or a month hence but take now he was to set upon the work without delay 5. God calleth upon us with great earnestness to prepare our selves to undergo such afflictions as he shall lay upon us Amos 4.12 Thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Jer. 46.14 Declare ye in Egypt and publish in Migdol and publish in Moab say ye Stand fast and prepare thee for the sword shall devour round round about thee This exhortation to prepare for approaching judgments is pressed with great earnestness it is ushered in with a four-fold call Declare ye publish publish say ye What is it must be declared and published with such great earnestness Stand fast prepare thee see also ver 19. O thou danghter dwelling in Egypt furnish thy self to go into captivity 6. If afflictions come upon us before we are prepared for them we shall be in danger to sink under our burdens but if we be well provided before-hand we shall go cheerfully through whatever it seemeth good unto the Lord to lay upon us Psal 57.7 My heart is fixed or as it is in the Margin My heart is prepared O God my heart is prepared I will sing and give praise David was fled into a Cave when he penned this Psalm as you may see by the title of it and was surrounded with great calamities as you may see ver 1 4. In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpast My soul is among lions and I lie even among them that are set on fire even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword Yet in the midst of his troubles he sings for joy and praiseth God and what helped him to bear his troubles so cheerfully His heart was prepared for them My heart is prepared I will sing and give praise Joseph who had prepared for seven years Famine lived comfortably and felt no great inconvenience by it other persons that had laid up nothing before-hand would have fainted and dyed had not Joseph relieved them The Apostle was so far from being discouraged at his sufferings that he joyed in the greatest of them even to lay down his life for the Gospels sake Phil. 2.17 Yea and if I be offered upon the Sacrifice and Service of your Faith I joy and rejoyce with you all And how came he to do thus he was ready and prepared to suffer any thing for the sake of Christ and the Gospel Acts 21.13 I am ready not to be bound only but also to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Now having given you some reasons why we should prepare our selves for all sorts of afflictions I shall in the next place answer a weighty and necessary case of Conscience viz. What shall we do that we may stand prepared to undergo any affliction that the Lord shall be pleased to lay upon us Ans 1. We must give our selves much unto prayer we must pray before our afflictions come and pray in our afflictions we must not pray in a cold manner but cry mightily to God to strengthen and support us in our troubles By prayer we shall obtain from God an heart prepared to undergo any troubles Ps 10.17 Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear Psal 57.2,7 I will cry unto God most high unto God that performeth all things for me And what did David get by crying unto God an heart prepared to bear his afflictions as you may see ver 7. My heart is prepared O God my heart is prepared The Apostle adviseth Christians that would be able to stand in an evil day to be much in prayer Ephes 6.13,18 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints Observe how the Apostle multiplieth words to excite us to prayer he doth not barely bid us pray but pray alwayes and as if that were not enough he adds with all prayer and supplication and not only so but he bids us watch thereunto watch with perseverance yea with all perseverance And adds that this duty must be performed in a spiritual manner With all prayer and supplication in the spirit if we do not pray with our hearts and spirits as well as with our lips yea if there be not the graces of Gods Spirit exercised in prayer as well as the actings of our own spirits our Prayers are worth little in Gods account The Apostle joyns these two together Patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer Rom. 12.12 Implying that such as desire to be patient in all their tribulations must be and continue instant in Prayer 2. Endeavour as much as in you lieth to strengthen and encrease your Faith Faith is the chiefest piece of the spiritual armour which above all the rest will help us to stand in an evil day The Apostle would not have us neglect any piece of the spiritual armor all must be put on but Faith above all the rest Eph. 6.13,16 Take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand Above all taking the shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked By faith a man may be able to do and suffer all things Mark 9.23 All things are possible to him that believeth The Apostles did and suffered great things for God and how it was through faith 1 Tim. 4.10 Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God The servants of God have endured all sorts of tortures and the most painful deaths that their enemies could inflict upon them and all other afflictions by the help of faith Heb. 11.35,36,37 Others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection and others had tryals of cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment They were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheeps skins and goats skins being destitute afflicted tormented and that they endured all these things through faith you may see ver 33. Whatever difficulties snares or discouragements a man meets with in the world either in respect of the good things or the evil things of the world faith will overcome them all 1 John 5.4 This is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith Faith will enable a man to resist and overcome all the temptations of Satan whereby he endeavoureth to disturb and foil us in times of affliction 1 Pet. 5.8,9 Your adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour
from sending any more such dreadful Fires we must cease from those sins which did provoke God to send this sore Judgment Until the cause of a Judgment be removed we can have but little hope it should cease What sins they are that provoke God to send this dreadful Judgment of Fire hath been shewn before Quest 2. Sect. 4. If we cease from our sins and return unto God we may hope and expect that God will cease from his mighty Judgments Mal. 3.7,11,12 Return unto me and I will return unto you saith the Lord of Hosts And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes And all Nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a a delight some land After Judea had been wasted with Fire and Sword the Lord promiseth if they would cease from their sins he would remove his Judgments Isa 1.7,16,17,19,26 Your Cities are burnt with Fire cease to do evil learn to do well If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land And I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning afterward thou shalt be called The City of Righteousness the faithful City 4. If we would have no more such dreadful Fires we must labour to pacifie Gods anger that is kindled against us The mighty Judgments of God that have fallen upon us viz. the Sword the great Pestilence and this dreadful Fire are tokens of great wrath against this Nation and we may fear in regard there is so little reformation that notwithstanding all that is come upon us the anger of the Lord is not turned away but that his hand is stretched out still as it is said three times of Israel after mentioning great and sore Judgment For all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still Isa 9.12,17,21 Wherefore we must endeavour to pacifie and turn away the Lords anger else we may expect that the same Judgments will return or some others as dreadful as any of these will fall upon us Now if you ask How shall we get Gods anger turned away from the Nation I shall instance only in these two means 1. Gods chosen ones must get into the gap and cry mightily to God in the Name of Jesus Christ that he would turn away his fierce anger that is kindled against us The Prayers of impenitent sinners cannot prevail with God to turn from his wrath but the Prayers of his Saints and Servants will cause him to lay aside his anger Psal 106.23 He said he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before in the breach to turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them Jer. 18.20 Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them What Prayers the servants of God put up to God in the Name of Jesus Christ are presented by the Lord Jesus unto his Father Heb. 7.25 Rev. 8.3 and when the Lord Jesus interceeds with his Father for the turning away of his wrath from a Nation or a particular person his request shall certainly be granted Zech. 1.12,13 The Angel of the Lord said O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years And the Lord answered the Angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words and presently after comes tidings of the ceasing of Gods wrath and his returning with mercy to Jerusalem ver 16. 17. Thus saith the Lord I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies My Cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem 2. We must every one turn from his evil wayes and turn unto the Lord with all our hearts and then his wrath shall be turned away from us Jonah 3.8,9 Let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Hos 14.1,4 O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity and when Israel did return at the call of God hear what God saith unto him ver 4. I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him Jer. 3.12 Return thou back-sliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever 5. If we would have God cease from sending any more such dreadful Fires we must set our faith on work on the blood of Christ and on the Promises of God It was the blood of the Sacrifice that made atonement under the law both for particular persons and for the whole Congregation of Israel Lev. 17.11 It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul And as the blood of the Sacrifice made atonement for particular persons so also for the whole Congregation of Israel Lev. 4.13,14,17,18,20 These Sacrifices did type out the blood of Christ and signified to us that faith in Christs blood is the way to procure an atonement for our souls and to render God propitious after he hath been provoked to anger by our sins Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood This blood of Christ is available to make atonement for whole Nations as well as particular persons Isa 52.15 He shall sprinkle many Nations And as we should set our faith on work upon Christs blood so also on Gods promises If you ask what promises I answer such Promises wherein God hath promised to cease his Judgments after he hath for a long time been sorely contending with a people We have divers promises to this purpose I will mention some of them Lam. 4.22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished O Daughter of Zion he will no more carry thee away into captivity he will visit thine Iniquity O Daughter of Edom he will discover thy sins Nah. 1.12 Though I have afflicted thee I will afflict thee no more Isa 51.21,22,23 Hear now this thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine Thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling yea even the dregs of the cup of my fury thou shalt no more drink it again But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee Isa 60.18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy Land wasting nor destruction within thy Borders but thou shalt call thy Walls salvation and thy Gates praise Isa 57.16 I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wroth for the spirits should fail before me and the souls which I have made Zeph. 3.15 The Lord hath taken away thy Judgments he hath cast out thine Enemy the King of Israel even the Lord is in the midst of thee thou shalt not see evil any more Faith is of great force for preventing and removing of National Judgments and the procuring of National Mercies Heb. 11.32,34 Who through faith subdued Kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of aliens We may see here what great things have been done by faith it hath subdued Kingdoms it hath vanquished and put to flight great and puissant Armies it hath prevailed against the â—orest of Judgements as Fire Sword wild Beasts c. By Faith and Prayer we may even as it were hold Gods hands from destroying a Nation when they are lifted up to destroy a sinful people Exod. 32.9,10 And the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation Though the Lord was exceedingly provoked against Israel yet by the Faith and Prayer of Moses his hands were held that he did not destroy them Moses takes hold of the Covenant and pleads that in Prayer and thereby prevailed with God to turn from his wreth and to repent of the evil that he thought to do unto the people of Israel ver 11 12 13 14. The Lord stir up the like Spirit of Faith and Pryer in his Servants in this Nation that they that make mention of the Name of the Lord may never hold their peace day nor night but may cry mightily to the Lord and give him no rest until they have prevailed with him through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ to turn from the fierceness of his anger and to cease contending with us by his mighty Judgments and until he establish and make us a praise in the Earth FINIS