you can in a little time For when the Dayes are Evil you know not how little time you may have how few Opportunities of well-doing you may enjoy * Eph. 5.15 16. See then that ye walk circumspectly not as Fooles but as Wise Redeeming the Time because the Daies are evil The fourth Branch LIve in the exercise of your most excellent graces Let the Lustre of them appear in the eyes of the World that so you may diminish the Darknesse of an evil Generation When the Nights are darkest every one should be careful to hang out their Lights When the Sun the Chariot of Light hath carried the Day to another World the Night comes forth deckt with all her Jewels Search your Cabinets put on your Jewels exercise your Graces your Faith Love Patience Humility Zeale Hope Confidence and so labour to preserve a Day of Light and Holinesse in spight of all the encroachments of the darknesse of Sin and Vice Labour to be every whit as Good as others are Evil. Stir up your selves especially to the exercise of those Graces which stand in opposition to the reigning Vices of the Times Study to shew your selves as Active for God as others are for the World as truly Content with your condition as others are Covetous Oppressive Ambitious as Faithful as others are False as Pious as others are Profane as much to excel in Charity Moderation Humility as others exceed in Cruelty Censoriousnesse and Pride It well becomes Saints to be best when the Times are worst So Fire burnes hottest in the coldest weather and Stars shine brightest in the darkest Nights So shall you lift up the Name and Glory of God in the World and your lives shall be illustrious Testimonies for the cause of God against a wicked world Beg Grace of God therefore that in evil and perillous Times you may live to his Glory * Phil. 2.15 That ye may be blamelesse and Harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation among whom ye shine as Lights in the World The fifth Branch DAre to appear in your places for the Cause of God against the Evils of the Times Why should not every pious Christian dare to do more for God and the interests of his Glory then any profane Politician dares to do against him Why should you be afraid to appear on the stronger side It is indeed desperate Folly and Madnesse in impotent man to presume upon any action or undertaking which carries in it an apparent or consequential Opposition to an Omnipotent God upon whose Providence he hath a continual dependance insomuch as without some concurrence thereof he cannot move a Hand nor stirre a step Alas This Almighty God can with the least Finger of that glorious Hand by which he governes this All in one moment crush the greatest Armies of the mightiest men upon earth as a †Job 4.19 Moth and crumble them into dust But for the Saints that are guarded with an Omnipotent Arme they may with a holy confidence appear in the Cause of God against the most potent adversaries in the world For greater and stronger is he that is with us then they that are with them For as the good King Hezekiah said to the Captaines of his Army at the approach of the King of Assyria * 2 Chron. 32.7 8. with them is an Arme of Flesh but with us is the LORD our God to help us And †Rom. 8.31 if God be for us who can be against us Fear not then ye sonnes of the mighty ye children of the most high to appear for God and his cause against the impieties and iniquities of evil and perillous times Remember * Rev. 21.8 the fearful are set in the Front of that Troop of Rebels that shall be sent to Hell Know you not that in this case when Gods Cause and Glory suffers He that is not for God is against him Take heed then lest while you fear a lesser danger you fall into a greater 'T is then your greatest wisdome and safety to take the strongest side and that is to appear for God So may you say with David †Ps 118.6 The LORD is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me And again * Ps 56.11 In God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me †Psal 118 8 9. It is better to trust in the LORD then to put confidence in man It is better to trust in the LORD then to put confidence in Princes Dare to appear for God therefore in your places and to plead his Cause against wicked and unreasonable men with more Courage Resolution and Boldnesse then they have to oppose it Stand up therefore in Dayes of Danger and appear for the Truth and Glory of God that made you for the Honour and Interests of the Lord Jesus Christ that redeem'd you with his own precious blood appear for his Word and Worship his Ordinances and Ministers his Sabbaths and Sacraments his Church and Saints and all the just Rights Dues and Priviledges thereof against a wicked Generation of men that dare openly deny the Truth and profane the Name of God that are not afraid to cast Contempt and Reproach upon his Word and Worship to scoff at his Sabbaths and Sacraments and slight his holy Ordinances to abuse revile and vilifie his Ministers his Ambassadours seeking to pluck their meat from their mouths desiring to imbrue their hands in their blood endeavouring their utter extirpation out of the Church of God that dare to lay sacrilegious hands upon the Rights and Revenues of the Church which she holds by a firmer Title then the greatest Lord in the Land does or can do his inheritance and thereby seek to turne her children out of their Possession that they may enrich themselves as too many have done by the Churches Ruines Now Christians will you be afraid or asham'd to appear in so just a cause against such wretched men such wicked Adversaries as these Shall these come under the Name of Religion and rob you of the thing while you sit still and do nothing Shall the Interests of Christ and Glory of God fall to the ground rather then you will rise up and appear for the maintenance of the one and defence of the other How will you answer it to God at the great day of account O therefore be not afraid to appear for the Cause of God against the Evil of the Times in the Places and Stations wherein God hath set you This will be your Crown of Glory and Cause of Rejoycing at the great Day of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ And oh that those that are Highest in Place and Power would seriously lay these things to heart and quitting all self-interests inconsistent with the Cause and Interests of the Kingdome of Christ sincerely study and endeavour the advancement of Gods Glory in
this the Husbandman can neither duly till his ground nor sow his Seed nor reap his Harvest * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time which according to the †Ari. Phys 4. c. 11. Philosopher is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the measure of motion is the necessary circumstance of Action and †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Season is Opportunitas rei gerendae commoda * Erasm the Fitnesse of the Time for the work of man or the Production of Nature Now its mans singular Prudence to discern the Times that he may make the better improvement of every Season For †Eccl. 3.1 To every thing there is a Season and a Time for every Purpose under the Heaven Thus the Summer is the proper Season wherein the Prudent man with the * Prov. 6.8 Ant will make Provision for the Time of Winter Thus the Wise man will prepare for Perillous Times while he yet enjoyes a Prosperous Season It s a piece of Prudence to †Pro. 22.3 foresee Perillous Times and to make Provision for them while the Season lasts is a Work of Wisdome This Wisdome God teaches his Saints in his Word and the Defect of this Prudence in the Foresight of future Dangers is supplied by the Prophetick Revelation of his Spirit By the * 2 Tim. 3.16 with 2 Pet. 1.20 21. Inspiration of this Spirit of Prophecy was the Apostle Paul enabled to give this Premonition unto Timothy This know also that in the last Dayes Pâ—rillous Times sâ—all come It is true †Acts 1.7 it is not for us to know the times and the seasons which God hath put in his own power having sealed them up from us in his secret Counsel For * Deut. 29.29 secret things belong unto the LORD our God But yet those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever that we may do all the Words of his Law and obey his Will in the world And therefore it does concern us to know the Times and Seasons which he hath revealed to us in his holy Word and commanded us to take knowledge of as in this Divine Prophecy This know also c. The truth of the Prophecies manifested by the exact correspondency of future Events to former Predictions is one good argument for the confirmation of the Truth and Dignity of the Holy Scriptures Who but that God whose †Ps 147.5 understanding is infinite can certainly and infallibly fore-see and fore-tel so long before the things that shall come to passe so long after And do not our eyes in these dayes behold the Accomplishment of many things contained in the Scripture Prophecies which even those of the latest Date recorded in the New Testament were first given forth and committed to writing above fifteen hundred yeares ago How far the Prediction of Perillous Times here in the Text receives an accomplishment in the present age wherein we live will easily apppear to any soberly wise Christian that having first seriously perused the Context shall lift up his eyes and look abroad into the World upon the men of this Generation For the Apostle having in the Words of the Text briefly exhibited his Prediction of Perillous Times doth in the following Verses give a lively Description of the persons that should make the Times so Perillous Verse 1 This know saith he that in the last Days Verse 2 perillous Times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves Covetous Boasters Verse 3 Proud Blasphemers Disobedient to Parents Unthankful Unholy without Natural Affection Truce-breakers False-accusers Verse 4 Incontinent Fierce Despisers of those that are Good Traitors Heady High-minded Lovers of Pleasures more then Lovers of Verse 5 God Having a Forme of godliness but denying the power thereof But to make way for a clearer Discovery of the Intent of the holy Ghost in this part of the holy Scripture we shall consider it according to the proper nature of a Prophecie which respects the Future and so as a lively Mirror it represents the Image of the After-Age the Complexion of the Times to come And thus in the Text whereunto we shall a while confine our selves and thence descend to the Explication of the Context from which we must fetch Light for the discovery of the times mentioned in the Text there are these three things to be taken into consideration viz. 1. What these times shall be 2. When these times shall be 3. How Timothy was concern'd herein In the first of these we shall open the description which the Apostle gives of these Times by the Adjunct in the second we shall enquire into the import of the Prediction as to the determination of the Time of its Accomplishment and in the last we shall consider the scope and intent of the Premonition given to Timothy concerning these Perillous Times The Description WE are in the first place to consider what these times shall be They shall be as the Apostle here stiles and describes them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vulgatus Tempora periculosa Beza Molesta interpretatur melius Tremellius è Syro dura Castalio difficilia Verterunt * Scult in loc Perillous times hard difficult and troublesome times as Interpreters a little varying in the Termes of Translation agree in the Intent of the Word They shall be times of Difficulty Distresse and Danger Dicitur ipsum Tempus difficile quod expectationi non respondet in quo homines difficulter se suaque tueri possunt ut in Peste Bello Fame publica Nam ita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est homini aut vivere aut sua tueri †Aret. in loc And time it self is then called Difficult when it answers not our Expectation and wherein men finde it difficult to defend themselves and keep their own as in time of Plague Warre or Famine For in these Cases its a difficult thing for a man to preserve his life or estate So likewise upon the same Account in Case of Schisme and Divisions in the Church which is a kinde of Civil War in the City of God or the Persecution of the Saints which is as the Invasion of a Forreign Enemy they may be said to be hard and difficult troublesome and Perillous Times to the people of God Such are the times spoken of in this Prophecy They shall be cloudy and stormy Dayes to the Church and Saints The Apostle raised upon the Mount of Vision saw a small cloud arising which he knew would overspread the whole Church For this Prediction of the Evil of the Times is a Prophetical Representation of the future State of the Church And imports so much that their very * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seasons of Grace shall become Days of Danger their very Opportunities of Doing or Receiving Good shall be fenc't about with †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Difficulties and fill'd with Dangers Moreover we are here to observe that that is figuratively attributed to
a one as so loves himself as that he despises others in comparison of himselfe and seeks his owne Praise in all things Thus do hypocrites under the cloke of Religion seek themselves their own Honour Praise Pompe and the like and this is a sinful self-love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 igitur sunt isti qui sibi vehementer placent suisque Commodis impensè student †Jodoc Vilich in loc Addo ex Bullingero * In locum aliorum rebus vel neglectis vel afflictis etiam Lovers of themselves therefore are such as extreamly please themselves and mainly study and pursue their own Interests yea not only with the neglect but to the Prejudice of others This is that sinful self-love which as a drop of Poyson extinguishes both Life and Heat banishes both Piety and Charity from the Heart Such men are their own Idols and their own Idolizers They set Self above God they set Self in the Throne and God at the Footstoole This Self-love is the Root of all Vitiousnesse It 's here set in the Van of a Troop of Vices Self-denial is the Foundation of all Christian Vertues But Self-love is the Groundwork of a Babel of sinne and Vice Vanity and Confusion Self-love occasions the souls losse and so becomes the ground of Self-destruction The second Character 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui nummos admirantur Tales sunt qui Religionem in Questum convertant †Aret. in loc 2. Covetous Silver-Lovers as the Word impo t s Such as are over-in-love with Money Such are they that take up Religion for Advantage * 1 Tim. 6.5 supposing that Gain is godlinesse These men are no better then Idolaters and †Mat. 6.24 Mammon is their God Sure we are * Col. 3.5 Covetousnesse is Idolatry And Idolatry cannot be consistent with true Piety Silver-Lovers what ever their pretences be cannot well be Saints The third Character 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veritati opponitur est ejus Excessus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quaedam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hi praeterea fingunt honestas Causas ubi nullae sunt Tales in Religione perniciosi sunt Ad hos pertinent qui ob Flagitia pulsi Nomine Evangelii exulare se fingunt de Persecutionibus suis ac constantia gloriantur sine Ratione †Aret. in loc 3. Boasters Now Boasting according to the Import of the Word here used is a Vice whereby men speak of them selves and to their own Praise more then the Truth It 's a feigned shew as are the Colours of the Rainbowe without substance a flourishing Ostentation of some Excellency which is not in them These in Matters of Religion are very Pernicious Such are they who coine good Causes for the credit of bad Actions Such are they also who when banisht for their Wickedness pretend they suffer for the Gospel and so without any Cause at all glory of their Persecutions and Constancy in their sufferings They are * Elati Ver. lifted up with a high Conceit of their own Excellencies wherein they †Gloriosi Bez. Syr. glory Such are they Qui plura sibi arrogant quà m revera possident * Keck Ethic Vel Plura promittunt quà m praestare possunt †Ulpianus Who arrogate more to themselves then they do indeed possesse and promise more to others then they can performe The word here used * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the proper Epithete of a Peacock Such have a glorious traine but foule feet Their Lives proclaim their Pollutions while their Lips boast of their Perfections Boasting is ever a signe of Emptynesse Empty vessels give the greatest sound The fourth Character 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isti enim se in omnibus quaerunt arrogantes sunt animo elati †Aret. in loc 4. Proud This Pride is the Daughter of Self-love the Sister of Covetousnesse and Mother of Boasting 'T is near akin to the former Vices and the Venome of them runnes in the Veines of this For such men seek themselves in all things arrogate to themselves more then they ought and are lifted up with high conceits of themselves Pride is the Companion of every Vice and the Ring-leader in every Faction Proud Persons gild themselves with an outward glory while they are utterly empty of real worth They spread a great Saile upon an empty Bark They are painted Bubbles shining Meteors gilded Nothings lying Vanities The fifth Character 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maledici * Bez. Syr. 5. Blasphemers Evil-speakers †Died. Slanderers and Defamers This is a Vice of the Tongue as the former were Vices of the Heart The Tongue is a Conduit-pipe by which the evil of the Heart flows out and this is that which defiles a man * Mat. 15.18 Herewith they blaspheme God and defame men the word here used imports both reviling both Magistrates and Ministers Obtrectantes fidelibus Doctoribus Deum ipsum traducunt †Pareus in loc They are such who not onely defame their faithful Ministers but presume to traduce the Name of God himself Whither will not desperate Atheisme and unbridled Impiety carry men Thus is the Word used in the Scripture as when it s said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Rev. 16.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †Jude 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Rom. 3.8 They blasphemed God They spake evil of Dignities As we are slanderously reported The Hebrew word †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used to blaspheme or curse * Num. 23.13 signifies also to strike or pierce thorough †Hab. 3.14 Blasphemies are impoyson'd Arrows which wicked men shoot at God Almighty's Face slanders are venemous Darts wherewith they transfix the Names of his children The sixth Character 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui hominibus suis i. e. iis qui presunt sibi non obtemperant * Syr. Interp Trem. 6. Disobedient to Parents Who are not subject to them that according to Gods order are set over them By Parents according to the Hebrew Idiome †Exod. 20.12 we are to understand all Superiours Rulers Governours whether Domestical Civil or Ecclesiastical There are Natural Spiritual Political Parents The first are properly called Father and Mother the two last are Ministers and Magistrates the word then in the latitude of its signification denotes such persons as being children are refractory towards their Parents such People as are regardlesse of their Pastor such Subjects as are rebellious against their Prince It imports that sin which stands in the Violation of the fifth Commandment Such are the persons here describ'd as cast off the Golden Yoke of Government and break the silken bands of wholesome Laws whether founded in a Natural Moral or Civil Interest The seventh Character 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ingrati * Beza Negantes Beneficium †Syr. Interp Trem.
2.13 and 5.18 The wicked One Seducers are here so called from their subtile Impostures flattering Illusions and †Eph. 4.14 cunning craftinesse to deceive according to the Import of the word here used They have something of the * Gen. 3.1 Rev. 12.9 subtilty of the old Serpent whose seed and spawn they are The word signifies also a Delusion by means of Witchcraft or Incantation Seducers are a kinde of Sorcerers and Seduction is a kinde of spiritual Witchcraft and Inchantment O foolish Galatians sayes the Apostle †Gal. 3 1. who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth before whose Eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucifi'd among you These are they that draw men off from the Waies of Truth into the By-paths of Errour that lead to Destruction * ver 6. These are they which creep into houses and leade captive silly women laden with sinnes led away with diverse Lusts These are they which using a kinde of spiritual sorcery do with Simon Magus †Act. 8.9 10 11. bewitch the People who being taken with their Delusions are ready to cry out These men are the great Power of God Thus they carry as it were in one hand a flaming light and in the other an impoyson'd Cup and so the multitudes that follow them for the one hey cause to drink of the other which causing a spiritual drunkennesse carries them headlong to Eternal Destruction For * 2 Thes 2.10 11 12. Because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved even for this cause doth God send them strong Delusion the Energie of Error †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse These are the Foxes to which Satan hath ty'd his Fire-brands which if not speedily apprehended and suppressed will soon set all in a flame and cause a fearful combustion both in Church and State When these fiery Comets do appear they usually portend great changes in the Common-wealth and great Calamities to the Church of God These therefore we may well look upon as the Messengers of evil Tidings and the Marks of perillous Times Thus we have seen the persons decipher'd by their several Characters which make the Times perillous Now by a serious survey and a deliberate consideration hereof every soberly wise Christian may easily discerne when these Dayes are come which the Scripture hath foretold shall be perillous Times especially if the State of things also be but duly considered when such persons as these do abound From the Characters therefore of men and the Consideration of the state of things we may drawe the Scripture-Symptomes of Perillous Times and such are these that follow The SYMPTOMES of Perillous Times The first Symptome Prevalency of Impiety THey are Perillous Times Dayes of great Danger When those impieties do exceedingly abound which are high Provocations of Gods Anger This is a Conclusion which may be clearly drawn from all the forementioned Characters When those sins are daily multiply'd against God whereby God is provoked to execute his Judgements upon men When Sin and Wickednesse abounds amongst a people professing true Religion and Godlinesse Thus our Saviour speaking of the last Dayes wherein these Perillous Times should be tells us that then Iniquity should abound * Mat. 24.12 They were evil Dayes perillous Times with the People of Israel when their prevailing Impieties brought down prevailing Judgements When the Land is polluted with sin it 's time it should be purged with Judgement When the iniquity of the Amorites was full †Gen. 15.16 God cut them off and planted the Israelites in their land When the sins of Sodom were come to their height * Gen. 18.20 Fire and Brimstone was rained down upon them from heaven †Gen. 19.24 When the Jews had fill'd Jerusalem with their manifold sins and multiply'd Abominations God caused them to be carry'd away Captives to Babylon * See Jer. Chap. 5. to 16 When men draw iniquity with Cords of Vanity and sin as it were with a Cart-rope †Isa 5.18 they do but pluck down Judgements upon their own Heads Crying-sins are wont to bring down cutting Judgements VVhen the Field is overgrowne with Thornes its time to set it on Fire Mens sins are but Fewel to the Fire of Gods Judgements The Seed of sin brings forth the Fruit of Death 'T is so in a Person 't is so in a Nation This Observation is very often verifi'd by sad Experience Even as I have seen saies Eliphaz in Job * Chap. 4. v. 8 9. They that plow iniquity and sowe wickednesse reap the same The thornes of tribulation grow up from the seeds of sin Though sin at the first bear a sweet Flower it at length grows up to a sharp Thorne VVhen a whole land is sow'n with wickednesse what can we expect the Harvest-Time to be but a Day of Destruction VVhen the Harvest of sinne is ripe God sends forth an Angel with a sharp Sickle to reap the Earth †Rev. 14.14 15. When the Lord of the whole earth hath fenc't a Land about for a Vine-yard to himself and gather'd out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest Vine and built a Tower in the midst of it and also made a Wine-presse therein and yet notwithstanding all this cost and care when God expects it should bring forth Grapes it shall bring forth wilde Grapes * â—sa 5.2 what do you think will he do to this Vine-yard Let God himself tell you who is as True in his Threatnings as Just in his Iudgements Go to now saith the LORD †Isa 5.5 6 I will tell you what I will do to my Vine-yard I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up and break down the wall thereof and it shall be troden down And I will lay it wast It shall not be pruned nor digged but there shall come up Briars and Thornes I will also command the clouds that they raine no raine upon it Thus will God suspend his mercies from an unthankful People and inflict his Iudgements upon a sinful Nation Yea further God will at length send his Angel with a sharp sickle to gather the Clusters of these wilde Grapes So shall they be cast into the great Wine-presse of the wrath of God So is his dealing with sinners Prophetically represented to us in the Holy Scriptures * Rev. 14 â—8 19. when they have filled the earth with the cursed Fruits of sinne And upon the execution of this sentence what follows And sayes the Scripture †Rev. 14.20 the Wine-presse was troden without the City and Blood came out of the Wine-presse even unto the Horse-bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred Furlongs Thus when a land is polluted with over-flowings of sin it may soon be punished
words Behold the LORDS hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither his Eare heavy that it cannot hear But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear For your hands are defiled with Blood and your fingers with Iniquity your Lips have spoken Lies your Tongue hath uttered Perverseness None calleth for Justice nor any pleadeth for Truth They trust in Vanity and speak Lies they conceive Mischief and bring forth Iniquity They hatch Cockatrice Egges and weave the Spiders Web he that eateth of their Egges dieth and that which it crushed breaketh out into a Viper Their Webs shall not become garments neither shall they cover themselves with their works their Works are works of Iniquitie and the Act of Violence is in their Hands Their feet run to evil and they make hast to shed innocent blood Their thoughts are thoughts of Iniquity Wasting and Destruction are in their paths The way of Peace they know not and there is no judgment in their goings they have made them crooked Paths whosoever goeth therein shall not know Peace Therefore is Judgement far from us neither doth Justice overtake us We wait for Light but behold obscurity for Brightnesse but we walk in Darknesse We grope for the Wall like the Blinde and we grope as if we had no Eyes We stumble at Noon-day as in the Night we are in desolate Places as dead men We roar all like Bears and mourn sore like Doves We look for Judgement but there is none for salvation but it is far off from us For our Transgressions are multiply'd before Thee and our sinnes testifie against us for our Transgressions are with us and as for our iniquities we know them In transgressing and lying against the LORD and departing away from our God speaking Oppression and Revolt conceiving and uttering from the heart Words of falsehood And Judgement is turned away backward and Justice standeth afar off for Truth is fallen in the street and Equity cannot enter Yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey and the LORD saw it and it displeased him that there was no Judgement And he saw that there was no man and wondred that there was no * Or Interposer Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so rendred Job 36.32 Intercessor Therefore his Arme brought salvation unto him and his Righteousnesse it sustained Him For he put on Righteousnesse as a Breast-plate and an Helmet of Salvation upon his Head and he put on the Garments of Vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a Cloke According to their Deeds accordingly he will repay Fury to his adversaries Recompence to his Enemies to the Islands he will repay Recompence So shall they fear the Name of the LORD from the West and his glory from the Rising of the Sun when the Enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him Thus we see how miserable the State of that Nation is which is full of Unrighteousnesse Oppression and Cruelty and how dreadful the condition of that People who are guilty of these sinnes shall be when the LORD of Hosts arm'd withVengeance shall come forth in Wrath and Fury for the Execution of his Judgements These are usually the sinnes of the great men of the world The Psalmist thus describes them †Psal 73 6-10 Pride compasseth them about as a chaine Violence covereth them as a Garment Their Eyes stand out with Fatnesse they have more then heart could wish They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning Oppression they speak loftily They set their Mouth against the Heavens and their tongue walketh through the Earth Therefore his People return hither and waters of a full Cup are wrung out to them But when their Insolencies are grown intolerable God takes down their Pride with deserved Punishments When they are come to the Zenith of their glory the least touch of the Almighty's hand sends them down into the lowest Centre of wretchednesse and infelicity That may be the very moment of their Destruction wherein they think to put a Period to the Churches Peace by their bloody Tyranny and Oppression For the oppression of the Poore for the sighing of the Needy NOW will I arise saith the LORD I will set him at safety from him that puffeth at him * Psal 12.5 Oppressors are wont to prey upon the Poor as the stronger Beasts upon the weaker the greater Fowles and Fishes upon the lesser They are the Leeches of the Common-wealth which suck the Blood out of its Veines the Suckers which spring from the roots of the Trees and draw away the Sap from the otherwise fruitful Branches The Oppressor is a most cruel Chymist for he distills Silver out of the sweat of poor mens Brows and Gold out of the tears of Widows and Orphans The very Laws are made use of by such as Keys to open their Coffers as Buckets to draw all the water out of their Wells Aperi Bursam ego aperiam Buccam Let me finger my Fee sayes the greedy Lawyer and I will canvase thy Cause Thus Justice runs upon Silver-wheels while Oppression rules with an Iron Rod. The Poor are dasht in pieces by the Proud like Potters Vessels Then is it time for the Judge of the World to come forth and execute Judgement Then shall they feel the strength of his strokes as well as others have felt the Power of their Pride †Isa 30.12 13 14 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel Because ye despise this Word and trust in Oppression and perversenesse and stay thereon Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall swelling out in a high Wall whose breaking cometh suddenly at an Instant And he shall break it as the breaking of the Potters Vessel that is broken in pieces he shall not spare so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take Fire from the Hearth or to take water withall out of the Pit Oppression when it is become a reigning sin precedes some sore Visitation of that City presages the utter Desolation of that Land wherein it reignes We shall not doubt of the Truth of this if we do believe the Word of God * Jer. 6.6 7 8. For thus hath the LORD of Hosts said Hew ye down Trees and cast a Mount against Jerusalem This is the City to be visited she is wholly Oppression in the midst of her As a Fountain casteth out her waters so she casteth out her Wickednesse Violence and spoile is heard in her before me continually is Griefe and Wounds Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soul depart from thee lest I make thee desolate a Land not Inhabited The Riches gained by Oppression shall not prosper in the hand of Oppressors nor prefit them in the Day of wrath Forasmuch therefore saith the LORD â€
manifold Provocations †Hos 4.1 2 3. Hear the Word of the Lord ye children of Israel for the LORD hath a controversie with the Inhabitants of the Land because there is no Truth nor Mercy nor Knowledg of God in the Land By Swearing and Lying and Killing and Stealing and committing Adultery they break out and Blood toucheth Blood Therefore shall the Land mourne and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the Beasts of the Field and with the Fowles of Heaven yea the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken away Thus the Commonnesse of sinne is the Ground of Gods entring a Controversie against a Land Thus the Land of Israel was become a sink of sinne before God empty'd out upon it his Vials of Wrath. And so does our English Prophet * De Excid Britan. Gildas shew us how England was overspread with sins Adultery Drunkennesse Oppression c. before it was overwhelm'd with Judgements When men flie far from God in the commission of all sorts of sinnes then does God come near to them in the Execution of his sorest Judgements Such was the carriage of the Rebellious Jews towards God and thus did the Righteous God deale with his People the Jews I will come near to you sayes the LORD to them †Mal. 3.5 to Judgement and I will be a swift witnesse against the Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against false Swearers and against those that oppresse the Hireling in his Wages the Widow and the Fatherlesse and that turn aside the stranger from his Right and fear not me saith the LORD of Hosts It s sin thus abounding which changes the Countenance and Constitution of the Times whence of sound and good they become distemper'd and evil Hence is it that the smiling Face of Time is alter'd and beholds us with a languishing Look Hence it is that the most fruitful Seasons are punisht with a barren womb Hence it is that the most joyful Dayes which almost continually appear'd in Festival Garments come forth drooping in a mourning Dress hanging down the Head both for shame and sorrow Much to this purpose does the Father speak as it were with a sigh to his Children his Auditors in his Sermon upon the the Famine and Drought * Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold sayes he how our abounding sinnes our multiply'd Abominations have chang'd the Temper of the Times striping them naked as it were of their proper natures and have drawn strange lineaments upon the Face of the Seasons altering the very Native temperament and fixt constitution thereof 'T is indeed nothing but sin that furrowes the beautiful Face of Time with the frownes and wrinkles of affliction and sorrow 'T is sinne which often alters the Seasons changing Summer into Winter Calms into storms the Summer of Peace Plenty Prosperity into the Winter of Affliction Scarcity and Warre When sinne thus casts its Spawne into the Waters of Time it produces a numerous off-spring of sufferings and sorrows Miseries and Calamities to the Children of men The second Case The Generality of Offendours WHen all sorts of men transgresse both Great and Small Rich and Poore Princes and People Noble and Obscure the Times must needs be perillous Thus before God brought the Flood upon the World †Gen. 6.12 all Flesh had corrupted â—his way upon the Earth Thus not onely were the Common People of Israel * Isa 1.3 4 Ignorant and Profane but their †ver 23. Princes were rebellious and companions of Thieves and then the LORD comes forth to * ver 24. execute Judgement on his Adversaries and to avenge himself on his enemies The Prophet Jeremy knowing that unlesse the righteous stand in the Gap the Judgements of God would soon break out upon a Rebellious People having in the Name of the Lord call'd upon others to run to and fro to seek such out he himself runs from one sort of men to another to find them but when he finds none he denounces the Judgements of God against a people so Generally corrupt and wicked Behold herein the justice and goodnesse of God with the complaint and carriage of the Prophet For sayes the Lord †Jer. 5 1-6 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can finde a man if there be any that executeth Judgement that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it And though they say the LORD liveth surely they swear falsely O LORD are not thine eyes upon the Truth Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive Correction they have made their Faces harder then a Rock hey have refused to returne Therefore I said Surâ—ly these are poore they are foolish for they know not the way of the LORD nor the Judgement of their God I will get me unto the Great men and will spâ—aâ— unto them for they have known the way of the LORD and the Judgement of their God but these have altogether broken the Yoke and burst the Bonds Wherefore a Lion out of the Forrest shall slay them and a Wolfe of the Evenings shall spoile them a Leopard shall watch over their Cities Every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces because their Transgressions are many and their Backslidings are increased So likewise does the Lord by the Prophet Ezekiel complaine of the Corruption of the Priests Princes Prophets and People of Judah and Jerusalem for which he severely punisht them in the fiercenesse of his Wrath and fiery Indignation Sonne of man saith the LORD * Ezek. 22 24-31 say unto her Thou art the Land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the Day of indignation There is a conspiracy of her Prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring Lion ravening the prey they have devoured souls They have taken the treasure and precious things they have made her many Widows in the midst thereof Her Priests have violated my Law and have profaned my holy Things they have put no difference between the Holy and Profane neither have they shew'd difference between the uncleane and the cleane and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths and I am profaned among them Her Princes in the midst thereof are like Wolves ravening the prey to shed Blood and to destroy soules to get dishonest Gain And her Prophets have daubed them with untemper'd Mortar seeing Vanity and Divining Lies unto them saying Thus saith the Lord GOD when the LORD hath not spoken The People of the Land have used Oppression and exercised Robbery and have vexed the Poore and Needy yea they have oppressed the Stranger wrongfully And I sought for a man among them that should make up the Hedge and stand in the Gap before me for the Land that I should not destroy it but I found none Therefore have I poured out
destruction when such bitter and cursed fruits grow upon the top-most Branches of the tallest Trees in the Land So likewise when those that should punish sinne in others are themselves guilty of those sins which do deserve the sharpest Punishment When those that are intrusted with power for the execution of Justice upon Swearers Drunkards Adulterers Sabbath-breakers and such like are themselves guilty of these fearful sins and God-provoking Abominations This speaks the state of such a People to be desperate the disease of such a Nation to be deadly When there is Poison in the Plaister and the Physician himself hath the Plague upon him what hope of cure can there be for the Patient If those that should be the Healers of the Nation do wound it by their transgressions what can be expected but a sudden and inevitable Destruction Certainly corrupt Magistrates and Ministers of Justice are the Lands sharpest Scourges and the chief procurers of its sorest Judgements The fifth Case Incorrigiblenesse and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVHen men are not amended by Corrections but grow worse and worse under all the Dispensations of Divine Providence it 's a sure and sad Symptome of perillous Times a clear and undeniable evidence that the last dayes are come upon us and the Evil of them hath overtaken us For the Apostle fore-warning us that in the last Dayes perillous Times shall come tells us that in those Dayes †2 Tim. 3.13 Evil men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived It 's a sad signe that judgement is at hand and Destruction is at the Doore when men grow worse and worse under all the meanes of making them bettâ—r When they are not reclaim'd by Judgements reduc'd by benefits reform'd by all the meanes of grace and Salvation Surely Incorrigiblenesse under judgements and customary continuance in Sin and a continual progresse in impiety from one degree to another notwithstanding all the meanes and mercies vouchsaft for their amendment is a Fore-runner of their inevitable ruine If the Tree be prun'd and digg'd about and dung'd and water'd and yet notwithstanding all this cost and paines after long waiting does not onely bring forth no good Fruit but much evil and every yeare worse and worse it shall certainly be cut down that it no longer cumber the ground * Luk. 13 6-9 If when the Lord might justly expect good Grapes from his Vineyard it bring forth nothing but wilde Grapes and these every Vintage worse and worse its just with him to pluck up the Fence thereof and lay it wast †Isa 5 1-6 God is wont by his Word his Rod and his Sword to proceed against sinners By his Word he calls them to repentance but if they will not be reclaim'd by that with his Rod he chastises them for sin he exercises them with several Afflictions if they will not hereby be amended he is ready with the Sword of his Justice to cut them off in the execution of his Judgements So by the neglect and non-improvement of the two former a sinning People come to experiment the severity of the last and sorest of these dispensations Thus does the Lord complain of Judah * Zeph. 3.2 She obeyed not the Voice she received not Correction and so hereby she provoked the wrath of God to her own Ruine and Destruction When men do commonly cast contempt upon the Word and Ordinances of God and are generally unprofitable under the meanes of grace its just with God to give them up to Blindnesse of Minde and hardnesse of Heart and then according to the ordinary Methods of his Justice to second these Spiritual Judgements with a Temporal Destruction and so for the Vnprofitablenesse of the People to lay the Land desolate Of this Import is that dreadful commission which the Lord gave unto the Prophet Isaiah concerning the People of Israel Go sayes He to him †Isa 6 9-12 and tell this People hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this People fat and make their eares heavy and shut their Eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their Eares and understand with their Heart and convert and be healed Then said I Lord how long And he answered Untill the Cities be wasted without Inhabitant and the Houses without man and the Land be utterly desolate and the LORD have removed men far away and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the Land Of the very same import is the Criminatory Complaint and Prophetick Commination of the Prophet Jeremy against the men of Judah and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Name of the Lord. This thing commanded I them saith the LORD * Jer. 7 23-29 concerning their Fathers whom he had brought out of the Land of Egypt saying Obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my People and walk ye in all the wayes that I have commanded you that it may be well unto you But they hearkened not nor inclined their Eare but walked in the Counsels and in the Imagination or stubbornnesse of their evil Heart and went backward and not forward Thus they became worse by the meanes used to make them better Since the Day that your Fathers came forth out of the Land of Egypt unto this Day I have even sent unto you all my servants the Prophets daily rising up early and sending them Yet they hearkened not unto me nor inclined their eare but hardened their Neck they did worse then their Fathers Therefore thou shalt speake all these words unto them but they will not hearken to thee Thou shalt also call unto them but they will not answer thee But thou shalt say unto them this is a Nation that obeyeth not the Voice of the LORD their God nor receiveth Correction Truth is perished and is cut off from their Mouth Cut off thine Hair O Jerusalem and cast it away and take up a Lamentation on high Places for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the Generation of his Wrath. And what follows †ver 34. Then will I cause to cease from the Cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the Voice of Mirth and the Voice of Gladnesse the Voice of the Bride-groome and the Voice of the Bride for the Land shall be desolate But yet before the Lord proceeds to the utter Destruction of a People he is wont to try them by lesser Judgements lighter Afflictions whether they will return to Him by Repentance or no. These lesser Judgements are his Warning peeces which he shoots off to see whether they will make their Peace with him before he levels against them his Battering Ordnance and discharges upon them his Murdering Cannons his dreadfull destroying Judgements Lighter Afflictions therefore are to be improved for the Prevention of heavier Judgements For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nocumenta Documenta
Ardour and Forwardness to promote this or that way of Government or Worship in opposition to all the rest which yet may be found in a man that hath never experimented the Power of Religion or Work of Sanctification upon his own soul Thus some are Zealous for the Episcopal others for the Presbyterial and others for the Congregational and not a few for the Anabaptistical way and herein lies the Main of their Religion Whereas the Life of Religion the soul of true Godliness lies in the Spiritual Worship of God †Joh. 4.24 It 's good indeed to be zealously affected alwayes in a good matter * Gal. 4.18 but it s neither good nor safe to rest in a superficial Form a meer empty out-side of Religion though never so splendid and glorious But alas what do these men do that so earnestly contend for that way of Worship which is most agreeable to their own Fancies and censure all others as no Christians no Saints that are not moulded after the same Model what do they but promote the Distractions encrease the Divisions and widen the Differences of the Church of God which every good Christian should studiously endeavour to compose and heal Surely the setting up of and the Adhering to this and the other Party is not the way to promote the Interests of the Kingdom of Christ He is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †MELCHIZEDECK King of SALEM Rex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justitiae He is King of Righteousness and King of Peace †Heb. 7.1 2 And his Kingdom stands not in meat and drink but Righteousnesse and Peace and which results from them both Joy in the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rex Pacis When such Religious Factions prevail they sadly portend the Ruine of the Church Rom. 14.17 And â—hen are not such perillous times In the Primitive Tiâ—es which were Times of Pâ—rsecution how zealous were Christians in the things of God and how fervently did they love one another Those Times were surely less perillous then these wherein the Hâ—aâ— of Persecution is not more abated then Zeal for God and Love to one another amongst Christians But when P ofessors are generally Formall in the performance of the Duties of Religion very Perfunctory and Superficial in the service of God it s a sad Symptom of perillous Times When a man having tipt his Tongue with the Silver of the Sanctuary and so is able to speak well of the things of God to discourse well of the Matters of Religion shall for this only Reason be esteemed very Religious Whereas as the Apostle speaks †1 Cor. 4.20 The Kingdom of God is not in Word but in Power When there is indeed much Preaching much Hearing frequent Receiving of Sacraments but alas little Life in Preaching less in Hearing little or no Affectionateness in Receiving and least of all of Conformity to these Gospel-Ordinances in the Life and Conversation Time was when Ministers preached with Plainness Life and Power so that their earnest * Rom. 10.1 desire of saving souls was apparent in their Preaching and Christians that feared God †Acts 17.11 Received the Word with all readiness of Mind entertained the * 2 Thes 2.10 Truth in the Love of it and had their Hearts much stirred and moved by every Sermon They not only heard the Preacher with their Ears but felt him in their Hearts and Consciences and were very much affected with all the Discoveries of the Will of God to them They took pains to work the Word upon their own Hearts They met together to whet it upon one another to exhort encourage and comfort one another in the wayes of God Oh! The Word of the Lord was precious in those days †1 Sam. 3.1 How beautifull in those dayes were the Feet of them that preached the Gospel of Peace and brought glad Tidings of good Things * Rom. 10.15 The Ministers of the Gospel now so generally slighted and despised were then received by all good Christians as Angels of God yea even as Christ â—esus †Gal. 4.14 And then did Religion flourish in the Church and Christians manifested their experimental acquaintance with the Power of Godlinesse But when Preaching is become for the most part Notional and accommodated rather to the pleasing of the Fancy then informing the judgement convincing the conscience and affecting the Heart when Sermons are stuft with affected phrases and exquisitely embroyder'd with Artificial Ornaments and so deliver'd by the Preacher without one spark of Life or Zeale with such a singular care to observe the Emphasis and Elegancy of his study'd Expressions such a wary fear of rumpling his fine smooth forms of speech as if he was come thither to play the part of an idle Orator rather then to do the duty of a Gospel-Preacher who is to treate with men in the Name of Christ about the great affaires of their precious soules for their eternal Salvation this is a sad change seriously to be laid to heart and sadly to be lamented When People forsake and regard not sound solid Preachers of the Gospel but follow and flock after those that suit with their Humours and with such like quaint and curious notions please and delight their Fancies it argues a great Decay in Religion and speaks men to be great strangers to the Power of Godlinesse Nay when those that are indeed good Christians and sound in the Maine shall become very Formal Overly Superficial in the discharge of Religious Duties in their attendance upon Gospel-Ordinances When they shall take no paines to prepare themselves for Sabbaths and Sacraments when they shall be little or nothing at all affected with the Preaching of the Gospel when they seldome or never stirre up themselves to the Exercise of the Graces of the Spirit in the duties of Religion when they take no Paines to work upon their Hearts by Meditation and Prayer the truths which are delivered unto them nor study to expresse in their lives a restâ—onsiblenesse to the Doctrines of the Gospel when they thus rest in the Forme and presse not after the Power of Godlinesse it s a Symptome of an Evill Age a Presage of Periâ—lous Times We finde God nothing regarded the outward Performances of the People of Israel when they were utterly deficient in those Duties wherein consisted the Life of Religion * Isa 1 11-15 To what Purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the LORD I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams and the Fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the Blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats And when ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vain oblations Incense is an abomination unto me the New Moons and Sabbaths the Calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn
dissembled sayes Augustine is not Equity but double Iniquity because dissimulation is Iniquitie And the more glorious the Pretence is which covers a base Designe the more vile and wicked is the Person that thus audaciously steals the Robes of vertue to cloath his otherwise naked viliany Caligula the Romane Emperour was never more Profane then when in his Pride he would put on the Vestments of the Gods Nero within and Cato without is an abhor'd Monster in the Church of God When the Devil appears in the habit of Samuel 't is but to prophecy the prevalency of the Philistines and the Overthrow of Israel When Pernicious Projects are vail'd with glorious Pretences the Times are perillous When Piety is made subservient to Policy and Gain is accounted Godlinesse This is not Religion but Robbery Latro est Domum Dei convertit in speluncam Latronum qui Lucra de Religione sectatur cultusque ejus non tam Cultus Dei quam negotiationis occasio est †Hier. sup Mâ—t. l. 4. He is a Robber says Jerome and turns the House of God into a Den of Thieves who takes up Religion meerly for the getting of Gain and whose worship of God serves onely for a fitter Occasion to advance his Trading in the World And we know it was not long after the Temple was made a Den of Thieves that it became a heap of Ruines The Times are perillous when the Royal stamp is put upon counterfeit coine and self-interest is called the Cause of God And the Danger is greater according to the Degree of the Person Self-seeking especially under plausible pretences of the Good of the People is extreamly pernicious in such Persons as have the chiefest Power in their hands which ought not to be used as an Engine for the advancement of mens private Interests but to be ever put to the best improvement for the Publick Good And therefore the pious and learned Father makes this the great difference betwixt a Tyrant who rules after his own Lusts and a King that governes his People by good and wholesom Laws 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this sayes he does a Tyrant differ from a King that the one has still an Eye to his own Interests the other lays out himself for the Good of his Subjects But yet amongst a People professing godlinesse such Tyrants which makes their wickednesse so much the worse are wont to pretend the interests of Religion and the Honour of God for the colouring of their irregular enterprizes and the covering of their wicked intentions till they have accomplish't their cursed Designes and so attain'd their own ends So the bloody Nero in the beginning of his Reigne made great Pretences of Piety but when he was establisht in his Empire he delighted in nothing but wickednesse and cruelty And how perillous those Times were to the Christian Church the Teares and Blood of many thousand persecuted Christians gave sufficient Testimony whose †Rev. 6.9 10 Souls are under the Altar of God still crying with a loud Voice and saying How long O Lord Holy and True dost thou not judge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth But now was it not for such faire Pretences these bloody Tyrants could never so smoothly carry on such foule Enormities to a full accomplishment It 's the Glory of God therefore which they pretend to the world to be the End of their audacious Actings but their own Names are firmly wrought into that Shield of Gods Glory which they hold out to the world for the Protection of the basest Designes as it s said the Name of Phidias was by his curious Art wrought into the Shield of Minerva Wo be to the People that are subjected to the Power of such pernicious persons for these aâ—e they which do with a witnesse make the Times perillous The Times then are perillous when glorious Titles are stampt upon base Designs and glorious ends are pretended for the crediting of such Enormous Actions as Religion cannot but blush that they should be called her children Thus Celsus the Philosopher having written a Defence of Paganisme gilds over his rotten wood with this golden Title or Inscription Verbum Veritatis †Orig. contra Cels l. 2. The Word of Truth Thus Absalom pretended a solemne Act of Religion in paying his Vow unto God when having plotted a cursed Treason he went on purpose to raise a bloody Rebellion against his Prince and Father * 2 Sam. 15 7-10 Thâ—â— Jâ—hu pretended the Reformation of Religion when he sought nothing but the establishment of the Kingdome to himself †2 King 9 and 10. and therefore the executions done by him though according to Gods Order and Appointment * 2 King 9.6 7 are charged upon him as so many bloody Murthers soliciting the Divine Vengeance For sayes the Lord †Hos 1.4 yet a little while and I will avenge the Blood of Jezreel i. e. the bloodshed in Jezreel * 2 King 9 15 24 25 26 30. ult the Royal City of the Land of Issachar †Josh 19.17 18. upon the House of Jehu and will cause to cease the Kingdome of the House of Israel Thus one wicked Tyrant may be the Ruine of the whole Kingdome Yet does this bloody Wretch this Self-seeking Jehu while he was yet reeking in Blood and hot in pursuing his selfish Designes boast of his zeal for the Cause of God Come sayes he to Jehonadab * 2 King 10.15 16. Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD Thus do many wear a Cloak of Zeal upon a Habit of Vice Thus Saul out of his Zeale for the Israelites became a bloody Butcher of the Gibeonites and so brought a plague upon the whole Land of Israel †2 Sam. 21 1 2 Thus that wicked Ahab proclaimes a Fast for the putting to death of Naboth that he might take to himself his Vineyard and so by one Act involves himself in the guilt of Murder Perjury and unjust Usurpation of the Right and Possession of the Innocent and Righteous * 1 King 21 12-16 So the Historian tells us of the Devilish Policy of Hanno a rich Prince of the Carthaginians who having laid a desiâ—ne for the Destruction of the whole Seâ—ate herein worse then Heliogabalus whose Pride was satisfi'd in the Expulsion of the Senators †Fulg. l. 9. c. 5. made use of a sacred Sâ—lemnity in the Celebration of his Daughters Marriage Ut Religione Votorum nefanda committeret nefanda Commenta facilius tegerentur * Justin Hist l. 21. For the Execution and Concealment of his Damnable Designe and Hellish Treason Thus did the Monster of men Herod pretend he would †Mat. 2.8 worship Christ whilst he was plotting to murder him in the prosecution of which bloody Designe he cruelly * Mat. 2.16 put to death as it is thought about fourteen thousand Innocents the
anothers use who can deprive him of them without Intrenchment upon his just Right to whom they are given And then is not he guilty of †Mal. 3.8 Robbing of God which shall take away that and turn it to a secular Use for his own advanrage which was consecrated to Gods holy service Yea though a man that dedicates any thing to God should not do it with a Right intention yet is it the Lords Right after it is consecrated to a Religious Vse And therefore Christ calls the Temple built by Herod for vain glory his Fathers HOUSE and whips out them that profan'd it * 1 John 2.15 16. Much more will God scourge with his judgements those that under the pretence of Religion commit Sacriledge 'T was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables in Rome Sacrum Sacrove commendatum qui clepserit rapseritve Parricida esto †Cic. pro Rosc Let him that stealeth or violently taketh away holy things or things dedicated to a holy Use be reputed and punished as a Parricide And should Sacriledge be esteemed a lesse Crime amongst Christians then it was amongst Heathens shall we think it a lesse sinne to rob the true God the * Gen. 1.1 Ps 124.8 Creator of Heaven and Earth whose †Eph. 2.10 Workmanship we are for his * Psal 119.73 hands have made and fashion'd us then they did to rob their false gods which were so created by men to defraud their Idols which were the †Ps 115.4 work of mens hands being but * Ezek. 20.32 Wood and Stone or at the best but †Psa 135.15 Silver and Gold Surely if they to expresse the heinousnesse of this sin reckon'd it amongst the vilest murders of Bodies we shall want a sin with which to match it which is in effect a murder of souls It 's sad to think how many thousand souls were murder'd at one stroke when the Revenues of the Church were alienated in many places in England an act then which the Infernal Powers could hardly have decreed any thing more Diabolical and Destructive to the Kingdome of Christ however pretended for the purging of the Land from Superstition and spiritual Tyranny For have not many thousand souls by this means eternally perisht in their sinnes who for want of a competent maintenance for a sound and able Ministry have never enjoy'd the Means of Grace and Salvation but have sat down in Darknesse and the shadow of Death under an ignorant unprofitable and scandalous soul-murthering Ministry maintain'd by some broken reversions of those rich Revenues which were cut off from the Church by that cursed Sacriledge Doubtlesse the Blood of thousands of soules will give Testimony to the truth hereof at the Day of Judgement to the eternal confusion of such damned Sacrilegists who if they escap't punishment in this present Life shall be overtaken with the Wrath and Vengeance of God in the world to come Of this great evil does Calvin complain upon account of the Alienation of Abby-Lands and other depredations made upon the Churches revenues here in England in his Epistle to Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury as a mighty obstruction to the prosperous successe of the Gospel and Hindrance of the flourishing of the Christian Religion For sayes he Id quo minus fiat occultis quidem artibus obsistit Satan Unum tamen apertum obstaculum esse intelligo quod praedae expositi sunt Ecclesiae Reditus Malum sane intolerabile That this might not be Satan by his secret slights prevailes to the raising of a strong resistance But one thing I understand is an open Obstacle and that is that a Sacrilegious Rape is committed upon the Churches Revenues This is indeed a mischief intolerable And therefore it was both wise and holy Counsel and worthy of a Christian Prince which Christopher of Wittenberg gave to Andrew an eminent Divine in his Dominion when he was sent for by Lodwick Count of Oeting for his advice in some special concernments in the Church that if Count Lodwick should set upon a REFORMATION that under the Pretence of Religion he might rob God and by seizing upon the Revenues of the Church under the pretence of suppressing SUPERSTITION because they were anciently given for the maintenance of Monasteries turn them to his own private use and advantage he should presently leave him as a SACRILEGIOUS Person and come back to his own Countrey How strange is it that such Sacrilegious Persons should go on secure in their sins without fearing the judgement of God which is at their heeles in pursuit of them What a sad end befel Cardinal Woolsey that first began to enrich himself by Lands given to Monasteries And what a revenging hand pursu'd his five chief Agents that were most serviceable to him in that Sacrilegious Enterprize One of them kill'd his fellow in a Duel and was hang'd for it a third drowned himself in a Welâ— a fourth fell from a great estate to extreame Beggery Dr. Allen the last and chiefest of them being made Arch-Bishop of Dublin was cruelly slaine by his Adversaries Whereupon sayes the * Scultâ—t Relator of this sad Story Utinam his similibus Exemplis edocti discant homines res semel Deo consecratas timidè attrectare O that these and such like Examples might teach men to be afraid to meddle with such things as have at any time been consecrated unto God But judgement does not alwayes fall upon the Person but is sometimes reserv'd for the Posterity of those who have stain'd their hands with the guilt of Sacriledge Dionysius of Syracuse was wont to make a Mock of Sacriledge a sinne he thought he might boldly jest with as having made it his Familiar Amongst the rest he took a golden Vestment from the statue of Jupiter Olympius and instead thereof put a Cloak of cloth upon it saying Gold was too heavy for Summer and too cold for Winter but this would suit well with either Season Some have pretended the Churches good in taking away her Gâ—â—ments of Gold as if while her cloathing is of wrought Gold she can never be all glorious within †Ps 45.13 Now might not all men expect some remarkable judgement should be inflicted upon this Sacrilegious Tyrant Yet herein were mens expectations frustrated For sayes Valerius he underwent not the punishment he deserved But take notice for its worthy our observation of the Divine Conclusion which the Heathen Historian makes hereupon Qui tametsi debita supplicia non exolvit Dedecore tamen Filii mortuus Poenas rependit quas vivus effugerat Lento enim gradu ad Vindictam sui Divina procedit Ira tarditatemque supplicii gravitate compensat * Val. Max. l. 1. c. 1. Though sayes he he suffer'd not the punishment due to his insolency during his Life yet was the DISGRACE of his SON a punishment of his pride and stain to his glory after his Death Thus Divine Justice
have told you before God before his wheat is gather'd into his Garner before his Church on Earth is translated into Heaven before gracious Saints are taken up into his glorious Kingdome will suffer the windes of false Doctrines to blow thereupon that so graceless ones who are as * Psal 1.4 Chaff carryed about with every winde of Doctrine †Eph. 4.14 may be separated from the Wheat the truly gracious And therefore says the Apostle * 1 Cor. 11 19 There must be also Heresie or Sects †Margin among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you And sayes the Apostle Peter * 2 Pet. 2.1 2 There were false prophets also among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction And many shall follow their pernicious wayes by reason of whom the way of Truth shall be evil spoken of And for the time of their appearing this he intimates to us in what he further speaks of them afterwards †2 Pet. 3.3 Knowing this first that there shall come in the last Dayes scoffers walking after their own lusts This is fully confirmed by what the Apostle Paul speaks of them in his Premonition given to Timothy in both his Epistles to him directed In the former sayes he * 1 Tim. 4.1 2 Now the spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter Times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their conscience searâ—d with a hot iron And in the latter sayes he †2 Tim. 3.1 2 6 7. This know also that in the last Dayes perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves c. Of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth So likewise does the Apostle John tell us that the coming of many Antichrists false Teachers opposing the Doctrine of Christ contain'd in the Gospel does manifestly discover that it is the last time * 1 Joh. 2.18 And sayes the Apostle Jude †Jude v. 17 18 19. Beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ How that they told you there should be Mockers in the Last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the spirit how much soever they may pretend thereunto Thus we see it s undenyably manifest from the Holy Scriptures that False Teachers Sectaries and Seducers shall abound in the Church of God in the last dayes which the Apostle hath told us shall be perillous Times Whence we may certainly conclude that whensoever these Locusts and Caterpillars shall abound amongst us then are the perillous times spoken of come upon us And that we may the more infallibly know when those very Sectaries and Seducers are come which are spoken of in these Prophecies there are certain Marks and Characters stampt upon them by the Holy Ghost whereby they may be easily and infallibly known to us So the Apostle to his Prediction of Perillous times subjoyns a large Description of those Erroneous Persons who by their pernicious Practises should make the times so perillous †2 Tim. 3 1-5 He describes them by very many Characters which we have already view'd to which might many more be added from several other places of Scripture wherein they are in their proper Colours represented to us But it will be sufficient as to our present purpose to produce a few of the principal of them to which many of the rest may easily be refer'd These seducing spirits then which raise Stormes in the State and cause Confusions in the Church may be known by these distinguishing Marks and Characters which follow The first Mark Pride and Self-conceitednesse FAlse-Teachers are very proud and highly conceited of their own Knowledge notwithstanding grosse ignorance of the great Mysteries of the Gospel yea the plain principles of Religion The Apostle Paul having recommended to Timothy the preaching and pressing of the sound and Orthodox Doctrines of the Gospel subjoynes this premonitory description of False Teachers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †Ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. super re aliqua insistens eique attento inhaerens animo If any man sayes he * 1 Tim. 6.3 4 5. be Heterodox or teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to Godlinesse or come not to the sound preaching of the Gospel He is PROUD or puffed up sc with an opinion of his own knowledge yet KNOWING NOTHING or having no right understanding no setled and solid knowledge of any thing but doting or sick about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh Envy Strife Railings Evil surmisings Perverse disputings chafing and galling one another with unprofitable Contentions of men of corrupt Mindes and DESTITUTE OF THE knowledge of the TRUTH Thus were these False-teachers as extreamly ignorant as they were unsufferably Proud So in the Apostles Prophetick Premonition wherein he represents them as the Troublers of their Times they are stil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boasters Proud High-minded * 2 Tim. 3.2 3. These are the Bubbles which we may see passing too and fro in Pride and Pompe upon the face of the Waters when some Tempest in the State hath troubled the waters of the Sanctuary They appear beautiful and gloâ—ious in the eyes of the simple who are deceived with their Colours when indeed there 's nothing at all in them but winde and emptynesse What glorious vaunts of knowledge have some Vile Sects made who have been no better then the Glow-wormes of the Night Certain Sectaries in Aragon called themselves the Illuminati Illuminated as if they onely had been in Light and all the world besides in Darknesse Foolish People that having a glimpse of the Sunne thought it shone upon none in the world but themselves The Nicholaitans and Valentinians called themselves GNOSTICKS a name signifying Knowledge as conceiting all others besides themselves to be grosly ignorant of the great Mysteries of Religion They might perhaps more fitly have been stiled Luciferians for their Pride as a pestilent Sect that arose up after them were called upon another account The first Founders of any Schismatical Society built upon some Heretical Opinion have ever been great pretenders to singular eminency of knowledge Omnibus una Intentio Haereticis semper fuit captare Gloriam de singularitate scientiae †Bern. in Cant. Ser. 65. All the Hereticks that have ever been saith holy Bernard have had this one Project in the chase of glory to
then your Border ye that in your carnal security put far away the Evil Day the Day wherein God will call you to account for all your miscarriages and severely punish you for all your provocations though you now that you may the more securely continue in your sinnes put the Thoughts thereof far from you and cause the Seat of Violence to come neare * Amos 6.1 2 3. That is sayes Diodate You Chieftains who put away far from you all thought and fear of Gods Judgements and in the meane while joyne with and draw near to Publick Tyranny as if sinnes and their punishments could go the one without the other But Gods Judgements will for certaine at length surprize secure sinners The Danger must needs be great when men live secure in the guilt of those sinnes and Provocations whereby they have made God himself to become their Enemy When men presume of safety meerly because they prosper in their sinnes and are settled on their Lees because they are not yet empty'd from vessel to vessel in the execution of the Lords Judgements that think with themselves because God hath hitherto let them alone he will neither meddle nor make in any thing that concernes them Dreadful is the day of the Lords Wrath which is at hand when he will narrowly search out these secure sinners and severely punish them for all their Provocations For sayes the Lord †Am. 1.12 18 It shall come to pass at that time which is prefixt for their punishment that I will search Jerusalem with Candles and punish the men that are settled on their Lees that say in their heart The LORD will not do good neither will he do evil Therefore their Goods shall become a Booty and their Houses a Desolation they shall also build Houses but not inhabit them and they shall plant Vineyards but not drink the Wine thereof The GREAT DAY of the LORD is near and hasteth greatly even the Voice of the DAY of the LORD the mighty man shall cry there bitterly That Day is a DAY of WRATH a Day of trouble and distresse a Day of Wastness and Desolation a Day of Darknesse and Gloominesse a Day of Clouds and thick Darkness a Day of the Trumpet and Alarme against the fenced Cities and against the high Towers And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blinde men because they have sinned against the LORD and their Blood shall be poured out as Dust and their Flesh as the Dung Neither their SILVER nor their GOLD shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORDS WRATH but the whole Land shall he devoured by the fire of his Jealousie for he shall make a speedy Riddance of all them that dwell in the Land Thus presumptuous and secure sinners may at length pluck down dreadful Judgements both upon themselves and the whole Land When such sinners are to be found in Zion the Times must needs be perillous Before the persecution in Bohemia the Churches there having had a long continued calme of Peace in the plentiful enjoyment of the Gospel and means of grace men began to grow extreame loose in their Lives and very secure in their sinnes though they were guilty of many and great Provocations insomuch as many pious and prudent men began to presage that some horrible storme would suddenly arise and some fearful tempest would fall upon them And the Event answer'd the Expectation Now how perillous are those Times wherein the Judgements of God are ready every moment to fall upon the Heads of a secure People When every man minds his own private concernments and little regards the Publick when no man duly lays to heart the sinnes of the Times or mournes for those Abominations whereby the Lord is provoked to destroy the Land when no man * See Isa 64.6 7. stirs up himself to take hold on the LORD and call upon his holy Name When Gods own people do not so take notice of the †Psal 28.5 Isa 5.12 Operation of his hands do not so seriously minde his Providential Dispensations and lay to heart the distracted condition of his Church as they ought when there is not that watchfulness that care and zeale for the cause of Christ that frequency and seriousness in seeking of God that there ought to be but an universal slumber and security is fallen upon the children of men it 's a sad Symptome of perillous Times Thus I have given you the Symptomes of perillous Times and have now completed the Number I intended But I shall adde one more by way of Corollary and Conclusion which carries in it a respect to all the rest The last but not least Symptome The Perill of Plain-dealing THe Times are then perillous When it s a perillous thing for a man to lay down the Symptomes of perillous Times They are the sins of men that make the Times perillous and thence must we draw the Symptomes of perillous Times Now the more obdurate men are in their sinnes the more Impatient they are of reproofs the more enraged they are at their Reprover hating him for telling them the Truth and persecuting him for warning them of the wrath to come the more perillous are the times Thus when the wicked and rebellious Jews were faithfully reproved by Stephen for those fearful sins whereof their own consciences told them they were deeply guilty as when he plainly told them to their faces that however they would be thought the onely people of God they were no better then Persecutors and Murderers persecutors of the best of men Murderers of the Sonne of God they were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth and stoned him with stones to death * Acts 7.52 54 59. And who knows not that these were perillous Times to the People of God Yea these are perillous Times both to the Reprover and to the Reproved the one is in danger of Persecution from men the other is in Danger of Destruction from God Of such Times does the Lord speak by the Prophet Amos saying †Am. 5.10 they hate him that rebuketh in the Gate the place of Publick Conventions where wisdom cryeth to the simple * Pro. 1.21 and they abhorre him that speaketh uprightly not dealing deceitfully with them in the matters of the greatest concernment But what follows hereupon Forasmuch therefore saith the Lord †v. 11 12 13 as your treading is upon the Poore and ye take from him burdens of Wheat ye have built Houses of hewen stone but ye shall not dwell in them ye have planted pleasant Vineyards but ye shall not drink Wine of them For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sinnes they afflict the just they take a Bribe and they turne aside the poore in the Gate from their Right Therefore the Prudent shall keep * Nam sub Tyranno dicere quod velis periculosum quod nolis miserum est Plin. Ep. 14. l.
souls The second Duty The Practice of Piety ARe they Dayes of Danger Times of Perill wherein you live yet Dare to be pious though the Times be perillous To be religious when Religion is both in Fashion and in favour is no great praise but it s the glory of a Saint to be Holy and Good when the Times he lives in are sinfull and Evil. It 's a Crown of glory which shall flourish for ever which the Hand of God himself hath set upon the head of Noah * Gen. 6.9 Noah was a just man and perfect in his Generations which were sinful and wicked Job shone as a bright Star in the East when almost all the world was overspread with Darknesse And therefore God himself hath given him an honourable Testimony in his Word both for †Job 1.1 Piety and * Jam. 5.11 Patience and thereby an everlasting blessed Memorial Doubtlesse its a Saints Duty to be religious when for Religions sake he is exposed to Danger Here 's the tryal of sincerity when Truth faileth †Isa 59.15 See the Margin and he that departs from iniquity maketh himself a prey and is accounted mad for his paines Better it is to lose the favour of men then to incur the displeasure of God The losse of the favour of men is nothing compared to the gain of the favour of God It s nothing to flock to the Tabernacle in Times of Peace but its worthy of Israelites indeed to accompany the Ark of God in all the perils of War Be not discourag'd Christians by the Danger of the Times from doing those Duties whereby in your places you may glorifie God Moreover consider to be good in bad Times is the way to make bad Times good And therefore sayes Hierome Ne dicas priora Tempora meliora fuere quam nunc sunt Virtutes faciunt Dies bonos Vitia malos * Hier. in Eccl. c. 41. Say not the Times were better heretofore then now they are Virtues make good Dayes Vices bad It s then the wisdom of a Christian to turn his complaint of evil Times into the Practice of excellent Virtues for this will be singularly conducible to the making of the Times good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Day is good or bad sayes Chrysostome not according to its own Nature for one day does nothing differ from another but according to our diligence or slothfulness in the improvement of it If thou workest righteousnesse the day becomes good unto thee if thou committest sin evil and full of Vexation If thou wisely considerest these things thou mayst so dispose thy self as to have the whole year prosperous and happy This if thou make Prayer and Almes-Deeds to be thy daily exercise Thus Christian Virtues and Exercises of Religion are the most excellent Antidotes against Evil Times To be diligent serious and constant herein is the onely way to see good Dayes Though a man be encompast with the blackest midnight of Darknesse let him light up his Lamps and he presently enjoys the Benefit and protection of the Light which does as it were with a thousand glistering Spears defend him against the Invasion of all the Forces of Darknesse Certainly there is nothing more necessary and conducible more excellent and efficacious for the changing of an IRON AGE into a GOLDEN SEASON then the constant exercise of PIETY and CHARITY amongst Christians And if every Christian would but seriously minde his Particular Duty how much might he contribute to the General good How soon are the foule streets of a great City made clean by every mans sweeping his own Door How soon would the great work of REFORMATION be accomplisht if every one would but reform one So should the most dangerous Dayes soon become what by many they are falsely called glorious Times For its the Goodnesse or Badnesse of men which makes the times good or bad Those are the worst Times wherein men are worst and those the best Times wherein men are best Though bad Times are worst to the best men yet good men should be best in the worst Times Such was Noah in the old World Lot in Sodome Daniel in Babylon Golden Saints in an Iron Age. Thus in the Evening of the Old Testament-Administration when the darkest shades vail'd the Churches Glory some Saints there were which shone as bright rising Stars in the rayes of true Piety which sparkled as orient Jewels in the lustre of godly Zeale and invincible Sincerity For when base Hypocrites began to blaspheme and say * Mal. 3 13-17 It was in vaine to serve God and it was to no profit or purpose to keep his Ordinance or to walk humbly bâ—fore him When they began to call the proud happy because they saw them that wrought wickednesse exalted and those that tempted God delivered Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another And oh precious were these Persons and this their Piety in the account of God! For Then the LORD hearkened and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD and that thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the LORD of Hosts in that day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him Now who would not but desire this special interest in Gods Love and Favour in Times of Danger and Distresse What an encouragement then Christians should this be unto you to be good in bad Times Certainly Christians sanctity is the best way to security The †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. qui Coelum spectar Athen l. 7. Plin. l. 32. c. 7. Uranoscope is a Fish as the Naturalists tell us which hath but one eye just on the top of the head looking upward towards heaven yet thereby she foresees and prevents Dangers To keep the Eye of the soul ever open Heaven-ward is the safest way for the Prevention of those Dangers to which we are exposed in the troublesome Sea of this World For God hath an Eye continually open upon them for their Preservation who have an Eye continually open upon him in their Convertions Yea by this means you may nor onely save your self but be a happy means to save the whole Nation by standing in the * Ezek. 22.30 Gap as †Psal 106.23 Moses to hinder the breaking in of Gods Judgements upon a provoking People O then be Diligent Christians and Constant in the serious Practice of solid Piety This General Duty hath several Branches which are of special Concernment to Christians that live in perillous Times and therefore take notice of them in these following Particulars The first Branch KEep your selves from the Corruptions of the Times Take heed of being tainted with the sins and Abominations of the Times wherein you live The fuller the World is of Defilements the greater must your care be to *
God! And hast thou given thy dearest Son to suffer such a cursed and cruel dâ—ath for such a vile sinner as I am O sweetest Mercy O infinite goodnesse O glorious Love Then me thought I first felt my Heart that before was like a †Eze. 36.26 stone within me to melt and sensibly dissolve at once into sorrow and joy †Zac. 12.10 * Sorrow that ever I had sinned against such a good God †Luk. 2.10 Joy that ever Mercy and Salvation should be tendered to such a vile sinner And then when I cast up my Eyes to Christ and beheld him sometimes as crucifi'd on Earth sometimes as glorifi'd in heaven my heart sure spake within me much to this purpose O deare Jesus And hast thou endured such grievous sufferings for the salvation of such a miserable sinner as I am What wouldest thou leave thy Fathers * Joh. 1.18 Bosome and glory to live here on Earth and die on the †Phil. 2.8 Crosse to save the Life of a crawling Worme Hast thou poured out thy * Joh. 19 34. Hearts blood to queâ—â—â— thy Fathers dreadful wrath and to â—â—â—chase his glorious Love to a poysonous Toad Is it possible Can it be believed for Truth that the Sonne of God should come to save such a sinful wretch as I am Yea He hath said it and I believe it †1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save sinners of whom I am chiefe Hereupon I found my heart carried out in a restlesse and insatiable longing desire after Christ yea and indeed inseparably cleaving to Christ thus manifesting himself to me in the Gospel For then I not onely saw the sinfulnesse of my sinnes but I lookt upon all my * Isa 64.6 Righteousnesses as filthy rags and so humbling my self for my sinnes and renouncing utterly my own righteousnesse I cast my self wholly upon my Saviour and resolved †Job 13.15 though he should slay me I would trust in him And now though since I have not often found such sweet and powerful workings upon my Heart yet this is the state wherein I stand I have solemnly resigned my self wholly up into the hands of Christ as my Soveraigne and Saviour to be done with and disposed of in every thing as seemes best unto him and on him only do I rest for Righteousness and Life Eternal Happy soul God hath magnified his Mercy to thee and done more for thee then for thousands God hath drawn thee tâ— Christ and united thy soul to him by â—â—â—h a Band indissoluble For thou hast in this Declaration of Gods dealings with thee laid open the very Mysterie of Faith and manifested how the Holy Ghost hath by this Heavenly Band inseparably knit thy soul unto thy Saviour Rejoyce then in thy God For thy soul is safely lockt up in the Everlasting Blessed Embraces of thy Redeemer Yea thou shalt be for ever worn as a Jewel in his bosom Fear not For in the day that God makes up his Jewels * Mal. 3.17 he will remember thy soul And though thy Faith be weak be not discouraged Thou standest not in thy own strength but in the strength of Christ who is †Isa 63.1 Mighty to save The safety of the Child in the Mothers Bosome lies not in the strength of its own weak Arms wherewith it clings about her but in the strength of the Mothers Arm and the Affectionate Tenderness of her heart towards it What though thy Faith be weak thy strength be small and thy Enemies strong thou art kept by the Power of God through Faith unto salvation * 1 Pet. 1.5 Christ is thine and so Heaven and Happiness is thine also The Lord grant I may live to his Praise that hath shewed Mercy on me For the Glory of God is I know the end of these Dispensations of his Grace For thus it is written †Eph. 1.12 13 14. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ In whom saith the Apostle ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth the Gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise which is the Earnest of our Inheritance untill the Redemption of the purchased Possession unto the praise of his Glory But how may I know that God hath given me this Earnest of my Inheritance that I am sealed with his Holy Spirit or that he hath given his Holy Spirit to me If God hath given you Faith in Jesus Christ he hath certainly sealed you with his Holy Spirit and so given you the Earnest of your heavenly Inheritance For it is the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of Grace by which that Faith was wrought in your Heart by which you have been united to Jesus Christ The Graces of Sanctification Repentance Faith Hope Love to God Charity c. are the prints of this Privy Seal wherewith God seals Believers as his own Peculiar which in whatsoever soul they are found to that soul is the Spirit of God given as an Earnest of an eternal Inheritance in Heaven And where there is one Grace of the Spirit as that of Faith which hath already been evidenc't there are all the rest though not equally visible Though sometimes but one Star do appear in the Heavens yet we are sure all the rest are fixed there though they are clouded from our sight Moreover the Spirit of God where ever it is is a Spirit of Holiness Prayer and Comfort Now do you desire to know whether the Spirit of God be given to you and do indeed dwell in you Then search your Heart and tell me what you discover upon these Enquiries Do you find sin to be a Burden to you and are you weary of it Do you indeed hate your sweetest sins and love the strictest wayes of Holiness Do you maintain a constant Conflict against your Corruptions Can you truly say with the Apostle †Rom. 7.19 The good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do For * v. 21. I find a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me Yet I delight in the Law of God after the inward man Oh do you not extremely long to be freed from this Bondage of Corruption that in the duties of Holiness you might enjoy a more glorious Freedom of Communion with God What is it which chiefly makes the world uncomfortable to you Is it Sin or Suffering Which of these two is it which you most constantly fear and most carefully decline Can you heartily bless God for Affliction when it becomes a Means to promote in your Heart the work of Grace and Holiness Is not your heart grieved for the Sin that cleaves unto you in your best performances Do you not find your heart endeared to the