and practice of holiness righteousness may become very degenerate they may that is possibly not lawfully Judea and Jerusalem offerâ— a woful conviction of this That Kingdom of Priests that holy Nation in which Religion Justice some time dwelt and flourished was in Jeremiah's time degenerate revolted and gone all ranks orders of men had greatly corrupted themselves This hath been already demonstrated and the Churches that were of the Apostles planting if we compare the Scripture account of them with Ecclesiastical history concerning them and their affairs it would call for tears rather than further testimony Declension is down hill and natural Corruption weighs men down ward Facilis descensus Averni The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Man hath long since forfeited his reputation being in honour be abode not and ever since beareth the reproach of being a false deceitful creature Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie to be laid in the balance they are altogether lighter than vanity Psa 62.9 If men deal falsely and basely and treacherously with God they do but like themselves Hos 6.7 They like men or like Adam as it may be rendred have transgressed my Covenant there have they dealt treacherously with me Besides Mortality in a little time carrieth off the Stage the Rulers Leaders Teachers and best examples of the flock Degrees of true Grace may be lost and the remainders be weakned and obscured that which only seemed to be true Grace may be utterly lost and that goodness that sprang from and depended upon external motive when the Sun and the wind rise will pass away like a morning Cloud the subtle insinuations of Seducers a Spirit of error the force of evil examples New temptations and occasions all or many of them some times do as it were conspire to bring on defection Apostasy and when it is so it is no wonder if woful degeneration ensue 2. Places that are become degenerate howsoever happy they were before may become very miserable very desolate It was so with Judea and Jerusalem The Lamentations of Jeremiah afford plentiful proof of this and the desolations and ruins of the Churches mentioned in the New Testament sufficiently prove it may be so If men do but like men when they make defection and revolt from Religion and Virtue God doth buâ— like God when hi Jealousy burns like fire against such a People and he brings sorrows and miseries upon them even unto Desolation 3. Notwithstanding such degeneration and desolation too there is ground of hope that God will again restore reform and bless such a People I shall prove this position by producing the grounds of Hope the Scriptures offer in this case 1. God Can do it if he Will. That is not altogether incredible which is not impossible What can not Omnipotency do Unbelief and distrust is many times bottom'd upon scrupling the Power of God Psa 78.19 20. They said Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people So that they are taxt with not believing in God nor trusting in his Salvation No wonder they did not believe God would when they did not believe God could provide for them If Abraham had Staggered at the promise through unbelief of Gods Power he had not been father of many Nations But against hope he believed in hope knowing that God quickned the dead and called things that are not as if they were He was strong in faith giving glory to God being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform Rom. 4 17 18 20 21. Such a degenerate and desolate People are much in circumstances for Restoration and Reformation as the bodies of Abraham and Sarah were in for Propagation But what cant he do that quickens the dead The belief of Gods power facilitates the belief of his good will So it was in the Lepers saith Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean That which seemeth impossible to men because of their impotency is not difficult to God because of his Omnipotency Though this case be very difficult next to impossible yet it is not desperate for with God all things are possible The Lord of hosts can restore reform and bless a degenerate desolate People 2. God not only can if he will but may if he please What may not he do in a way of mercy who is mercy it self and hath mercy upon whom he will have mercy Rom. 9.15 I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion Infinite mercy can find motive in it self when there is none in the Creature and divine Soveraignty is not to be Counselled or Controlled by any Creature If he will have compassion he will have it If God be pleased to restore and reform such a people whom doth he wrong What Attribute or Word of his doth he cross or contradict If then Gods power render him able to do it may not his Soveraign Grace and Mercy reâ—der him willing to do it Once hath God spoken twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God also unto thee O Lord belongeth Mercy Psa 62.11 12. 3. God hath done so already for his Church and professing People viz. The Jews and that more than once or twice And that which hath been may be and is the more easy to be believed This sort of Argumentation is used for a help to faith Isa 51.9 10 11. Awake awake O Arm of the Lord as in the Ancient days art not thou it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon Art thou not it that hast dryed the Sea therefore the ransomed of the Lord shall return to Sion with singing So 2 Cor. 1.10 Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust he will yet deliver If God should restore reform and bless such a degenerate and desolate people it would not be the first time Though God may seem
the Example Prayers Tears of many plain Christians are like to be more wanted then they are lamented Our friend Lazarus sleepeth saith Christ and wept at his grave Godly men must die as well as others and if their Children and Successors made good their Leaders ground it were not so Ominous But alas it hath been often otherwise in New England 5. The lubricity fickleness and unsteadyness of men in the true Religion in which they have been Educated not to say born as well as brought up it is a woful sign of declension when the Children of the Church are like Children tost to and fro with every wind of doctrine Men run away with a perverse interpretation of that of the Apostle 1 Thes â— 21 Prove all things forgetting the very next words hold fast that which is good Alas men are more fixt and steady in a false Religion Hath a Nation changed their gods which yet are no Gods but my people hath changed their glory c. Jer. 5.11 'T is a prodigie of Levity and Vanity to see persons that sucked in such Milk as David who said Thou art my God from my Mothers belly thou hast caused me to hope on my Mothers breasts that had such Mothers and Grandmothers as Timothy had that have been acquainted with the holy Scriptures from their very childhood and by their Godly Fathers Schoolmasters and Ministers were brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and it may be have made a Personal profession yet hanker after Novelties in Religion without regard to verity and when reproved for it think to justify themselves by that of the Apostle Prove all things as if that would justify their running a gadding and a madding after such Seducers as pretend to divine inspiration immediate revelation infallible guidance by the holy Spirit and yet deny the holy Scriptures to be the word of God and touchstone of truth and deny the Ordinances of Baptism and the Lords Supper and all Instituted worship Truly Sirs as for them that have lived long under the Preaching of the Gospel and can't see that such doctrine needs not much trying whether it be sound or no will be found to have their Religion to choose and that they have unsound hearts as well as itching ears They that have long had the offer of Truth and yet let it go will hold fast-Error They that were so scrupulous about CHRIST who came in his Fathers Name and confirmed his doctrine by Miracles did as Christ foretold believe on one that came in his own name Declension in Doctrine and Worship will bring on declension in Manners They that are not sound in the faith will not long be sound in Gods Statutes they that make Shipwrack of Faith will make Shipwrack of a Good Conscience also 6. The extream Difficulty of recovering from declension renders it very hazardous whether we shall not yet be more Sinful If there were no Devil to tempt nor no evil Example among men nor any temptation from a frowning or flattering World which is all far otherwise yet the inbred corruption of mens hearts that are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked is enough to undoe all This peopâ—â— saith Jeremiah hath a revolting and a rebellious heart they are revolted and gone Jer. 5.23 Such a deceitful revolting rebellious heart can shift off all Conviction and bear up against all reproof Infidelity can despise and disregaâ—d all Promises and Threatnings Security can eat and drink build and plant till the flood come and carry all away Prophaneness can mock at all th s and more till there be no remedy Self-love can blind mens eyes in what concerns themselves so as they shall not be able to see faults in themselves though they be very quick sighted in seeing faults in others Reformation is the most necessary but the most difficult thing in the World because the Enemy of it is not only in a mans own house but in a mans own heart To cure a long contracted Cachexia or ill habit of body to uphold a tottering Empire and to reform a declining People are three very difficult things but the last of them is the hardest of them all These six foregoing particulars may serve to show that the people of New-England are in great danger of being yet more Sinful which is a very humbling and awful consideration Who can seriously reflect upon it and not say as they Joâ—h 22.17 Is the Iniquity of Poor too little for us from which we are not cleansed to this day The more the Danger is the more need our care fear prayer endeavour be lest we add to the heap of New-Englands Transgression Secondly New England is in danger of being much more Miserable than ever yet they were or yet are The fore mentioned danger being found real and impending this cannot be otherwise It unavoidably follows from the premisses for if it be like to fare with New England as to Happiness or Misery according as it goeth with them as to Holiness and Righteousness as hath been proved and that New-England is already very Sinful and in danger of being much more Sinful there must needs be the like danger of being more Miserable God threatned Israel three times in one Chapter that if after they had Sinned against him and thereby brought upon themselves some direful Effects of his displeasure they did not humble themselves return and reform Hâ— would punish them yet seven times more for their sin which accordingly came at last to pâ—ss God did bear for-bear time after time and many a time forgave them upon their repentance such as it was so as not to consume them though at several times he sorely afflicted them for their sin Yet forasmuch they revolted more and more after their respits from their trouble at length they found the threatning executed and so may we if we don't take warning Before I leave those two last heads I will reflect a little on the sayings of some that were they true would render the fore mentioned Warnings needless and useless 1. Some make as if New-England were already as sinful as sinful can be as bad as bad can be To which I reply I have no design to speak diminutively of the Sins of the Countrey I do acknowledge with grief and shame that they have been and are very horrible yet I think such Sayings are not justifyable in any Some well-meaning holy men being of dark melancholly Spirits and little acquainted with the advances that Atheism Idolatry Superstition Prophaneness Iniquity and Sensuality have made in other professing parts of the World are apt to think so and in their indignation against sin sinners to say so But the truth is Though we have cause to abhor our selves for being so bad as we are and to meditate all ways possible to grow better yet it cannot with truth be asserted that as yet we are as bad as bad can be for there is real danger of
good forwardness but to hope and pray for the accomplishment of all prophesied to be done in a way of Soveraign grace for the Church or World in the latter days If the Restaurations depended on the Antecedency of Reformation and Reformation depended upon mans free will it would be long enough before either would come to pass But God having foretold promised both our dependance ought to be on his Grace and Truth and Power If God can make Children to Abraham of the Stones of the Street and make a Church to himself out of the forlorn Gentiles When the boughs of the natural Olive were broke off God could graft in Gentiles wild Olives into the same stock therefore cannot be at a loss to graft in the natural branches again Isa 44.2 3 4 5. Fear not Jacob for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit on thy seed my blessing on thine offspring The ruinous circumstances of Jews and many Gentile places are such as to Sin Misery that there is little hope either of Restauration or Reformation were it not for the Prophesy and the Promise But because of the Prophesie and Promise we must against hope believe in hope and though they and their circumstances promise little yet God in his word hath promised much Therefore we should hope for much and pray for much though there should be as little sign of Reformation as there was of Rain in the days of Elias when it had not Rain'd in 1260 days yet they that can believe and pray like Elias will in the word of God hear the sound of abundance of rain they will look out seven times and pray and pray again though there should not appear so much as a Cloud as big as a mans hand believing on and praying to the Lord till he send Rain on the earth till he come rain down righteousness on Asia Africa Europe and America and the Elect come from all parts and Quarters of the World from East West North South and Sit down in the Kingdom of God He that hath promised these things â—â—useth His Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and his rain to fall on the just on the unjust in a way of common bounty and goodness and he doth no less towards the Elect in a way of special Grace And when the time of Reformation is come he will cause the Sun of Righteousness to shine upon the evil and upon the good and the Rain of Righteousness to fall upon the just upon the unjust and then bad man will be come good and good men will become better and Restauration and Reformation will struggle like twins in the Womb which shall be born first a Nation shall be born at once and the earth shall bring forth in one day Isa 66.8 And deliverance and holiness shall be on mount Sion together Obad. 17. We may confide in this That all prophesies and absolute promises shall come to pass in that time order and manner that God hath ordained And the promised Good is more certainly known than the time and manner It is great Consolation that Restaurations and Reformations Blessings shall come Though we know not the time just when yet there are signals given whereby the Church of God may know that their Redemption draws nigh And as Daniel knew that the Seventy years of the Captivity was out or nigh out which made him set to Prayer So we know that some notable Restaurations and Reformations are nigh though it may be we can't tell just how nigh And I am perswaded one great reason why good mens faith is so wavering and their prayers so few and no more fervent is because they take it for granted that Reformation must needs considerably out-run Restauration For prevention of which Remissness of faith and prayer I desire the premisses may be considered that prophesies and the promises in them falling under the will of Gods purpose are all certainly future as certain to be as if they were already And it is utterly uncertain whether the Reformations will out-run the Restaurations Consider the Restauration out of Egypt Did the Reformation precede Did not the Lord say Let my people go that they may serve me Till some Pharaohs of the world are sunk as a Stone in the Sea No considerable Reformation can advance The Church must get out of the Wilderness as well as out of Egypt before the Glorious Reformation of it can take place Whilst the Church was in Aegypt God saw the affliction of his people and heard their Cry by reason of their Task-masters and he came down to deliver them Exod. 3.7 8. The whole Story shows there was no considerable Reformation antecedaneous to their Deliverance So for the Deliverance out of the Babylonish Captivity it is evident by the Books of Ezra Nehemiah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi that their Deliverance out run their Reformation And the Restauration of the Jews in the last days in the times of the Messias for ought appears to the contrary is like to be much after the same sort in a way that can be accounted for only by the Sovereignty of the Grace of God Mic. 5.7 The Remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord as the Showers upon the Grass that tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the Sons of Men. What though the whole house of Israel say our bones are dried our hope is lost and we are cut off for our part yet I know no reason why Christians may not hope and pray for the Resurrection of those dry bones If God will have them prophesied over and hath promised to opâ—â— their graves and bring them up out of their graves put his Spirit in them and said they shall live Ezek. 27.11 12 13 14. He that hath spoke it will perform it even the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel What if the Four Horns of the Gentiles have scattered Judah Israel and Jerusalem Hath not God as many Carpenters to fray them away Zech. 1.18 19 20 21. and to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which have lift up their born over the Land of Judah to scatter it The good words the comfortable words which God hath spoken give us ground to believe that the Mahometan Imposture and Tyranny will not always last and that the Remnants and Fragments of the Graecian and African Churches will be gathered up and restored What if Antichrist Exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped and fitteth in the Temple of God and hath done so above a thousand years is not that Man of Sin a Son of perdition Doth not God see yea and his people too that his day is coming 2 Thes 2.3 4 8. It were Infidelity to conclude that God hath done with the Protestant People and his Witnesses in Germany Bohemia Hungaria France