Your mother shall be sore confounded she that bare you shall be ashamed behold the hindermost of the Nations shall be a wilderness a dry land and a desert because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited but it shall be wholly desolate every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues So in Jer. 51.34 35. The Church complains there that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had devoured her and crushed her and made her an empty vessel and had swallowed her up like a Dragon and filled his belly with her delicates and cast her out What then is the Churches dreadful imprecation hereupon but that which was mentioned before The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon shall the inhabitants of Sion say and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea shall Jerusalem say Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold I will plead thy cause and take vengeance for thee c. And Babylon shall become heaps a dwelling place for Dragons an astonishment a hissing without an inhabitant And in the 33. Verse The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor it is time to thresh her yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come So Rev. 18.4 God calls his people there to come out of Babylon and wherefore that ye be not partakers of her sins saith the voice from Heaven and that ye receive not of her Plagues So in the 8th Verse Therefore shall her Plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with Fire for strong is the Lord who judgeth her And what was Babylons great sin They have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets and thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy said the Angel of the waters Rev. 16.6 So Rev. 17.6 And I saw said John in a Vision the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus And in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the earth Rev. 18.24 And what follows Allelujah salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments for he hath judged the great Whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand And again they said Allelujah and her smoke rose up for ever For the speedy execution of which righteous judgements of God upon this insatiable and blood-thirsty Whore it is that the souls under the Altar that have been slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held are said to cry with a loud voice saying How long Lord holy and true dost not thou judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth To which answer is made That they should rest yet for a little season until their Fellow-Servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled Rev. 6.9 10 11. That is slain by Antichrist and his Ministers who having Apostatized from the faith should arise in the Church of Christ soon after this and by their spiritual pride and tyranny oppress the Church and persecute and kill the Lords faithful Witnesses in like manner as the Gentiles the Jews and other false Christians had formerly done Rev. 11.7 and 12.15 17. Yet this is very observable as that which may minister matter of strong consolation to the Saints suffering under Antichrists bloody persecutions that there is the determinate time of Gods appointed Judgments and that however for a while the Lord defers his punishments yet he certainly hears the Prayers of his faithful servants and at last will be fully avenged on their Adversaries And though Antichrists rage and tyranny is very great yet it is limited according to the purpose and decree of God who hath determined the number of Martyrs which number being once accomplished not one drop of blood shall be more spilt by that man of sin that Son of perdition who Satan like worketh with all his power compelling men by Fines confiscation of Goods Imprisonments Banishments and the like to submit unto his ways and laws 2 Thes 2.3 9. and that under fair and glorious pretences too for the suppressing of Errors and Heresies for the beating down of sin for the working of men to conformity and uniformity and the bringing of them into obedience unto the Church which to do if the Ecclesiastical power is not sufficient the Magisterial power must be made use of But it is very evident that the Antichristian religion consisting for the most part in Will-worship and in humane traditions and inventions could never have subsisted to this day had it not been supported by an Arm of flesh when as our Lord Jesus with his Apostles and Disciples never sought to the Civil Magistrate or Powers of the World upon that accompt nor is the Kingdom of Christ to be erected and established in this way of humane force and power The weapons of our warfare saith the Apostle are not carnal 2 Cor. 10.4 It is the powers of the world that shall destroy the holy people Dan. 8.24 It is the Little Horn the Romish Antichrist that shall make War with the Saints and prevail against them until the Ancient of days come and that judgment be given to the Saints of the most high and that the time come that the Saints shall possess the Kingdom Dan. 7.21.22 It is he that shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the Saints of the most high c. Vntil the Judgment shall sit and then they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end Dan. 7.25 26. And in one day shall Babylons Plagues come death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her Rev. 18.8 The severity of the Lord against this sin of bloodshed and cruelty that is exercised on the Saints of God is further set forth in that of the Prophet Amos Chap. 1. Vers 11. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof and why Because he did pursue his Brother with the Sword and did cast off all pity and his anger did tear perpetually and kept his wrath for ever For this also hath the Lord a controversie with the Land because by killing and stealing c. they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish Hosea 4.1 2 3. So in the Psal 94.5 6. They break in pieces thy people O Lord and afflict thine heritage they slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless yet they say the Lord shall not see And what then O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth shew thy self Lift up thy self thou Judge of
to the Scriptures are lies So he takes away that not onely derogates from the Divine Authority of Gods book but he also that any ways changeth or maliciously perverteth or contradicteth any thing therein written Christ will have the integrity sincerity and sacred Authority of this Prophesie to be faithfully preserved in the Churches and that the contemners falsifiers and corrupters thereof be no way suffered under the pain of Anathema or dreadful curse For if falsifyers of Coin are lyable unto the civil curse of the law much more shall the Anathema of eternal damnation be inflicted upon the corrupters of the Scriptures which are the words of God These with the Beast and the false Prophet shall the Lord cast into the Lake of fire burning with brimstone Rev. 19.20 This is a dreadful sin drawing down the Lords severest plagues and punishments Therefore take we heed that we add not unto the word which God commands us nor diminish ought from it but that we keep the Commandments of the Lord our God which he commandeth us Deut. 4.2 And mark well the reason that Solomon giveth Every word of God saith he is pure he is a shield to them that put their trust in him And consider what follows Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a lier Prov. 30.5 6. Having now spoken of the several Sins which so highly provoke the Lord to pour down his sore Judgements even this of the Plague or Pestilence among a people I shall now come to speak of some special spiritual Remedies which may be fitly applied and made use of as Soveraign Antidotes and Preservatives to prevent the further spreading of this pestilential contagious disease among us 1. THe first spiritual Receipt that I shall then prescribe unto thee who ever thou art that gettest in thy hand and readest this little tract Consider seriously and let thy thoughrs dwell long upon those Sins that I have insisted on as such which are the procuring Cause of this so sore a visitation from the Lord and entring into a diligent scrutiny and examination of thine own heart and ways Consider how far thou hast been or art a partaker of those sins which have so highly provoked the Lord to send down this National Judgement of the Plague and Pestilence among us For if we stand guilty of the same Sins how then shall we think to escape the like punishment This was the way and course the Apostle took when speaking of Gods displeasure against the Israelites whereby many of them were overthrown in the Wilderness how does he bring it home by way of special application Now these things saith he were our Examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted Neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them c. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one Day three and twenty thousand Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of Serpents Neither murmure ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the Destroyer Now all things happened unto them for enamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come 1 Cor. 10.5 6 to the 11 and 12. ver So say I as from the Lord. As to the first Pestilentiall sin of Oppression Did the Lord plague Pharaoh and his Land with sore and dreadful plagues even this of the destroying Pestilence for his cruel oppressions which he exercised over the bodies and consciences of Gods people Take heed then that thou art not found an Oppressor of the true worshippers of Jesus the spiritual Israel of God Take heed of exalting thy self against God in seeking still to hold the spiritual Seed under Egyptian captivity and bondage See that thou lets them go to sacrifice to the Lord God as he has commanded them Take heed of ruling over them with rigour and making their lives bitter with hard bondage Take heed ye rich men that ye do not oppress the poor Know that the Lord surely looks upon the afflictions of his people and hears their cry by reason of their Task-masters and will come down to deliver them Exod. 3.7 8. So to those that are the Bishops Elders and Overseers the Spiritual Rulers and Leaders of the flocks of Christ Take heed that ye be not Lords over Gods heritage but examples to the flocks See that ye feed the flocks of God taking the oversight of them not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind 1 Pet. 5.2 3. Take heed that ye do not exercise a dominion over their faith but are helpers of their joy 2 Cor. 1.24 Take heed that ye do not eat the fat and cloath you with the wool and kill them that are fed Take heed that with force and cruelty ye rule not over them So then to all that oppress whether in one kind or another see that ye undo heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free and break every yoke else surely the Lord will visit for these things and his soul will be avenged on such a Nation as this 2. So for the Sin of Persecution and Hatred against God and his people Hath the Lord ordained the Arrows of his Indignation even the Instruments of Death against the Persecutors and will he strike them into the hearts of his Enemies O then take heed that thou art not found a hater of God and a Persecutor of the people of God lest the Arrow of the destroying Pestilence that flyeth at noon day do light upon thee and the Angel of the Lord persecute thee 3. So for the Sin of Murder and Bloodshed Hath the Lord threatned his sore plagues against the Destroyers of his heritage and will he avenge the blood of his Servants at the great whore of Babylons hands and is there a time when the Lord will make inquisition for blood Then beware that thou hast not a hand in killing and destroying the Saints of the most high God And take heed that thou partake not of Babylons sins lest thou receive of her plagues For the Lord will avenge the blood of his Servants and will render vengeance to his Adversaries and will be merciful unto his land and to his people Deut. 32.43 4. So for the fourth Pestilential and highly provoking Sin of Idolatry Was the anger of the Lord so kindled against Israel when Israel had joyned himself to Baal-peor that no less then four and twenty thousand died in the plague And did the Lord plague the people because of the Calf they had made Then beware that ye be not Idolaters as were some of them and provoke the Lord to anger with your inventions For surely the Lord our God is a jealous God his glory he will not give to another neither his praise to Graven Images Isa 42.8 5. So for the Sin of Covetousness and a greedy desire after gain Is
righteous and just Lot that he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked meaning the Sodomites among whom he lived For that righteous man dwelling among them saith the Text in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds 2 Pet. 2.7 8. He lived among abominable men that cared neither for right nor reason and this greived and tormented his righteous soul as if it had been upon a rack as the word implies So it is said of our dear Lord that he was greived for the hardness of their hearts Mark 3.5 But to bring it more close to the present visitation of the Lord and what a special preservative and antidote this gratious qualification of soul is for the keeping off of this severe stroke of the Lord Look into Ezek. 9. even the whole Chapter there you shall find that the Man who was cloathed with linnen which had the Writers Inckhorn by his side was commissionated from the Lord to go through the midst of the City through the midst of Jerusalem and set a Mark upon the Foreheads of the men that did sigh and cry for all the abominations that were done in the midst thereof And after him follows the men who had the slaughter weapons in their hands and they were to go through the City and smite and slay utterly old and young both Maids and little Children and Women but not to come near any man upon whom was the Mark. God had a remnant among this wicked and backsliding generation and they must be first marked and these are described to be such as did sigh and cry for all the abominations of the times and all that time the iniquity of the House of Israel and Judah was exceeding great the Land was full of blood and the City full of perversness and what other their abominations were the Chapter before doth evidently declare it In like manner when the Passover was to be instituted was the blood of the Lamb to be a token to the children of Israel upon the houses were they were So that the Lord seeing the blood that was struck upon the door-posts did pass over them and suffered not the Destroyer to come in and smite them when he smote the land of Egypt The Plague was not to come upon the Israelites to destroy them Exod. 12.12 13 22 23. Well then wilt thou be of the number of Gods marked ones that the Destroying Angel may pass over thee and the plague come not upon thee when God is smiting the land as now he is by the destroying Pestilence O see then that thy heart is brought into this holy frame to sigh and mourn not only for thine own personal evils but also for the crying sins and abominations of the times But surely if thou canst swim down with the stream of the times and hear the holy and precious name of God dishonoured and blasphemed daily his Spirit derided his Saints and Ordinances villified and defamed his Messengers abused and the way of Holiness reproached Or if thou canst behold wickedness walking up and down with a bold impudent forehead and men and women of a filthy impure spotted conversation and not shed one tear nor sigh and mourn under such National abominations surely it argues that the grace of saving and sound Conversion and Repentance was never yet effectually wrought in thy soul if so thou canst not but mourn under the sence of sin whether in thy self or in any other The want of which temper and spirit in the case of the Incestuons person made the Apostle Paul to reprehend the Church of Corinth telling them that they were puffed up and had not rather mourned that be that had done that deed might be taken away from among them 1 Cor. 5.1 2. Well then if you would be Gods marked ones see that you be Sions mourning ones remembring what our dear Lord hath left on record for the abundant satisfaction and refreshment of such sorrowful souls Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Mat. 5.4 It is taken generally for a mourning or sorrowing for sin as it stands in opposition with a spirit of jollity and voluptuous living Luk. 16.19 25. Such shall be comforted they shall never miss of outward and inward comforts They that sow in tears shall reap in joy Psal 126.5 Their sorrow shall be recompensed with gladness For to this end was Christ anointed to his Office of Mediatorship That he might comfort all that mourn whether upon the account of sin on the miseries of Sion To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes beautiful garments goodly apparel instead of ashes which they were wont to strew upon their heads and sit in them when they mourned as a testification of their excessive sorrow and greif Job 1.8 Jonah 3.6 Mat. 11.21 The oyle of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness by which we are to understand the beautiful resplendent refreshing gifts and graces of the spirit of God Heb. 1.9 That they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Isa 61.2 3. Oak-trees of righteousness trees of the greatest strength and duration by which is meant that those that are ingrafted into Christ by faith and such are all true mourners in Sion they shall not only bring forth fruits of righteousness but they shall also have firme durable and permanent consolation and strength in Christ Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Isa 51.11 Secondly If thy repentance be sincere and sound and such as will stand thee in stead in a calamitous day It will then work in thee a true hatred and abhorrency of all manner of evil Job abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes Job 42.6 â—o in the 40. of Job and the 4. verse Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth Wo is me saith the Prophet Isaiah for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 But to come more close as to the present dispensation and visitation of the Lord. In the 6th of Ezekiel The Lord having threatned the Pestilence among other his sore destroying Judgments and how the slain should fall in the midst of them He promiseth nevertheless that he will leave a remnant that should escape the Sword among the Nations And how must this remnant be qualified What thoughts and apprehensions shall they have of themselves by reason of their abominable sins See the 9. verse of that Chapter And they that escape of you saith the Lord shall remember me among the Nations whither they shall be carried Captives because I am broken with their whorish heart which hath departed from me and with their eyes which go a whoring after their Idols And what follows They shall
that is holy be sanctified in righteousness Isa 5.16 Thus much for the fourth soveraign Receipt The Fifth Spiritual Receipt 5ly The next Spiritual Receipt and especial preservative against this Pestilential sickness which I shall recommend unto thee is this Have thy dwelling now in the secret place of the most high Psal 91.1 or as it is further exprest in the 9. ver of the same Psalm Make the Lord thy refuge even the most high thy habitation In Pestilential and contagious times and when the sickness comes near to our own houses most men and womens thoughss are busied about their habitations and dwellings where they shall remove and have their beings so as they think they may be most safe and secure from the stroke of Gods Visitation and therefore they will chuse especially such as are more able and wealthy the best country where is the best aire and most healthful soil and the best company and food and such other accommodations as may probably conduce to the keeping of themselves in a sound and healthful constitution In some cases such provisions as these may be necessary expedient and lawful And therefore it is upon my heart now to direct thee where thou mayst take up a most secure and safe habitation and that is in God in the secret place of the most high under the shadow of the Almighty and let me tell thee whoever thou art that seekest security and protection elsewhere and takest not up thy dwelling in God thou wilt be frustrated in thy expectation Shouldst thou hid thy self in the top of Carmel Amos 9.3 Or take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea Psal 139.9 even there his hand will find thee out and the stroke of his indignation will light upon thee The only way then to secure thy self is not to be flying from but to be flying unto God to be living and dwelling in God God as he is a secret place so he is a secure place Every man would be there especially in times of danger where he may be most secret and secure But what may we understand by making God our habitation or by dwelling in the secret place of the most high The words are very comprehensive and of a large extent but I shall reduce them under some following heads after I have toucht a little by way of explanation or opening of them By the secret place of the most high we may understand Heaven the seat and throne of God which the Scripture holds forth under these three denominations or expressions To wit His high place his holy place his secret place His high place Psal 93.4 The Lord on high is mightier then the noise of many waters Psal 97.9 Thou Lord art high above all the earth above all people Psal 99.2 The Lord is high above all Nations and his glory above the heavens Who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high Psal 113.5 heaven is a high place So it is his Holy place in Psal 46.4 they are joyned both together The River the streams whereof make glad the City of God is said to be the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high So in Isa 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy And mark what follows I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit c. In Psal 68.5 A Father of the fatherless and a Judge of the widows is God in his holy babitation that is in heaven his holy habitation or the habitation of his holiness and of his glory as it is termed Isa 63.15 So here it is called his Secret place the secret place of the most high and heaven may very fitly be called Gods secret place as well as his high and holy place because God and Christ and the things of heaven and eternity they are secret hidden and mysterious things Great is the mystery of godliness 1 Tim. 3.16 So in Col. 1.26 The Apostle calls it The mystery hid from ages and generations but now saith he is made manifest to his Saints and the Saints themselves they have hut an imperfect sight of God We see but his back part Exod. 33.23 but as through a glass darkly We know but in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.9 10 12. Hence it is that God is said To dwell in that light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen or can see 2 Tim. 6.17 2. Jesus Christ may be said to be Gods Secret place 1. In that he is said as before To be the mystery which was kept secret since the world began Rom. 16.25 2. In respect of that incomprehensible union that is betwixt the Father and the Son Joh. 17.21 3. Because the declaration or revelation of the Father is from Christ who is in the bosome of the Father Joh. 1.18 and that 's a Secret place And the Apostle speaks of a life that is hid with God in Christ Col. 3.3 4. In respect of Christs eternity with the Father The Lord possessing him in the beginning of his way before his works of old Then was Christ by him as one brought up with him Prov. 8.22 30. 5. Christ himself is said to be A hidding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest Isa 32.2 3. The Church which was figured by the Tabernacle may be said to be Gods Secret place his dwelling place God hath desired it for his habitation This saith he is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it Psal 132.13 14. To which purpose is that in Psal 27.5 where we read of the secret of his tabernacle In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me which hath reference to the Sanctuary or Ark the place of Gods abode or visible presence so to be hid in his pavilion the Prophet declares the assurance he had being shrouded under Gods protectio n hide me or keep me safe as in the most holy place of thy Sanctuary Where none might enter but the High Preist and that alone once every year and not without blood neither which he offered for htmself and for the errors of the people Heb. 9.7 And this is called Gods secret or hidden place Ezek. 7.22 As his Saints are called his hidden ones Psal 83.3 So Psal 31.20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence or thou hidest them in the hiding place of thy presence where thou always looks unto them in secret favour which the world knoweth not of So then to dwell in the secret place of the most high is to dwell in God in Heaven in Christ in his Church to have a conversation with God in the heavens As the Apostle expresseth it Phil. 3.20 For our conversation is in Heaven To have our affections on things above Col. 3.2 to live a