then any whatsoeuer Iustin lib. 18. That Tyrian proued the wisest in the end who hauing concluded in the Euening with his fellowes that hee which could first in the next morning behold the Sun which they worshipped as a God should bee King looked not toward the East where hee riseth but towards the westerne mountaines where his rayes did first appeare We will follow his Example and seeing we cannot seeke into the fountaine at which the Cherubs did couer their faces let vs behold it in the mountaines that is the Prophetes and Apostles Hierom. lib. 110. Commēt in Ezech. as Ierome expounds the word or the mountaines that is the creatures and works of God in all which it doth most clearely shine there is no worke of God in al which there doth not appeare such manifest Characters of his mercy that he which runneth may reade them Those benefites in tended towards his children as namely Election before all time creation in the beginning of time Vocation Redemption Iustification in the fulnes of time Glorification after all time c. To proue them to bee so many riuers of the bottomles Ocean of Gods neuer dying mercy it were but to busie my selfe about a principle which I hope none of you will call into question Gods almighty power is manifested vnto vs in that hee hath created the world of nothing p Psal 33.6 and made all the hoast of heauen by the breath of his mouth and it is a property in describing of which Gods Secretaries do striue to be eloquent Iob to shew it saith that q Iob. 9. he spreadeth out the heauens like a Canopie and walketh vpon the the height of the Sea that he maketh the starres Arcturus and Orion and Pleiades and the climates of the South Elihu sets it forth vnder Benoth whose taile is like a Cedar r Iob. 40. and his bones like staues of brasse yet the Lord leadeth him whither soeuer hee will and vnder Leuiathan which makes the depth to boile like a pot and the sea like a pot of ointment and yet the Lord can put a hooke in his nose and pearce his iawes with an Angle Dauid to shew it sayth that hee maketh the mountaines to skippe like Rammes and the little hils like young sheepe Psalm 114. I say to expresse it sayth that ſ Isa 40. all nations before him are as a droppe of a bucket and are counted as the dust of the ballance that he taketh away the Isles as a little dust that hee hath measured the waters in his fist counted heauen with a span comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountaines in a weight and the hilles in a ballance and yet his mercy goeth beyond his power in that his omnipotency hath made nothing but what his mercy moued him to create and it comes after too in preseruing and guiding and protecting by his heauenly prouidence a branch of his mercy whatsoeuer his powerfull hand hath made if hee should but once stoppe the influence of his mercy al the works of his hands should presently bee annihilated t Psal 33.5 The earth is full of the mercies of the Lord sayth the Psalmist hee sayth not the heauens sayth Austen Quia non indigent misericordia vbi est nulla miseria they needed no mercy where there is no miserie Augustin in illum locum and yet in another place hee addeth the heauens to thy truth an other of his attributes goeth vnto the clouds there it stayeth but thy mercy goeth further Psal 14.5.9 it reacheth vnto the heauens in fewer wordes It is ouer all his works But my text leades me to entreat of his mercy as it hath reference vnto his iustice where you shall find that of two infinites one doth infinitely surpasse an other to bee called a mercifull God and the father of mercy is a title wherein God especially delighteth but he is almost neuer called the God of iudgement heare how hee proclaimeth himselfe The Lord the Lord strong there is one Epithite of his power mercifull gratious slow to anger aboundant in goodnesse and truth reseruing mercy for thousands forgiuing iniquity and transgression and sinne there are sixe of his mercy Then comes his iustice in punishing of offences not making the wicked innocent visiting the iniquity of the Fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation there he confines his iustice hee sayth vnto vs as he doth vnto the seas in Iob (w) Iob. 38.11 Hither shalt thou goe and thou shalt goe no further here shalt thou stay thy raging waues it shall not passe the fourth generation and that is more then Ordinarie if it come so farre it is but at a high spring Exo. 20.5.6 vpon such as hate him but his mercy followes like a boundlesse Ocean vpon thousandes of those that loue him Nay the Prophet tels vs that to punish is with God a rare extraordinary work x Esa 28.21 The Lord sayth he shall stand as in as in mount Perazim he shall be angry as in the valley of Gibeon that hee may doe his worke his strange worke and bring to passe his act his strange act This is an act of iudgement where you see that to punish with him is an vncouth and strange worke an acte indeed vnto which without compulsion of iustice hee could not be drawne hee is more loath to put out his hand for to inflict a iudgement then euer was Octauius to subscribe his name to the execution of any publike offender whose vsuall speech was this Sueton. Vtinam nescirem literas I would to God I could not write How oft doth miserable man offend against his maker surely if the iust man fall seuen times then the wicked falleth seuenty times seauen times yet hee maketh his Sunne to shine vpon them both he makes his rain to fall vpon them both still almost hee containeth the sword of his iustice within the sheath of his mercy if in case hee bee enforced to draw it hee is as it were touched with a feeling of that which the wicked suffer heare himselfe speak Therefore thus sayeth the Lord of hoastes Isa 1.24 the holy one of Israel ah I will ease me of mine aduersaries and auenge mee of mine enemies it is a kind of ease to be auenged of thine enemie and therefore God when the Iewes continue still to prouoke him to his face will ease himselfe by inflicting his iudgements vpon them I will ease me of mine enemies but it comes with an ah or alas it is paine and griefe to him hee is wounded to the very heart his bowels are rowled and turned within him a few teares might haue made him sheath his sworde and deferre his punishments the history of Ahab will proue as much who was one that had solde himselfe to worke wickednes that prouoked the Lord God more then all the Kings of Israel that were
will walke in his paths I thinke I cannot truely say with Hosea that the Lord hath a coÌ„trouersie with the inhabitants of this land because there is no knowledge of God in the land For our heads are not so sicke as our hearts are heauie Isa 1.5 I meane our heads are not so void of knowledge as our hearts are of obedience but I dare boldly say that which followeth By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and whoring Hos 4.2 they breake forth and blood toucheth blood Wil you heare the iudgements annexed in the subsequent words Therefore shall the land mourne and euery one that dwelleth therein shall be cut off This is a terrible curse he that dwelleth in heauen still auert it from vs but yet it is a conclusion which the Lord vseth to inferre vpon such premises Giue me leaue ro repeat a parable vnto you Isa 5.1.2.3 c. My beloued had a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill and he hedged it and gathered the stones out of it and hee planted it with the best plants and hee built a Tower in the midst and made a winepresse therein The Prophet in that place applieth it to the land of Iudah Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the land of Israel and the men of Iudah are his pleasant plants me thinkes I may not vnfitly apply it vnto this Island Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the land of Britaine and the men of this land are his pleasant plants Now therefore O ye inhabitants of this and iudge I pray you betweene him and his vineyard what could he haue done vnto it that hee hath not done Hee hath planted it with his own right hand hee hath so hedged it about with his heauenly prouidence that the wild boare out of the woods cannot roote it vp nor they that goe by pull off his grapes Hee hath watered it most abundantly with the dew of heauen he hath gathered the stones of Popery and superstition out of it he hath set the winepresse of his word therein he hath giuen it a Tower euen a king as a strong tower against his enemies whose raigne the Lord continue ouer vs if it bee his pleasure as long as the moone knoweth her course the sun his going down and let all that loue the peace of Britaine say Amen Now hee hath long expected that it shuld bring forth grapes but behold it bringeth foorth wild grapes He looked for iudgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but loe a crying These were the sinnes of Ierusalem and you know her iudgments he that was Ierusalems God is Britaines God too and therfore if shee paralell Ierusalem in her iniquities let her take heed she tast not of her plagues God though he hath not yet begun to punish her in his fury yet hath he sundry times shaked his rod of correction ouer her if this will not worke amendment her iudgement must be the greater Fearefull was the case of Samaria whoÌ„ Gods punishments could not moue to repentance I haue giuen you cleannesse of teeth in al your Cities Amos. 4. and scarcenesse of Bread in all your places yet haue yee not returned vnto me saith the Lord God I haue with holden the raine from you when there was yet three moneths to the haruest and I caused it to ruine vpon one Citie and brought a drought vpon another yet haue yee not returned vnto me saith the Lord. Pestilence haue I sent amongst you after the manner of Egipt and yet ye haue not returned vnto me saith the Lord. I haue smitten you with blasting and mildew c. yet ye haue not returned vnto me saith the Lord God The Lord hath not hitherto dealt with vs after our sinnes nor plagued vs according to the multitude of our iniquities yet he hath made it manifest that he is displeased with vs His mercy hath pulled backe his hand from drawing his sword of vengeance against vs yet hee hath left vs sundry tokens that hee is angred with our sinnes It is not long since that the heauens were made as brasse Deut. 28.23 and the Earth as yron nay the very waters became as yron or as brasse so that neither the heauens from aboue nor the earth or water from below did aford comforts for the seruice of man This extraordinary cold disteÌ„perature of the ayre might by an Antiperistasis haue kindled some heate of zeale deuotion in our brests when it had not the expected effect Psal 105.16 then he Called for a dearth vpon the land and destroied our prouision of bread euen such a famine that if we were not releeued from forraine countries Ten women might bake their bread in one Ouen as the Lord speaketh Leuit. 26.26 But all this hath not brought vs vpon our knees nor humbled our soules before our God therefore once againe he hath put life in his messenger of death and set him on foote which heretofore of late yeres hath raged in this city like a man of warre and like a gyant refreshed with wine and bestirred himselfe though not with the like violence almost in euery part of this kingdome Psal 91.6 I meane the pestilence that walketh in the darkenesse and the sicknesse that hath killed many thousands at noone day all these are infallible tokens that he is offended with our sinnes Howbeit he is so mercifull that he will not suffer his whole displeasure as yet to arise Horum si singula duras Flectere non possunt poterint tameÌ„ omnia mentes If each of these by themselues cannot preuaile with vs yet if they be all put together they may serue as a threefold cord to draw vs vnto repentance If these be not of force but still wee continue to blow vp the coales of his anger then let vs know for a certainty that they are the forewarners of a greater euill as the cracking of the house is a forewarning of his fall these bee but the flashing lightnings the thunderbolt will come after The cloud that is long in gathering will make the greater storme he is all this while in fetting his stroke that hee may giue the sorer blow Eurum ad se Zephirumque vocat hee is in bringing the windes out of his treasures that he may rain vpon our heads a showre of vengeance which shall bee the portion of al the vngodly to drink I beganne like a Barrabas I will not end like Boanarges my song had an Exordium of mercy I am loath to bring for an Epilogue a thunderclap of iudgment Wherefore my beloued Brethren now that you see the true causes of the ruines of euery common-wealth and the iudgement that hangeth ouer your heads like Damocles his sword for our iniquities flatter your selues no longer in your own sinnes but turne vnto him by speedy and vnfained repentance that hee may repent him of the euill turne away his plagues from you let the wanton leaue his dallying and the drunkard his carrowsing and the Vsurer his biting and the swearer his blaspheming and the oppressor his grinding and euery one amend one in time before the Lords wrath bee further kindled then will the Lord bee mercifull vnto this land hee will quicklie turne the sowre lookes of an angry and sinne reuenging Iudge into the smiling countenance of a mild and gentle Father Hee will take the rodde which he hath prepared for you and burne it in the fire These plagues which doe hang ouer you for your iniquities he will blow away with the breath of his nostrils as hee did the Egyptian Grashoppers into the red sea he will command his destroying Angell to put vp his sword into the sheath he will open the windowes of heauen and power downe a blessing vpon you without measure Then shall you be blessed in the Citie and blessed in the field blessed at your going out and blessed at your comming in and whatsoeuer you put your hands vnto shall be blessed your sonnes shall a Psa 129.4 grow vp as Oliue branches and your daughters shall be as the b Psal 144. polished corners of the Temple Your grounds shall so abound with grane that the tillers shall laugh and sing your garners shall be full and plenteous with all manner of store c Ioel. 2.24 your presses shall abound with Oyle and wine your sheepe shall bring forth thousands and tenne thousands in your fields Euery thing shall prosper nothing shall stoppe the current of Gods blessings there shall be no decay nor leading into captiuity and no complayning in your streetes and which is better then all â—hese hee will giue you faithfull painefull Pastors to feede you his spirite to comfort you his word to instruct you his wisedome to direct you his Angels to watch ouer you his grace to assist you and in a word He will be your God and you shall be his people Esther 6.9 thus shall it be done vnto all those whome the King of heauen shall honour so that all the world shal wonder at your felicity say Blessed be the Lord which taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his seruants happy are the people that bee in such a case yea blessed are al they which haue the Lord for their God thus wil he be with you and direct you in the desert of this world till he bring you into a faire and Goodly place the promised land a land that floweth with better things then abouÌ„dance of Milke and Honey the celestiall Paradise the heauenly Canaan the kingdome of glory prepared for you from the beginning of the world euen that kingdome where the King is verity the Lawes charity the Angels your company the Peace felicitie the life eternity To this kingdom the God of al mercy bring vs for his sake that bought vs with his owne blood to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three persons in trinitie and one God in vnitie be ascribed all honor glory power and Maiestie both now and for euermore Amen FINIS
before him 1. King 16 30. then Baasha then Omri then Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat that made Israel to sinne therefore the Lord sends vnto him the Prophet Eliah telling him that in the field where the dogges licked vp the bloud of Naboth 1. King 21.19.21 they should licke his blood also and that he would wipe away his posterity as one wipeth a dish when it is wiped and turned vpside-downe Ahab hath no sooner rented his clothes at the Prophets words then God repenteth him of what hee had threatened Seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me verse 29. a simple humiliation God wot onely in outward shew and yet it shall suffice to reuoke part of Gods iudgements against him because hee submitteth himselfe before me I will not bring that euill in his dayes vpon his house Niniuie had multiplyed her transgressions as the sand vpon the sea shore she had by her sinnes blowne vp the coales of Gods anger against her but yet he will not come vpon her as a thiefe in the night to destroy her she shall haue fortie dayes warning and if in the meane time she will turne her plaiing into praying and her feasting into fasting and by couering her selfe with sackcloath hide from his eyes her broade sayles of pride he will make it knowne vnto her that hee was not so ready before to lend a left eare of iustice to her crying sinnes as he is now to affoord a right eare of mercy to the cry of her sinners Ionah 3.10 hee will repent of the euil that he had denounced against her and will not doe it The old world had so defiled the earth with her cruelties and the smoake of her sinnes did so fume vp to heauen into the nostrils of God Gen. 6.6 that he was sorry in his heart that euer hee had made man yet hee will not presently destroy this wicked generation there shall bee an hundreth and twenty yeares for repentance Vers 3 before hee will purge this Augaeum stabulum with a deluge of waters Nay such is the neuer drying streame of his mercies Ruffin hist Eccles lib. 2. Cap. 18. that for the righteous sake the wicked though they doe not repent shall fare the better God is not like to the Emperour Theodosius who for the offence of a few put all the Thessalonians to the sword but rather if without offence the Potter may be compared to the clay like to that Persian Generall Herod lib. Plut. in Caesare who spared Delos because that Apollo was borne there or Caesar who made the Cindians free men for Theopompus his sake it was an opinion of the Heathen that for one euill mans sake many good men were put to the worse Pallas exurere gentem Virgil. 1. lib AEn Argiuûm atque ipsos voluit submergere ponto Pallas ouerthrew the whole nauie of the Argiues Vnius ob noxam furias Aiacis Oilei for the sinne of one man by name Aiax the sonne of Oileus Hesiod op dies and Πολλαâ—◠καὶ ξυμπασά πόλις κακοῦ ἀνδÏὸς á¼Ï€Î±Ï…Ïεῖ God punisheth a whole City for one mans sinne and sends vpon it Διμὸν ὸμοῦ καὶ λόιμον famine and plague for the sinne of some particular it is not so God neuer punisheth one man for anothers offences if thou obiect vnto me that the Israelites were plagued for Dauids trespasse I answere Dauids sinne did occasion that punishment which the Israelites did iustly deserue for their owne iniquities for howsoeuer Dauid in respect of himselfe who deserued more called them sheep yet indeede they were Wolues in sheepe skins and verily in this particular wee haue an euident demonstration of his mercies for first of three seueral punishments he giues him leaue to chuse which of them hee would When Dauid had chosen the Pestilence for three dayes indeede he sent his destroying Angell but before his sword was halfe drawne hee puts it vp againe and repenteth him of the euill and abridgeth the time Now we know that euery substraction from his iudgements is a multiplication of his mercies and how farre hee is from punishing the righteous with the wicked let Sodome witnesse a sinke of the filthiest sinnes a cage of the vncleanest birdes a denne of the wickedest theeues that euer the earth bredde yet hee will not rashlie come vpon her but first he will goe downe and see Gen. 18.21 whether they haue done altogether according vnto that crie which was come vnto him if there can but fiftie righteous men bee found in fiue Cities which was but for euery Citie ten nay if but forty nay if but thirty nay if but twenty nay if but tenne can bee found amongst them all which was but for euery City two he wil not destroy the City for those mens sake when none can bee found saue iust Lot hee will not subuert Sodome before hee bee brought out of the City nay hee will spare the whole City of Zoar for Lots sake if good Paul bee in the ship all that are with him Act. 27. euen the barbarous Souldiers shall for his sake come safe to land But of all others that I may end this point where I beganne it Ierusalem in my Text is most famous whome the Lord doth so tenderly compassionate that if within her spatious walles amongst so many millions of soules one righteous man could haue beene found eyther amongst the Nobles or Magistrates or Priests or People hee would haue spared Ierusalem for that mans sake And is this true bee not then Vse 1 dismayed thou fainting and drouping soule whome the burden of thy sinnes hath pressed downe to the brinke of hell is there such a thunder-threatning cloud of Gods iustice set before thine eyes that thou thinkest it impossible that the Sunne of his fauour should pearce through it into thine heart deceiue not thy selfe where sinne aboundeth Rom. 5.20 there grace superaboundeth thou art a fitte Subiect for God to worke vpon where should the Physitian shew his skill but where the greatest maladies doe raigne and where can God better shew his mercy then where is the greatest aboundance of mans miserie the desperatest diseases that can befall the soule of man dead Apoplexies vncleane leprosies dangerous Lethargies remedilesse Consumptions whatsoeuer they be God can as easily cure them as the smallest infection and as he is able so is he most willing to doe it because his mercy as I haue already proued is his chiefest attribute and euery attribute of God is the Essence of God so that hee can no more cease from his works of mercy then the eye beeing well disposed from seeing or the fire from heating or the heauen from mouing or the Sunne from shining hee that denyeth this is a Traytor to the king of Heauen because hee gaine-sayeth that still wherin God especially delighteth There is no sinne of it selfe so hainous but God can wipe it away he will forgiue wicked Manasses aswel as righteous Abraham 10000