leave till it work it out Mat. 12.35 the regenerate part in a man will be continually expelling corruption he doth daily wash his feet and is as a bone dislocated till he be again reconciled to God after he hath sinned against him for he saith It was better with me when I had peace of conscience then now when the Lord called me to communion but sin hath separated between me and God and therefore in regard of his daily failings also as well as committing any gross act of sin he looks upon himself as Turtullian doth as nulli rei nisi paenitentiae natus Tertullian it is with him as it is with a man in a swound whilest his soul is in him there is a principle that will bring him to life again but if a man be dead it is not so there is no inward working in him because an inward principle is wanting But you will say to me How should a man attain to this I will give you these three directions at present First be very sensible that thou art without it by nature and what a miserable condition it is for a man to be without grace I desire you will consider if thou hast not the Image of God upon thee thou hast the Image of the Devil and thou art under the power of the Devil who is perfectly contrary to God and an enemy to him and thou shalt be punisht with him to all eternity if thou continue like unto him and then consider all the means thou canst use cannot bestow grace Christ into the world and Christ into the heart are free gifts Lumen naturae nature new dressed may make a shew but it can never be a new man it is a new creation an act of Almighty power must pass upon thee before thou art in a state of grace Eph. 1.19 and let thy heart dwell upon this apprehension Secondly wait upon God forit to this end in all converting Ordinances attend at wisdoms gates Cant. 1.16 for this is the bed wherein souls are begotten to the Lord even the Ministery of the word Cant. 4.2 every one bears twins Psal 110. it is as the dew that falls from th◠womb of the morning there are abundance of souls begotten for it is a dole of spiritual gifts Rom. 1.12 I have begotten you through the Gospel Grace is the Law written in the heart and God is pleased to make use of the Ministery as his pen to write it there Thirdly do not only wait but cry for it Pro. 2.2,3 make it thy great request unto God from day to day that thou mayst have experience of a work of Regeneration that thou mayst rest in no grace but true grace nor be satisfied with oyl in thy lamp only unless thou have it in thy Vessel that thou mayst not build upon the sand but on a Rock for this will be the destruction of most of those that profess Religion at the last day that they have thoughts to walk in the narrow way before ever they entred in at the strait gate O labour that the spirit of God may not only have an influence upon thee in common gifts but that he may work truth of grace in thee and that he may not only come unto thee as forma assistens to assist thee in some common duties for a time but as forma informans so as to abide with thee and in thee for ever THE Danger of being worse BY MERCIES DEUT. 32.15 But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked AS it is said by some of the Book of the Revelations It is both an Historical Prophecie and a Prophetical History the same we may truly say of this present day It is either a Thanks-giving Fast or it is a Fasting Thanks-giving the present mercy calls for the one the abuse of former and the fear of the abuse of this mercy also calls for the other the present mercy indeed calls for Thanks-giving but when we consider how mercies have been abused by us and what cause we have to fear lest this also should be so this calls to mourning and humiliation there are two things which every godly man is to look at in a mercy First that he may obtain it Secondly that he may improve it That he may obtain the mercy and that he may obtain a right use a right improvement thereof otherwise though it be a mercy in the thing it will be a curse to the man as I have often shewed you That which the Apostle saies of afflictions I would allude unto in this particular in Heb 12.10 there is no affliction for the present is joyous but grievous but afterwards it brings forth the quiet fruit of righteousness the mercy in affliction lies in the use of affliction So I may say of mercy inverting the words Every mercy for the present is joyous not grievous but afterwards it brings forth many times the bitter fruit of wickedness and unrighteousness For its the use of mercy makes the mercy a mercy as the use of affliction doth the learned do use to say of riches and honours and all the good things of this life that they are things indifferent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither good or bad in themselves but according to the use that is made of them and according as the person is that uses them So I say of all the blessings that we receive from God they are blessings according to the use that is made of them and according to the condition of the person that uses them otherwise they are not mercies therefore as the Lord hath been pleased to give us a mercy so let this be one great end of our humiliation and of our supplication to God this day that we may be broken before God for the abuse of former mercies and obtain of the Lord a right use of this mercy This Chapter out of which I have chosen this portion of Scripture was the last song that ever Moses the man of God indited while he was here upon earth until he ascended up into heaven there to sing hallelujahs to the Lord for ever and this song is partly historical and partly prophetical there are four things in the context that are historical that yet notwithstanding are worthy of your observation First the great care that the Lord had of this people Israel above all the Nations of the world Verse 8. When the most high devided to the Nations their inheritance he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel It is an observable Scripture the Lord gave the earth to the children of men so the Psalmist tells you but yet the Lord will not have the children of men to scramble for the earth to see who can get most of it No the Division of the earth is the Lords he hath devided the earth and separated the sons of Adam which is the meaning of that dark place Isa 7. there were two Kings which the Lord calls
have not we reason now as to bewail our wants so to weep over our mercies all this day long and to consider how much we are the worse for those mercies wherein the Lord hath been merciful to you There is a second use of Caution and admonition do you take heed seeing it is so dangerous a thing that the same thing be not justly said of you and charged on you as was here upon Jesurun that they were the worse for their mercies the mercies they received did but ripen their sins and hasten their ruine take heed you bring forth fruits worthy of the mercy you receive as Christ saith bring forth fruits worthy of repentance you may remember it is said of Solomon Cant. 8.11 he had a Vine-yard in Baal-hamon and Solomon let it out but he expected to have the incomes of his Vine-yard the Lord deals so with men whatever the mercies are you do receive the Lord expects returns for them and that your mercies should make you thrive and grow more in grace and more in obedience that you should be the better for them But what are the natural fruits that the mercies of God should bring forth that I may know when they are fruits that grow upon mercy naturally not from sin occasionally that I may say I am the better for mercy I shall name to you six particulars and pray lay them to heart First the proper fruit of mercy is an humble acknowledgment of our own unworthyness when the soul is made more humble under the apprehension of its own unworthiness that is a mercy indeed the Lord directs to this in Deut. 26.5 they were to come to bring their first fruits to God when they came to Canaan they were to come to God and say A Syrian ready to perish was my Father and the Lord brought us out of the Land of Egypt they acknowledge their own unworthiness of mercy when a soul can say as Iacob doth I am less then the least of all thy mercies Secondly the proper fruit of mercy by which a man may be said to be the better for it is when they ascribe all mercy to God when they say VVe have wrought no deliverance in the earth neither have the inhabitants of the earth formed it it is not my bow nor my sword that hath saved me but as David Psal 18.2 VVhen God had delivered him from all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul Now what doth David say The Lord is my strength and my rock he is become my salvation God is all in all he looks on no instruments no second causes Thirdly when mercies do bring a mans sins to remembrance the soul stoops under the apprehension of mercy what will God shew mercy to me one so rebellious and disobedient as I and then the soul reads over the guilt of his sin with new remorse is this thy Voice thy act O Lord whom I have so much provoked that the Lord might have cast me off so long ago It was so with them in Ezek. 16. ult when God shews the greatest mercy that ever he will give them when he will give them sisters for daughters and exalt her to be the mother Church of the earth then they shall remember their waies and their doings and shall be confounded and put their mouthes in the dust and never lift up their faces any more when I am pacified towards them I might have expected that God should have destroyed me rather and sent me to hell as well as to captivity but will the Lord yet shew mercy the soul is in bitterness for this Fourthly when mercies lay upon the men the stronger obligations and a man makes this use of it looks upon himself as more firmly bound to God that is the use they make of mercy in Ezra 9.13 after we have received such a deliverance as this should we rebel as if they should have said if this mercy do not make up the banck against disobedience nothing in the world will do it this makes a man as David to cleave to God with full purpose of heart and to say this God is my God is my God for ever Fifthly when the soul studies what he shall return to God for all his mercies you know that God not only expects returns but proportionable returns And I desire you would take notice of it 2 Chron. 32.26 But Hezekiah rendred not according to the benefit done unto him But can our returns be answerable to our receipts there is a double way to make reckonings even you can never return so much in the thing but in the will and so much the more as the hand of God is large in mercy so much the more thy heart should be enlarged in returns and let me offer this to your thoughts in every affliction it is observed God hath some one special end though the Lord hath many ends do meet in every action for therein his wisdom appeareth But yet notwithstanding some special thing the Lord aims at in every affliction and therefore Iob goes to God and saith Lord shew me wherefore thou contendest with me there is some especial thing that the Lord aims at that he would have his people to endeavour to find out and so it is in every mercy though the Lord have many ends in it yet some special end the Lord aims at in every Mercy which you should consult with God about go to the Lord Jesus as your Priest and desire direction from him enquire what special duties the Lord aims at in this mercy For you can no more thrive under mercy then you concurr with God in his ends set those three ends together Mich. 6.8 and now oh man what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God But it is good for you to spend some time to enquire what is the peculiar thing the Lord aims at in every affliction and in every mercy that is the way to thrive under and to be the better for mercy Lastly that soul is the better for mercy when it loves God the more for it Psal 18.1 a great mercy David had received deliverance from all his enemies Oh I will love the Lord saith he that is the first thing he doth not say I will love the mercy and I will rejoyce in the mercy No I told you it was Austins observation Austin It is an adulterous love the love of an harlot to love the gift above the giver Let this be an evidence of your love that you so delight in the mercy as you delight in the goodness of the God of the mercy and that you keep your selves in the way of mercy ever after why is one particular mercy so sweet the Scripture speaks of Gods drawing out of loving kindness how shall the soul obtain it keep your selves in the way of mercy then thou shalt be sure to be kept in the way of loving kindness continually there
the multitude of my thoughts so were the multitude of Gods consolations God will give it in the time and the season of it but withal the Lord will give it according unto the measure when he doth bring great afflictions he provideth for you strong consolations that as the affliction aboundeth so the consolations shall abound the Lord tells you that his rewards shall be according to the measure of his mercies it is an admirable expression in Hosea 10.12 according to the measure of mercies your rewards are the Lord measures your consolations according to the measure of your afflictions Thus then you see the truth of these two points Let us see now what these consolations were that upheld the heart of our Psalmist here in those sad times thy comforts delight my soul what were they I will go no further then the Psalm neither and you shall find that there were eight that were the great stay of his heart in those times As in the first place he did consider God beholds them it is a wrong that is done to his people under the fathers eyes that was the first thing that he did stay his heart on the people of God do say Surely thou art our father though Abraham know us not and Israel be ignorant of us we have no greater comfort that we can look at no friends below yet notwithstanding our groans are not hid from thee That was the first comfort Secondly God did not only see it Surely thou hast seen it but withal he did comfort himself with this God would revenge it therefore he calls him thou God to whom vengeance belongs the God that revengeth habes ultorem Deum Hierom. Hierom he was a God that did avenge the cause of his people he hath said vengeance is mine and of the Lord Jesus Christ when Steven was stoned Acts 7. it is said he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God Jesus standing why the Scripture every where saith that Christ is gone to Heaven and is sate down at the right hand of God but he seeth him standing up at the right handof God what is the reason that is tanquam causae suae judex vindex saith one as one that was the Judge of his cause and the avenger of his wrong I this is another great ground of comfort upon which the heart is stayed My God is a God to whom vengeance belongeth Then In the third place by all these the Lord teacheth his people for so he saith in the 12. Verse Blessed saith he is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest out of thy Law that is another stay of heart in the worst of rimes the rod saith he hath a voice hear the rod and who hath appointed it Nay the rod teacheth a man that it is better to be under the saddest affliction and have the graces of that condition drawn forth rather then to be under the greatest prosperity and the sins of that condition drawn forth do but observe Iam. 1.4 Let the brother of low degree rejoyce that he is exalted I you will say he hath good reason for it but Let the brother of high degree rejoyce that he is made low a hard matter to rejoyce in that my Brethren a godly man can as truly rejoyce in an afflicted condition so as the graces of that condition be drawn forth in it as he can rejoyce in a prosperous condition much rather if the sins of that condition be drawn forth in it therefore there is a teaching in the rod when a man is brought to that indifferency of Spirit as I remember the Father brings in David speaking Vis me Pastorem ovium aut regem populorum ecce paratum est cor meum Lord saith he shall I be a Keeper of sheep again or Lord shall I be a King over Israel Lord my heart is ready my heart is ready willing to embrace each condition This is another thing the rod is a Teacher the rod hath a voice Besides In the fourth place There is a rest God hath prepared for his people in the most restless condition so he saith in the 13. Verse that thou mightest give him rest in the day of evil there is a shaddow of Gods wing and the people of God in the worst condition they can lie down under this shaddow with great delight Look into that precious Scripture Hos 14.8 I am like a green fir-tree saith God the Lord like a fir-tree Why in two things it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 densam umbram habens so the Septuagint renders it a tree that yields a thick shaddow and it is a tree likewise that is alwaies green perpetuo virens never casts its leaves as other trees do in the Winter so saith the Lord such is my defence you may lie down under my shaddow in quiet and he gives them rest in the day of evil And In the fifth place he comforts himself with this the Lord knows that the thoughts of man are but vanity with that he comforts himself that all these designs shall come to nothing all their thoughts are but vanity the Lord hath appointed that he will take the wise in his own craftiness and his hand shall not perform his enterprise the Lord hath said by iniquity shall no man be established the Lord hath said he will not suffer the hypocrite to rule least the people be ensnared that is the expression Iob 34.3 Now let their designs be what they will be with this he comforts himself yet notwithstanding the Lord knows the thoughts of men to be but vanity That is another ground of comfort And then In the sixth place that I may draw to a conclusion that while they labour for their own exaltation God is preparing for their destruction that is another thing that he comforts himself with for so he saith till the pit be digged for the ungodly till the pit be digged all this while I do not envy their rising saith he but rather pitty their ruine Impatientia humana non vult habere Dei patientiam Ierom. Jerom for God is preparing a pit all the while that is another great ground of comfort in the worst of times for my Brethren there is a judgement written that must be executed and many times as Austin well observes upon the place faelicitas peccatorum fovea est ipsorum Austin even their very prospering in an evil way is the pit in which they find their ruine that is another thing by which he comforteth himself Seventhly That I may draw to an end though for the present the Lord seems to neglect the condition of his people yet he comforts himself with this that God seemed to neglect for the present but saith he he will bring forth judgement to righteousness it is true indeed Gods judgement for his people seems now to have left them it is hid but saith he the Lord will appear for their safety and he tels them plainly that will he
decay and made him grow old in his youth now he grows young when he is old renews his strength as the Eagle and Rev. 16.17 the voice from the throne saies It is done Fourthly it is a Throne of Judgement for out of the throne comes thunderings and lightenings and voices Rev. 4.5 there do not only mercies and graces ascend upon the Saints but there are also very terrible things against the enemies of Christ and these Judgements are either temporal or spiritual either upon the enemies of Christ or upon the Saints First upon the enemies of Christ there are great Judgements that proceed out of the throne he did deliver Iudas unto Satan in an Ordinance when he stood upon his throne and so he doth bind men over unto wrath for his sitting on this throne of Iudgement is but a praeludium to the Iudgement that he shall pronounce against his enemies in the great day Isa 6.10 Go make the hearts of this people fat and make their ears heavy of all Iudgements none are like spiritual Iudgements And also great temporal Iudgements Rev. 8.3,5 there was a golden Altar before the throne and from the incense offered upon that Altar there came forth thunderings and lightenings and voices and earth-quakes c. this is all the Trumpets of Iudgement that sounded against the Churches enemies they did all come forth of the throne though the prayers of the Saints did procure them and all the ruines and over-throws that ever have befalen the enemies of Christ and the Gospel have proceeded from this throne when God is exalted amongst his people and let us comfort our selves with this the Lord raigns for ever he doth still sit upon the same throne of Iudgement and therefore so long as he sits upon his throne he will scatter away every evil thing as it is said Prov. 20.8 A King that sitteth on his throne of Iudgement seatters away all evil with his eyes c. let what enemies there will arise they shall fall by the thundring and lightning and voices that come from this throne Secondly against Gods own people for his throne is established by righteousness and therefore he will not spare his own people when he is in the middle of them but as he doth delight himself in their graces and therefore loves to be in the middle of them so he will punish their corruptions also and there are some spiritual Iudgements for them also Rev. 2.4,5 Yet I have something against thee because thou hast lost thy first love and I will come against thee quickly except thou repent and will remove thy Candlestick from thee which is the greatest spiritual Iudgement that can befall a people that though they that were godly should continue godly still and they could never be cast out of the number of the invisible Church yet they shall be looked upon as a visible Church unto Christ no more but he will take away the Ordinances and will depart from them and they shall fade away in their iniquities and so for temporal Iudgements also as sickness yea and temporal death it is a sentence that the Lord Iesus doth pronounce from his Throne 1 Cor. 11.30 For this cause many of you are sick and weak many of you fall afleep yet they are therein chastised of the Lord that they might not be condemned with the world it is done in mercy and not in wrath in much compassion unto their souls doth the Lord lay affliction upon their bodies yea even unto death it self for they that are embraced with everlasting loving kindness may sometimes dye under a temporal displeasure as it seems Iosiah did and so have many other Saints Vse First be exhorted to see Christ as present upon the throne for without this you come not to him but unto the duty he doth call unto you behold me behold me that worship that is terminated in any thing below him is a false worship and that faith also that doth not raise the soul up to him is a feigned faith but what are the signs of his presence how should a man know whether he be present or no these three things being premised you may try whether you have ever found him thus present c. First the Lord is present unto no unregenerat men in their duties they that live without God do pray without God and they fast without God therefore they must first desire his presence unto their conversion for as I have often told you an unregenerate mans services are no more accepted by God then when he swears or lyes c. for his services proceed from the same principle that his sins do c. Secondly God is not alwaies present unto the Saints but he doth sometimes withdraw himself as the Spouse complains My beloved hath withdrawn himself they seek him but they find him not he doth hide his face and he doth cover himself with a cloud that though they seek the Lord yet he is a stranger unto them if they walk in the waies of sin c. Thirdly even when he is present to the Saints yet he is not present to all of them in the same measure some have a fuller presence of God and a clearer discovery as some have a clearer Revelation of his mind so some have a clearer discovery of his presence then others in this life and it is so with the Saints even in glory that they behold his face continually yet they have divers degrees of glory some have a more full and perfect discovery of God then others have When God is present to the Saints here First the heart will be over-awed there is nothing will over awe the heart but Gods presence how dreadful is this place saies Iacob he had a discovery of God to him as present with him and it made the very place fearful to him the heart of man is very fearless of God naturally when a man doth come into the presence of God without Consideration and goes out of his presence without fear it is a sign that God was not present Secondly if God be present thy heart will be carried out to loath thy self for he that sees God in his glory will surely abhor himself in dust and ashes Iob 42.5,6 and will see himself undone there is no soul that ever enjoyed the presence of God but it makes him nothing of himself and so do the glorious Angels in heaven God is all in all unto them and they are in themselves nothing Thirdly if the Lord be present with thee thy heart will fall in love with him and thou wilt be carried out in admiration of him when a man sees the beauty of God and his glory in the Sanctuary a man would dwel there for ever he would dwel in the house of the Lord all the dayes of his life conversing with God and he would not be weary but it is wearisom to converse with duties only Moses was not weary when he was in the Mount
do not enjoy the same light they do not see the days of the son of man Kings and righteous men have desired to see the days that you see and have not seen them and to hear the things that you hear yet have not heard them Plus uno die vident pueri quam per totius vitae tempora philosophi Gerhard in his Chronology speaks of Infoelix seculum exhaustum hominibus ingenio doctrina claris Gerhard there are dark times and there are times also when the light of the Moon is as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun sevenfold Esay 30.26 One age hath much and another age hath little Secondly They have not the same deliverances for three hundred years she travelled under cruel persecution under the power of the Red Dragon but at last the Church brought forth a man-childe who was exalted upon the throne of God as the fruit of all their travels all their prayers and as the price of all their blood principem à quo libertatem exemplum fidei mundus accepit Sulpic. There is a time when the Lord doth lift up the rod of the oppressour and there is a time when he doth break their yoke from off the neck there is a time when the enemies do plough upon the backs of the people and make long their furrows and there is a time also when God doth cut their harness and they are able to plough no longer there is a time when God gives his people to be troden down as 〈…〉 in the streets and there is a time when no stranger shall any more pass over it there shall be no more a grieving thorn or a pricking bryer there shall be none to hurt or destroy in my holy Mountain c. there is a time when God doth bend Judab for him and when he doth raise the worm Jacob to thresh the Mountains c and the Lord delivers the land out of the mouths of the Enemies c. Doctrine 3. Whether men have received little or much it is all in reference to an account there is a time when the King will take an account of his servants for he will come to reckon with them Mat. 18.23 There is not a talent that the Lord bestows but it is in reference to this account all mercies received must surely be counted for every one of us must give an account of himself unto God and there are not only personal but there are national accounts he that is Judge of all the world he is the Judge of all Nations Isa 5.3 Iudge I pray you between me and my vineyard he that refers unto men to judge he will be the Judge himself also and he will surely judge them with righteous judgement For First All their mercies are recorded by him they may forget them but he records them what is a great part of the Scriptures but the records of God Chronicles of his several mercies and deliverances that he hath bestowed upon his people in succeeding ages Micah 6.5 Remember from Shittim to Gilgal it was the place of their Transgression when they committed abominations with the daughters of Moab and sacrificed unto Baal Peor did eat the offering of the dead and Gilgal was the first place that they set their foot upon in the Land of Canaan when the Lord rolled away from them the reproach of Egypt from whence it had its name and in the very places the Lord wrote in their names the memorials of his mercies that the very names of the places might be a witness of his mercies to them in memoriam and in testimonium Jehovah jireth Gilgal Berachah c. as you record your victories by the names of Dunbar and the name of Worcester c. the 78. Psalm is nothing else but the Lords records in which he hath written the memorial of that continued Tract of mercies which he gave unto them and the Lord wrote the memory of their mercies in the months Exod. 12.2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months the Lord changed the beginning of their years in the remembrance of his mercy Ver. 14. This day shall be unto you for a memorial How should the third of September be for a memorial unto you c. though the Canon of the Scripture be consigned and the Lord will write this story by an infallible spirit no more to remain upon records amongst men yet they are all of them recorded before him as the Law is written in the hearts of the people of God not with paper and Ink but by the spirit of the living God so doth the Lord record his mercies which he doth multiply upon his people not with pen and Ink but by the spirit of the living God in the heart of God for ever as it s said of the sins of men Deut. 31.34 Is it not laid up in store with me and sealed up amongst my Treasures they are laid up amongst the treasures of God so God hath treasures of mercy also as well as of sins by him c. Secondly they are numbered by him as the Miracles of Christ in the daies of his flesh were numbered as it s said this was the first Miracle that he did and this was the second Miracle that Jesus did after he came out of Judea into Galilee So also the Miracles that Christ did work in glory are all numbered as the Lord numbers the several degrees of his enemies downfal in seven Seales seven Trumpets and seven Vials so he doth number also the several degrees of his peoples deliverances and 2 Numb 14.22 he doth number their sins answerable unto the number of his mercies they have seen my Miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness and they have provoked and tempted me now these ten times it is true that the mercies God bestows on us are a multitude of mercies and it is as easie for us to number the stars as it is to count them all but though we cannot do it yet God can do it and he doth it who can tell the number of the stars and call them all by their names Psal 71.15 David saith that he would shew forth the salvations of God all the day long for I know not the number of them c. and we must consider God hath his set number of mercies for a people if they abuse them and walk unworthy of them he will not shew mercy for ever he will not draw forth his loving kindness from generation to generation Cessat descensus si in perpetuum ascensus cessat as Belishazers Kingdom was numbered the Lord wrote a memorial for him so he will write a memorial upon some mercies as the number of sins is finished as Antichrist hath his Numbers the number of the beast is the number of a man c. and mercies may have their number also even your mercies the Lord may say Now your prosperity is numbered your deliverances victories are numbered I will
Thirdly how they have been improved and what hath been returned unto God for them What shall I return unto the Lord c. Hezekiah returned not according to all that God did for him Let me put some questions to you to what ends you think God hath wrought deliverance for you First was it that the Truths of God might be corrupted In Ierusalem there shall be deliverance and holiness and is the first step to holiness the subversion of Truth it remains as a brand upon their Tayls for ever Rev. 9.7,10 Their faces were as the faces of men and they were locusts they conquered wheresoever they came but they had a sting in their tails they corrupted Religion wheresoever they came and is the way to holiness to corrupt truth that cuts up holiness by the root shall it be said this is the Army that conquered all enemies but generally poysoned the people whom they conquered and shall it be said in this age men asserted the liberties of men but corrupted the truths of God shall we contend for every thing but truth and this is a Truth there are fundamentals in Religion let scorners say what are fundamentals let me say how long halt you between two opinions c. Secondly were you delivered that your brethren might be oppressed that some few men might share Nations between them I looked for Iudgement and behold a cry I and its a cry that will enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabboth every man is for gain from his quarter and no man abates of his own private interest whatever he can stretch forth his hand unto he takes let the people be opprest yea authority over-awed rather then we be retrenched we groan under the peoples oppressions and yet we are the greatest oppressors let all opposition be removed that so none but we may oppress Thirdly to trample the Ministery under your feet and to remove that standing Ordinance to pluck the stars out of the right hand of Christ but yet they will be preserved notwithstanding all opposition and take the Jesuites counsel Contzen begin with them first that there may be none able to maintain any thing in the Religion which we oppose error cui patrocinium deerit sine pugnâ concidet Fourthly was it that the Ordinances of God might be by every one prophaned and to turn liberty unto Libertinism a free liberty to make Arminians Socinians c. and all manner of abominations and they must not be restrained no nor discountenanced though the Apostle will not allow a man to shew that common humanity to them that he would do to a Heathen Receive them not into your house because they bring not this truth is there nothing men have to dally with but the truths of Christ is there nothing to be turned into wantonness but the grace of God it is the word of his grace were we delivered to commit all these abominations c. I beseech you nay charge you to beware of these things else first your mercies will be witnesses against you and let me tell you then the witness of mercies and of conscience there are not any more dreadful but him who hath said I will be a swift witness c. Secondly your deliverance is then not in mercy but in wrath mens pleasures may become plagues and their liberty their destruction Thirdly if you forsake God then your deliverances will be your ruine Josh 24.20 if you depart from him after he hath done you good he will turn and do you hurt but consider the Lord doth make glorious promises to his people Jerusalem shall be a quiet habitation c. and the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad Rivers Esa 33.21 Rivers first for fruitfulness Deut. 10.7 a fruitful land a land of Rivers c. Secondly defence Amos 3.8 Whose rampant was the Sea and whose wall was from the Sea Thirdly for plenty Esa 23.3 The harvest of the River is her revenue and this is a Mart of Nations c. And whereas Siloah was a little River what they wanted in the creature should be supplyed in God he would be a place of broad Rivers to them But Rivers may give access to enemies as well as do good to the inhabitants there were but two sorts of ships some for burthens and some for war but no galley with oars or ships for war should pass but the supplies from God shall be without any inconvenience they shall receive good from God without evil c. Fourthly consider how mercies shall be avenged there is no provocations like unto them of sons and daughters because there are none that are so much against mercy and those mercies that are not returned in thankfulness and obedience wil surely be required in punishment in rewards the Lord doth not return unto men according to their services but he doth reward men in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mercy Hos 10.12 but punishments shall be answerable to abused mercy and that either here or hereafter there is no people so highly the people of his curse as those that have been the people of his mercies and those to whom he hath shewn most love you have I known of all the Nations of the earth c. therefore you will I punish Amos 3.3 and its mercy and light that will be the great aggravations of mens sins hereafter the Lord doth come to ask fruit here in waies of grace but he will exact hereafter in waies of Justice for he will not lose any of his mercies but if he hath them not returned here in way of thankfulness he will hereafter in a way of torment as mens mercies have been so shall their torments be the greater vessels of mercy men have been in this life the greater and the larger vessels of wrath they shall be in the life to come for mercy here doth but inlarge the heart for wrath hereafter The upright Heart AND Its DARLING Sin PSALM 18.23 I was also upright before him and kept my self from mine iniquity DAvid now being grown old his enemies being subdued the promise that God made to him fulfilled and the Kingdom settled upon his head and he was not only delivered from the danger of the hand of Saul but also from the fear of the house of Saul he cannot let the remembrance of such a mercy pass without a song of praises though for particular deliverances he made particular songs before that God might have praise is his end in bestowing mercy and it should be our end in desiring mercy and they are our greatest assurance of enjoying of mercies when Gods enlarging of his hand is also a means of enlarging of our hearts for he doth expect no other sacrifice but the calves of our lips Here are four or five things that David here takes notice of First he sets forth the greatness of the danger that he was in the sorrows of death compassed me round about c. Secondly the glory of the