〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delivered to us by Causal and Identical propositions in the Scripture Who is it now that can perswade us that the Scriptures do not affirm any Sinfulness to be in Infidelity Yes verily the Scriptures not only teach us that unbelief is a sin but they teach us likewise 6. The Heinousness and Aggravation the Sinfulness and Punishment of this Sin It was this that brought all other sin into the World and every Premeditated sin arises from it It hardens the heart and sears the Conscience and makes it bid defiance to the Lord of Glory Concerning David we read in the Psalms that once he said in his haste that all men are lyars did he revoke it when he was at leisure No the more he thought of it the higher he proceeds and becomes the more assured in this charge Surely saith he Men of low degree are Vanity and men of high degree are not lyars but a Lie Yet if one gives the lie to one of these lyars it is the utmost provocation it is the stated word of defiance concluded fit to justifie the Duel or the Stab On the other side God glories in this that he is not a man that he should lye that the strength of Israel will not lye yet infidelity gives him the lye He that believeth not God makes him a Lyar. 1 John 5. 10. 7. I desire to know what is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby the Heinousness of any sin is to be estimated Is it the denunciation of Future Vengeance The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance upon Vnbelievers and they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the presence of his power Is it Old or New Past or Present Instances of Vengeance Were not the body of this people newly cut off for unbelief And of ancient days whose were the Carcasses that fell in the wilderness and to whom did God swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not Consider but the story from whence the Exhortation of the Text arises How God was provoked through unbelief The text tells us that he was Moved he was Tempted he was Grieved he was Provoked till he sware in his wrath The words are taken out of the 95 Psalm to which the 78. is parallel They were saith the Psalmist a stubborn and rebellious Generation They tempted God and spoke against him Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger against Israel Because they believed not in God and trusted not in his Salvation When God heard this he was worth and greatly abhorred Israel he gave way to his Indignation wrath anger displeasure and Jealousy I conceive now the first Question to be stated viz. Whether according to the tenor of the Scripture Infidelity were sinful and dangerous in the time of the delivery of the Scriptures I proceed to the second Question viz. However it was in ancient times 2. Whether Infidelity be not in such times as ours Excusable My meaning is this Whether speaking according to the Scriptural grounds and reason Now that Miracles extraordinary gifts and Prophesies are ceased Infidelity be not become Excusable however it might be Sinful and inexcusable during the time when Prophesies and Miracles were in use The first verse of this Epistle to the Hebrews tells us what powerful and noble motives to believe God had afforded to the Fathers God himself was pleased to speak to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at sundry times and in divers manners In the times of the Patriarchs Judges Kings and Prophets by the ways of Visions Dreams Voices Similitudes Urim and by divers miracles and wonders So likewise for those that are here exhorted About the time of the Writing of this Epistle God had spoken to them by his Son the brightness of his Glory the image of his person And by the Apostles to whom also he bare Witness by mighty signs and wonders by divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost Now that such men as these who had so great advantages to bring them to believe should be severely punished for Infidelity I am perswaded there is hardly any man but thinks it very just and reasonable That such as had seen the wonders of God in Egypt and the Wilderness so manifestly miraculous so often repeated and yet for all this would not believe that their Carcasses should fall in the Wilderness That Ananias and Sapphira who had known the miracles which had been done by the Apostles should think to Cousen the Apostles it deserved the Judgment that befel them As for our selves had we lived in times of Miracles or Prophesies we doubt not but we should have believed Or as Philip said shew us the father and it sufficeth Could we but once see a miracle or talk with one returning from the dead it should suffice we would believe But seeing it is now many hundreds of years since these things are ceased and we have nothing left us Praeter miraculorum famam If we shall not believe the Gospel by some it is openly pretended and by many it is secretly imagined that in this case we may be Excused I could wish that the time would serve clearly to rid away this phantasm In order to it I shall briefly doe three things 1. Shew that this Phantastical imagination is no new invention but that it hath of old been the conceit of abominable Hypocrites 2. 2ly I shall inquire a little into the grounds of this Conceit and shew the mistake of those suppositions into which it is resolved 3. 3ly I shall shew that our Saviour Knowing the thoughts of men hath taken particular care to prevent this Imagination and hath clearly decided the matter in Question 1. Though the present age be fruitful in inventions tending this way yet this hath been Anticipated by the Wits of former times In the 11 of Luke 47. We find the Scribes and Pharises building the Sepulchres of the Prophets whom their fathers had killed If we would know what they pretended in so doing we shall find it in the parallel place of Matthew They said if we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets That these men did not believe the Prophets it is manifest Christ tells them if they had believed the Prophets they would have believed him for they wrote of him But that they would have believed the Prophets and not have murthered them had they lived in their times this they pretended and it is very probable they had that opinion Yes Verily had they lived in the days of Miracles and Prophesies they would have believed the very conceit which is now Pretended But the Truth is these men were abominable Hypocrites and the cause of their Unbelief
Jus Gentium must be rendered to him He doth not examine Pilate's power in case of Blasphemy or Treason but acknowledges it and submits He falls not upon sifting or examining the power of the Sanhedrim either their original power or the power left them by the Romans They sit in Moses Chair c. Whatsoever therefore they bid you do do it Matth. xxiii 2 3. And so likewise the Apostles they seem to be unconcerned as it were in the governing part of Civil Policy No word is found in all their Writings enquiring into the Rights of the Roman Emperours who were sovereign or limiting the Exercise of their Power Only thus much they take for certain such as they were they were ordained of God And they spend all their labour in founding deeply and firmly establishing that other part which concerns Obedience From this Observation it will follow That whatever Things or Persons were not before the times of Christ and his Apostles exempt from the power of the Magistrate are not by the Foundations and Principles of Christianity exempted Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat coelestia And it will only remain for us to enquire what was the manner of the Nations of the World and of God's peculiar people in reference to these Particulars before and at the times of Christ and his Apostles To which if we shall add the practice of the best and most ancient Christian Emperors I know not what more can be desired to clear the present Argument I suppose it needless to put in a Caution that while we speak of the Magistrate's power to order matters of Religion we do not entitle him to the Priest's Office the Spiritual Function or the Execution of it in preaching the word administring the Sacraments exercising the power of Ordination or of the Keys c. Blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers who hath put it into our Sovereign's heart to be tender of the rights of the Church as of the Apple of his Eye This is a Calumny insisted on generally by almost all our Adversaries but it is too rude and gross to be spoken to in this place Rather let us see whether the Sovereigns among all people Heathen Jews Christians have not claimed and exercised power in all Causes over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil 1. For Causes The New Testament sometimes divides the Gentiles into Greeks and Barbarians sometimes into wise and unwise according to which division the Romans are I suppose reckoned under the Greeks from whence they were mostly extracted and with whom they contended in Civility Briefly 1. the Greeks 2. the Romans 3. the Barbarous Nations did always exercise such a power 1. Aristotle the greatest among the Greeks tells us that the first and principal thing in a Common Wealth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And accordingly if we consult the Fragments which are left us of the Laws of the most antient Grecian Common-Wealths we shall find nothing so frequent as the Ordinances concerning their Religion 2. Amongst the Romans Cicero the wisest saith that Religion is the Foundation of Humane Society as in truth it is To say nothing of the Ordinances of Numa the Jus Pontificium c. the Titles of the Twelve Tables are many of them concerning Religion 3. As for the Barbarous Nations I shall not multiply Testimonies nor go beyond the line of Scripture In the third of Daniel we find an Edict of the King of Babylon enjoyning all People Languages and Tongues to commit Idolatry Vers. 4. 5. And by and by another Edict that no man should speak amiss of the God of Shadrach Mesech and Abednego Vers. 29. In the sixth we find Darius the Persian by the advice of his Council signing a Decree against petitioning for thirty days any God besides himself Verse 9. and shortly another that all men should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel Verse 26. In the third of Jonah the King of Nineveh and his Nobles proclaim a publick Fast. In the first of Ezra Cyrus puts forth an Edict to build the Temple at Hierusalem In the fourth Artaxerxes reverseth it In the sixth Darius re-inforceth it I suppose it is now evident that Greeks and Barbarians did exercise this power To think to elevate the force of these Instances because all these were Strangers from God and aliens from the Common-Wealth of Israel is to mistake the purpose for which they are alledged However it was not thus among the Kings of the Nations only but among the holiest and wisest of the Governours and Kings of Israel and Juda who for abolishing false Worship and ordaining the true are often highly commended by the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures The time would fail me to speak distinctly and particularly of the Ordinances concerning Religion which were made by Moses Joshua David Solomon Asa Jehoshaphat Hezekiah Manasses also and Josiah concerning whom the Scripture gives these Characters Moses was the man of God Joshua the servant of the Lord. David a man after Gods own heart There was none like unto Solomon Asa his heart was perfect with the Lord. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat Hezekiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Manasseth was heard of God Josiah did that which was right and his Goodness was recorded Now the Acts of every one of these concerning the Worship of God and matters of Religion are recorded and applauded in the Scriptures For these all ordered and regulated Services and Sacraments and Covenants with God they erected Altars and Tabernacles and Temples and dedicated them unto the Lord they destroyed Idolatry reformed abuses in Gods Worship settled both the standing Worship of God and occasional Thanks-givings and Humiliations to omit other matters The whole Aaronical Ministery which consisted in ceremonies and Sacrifices Typical and Carnal Ordinances was not ordered by the hand of Aaron but of Moses who was King in Jesurun The Tabernacle and Temple-service which beside the Mosaical Institutions consisted of Spiritual abiding Ordinances was instituted by David who being the sweet Singer of Israel and acquainted more then ever any man for ought appears with the ways and helps of listing up the Heart to spiritual intercourse with God to that end appointed the use of Musick in the Church and without fear of stinting the Spirit he prescribed Set-forms of Praise and Prayers for the use of the Temple and ordered the service for every day A Psalm consisting partly of the one hundred and fifth ninety sixth and one hundred and eighteenth he first delivered to Asaph and his Brethren at the reduction of the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom 1 Chron. xvi 7. And divers other Psalms were composed by him for the Service of the Church And what he had ordained Solomon put in practice In the fifth Chapter of the second Book of Chronicles we find the pattern of the Service of this Time and Place
Wisdom and Power upon his Apostles Not to mention the Apparition of Angels and of Christ himself the Bath Kol the Extasies Dreams Visions and Impulses which were given them for their own assurance That they might be enabled to preach the Gospel to all Nations and deliver to the world those Scriptures whereof we are speaking they had the word of Knowledge and of Wisdom and of Faith and the gift of divers Tongues and interpretation of Tongues bestowed upon them And to justifie their Doctrine to the Ages present and to come they had the Gifts of Prophesie and of Healing and of Miracles John the beloved Disciple heard a voice as it were of a Trumpet talking with him which said Come up hitber and I will shew thee things which shall be hereafter and immediately he was in the Spirit and received the Revelation Paul an Apostle though born out of due time came to Visions and Revelation he twice foretold what should happen to the Ship wherein he was carried Prisoner to Rome He foretold the Apostacy of the latter times the rising of Antichrist the perillous times which should come upon the world in the last days Agabus a Believer at large foretold the Famine which was to come upon all the world and the binding of Paul at Jerusalem c. But the instances of supernatural Power exercised in healing of Diseases raising the dead confounding the Opposers of their Doctrine and in several other kinds by the Apostles and their Companions and Adherents the Preachers and Writers of the Doctrine of the Gospel are so abundantly delivered in the New Testament that I shall not offer at particulars In the 4. of the Acts we find all the Apostles praying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God would stretch forth his hand to heal and that signs and wonders might be done by the Name of his holy Child Jesus And immediately the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Gost and with Power The particular Miracles of particular persons are recorded In one word they went and preached every where the Doctrines which are written in the Gospel the Lord working with them and confirming tbeir words by mighty signs and wonders and gifts of the Holy Ghost This is the state of the matter of Fact as it is propounded in the New Testament I conclude therefore that supposing matters of Fact to be truly delivered in the New Testament there is no reason to doubt of the Doctrines delivered by Christ or his Apostles relating to faith or manners And I come to the consideration of the last and extream Opinion of the Antiscripturists IV. The last opinion is of those who deny the truth of the Relation of matters of Fact delivered in the New Testament and in consequence reject the whole body of the Scriptures I could wish there were no such as these and that what I have yet to say were altogether needless for that reason But what mean then the publick Rumors which we hear and whence is an Opinion gone into the world that some great Philosophers and men of generous reason are dissatisfied concerning the truth of Scripture and believe the Authority of it to be wholy derived from the Magistrate In reference to these I shall endeavour 1. Briefly to shew that the ground upon which these Wisemen and Philosophers reject the Scriptures is contrary to the Reason of mankind 2. To evince that the belief of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures is most agreeable to Reason 1. As for the Argument and ground of those amongst us Christians that reject the body of the Scriptures I do not remember to have heard of other than this They have often called upon Believers Pastors perhaps or Doctors in the Church for a clear and undeniable evidence of the truth of the story of the Gospel and they have not afforded it therefore they conclude the Scriptures are to be rejected But is this the reasoning of generous wits and men of mighty deeds in disputation of men pretending to the depths of reason and Philosophy To give a man a clear and undeniable evidence of any thing there are but two ways viz. To convince either his Senses or his Understanding the former where of is to be done by experiment the later by demonstration Would they have now an Experiment whether such or such a thing were done 16 or 17 hundred years ago Would they have a demonstration of particulars in their nature indifferent to be done or not to be done depending upon the liberty of Causes Well were it for the world if these Beaux Esprits would have the patience and endure the fatigue of acquainting themselves with the ways of knowledge Experiment and demonstration it would not then be troubled with the dangerous impertinency of such Pretenders Then these men would not call for Experiment in a subject uncapable of it and being instructed that demonstration is only of Universal Propositions in materia necessaria whose contrary Positions imply a contradiction they would know that to demand this kind of evidence of the truth of the story of the Gospel is to be absurdly injudicious and to act contrary to the Reason of mankind For seeing we may not with civility suppose this principle to be advanced only for the destruction of Religion and the ruine or at least undeniable hazard of the Souls of men We ought to believe that these Philosophers intend this as a General Maxim that in matters at least of moment men ought not to adventure to act but upon clear and undeniable evidence and speaking properly that wise men ought to believe nothing at all Wherefore let us suppose this for a general principle and consider what will follow Setting aside the knowledge of the Affections of a few Lines and Numbers is not all learning to be cast away Must not the Civil world of mankind be brought to swift confusion must not mankind it self in a few days come to an end Suppose a subject should not yield his Obedience or a Tenant his Rent till Titles be made out by Experiment or demonstation Suppose the husbandman and the Merchant the Artificer the Souldier the Banker and the Judge should not adventure but stay for the assurance of Experiment or Demonstration would not the whole world be confounded Suppose men should not marry nor take Physick nor eat or drink till they should have clear and undeniable evidence that all these things are what they suppose and shall succeed according to expectation would not mankind quickly be spent and brought to an end If the management of all humane concernments Political Oeconomical Personal proceed upon the grounds of Belief and Hope and rational but not demonstrative inference If neither these Philosophers if they would consider nor any other Person either ever did or possibly could perform any one action upon such evidence as these men require concerning the truth of the ftories of the Scripture then
to reject them for want of such evidence is repugnant to the Reason of mankind I proceed therefore to my second assertion that the Belief of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures is most agreable to reason That the Divine Authority of all the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are undeniably concluded from supposition of the truth of the Relation or History of matters of fact in the New Testament I have already shewn And that the rejection of all History is against the Reason of mankind is evident because all mankind receive some History or other wherefore I shall briefly shew 1. That the History of the New Testament hath all those advantages whereof any History is capable 2. That it hath greater advantages than any other History 1. The Arguments inducing men to the belief of any historical Relation are all of them Either Ab intra Internal from the 1. Credibility and Scibility of the Object 2. The Knowledge and Integrity of the Writers 3. The way and manner of writing Ab extra External from the 1. Reception of it in the world 2. Concurrent testimonies of strangers 3. Concessions of Adversaries and the like In all which particulars no History in the world can justly pretend any advantage above that of the New Testament 1. For the credibility of the Object and Cognoscibility of it 1. To say that instances of supernatural Power and wisdom are impossible is to deny the power of God and his providence in governing the world And to say that such things are incredible as are and have been actually believed in all times and by all sorts of persons Jews and Gentiles Christians and Mahometans a few Atheistical persons only accepted is an absurdity The History that we speak of pretends to no intrigues or Cabalistick Counsels or Myisteries of State but conteins it self within the limits of things Visible and Audible things that were done or spoken so that no History can have advantage over it respectu objecti 2. As for Knowledge in the deliverers I shall shew it by a brief Induction The whole New Testament consists of the Books of the Revelation Epistles Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels The Authors of the Epistles and the Revelation in the Narrative parts of them deliver the things done or spoken to or by themselves and could not be ignorant of their own experiences The Book of the Acts contains some things done by or to the rest of the Apostles but chiefly the concernments of Paul and it was written by Luke who was an individual Companion of Paul and intimately conversant with the rest of the Apostles For the things Related in the Gospel of St. Luke he saith they were delivered to him by those who from the beginning were Eye witnesses of the works and Ministers of the Word and his History agrees with the other Evangelists The Gospel of St. Mark hath nothing which is not in St. Matthew or St. John and was dictated by St. Peter the Head of the Apostles St. Matthew was an Apostle and St. John the Bosom Apostle of Christ. The Apostles were chosen by him for Witnesses of his Words and Actions they were with him from the beginning of his Ministry continued with him till his death couversed with him till his ascension That which they had heard which they had seen with their Eyes which they had looked on which their hands had handled of the word of life that they delivered in writing to the World And more than this no Writer or Relater of History can pretend to 2. For Arguments of their sincerity they have left Precepts of Veracity and prohibitions of lying under pain of Hell torments the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone They have protested that they did not follow cunningly devised Fables that they did things sincerely as in the sight of God They have appealed to the searcher of hearts The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knoweth that I lie not The things which I write unto you behold before God I lye not Gal. 1. 20. saith St. Paul They have left behind them various instances of their simplicity and Godly sincerity in representing their failings to the world and of candour and ingenuity in distinguishing the dictates of their own Reason from the inspirations of the Holy Spirit I speak by permission not by commandment of the Lord This say I not the Lord Thus it is according to my judgment c. 1 Cor. 7. But besides all this let the matter be estimated according to common reason If these men did devise a Fable and impose it upon the world what end could they propound to themselves in so doing was there any profit in being destitute of all things or pleasure in being persecuted afflicted and tormented or honour in being counted Fools and Mad-men Before they began to publish the Stories whereof we speak their Master was gone and all worldly hopes were gone away with him If they were not bound in Conscience and in Spirit what obligation had he laid upon them to labour and suffer for his honour as they did To omit the severity of his behaviour to them He called them off from their Vocations Peter and Andrew James and John from their Fishing Mattbew from his Customers place the rest accordingly They forsook their Nets their Ships their Relations and all their interests and followed him And this they did clearly and plainly believing that he was to be a Great Temporal Prince and in hopes of preferment under him In this Expectation they continued to the last minute of his conversation with them upon Earth and he permitted them so to do Their last words to him were delivered in this question Lord wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom unto Israel Of the thing it self they never doubted they only desire to be informed of the time Now after so long expectation Consider his Answer His Answer was this It is not for you to know the times c. but ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses of me unto the utmost parts of the earth and immediately he vanished away Was this an answer to their Question or a satisfaction to their expectation Was this an Obligation laid upon them If he had not sent down the Holy Ghost this would have moved them indeed but it would have been to rage and indignation this would have obliged them indeed but it would have been to detest and abhor the name and memory of him that had abused them But for the honour of his name not their own they did and suffered all things and gloried in it An irrefragable argument of their sincerity in the things which they delivered 3. Of the internal Arguments for the belief of History there remains only the Consideration of the way and manner of writing Histories then carry their own credentials in them when the principal parts
the Spirit to preach the Word in Asia II. And for the Conviction of the unbelieving World They had diversities of gifts and different Administrations To one was given the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge to another Faith to another the gift of Healing to another Miracles Prophesies Discerning of Spirits The gift of Tongues As it is in the words which I quoted God bare them witness with gifts of the Holy Ghost and with Signs and Wonders and that he did so far that I shall be justified by Christ himself if I shall affirm that the Apostles after his death did greater miracles then he himself did in his life Of the same kind with our Saviours some they performed by means having an appearance of greater strangeness Christ healed by his touch his word his spittle Peter by his Shadow Paul by Handkerchiefs taken from his body But one great thing there was wherein they exceeded The Great and Manifest and frequent Effusions of the Spirit the Reception of it upon themselves the communication of it to others by Prayer Preaching Laying on of Hands By these it was that the unbelieving world was convinced and even Simon Magus himself It is by the power and Vertue of those effusions that we are here met together at this time that the World continues Christian at this day And these are some of those standing means and Arguments whereby the proneness of our hearts to infidelity may be overcome and faith may be begotten confirmed recovered at this day These are therefore to be revolved Exhort one another dayly To come therefore to a Conclusion My text it self is an Application by way of Exhortation Exhortations are enforced by Reasons of Duty and Concernment and these I have hitherto endeavoured to lay before you If indeed there were no Sinfulness in Infidelity Or if in such times as ours it were excusable If there were no danger of falling into it or no means left to remedy or prevent it it would then indeed be to little purpose to Exhort men to beware But if the state of all these things is otherwise if that be plain and evident agreeable to Scripture to Reason and to Experience if the Speaker hath not beaten the Air nor the heaters been careless and inattentive I know not what can be required to enforce and sharpen the exhortation If the time would suffer it and I were speaking to a Common or Injudicious Auditory I might think my self concerned after all that hath been spoken to the understanding to Apply my discourse to your affections I should take unto me the various forms of Application used in this Epistle I would Reprove Rebuke Exhort I would cry aloud and would not spare I would lift up my voice like a Watchmans trumpet warning you from the Lord concerning the Spirit of irreligion and infidelity which is said to have overspread the land I would take to my self a Lamentation yea it should be for a Lamentation for the Professors of Infidelity and the Infidelity of Professors every where But I may not now be permitted to enlarge upon these things I may only pray to God to give you understanding in all things and beseech you earnestly to consider what hath been spoken Concluding in the words of the Text Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Exhort one another dayly FINIS Die Jovis 11 o Octobris 1666. ORdered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That the thanks of this House be given to the Lord Bishop of Exon. for his Pains in the Service he performed in Preaching a Sermon before the Peers in the Abby-Church at Westminster yesterday being the day appointed by His Majesty for Fasting and Humiliation in consideration of the late Dreadful Fire which wasted the greater part of the City of London And that his Lordship be and is hereby desired to Print and Publish his said Sermon John Browne Cler. Parliam A SERMON Preached before the PEERS IN THE Abby-Church at Westminster October 10 th M. DC LXVI BY SETH then Lord Bishop of EXON LONDON Printed by A. C. for James Collins at the Kings Arms within Ludgate near St. Pauls 1672. A SERMON Preached before the House of Peers AT WEST MINISTER ECCLES xi 9. But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Rejoyce O young man c. THE great and general design of the Ministry and preaching of the Gospel is to bring men to Christianity not in the outward profession but in the true spirit and power thereof to the end they may be justified and sanctified and finally saved through Christ for ever The Particular design of this Dayes Observation is to humble our selves under the mighty hand of God in Consideration of his Judgments especially that late one in consuming with Fire the Ancient and noble Metropolis of this Nation and to endeavour to appease the wrath of God gone out against us To compass both these designs whereof the later is subordinate to the former I know no better expedient than to reason a while upon that important argument suggested in the Text. Who can think upon the Conflagration of our late Glorious City and not call to mind the great and terrible day of Judgment Who can think seriously of Judgment and not be compelled to come in driven to Christianity that he may be saved from the wrath to come The great Instructor and Example of Christian Preachers he who saith of himself that Christ sent him to preach and not to baptize found no means so powerful to perswade men to Christianity as to reason upon this argument as first to lay before them the terror of Judgment and then whilst that was warm upon their hearts to make them a tender of the Gospel This is the great advantage and use the Apostle makes of the Doctrine of the Text. We must all appear saith he before the Judgment-seat of Christ Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men Upon these Considerations I shall hope for the pardon of this Noble Auditory if without affectation of Science I shall in a practical and familiar way of reasoning indeavour to imitate our Apostle in this particular If in the mean time it will be irksome and unpleasant to hear of the Judgment to come we shall do well to consider what it will be to undergo it we shall do well to reflect upon our Souls and search out the ground of this aversness Is it because we do not believe a Judgment to come or that we our selves shall be brought to Judgment Is it because we never consider who it is before whom me must appear or what things will be charged on our account Is it because we are so far gone in our arrears that it is to no purpose to call these things into our remembrance What ever it be we may perhaps hear of that
difficult but not to be despaired of Concerning Jerusalem burned and laid wast by the Assyrians Daniel foretold that the streets and the walls thereof should be rebuilded even in troubleous times and when the time came that they were reedified we read in Nehemiah that the labourers in one hand held the trowel and the other held a weapon one half of the people laboured in the work and the other half held the Spears and the Shields the Bows and the Habergeons because of their cruel enemies on every side If God shall be pleased to give us a spirit of Understanding and teach our Senators Wisdom If he shall pour out a publick spirit upon our Councils a spirit of tenderness and compassion of Justice and Equity Temperance and Frugality Fortitude and Magnanimity If all Orders and Degrees amongst us Civil and Military and Ecclesiastical shall take to themselves the spirits of Christians and of men If our Counsels and endeavours shall be answerable to the care and benignity to the servour and strenuous industry of our gracious Sovereign and to the alacrity and magnanimity of our couragious and generous Country-men then speaking humanely and abstracting from our Deservings we need not greatly fear but we may yet subdue the pride and insolence of our barbarous Enemies we may yet behold our City rising out of its ashes in greater splendour than we have seen it heretofore Wherefore arise and gird your selves O ye Princes ye Nobles ye Rulers of our Israel Consult Consider and give sentence Men Brethren and Fathers let us arise and labour let us up and be doing be strong and of good courage and the good hand of our God shall be upon you he shall give you the honour to be the defenders of your Country he shall make you repairers of the breaches restorers of our City to dwell in Yet I cannot I may not forbear to put you in remembrance of this one thing Except the Lord build the City their labour is but lost that build it It is not our wisdom or industry much less our confidence that will do it unless God be for us neither will God be for us unless we turn from the evil of our ways except we repent we have reason to fear that what we have seen hitherto will be no more but the beginning of our sorrows The Prophet Esay tells us That the Lord sent a word unto Jacob and it lighted on Israel and all the people shall know that say in the pride and stoutness of their hearts the Bricks are fallen but we will build with hewn Stones the Sycamores are down but we will change them into Cedars Therefore the Lord will set up their adversaries and joyn their Enemies together the Syrians before and the Philistims behind and they shall devour Israel with open mouth Because this people turneth not to him that smiteth them Wherefore turn you turn you every one from the evil of his ways Let us search our hearts and try our ways and turn to him that hath smitten us Turn unto him with all our hearts with fasting and with weeping and mourning be hath smitten us and he will heal us because his compassions fail not Come and let us reason together saith God though your sins were as scarlet they shall be white as snow There is yet a way open to take away the terror of our Particular Judgment and to prevent a final Judgment from falling upon the Nation We are yet in the Land of hope and space is given for Repentance the door of mercy is not yet shut upon us nor the ears of our Judge sealed against us O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his Goodness and declare the wonders that he hath done for the children of men that hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our Iniquities that hath not cut us off in the midst of our sins nor in the height of our impenitencies snatched us away to Judgment that hath not dealt with us as with the Apostate Angels and with Thousands of our Brethren who were better and more righteous than we Let us once more then return into our selves Let us consider our condition let us veiw over and ballance the grounds of our hopes and the reasons of our fears Let us take an exact account of our whole estate and interest in reference to all our concernments National and Personal Temporal and Eternal Let us deliberate and advise what is to be done and what is to be avoided Did I say deliberate Whether we shall save our souls from utter darkness and everlasting burnings Whether we shall save the Nation from final ruine and desolation Nay rather Let us break off our sins by repentance and our Iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor Let us make our selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail we may be received into everlasting habitations Let us lend unto the Lord that we may have treasure in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt nor thieves break through and steal Let us fast the fast that the Lord hath chosen Loose the bands of wickedness feed the hungry cloath the naked he that hath two Coats let him give to him that hath none and he that hath meat let him do likewise Such an occasion scarce happens in many hundreds of years and for motives to charity they are all comprised in that great argument of the Judgment to come When the Son of Man shall come to Judgment and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory When all Nations shall be gathered before him and he shall set the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left This shall be the mark of their discrimination He shall say to those on his right hand I was hungry and ye fed me thirsty and ye gave me drink naked and ye cloathed me sick and in prison and ye visited me Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you And he shall say unto them on the left hand I was hungry and ye fed me not thirsty and ye gave me no drink c. Wherefore go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels The way is short and compendious to save all our interests What doth the Lord require of us but to do justly to love mercy to walk humbly before the Lord our God Let us be merciful therefore as our heavenly Father is merciful and let us humble our selves under the Almighty hand of God as we pretend to do this day Let us betake our selves afore-hand to our Judge and pour out our complaints before him Let us confess our wickedness and be sorry for our sins Let us lay hold on the feet of our Blessed Redeemer and give him no rest till he hath sealed our pardon Let us bathe with our tears the wounds that we have made Let us cry mightily to the Throne of Grace Let us wrestle and strive
Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel since the day that your fathers came forth of the land of Egypt until this day I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets daily rising early and sending them yet they hearkned not to me nor inclined their ear Whereunto shall I liken this generation I have piped Sometimes they hear it as a song Loe thou art unto them as a very lovely song Sometimes they refuse it positively They say to the Seers see not and to the Prophets prophefie not unto us As for the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee They endeavour to suppress and to destroy it When Jehudi had read three or four leaves in Jeremies roll he cut it with a pen-knife and cast it into the fire until all the roll was consumed in the fire Instead of faith and obedience it meets with infidelity and atheistical opposition and contradiction Who hath believed our report saith one All the day long have I stretch'd forth my hands to a gain-saying people is the complaint of another They say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of his ways Speak to them in the name of Lord they say Who is the Lord that I should fear him discourse to them of the Almighty they say What is the Almighty that we should serve him What can the Almighty do What profit shall we have if we pray unto him Speak to them of God's searching Eye Surely say they God sees it not Tush God cares not for it of his over-ruling Providence nay say they but all things come alike to all there is one event to the just and to the unjust Tell them they must appear before the Judgment-seat of God and of Christ they scoffingly reply Where is the Promise of his coming since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were before Where is the God of Judgment let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it This is the general entertainment of their message and for the persons of the Messengers they devise devices against them they smite them with the smiting of the tongue they threaten them they beat them sometime they take away their Liberty and sometime their Lives this was the portion of Jeremiah the men of Anathoth sought his life saying Prophesy not by the Name of the Lord that thou die not by our hand They charged him falsly they smote him they imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan they cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah they let him down with chords into the mire What do I instance in one particular since at once we read the general entertainment of the Prophets that were of old That they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover of bands and imprisonment they were stoned were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Moreover they scourged and crucified the Lord of Glory they put him to an open shame Neither were the disciples above their master or the servants above their Lord after scourgings and bands and imprisonments and many a sad and barbarous usage St. James was knocked on the head S. Peter was crucified S. Paul was beheaded and the rest were used accordingly Behold saith God I send unto you Prophets and wise men and some of them ye shall scourge in your Synagogues and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie If we diligently search the Scriptures and histories of the Church we shall find this to have been generally the success of the Word of God and of his Messengers instead of trembling and penitence and reformation to be enterteined with scorn and contempt and persecution 2. But it may be the Works of God may have better success upon the hearts of the children of men his works of 1. Mercy or of 2. Judgment The Apostle tells us that God's patience and forbearance leadeth men unto repentance And the Prophet that when his judgments are abroad the inhabitants of the World will learn righteousness Indeed a Logical man reasoning upon Principles will be apt so to conclude But alas it is not so with men alas that so clear reasoning should be contradicted by evident experience and observation Nay they despise the riches of God's mercy and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath From the patience and longanimity of God they make perverse and Atheistical conclusions when thou sawest a thief thou consentedst unto him and hast been partaker with the adulterer these things hast thou done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest wickedly that I am such an one as thy self Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of men are fully set in them to do evil Solomon tells us that the prosperity of Fools shall destroy them and there are few so circumspect and wise as not to stumble at this stone of stumbling Neither Salomon's Wisdom nor his Father's Piety could preserve them upright amidst the snares of prosperity The danger as well as wickedness of this is intimated in Nathan's exprobration to David Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul I gave thee thy Masters house and thy Masters wives into thy bosom I gave thee the house of Israel of Judah wherefore hast thou killed Uriah and taken his wife to be thy wife This was a temptation which the Israelites never could withstand notwithstanding all the Caveats given them by Moses When the Lord shall bring thee into the good land and shall give thee cities and houses which thou buildedst not Vineyards and Olive trees which thou plantedst not when thou shalt have eaten and be full Then beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked as the Lord multiplied his mercies so they multiplied their transgressions his prodigious and wonderful deliverances were answered with prodigious and wonderful ingratitude for they sinned yet the more and lightly esteemed the God of their Salvation But if the mercies of God will not prevail to draw men to repentance surely his judgments cannot fail to drive them to it whether they are sent upon a city or upon a man only Shall the Lion roar and shall not the forest tremble shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid Behold therefore and tremble and be afraid all ye that look upon Repentance as a slight and an easie duty and that deferr it for that reason It is not every horrour and shaking that will bring a man to Repentance And the instances are many wherein the judgments of God instead of softning or breaking the
thousands hundred thousands Who can express the horror of his execution the terrors and consternations of them that did escape the various complications of anguish and misery torments and deaths of them that fell in the execution How did the city become solitary that was full of people she sate as a widow her children forsook her her friends fled away from her her streets were desolate her houses were full of the noisome carcases of the slain O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people And now again behold another interchange the goodness as well as the severity of God towards them that fell severity towards us goodness if we continue in his goodness He hath mingled mercy with his judgements he puts the experiment to the utmost to try if yet we will repent He hath not suffer'd us to fall into the hands of man not given us over into the hands of our insolent and barbarous enemies He hath given victory to the King he hath wonderfully preserved the person of his Royal Highness he hath kept our Ships and Navies from destruction In a marvailous way of mercy he hath sheltered our most gracious Soveraign and his Royal Relations and his whole Train and Family Those noble and eminent persons both of Church and State who to make themselves a stay and comfort to the poor and infected of the City cheerfully and constantly exposed themselves to danger he hath deliver'd from the snare of the hunter and from the noisome pestilence He hath given plenty And lastly he hath caused the destroying Angel to sheath his sword and stay his hand And we are met together a preserved remnant of men that have not been killed by these plagues What shall we render O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men Let 〈◊〉 repent therefore and turn from our evil ways let us do no more foolishly lest a worse thing come unto us We have seen the danger of Impenitency after so many Motives to Repentance Behold now wisdom cryes unto us and utters her voice in this great and noble Congregation How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity and ye scorners delight in scorning Turn ye turn ye at my reproof for why will ye dye ye house of Israel Never let it be said of us which is here spoken of the persons of the Text that the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands FINIS A SERMON AGAINST Ingratitude Preached at WHITE-HALL Soon after the great Plague By SETH then Lord Bishop of EXON LONDON Printed by E. T. and R. H. for James Collins at the Kings-arms within Ludgate near S. Pauls 1672. Note that the Sermon against Ingratitude ought to have been placed before that of Repentance A SERMON AGAINST Ingratitude DEUT. 32. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise THese words are part of a Song made by Moses and both the song it self and these particular words are so very considerable that I should think it a disrespect put upon the judgments of a venerable intelligent auditory to be very laborious in gathering arguments to perswade your attention to them the matter the antiquity the penman do all render it considerable For as for the subject matter of the song it contain in it as the Hebrew writers have observed a summary of the law or pentateuch of Moses Consider it as a piece of Antiquity there is hardly any poem so venerable it was written before Homer or Hesiod Orphens or Linus David's or Asaph's poems and except a piece of the same hand it is the most antient song that is extant in the world It was penn'd by one of the most considerable persons look upon him humanely and he was very remarkable for his abstruse learning He was learned in all the learning of the Egyptians for his military conduct for his policy in administration of Government for his felicity in giving a law so suitable to the genius of the people that after so many thousand years it alone of all antient laws continues in veneration to this day But if we look upon him in reference to God there was none like unto him he conversed with God face to face he was admitted to his secrets he was entrusted with the administration of his powers in signs and wonders in the sight of Egypt and of Israel It was inspired and dictated not by the Muses or Apollo but by God himself Write thee this song and he wrote this song the same day whilest he was yet Deo plenus before the divine afflatus before his transport and rage had left him and therefore although he was the meekest and most modest man upon the earth although he resolutely declined his Embassy till God was angry because he was not eloquent but of a stammering speech yet now being conscious of that Spirit which moved within him he commends and justifies this song he undertakes for the fluency and smoothness and the exuberance of it he summons the tribes to record the expressions of his rage he calls upon heaven and earth to hear the verses made by indignation by indignation kindled and conceived by the contemplation of the greatness and excellency of God and his goodness in his dealings with this people of Israel and of the unworthiness of their return Give ear O Heavens saith he and I will speak and hearken O earth to the words of my mouth my doctrine shall drop as the rain c. The song indeed it self is large and very satyrical but the great argument or burthen of it is in the words of my text Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise The words are as I said the burthen or argument of the song applicable to every part of it repetible at the end of every stanza and indeed of every period God is a rock his work is perfect his ways are judgment They have corrupted themselves they are spotted perverse and crooked Do ye thus requite the Lord But more particularly God hath been good to Israel he raised him from nothing he redeemed him from bondage he was his Protector his Guide his Proveditore his food was of the most delicious his drink was generous of the pure blood of the grape and he grew fat upon it But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked Do ye thus requite O popule ingrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again well but will God endure this base ingratitude doth he not see it or not resent it doth it not move him can he not will he not revenge himself upon them Yes the Lord saw it and was moved to Jealousie a fire was kindled in his anger Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise
This is the Interest which these words have in the song and they consist of two general parts 1. An expostulation Do ye thus requite the Lord 2. A censure O foolish people and unwise The former of these needs no explication being an ardent and vehement exprobration of the ingratitude of this people wherein every word is weighty and very Emphatical The manner of the retribution the parties Requiting and Requited Ye men Ye men of Israel do ye make such a requital such a requital to the Lord To requite evil for good among Equals is against the light of the sons of Noah and much more against the light of Israel But for Israel after their instruction and their experiences to do despight to the great and the gracious and the terrible jealous and avenging God it implies so much ingratitude and so high a degree of wickedness and madness as is not to be measured And therefore he doth not attempt to delineate or describe it but like one astonished at it he expostulates with them in a vast abrupt Interrogation Do ye thus requite the Lord But now the latter general part which contains the censure of them may perhaps require a little explication Foolish and Unwise may possibly seem to some to have a little flatness in it and tautology Here therefore we must be take our selves to the Original and there we shall find a considerable difference betwixt the notions of those two words which are thus translated The words for Unwise is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies that they were imprudent and acted against their interest and concernment The words translated foolish people are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ingrate popule signifying base unworthiness and perverseness They were Am Nabal such for a people as Nabal afterwards for a man Now concerning Nabal the Scripture tells us that the Character of his person was answerable to the notion of his name As is his name so is he Nabal is his name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vilitas cum eo Interlin Dedecus cum ipso Syriac A base unworthy dishonourable person churlish and evil in his doings surly and morose such a man of Belial that one might not speak to him Insolent and as such persons use to be cowardly and dead hearted a drunken stupid sottish and to sum up all an ungrateful wretch that requited evil for good This was the Character of Nabal and this the folly bound up in the heart of the Children of Israel so that there is no tautology in the text The first word signifies the Wickedness the second the imprudence of Israel's Requital And these are the things which I am to speak of I. Israels requital towards God implyed in the expostulation Do ye thus requite II. The Wickedness of that requital III. The Imprudence pressed in the censure IV. Application 1. Requital is a word of a reciprocal notion it signifies a return made for something done And to set forth Israel's requital to the Lord we are to consider 1. Gods dealings with Israel and 2. Israel's return to God 1. Of the former we have various instances in the following words God hath prevented them with Grace and favour and followed them 1. Made Fathers them 2. Bought 3. Established with mercy and loving-kindness He contrived advantages for them before their Original he designed them great and glorious privileges long before they had any being The Scripture computes their Original from Jacob who was called Israel A Syrian ready to perish was their Father but long before Jacobs time The most high divided to the Nations their inheritance when he separated the Sons of Adam the Lords portion was his people and Israel the lot of his inheritance He chose Jacob for himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure before Jacob or Esau had done good or evil he chose them because he loved them to shew his prerogative and manifest his absolute Sovereignty When Abraham was an hundred years old and Sarah ninety and they had no child betwixt them he contracted with Abraham both for their being and their inheritance He brought him forth and said Look toward Heaven and tell the Stars so shall thy seed be And the same day he said Vnto thy Seed yet in Idea have I given this land from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates So that he was their Father and maker in a peculiar manner even as if from stones he had raised children unto Abraham Seing that from one and him as good as dead there sprang so many as the Stars Nay far more than the Stars which Abraham could see when he looked up into the Sky the number of all the Stars visible to the naked eye upon all the various positions of the Sphere not exceeding eleven hundred whereas there were numbred of this people at one time 603550 fighting men above twenty years old beside the tribe of Levi and beside women and children As was their first creation such was their conservation and propagation instances of the united forces of the goodness wisdom and power of God when he saw them in their blood he said unto them Live when he found them in the howling wilderness he kept them as the apple of his eye He protected them from all the storms which passed over them when they passed through the water when they went through the fire he provided for them when there was famine in their land In a prodigious way of mercy he made use of their own wickedness and turned it to their preservation When they sold Joseph into Egypt Joseph saith God sent him to preserve them a posterity and to save their lives ye thought evil against me but God meant it for good He sent them down into Egypt for their preservation he preserved them there 430 years and when the Egyptians were turned against them the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied and grew Doubtless he was their father though Abraham was ignorant of them and Israel knew them not for in their affliction his bowels sounded towards them And 2. he was their Redeemer as well as their Maker he bought them for so saith the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possedit acquisivit eos i. e. asseruit in libertatem When by the rigour of the Egyptians their lives were bitter God heard their groanings and he remembred the Covenant made with Abraham and his prediction that they should serve and be afflicted 400 years and that then he would judge that nation whom they should serve Surely I have seen saith he the affliction of my people I have heard their cry I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them He sent Redemption to his people by the hand of Moses and Aaron He gave Commission and Power and Command to Moses to make known his Omnipotence and his favour to his people and his vengeance upon their enemies they
and degrees in the greatest happiness whereof any society is capable conducting us by the hand of Moses and Aaron and their subordinate Ministers to the great ends of the great ordinance of God in the world and apt to enable and to dispose well-minded men by the means of grace and motives to sobriety righteousness and godliness which we enjoy by peace and plenty by liberty and prosperity in all which we exceed all others to produce effects of noble courage and magnanimity such as we read of in the stories of our Ancestors and of Piety and Devotion in proportion answerable to those of our glorious Predecessors that is not inferiour in their kind to any nation in the world Surely this also hath been of the Lords doing in reference to Society Civil and Sacred it is he that hath made us and not we our selves Now let us pass to the second enquiry 2. Hath he not redeemed us and that also in both capacities personal and national 1. For our persons spiritually and temporally hath he not bought our souls at a price hath he not offered us a plenteous redemption by the blood of the everlasting Covenant redeemed us from the curse of the Law the bondage of Sin the power of Satan the wrath of God Again is there any one single person to whom he hath not given many a temporal deliverance known and unknown or at least-wise unconsidered Hath not he redeemed us from the prison of the womb from the hazards of our infancy from the perils of our childhood from the wildness and precipitancy of youth from the snares and entanglements of our riper years Is there any one whom he hath not redeemed from six troubles and from seven in our bodies estates liberty reputation whom he hath not powerfully and frequently rescued from the folly and perverseness of our selves from the malice of our neighbours from the rage of Devils Hath he not redeemed us in our personal capacities 2. Hath he not redeemed our nation again and again in all its interest civil and sacred Who else was it that delivered our fathers and our selves from Barbarisme and Idolatry from Tyranny and Superstition from fanatical Anarchy and Irreligion To omit former deliverances can we forget how it is but a little while since the wrath of God was poured out upon this Kingdome to the uttermost since our Sun was turned into darkness and our Moon into blood our stars ravisht from their Orbs the Royal father Martyred the Son banished the Nobles confounded the State dissolved the Church destroyed our Religion Laws Liberty Property torn away our bones were dryed our hope was gone and we thought we had been clean cut off Then when we cried unto the Lord in our trouble he delivered us out of our distress He sent redemption to his people he turned our captivity as the Rivers of the South then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with Joy The Symptoms of joy and triumph were heard and seen in all the corners of the land nay the Sea roared and the floods clapped their hands the hills and the heavens resounded because of the redemption for he cometh for he cometh c. And now I say unto you hath he not redeemed us 3. Hath he not established us that is to say the Estalishment which we enjoy is it not all from him and hath not he done his part for our establishment our spiritual and temporal our private our publick establishment Doth not the God of all grace continually press upon us the means of grace calling us to his Eternal glory endeavouring to make us perfect to establish strengthen and settle us in his truth to establish us in the faith and in holiness to strengthen our inward man that we may be rooted and grounded and built up in him to a lively hope and an humble assurance of eternal life All spiritual Establishment is it not from God is there any person within the verge of his Majesties Dominions for whom God hath not provided plentiful means for this Establishment Again for our temporal private condition is there any one of us destitute of some sort of provision subsistance some sort of settlement or Establishment Is there any one that hears or hears me not for whom God hath not provided some honest way of Establishment by donation of pious Founders and Benefactors by legal descent by voluntary Bequest houses which they builded not c. by labour of the hand or contrivance of the brain by assistances of Alliances or friends by charitable benevolence by the bounty of contingency or the like Are not every one of these from the Lord is any one destitute of one or more of these ways of establishment or that can answer ' that God hath made no provision for them hath he not given us our temporal establishment Lastly hath not God done his part towards a National and a publick establishment of this Church and Kingdom Hath he not in order thereunto resetled our gracious Sovereign in the throne of his Royal Predecessors Re-established the Church upon its rightful Basis and foundation Restored all orders and degrees to their legal rights proprieties privileges and liberties Reinforced our Religion and our Laws in the due administration of Discipline and Justice Reduced all things into that ancient frame and constitution which had from many Generations derived happiness and glory to the people of England Finally for preservation and continuance of all these hath he not restored the actual strength of the Kingdom our Forts and Castles our stores and magazines our Towns and Cities our Armies and Navies lately rescued out of the hands of rebellious Usurpers to those Royal hands to which they do of right belong In one word therefore to conclude this first enquiry hath not God dealt with us as he did with Israel hath he not made us redeemed us established us The next consideration ought to be whether we have not so requited the Lord as they requited him Whether our behaviour hath not been answerable to that of Israel in reference both to the foolish part and the unwise And here alas how clear and conspicuous is the parallel in respect of their ingratitude and imprudence Have we not dealt do we not deal ungratefully with the Author and instruments of all our mercies Have all Gods methods and various dealings with us prevailed so far as to bring our persons to repentance or our Kingdom to a Reformation Have we been convinced or have we not been hardened by his wonders converted to his fears or sealed up into a sottish stupidity and senseless contempt of Religion a spirit of Atheism and downright infidelity Do we not murmur against Moses and Aaron do not some amongst us still abet the cause of Corah Dathan and Abiram are not some of us ready to make them a Captain and to return into Egypt Have we not soon forgot God our saviour have we not flattered him with our lips
of that which follows would defend us from our enemies abroad this would raise Taxes and Contributions Subsidies and Royal Aids procure all things necessary for the maintenance of Just Wars abroad For for this cause also pay ye tribute because they are Christs Ministers c. So powerfull and usefull is the Gospel where it is believed to maintain all the parts and Interests and to command all the succours and necessary supplies of Government to bring fear to whom fear honour to whom honour tribute to whom tribute belongeth Wherefore I would not fear humbly to make an Application in the words of King David Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Judges of the Earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce unto him with reverence kiss the Son left he be angry and so ye perish from the right way But I can only be permitted to make one common and promiscuous Application to high and low rich and poor one with another namely To charge upon your memory and pray that it may rest upon my own one saying of Christ himself that dreadfull saying in Mark 8. If any one shall be ashamed of me or of my words in this adulterous and sinfull Generation Of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with his holy Angels And without any Apology for my boldness or indiscretions to conclude in the words of the Text For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ For it is the Power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth FINIS Rules and Directions for Prayer and Meditation Written by the late Right Reverend Father in God Bryan Duppa Lord Bishop of Winton Sold by James Collins at the Kings Arms in Ludgate-street * Psal. ii 2 Expl. Object Sol. Heb. 10. 29. Obj. Sol. Matth. 26. 53. Apolog. § 37. Mat. xii 25. 1 Cor. xiv 33. Rom. i. 14. Polit. lib 7 cap. 8. Ephes ii 12. Deut. 33. 1. Josh. xxiv 29. 1 Sam. xiii 14. 2 Chron. ix 22. 1 Kings xv 14. 2 Chron. xvii 3. 2Cron 20. 2. 2 Chron. xxxiii 13 2 Chron. xxxv 26. Deut. xxxiii 5. Vers. 12. Vers. 13. Vers. 14. 2 Chron. xxix 25. 2 Chron. xxxv 15. Novel Coastit 131. Kings ii 7. Ibid. 35. Mat. xix 8. Joh. iv 12. Rom xiii 1. 2 Cor. xii 2 3. Heb i. 3. Matt xxii 21. Matth. vii 15. 2 Tim. iii. 1. Ibid. Verse 4. 5. 2 Pet. ii 1. Ibid. Verse 10. Jude 19. Verse 9. Verse 11 12. c. Verse 14. Verse 19. Psal. ii 10. 11. 1 Kings xxi 25. 1 Sam. xiii 14. Chap. xv 12. Chap. xvi 13. Ibid. Vers. 18. Chap. xviii 5. 2 Sam. i. 21. Exod. iv 16. Acts vii 35. Deut. xxxi i. 4. Num. xvi Psal. cvi 16. Numb xvi 31. Application Rom. iii. 31. Lam. ii 9. Matth. xviii 7. Ibid. Verse 6. Ezek. xxiv 2. Gal. 1. 23. 3. 25. Rom. 12. 6. Tit. 1. 4. Jud. 3. Luk. 24. 44 Joh. 5. 46. Joh. 5. 39. Luk. 10. 26. Luk. 16. 29 Mar. 14 49. Joh. 10. 35. Mat. 3 31. Mar. 5. 18. Luk 24. 17. Verse 44. Mat. 1 22. Mat. 2. 15. Mat. 2. 23. 4. 14. 21. 4. Mat. 26. 56. 27. 35. Joh 19. 24. Joh 19. 29. Vers. 37. 36. Mat. 8. 17. Mat. 13. 15 Mat. 2. 17. Act. 13. 33. Gal. 3. 10. Act. 7 42. Act. 1. 22. 13. 33. Rom. 43. Gal. 3. 24. Acts 18. 24. 28. Jam. 4. 5. Rom. 2. 12. Rom 3.21 Act. 13. 18. 10. 43. Act. 24. 14. Act. 26. 28. Rom. 7 12 Act 3. 21. Tim 3. 15. Rem 3. 2. Act. 7. 38. Act. 3. 21. 2 Pet. 1. 26. 2 Tim. 3. 15. Matth. 21. 23. Mar. 11. 27. Joh. 14. 6. Joh. 6. 63. John 14. 10. Joh. 7. 16. Joh. 8. 28. John 12. 49. John 12. 50. Matth. 24. 24. Pet. 5. 1. Pet. 1. 5. 1 John 1. 3. 1 Joh. 1. 1. Apoc. 1. 9. 10. Ibid. 19. Gal. 1. 1. Rom. 1. 1. 2 Tim. 11. Phil. 1. 17. Eph. 3. 1. 2Cor 13. 3. 1 Cor. 14. 37. Col. 4. 16. Ibid. 2 Thes. 3. 14. Eph. 4. 11. 3. 5. Porphyr Hier. Prooem Galat. in c. 2. Celsus Gal. 2. 2 Pet. 3. 15. Joh. 15. 26. Joh. â—â—â— 14. 26. 16. 13. 14. 26. 16. 13. Act. 1. 5. Joh. 11. 11. 4. 17. Joh. 4. 29. Joh. 6. 61. 64. 16. 16. Luk. 9. 47. Mat. 12. 15. 25 Mat. 2. 8. Luk. 6. 8. Luk. 11. 17. Joh. 2. 24. 25. Mat. 17 21. Mat. 17. 21. Mat. 17. 27. Joh. 18. 4. 11. 11. 13. 11. Mat. 20. 18. Mat. 10. 23. Mat. 16. 21. Joh. 14. 28. Luk. 19. 44. Mat 26. 34. 31. Luk. 21. 20. John 12. 32. Matth. 24. 14. Matth 13. 31. Luke 10. 18. Matth. 24. 15. Matth 14. 19. 15. 36. Matth. 15. 30. 9. 27. 4. 23. Mat. 8 14. Mat. 14. 4. Mat. 4. 13. Mat. 17. 12. Mat. 4 23. Luk. 22. 51 Mat. 9. 20. John 5. 5. Mulios Mat. 9 20. Mat. t. 6. John 5. â— Mar. 5. 41. Luk 7. 11. John 11. 39. Matth 27. 52. Eus. Eccl. H l. 4. c. 3. 3 37. Annct p. 8 Mat. 17. 18 Mar. 16. 9. Luk. 8. 27. Mat. 10. 7. Luk 9. 3. Luke 10. 1 -9 Mat. 16. 17. Mattb. 16. 21. Mat. 28. 2. John 16. 16 28. 20. 17. Luke 24. 57. Acts 2. 4. Acts 9. Act 10. 10. 22. 17. Acts 16. 9. 16. 6 7. 1Cor 12. 9 Ap. 4. 1. Acts 27. 10 22. 2 Cor. 121 2 Thes. 2. 2 Tim. 31. Act. 11. 8. 21. 10. Act. 5. 13 Marc. 16. 20. Arist. polit l. 7. c. 8. Ob. sol 1 Joh. 1. 1. 1 Cor. 5. 8. 6. 4. 8. Phil. 4. 8. Jam. 3. 14. Eph. 4. 25. Apoc. 21. 8. 27. 22. 15. 2 Pet. 1. 16. 2 Cor. 2. 17 2 Cor. 11. 31. 1 Thes. 2. 3. 4. Mat. 9. 9. Mat. 4. 20. 22. Act. 1. 6. Luk. 1. 5. Luk. 3. 1. Mat. 14. 3. Vide Joseph Ant. 18. c. 9. 10. Luk 2. 1. Mat. 4. 6. Mic. 5. 2. Luk. 3. 23. Joh. 2. 1. 11. Mat. 9. 18. Mat. 8. 6. Luk. 7. 2. Joh 11. 18. Act 9. 33. 40. 10. 1. 13. 6. 14. 13. Cyrill c. 10. c. Jul. Orig. c. C. Euseb. Tertio Historiarum Citat à Julio Afr. 3. Chronogr Orig c. C. l. 3. 15. 44. Annalium Athanas. Synops. Const. ad p. p. Nicco vide Theodoret l. 1. c. 5. Gr. Lat. Pan Joh 11. 48. Matth. 27. 46. Acts 4. 6. Acts 7. 58. Acts 9. 2. Act. 13. 45. 14. 2. 13. 50. Eus l. 4. 15 Deut. 7. Orig c C. l. 1. Plin. Ep. 10. 97. Act. 2. 41. 1 Pet. 1. 1. Acts 15. Lih. 10. Epist. 10. Adv. Judeos c7 8. Act. 19. 20. Pliny Prophy Tert. Ap. 37. Eus. l. 8. c. 3. Vide Orig. C. Ceis l. 3. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Lact. de fals sap l. 3. c 26. Mar. 16. 17 Dial. cum Tryphone Iren. l. 22. c. 56. Euseb. 5. c 7. item c. 20. L. 3. Vide Philos Essay 5. 6. 7. 8. 3. 1. 6. 4. 2. C. W. Mat.
his Law into the World yet he was pleased to resolve as it were his own Authority into the Divine Authority of the Old Testament and to make use of those other manifestations of himself in a co-ordination with that principle And therefore we find him still pressing the Jews with this that if they did believe the Writings of Moses and their other Scriptures they must of necessity believe him also Moses wrote of me saith he wherefore did ye believe Moses ye would believe me The Scriptures testifie of me therefore search them diligently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the attaining of everlasting life he refers the Lawyer to the Law What is written in the Law how readest thou For the avoiding of the place of torments he makes Abraham refer the Relations of Dives to Moses and the Prophets In all his disputations with the Pharisees and Sadduces the Lawyers and the Scribes he makes his appeal to the Scriptures of the Old Testament And lest any one should think that in all this he did only argue ad homines that disputing with the Jews he only proceeded upon their own Hypothesis we find him in the course of his Ministration positively afferting that the Scriptures must be fulfilled that they cannot be broken that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them and that Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one jot or title of these should perish until all was fulfilled Thus he asserted the Authority of the Old Testament before his death And after his Resurrection he made a real demonstration that the Old Testament was given by inspiration of God for on the day of his Resurrection falling into company of two of his Disciples going to Emmaus He began at Moses and all the Prophets and expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself And afterward when the Eleven were come together as a recapitulation of this his method and that he might instruct his Disciples in it he said unto them These were the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psams in the Volume of the Old Testament concerning me He opened their understandings and said thus it is written and thus it behoved And as a short Idea of what they were to do he tells them and ye are Witnesses of these things 2. In pursuance of this method we find the Evangelists very curious and very frequent in observing the accomplishment of the predictions of the Old Testament reciting sometimes the speeches of Christ saying that he did such or such a thing to the end that the Scriptures might be fulfilled I will not eat of the fruit of the Vine till all things be fulfilled Sometimes in their own Persons observing the accomplishment of particulars and noting either particular portions of Scriptures which were fulfilled or the fulfilling of the Scriptures cited at large without any particular Quotation Thus the Evangelists writing of the Conception Nativity Name of Christ of his coming out of Egypt dwelling at Nazareth migration to Capernaum riding to Jerusalem Say that these things were done that the Scriptures or the saying of the Prophet at large might be fulfilled So likewise for the circumstances of his Passion the flight of his Disciples casting lots upon his Garments Vinegar given him to drink piercing his side bones remaining unbroken c. Other times they note the particular Prophet Christ healed Diseases spoke in Parables that the saying of Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled When Herod slew the Children then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet Rachel weeping for her Children c. and once we find a quotation of the second Psalm and the like This for the Evangelists 3. Lastly the Divine Authority of the Old Testament is asserted by the Apostles Whom we find every where in their Writings citing the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms appealing to them what saith the Scripture the Scripture hath concluded so or so Arguing out of them oft times directly thus not only the Apostles but Apollos mightily convinced the Jews sometimes ab absurdo do ye think the Scripture speaks in vain In a word the Apostles followed the way and method which their Master taught them they asserted that the Gospel was promised by the Prophets witnessed by the Law and the Prophets by all the Prophets Affirming of themselves that they believed all things written in the Law and in the Prophets and that they continued testifying and saying no other things than the Prophets and Moses did say should come Finally lest any place should be left for doubting concerning any part of the Old Testament the Apostles have expresly asserted concerning the Law that it is holy just and good that the Prophets are holy and the Scriptures holy that they are the Oracles of God lively Oracles that God spake by the Prophets that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Lastly in the Text that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherein Timothy had been instituted by his Mother were gived by inspiration of God This is the sense of the New Testament concerning the Old Testament supposing therefore the Truth of the New Testament the Divine Authority of the Old Testament is to be acknowledged contrary to the first Opinion of the Antiscripturists II. The Second Antiscriptural Opinion is of those who pretend to believe the Truth but they deny or doubt the Divine Authority of the New Testament either of the whole body of the New Testament or at least of that part which delivers the Speeches and Writings of the Apostles Of this sort there are said to be many who by the power and influence of their Education are restrained from denying or dis-believing the Truth of the New Testament and yet through the infelicity of corrupt conversation are fallen from that Veneration which is due to writings supposed to be of Divine Authority For the History of the New Testament they have the same respect which they have for Tacitus or Sallust or some such other History for the Mystery of the Gospel the same which they have for some part of Plato or remnants of Pythagoras for the practical parts the same which they have for some parts of Cicero or Seneca or Epictetus All which writings they believe to be true but no man believes them to be Divine And some there are who pretend a great veneration for the speeches of Christ but have a meaner esteem for the words and writings of the Apostles In opposition to these opinions I shall shew that supposing the words of Christ and the Apostles to be True it will follow that they are to be esteemed to be of Divine
Authority Because Christ and the Apostles did profess and declare that what they delivered to the world was of Divine Authority And because our Lord Christ did undertake not only for himself but for the Inspiration of his Apostles also 1. In the examination of the next Opinion I shall be obliged to lay before you some of the evidences of Divine Authority in Christ and his Apostles here it is sufficient to produce their assertions of it The time of our Lord Christs ministration betwixt three and four years was spent in preaching and working and his Authority was often questioned In Luke 20. 1. and in the parallel places While he was in the Temple teaching the People and preaching the the Gospel the Chief Priests and the Scribes and the Elders came upon him saying tell us by what Authority thou dost these things preachest to the people and who gave thee that Authority Knowing the perverseness of their minds he was not pleased to gratifie them at that time with a direct answer but confounded them with a question concerning the Baptism of John But at other times upon other occasions we find the Divine Authority of his teaching abundantly declared and asserted by him I am the way the truth and the life The words which I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life The words which I speak I speak not of my self but of the Father which dwelleth in me My Doctrine is not mine but his that sent me I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me so I speak I have not spoken of my self but the Father that sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said unto me so I speak Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away Thus did our Saviour afsert the Divine Authority of his Words 2. And so likewise the Apostles are very frequent in asserting the Divine Authority of the things which they delivered In the 15. of the Acts we find them assembled about the question of Circumcision and they accounted it no robbery to entitle their Decrees to the Holy Ghost It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us v. 18. Nor do they pretend to revelation when gathered in Council only but each one severally for himself St. Peter professes of himself that he was a partaker of the glory which was revealed And of his Gospel that it was revealed from Heaven St. John declares that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Father and the Son as for his other writings that they contained the things which he had heard and seeen with bis eyes which he had looked on and his hands had handled of the Word of life As for the Apocalypse he professes that being in the Spirit in Isle of Patmos he received it and was commanded to write it in a Book The greatest writer among the Apostles was St. Paul and the greatest question hath always been amongst Unbelievers concerning his Calling and the Authority of his Gospel He knew this very well and therefore we find him asserting both his Calling and his Gospel with abundant care and diligence He affims himself to have been an Apostle not of man neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father That by God himself he was separated to preach constituted a Preacher an Apostle and a defender of the Gospel As concerning his Gospel he professes to have received it by Revelation of God As for the Spirit wherewith he wrote and preached he professed himself ready to give a proof of Christ speaking in him He appealed to the Prophetick Spirit then in the Church If any man think himself a Prophet or Spiritual let him acknowledge the things which I write to be the Commandments of God Out of this assurance it was that he enjoyned his Epistles to be read in the Churches of Coloss Laodicea Thessalonica and excommunicates such as should be disobedient in that particular And lest any one should here repeat the Objection made against our Saviour Thou bearest witness of thy self thy witness is not true St. Paul speaking of all the Apostles affirms that God had set them in the Church and that the Mystery of the Gospel was revealed to the holy Apostles by the Spirit Particularly notwithstanding that dispute betwixt St. Peter and St. Paul from the first Ages of the Church to our own Times objected by Unbelievers to the prejudice of Religion it is remarkable that in the same place where St. Paul gives an account how Peter was to be blamed and how and wherefore he withstood him to his face at Antioch he doth expresly affirm that the Gospel of the Circumcision was committed to Peter and that God wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision On the other side St. Peter in that very place where he may seem to complain of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of St. Paul yet even there he owns him as his beloved Brother acknowledges his Wisdom to have been gi-given him of God and numbers all his Epistles inter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst the other Scriptures 3. Lastly For such as would put a difference of degrees betwixt the Authority of the words of Christ and the writings and Sermons of the Apostles they may take notice that the Authority of these resolves it self into the veracity of Christ himself He it was who being to leave the World promised his Disciples again and again that he would send down upon them the Holy Spirit that should instruct them and teach them all things that should Lead them into all truth Bring to their remembrance all things which he himself had spoken that should shew them things to come that with this Spirit they should not be lightly dash'd or sprinkled but that they should be Baptized and as it were plunged into it How all these promises were performed and how the Assertions of the Divine Authority of the Words of Christ and the Apostles were proved to be true I am next to shew In the interim I conclude that supposing the truth of the words of Christ and his Apostles they are to be esteemed of Divine Authority III. The third opinion is of such as pretend to believe matters of fact to have been truly related in the New Testament but they do not believe the truth of the Doctrinal parts relating to Faith or Manners Of these there have always been too great a number not only pretenders who under a form of Christianity deny the power thereof but generally all forts of Hereticks When Porphyrius had revolted from Christianity to Platonism and had bent all his forces against the Scripture-History he was refuted not only by Lactantius and Methodius men Orthodox in Doctrine but by Eusebius and
purer eyes than to behold iniquity that he will wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his wickedness If a man will not turn he will whet his sword and bend his bow If a Nation will not repent then smite with thy hand stamp with thy foot and say alas for it shall fall by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence Now the general inference of all these is still the same this is still the Logick of the Scriptures Our God shall come and shall not keep silence wherefore consider this ye that forget God We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade To this end we find the Lord sometimes disputing logically to convince and sometimes with divine and noble Oratory endeavouring to perswade sometimes by signal instances of pardoning mercies and of avenging judgements to induce men to repentance He speaks to their reason to their affections to their very senses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord if ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land if ye rebel ye shall be devoured Are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal Again He expostulates with them sometimes upon the principles of ingenuity Thus saith the Lord What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone away from me O my people what have I done unto thee wherein have I wearyed thee Testifie against me O Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee Sometimes he expostulates upon the point of interest How long shall vain thoughts lodge in your hearts How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity what will ye do in the end thereof Again he sets before us a multitude of glorious instances to shew that never any penitent was rejected however heinous however numerous were their sins The prodigal devoured his substance with harlots Mary Magdalen had seven Devils Peter denyed his Master with horrid oaths and imprecations Saul was exceedingly mad against him yet upon their repentance were accepted He had delivered Israel seven times and they forsook him and he said he would deliver them no more but they repented and his soul was straight-way grieved and he delivered them Instead of many consider that one instance of Manasses the evil son of good King Hezekiah He set up altars for Baalim and worshipp'd all the host of heaven Altars in the court of the temple an idol in the very temple he caused his sons to pass through the fire he observed times used inchantments dealt with familiar spirits and with wizards made Judah and Jerusalem to do worse than the heathen And the Lord spake to him and he would not hear After all this in his afflictions he humbled himself and then God was intreated and heard his supplication His ways are not as our ways He forgave Nineveh and Jonah was displeased exceedingly he taxes him with easiness in relenting he charges him as if he had an ancient known infirmity of flexibility to his veracity and the honour of his Prophets Lord saith he was not this my saying and therefore I prevented it to flee to Tarshish for I knew that thou art merciful therefore take I beseech thee my life from me His thoughts are not as our thoughts when Nathan had told David a story of a poor man who had his ewe Lamb ravished from him then David was exceeding wroth and he swore As the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing shall surely dye But when David who had taken Bathsheba and murthered Vriah said I have sinned Nathan said unto David The Lord hath put away thy sin thou shalt not dye On the other side we have instances of horrible judgements for Impenitency whereof I shall after take occasion to speak Now considering all these things is it not strange that men should not repent That no consideration of ingenuity or of interest should move them to it That neither the Law written in their hearts nor that which was delivered by the mediation of Angels nor the Gospel given us by the Son of God should bring them to it That neither reason nor experience neither mercies nor judgements neither the sweetness of a good conscience nor the torments of a bad the beauties of vertue nor the deformity of sin the shortness of life nor length of eternity the lightness of things present nor the exceeding weight of those which are to come That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Trumpets nor things present nor thing to come nor height nor depth nor any other thing should be able to separate men from the love of sin Is it not strange The Apostles the Prophets were astonished at this nay God himself seems to be affected with wonder Hear Oheavens and give ear O earth Be astonished O ye heavens and be horribly afraid they have for saken me This is that wonder considered in it self according to common reason the object of our first observation drawn from the form and manner of the words by way of Epiphonema expressed by the particle yet yet they repented not II. The second Observation was taken from the matter of the words However such impenitency is very strange to common reason considered in the Theory yet it is too frequent in practice and in common experience The rest of the men repented not This is that grand contradiction that fatal paradox of the life of man His very being consists in rationality his acting is contrary to all the reason in the world Man only was created under the Law of Reason man only maintains a constant opposition to the law and reason of his creation He appointed the moon for certain seasons and the sun knoweth his going down The blustring winds the raging storms the unruly Ocean the Lyon the Tiger and the Bear these all pursue the law of their creation these all are obedient unto his word charmed to it by that powerful voice whereby they were created Man only stops his ears and refuses to hear the voice of this Almighty charmer charm he never so wisely so loudly or so variously The general ways and methods of his charming have been already mentioned I am now to lay before you the general success of those methods The success 1. Of his word and his messengers 2. Of his works of 1. Mercy 2. Judgement Single Intermixed 1. For the success or rather the unsuccessfulness of his word for the entertainment or rather the barbarous usage of his messengers how often do we find God and his Prophets Christ and his Apostles complaining and as it were fretting themselves with indignation As for the word sometimes they will not hear it More than seven times Jeremy complains almost in the very same words