that Word of the Lord already mentioned Isa 42. 24 25. Who gave Jacob to the Spoil and Israel to the Robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned This is spoken to you now and you have sinned against the Lord. And though you have not lived in these Sins that have been mentioned yet you have greatly sinned and your have lived in Sins which are as great as they Which are These 1. The Sin of COVETOUSNESS This Sin is and hath been thy Sin O House of Jaâ—ob and ye that are called by the Name of Israel This I COVETOUSNESS is a Sin of the Lords People Jer. 5. 28. hath been one of your Sins and this is one of your grand Iniquities and your horrible Sins as will be made to appear And this is a sin wherein you have equalized if you have not surpassed the deeds of the wicked As appears by what follows The Lord gave to the professing People of England Scotland and Ireland within these twenty years last past as much liberty to worship him as their Hearts could wish both in their Parish-Assemblies and other Assemblies They could not desire more liberty then was given to them for every one to worship him in that way in which they were perswaded in their own hearts was according to the minde and will of God And withal he gave to multitudes of them the additions of Health and Wealth and Riches What could have been done more for his Vinyard then he did for them But he looked that they should bring forth Grapes and they brought forth wild Grapes Instead Isa 5. 4. of devoting themselves to Him and to his Service and of presenting their Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable to God which was their reasonable Service they fell in love with this present World and the Wealth Profits Pleasures and Honours thereof as if there were more beauty in it then in him and as if the Pleasures Profits and Honours of the World did out-bid him and they have chosen to set their Affections upon it and to give up their Hearts to it and to spend their whole Time and Strength and Care and Parts and Abilities which were given for more Noble Ends to grasp much of it together And they have forsaken their God and retained but the Name of being his but he hath not been their Delight their chief Joy and Solace the chiefest of ten thousand But their profits and incomes of outward things they have been their delight and pleasure and they have been as Cordials to them But God hath not been in all their thoughts sometimes all the day long no they have had other Lovers this business to be done and that and t'other business by which outward profits might come in and they have been as meat and drink to them and they can many times forget to eat their Bread to do business of profit But the service of the Lord that what 's that That must not hinder this business and that business that may be done when they have nothing else to do How many days have been spent day after day and scarce half an hour spent in the service of God And that with coldness enough onely to keep the Name of being the Lords Servants and therefore when nothing else could be done that was for worldly profit then the Lord was served in such a manner as it was as on the first day of the week when worldly business could not be done then there would be a coming to the Assemblies of the Saints and a kind of worshipping â—od when the heart was fâ—r enoâ—gh from him for having been engaged in worldly business all the week long it was full of worldly contrivances for profit and gain and wandering up and down in the world as in its proper element when the bodily presence seemed to be before God And so if sometimes in the week days there were an hour or two or three spent in the service of God in a day though very seldom either at a Meeting or it may be in a Closet the world had so much of the heart as very little of it was with God all the while whether on the Sabbath day or any other day onely a conscience and a Name of being the Lords Servants put upon it more then love to it for other Lovers were set up in the hearts of Professors fine Houses were beloved and fine Gardens and Orchards and fine Trades that brought in profits by hundreds or five hundreds or thousands by the year O how sweet were these things O how pleasant for delights What for him that never enjoy'd fifty pound in all his Life that he could say was his own free of debt to fall upon such a Trade or to come into such an Office or Offices as now to have gained fifty pounds per year a hundred two hundred or three hundred per year O how sweet was this What pleasure was there in this What a delightful and desirable thing was it to be so much above those that were his Equals before To be now so and so advanced How sweet were these things So sweet as they were still more and more desired and when a man had so much then he would fain have so much and then so much and then so much and who was it that ever came to a stint to a satisfaction To say I have enough for me and mine I desire no more I will never neglect one days service of God any more to gain any more of this World which I must shortly leave and I know not when I leave it whether it will be a blessing or a curse to my Children I know not whether I do heap it up for to be Ecccl. 5. 13. the hurt and the damage of me and my Posterity after me to nourish them up in idleness and fulness of Bread and it may be in Sodomy even in all those hateful evils which I see many great mens Children are addicted to that it may be it were better my Children had never been born then to have such Temptations left to them as my Estate may be to them Who was it in all the three Nations that came to so much as this while Wealth did flow in upon them Who was it that had their hearts dis-engaged from the pursuit of it How small was the number of them But O thou that art named the House of Jacob how greatly hast thou provoked thy God by a perpetual backsliding Thou art gone away backward thou hast said in thy actions and thy deeds I have loved Strangers and after them will I go so that Jer. 2. 25. there seems to be no hope of thy return Now consider O thou backsliding Daughter how the Lord resents this evil of thine Hearken unto that Voice of his by Jeremiah his Prophet Jer. 2. 12 13. Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord For my People
of thy Children for thy great end in chastising thy Children is to make them partakers of thy Holinesse And O Righteous Father be pleased therefore if I yet see not mine own particular Iniquities to shew them me either by this published Declaration of the Transgressions of thy People or by any other means thou pleasest and leave me not until thou hast accomplished thy great designs upon my Spirit and grant the same Grace unto all thy People in general and leave us not until Sion become the Praise of the whole Earth I say not doubting but that such as these will be the Supplications of the many thousands of Israel that are Israelites indeed I shall leave Ingenious Reader the following Discourse unto thy most serious and most diligent consideration as that which eminently and evidently concerns thy Peace in this thy Day And the God of Israel shower down his Holy Spirit upon thee and upon whole Sion in an abundant manner and measure To the Praise of his most Blessed and most Glorious Name Amen April 30. 1667. Holy David the Man that was after Gods * own heart said My 1 Sam 13 14. Psal 119. 129. †flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgements And Proverbs 28. 14. It is said Happy is the man that feareth alway But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief And now even NOW in an especial manner what great reason have we to be afraid because of Gods Judgements Considering what dreadful judgements have already come upon us in these Nations and what terrible and astonishing Judgements seem to be hanging over our heads but as it were by a fine spun thread and may come suddenly with dreadful thunderings down upon us so as none may be able to resist It therefore greatly concerns all Persons vvhatsoever to be afraid of nourishing any Evils vvhatsoever in their bosoms lest they prove as so much Gunpovvder vvithin them that vvhen the fiery Indignation comes dovvn upon them may tear †Psal 50 22. them in pieces and there be none to deliver them But it is a sad sign when persons are grown Preaching Proof and Printing Proof and Judgement Proof A gracious Soul when it hears a convincing Sermon desires as those Acts 13. 42. that those words may be Preached to them again the next Saboth or wishes they might have it in Writing or have it in Print or if they meet with persons that deal plainly with them they desire more of that kindness from them But hardened Souls care little for such company and regard not any reproofs Prov. 13. 1. A Scorner heareth not rebuke Prov. 12. 1. Who so loveth Instruction loveth Knowledge but he that hateth reproof is bruitish Prov. 1. 20 23. Wisdom cryeth without she uttereth her Voice in the Streets Turn you at my reproof Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my Words unto you ERRATA REaders though there be some small Errors in the Printing that have escaped the Press by reason of the Authors being some time absent yet there is but one considerable word which you are desired to amend with you Pen it is page 78. line 29. where for unreasonableness write unanswerableness A Voice lifted up like a Trumpet With a Loud and Full Sound Declaring without Flattery or Partiality to all that fear and love the Lord small and great in England Scotland and Ireland that truly are of the House of Jacob whether they are Presbyterians so called by way of distinction or Independants Anabaptists or Quakers or any other that pretend to have Interest in or Relation to the Lord JESUS CHRIST what their Sins are To the end they may wash their Hearts from Wickedness that they may be saved Beloved and honoured if You fear the Lord Ps 15. 4. THe Lion hath roared who will not fear The great and Amos 3 8 glorious Lord of Heaven and Earth hath discovered his great displeasure against us who will not tremble Our Num. 12. 14. Amos 3. 8 Isa 58. 1. Father hath spit in our Faces should we not be ashamed The Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie The Lord hath said to his Prophet Cry aloud spare not lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet and shew my People their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins O House of Jacob come ye and let us walk in the light of Isa 2. 5. 2 Chron. 20 20. the Lord Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established believe his Prophets so shâ—ll you prosper Believe all the words of the Lord all the words of Truth and of the Prophets of the Lord that are written in this Book shewing you YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS discovering YOUR SINS which if you hide you shall not prosper but if you confess and forsake you Prov. 28. 13. shall surely find mercy and be establisâ—ed Your Sins O House of Jacob have been manifold and great you have been great Sinners and you have greatly given occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme and you have greatly provoked the Eyes of his Glory And O House of Jacob that your Sins have been very great is clear by that Voice of the Lord by his Prophet Isa 42. 24 25. Who gave Jacob to the spoil and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned For they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient unto his Law therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fiâ—e round about yet he knew it not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Did the Prophet Isaiah prophesie and declare this for the People of the Lord that were in his own time or days onely Doth not this Prophecy concern all the House of Jacob in all times to whom it may be as fully applicable as unto them Was it not written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come If so then O House of Jacob KNOW YE that the Lord against whom you have sinned hath given his Jacob to the spoil and his Israel to the Robbers and it is of the Lord you are given to them For your sins you are a People Isa 42. 22 robbed and spoiled and snared in holes and hid in Prison-Houses and ye are for a prey and none delivereth and for a spoil and none saith Restore And he hath poured upon you the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and added to this that sore Judgement of the Pestilence that walketh in darkness and the Destruction that wasteth at noon day Because ye would not walk in his ways neither were obedient to his Law But if you should say We have walked in his Ways and we have been obedient Isa 42. 24 unto his Law in some measure We have frequented the Assemblies of his Saints we have gone to the
Church-Assemblies where we have heard the good Word of God in the Parish-Assemblies and in other Assemblies and the Word of the Lord hath been sweet unto us And we have been Partakers of that great Ordinance of the Lords institution at his Last Supper frequently wherein we have endeavoured to do it in remembrance of him and to shew forth his death until he come And we have upon several occasions kept days of Fasting and days of Thanksgiving both publickly and more retiredly And wherein have we not walked in the Ways of God nor been obedient unto his Laws The answer to these things is this It is true O House of Jacob that ye do many of you seek the Lord dayly and delight to know his ways as a Isa 58. 2. Nation that did Righteousness and forsook not the Ordinances of their God yea ye ask of him the Ordinances of Justice and ye take delight in approaching to God and ye come and sit before the Prophets and Ministers of God as his People and ye say the Word of the Lord is good and it is sweet Ezek. 32. 31 32. and with your mouth you shew much love But notwithstanding all this you are a People that have greatly sinned against the Lord for you would not walk in his ways neither were you obedient unto his Laws and you must be shewed wherein And you must know this O House of Jacob though there be many sins that ye cannot be said to be guilty of living in the constant practice of as those others do that cannot in any sence be called by the name of the House of Jacob or Israel because they do not so much as pretend to be Professors of being the Lords servants or being as they call some Puritans but despise being such Yet there are some sins that you the generality of you are as guilty of as the generality of those others are and those sins that you are guilty of are as odious and hateful in the sight of God as the other sins they live in are as you will see by the Testimony of his Servants the Prophets The sins that you are not guilty of or at least cannot be said to live in them as others do are these 1. The Sins of common and prophane swearing and taking the Name of God in vain and of horrible and blasphemous speeches The Sins of this sort are not your Sins that are Professors of the Fear and Love of God in your hearts but are the Sins of wicked prophane loose Creatures that make no profession of the Fear of God 2. The Sin of a common prophane idle loose spending the Sabbath-day or the first day of the Week in sports and plays and dancing and drinking and vain discourses This hath not been the Sin of any of them that have professed the fear of the Lord But they have generally in their measure though not without their weaknesses endeavoured conscionably to spend that â—ay in exercises of another nature Yea they that profess the fear of the Lord have generally a desire to keep as a day to the Lord one day in seven at least either the first day of the week or the seventh day and some of them have conscionably observed and kept both the seventh day and the first day of the week So that this hath not been your sin O ye that may be called by the name of the House of Jacob or of the Lords People but the sin of the prophane World 3. The Sin of unconscionable and wicked lying and deceitful words in jest or earnest in the common manner of some that make no conscience at all of telling Lies is not a sin that they that fear the Lord live in but their words and their reports of things have generally been such as have credit upon the account of their profession and they are known to be such as will not lie and men will take their words in the things which they say or promise 4. The sin of stealing and common cheating and deceiving which many make no bones of is not a Sin that they live in that fear the Lord but if before Conversion they have cheated any yet when they come to fear the Lord they do restore it again 5. The Sin of Adultery or Fornication or Whoredom is a Sin that they do not live in that fear the Lord but they abhor such beastliness such filthiness as knowing that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Heb. 13. 4 6. The sin of Drunkenness and excessive abuse of those good Creatures that are given for the refreshment of our Bodies and not for intemperancy nor for the destruction of the health of the Body as intemperancy in the use of them is to many This is not a Sin of the House of Jacob. They that profess the fear of the Lord do not live in the practice of it But their sobriety and moderation therein is known unto all men These six great Evils and the Evils of the breach of the fifth and sixth Commandments which some others make no Bones of are Sins that are not at this day chargeable upon the People that profess the fear of the Lord. It cannot be said that they do live in the Practice of them Though it cannot be denied but in most of these very Sins some or other of them that fear the Lord have sometimes miscarried But it may not be said that they or any of them do constantly live in these Sins from day to day or week to week as they do in some other Sins but tâ—eir miscarrying in these things is very rare and when they do they are grieved and troubled for and repent of their so doing with all their Souls And as for some of these Sins very many of them that profess the fear of the Lord were never guilty of the commission of them in all their Lives and if any of them ever were it may be it is not one of a hundred or one of a thousand of them that have so bin guilty and they have truly repented of them and turned from them as Stealing Cheating Adultery Fornication or Murder or common Swearing I say these Sins that have been named are not the Sins of the Lords People at this day But if such things be discovered in any that profess to be the Lords People and are Members of Sion of the Churches of Christ they soon come under Reproof and Censure and if they live in them they are frequently Excommunicate or cast out of the Churches as unfit to have the Name of living in Sion or of being accounted the Israel of God But O House of Jacob and you that are called by the Name of Israel you are generally guilty at this day of great and horrible Evils for which the Lord hath brought upon you one Judgement after another and his anger is not yet turned away but his hand is stretched out still Therefore O Israel consider Isa 9. 17 21. well
and he be not one that 's in a way of Trading then you shall it may be have much of his Bodily Presence at Meetings and he will be ready to do any Service in his Person that may cost him nothing Any thing so his or her purse may be spared But you may as soon wring Blood from their hearts as any thing that is noble and handsome and like a liberal Person proportionable to their Estates But that this Lover of Money this nigardly Person is the Covetous Idolater is clear in the Scripture also as in Jam. 5. 3. Jer. 22. 13. to 17. Isa 32. 5 6 7 8. Psal 112. 4 5 9. Isa 58. 6 7. Isa 5. 8. 1 Cor. 9. 5. Ezek. 33 31. And under one or all of these three Characters especially the last you may find out the Covetous Persons that are Idolaters and that do so filthily play the Harlot and commit Adultery as hath been declared But now though this may be said of the House of Jacob and of them that may be said to be the Lords People yet among these I hope nay I question not that there are a few that are free it may be perfectly free from this evil that never set up this World in their Hearts but are very loose from it and are no way engaged in their affections to it so as to make it their Joy or their Delight but have intirely set their affections on things above and that can and do freely and liberally part with it communicating of what they have whether little or much it may be to more then a third part of what their yearly incomes are and delight in their very Souls to be doing good and communicating bountifully But these are but few But O how great is the number of the guilty of this Sin among them that are called the Lords People of all sorts and Professions O how many of them that are accounted the Ministers of God may charge themselves and be charged with two great degrees of it Both among the Presbyterians for distinction so called and the Independants and the Baptised Congregations and they of the Quaker's Societies They that are the Elderâ— among the three former and that are sometimes Speakers among the latter some of them all have great blots and great stains of this kind and few but are more or less guilty of it So that the Lords complaint against Israel of old may be his complaint at this day Jer. 6. 14. 8. 10. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to Covetousness and from the Prophet even to the Priest every one dealeth falsly A covetous Professor deals falsly with God And how have the Ministers and Preachers of the Word coveted this World And how have they thirsted after places of Profit They that should have been blessed Examples of the greatest detestation of this Evil even they many of them have been very evil Examples to their Hearers both in coveting to scrape up much of this World together and in close keeping it when they had it How many of the Lords Ministers have so hoorded up the Wealth of this World as to be able to give great Portions to their Daughters great Estates to their Children when little hath at any time appeared of their bounty to the Poor and Needy I do not blame the good People that have been free and liberal in communicating of their Temporals to them that communicated to them in Spirituals for that is Fruit that will abound to their account however their Ministers have improved it But rather have great Reason to blame many that have not been so free as they ought in communicating to those Servants of the Lord that they have pretended to love and affect much whose covetous Hearts have not suffered them to communicate to them according to their Estates as they ought but they that have been covetous and close fisted to the Poor have been too much so to their Ministers or Elders also and their sparing giving will one day be remembred against them I say I do not blame them that have been free to their Ministers but I blame the Ministers many of them that have so much loved this Worlds Wealth and set their Hearts upon it and have not been so free and generous to the Poor and Needy as became them I speak of those that have had good and comfortable Estates cast in upon them I speak not of others who some of them have been in a poor and needy condition themselves And I blame those Covetous Pastors that for more gain have left one People to go to another and that have preached for hire and prophesied for reward rather then for love to the work and that must indent for so much by the year or else they could not be satisfied and could not be content to sit down with a People that loved them and to trust the Lord to incline their hearts to provide comfortably for them but they must have Engagements for so much by the year or else the Work must be left which hath rendred the Work of the Lord contemptible Consider this ye Ministers and Prophets whose ways have much displeased the Lord and provoked the Eyes of his Glory Ought not his Service to have been preferred before Wealth and outward Profits Was there not enough in him Would he not have been your Shield and your exceeding great Reward Be ashamed and mourn and weep for this ye unworthy Shepherds lest you and your Off-spring for whom ye desired Wealth be made a scorn and a reproach How many Children of covetous Ministers have been such as a blast and not a Blessing from the Lord hath attended them And as for the Ministers of Independant and of the Baptised Congregations who have not so indented for a maintenance it 's true yet some of them yea many of them have been unworthy covetous Persons also loving and hugging the things of this present World not having freely given as they have freely received and as for some of them that have not received a maintenance from their People having Trades or Lands or Estates of their own to live on but have preached freely yet they have been some of them as it is well known very unworthy covetous Persons in eager pursuing their Trades and Offices and Imployments for gain with the neglect of many a Duty which it would have become them to have done And though some of them have had very great Estates comparatively yet were they never satisfied but were still pursuing eagerly the Profits of the World and minding that as if it were their chief Joy And though their Gifts have been excelling many of their weak Brethren yet they have been greatly neglected and have been improved onely when their Worldly business would give them leave And for their close-fistedness it hath been such as hath been gross and absurd in the Eyes of them that have taken inspection into
his poor People from so doing God requiâ—es of a man according to what he hath and not according to what he hath not But it is you that are the Great Sinners the great Idolators the great Adulterers that have hundreds of Pounds free of Debt or hundreds or five hundreds per year more or less that delight to hoord it up and have your affections so engaged unto it as you cannot endure to part with any thing that 's considerable of it not on good accounts And this is the Sin THE gâ—eat Sin which the House of Jacob the Lords People are guilty of This is the Epidemical Sin the general Disease among them though not of every individual Person of them excepâ—ing onely what is before excepted But it is so general a Sin as there are but few left to bear witness against it for it is a rare thing for any to be a witness against himself and because that from the least to the greatest every one hath been given to Covetousness there is few left to bear a Testimony against it but they have said one to another in their hearts Bear with me and I will bear with thee The Minister that pâ—eached the Lecture or other Sermon could not reprove the covetous Shopkeeper Merchant or Gentleman that was his Hearer for fear lest he should with-hold his Gâ—fts from him The Elders of the Independant and Baptised People and those called the Ministry among the Quakers were the same if they were supplied by their Hearers or if not then having Estates of their own they have â—een eager in getting more still and so closely kept their Wealth that they could not blame others that did so also and the People they could not blame their Teachers nor one another for Covetousness for they were all alike for every one from the least to the greatest were given to Coveteousness And therefore it was a thing rarely or never known that ever the Churches proceeded against any Member meerly for Covetousness That either the Presbyterian or any other of the Congregations or Societies ever excluded any Member for Covetousness though there is as plain a Rule for thaâ— as for Drunkenness Yet I never heard that any Member was ever proceeded against for that onely though there have been multitudes of them that as much deserved to be cast out of Fellowship as some that have been cast out for Drunkenness or Adultery or other Evils for which they have been justly excommunicate But though the Rule is plain That any that is called a Brother that is a covetous 1 Cor. 5. 11 Persons we are not to keep company with and it is as plain That such shall not inherit the Kingdom of God nor of Christ Yet such have been 1 Cor. 6. 10 imbraced and are imbraced in the Bosom of the Churches and some of them are highly esteemed in the Churches though not for their Covetousness for their Gifts and Abilities to preach and to feed the Flock and for their name of Greatness in the World the poor Flock loving to have some silken Sheep among them even Persons of repute in the World But Covetousness hath been as hath been said so general a Disease that the little could not reprove the great nor the great the little and so the Churches have been generally defiled and polluted and the Name of the Lord hath been greatly dishonoured among them And of this Sin of the love of this World and the great delight that many Professors have in it and their close cleaving to it and their sinful lustful desires after it it may be said as is said of the whorish Woman Prov. 7. 26. She hath cast down many wounded yea many strong men have been slain by her O how sad is it to consider of the many hundreds of those that have seemed to be no little ones nor no Fools but those that have been great men and wise men and strong men men of no mean parts that have fallen down wounded at her feet and have been carried away by her as an Ox to the slaughter and have truly been slain by her For the Profits and Pleasures and Honour and Glory of this World is none of the meanest Engines which the Devil uses by which he destroys so many Souls If it had been weak and mean he would never have used it as his last and greatest Engine against the Lord of Glory himself But though he used it in vain against him against whom it was not possible for him to prevail yet he hath prevailed and prevailed in a lamentable manner against many thousands of you that are Professors and that are called the People of the Lord And as you have been told it is a universal Disease among you very yea very few among you excepted Therefore let every one of you faithfully and throughly search his and her heart and say Is it I Is it I And finding your selves guilty more or less set your selves against it as against the Plague the bane of your Souls and never leave using all spiritual means until you are throughly purged and cleansed of it But guilty in a high degree ye are of it O House of Jacob and the Lord your Lord is highly displeased by it and therefore chiefly though also for other Sins he so hides his Face from you as he doth And therefore is it that you have for a long time even for this seven aâ—d seven years had so little communion with him and so little of the sweet Influences of his holy Spirit Therefore have you been so unfruitful under the Ordinances that you have enjoyed and do enjoy Therefore have many of you had such cause to complain of Deadness and Unprofitableness under the means of Grace therefore is it that there hath been so few also that have been lately converted by the preaching of the Word and the Ordinances practised among you whether in Parish-Assemblies or other Congregational Assemblies For how could it be expected that you should enjoy the sweet Rays of the shining Face of your great and glorious Lord and partake of the sweet Influences of the Grace and Love of his Heart toward you when your Hearts were goâ—e to another then him when you loved Strangers and after them you would and did go And though you did come and bring your bodily presence into the Assemblies on the Sabbath Day or first day of the Week and you came and sat before him as his People yet youâ— hearts which had been all the week swallowed up in the World would be then unavoidably also full of worldly Contrivances and your affections then as strongly set upon worldly things as all the week besides and his Soul could take no pleasure in you Ezek. 33. 31. and you had no communion with him at all but your hearts went after your Covetousness And he therefore withdrew the sweet Influences of his Grace and Kindness from you and left you to the vanity of your own Hearts
Spirit in whom any sin did appear or any carriage or conversation not becoming the Gospel according to the Rules laid down in the blessed Word of Truth both in the Law and Gospel as Lev. 19. 17. Mat. 8. 15 16. Gal. 6. 1. 6. That great Duty of a constant frequenting the Assemblies of the Saints and the practise of the publick Ordinances of Christ which he taught all his Constant and diligent attending the Assemblies of Saints publickly to worship the Lord. 1 Pet. 4. 14 Disciples to observe wherein there is a more publick owning and honouring the Lord in the Eyes of all the World Which well becomes the Saints diligently and solemnly to attend whatever Persecution they suffer for it for happy are they if they suffer for well doing the Spirit of God and of Glory reâ—leth upon them which was the blessed Practice of the Saints of old as Psal 22 22. 107. 32. 149. 1. 122. 1 2. 27. 4. Heb. 10. 25. 1 Cor. 11. 18. 14. 23. 1 Cor. 5. 4. Now I say That there hath been a very great Omission of all these great Duties by the generality of Professors is too well known to themselves and others But I may not spare to tell them of it more particularly and to sâ—ew them tâ—e hainousness of those Sins As first That great Duty of solemn and constant Prayer in Families being neglected is to be charged upon many even of the Baptized Congregations whose looseness therein hath been very lamentable and not onely the people but some of the Elders and Teachers of those people also have greatly offended in this thing and whatsoever their zeal hath been in other things and in things never so excellent yet in this they have been a shame and a dishonour to the high profession of the Gospel which they have made my Soul is grieved to think of it It having proceeded meerly from a careless carnal sluggish frame of Spirit not from Opinion or Judgement that it ought to be so or that it were against a Rule to pray and praise the Lord in their Families or to exhort or instruct their Families though that were very bad in them if they did it from Opinion but it hath not been so for sometimes they have been practising that duty in their Families at their own leisure and when their own turns were served O sinful people that have thus provoked the Lord to perform duties to God either not at all all the day long or else when it s done sleeping by most present bringing the blind the halt to the Lord and as these so more private and Closet performances have been very rare and seldom as those that have lived in their Families and observed their looseness and remisness can witness and their own Consciences will testifie to their faces And as the Professors of the Baptized Churches so those of the Independant and Presbyterian understandings many of them have been as guiâ—ty of the omission or slight or seldom performances of these duties as they But for the people that are termed Quakers by way of distinction from oâ—hers they have been wretchedly guilty of the omission of these Family and Closet Duties it being their general way never to pray in their Families though many of their Families have been made up of all such as have been called Quakets all such as have approved one of another and could have no pretence why they should not joyn together in Prayer and praises why they should not worship the Lord together in their Families as well as in the greater Congregations but onely a careless carnal vain heart that is the occasion of the remisness of all Professors that are remiss in this Duty But they have a pretence that they may not pray but when they have a strong impulse of Spirit thereunto and if that be the case and that People may not pray that they may be quickened by the quickening Spirit nor pray for more of the Spirit when they have but a little very little in them then why do they pray at all in their Meetings or joyn in Prayer with those that do But it may be those that pray not all the week before in their Families will pray when they come to a Meeting And had not the devil a great design in hindring all sorts of Professors from Prayer they would not so easily upon such slight and insufficient grounds be hindred from Prayer as they generally are But that subtile Adversary knoweth that their Hearts shall live that seek the Lord and that there are no Souls so thâ—iving as the truly spiritual praying Souls that are most in Prayer and Supplication day and Ps 22. 26. 69. 32. night which none are whatever they pretend but those that spend much time therein both in their Families where they fear the Lord and in their Closets When thou prayest retire thy self set time apart for that purpose enter into thy Closet and pray to thy Father in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly But some may say I may pray in Mat. 6 6. secret when I neither enter into my Closet nor none in my House observeth me But let me tell such That if they be observed as they may be when they little think of it to spend their day from morning to night in being implunged in some worldly business or other or to be in company with some or other talking of this or that News or this and that Trade or business or eating and drinking and walking and talking and so fill up their whole day and no time set apart nor no retirement or being retired from the world and the affairs thereof they are sorry Prayers that such make Our dear Lord went into Desarts and Mountains to pray set time apart for that great and solemn Work and frequently continued all night in Prayer to God It was not a little and slight setting apart of time And therefore let not any dare to deceive and delude themselves and others with deceitful pretences But I have a little digrest though necessarily from my work in hand to show the Lords People their Transgressions But I must proceed to shew his People among the Quakers that this hath been their great Sin that they have been very grosly and in higher degrees then others guilty of the omission of these holy Duties of Family and Closet-Praying and Praising and Worshipping the Lord which is of so great concernment to the increase of all spiritual Grace and that is the reason that they grow so little but are come to a stint and do not adde to their Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowlenge c. but in the posture they were seven years ago they are still many of them and are rather declined in the purity of their conversations though they stick to their shells and outsides of needless words and gestures in the which there is no savour to
25. doer of the Word that man shall be blessed in his Deed but he that is a forgetful Hearer can expect no blessing The good Seed of the Word cannot grow up there when he either suffereth the Devil to catch it from him oâ— the cares of this World and the deceiâ—fulness of Riches to choak it This heart is not the good ground in which the Word is sowed so as to bring forth thirty sixty or an hundred fold But this hath been a sin of very many that they very seldom take time so much as to call to memory the Word they have heard but hearing the Word on the first day of the weak many times think no more of it all the weak followiâ—g It is well known that the two distinguishing Characters that were given of the â—lean Beasts which onely were acceptable to God in Sacrifice under the Law were that they were such as did Chew the Cud and part the Hoof. â—nd it is certain that those Souls cannot be clâ—â—n under the Gospel that do not Chew the Cud that do not review and recal to mind and meditate upon the Word of God when they have heaâ—d it Paul speaking of the Word of the Gospel sayes It is the 1 Cor. 15. 1 2. Word whereby ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain and it is the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation But those that keep it not in memory cannot be saved Rom. 1. 16. Whereby ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you The Word of Truth maketh Souls clean Sanctifie them through thy John 17. 17. Truth thy Word is Truth but it is by treasuring it up in the heart The cleanest and purest Souls have the Word of Christ dwelling most plentifully in them Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way but by taking heed thereto according to thy Word Psal 119. 9. The Blessed man when he hears the Word doth not let it go in at one ear and out at another but his delight is in it and he meditates on it day and night Psal 1. 2. But it is no wonder such pollutions and uncleannesses appear in many of the Lords People seeing they do so little Chew the Cud. It is no wonder their Souls thrive no more seeing the Word so quickly passes from them undigested They go to hear the Word as the Food of their Souls but digest it not by Meditation and Chewing upon it and getting the sweetness and noâ—rishment of it and therefore are lean and starved Souls though aâ—â—plentiful Tables THIS this hath been also another great evil in many of the Lords People And what is the â—oot of this carelesness and indifferency whether they have nourishment from the Word or not hath been shewed in the mentioning of the first Evil that hath been in this Discourse declared and shewed to the House of Jacob. And they that have been guilty of not Chewing the Cud in the sence now declared are some of the people of the several understandiâ—gs and the Quakers though all of them are not guilty of it but very many of them are grosly guilty of this â—in of Indigestion and though many of them are ready and forward to go to hear the Word yet they too much satisfie themselves with a bare so doing as if that were enough and they very rarely take any time to do themselves their Families good by repeating each what they remember to the help of one anothers memory in whaâ— they have heard So that there appears little growth in many Professors but where they were ten years since the same they are now or scarce so far But it may be some of them are gone back many degrees because they digest not their Spiritual Food And one great reason of some of the Baptised Peoples so doing is their using when they had full liberty to continue their First Day 's ordinary Exercises until four of the Clock in the Afternoon at which time if they had broken up they had done well and then after that to continue the rest of the Day in doing the business of the Church viz. To reprove particular persons where there was need and to inquire into the state of the Sick or the Poor and Needy and to receive in or cast out as occasion required And these things taking up their time * Which things should be done at other times appointed for them until it was late then they had no time before Supper for any other Service and after Supper such Services with Children and Servants use to be lame Services and some elder People also being then unfit for any thing but to sleep so that they had no time on the First Day of the Week for to chew the Cud And for other Days the World so took up some of them as well as some Presbyters Quakers and Independants as they scarce minded to go to a Meeting or if they did the World had so eaten them up that they little cared to minde any thing but their Worldly Business and sometimes some would scarce have gone to a Meeting any week day but to stop the Clamours of their Consciences and it had been as good they had staid at home as gone and as much acceptance it would have had with God unless they had gone to more purpose I mention this as a distinct Evil and not among the Omissions already mentioned because it may be some do scarce think it to be a Duty required of them But â—et all the House of Israel know That this is assuredly a great Evil of those that have been guilty of it and that forgetful Hearers are not blessed But some Baptised People and the Quakers and many Presbyterians and Independants also have been very guilty of this great evil and it must be declared unto them and let them not think to hide it but as they desire to be blessed let them Repent and Reform IX Another great Evil of the Lords People of which they are generally IX TALE-BEARING OR BACK BITING very guilty is the Sin of BACK-BITING And this is a sore Evil and a mischievous Sin though it is a Sin which it may be many of them never think of the sinfulness of it nor scarcely ever think it to be a Sin And that Evil which the Spirit of God gives this title unto is expresâ— by a variety of other such-like Titles in the Scriptures As the Whisperer the Talebearer the Babler the Railer the Slanderer the Evil-surmiser Now that the Lords People may be shewn their Evil herein let them but take a view of their deformity of this kind also in the Glass of the Scriptures even in the blessed Words of Truth therein contained And first It is against the express Precept and Commandment of the Lord Lev. 19. 17. Thou shalt not go up and down as a Tale-bearer among thy People So that he that
that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you in these These Earthly Vanities if they are a shadow it is a poor shadow But is it not an astonishing Error that rational Creatures should grasp after the Shadow so eagerly as to leave and forsake the Substance to embrace the Shadow Now this is your double evil that you for sake your God the Fountain of all Goodness and dig out of this Earth for your selves such Vanities as cannot give your precious Souls one grain of Peace or true satisfaction in the enjoyment of them and yet they are your Gods and you their Servants and all or most of your Care Parts and Abilities and your precious Time are speht in the service of them Now the Sin of the poor blind World is far less then yours If they do serve these Idols as you do yet they are not such Sinners as you are For they have not that knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent as you have had They never had such tastes how good the Lord is as you have had They never saw his Glory and Excellency and unexpressible Loveliness as you have seen it They never had such blessed entertainments into his holy presence as you have had But YOU you are the double-dy'd Sinners the crimson Sinners the scarlet Sinners that though the Lord hath appeared unto you twice yea ten times yea ten hundred times have yet departed fâ—om him and have sinned this great Sin and made you Gods of Gold You are most horrible Idolaters your sins have over-passed the deeds of the Wicked Jer. 5. 28. But some may say This Trumpet sounds aloud and with a very piercing and shrill Voice shews us our Transgressions and the vileness of them which we cannot deny for we cannot hide them They are open to the view of God Angels and Meâ— though we have not so clearly seen them our selves as we should see them though it might have been our happiness to have seen them clearly long ago The Reply whereunto is That the Trumpet must yet sound louder and louder and must cry aloud and not spare for any account to shew the Lords People their Transgressions and the House of Jacob their Sins NOT upon the account of hiding them from the World that they may not see the nakedness of Jacob for that nakedness hath been too visible already to them NOR yet upon the account of the Name of the Lord lest it should be more reproached by the sinfulness of the Lords People for that blessed and glorious Name hath been and is greatly prophaned thereby already BUT on the account of the Name of the Lord that it may be hallowed that it may be sanctified and glorified in all his righteous Judgements that are come one upon the neck of another upon his People are these Transgressions of Jacob to be shewed to them and to the World with a SPARE NOT. Spare not especially this great Sâ—n the Root of many Sins Covetousness wherein the great and gloâ—ious Naâ—e of the Lord hath been so much dishonoured Nor yet to spare those oâ—her Sins of which they are to be declared guilty great numbers of them to the end the Lord may be justified when he speaketh and be clear when he judgeth Therefore O House of Jacob to speak yet a little louder in your Ears that Psal 51. 4 it may sink down into your Hearts you are to be informed further That as you have been Idolaters and such Idolaters as have exceeded the Wicked in Idolatry so you have been also Adulterers Adultery is a Sin that is very hateful and loathsome to many People that know little of God or have little or no love to hâ—m and it is a Sin that is very shameful It is a very shameful thing that it should be said among mâ—n That such or such a man is an Adulterer a Whoremonger If any man be so he is counted a filthy fellow a vile fellow As odious as an unclean filthy Adul erer or Fornicator is in the Eyes of all civil People so odious hath youâ— Sin been in playing the Harlot with this vain World this deceitful World who hath bewitched you with her painted Face as if she were some great Beauty whereas when her Vizard is off she appears to him that looks upon her in true light but a miâ—erable worthless thing in which there is no true felicity at all no beauty at all but appears to be vanity and vexation of Spirit But O how have you most of you been deceived by her Have you not thought and do you not think that there is much sweetness and pleasure in taking your fill of the love of her Are not your Hearts so far gone to her as that you are her constant Servants her humble Servants her diligent Servants Are you not continually imbracing of her hugging of her in your Bosoms Can you easily or willingly be out of her company Can you find in your heart to part with her though on a good account Is not the thought of that unpleasant to you Will you not strain your Consciences so far as to make them crack rather then part with this Paramour of yours Will you not rather make Shipwrack of a good Conscience then be deprived of this Harlot Have you not many of you already suffered many a bleeding wound in your Consciences rather then you would part with her Are there not some things which some of you have done full sore against your minds and Consciences within these five or ten years on purpose to keep your beloved Mistress in your Bosome which without wounding your Conscience you thought you could not so safely keep O how hard how grievous is it for you to think of parting with her though on the very best acâ—ount O consider this all ye that too much forget God Consider this ye Adulterers Ps 50. 22 Jam. 4. 4. and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God Consider how ye are inslaved by this deceitful Strumpet and how hateful your Adulteries have been how your whorish Hearts have grieved the good Spirit of God how you have gone a whoring from under your God what filthy Adulterers and Adultereâ—ses you have been Consider whether your Sin of Adultery be not more haâ—eful and more odious then the Adultery of an unfaithful Husband and or Wife that goeth to another Bed Their unfaithfulness is hateful but it is but unfaithfulness unto a poor mean Creature whatever their quality be but yours is unfaithfulness to your glorious and ever blessed Creator to him that is never unconstant to you nor never gave you any temptation so to be to him but is most lovely in himself and is the same yesterday to day and forever But vile Wietches that you are how great have been your Whoredoms notwithstanding Had you any pretence for
your forsaking him and imbracing the present World Was he a barren Wilderness unto you or a Land of Darkness What Iniquity have ye found in him Jer. 2. 5 31. Will you say You were some of you poor in this World What then Did he not chuse you to be rich in Faith and Heirs of a Kingdom And was not your condition therein better then the greatest Emperours upon Earth Jam. 2. 5. Could ye not be content to be an Heir of a Kingdom but like foolish Children must sell your birthright for a mess of Pottage and chuse to fall in league into friendship with this World and consequently to enmity with God What have you done Know ye not what ye have done Know ye not that the friendstrip with this World is enmity with God Knew ye not that if ye fell in love with that Strumpet she would steal your Hearts from God Behold This is the plain assertion of the Spirit of God Jam. 4. 5. Whoseever therefore will be a friend of the World is the Enemy of God Where are ye now What a sad gulf have ye implunged your selves into ye Adulterers and Adulteresses that have treacherously departed from the Lord and are become very filthy very lewd very poluted very treacherous Creatures Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge And where will ye appear that Heb. 13. 4 have been such Adulterers in grain and have so greatly provoked the Eyes of his Glory with your abominable Uncleannesses and sinful Dalliances with a deceitful Harlot and have not had so much as thoughts of forsaking her to return to your first Husband but you have loved Strangers and after them Jer. 2. 25 will ye go And what will ye do in the end thereof But that they may not be charged with this great Sin of Covetousness which is more hateful in the Lords People then Idolatry or Adultery in others whom it may be the Lord will not charge with it Let me now declare before I proceed any farther who they are that in the clear Light of the Scripture do appear to be guilty of it not naming Persons but leaving them to acknowledge themselves to be the men or women before the Lord and before some of his People if they have a Heart so to do to the end he may be glorified And first They that having made a Profession of being Saints and have some of them been Members of Churches and have for a time been great Lovers of the Word of God and with desire have desired to be fed with the sincere Milk of the Word in Lectures and other Sermons and in several Meetings and having been so fed it hath been sweeter unto them then the Honey and the Honey-Comb And yet afterwards having opportunities of trading and imployment in the World or of Offices Military or Civil have found Wealth coming in thereby and by degrees have weaned themselves from the blessed Paps of Sion's Consolation and from the Milk of the abundance of her Glory whereof they might have suck'd and been satisfied and have gone to the Brests of this World and taken pleasure in them and her Brests have satisfied them almost at all times Having had the World flowing in upon them plentifully and delighting themselves therein although they have been sensible of great â—eanness and barrenness of Spirit and have lost in a great measure their first Love But the pleasures of this new Lover hath so taken away their hearts as they have therewith contented themselves though without the Heart solacing Comforts of their true Husband which sometimes they enjoyed I say such as these have been guilty of this great Sin as appears by these following Scriptures Hos 2. from vers 5. to 16. Ezek. 16. from vers 15. to 30. Jer. 2. 11 12 13. Ezek. 23. 35. Deut. 33. 15 18 19. And secondly They are those covetous persons that out of eager and thirsting desires of heaping up more and more of the Wealth of this World though they have had comfortable Estates for the supply of themselves and theirs already and have had no need so to do yet have neglected almost all opportunities of enjoying Communion with their God their first Husband either in hearing Lectures or Sermons or in meeting together in Church-Meetings or in taking any solemn constant times of waiting upon their Lord in Closets or in Family-Duties And if sometimes these things have been done yet it hath been but when worldly business would admit oâ— it and many of these Opportunities have been neglected week after week and day after day The which many of those that have lived in the Families with them and have bin in Church-fellowship with them can plentifully witness And it is known how many days have bin past by some of these idolatrous adulterous covetous Persons and but one half hour in a day spent in any Religious performance yea sometimes not that and that in the Evening when they have been wearied with other business and been fit for nothing â—ut to sleep and dream or in the Morning when haste about other business hath hurried them away And when done done with formality coldness and dead heartedness enough I say Those that have so greatly neglected these and many other religious Duties to pursue the Worlds Profits though they have had no necessity so to do having comfortable Estates these are the Covetous Persons by the World condemned and not those whose necessities constrain thereto at sometimes for many blessed Servants of the Lord have been so put to it for want of dayly supplies for themselves and Families as they have been fain to work morning early and evening late to provide daily Bread for their Family having onely had from hand to mouth Some single Persons and some that have had others depending upon them and if some of these should be charged with this Sin they that so charge them may wrong the Generation of the Just and condemn the Innocent But mâ—ny of these that have had very little of this World and have received no Contributions from others have appeared at Lectures and Church-Meetings moâ—e constantly and far more diligently then they who have had twenty times their Estates And therefore they that are and have been in a mean condition and unavoidably are compelled to much dayly Labour are not hereby so much condemned But many of these will rise up in Judgement against their Brethren and condemn them in that though they have been very needy and necessitous yet they have been more constant Attendants upon the solemn Worship of God then them And that these that though not for need but for desire of much Wealth have made so bold as to neglect holy Duties are the sinful Covetous Persons appears by these several Scriptures 1 Tim. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 5. Col. 3. 5. Demas hath forsaken us and loved this present World 2 Tim. 4. 10. Luk. 16. 13. Jam 4. 5. But thirdly Another character of a covetous Person