the evils where with the Land hath been afflicted and it is an great provocation before God as it appears from these and the like Scriptures Numb 14 1 2 3 4 10 11 12. And all the Congregations lifted up their voice and weeped and cryed and the people weeped that night and all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole Congregation said to them would to God we had died in the land of Egypt or would to God we had died in the wildernesse and wherefore hath the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey were it not better for us to return to Egypt And they said one to another let us makâ— a Captain let us return to Egypt then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the Assemblies of all the Congregation of the children of Israel but all the Congregation bade stone them with stones and the glory of the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before all the Children of Israel And the Lord said unto Moses How long will this People provoke me and how long will it be ere this People beleeve me for all the signs I have shewed amongst them I will smite them with pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a Nation mighter and greater then they Numbers 2. 1. 5 6. And they journied from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compasse the Land of Edom and the soul of the People was much discouraged because of the way and the People spake against GOD and against Moses Wherfore have ye brought us up out of the Land to die in the wilderness for there is no bread neither is there any water for our soul loatheth this light bread and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and much people of Israel died 1 Cor. 11. 10. Neither be ye murmurers as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer 2. Using not only of charmes though it be condemned in the Scriptures Deut. 18. 11. A Charmer or a consulter with familiar spirits or a Wizard or a Necromancer shall not be found amongst you for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord yet is very frequent among the Commons But also Sorcery and Witchcraft which is an abomination Exod. 22. 18. Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live Deut. 18. 10. There shall not be found amongst you any that useth Divination or any Iuchanter or any Witch especially amongst these who have been baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus and yet doth by the great discoveries thereof which hath been of late appear to be very frequent in the Land 3. Ordinary swearing by them that are no Gods Ier. 5. 7. How shall I pardon thee for this thy Children have forsaken Me and sworn by them who are no Gods when I have fed them to the full Zeph. 1. 4 5. I will also stretch out my hand against Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the Chemarims with the Priests and them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops and them that worship and that swear by the Name of the LORD and that swear by Malcham such as Faith Truth Soul Conscience and by the holy and blessed Name of GOD Himself and by His Blood and Wounds and fearful Execrations and Cursings which though they be condemned forbidden and threatned in the Scriptures Exod. 2â— 7. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain Levit 19. 12. Thou shalt not swear by my Name fasly neither shalt thou prophane the Name of thy God I am the Lord. Matth. 5. 33 34 35 36 37. Again ye have heard it said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform to the Lord thy God thy Oathes But I say unto you Swear not at all neither by Heaven for it is Gods Throne neither by the Earth for it is His Footstool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the great King neither shalt thou swear by thy Head for thou cannot make one hair white or black But let your communication be Yea yea Nay nay for whatsoever is more then these cometh of evil Jer. 23. 10. For the Land is full of Adulteries because of Swearing the Land mourneth and the pleasant places in the wildernesse are dried up because their course is evil and their force is not right Zech. 5. 1 2 3 4. Then I looked and lift up miâ—e eyes and behold a flying Roll the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits Then said he unto me This is the curse that goeth over the face of the whole Earth for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on that side according to it I will bring it forth saith the Lord of hosts and it shall enter into the house of the Thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsly by my Name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume the timber and stones thereof Yet these are so frequent and habitual amongst us that in many parts of the Land it is a rare thing to find a man or a woman that in their ordinary speech is not addicted to some one of these 4. Ordinary and gross prophanation of the Lords Day not only by slighting of and absenting from the Publick Worship with the Congregation which is a fault whereof many are guilty and not attending to the Word or joyning in Prayer and singing of Psalms when they are present but also by travelling trysting working speaking our own words and otherwise The danger and hainousness of this sin appears from Exod. 20. 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Nehem. 13. 15 16 17 18. In those dayes saw I in Judah some treading Wine-presses on the Sabbath and bringing in Sheaves and loading Asses and also Wine-Grapes and Figs and all manner of burdens which they brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals There dwelt men of Tyre also therein which bought fish and all manner of ware which they sold to the children of Juda and Jerusalem on the Sabbath then I contended with the Nobles of Juda and said unto them What evill thing is this which ye do and prophane the Sabbath day did not your fathers thus and did not our God bring all this evill on us and on this city yet ye bring more wrath on Israel by prophaning the Sabbath Isai 58. 13 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy own pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy of the Lord. honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine
against my Covenant and trespassed against my Law Hos. 10. 4. They have spoken words swearing falsly in making a Covenant thus Iudgement springeth up as Hemlock in the furrows of the field Rev. 2. 5. Remember therfor from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come to thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou repent This sin is aggravated by several circumstances mentioned in the Article which are clear in themselves and need not to be insisted on therefore passing these we come to speak of the special Heads and Steps that are condescended on in the Paper 1. Step. The first is declining from that purity of conversation that integrity of heart that zeal of God that seemed to be in many at their first entry to the Covenant and a falling off into loose walking self-interest and indifferency About the time of the first renewing of the Covenant there was an sensible change to the better in mens carriage and conversation most of all these who joyned in opposing the defection not onely reforming themselves from common and grosse sins such as drunkennesse uncleannesse swearing prophaning the LORDS Day flighting of the Ordinances self-seeking covetousnesse and oppression c. but giving themselves to the Duties of Religion and Righteousnesse such as sobriety Edifying Discourse Chaste behaviour hallowing of the LORDS Day diligent seeking of the LORD in secret and in their Families attending on the preaching of the Word as often as opportunity is offered liberality love charity one towards another a Publick spirit and zeal for GOD but all these things are now decayed in many and they are again growen as ill if not worse then before which as it is an evidence of great unsoundnesse of heart so hath it brought many sad reproaches on the Work of GOD in our hands and hath proven a great stumbling block to many in the neighbour Land to make them averse therefrom and hath given them no small advantage to speak both against us and it though these who do reject and speak ill of any part of the precious truth of God be not to be justified in so doing yet certainly they are much to be condemned who by their untender and loose walking minister occasion thereto Wo to these by whom offences come 2. Step. The second Step is the sitting up of many Professors in the Land under the Gospel and becomming formal and remisse not entertaining tendernesse and sobernesse of minde a sin that relates especially to the Godly in the Land not a few of which have much decayed in former tendernesse and zeal and diligent seeking of God and sober and exact walking studying to root themselves in the solid knowledge and love of the truth and invaluing and improving the Gospel the means of grace unto a loathing and denying of themselves and a growing into and loving and imploying of the Lord Jesus Christ. By which deadnesse of spirit hath seized on some and lazinesse of spirit on others whereby it hath come to pass that they have been tempted to step out of the way and some to turn aside to the left hand to imbrace Malignant courses and some to the right hand to imbrace errour whose sin is so much the greater then the sin of others by how much their knowledge and the LORDS loving kindness to them hath been greater then to others and this declining of Professors and falling off from their first love if it be not deeply mourned for and if they do not timeoussy lament after the Lord as it may prove a snare to many more then yet it hath done so it is like to be amongst the chief causes that may provok the Lord to remove his Candlestick from us Rev. 2 4. Neverthelesse I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love v. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come to thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou repent 3. Step. The third is the secret falling off of some and open falling off of many to the opposite party after their entering to the Covenant especially the defection carried on by Iames Graham and his party and that of the year 1648. by the authors and abettors of the unlawfull Engagement which particulars are so well known that we shall not need to stay upon them Onely we desire that it may be remembered that as they were early begun and long in ripning that of Iames Graham having begun in the year 1639. and ripned till the year 1645. and that some of the chief Authors of the unlawfull Engagement having begun in the year 1644. and ripned till the year 1648. and did take hold upon and infect very many of all ranks throughout the Land so have they been really and unfeinedly repented of by very few to this day which we doubt not is one of the reasons why so many of these who had hand in these bloudy and backsliding courses have fallen by the sword and are gone into captivity 4. Step. The fourth Step is The neglecting and condemning the purging of Judicatories and the Army in the year 1649. and afterward from scandalous and disaffected men and of constituting the same of men of known integrity and affection to the Cause and of a blameless and Christian conversation That it was a duty so to have constituted and purged the Judicatories and Armies ought in reason to be questioned by none it being a duty holden forth in the Word of God That the Rulers of thousands Rulers of hundreds Rulers of fifties and Rulers oftens amongst the People of God should not only be able men but such also as fear God men of truth hating covetousness Exod. 18 21. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the People able men such as fear God men of truth hating Covetousness and place such over them to be Rulers of thousands Rulers of hundreds Rulers of fifties and Rulers of tens And let them judge the People at all seasons Deut. 1. 15. So I took the chief of your Tribes wise men and known and made them heads over you Captains over thousands Captains over hundreds Captains over fifties and Captains over tens and Officers among your Tribes v. 16. And I charged your Iudges at that time saying Hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously betwixt every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him v. 17. Ye shall not respect persons in Iudgment but you shall hear the smal aswel as the great you shall not be afraid of the face of man for the judgment is Gods 2 Sam. 23. 3. 4. The God of Israel said The Rock of Israel spake to me He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God and he shall be as the light in the morning when the Sun riseth even a morning without clouds as the tender grasse springeth out
own wayes nor finding thine own pleasures nor speaking thine own words then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord and thou shalt ride on the high places of the earth and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it 5. Not giving obedience to authority to their just and lawfull commands for conscience sake Rom 13. 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but for conscience sake And on the other hand an implicite and willing following of their unlawfull commands obeying men rather then God Hos. 5. 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandement Act. 4. 19. Whether it be right in the fight of God to hearken to you rather then to God judge ye The grosse neglect of many parents in the instructing and breeding of their Children in knowledge vertue and piety Eph. 6. 4 Ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And the untowardnesse and ingratitude of many Children to their Parents Eph. 6. 1. 2 3. Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right Honour thy father and mother which is the first commandement with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou may live long on the earth 6. Self murder unnaturall murder of Children enimity malice strife contention especially at Law suits revenge and blood which as they are ancient sins of this Nation and did much appear in the banding of Clans one against another and have been little mourned for or repented of to this day so do they still continue whilst we professe the unity of the Faith in Christ and are joyned in Covenants of love and peace one with another Iam. 3. 14. 15 16. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth This wisdome descendeth not from above but is earthly sensuall devilish For where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work 1 Cor. 5. 8. Therefore let us keep the feast not with old Leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickednesse but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth Tit. 3. 3. For we our selves were sometime disobedient foolish deceived serving diverse lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hatefull and hating one another Levit. 19. 18. Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self I am the LORD Prov. 1. 16. For their feet run to evill and they make haste to shed bloud Gal. 5. 15. For if ye bite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another 7. Intemperance gluttony and drunkennesse the last of which is become so common that it hath over-run almost the whole Nation so that it is hard to find many who are not tiplers or common drunkards or will drink drunk on occasion and with company With this sin we may joyn the immoderate and excessive use of Tobacco which is such that much money and precious time is needlesly and superflously spent that way by persons of all sorts Isa. 5. 11 12 22. Wo to them that rise up early in the morning to drink strong drink and continue till night till Wine i◠flame them and the harp and the viol and tabret and the pipe and wine are in their feasts Wo to them that are mighty to drink wine and men of might to mingle strong drink Prov. 23. 29 30 31 32. Who hath wo Who hath sorrow Who hath contentions Who hath bablings Who hath wounds without cause Who hath redness of eyes They that tarry long at the wine they that go to seek 〈◊〉 wine Look not thou on the wine when it is red when it gives its colour in the cup when it moveth it self aright at last it byteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder Eph. 5. 18. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess 8. Vanity and excess in apparel and in houshold stuff far above that which becometh the sobriety of the Gospel or that the condition of such a people can reach unto Isa. 3. from the 16. verse Because the daughters of Zion are haughtie and walk with stretched out necks and wanton eyes and mincing as they go and making a tinkling with their fees therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion and the LORD will discover their secret parts And in that day the Lord wil take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet and their cauls and their round tyres like the Moon the chains and the bracelets and the musslers the bonnets the ornaments of the legs and the head-bands and the tablets and the ear-rings and the nose-jewells the changeable suits of apparell the mantles and the wimples the crisping pins the glasses and the fine linen and the hoods and the vails and it shall come to pass that in stead of a sweet smell there shall be stink and in stead of a girdle a rent and in stead of well set hair baldness and in stead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloath and burning in stead of beauty thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty men in the war and her gates shall lament and mourn and she being desolate shall sit on the ground 1 Pet. 3. 3. Whose adorning let it not be outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold and putting on of apparell Zeph. 1. 8. And it shall come to passe in the day of the LORDS sacrifice that I will punish the Princes and the Kings children and all such as are cloathed with strange apparell 9. Uncleanesse and filthinesse of all sorts rotten speeches filthy communication chambering and wantonnesse fornication adultery incest in some places beastiality and sodomie espeacially fornications and adulteries which abound in many places the first whereof viz. fornication is by many accounted no sin For discovering the greatnesse of these sins consider Exod. 20. 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery 1 Cor. 6 13. Now the body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body 1 Cor. 5. 1. It is reported commonly that there is fornication amongst you and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his fathers wife Rom. 13. 13. Let us walk honestly as in the day not in chambering and wantonnesse Eph. 5. 3. But fornication and all uncleannesse let it not once be named among you 4. ver Neither filthinesse nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient 10. Prodigality oppression extortions usury bribery theft robbery false weights and measures injustice and unfaithfulnesse in Contracts and Bargaines with fraudulent dealing and deceiving one another Artificial dearthing of victuals and other things the livelyhood and maintenance of