THE MISERY OF A DESERTED PEOPLE Opened in a Sermon Preached at Pauls before the Lord Major Aldermen and Common-Councel Decemb. 2. 1659. Being a day of solemn Humiliation by them appointed By EDWARD REYNOLDS D. D. LONDON Printed by Tho. Ratcliffe for George Thomason at the Signe of the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-yard 1659. To the Right Honourable Thomas Aleyn Lord Major of the City of London the Court of Aldermen and Common-Counsel Right Honourable WHen I was by you called to bear a part in that seasonable and necessary service of your late solemn Humilition I considered the sad condition whereunto these Nations were reduced the many and great provocations which we have been guilty of the miserable commotions and earthquakes which have not onely shaken but even dissolved our foundations and made them all out of course I seriously looked back on the dark and gloomy providences of God amongst us the untimely death of Princes the dimidiating and dissolving of Parliaments the frequent expirations and vicissitudes of Governments the horrid Apostasie Atheisme Scepticisme Indifferency Prodigies of phrenetick and pernicious Opinions whereby multitudes have played the wantons with as glorious a light of Orthodox Religion as any Nation under heaven enjoyed the defaming of Ministry decrying of Ordinances incroaching of many Romish doctrines under a disguize and other like distempers whereby we are become an hissing and astonishment to the Nations round about us In a word It seemed unto me That the Scene of the ten Tribes was translated into these Nations and that we were making hast to be a Jezreel a Lo-Ruhamah and a Lo-Ammi as they once did And therefore though my habitual disposition usually lead me to Arguments which have more of mildnesse and gentlenesse in them as remembring the counsel of the Apostle to instruct in meeknesse those that oppose themselves yet I thought it a duty little lesse then absolutely necessary in such a day of trouble and rebuke to set the Trumpet unto my mouth and to represent unto you the doleful condition of a Deserted people and withall the sad misgiving feares whereunto the Symptomes of these sick and sinfull Nations did lead me least the Lord were now departing from such a People who after an hundred years possession of the Gospel did still so wantonly abuse it and walk so unworthy of it Yet if any man shall say unto me that it shall not be so that the Lord will still own us and continue his presence with us I shall answer as once the Prophet Jeremy did Amen The Lord do so the Lord forbid that I should desire the wofull Day or with Jonah be displeased with the patience and goodness of God Farre may this Sermon be from a Prophecy or prediction let it be onely an Instruction and a warning unto us But certainly the maturity of our sinnes and the face of our distempers do so farre threaten us as that we ought thereby to be awakened to cry mightily unto God and to hold him fast least he be weary of repenting and after so many despised mercies take at last the plumb line into his hand and refuse againe to pass by us any more If hereunto this weak service of mine may be any way useful either to City or Countrey to Magistrates Ministers or people I shall have abundant cause to blesse the Lord to whose gracious presence and protection in these dangerous times I desire in my daily prayers to commend these three Nations and this great City and so to be Your most humble and faithful servant in the work of the Lord EDW. REYNOLDS From my Study Decemb. 10. 1659. Hos. 9. 12. Yea woe also to them when I depart from them WE finde in the Law of Moses that in several cases the Priests of the Lord were to sound the Trumpets unto the people to summon and awaken them unto the special duties which God called for Numb. 10. 1 10. And in like manner the Lord commandeth his Prophets to lift up their voice like a Trumpet and to set the Trumpet unto their mouth Isa. 58. 1. Hos. 8. 1. One end of blowing the Trumpet was to give warning to the people of any approaching danger that they might timely prevent and escape it Joel 2. 1. Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an alarme in mine holy mountaine let all the Inhabitants of the Land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand This is one special duty of the spiritual Watchmen Jerem. 6. 17. I set Watchmen over you saying hearken to the sound of the Trumpet Sonne of man saith the Lord to the Prophet I have set thee a Watchman to the House of Israel therefore thou shalt heare the word at my mouth and warn them from me See Ezek. 33. 2 9. as Elisha gave the King of Israel warning of the King of Syriahs counsels against him 2 Reg. 6. 9. This charge Jehoshaphat gave unto the Priests and Levites that they should warne the people not to transgresse least wrath come upon them and their brethren 2 Chron. 19. 10. When ruine was hanging over Nineveh Jonah is commanded to cry against it Jonah 1. 2. Crying sinnes call for crying preachers and when He slept in that terrible tempest which was upon the ship the Master of the ship awakened him What ailest thou O sleeper arise and call upon thy God Jon. 1. 6. We have had amongst us the confused noise of the battel of the Warrier and garments rolled in blood the noise of the ratling of the wheeles and of the prancing of the horses and of the jumping of the Chariots of the bright sword and the glittering Speare And this should have awakened us to returne and to seek the Lord For certainly it is through the Lords wrath that the people of a Land are as the fuel of fire no man sparing his brother But his anger is not turned away his hand is stretched out still And if our eares were well awakened I feare we should heare a more dreadful noise then that of the Warriar the noise of the wings of the living Creatures Ezek. 1. 24. the glory of the Lord in his Church threatning to depart from us as he did from his people Judah Ezek. 9. 3. 10. 18 19. 11. 22 23. I have therefore made choise of these words of this Trumpetsounding Prophet Hosea that we may be awakened to cry mightily unto God and to hold him fast and not let him go to repent and do our first works least he come quickly and remove our Candlestick out of his place as he threatned to do unto the Church of Ephesus Rev. 2. 4 5. In this Chapter we have an enumeration of several sins of that people and several judgements denounced against the same The sinnes are 1. Idolatry going from God ascribing their plenty to their superstition ver. 1. 10 15. 2. Emertaining and believing false prophets ver. 7 8. 3. Profundity of desperate wickedness as
that is good 2 Cor. 3. 5. thus the Lord left Hezekiah in that one particular of the Babylonian Ambassadors that he might have tryal of his weaknesse and learne to ascribe all his other standing to the grace of God 2 Chr. 32. 31. Psal. 30. 7. 3. In a way of punishment When the presence of God having been undervalued and his Spirit grieved and his grace turned into wantonnesse he doth in anger depart from those who put such affronts and indignities upon him and thus God forsakes us when we forsake him 2 Chron. 15. 2. and when we behave our selves ill in our doings he will hide his face from us Micah 3. 4. It is an hiding wrath Isa. 57. 17. 59. 2. 64. 7. for the Lord threatneth darknesse to darknesse to those that walk not in the light when they have it John 12. 35. This penal desertion is either personal or publick Personal is when the Lord having endured with much long-suffering the provocations of evil men and finding his grace still abused doth at last depart from them as he did from Saul 1 Sam. 16. 14. and because they will not be purged doth resolve that they shall not be purged but seales them up Under this â—oleful judgement that he will strive no more with them but let them alone to be filthy still Gen. 6. 3. Hos. 4. 17. Rev. 22. 11. so the Lord forsook Judas when he withdrew his restraining grace from him and left him to go quickly about his wickednesse to do that now which he had before withheld from doing Joh. 13. 27. And Balaam when he left him to runne after the wages of iniquity in wrath as it were granting him to do what he had forbidden him to do before Numb. 22. 12. 20. 35. When the soul of a wretched sinner hath so long outfaced the light and withstood the wrestlings of the Word that at last it contracteth a brawniness and senselesnesse of it then the Lord frequently cometh in with penall induration as the consequent of voluntary and contracted induration and as to any spiritual awakenings and excitations wholly departeth from such a soul This is the forest judgement next to hell it selfe Publick desertion when the Lord forsaketh a People and withdraws his presence from a whole Church or Countrey as when he threatned to remove the Candlestick from Ephesus Rev. 2. 5. to strive no more with the old world Gen. 6. 3. when he calls the ten Tribes Lo-Ammi and will own them for his people no longer Hos. 1. 9. This is either partial as when the Lord forsook Shilo but did not cast off all the people but made that place an example to warn Jerusalem Jer. 7. 12 14. when he threatned to scatter his people he said he would leave a few men a tenth from the sword c. Ezek. 12. 15 16. Isa. 6. 12 13. Or total as he is said to have cast off the whole seed of Ephraim Jer. 7. 15. Againe it is either desertion temporary when the Lord doth return with mercy to a people and make them as though they had not been cast off maketh her who had been termed forsaken and desolate to be Hephzibah and Beulah Isa. 62. 4. Zach. 10. 6. As in Queen Maries dayes he seemed to forsake England and in a few years returned to us again Or perpetual as when he called the name of the ten Tribes Lo-Ruhamah resolving to take them away utterly and to have mercy on them no more Hosea 1. 6. Now that we may understand what this penal desertion is we must note That it is not every publick affliction which the Lord brings upon a Nation or people He had not forsaken Judah when he had sent them into bondage Ezra 9. 9. The Lord was a Sanctuary unto them in Babylon Ezek. 11. 16. they may be in a wildernesse and have God with them Exod. 33. 15. Paul was persecuted but not forsaken 2 Cor. 4. 9. Neither doth every spiritual Judgement of ignorance or corruption in worship amount to a divine desertion The ten Tribes a long time after the Calves of Dan and Bethel had Prophets sent unto them and were not presently called Lo-Ammi or forsaken by God But the Lord is then said to depart from a people when he giveth them a Bill of divorce and breaketh off the conjugal Relation which he had with them owns them not as Members of his Family withdraws his presence from them his Care of them and thrusts them out of his house It is a solemn renunciation and dimission resolving to have nothing more to do with them Jer. 3. 8. Res tuas tibi habe redde meas as Plautus expresseth the form amongst the Romans Collige Sarcinulas dicit Libertus exi Take that which is yours leave that which is mine and get you gone out of my family It denoteth 1. A subduction of Peace and comfort withdrawing the evidences of Gods favour from a people Gods Church is precious and honourable in his sight Isa. 43. 4. but when he casts off a people and gives a Bill of Divorce he removes from them the Covenant of his peace A rejected woman hath little sense of comfort from her husband when he turns her out of his doors 2. A subduction of his visible presence in his Ordinances which are the Glory of a Nation As when a man forbids any servant of his family to wait upon the woman whom he repudiats So when the Ark of Gods presence was taken the Glory is said to depart from Israel 1 Sam. 4. 22. when the Lord said to the Prophet Thou shalt not be a Reprover to them Ezek 3. 26. and to the Apostle depart I will send thee to the Gentiles Acts 22 21. 13 46. Acts 28. 28. when a people see not their signes have not a Prophet left Psal. 74. 9. when the Glory of the Lord is upon the wing and the wheele in motion Ezek. 10. 18. This is a dangerous evidence that God is forsaking a people for his Ordinances are his presence 3. A subduction of Gifts and graces as God withdrew his Spirit from Saul 1 Sam. 16. 4. 28. 15. when a Nation is darkned the wisdome of the wise and understanding of the prudent is hid Isa. 29. 14. Or the Lord in his severe providence is pleased to lay wise and prudent men aside that their wisdome shall not be believed or made use of this is a sore degree of Divine desertion When men are left to despise the very callings and persons that are eminent for gifts and cry down the comforts annexed unto those gifts and the Seminaries where they usually are acquired These are steps of Gods departings from a people 4. A subduction of defence and Protection when a Nation is smitten and there is no healing but God takes away his peace from them Jer. 14. 19. 16. 5. and they in danger of being given into the hands of Enemies and are as a speckled bird a gazing stock and a
Ludibrium to the birds that are round about them Jer. 12. 7 9. 5. A judiciary Tradition or leaving men to the vanity of their own mindes and the lusts of their own hearts to a giddinesse of spirit and delusion of judgement A sad step this of divine desertion when men are given up to walk in their owne counsels Psal. 81. 12. and are captivated to strong delusions to believe lies 2 Thes. 2. 11. we have seen what this judgement is for God to depart from a people It is the unchurching of them sending them back into Egypt again as our Prophet here expresseth it v. 3. 6. Let us now consider what a fearful Woe this is for God thus to leave a people it is of all other the most comprehensive Eminently containing in it all other woes as Gods presence doth all other comforts This the most comprehensive Promise in the Covenant of grace I will be their God And this the most comprehensive threatning I will depart I will loâ—e them no more The Apostle calls it wrath to the uttermost 1 Thes. 2. 16. The Prophet wants words to expresse it and veiles it over with this black and dismal intimation Thus will I do unto thee Amos 4. 12. when they scornfully ask'd the Prophets what burden they had from the Lord to deliver unto them the Lord gives them this as a Burden of burdens a Curse of curses I will forsake you saith the Lord Jerem. 23. 33. 1. It cuts off our relation unto God ye are not my people I will not be your God Hos. 1. 9. It is the unfranchizing of a Church Cancelling their Charter Reversing and extinguishing all their priviledges making them very Gentiles A people without God or Covenant 2. It consequently cuts off our Communion with God He delights not in us nor we in him for though this be the greatest judgement in the world yet there is this further misery in it That wicked men choose it and are well pleased to be without God They say unto God depart from us Job 21. 14. They are contented that the holy one of Israel should cease from before them Isa. 30. 11. 3. It cuts off the Glory and Renowne of a People which stands not in their Seas and Rivers in their Wealth or Power or Plenty or Trade or other outwâ—rd Accomplishments but in having God nigh them Deut. 4. 6. Christ is the Riches of the world Rom. 11. 12. Gods favour the honour of a people Isa. 43. 4. when he forsakes them their Glory is gone 4. It cuts off the comfort of all our enjoyments the pure use whereof we have from the favour of God alone bringeth thornes and briars in our palaces maketh our Table a snare our Riches the fuel of our lusts our Quailes the harbingers of our curses our plenty nothing but the matter of our pride and our perdition Wicked men eat their meat as swine do mingled with mire and uncleannesse they eat in darknesse and sorrow their riches are their hurt Eccles. 5. 13 17. Vanity and vexation emptinesse and affliction are the total summe of all their worldly abundance of all the sparks which they have kindled after which they shall lie downe in sorrowe Isaiah 50. 11. 5. It Seales us up under wrath and Judgement is the Talent of leade which is cast on the Mouth of the Ephah Zach. 5. 8. It is the last Judgement before the last of all the very outward Court or portall of Hell For when the presence and ordinances of God are gone men are in a Remedilesse Condition Sick to death without either physick or Physitian O saith Saul I am sore distressed the Philistims warre and God is departed 1 Sam. 28. 15. Sin woundeth Satan accuseth Law curseth Death pursueth Conscience roareth Hell flameth and God is departed 6. It shuts out our prayeâ—â— when Gods back is turned and his prescâ—â—ce removed then his Eare is stopped when he shutts us out he shutts out our prayer likewise They who are Lo-Ammi are Certainly Lo-Ruchamah If no people no Mercy There will be a time when the worst of men who now despise it will cry aloud for mercy but all in vaine God will not hear them because they refused to hear him Prov. 1. 28. Jer. 11. 14. Ezek. 8. 18. 7. It shuts out the prayers of Holy men for us when God casts a people out of his sight he will not here a Prophet for them Jer. 7. 16. nay not an Assembly of Prophets such as were mighty in prayers as Moses and Samuel Jer. 15. 1. such as have had experience of most glorious deliverances as Noah Daniel and Job Ezekiel 14. 14. 8. It opens an Inlet for all other Miseries and troubles le ts loose the sluces and as in Noahs flood breaks up the fountains of the great deep Many evils and troubles shall befall them saith the Lord and they shall say are not these evils come upon us because God is not amongst us Deut. 31. 17. When God is with a people none can be against thâ—â— to hurt them He sweetens all theâ—â— Sorrowes makes their very Enemyes at pâ—â—â—e but when the Glory and the wall â—â—â—â—re is departed there is a free approach for all Calamities a people are then ripe for destruction Now to clear both the Justice and Goodness of God in this fore Judgment we are to understand 1. That the Lord doth not in this manner forsake a Nation or Church untill 1 They forsake him our mercies are from God our Miseries from our selves Hos. 13. 9. 2 Chron. 15. 2. 2. Not untill all Remedies have been by them rejected and he wearied with Repenting so that he can no longer beare being pressed as a cart full of sheaves 2 Chron. 36. 16. Jer. 15. 6. Jer. 44. 22. Isa. 43. 24. Amos 2. 13. 3. Nor without first giveing solemne warnings both by his Messengers and by his more moderate chastisements as we finde Amos 3. 7. 4. 7 12. Amos 7. 1 7. 2. That when he doth forsake a people He doth it 1. Unwillingly It is his strange work he can scarce bring his minde to resolve upon it How shall I give thee up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel c. Hos. 11. 8. He speaks against them and then remembers them againe Jerem. 31. 18. 2. Lingringly and gradually and as it were cum animo revertendi If his people would hold fast and not let him go so he did in the deportation of the ten Tribes first in the dayes of Pekah he carried the Land of Napthali away into Assyria 2 Reg. 15. 29. And after in the dayes of Hosea upon violation of the conditions of service and tribute to the Assyrians he carried the rest away and removed them out of his sight 2 Reg. 17. 6 18. 3. Not till he have marked his own select people in the forehead and have provided a Zoar a Pella some hiding place and chambers of refuge for them Ezek. 9. 4. Isa. 26. 20. 2 Chron.
but to the nation aside as Rejected stones unfit for the building Lastly the General Senselesness of Judgments past or present the sleep of slumber and security which is upon most of us as upon Jonah in the Tempest few awakening themselves to cry unto God or to poure out their Confessions Complaints or Supplications at the throne of Grace The Lord open our Eyes and perswade us in this our day to lay to heart the things which belong unto our peace to prepare to meet our God to hold him fast with strong cryes and love of his Truth and not to let him go till he preserve three sinful Nations and snatch them as Brands out of the burning or at least that we our selves may be hid in the day of the Lords Anger I shall Conclude with a few words of Exhortation both unto the people in generall and unto you who are Magistrates of this great City in particular unto such things as seeme necessary Remedies of our great danger and Means to keep our glory in the midst of us still First to the people 1. Repent and do your first works else Iniquity will be your ruine Even after a bill of divorce God allows an adulterous Church to returne unto him Jer. 3. 1 22. Hos. 2. 2 19. In a day of darkeness and gloominess of horses and horsemen of fire and Earthquake of Armies and Terrors the Lord calls on his people to Turne to him with intimation of a gracious Answer Joel 2. 12 13 14 18 19. With a peradventure of mercy Zeph. 2. 3. This means God prescribeth unto Ephesus to preserve their Candlestick amongst them Rev. 2. 5. If this be neglected no people nearer unto Cursing then those who have enjoyed the light and presence of God ripening only thorns and briars Heb. 6. 8. Amos 3. 2. 2. Wrestle mightily with God be not refused nor rejected let the Lord know you are Resolved to hold fast and not to let him go without a blessing Gen. 32. 26. Lord rather no Canaan no milk no honie no houses no vineyards no heards no flocks no Angel then No God Exod. 33. 14 15 16. Lord whither shall we go to mend our selves thou only hast the words of eternal life Joh. 6. 67 68. Will changes in Government mend us will a Democracy or Aristocracy or any other form of Politie mend us if God be going away from us Ask the Prophet Now saith he they shall say we have no King because we feared not the Lord What then should a King do to us Hos. 10. 3. if we feare not the Lord if we sweare falsely in a Covenant if we be an empty Vine and if our heart be divided and we are found faulty the best Governments can do us but little good 3. Resolve every man with Joshua As for me and my House we will serve the Lord Joshua 24. 15. I will tread in the steps of my father Abraham I will command my children and my houshold to keep the way of the Lord Gen. 18. 19. as David did Solomon Prov. 4. 3 4. If they be my children and my servants if they expect from me the love of a Father or the care of a Master My God shall be their God I will shew the love of a Father and Governour unto them in not suffering their souls by any neglect of mine to be poisoned or endangered by any perverse or Heretical doctrine The way to keep God in a Nation is for every man to keep God in his own heart and in his own family first 4. Prize highly the presence of Christ in his Ordinances the communion of Saints the assembling of your selves together Heb. 10. 24. Contend earnestly for the faith Jude v. 3. Buy the truth sell it not Prov. 23. 23. Let no interest no party no policie make you willing to part with any truth of God for promoting any designe of man If any man speak disgracefully of the Scriptures if any man tempt you to forsake the Ordinances or to beget any low or base esteeme of them in you say unto him as Christ to Satan get thee behinde me Christ will not forsake those to whom he is precious The more value we set upon him the more careful we will be to keep him the more willing he will be to continue with us 5. Pull off the vizard and look through the disguizes which are put upon false doctrines to render them the more plausible Hereticks will bring in their opinions privily and by faire words and good speeches will deceive the hearts of the simple they have Mystery on their forehead Rom. 16. 17. Eph. 4. 14. Col. 2. 8 18. 2 Thes. 2. 3. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Rev. 17. 5. When Agrippina poisoned Claudius she mingled the poison with the meat that he loved as men gild over bitter pills and as Lucretius speaks tip the Cup wherein there is a bitter potion with hony Satan knows how to transform himself into an Angel of light and under pretentions of higher perfection like painted Sepulchres to veile over and palliate rotten and unsound opinions 6. Judge of Ends by the Meanes which are used to compass and promote them there never wants good meanes to advance good Ends We shall never need to do evil that good may come of it Rom. 3. 8. the wife in the Law was not to do an undecent thing in defence of her own husband Deut. 25. 11 12. If you see men revile Ministers decry Ordinances broach Heresies foment Divisions disrespect and lay aside Wise Religious Sober Serious Grave Orthodox Patriots Latet anguis in herba certainly the ends may justly be suspected that make use of such expedients as these to promote them 2. To you that are Magistrates in this great City 1. Study your Character your Authority and your Duty carry your selves like Gods Ministers to be a terror to evil doers be men of courage loving truth c. Exod. 18. 21. 2 Sam. 23. 3 4. Rom. 13. 4. Beg wisdome of God as Solomon did that he may shew you the right way that you may have him his house and glory nearest to your heart If you intend Gods house he will preserve and build yours 2 Sam. 7. 11. If you appeare for him he will engage for you If you ask wisdome to serve him in your places he will give honour and other good things without your seeking 2. Be zealous and valiant for the glory name worship interests Truth of God as Phineas was His zeal for God put a stop to the wrath which was gone out against Israel A Moses a Phineas may stand in the breach and turne away wrath when God seemeth a departing Numl. 14. 12 17 20. Psal. 106. 23 30. put forth your selves be willing to shew your selves nursing Fathers to Gods Church Nurses will do all they can to keep poison from their children do you in your places labour to preserve the Church of Christ in this City from the leaven of
whereby Christ dwells in believers illightning their mindes bending their wills subduing their lusts erecting a tribunal and judgement seat in their hearts giving accesse unto and communion with the Father and the Son Gal. 2. 20. Ephes. 3. 17. for the work of the Spirit is to bring God and Christ unto the soul as his Temple wherein be delighteth to dwell Isa. 57. 15. 3. In works of Peace and Comfort in which respect he is called the Comforter John 14. 16. 16. 7. and the Reports which he makes of God and Christs to the soul are called the Comforts of the holy Ghost Act. 9. 31. Now the Spirit doth bring the consolations of God to the soul of a beleever as a Witness A Seale An Earnest A Seed 1. As a Witnesse He testifieth our Adoption and the truth of the promises causing the heart to acknowledge Gods fidelity in them Rom. 8. 16. 1 Joh. 5. 6 8. 2. As a Seale he ratifies our title and Gods grant to those promises so attested Eph. 4. 30. God by his Spirit sealeth and marketh his own children for himself Isa. 43. 21. Ezek. 9. 4. and so secureth their hearts that he is theirs 1. Joh. 4. 13. 3. As an Earnest and pledge of those glorious things the truth whereof he witnesseth and the property whereunto he sealeth to believers giving livery and seizen and in part possession per primitias gloriae unto them Rom. 8. 23. Eph. 1. 14. 4. As a Seed of God or vital root of grace and comfort when through corruption grace may be abated or comfort overclouded Psal. 97. 11. 1. John 2. 9. In these things standeth the presence of God in his Church The greatnesse of this mercy to have the Lord thus graciously present with a people is more then the tongue of a man or Angel is able to expresse These are some few of those unspeakable benefits which usually come along with it 1. Manifestation of himself and of the secrets of his love and counsel to the Church John 14 21. he shews unto a soul the salvation of God Psal. 50. 23. comes and sups with it Rev. 3. 20. brings it into the banquetting house Cant. 2. 4. unto a feast of fatted things The Ordinances make the Church an Eden a Paradise no tree of life nor meanes of salvation out of that garden 2. Cohabitation and gracious converse with the soules of men having his abode in them John 14. 23. It is a rich mercy as Galeacius said to have but one hours communion with God but when he dwells in his Church as in setled place 1 Reg. 8. 13. Psal. 68. 16. and makes a soul or people his Temple this is truly the glory of such a soul or people 1 Sam. 4. 21. 3. Protection and defence If God be with us who can be against us If he be in the midst of us we shall not be moved Psal. 46. 5. the Lord will cover his people all the day long the beloved of the Lord shall dwell by him in safety Deut. 33. 12. 4. Intimate delight and dearnesse where the Lord dwells he delights He taketh pleasure in those that feare him his desire is towards them Psal. 147. 11. Prov. 11. 20. Cant. 7. 10. 5. Supplies of grace strength ability and assistance unto duties Christ comes not to nakes walls he beautifies the place of his abode and makes it glorious Psalme 149. 4. Isa. 11. 10. and makes us strong in the power of his might Eph. 6. 10. 6. Victory he comes to the soul as Joshua to Canaan to dispossess the ancient Inhabitants Zac. 14. 21. Ezek. 28. 24. We have briefly considering the Glory and honour of a people who have God thus with them as their God owning them comforting blessing defending encamping about them for it is nearnesse unto God and the enjoyment of righteous Lawes and holy Ordinances which makes a Nation great and honourable Deut. 4. 7 8. Isa. 43 4 5. Let us now proceed to consider what it is for God to depart from a people and how great a woe it bringeth along with it 1. We must remember that the Catholick and universal Church is indeficient though not in its own Nature for by the same reason that any particular Church may fail all may yet in regard of the promises which are made unto it That the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it Matth. 16. 18. That Christ will be with it to the end of the world Mat. 28. 20. Of the Kingdome of Christ there shall be no End Luke 1. 33. Christ will alwayes have a people on the earth to serve him His Throne shall be as the Sunne and as a faithful witnesse in heaven Psalme 89. 36 37. These are promises made to the universal Church and to all who should throughout the world believe in Christ as Chrysostome Austine Prosper and others have expounded them 2. We say that particular Churches are defectible They may fall from God and God may depart from them He hath not to any particular Church or Nation made an absolute promise of abiding with them for ever No Church ever did challenge this Priviledg but the Romane Church which yet the Apostle warneth to take heed least God spare not them as he spared not the natural branches but brake them off Rom. 11. 20 21. This Truth we finde verified in the examples of the ten Tribes who were at last Lo-ammi quite unchurched and cast off by God Hos. 1. 9. and of the Jewish Church the natural branches from whom the Kingdome of God hath been taken and wrath come upon them to the uttermost Matth. 21. 43. 1 Thes. 2. 16. according as God threatned if they forsook him he would forsake them 2 Chron. 15. 2. And in those famous Churches of Asia from whom the Candlestick is removed and they swallowed up in the deluge of Mahumetanisme 3. For opening this sore judgement of Gods departing from a people we may observe That the Scripture setteth forth Desertion unto us three manner of wayes In a way of propitiation In a way of probation And in a way of punishment 1. In a way of propitiation So God the Father forsook Christ in his Agony and Passion when his soule was made an offering for sinne not because he ceased to love him or to delight in him there was no solution of union nor substraction of love or favour but a with-drawing and hiding of Vision and comfort whereby Christ was to make an attonement for us by bearing for us the weight and sense of Divine wrath Mat. 27. 46. Isa. 53. 4 5. 2. In a way of probation when the Lord in some particular case departs from a man to try him and discover his own weaknesse unto him for if God never so little turne away his face and supportance from us and suspend the operations of his Spirit upon us we quickly finde by sad experience that of our selves we have no sufficiency to think or do any thing