in human appearance whereas their Enemies are powerful and formidable in the esteem of the World Besides God calls his People Men of Israel or Israel that are but Men. Israel you know my Brethren is the name God himself gave Jacob when he contended with him This holy Man hearing his Brother Esau was coming out against him with four Hundred Men was put into a great consternation therefore he passed the whole Night in Supplications and Tears As he was alone the Son of God in the shape of Man strove with him till break of Day and when this Divine Person saw that he could not prevail against him he touched the hollow of his Thigh so that the hollow of Jacobs Thigh was out of joynt as he wrestled with him and he said Let me go for the Day breaketh But Jacob answered him I will not let thee go except thou bless me And he said unto him what is thy Name And he said Jacob And he said thy Name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel For as a Prince hast thou power with God and Men and hast prevailed As we read in the 32d of Genesis So again in Hosea chap. 12. We read that By his power he prevailed with the Angel he wept and made Supplication unto him he found him in Bethel and there he spake with us That is to say he contended all the Night with his God by his Prayers and Tears and by that means he as it were conquered the Almighty and obtained his Favour Blessing and Succour so as that he was delivered out of the astonishing danger he was in But God thought fit his Lameness should remain to put him in mind that he ought to humble himself continually before God in order to obtain mercy and relief in all his necessities So God in my Text when he calls his Afflicted People Israel 't is that he might make us understand that when we are benighted in Affliction as we are at this time and when we fear the rage and fury of our Enemies that then it is our Duty to humble our selves before God in an extraordinary manner to repent of all our Sins and entirely renounce them and to have recourse to his Mercy and Grace alone for pardon and that we ought to strive with him continually by our Prayers and Supplications till we have disarmed as it were his Almighty Arm and obtained his Blessing and Assistance and that for the time to come we ought always to set his fear before our Eyes and to walk humbly with our God all the days of our Life 'T is for this end likewise he calls us Men ye Men of Israel For thereby he designs to put us in mind of the frailty of our Nature and to make us consider that since our life is in continual danger either by the fury of our Enemies or by Sickness or by a thousand other Accidents to which we are liable we have reason to Pray without ceasing and to throw our selves into the Arms of our God who alone is able to conduct and preserve us in the midst of all the dangers our life is continually expos'd to II. Now we are to consider the Consolation he gives his People under their Sufferings Fear not says he thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel Believers my Friends have several Reasons to be afraid but 't is the Will of God that they have recourse to him alone upon all occasions 1. The Devil uses all his Efforts to tempt us with the Pleasures Riches and Vanities of the World But then we are to beg of God without ceasing that he lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from the evil One. And at the same time we must take care our selves to avoid the Occasions of Sin and separate our selves from the Places and Persons that might induce us to offend God We must also renounce the World and mortifie our Bodies by moderation and Sobriety according to the Words of St. Peter 1 Pet. 5.8 Be sober be vigilant for your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist stedfast in the Faith Moreover we must read and meditate on the Word of God with continual Application of Mind and constantly pray to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit for 't is by his Word and Spirit he fortifies our Faith and 't is by Faith we are enabled to repel all the fiery Darts of the Devil 2. If our Sins terrifie us God commands us to have recourse to his Mercy and Grace As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33.11 In case we are sincerely converted so as to conceive a sacred Horrour for sin and heartily renounce all our evil Habits and cease to do evil and learn to do good then the promises in Isa 1.18 That though our sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool To this end we must heartily embrace Jesus Christ as our Saviour by a firm and lively Faith for 't is he that suffered death for us upon Earth and now intercedes in our behalf in Heaven 't is he that is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the World John 1.29 3. If Believers are at any time afflicted with bodily Diseases 't is the pleasure of God that we apply our selves to him as the Sovereign Physitian of our Bodies as well as Souls for 't is he alone that is able to deliver us out of all our Troubles and has promised that all things shall work together for our good if we do but fear him and profit by his Chastisements 4. The faithful people of God have likewise reason to be afraid of the Cheats and Disguises of False Teachers For as St. Paul says 2 Cor. 11.13 14 15. These false Apostles are deceitful Workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ And no marvel for Satan himself is transform'd into an Angel of Light therefore it is no great thing if his Ministers also be transform'd as the Ministers of Righteousness But if Believers constantly address themselves to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit God will deliver them out of the Snares of these false Teachers My Sheep says Christ John 10.28 29. shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my Hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's Hand For this end Believers must try the Spirits to know if they are of God They must like the Antient Bereans examine the Doctrines that are preach'd to them to know if they agree with the Holy Scriptures For as St. Paul says Rom. 2.20 the Word of GOD is the Rule of Knowledge and Truth 5. In fine
our Faith and Patience to force us to have recourse to him in our Afflictions and to put our Confidence in him to make us taste of the Consolations of his Spirit and at the same time to convince us that his good Providence takes care of his Children in their Streights and Necessities and in fine to make us admire the wonderful Deliverances he vouchsafes to give them when they have profited by his Chastisements and have glorified him in the time of their Tryal And therefore now he says in our Text Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel Now to understand well the Sense of these Words and of the other Prophecies of the old Testament we are to observe that since the Jewish Church was the Type of the Christian and the same things that befel the Jewish Church were to befal the Christian we must observe I say that though the literal Sense of the Prophecies of the Old Testament had respect to the Church of Israel after the Flesh yet their Mystical Sense relates to the Christian Church which is Israel after the Spirit and moreover that those ancient Prophecies have their chief and full Accomplishment no where but in the Christian Church They that take this remark along with them as they read these antient Prophecies will make wonderful Discoveries of what should fall out in the Christian Church In the general they 'l find there that the Christians would be corrupted by Prosperity as the Jews were before them That they would plunge themselves even in the Idolatry of the Gentiles and that afterwards these Idolatrous Christians would for a great while oppress the Faithful Servants of God that Worship him in Purity according to his Word but that God would relieve them at last and deliver them out of all their Troubles And to this purpose God speaks to his destitute People in the Verses afore my Text Fear thou not says he for I am with thee be not dismay'd for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness Behold all they that were incens'd against thee shall be ashamed and confounded They shall be as Nothing and they that strive with thee shall perish Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them even them that contended with thee They that War against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee Fear not I will help thee Whereupon he adds the Words of my Text Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel I shall confine my self to the Mystical Sense of these Words and only examine them as they may relate to Christians And with the assistance of the Holy Spirit which I have already implor'd and do still with all my Soul I shall consider these two things 1. The Name God calls his Distressed People by Thou Worm Jacob Men of Israel 2. The Consolation he gives them in this their Destitute State Fear not says he I will help thee and thy Redeemer is the Holy one of Israel God grant my Beloved we may all meditate on these things with due attention to the end we may receive that Instruction and Comfort which the Spirit of God holds forth to us in these Words and is so necessary for us in this time of Distress wherein all that will serve God with Purity according to his word suffer a Cruel and Bloody Persecution I. God calls his People here Thou Worm Jacob or Jacob thou art but a Worm Now 1. When God calls his People Jacob he would have us consider them all but as one Man And in effect all the Faithful together compose but one mystical Body whereof Christ is the Head They are all united by the Holy Spirit they are all Members of one another therefore they ought to live in perfect unity and like the Primitive Christians love one another so entirely as to be but one Heart and one Soul 2. True Christians are called Jacob because they are the Posterity of Jacob after the Spirit and Heirs of his Faith and Piety and of the Promises which God made to him of old Jacob parted with the food that perisheth that he might obtain the Blessing of his Father and that of his God together with the Heavenly enjoyments thereto annex'd In like manner the Faithful ought to abandon all Earthly Advantages that they may have a share in the Glory and Felicity of Heaven 3. Believers are call'd Jacob because their condition in this Life is like that of Jacobs For as Jacob who was born after the Spirit was heretofore Persecuted by Esau his Elder Brother that was born after the Flesh So Faithful Christians that are Christians after the Spirit are likewise persecuted by Antichristians who are Christians after the Flesh These wicked false Christians reproach us every now and then that we are but of Yesterday The truth is more Ancient than they But with respect to our Reformation which is our Spiritual Birth we grant they are in a sort older than we as Esau was older than Jacob. But then as I told you before they are born after the Flesh as Esau was and we after the Spirit as Jacob was and that is the reason they persecute us And this is no new thing Abel that was born after the Spirit was persecuted to Death by his Elder Brother Cain who was born after the Flesh The same may be said of Isaac the Heir of the Promise who was likewise persecuted by his Elder Brother Ishmael that was born after the Flesh So likewise the Prophets of old who serv'd God with purity according to his word were persecuted by the Jewish Church when it was fallen into Idolatry We ought not therefore to be surprized that at this time we who adore God in Spirit and in Truth according to his Commandments are in like manner persecuted by a corrupted and Idolatrous Church Moreover the People of God are not simply call'd Jacob but Thou Worm Jacob. And in effect my Friends we are but Worms of the Earth in the presence of our God whose greatness knows no bounds for he fills the Heavens and the Earth Heaven is his Throne and the Earth is his Footstool We are but dust and Ashes in comparison of our great God nay we are less than the small dust of the Ballance Therefore he calls us Worms that we may always remember our misery and nothingness that we may always humble our selves in his sight and never violate that respect which is due to his Sovereign Majesty But evermore be possessed with a Religious awe in his presence Further we are but Worms in comparison of our Enemies For generally the Faithful are weak and despicable
of Christ and therefore we should be all joyn'd together by the Bond of a fervent and unfeign'd Affection For by this says our Saviour Joh. 13.35 shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if you love one another We may learn also hence That in order to have a part in the promise which God has made to assist us and to be our Deliverer we must be the Spiritual and Mystical Jacob and Israel that is to say we must imitate the Faith and Piety of the Patriarch Jacob whom God himself calls Israel The promises of God my Brethren were made to the Patriarchs and their Posterity and tho' we are not their Posterity after the Flesh yet we are their Spiritual Posterity if we imitate their Faith and Piety Examine your selves therefore by this Rule that you may know whether you are the Children of the Patriarchs and can claim a Title in the favour of God in his Deliverance and Salvation If you bear the image of the Patriarchs if you have their Faith and Piety if you do their Works you are their Children and God will bless you as he did them he will deliver you out of the Hands of your Enemies he will load you with his Favours and Benefits and will one day make you partakers of a blessed Immortality But if you imitate not their Example you are not their Children and have no share in the promises God made to them Abraham when God commanded him to leave his Country and part with his Relations presently complied with the Will of his God tho' he knew not where he was to go And again when God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac his beloved Son he prepar'd himself without any more adoe to execute this dreadful command having this confidence in God that he could even restore his Son to him again by raising him from the dead And in effect the Apostle takes notice that he was indeed restor'd to him again by a kind of Resurrection So Isaac himself submitted to the Will of his God and put himself in a condition to die as a Testimony of his Obedience to him And Jacob was contented to deprive himself of the Food that perisheth in order to obtain the Coelestial and Eternal Inheritance And afterwards he left his Father's House that he might avoid the violence of his Brother Esau who design'd to have kill'd him And so likewise all the Patriarchs did always glorifie God by their Zeal by their Piety and by a Pure Holy and Unblameable Life God sets us these Examples to the end we might square our Lives by them if we would be the Mystical Posterity of these Holy Men and would have a part in the Promises that were made to them Now when God suffers his Church to be persecuted he calls upon us to leave our Country and our Friends to forsake our Goods and renounce our ease and pleasures to suffer the loss of our Children and even to expose our Lives for his Glory and Service Therefore if we desire to obtain his Blessing his Deliverance and Salvation we must submit to his Will as the Patriarchs did of old We must also glorifie him by a Holy Life by our Justice our Zeal our Charity and Piety We must cause our Light to shine before Men that they seeing our good Works may together with us give Glory to God Otherwise we must expect to be treated not as his Children but as Bastards and Unbelievers What can you expect then you miserable Worldlings whose Heart is always bow'd down to the Earth like that of Beasts you impenitent Sinners that always persist in your Vices and Disorders Injustice and Frauds You follow the multitude that is running in the broad way to Hell Therefore if you repent not you must expert to perish with this Reprobate Multitude You are not the Children of the Patriarchs since you do not their Works You do the Works of the Devil that impure Spirit who is the Father of Lies and Impurity of Fraud and Injustice and what can you expect you prophane and rebellious Souls who that you might live at your ease in your Houses and might preserve your Goods your Children and your Repose are revolted from God and continue still in the same Spirit of Rebellion Alas you are not neither the Children of the Patriarchs since you imitate not their Zeal and Piety and are not ready to lose and suffer all things as they were for the Glory of your God You do also the Works of the Devil who was the first Apostate the first Rebel against God Therefore if you repent not you shall be condemn'd with him to the eternal Flames of Hell For you are not willing to follow the Example of two or three hundred thousand Faithful Servants of God who have abandon'd all for his Glory have left their Country and their Kindred and parted with their dearest Friends and have likewise expos'd their Lives to great dangers that they might comply with the Will of their God and have an interest in his Favour and Comfort God has for a great while continued to send his Faithful Servants to you to bring you back to your God and a great many of them have already suffer'd death for your sakes 'T is true you give them a Hearing but a great many among you persist still in your Vices and Backslidings Therefore as many faithful Ministers as have preach'd or do still preach Repentance to them without success shall be so many Witnesses one day in Judgment against them and shall condemn them Oh! wretched Sinners that you are You would enjoy the Pleasures of the World like prophane Esau But you shall be depriv'd one day of the eternal Pleasures of Paradise You would have your Portion in this Life but one Day your Portion shall be in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone You would preserve your ease in this World but you shall be eternally tormented with the Devils in Hell There will be weeking and gnashing of Teeth And these horrid Punishments shall never have an end But as for you Believers that desire to have a share in the promises of your God be ye followers of the Faith the Piety and Holiness of the Patriarchs and you shall receive the Crown of Righteousness which God has prepared for all them that fear him and give glory to his Name Let us not suffer our selves to be tempted my beloved Brethren by the Criminal Pleasures of Sin nor by the Riches and Vanities of the VVorld Let us pray to God without ceasing that he would not lead us into Temptation but deliver us from the wicked One And at the same time let us disengage our Hearts from the VVorld and separate our selves from the Places and Persons that may lead us into sin Let us mortifie our Bodies by Moderation and Sobriety Let us continually read and meditate on the VVord of God that we may become strong in the Faith and let us evermore beg of God
then since he will be our Redeemer and Defender He commands us to call upon him in our Distress and promises to deliver us out of it to the end that we may glorifie him Let us then make him our Refuge let us cry to him continually and he 'll come to our relief that so we may bless him for it all the days of our Life God will do wonders for our sakes as he has always done in favour of his Children For as St. Paul says Rom. 15.4 whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our Learning that we thro' Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have hope that is to say that we may have this confidence in God that in case we imitate the Faith the Piety and the Fidelity of those antient Servants of God whom the Scriptures mention God will vouchsafe to us the same Deliverances and the same Comforts as he vouchsafed to them on the like occasions He 'll restore our Children to us again as he did to Abraham of old He 'll preserve our Lives as he did Isaac's He 'll be always with us as he was with Jacob and give us the same Protection that he gave him He 'll release us out of our Prisons as he did Joseph He 'll deliver us out of all our Sufferings and Misery as he did Job and like him will put us in a happier Condition than that we were in before our Tryal He 'll put an end to all our Troubles as he did formerly to those of David Now we are in the Furnace as the three believing Hebrews were of old but God will preserve us as he did them in the midst of the Flames The fire of Persecution will only serve to purifie us and to consume the Bonds of Sin within us and he 'll bring us out of the Furnace of Affliction much brighter than we were before Now we are in the midst of Lyons as Daniel was of old But God will shut the Mouth of these Savage Beasts he 'll repress the Violence of our Enemies that encompass us about on all sides and come not behind the very Tygers and Lyons in Cruelty Now we groan under hard Bondage as the People of God did heretofore in Egypt but God will deliver us out of it with a strong Hand and stretched out Arm. Now we are terrified with the Power of our Enemies But since 't is against God they wage War God tells us in his Word 2 Chr. 20.15 that the Battle is not Our's but God's and that he 'll fight for us himself while we are singing Praises to his Holy Name as he fought heretofore for his People in the time of King Jehoshaphat Now they that afflict us laugh at us for putting our confidence in God as if he was not strong enough to deliver us out of their Hands But God will send an Angel to destroy them as he did the Army of the King of the Assyrians who blasphem'd the Lord and ridicul'd them that put their confidence in him as we read Isa 36. For this end my beloved Brethren let us live in the fear of the Lord let us obey his Holy Commandments be faithful to him confess his Truth and continually implore his Mercy Favour and Relief and this God will hear our Cries will hearken to our Prayers will plead our Cause will help and deliver us will fill us with his Graces and Comforts will load us with his Benefits and will one day take us up to Heaven to maâ—â— us happy for ever with himself Which God of his infinite Mercy grant Now to Him Father Son and Spirit one only God belessed for ever be Honour and Glory world without end Amen Preach'd in several places in the Wilderness July 23 and 31. 1692. and Septemb. 14. 1693. FINIS