Slanderers forbear your backbiting slanderous speeches forbear devouring words which swallow up the good name of your neighbours let not your throats be like open Sepulchres to entombe their Reputation Take heed your tongues do not utter slanders and reproaches devised by your selves be carefull also that you do not spread such Calumnies as others have devised Receive not any accusation against your Neighbours without good proof drive away backbiting tongues with an angry countenance and if you must hear of others faults let love conceal them as much as may be from the knowledge of others rather speak to themselves what you hear and reprove them if the things be scandalous with prudence love and a spirit of meekness Remember the command Tit. 3. 2. Speak evil of no man And take heed of the sinfull practice of the Women described 1 Tim. 5. 13. They learn to be idle wandring about from house to house and not only idle but Tatlers also and busie-bodies speaking things which they ought not Where your tongues have been instrumental to wound others and your selves withall by slanderous speeches make use of the same instrument for healing labour to heal your selves by Confession of your sin to God and to heal others by acknowledging to them the wrong you have done them labour to lick whole their fame and by good words to promote their esteem which you have unjustly taken away Labour for so much humility and brotherly love as to be as tender of their good Name and fame as your own and in honour to preferr them above your selves which will make you ready to hide their faults and keep you from evil furmises and evil slanderous speeches 6. Revilers turn from your evil wayes Reviling and slandering often go together as proceeding both from the same root of malice and hatred yet sometimes the malice is kept more close when Warr is in the heart and mischief is inwardly devised and the Name secretly wounded with slanders behinde the back the tongue doth flatter and like a Honey-comb doth drop nothing but sweet words before the face The sin of Reviling is open and spits forth rancour and malice into the face and breaks forth into bitter speeches for the shame and disgrace of such persons against whom they are spoken though Revilers disgrace themselves more by the weakness and ill government of spirit which hereby they discover Revilers refrain your angry bitter speeches Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice Eph. 4. 31. Do not quarrel and contend do not break forth into brawls and clamours and bitter reviling speeches against such as give you no occasion but desire to live at peace with you and if others are angry and quarrel with you labour to pacifie their anger do not stir up the coals by your bitter retorts when you are reviled revile not again like our Saviour 1 Pet. 2. 23. Render not evil for evil nor railing for railing but contrariwise blessing 1 Pet. 3. 9. The second blow breeds the quarrel and the second reviling word breeds the strife give to a hard speech the return of a soft answer Prov. 15. 1. A soft answer turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger And Prov. 25. 15. Long forbearance is of great perswasion and a soft tongue breaketh a bone there is a marvelous force in a meek reception of bitter speeches to appease anger and molifie the spirits of those which are most fierce whereas grievous and bitter returns stir up unto greater contention Revenge not your selves with the hand neither revenge your selves with the tongue revile not your enemies but love them and pray for them and do good to them feed and cloath them and heap coals upon their head Matth. 5. 44. Rom. 12. 19 20. Be gentle shewing all meekness to all men Tit. 3. 2. especially revile not your friends take heed of stirring up strife in the house where you live be of a peaceable disposition above all take heed of reviling Christs friends Gods children revile not the Saints remember that no revilers especially such revilers that persevere in that sin shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 10. and when the Lord Jesus cometh at the last day he will execute judgement upon the ungodly for their hard speeches which they have spoken against him in speaking against his people Iude 15. Revilers govern your tongues If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue that mans religion is vain Jam. 1. 26. would you govern your selves well according to Scripture rules bridle and govern your tongues Jam. 3. 3 4. Behold we put bits into the Horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body Behold also the Ships which though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds yet they are turned about with a very small helm withersoever the governour listeth Put a bit upon this little member and you may the better have all the rest at command and keep your selves in when otherwise vented passions like wilde horses without rains may carry you into many a precipice when otherwise the fierce storms of your minds may break forth and drive you upon rocks and shelves and shipwrack both soul and body together There is a world of iniquity in the tongue which defileth the whole body the tongue is a fire which setteth on fire the whole course of nature and it self is set on fire of Hell y. 6. get the former fire quenched get the heat of your tongues cooled as you would escape the latter fire I mean the fire of Hell from whence the former fire doth proceed and unto which it will certainly bring you The tongue is full of deadly poison it is an unruly evil which no man can tame when by art the wildest beasts may and have been tamed v. 7 8. others cannot tame your tongues but you may get them tamed your selves put them under the government of Christ and he will tame them get your passions tamed within and you may tame this member which is the instrument that they make use of to vent themselves in your revilings keep guard and sentinel before the door of your lips and watch your words that you offend not with your tongues 7. Persecutors turn from your evil waies Forbear persecuting the people of God who desire your good and are the best safeguard and defence by their prayers and faith of the places where they live from miseries and destruction is it good for you to hew at the bough on which you stand over such a deep into which if you should fall it will be impossible for you to recover your selves again is it good for you to pull at the Pillars of the house which if you pluck down will bring the house upon you and bury you in its ruines is it good to put your selves under the burdensome stone which will grinde you to
speaketh unto men with his Word by his Spirit when he doth thus effectually call them and he speaketh unto men also by his Spirit when he graciously visiteth them which are called when he teacheth melteth warmeth quickneth strengtheneth and refresheth them by his Spirit as they sit under the influence of his Ordinances when he speaketh peace unto their Consciences sheweth them his reconciled Face sheddeth abroad his love in their hearts and giveth such sweet comforts and ravishing joy as is unspeakable and full of Glory Ioh. 6. 45. Ioh. 14. 26. Luk. 24. 32. Psal. 143. 11. Eph. 3. 16. Act. 3. 19. Psa. 85. 8. Rom. 5. 5. Psa. 94. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 8. 2. God speaketh unto men by his Works and that either by his works of Creation or by his works of Providence 1. God speaketh by his works of Creation the Heavens have a voice and declare Gods glory Psa. 19. 1. and the Earth hath not only an ear to hear Isa. 1. 2. but also a tongue as it were to speak Gods praise We read of the Seas roaring and the Floods clapping their hands of the Mountains singing and the Trees of the wood sounding forth their joyful acclamations yea beasts and all cattel creeping things and flying fowl Dragons and all Deeps Fire Hail Snow Rain and stormy winde as they fulfill his Word so they speak and in their way declare what their Maker is or rather in them and by them God doth speak and make known something of himself Psa. 148. 7 8 10. c. We read of the Voice of the Lord in Power the Voice of the Lord in Majesty the Voice of the Lord upon the waters the Voice of the Lord dividing the flames of fire the Voice of the Lord shaking the Wilderness of Cadesh breaking the Cedars of Lebanon and the like which is the Voice of the Lord in the terrible noise of Thunder Psa. 29. 3 4 5 6 7 8. And there is no one work of the Lord though not with such a noise which doth not with a loud voice as it were in the Name of the Lord proclaim unto the Children of men how great and glorious the Lord is who hath given it its being and use and place in the world especially the work of God in the Make of man his body the members and senses his Soul the powers and faculties doth without a tongue speak the praise of that God who curiously framed the body in the womb and immediately infused the living soul Psa. 139. 14 15. Zach. 12. 1. 2. God speaketh by his Works of Providence and that both merciful and afflictive 1. God speaketh by his Merciful Providences by his patience and bounty and goodness he calleth men unto repentance Rom. 2. 4. He giveth witness of himself in giving rain and fruitful seasons Act. 14. 17. Gods providing mercies Gods preventing mercies Gods preserving mercies Gods delivering mercies the number of Gods mercies which cannot be reckoned the order and strange method of Gods mercies which cannot be declared the greatness of Gods mercies in the kinds and strange circumstances which cannot be expressed do all with open mouth call upon men from the Lord to repent of their sins which they have committed against him and to yeild all love thankfulness and obedience unto him 2. God speaketh by his afflictive Providences There is a voice of God in his Rod as well as in his Word Mic. 6. 9. Hear the Rod and who hath appointed it when God chasteneth he teacheth Psal. 94. 12. When God lifteth up his hand and strikes he openeth his mouth also and speaks and sometimes openeth mens ears too and sealeth their instruction Iob 33. 16. Sometimes God speaks by Rods more mildly by lesser afflictions sometimes God speaks by Scorpions more terribly by greater Judgements which leads to the second particular SECT II. 2. What are those terrible things by which God doth sometimes speak THe word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth he feared Terrible things are such great Judgements of God as do usually make a general impression of fear upon the hearts of people Take some instances 1. The Plague is a Terrible Iudgement by which God speaks unto men The Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he spake It is a speaking Judgement where God sends the Plague he speaks and he speaks terribly the Plague is very terrible as it effecteth terrour the Pestilence which walketh in darkness is called the Terrour by night Psal. 91. 5 6. The Plague is very terrible in that 1. It is so poysonous a disease it poysons the blood and spirits breeds a strange kind of venom in the body which breaketh forth sometimes in Boils and Blains and great Carbuncles or else works more dangerously when it preyeth upon the vitals more inwardly 2. It is so noysome a disease it turns the good humors into putrefaction which putting forth it self in the issues of running sores doth give a most noysome smell Such a disease for loathsomeness we read of Psa. 38. 5 7 11. My wounds stink and are corrupt my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh my lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore and my Kinsmen stand afar off 3. It is so infectious a disease it spreadeth it self worse than the Leprosie amongst the Iews it infecteth not only those which are weak and infirm in body and full of ill humors but also those which are young strong healthful and of the best temperature and that sometimes sooner than others The Plague is infectious and greatly infectious whole Cities have been depopulated through its spreading many whole families have received infection and death one from another thereby which is the third thing that rendreth the Plague so terrible 4. It is so deadly it kills where it comes without mercy it kills I had almost said certainly very few do escape especially upon its first entrance and before its malignity be spent few are touched by it but they are killed by it and it kills suddenly as it gives no warning before it comes suddenly the arrow is shot which woundeth unto the heart so it gives little time of preparation before it brings to the Grave Under other diseases men may linger out many weeks and moneths under some divers years but the Plague usually killeth within a few daies sometimes within a few hours after its first approach though the body were never so strong and free from disease before The Plague is very terrible it is terrible to them that have it insomuch as it usually comes with Grim Death the King of Terrours in its hand and it is terrible to them which have it not because of their danger of being infected by it the fear of which hath made such an impression upon some that it hath rased out of their hearts for the while all affections of love and pitty to their
nearest Relations and dearest Friends so that when the Disease hath first seized upon them and they have had the greatest need of succour they have left their friends in distress and flown away from them as if they had been their Enemies 2. A Deluge by Water is a Terrible Iudgement There have been several Floods which we read of in Histories that have suddenly broken in upon some places and overwhelmed Habitations and Inhabitants together But God never did and never will speak so Terribly by a Deluge of Water as by the great Deluge in the daies of Noah when the whole world was drowned thereby excepting Noah and those which were with him in the Ark. And because the Judgement was so dreadful and the History so affecting I shall set it before your eye out of Gen. 7. from the 11th ver to the end of the Chapter In the six hundredth year of Noahs life in the second moneth and the seventeenth day of the moneth in the same day were all the Fountains of the Great Deep broken up God withdrew the bounds which he had set to the great Sea so that the waters covered the earth as they did at the beginning and the Windowes of heaven were opened out of which God looked forth in anger upon the earth and powered forth a Viol of his wrath causing it to rain forty daies and forty nights in dreadful showres accompanied as is probable with stormy winds and hideous tempest which put the world into a fright and amazement when the Element of Air seemed to be changed into water and such a Torrent flowed in upon them on every side we may guess what fear they were over-whelmed withal but Noah and his Family were got into the Ark and the Lord shut them in then the waters encreased and bare up the Ark and it was lift up above the earth and the waters encreased and prevailed greatly upon the earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Ark went upon the face of the waters so that all the high Hills and Mountains were covered fifteen Cubits Then all flesh died fowl and cattel and beast and every thing that creeped or moved on the earth and every man and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the Ark. God spake then terribly indeed unto the wicked world by the Flood which devoured them all together in the midst of their security and sin but God hath promised he will never speak thus by water any more 3. Fire is another terrible thing whereby God sometimes calls to contend by with a sinful People Fire is very dreadful when it hath a Commission from God and meets with much combustible matter and prevails without resistance God spake terribly by Fire unto Sodom and Gomorrah when he rained Fire and Brimstone on those Cities and consumed them See Gen. 19. from the 24th ver to the 29th The Lord rained fire and brimstone out of heaven and overthrew those Cities and the Inhabitants together and when Abraham looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the Land of the Plain he saw the smoke of the Country go up like the smoke of a Furnace God spake terribly though not so terribly to Ierusalem when he suffered their City to be set on fire by the Babylonians and their Temple to be burnt to the ground See Ier. 52. 12 13. But the most fearful Instances of Gods Terrible Voice by Fire are yet to come Thus God will speak by Fire unto Spiritual Babylon which may easily be proved to be Rome from Rev. 17. 18. She being the then great City which reigned over the Kings of the earth Babylons burning with fire you may read Rev. 18. 8 9 10 c. Therefore shall her Plagues come in one day Death and Mourning and Famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her And the Kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoak of her burning standing afar off for fear of her torment saying Alas alas that great City Babylon that mighty City for in one hour is thy judgement come c. God spake terribly by fire when London was in flames of which in the application but he will speak far more terribly when Babylon shall be in flames and not only in part but wholly and utterly and irreparably burnt and turned into ashes when not only the City shall be consumed but also the Whore her self shall be hated and made desolate and devoured with fire by the Kings of the earth Rev. 17. 10. The last instance of Gods speaking terribly by fire will be the last day when the Lord Jesus Christ the Judge of Quick and Dead shall come down from heaven in flaming fire to take vengeance on all those that know not God and obey not the Gospel 2 Thes. 1. 7 8. And the Apostle Peter tells us that the heavens and the earth are reserved in store for fire against this day when the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements melt with fervent heat and the Earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3. 7 10. Then God will speak terribly by fire and above all most terribly to the ungodly world when he will sentence them unto and cast them into the Fire of Hell where they must dwell with devouring fire and inhabit everlasting burnings 4. The Sword is a dreadful Iudgement whereby God speaks sometimes very terribly especially when he draws it forth against his own and his peoples Enemies Hear how terribly God speaks as in Deut. 32. 39 40 41 42. See now that I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand For I lift up my hand to heaven and say I live for ever If I whet my glittering Sword and my hand take hold on Iudgement I will render vengeance to mine Enemies and reward them that hate me I will make mine Arrows drunk with blood and my Sword shall devoure flesh and that with the blood of the slain and of the Captives from the beginning of revenges upon the Enemies When God furbusheth his Sword and whets it when God girdeth his Sword upon his thigh and marcheth against his Enemies when he draweth his Sword and maketh slaughter with it when his Sword devoureth much flesh and is made drunk with the blood of the slain when God gives Commission to the Sword saying Sword go thorow such a Land as Ezek. 14. 17. And powers out his fury on the Land in blood as ver 19. So that the Sword is bathed in blood and garments are rowled in blood and the Land is soaked in blood when blood is powred forth like water and dead bodies are cast forth into the open field without burial and God makes an invitation to all
feathered fowl to gather themselves together and feast themselves upon the carkasses of the slain as Ezek. 39. 17 18 19 20. When God comes with died garments from Bozrah Isa. 63. 1. When he gathereth the Nations and brings them into the valley of Jehoshaphat and thither causeth his Mighty Ones to come down against them Ioel 3. 2. 11. When the day of Gods indignation doth come and he makes such slaughter amongst his Enemies that the Earth doth stink with their carkasses and the Mountains do melt with their blood Isa. 34. 2 3. When God treadeth the Wine-press of his wrath without the City and the blood comes out of the Wine-press even to the horses bridles Rev. 14. 20. In a word when the Lord shall come forth upon his White Horse with his Armies and shall destroy the Beast and all the Powers of the earth that take part with him as Rev. 19. from the 11th ver to the end Then God will speak terribly indeed against his Enemies by the Sword then he will roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and that in such a manner as will make both the heavens and the earth to tremble Ioel 3. 16. And indeed God speaks with a Terrible Voice where-ever he sends the Sword and makes the Alarm of War to be heard as sometimes he sends it amongst his own people for their sin 1 Kings 8. 33. When God brings into a Land a people of another Language and Religion of a fierce countenance and cruel disposition and gives them power to prevail and bring the Land under their feet so that the Mighty Men are cut off by them and the Men of Valour crushed in the gate the young men fly and fall before them and there is none to make any resistance when they break in upon Cities plunder houses ravish Women and Maids strip and spoil and put all to the sword the young with the grey-head cruelly rip up women with-childe and without any pity on little Infants dash them against the stones God speaks more terribly by such a Judgement than by Plague or Fire 5. The Famine is a dreadful Iudgement whereby God speaks sometime unto a people very terribly when God stretcheth upon a place the lines of confusion the stones of emptiness as Isa. 34. 11. When God sendeth cleanness of teeth into Cities as Amos 4. 6. When God shooteth into a Land the evil Arrows of Famine and it becomes exceeding sore this is one of the most dreadful Judgements of all Judgements in this world far beyond Plague or Fire or Sword See how pathetically the Famine amongst the Iews is described by Ieremiah in his Lamentations Chap. 4. from the 4th ver unto the 12. The tongue of the sucking Childe cleaveth to the roof of his mouth fâ—r thirst the young Children ask for bread and no man breaketh it unto them They that feed delicately are desolate in the streets They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghils For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom that was overthrown in a moment and no hand stayed on her The Nazarites were purer than snow whiter than milk they were more ruddy in body then Rubies their polishing was of saphire their vtsage is blacker than a coal they are not known in the streets their skin cleaveth to their lones it is withered it is become like a stick They that be slain with the sword are better than they which be slain with hunger for these pine away stricken through for want of the fruits of the Earth The hands of the pittiful women have sodden their own Children they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people The Lord hath accomplished his fury he hath poured out his fierce anger 6. The sixth terrible Iudgment is a Famine of the Word which is threatned Am. 8. 11 12. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will send a Famine in the Land not a Famine of Bread nor a thirst for Water but of hearing the words of the Lord And they shall wander from Sea to Sea and from the North to the East and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not finde it A Famine of the Word is a worse judgment than a Famine of Bread indeed few do really think so because the most judge according to sense but that it is so is evident to a Man of faith and consideration for as the soul is more excellent than the body and the concernments of the other life far beyond the concernments of this life so the provisions for the soul are more excellent than the provisions for the body and the means of getting eternal life to be preferred before the means of preserving temporal life and therefore by consequence the dearth scarcity of provisions for the soul must needs be a greater judgment than a scarcity of provisions for the body Unto which I might add that the Famine of the word doth usually bring with it many temporal judgments The burning of the Temple at Ierusalem and the failing of Vision was accompanied with slaughter by the sword and captivity of the Land 7. And lastly God speaks most terriblie unto a people when he sends divers of these Iudgments together as Lam. 1. 20. Abroad the sword bereaveth at home there is death when enemies without Plague and Famine within God speaks terribly when Fire and Sword goeth together or Sword and Famine or Famine and Plague or Famine of Bread and Famine of the Word These are some of the terrible things by which God doth sometimes speak SECT III. Why is it that the Lord doth speak unto a people 3. by such terrible things THe reason is because people don't hearken unto him speaking any other way God speaketh once yea twice but men perceive it not Iob 33. 14. Gods gentle voice is not heard or minded therefore he speaks more loudly and terribly that people might be awakened to hear Particularly God speaks thus terribly 1. Because People do not hearken to the voice of his word and messengers God speaks audibly by Ministers and when they are not regarded he speaks more feelingly by judgments he speaks first by threatnings when they are slighted he speaks by executions God first lifts up his voice and warns by his word before he lifts up his arme and strikes with his Rod when men grow thick of hearing the sweet calls of the Gospel God is even forced to thunder that he may peirce their ear when God speaks to the ears and they are shut God speaks to the eyes and other senses that his mind may be known especially when men obstinately refuse to hear God is exceedingly provoked to execute his terrible judgments upon them see Zach. 8. 11 12. But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear yea
when the sins of the Land are so obvious and so hainous He is a great stranger in England that doth not know how wickedness hath abounded in these later years his eyes must be fast shut who doth not see what a deluge of profaneness and impiety hath broken in like a mighty torrent and overflowed the Land that hath not taken notice of those bare-fac'd villanies which have been committed amongst us which is a great question whether any ages before us could parallel we read in Scripture of Sodom and Gomorrah and the wickedness sometime of Ierusalem Profane Histories and Travellers make mention of Rome Venice Naples Paris and other places very wicked but who can equal England which calls it self Christian and Protestant for such desperate and audacious affronts and indignities which have been offered to the Highest Majesty by the Gallants as they are called of our times How was Hell as it were broke loose and how were men worse than those which in our Saviours time were possest with devils who cut themselves with stones and tore their own flesh even such who went about like so many Hell-hounds and incarnate devils cursing and banning swearing and blaspheming inventing new oaths and glorying therein delighting to tear the name of God and to spit forth their rancour and malice in his very face and can we then be at a loss for a reason of Gods righteousness in his thus punishing England by beginning thus furiously with London When there were so many Atheists about London and in the Land who denied the very being of God when so many Gentlemen who lookt upon it as one piece of their breeding to cast off all sentiments of a Deity did walk our streets and no arguments would work them to a perswasion of the truth of Gods being shall we wonder if the Lord appears in a terrible way that he might be known by the judgments which he executeth When so many denied the Divine Authority of the Scriptures the very foundation of our Christian faith and reckoned themselves by their principles amongst Turks Pagans and other Infidels however they called themselves Christians and hereby put such an affront upon the Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of the most high God is it strange that the Lord should speak so terribly to shew his indignation when there was such blowing at and endeavours to put out that light which would shew Men the way to Heaven such hatred and opposition against the power of godliness when the name of a Saint was matter of derision and scorn when there was such wallowing in filthy fornication and adultry in swinish drunkenness and intemperance when such oppression bribery such malice cruelty such unheard of wickedness and hideous impiety grown to such a heighth in the Land may not we reasonably think that such persons as were thus guilty being in the Ship were a great cause of the storme of Gods anger which hath made such a shipwrack The Plague indeed when it was come made little discrimination between the bodies of the righteous and the bodies of the wicked no more doth grace the difference is more inward and deepe it is the soul begins to be glorifyed hereby and hath the seed of eternal life put into it when it doth pass the new birth but the body is not changed with the soul the body remains as it was as frail and weak and exposed to diseases and death as before and as the body of any wicked person and therefore the infectious disease of the Plague coming into a populous City the bodies of the righteous amongst the rest receive the contagion and they fall in the common calamity there is a difference in the manner of their death and a difference in their place and state after death as hath been spoken of before but the kind of death is the same So the fire doth make no discrimination between the Houses of the godly and the Houses of the ungodly they are all made of the same combustible matter and are enkindled as bodies infected one by another indeed the godly have God to be their habitation and they are Citizens of the new Ierusalem which is above a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God an abiding City which the fire cannot reach and their persons are secured from the flames of eternal fire in Hell but they have no promise nor security for the preservation of their Houses from fire here in this World The judgments of the plague and fire being sent work according to their nature without distinguishing the righteous But if we further enquire into the reason why the plague was sent the last year and such a plague as hath not been known this forty year which raged so sorely when there was no such sultriness of weather as in other years to encrease it and why the fire was sent this year and such a fire as neither we nor our fore-fathers ever knew neither do we read of in any History of any so great in any place in time of peace what shall we say was the cause of these extraordinary national judgments but the extraordinary national sins It was an extraordinary hand of God which brought the plague of which no natural cause can be assigned why it should be so great that year more then in former years but that sin was grown to greater heighth and that a fire should prevaile against all attempts to quench it to burn down the City and that judgment just following upon the heels of the other what reason can be assigned but that Englands sins and Gods displeasure hath been extraordinary God is a God of patience and it is not a light thing will move him he is slow to anger it must needs be then some great provocation which makes him so furious he is highly offended before he lifts up his hand and he is exceedingly incens'd before his anger breaks forth into such a flame for my part I verily think if it had not been for the crying abominations of the times which are not chiefly to be limited to the City of London and if the means of Gods prescription according to the Rule of his Word which England sometime could had by England been made use of that both Plague and Fire had been prevented 3. Moreover it may be said that some particular persons by some more peculiar and notorious sins in the City may have provoked the Lord to bring punishment upon the whole place if the Land were not so generally profane and wicked the heathen could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A whole City may be punished for the wickedness of one Man yea we read of David though so good a man yet when he numbred the people a small sin in comparison with the sins of some others in our days God was provoked to send such a dreadful Plague not on himself but upon his people that there dyed 70000 men by it in three days and David said I have
Woman with childe and they shall not escape 1 Thess. 5. 3. And if some of this untoward and wicked Generation do drop away without a remarkable temporal destruction God will make his righteousness evident to them in the other World when he claps up their souls close Prisoners in the lowest dungeon of Hell appointing black Devils to be their Jaylors flames of fire to be their cloathing hideous terrours and woe to be their food Cain Iudas and other damned tormented spirits to be their companions where they must lye bound in chains of darkness till the judgment of the great day and when the general assize is come and the Angels have blown the last Trumpet and gathered the elect to the right hand of Christ then they will be sent with the Keys of the bottomless Pit and the Prison will be opened for a while and like so many Rogues in Chains they shall together with all their fellow sinners be brought forth and finde out the dirty flesh of their bodies which like a nasty ragg they shall then put on and with most rufull looks and trembling joynts and horrible shreeks and unexpressible confusion and terrour they shall behold the Lord Jesus Christ whom in life time they despised and affronted come down from Heaven in flaming fire to take vengeance upon them who will sentence them to the flames of eternal fire and drive them from his Throne and presence into utter darkness where they must take up their lodging for evermore Then Then there will be a clear revelation of the righteous and dreadful judgments of this great God unto the world and upon this accursed generation But more fully to clear up the reason of London's judgments and the righteousness of God herein God hath indeed spoken very terribly but he hath answered us very righteously London was not so godly as some speak by way of scoff no! If London had been more generally godly and more powerfully godly these judgments might have been escaped and the ruins of the City prevented No! it was the ungodliness of London which brought the Plague and fire upon London There was a general Plague upon the heart a more dangerous infection and deadly Plague of sin before there was sent a Plague upon the body there was a fire of divers lusts which was enkindled and did burn in the bosome som tâ—mes issuing out flames at the door of the mouth and at the windows of the eyes of the inhabitants before the fire was kindled in the City which swallowed up so many habitations We have fallen thousands of persons into the grave by the Plague thousands of houses as a great monument upon them by the fire and whence is it we are fallen by our iniquities Hosea 14. 1. the Crown is fallen from our heads and what is the reason because we have sinned against the Lord. Lam. 5. 16. God hath spoken terribly but he hath answered righteously as he gives great and especial mercies in answer unto prayer so he sendeth great and extraordinary judgments in answer unto sin there is a voice and loud cry especially in some sins which entreth into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath 1 Sam. 5. 4. When God speaks by terrible things he makes but a righteous return to this cry And though these Judgments of Plague and Fire are National judgments and may be the product of National sins and I verily am perswaded that God was more highly provoked by some that dwelt out of the City than with those which dwelt in it I mean the profane and ungodly generation who chiefly did inhabit more remotely and that God being so provokt was the more ready to strike and let his hand fall so heavy upon London yet since many of the ungodly crew were got into the City it self and most in the City that were not of them did not dare to commit their impieties yet made themselves guilty by not mourning for them and labouring in their place what they could after a redress and since London it self hath been guilty of so many crying sins as I shall endeavour to shew Gods righteousness in the terrible things of London will be evident especially if we consider 1. That God hath punished London no more than their iniquities have deserved 2. That God hath punished London less than their iniquities have deserved 1. God hath punished London no more than their iniquities deserved Great sins deserve great Plagues and have not the sins of London been great Let us make an inquity after Londons sins Here I shall offer some sins to consideration and let London judge whether she be not guilty and whether the Lord hath not been plaguing her and burning her and possibly yea probably will bring utter ruin and desolation upon her except she see and mourn and turn the sooner It is out of dear and tender love to London with whom I could willingly live and die that I write these things to put them in mind of their sins that they might take some speedy course for a redress and turning away the fierce anger of the Lord which is kindled against them for sin lest he next proceed to bring utter ruin upon them surely they have not more reason to think that Gods anger is turned away since the fire than they had to think it was turned away after the Plague but rather they may conclude that though the fire of the City bee quenched yet the fire of Gods anger doth burn still more dreadfully than the other fire and that his hand is stretched out still to destroy Therefore O all yee inhabitants about Londâ—n open your eyes and ears and hearts and suffer a word of reproof for your sins and deal not with this Catalogue of your sins as Iehojakim did with Ieremiah's roll who burnt it in the fire not being able to bear his words but do with it as Iohn did with his little book eat it and digest it though it be bitter in the mouth as well as in the belly it is bitter Physick but necessary for the preservation of a sick languishing City which is even ready to give up the Ghost And here I shall begin with more Gospel-sins which though natural conscience is not so ready to accuse of yet in the account of God are the most heinous sins And I would have a regard not only to latter but also to former sins which possibly may now be more out of view and forgotten and which some may be hardned in because the guilty have not been so particularly and sensibly punished though Gods sparing of them hath been in order to their repentance or their punishments in some kinde hath been accounted by them no punishments or their punishments have been mistaken and their hearts have swelled against instruments made use of by God therein instead of accepting of the punishment of their iniquity and humbling themselves deeply before the Lord. I say I would call to remembrance former sins as well as
with every mind of doctrine by the slight of them which led them aside Eph. 4. 11 12 13 14. Now all these persons have been slighters of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Ignorant the Profane the Hypocrite and the Erroneous and if you place them all in one company how few will there remain in London that have sincerely and heartily imbraced the truth as it is in Jesus and upon whom the Gospel hath made a powerful and saving impression And even amongst those that have been affected and converted by the preaching of the Gospel and had it greatly in esteem at first hearing and believing how was their esteem of the Gospel fallen and their affection cooled did not Gospel-ordinances begin to loose their worth and excellency and grow tedious and wearisome unto them O how generally unthankful was London for the Gospel priviledges and liberties yea many began to be very nice and wanton the Gospel was not relished unless it were served up with such neatnesses dressings in which some Ministers possibly did too much endeavour to please themselves and the people and then the sauce was more relished than the food it selfe and the appetite of many was so spoiled that plain wholsome soul-saving truths would not down with them Londoners began to be glutted with the Gospel and like the Israelites in the Wilderness their souls began to loathe the Mannah which came down from Heaven a strange curiosity there was in spiritual pallates which in many turned to a loathing of the food in so much that the Gospel became a burden unto them and thence it was that many turned away their ears from the truth and were turned unto errours and they could not indure to hear sound doctrine but having itching ears heaped up unto themselves teachers according to their lusts 2 Tim. 4. 3 4. And those that continued stedfast in the truth did not duly prize the Gospel none of them according to its dignity and worth No wonder then if God grows angry at such contempts and affronts as were hereby offered unto him and easeth them so much of their burden and withdraws the food so much which they grew so weary of No wonder that he suffers so many of their teachers to be thrust into corners and so much withdraws the beams of that light which was so much abused and when they are not sensible of his displeasure in this no wonder if he sends the Plague and Fire to awaken them unto a sensibility When the King sent forth his servants to call the guests to the Wedding-feast and they make light of it and excuse themselves and go away one to his Farm another to his Merchandize and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spightfully and slew them The King was wroth and sent forth his Armies to destroy those murderers and burn their City Matth. 22. from v. 1. to v. 8. God hath sent forth his fervants to call Londoners to this Feast how many invitations have they had to come unto Christ to accept of him to save them and feed upon him from whom alone they can get any Spiritual nourishment but how many in London have had their excuses they have been following their Merchandize and other business and could not come and what entertainment his servants hath had the Lord knows I do not say that London hath entertained them despightfully and slain them but have not their message been slighted by London and is it a wonder then if the King that sent them be wroth and send a Fire to burn down the City No greater favour could be shewed no greater priviledge could be enjoyed than to have the Gospel powerfully preached and ordinances purely administred but hath it been generally so accounted in London hath not Merchandize and thriving in the world which yet they have not thrived in been preferred before this by many thousands in the City when God hath been at such an expence to work out a way for mans salvation when he hath discovered such wonders of astonishing Love in sending his only begotten Son out of Heaven to cloath himself in our flesh that therein he might purchase life and salvation for us who were sunk so low from our Primitive state by sin and were exposed to death and wrath unavoidable endless misery in Hell and hath sent his Embassadours of peace to bring unto us the glad tidings hereof and in his name to make known the thing the Authour the tearms the way and to intreat us that we would accept of life and reconciliation to God who without any injury to himself could ruin us everlastingly and get himself a name thereby and yet when the Gospel is preached that we should undervalue and slight both messenger message surely this hath been an affront to the Lord who hath sent his Embassadours on this errand and doth carry with it such ingratitude as cannot be paralleld No doubt but this sin of slighting the Gospel is a prime sin which hath provoked God against London to come forth in such fury and if London do not repent the sooner and labour to recover its relish and esteem for the Gospel and make more evident demonstrations of it I fear the Lord will quite remove the Gospel from them and then nothing is like to follow but desolation and wo God doth not remove his glory at once but by steps first the glory of the Lord departs from the Inner-court to the Threshold of the house Ezek. 10. 3 4. from the Threshold of the house to the Door of the East-gate v. 18 19. then it goes from the midst of the City and standeth upon the Mountain Chap. 11. 23. The Gospel is the glory of London and hath the glory of the Lord made none of these removes is it not come forth of the Inner-court hath it not left the Threshold is not a departing of it quite from the City threatned will any thing recover it if we do not recover our appetite and prize and cry after it If the Gospel go God will go the Gospel being the sign and means of his special presence and wo be unto us when God shall depart from us Hos. 9. 12. And if God depart with the Gospel farewel peace and prosperity in England nothing I dare be confident but temporal misery and ruine will be the consequent if the Ecclipse bring such misery what will the quite darkning of the Sun doe 2. The second sin of London is Vnfruitfulness in such a fertile soile This sin hath been an attendant upon and a consequent of the former London was not only a Goshen but an Eden God chose out London to be his Garden he hath hedged it planted watered prun'd and manur'd it no place in the world hath had more plenty of the means of grace God hath given the former and the latter rain and sweet dews of Heaven both morning and evening did fall upon this place in the morning seed was sown and in
inflamed and distempered themselves with excessive drinking 16. A sixteenth sin of London is perverting of judgement This is a God-provoking sin when none calleth for justice nor any pleadeth for truth when men make to themselves crooked paths and there is no judgement in their goings yea when judgment is turned away backward and justice standeth afarr off and truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter when truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey c. as the Prophet speaks Isa. 59. When Magigistrates are lovers of gifts and followers after rewards when they judge not the fatherless neither doth the cause of the widdow come unto them then the Lord cryeth Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries and aveuge me of mine enemies Isaiah 1. 23 24. I cannot charge London deeply with this sin not having been my self present much in their Courts of Judicature and I would hope that justice hath taken place here as much as in most Cities in the world but when I read what the Lord saith concerning Ierusalem Jer. 5. 1. Run ye too and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can find a man if there be any that executeth judgement that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it and when withall I consider the dreadfull judgments of God upon the City of London whereby the glory of the Magistracy and government of the City is so much stained I would submit it to enquiry whether there hath not been a failure and perverting of judgment in the City whether bribes and rewards have not blinded the eyes and the edge of the Law hath not been turned against well doers instead of evil doers wheâ—her the Fatherless and the Widdow have not been sent weeping to their heavenly Father to complain of injustice It is not a time to cover faults but to confess and leave them least unavoidable ruine come upon us when it will be too late 17. A seventeenth sin of London is Covetousness How universally hath this sin reigned in the City so that it may almost be said of London as it was of Ierusalem Jer. 6. 13. From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness Those who have been free from gluttony drunkenness adultery and the like expensive sins have on the other hand addicted themselves to the sin of covetousness I do not charge all but oh how almost universal hath this sin among tradesmen been which hath evidenced it self both in their getting and keeping riches 1. In getting what eager desires after the world and their obtaining an estate by their trades What studies and consultations what wracking the brains and torturing the wits to find out the best way of thriving in the world what earnest prosecutions have there been and laborious endeavours rising up early and sitting up late and wearying the body and the mind all the day eating the bread of carefulness and mingling the drink with sollicitousness crouding up the whole time with worldly business so that their own health hath been disregarded as well as the worship of God neglected in the families of these worldlings and all to scrape a little worldly riches together which some have mist of notwithstanding all their endeavours and if they have obtained yet they have remained more poor in contentment than when they were more poor in their estates for as their estates have increased so their desires have increased and been farther off from satisfaction as they have enlarged their shops and trades and wealth hath flowed in upon them so they have enlarged their desires like Hell and like the Grave have never said It is enough when they have added bag to bag and house to house the more cares and fears and sometimes piercing sorrows have accompanied their gains but far have they been from finding the contentment and comfort in their riches that they looked for 2. This covetousness hath appeared in keeping what they have gotten keeping I say for covetous persons have had little heart to spend though in necessary uses what they have scraped together they have had wealth but the use of it they have not had it hath been to them like a treasure in a chest of which they had lost the key or like another mans money in their keeping which they must not meddle withall Whatever abundance they have had in the bag and in the coffer their families have been in want the table hath been penurious the back and belly have been pinched they have lived at a meaner rate than those that have been of a meaner degree The poor might starve at their doors no pitty towards others in want and misery and the least pitty towards themselves whilest they have saved for fear least afterwards they should want they have all along wanted whilest they have been saving and it may be at last they have lost what they have been keeping to the unexpressible grief and it may be breaking of their hearts which have been so set upon these things This sin of covetousness in some hath had deeper rooting in most hath had too much footing and in all hath been very heinous and abominable before God This sin is termed Idolatry in Scripture and the covetous are stigmatized with the name of Idolaters Col. 3. 5. Ephes. 5. 5. It is heart idolatry forbidden in the first commandment That thing we make a God to our selves which we chiefly affect if it be the world then we make the world our God which is inconsistent with the true love of God the Father the only true God 1 Joh. 2. 15. Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him This sin of covetousness is hateful to God and provokes his wrath Isa. 57. 17. for the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him Hath not God smitten London with the plague and fire among other iniquities for this iniquity of Covetousness When London was eagerly pursuing after the World and all minding and seeking their own Interest without any regard to the Interest of Gods glory and Kingdom or care of their soul-interest and salvation which their worldly business would not allow time for did not the Lord send a Plague to put a stop to their Trade and gave them time to seek him and to make their peace with him in their retirements which they could not or rather would not finde before And when they returned with more eagerness to their Trades after the Plague was a little over that they might fetch up if they could what they had miss'd by that intermission did not the Lord send a Fire to consume much of that which they had set their hearts upon and in large legible Letters write Vanity upon this Idol which so many had worshipped Let London consider and lay to
burn so much when the other Fire is extinguished when Londoners who have taken new houses have brought into them their old hearts and live in the practice of their old sins when the Swearers and Prophane the Drunkards and Unclean the Covetous Unrighteous and loose Livers still persevere in their wicked courses and no Judgement will put a stop to them but they grow more hardened and incorrigible when as it is said Ier. 5. 3. the Lord hath stricken them for sin but they are not grieved consumed them but they refuse to receive correction making their faces harder than a rock and refuse to return what can we conclude but that Gods anger doth still remain yea is more enraged by this aggravation of their wickedness and that he is stretching forth his hand to give them another blow God doth expect that London should use some means to pacifie his anger and he gives them time for it by the pauses which he mâ—kes between his Judgements being still slow to anger and unwilling if he be not even forced unto it utterly to destroy this place where his Name hath been called upon O that London would be perswaded unto this Duty which doth so much concern their safety and happiness when the Fire was in London and it burned so furiously and dreadfully on the Monday and Tuesday Londoners hearts were sunk within them having little hopes of getting victory over this conquerer which marched thorow their streets and therefore little resistance was made but all were busily employed in flying from him with their goods but when the fury of the Fire was something abated on the Wednesday and they began to conceive any hopes that it might be extinguished then they pluck up their spirits and join their forces and many thousand hands are at work in drawing waters and pouring them upon the Flames and their pains through Gods blessing was not unsuccessful The Fire of Gods wrath which shall devour the wicked and burn them everlastingly will be so furious and dreadful that the hearts of the damned will sink under it without the least hopes of ever extinguishing this Flame or flying from it when it hath once got hold of them And therefore they will not attempt but let alone all endeavours for ever to turn away Gods displeasure and to put out the unquenchable Fire of Hell but the Fire of Gods wrath and anger here may be put out and the flames of his anger may be turned into flames of Love Gods anger which hath been so hot against London may be cooled his wrath alleviated and his displeasure removed there is Hope in Israel concerning this thing God is not yet grown so furious that he will not be spoken unto he is easie to be entreated and therefore London may be encouraged in their endeavours to pacifie his anger Let them not say as Israel of old Jer. 2. 25. There is no hope no for I have loved strangers and after them will I go Though Gods anger be not yet turned away yet it may be turned away and though one hand be stretched out to destroy you yet the other hand is stretched forth to save you for he stretcheth forth his hand all the day long to a disobedient and gain-saying people Rom. 10. 21. O Labour then to pacifie Gods anger to quench this Fire arise and gird your selves with humility pluck up your spirits and stir up your selves to lay hold on God and stop him in the march of his Judgements bring forth your buckets draw water and pour it forth before the Lord let your eyes be like Fountains of tears the voice of weeping and mourning for sin doth turn Gods bowels within him Ier. 31. 18 19 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised c. and when he repented after such chastisements and was ashamed of his sin God doth relent and his bowels are moved for him Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child for since I spake against him I earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him and I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord. If London would be chastised and receive the impressions of grief and shame for their sins by these Judgements Gods bowels would be moved and his fierce anger would be changed into tender compassions and though he hath spoken terribly against London yet he would now speak comfortably unto her he would earnestly remember her and make her glad according to the dayes wherein he hath afflicted her and the years wherein she hath seen evil there is an excellent vertue in the tears of true repentance accompanied with the blood of Christ applyed by faith to quench the fire of Gods anger Sinners God is angry with you Psal. 7. 11. God is angry with the wicked every day and it is worse to have God angry with you than all the men in the world his favour is better than Life his displeasure is worse than Death to have God angry with you who is so Just and Jealous who is so potent and furious is very dreadful if the wrath of an earthly King be like the roaring of a Lyon what is the wrath of the King of Heaven and when his anger is stirred up by your sins and blown into a flame and breaks forth upon you what will you do you cannot hide your selves in any place where his all seeing eye will not find you you cannot flie into any place where his stretched-forth arm will not reach you you cannot gather such strength as to make head against him and defend your selves from the strokes of his vengeance who can stand in his sight when once he is angry Psal. 76. 7. O then labour to pacifie his anger you cannot fly from him O then fly unto him you cannot stand in his sight when he is angry O then fall down at his feet make peace with this adversary whilest you are upon the way before he deliver you to the officer Death and cast you into the prison of Hell Sinners Gods patience doth as yet hold his arm and his mercy calls upon you to repent and he invites you to make your peace with him Isa. 27. 4 5. Who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle I would go thorow them I would burn them together or let him take hold on my strength and make peace with me and he shall make peace with me You will be like briers and thorns which will easily take fire and quickly be consumed in the time of Gods anger and if briers and thorns do offer to contend with devouring Fire what will be the issue but the burning of them up without remedy you will find it sharp and painful for your feet if you kick against the pricks you will dash out your brains if you run your head against a Rock or a brazen wall none ever hardened themselves against God and prospered none ever fought against
11. he will be your refuge under oppression and present help in time of trouble Psal. 46. 1. he will be your rock and fortress your high tower to defend you or your deliverer to redeem you out of all your troubles trust in God alone for all things if you make use of creatures do not lean and stay upon them for they will slip from under you but stay your selves on God O the peace and quiet which this will yield in shaking troublesome dayes when others hearts tremble within them and are moved like leaves upon the approach of danger you shall not be afraid of evil tydings but have your hearts fixed trusting in the Lord Psal. 112. 7. 13. God doth expect that London should have Death in continual remembrance This God expects from the Judgement of the Plague the Death of so many thousands a week in London gave such a spectacle of Mortality and Preached such a Sermon in the City as should bring the remembrance of Death into their minds every day of their lives the death if it were but of one or two should put you in mind of your later end but when you have seen so many go down into the pit before you it should inscribe the remembrance of death more deeply upon your mindes the record of which you should look daily into the gates of the City in the year of the Plague seem'd to have this inscription upon them All Flesh is Grass Let that word sound every day in your ears and remember your bodies are exposed to the stroke of death every day and though you have out-lived the Plague that yet Death hath you in the chase and will ere long you know not how soon overtake you remember your glass is running and will quickly be run out and therefore all the dayes of your appointed time as you should remember so you should prepare for your great change God expects that the remaining inhabitants of London should be prepared well for death now when they have had death so much in their view some of you have been sick of the Plague and brought to the very brink of the Grave all of you have been in danger of the Plague when the disease was so sore and raging I fear most of you were unprepared for death at that time and had you dyed then that it would have been with horrour and I believe that there are few of you but did in the time of your fears and danger make vows and promises if the Lord would shelter you from the arrows which flew about you and spare your lives then that you would lead new lives and be more carefull to prepare for your change so that Death should not take you so unprovided any more God expects the fulfilling of your promises and that you should live up to the vowes which you made in the time of your distress and so provide your selves whilest you are well that the messenger of Death may have a welcome reception when ever he summoneth you to leave this world 14. God expects that London should retain great impressions of Eternity You have had the door of Eternity set wide open in your view when so many were thronging in at the door and I believe you had deeper apprehensions of Eternity in those dayes than ever you had in your lives take heed that those impressions do not wear off and that you lose not those apprehensions especially when you are drawing every day nearer and nearer thereunto Think often of the vast Ocean of Eternity without bottome or bank on the other side into which the whole stream of time will empty it self and how quickly the small rivulet of your appointed dayes may fall into it Think often of the unalterable state of Joy or Misery which you must enter into at the end of your course think how thin and short the pleasures of sin are in this life in comparison of the horrible and endless torments of hell and how light and momentaneous the afflictions of Gods people are here in comparison with the exceeding and eternal weight of glory prepared for them in Heaven 2 Cor. 4. 17. 15. God doth call upon London by the Fire which burnt down the City to secure themselves against the Fire of Hell London's Fire was Dreadful but the Fire of Hell will be a thousand-fold more Dreadfull The Fire of London was kindled by man be sure some second cause was made use of herein but the Fire of Hell will be kindled by God himself Isa. 30. 33. Tophet is ordained of old for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is Fire and much Wood and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it The Fire of London burnt the houses of the City and consumed much of the goods but the Fire of Hell will burn the persons of the wicked Matth. 15. 41. Depart ye cursed into everlasting Fire The Fire of London did burn most but not all the houses in the City some are yet remaining but the Fire of Hell will burn all the persons of the wicked not one of them shall escape and remain The Fire of London was extinguished and did last but four dayes but the Fire of Hell will be unextinguishable it will burn for ever it is called everlasting Fire in which the damned must lye and burn eternally without any possibility of ever getting forth If you had known before of Londons Fire where it would begin and how it would spread and seize upon your houses surely you would have taken some course for the prevention of it you know before of the Fire of Hell the Word of God hath revealed it O take some course for prevention of it at least for securing of your selves against it when the Fire was burning in London you did fly from it least it should have consumed your persons as well as houses O fly from the Fire of Hell into which your persons will be thrown if you go on in sin fly from the wrath which is to come fly unto Jesus Christ who alone can deliver you 16. God doth call upon Londoners by the Fire to be like Strangers and Pilgrims in the World God hath burned you out of your habitations that he might loosen your affections from houses and riches and all things here below that he might unsettle you unhinge unfix you that you might never think of Rest and Settlement in the Creatures as long as you live God calls upon you by this Judgement to take off your hearts from this world which is so very uncertain and to be like Strangers and Pilgrims upon the earth who are to take up your lodging here but a few dayes and nights in your passage to the other world God expects you should live as those who have here no certain dwelling place and therefore that you should not lavish away too much of your thoughts and affections and time about these
uncertain things which are of so short a continuance and with which you cannot have a long abode God hath by his Judgements crucified the World very much before you and he expects that the world should be crucified in you God hath poured contempt upon the world and set a mark of disgrace thereon he hath cast dirt upon the face where you fancied before so much beauty to lye and he expects that you should fall in esteem and grow out of love with the world and never go a whoring from him to the creatures any more 17. God calls upon London to make him their habitation Psal. 90. 1. Lord thou hast been our dwelling places in all generations God is the hiding-place and he is the dwelling-place of his people you have lost your dwellings by the Fire make God your habitation and dwell in him to whom you may have constant resort and in whom you may have a sure abode Get possession of this house by your union to God through his Son and when you are in keep possession abide in this honse do not wander from him and turn your selves out of doors by breaking of his houshold laws make God your home and labour to be much acquainted at home spend your time with God and give your hearts to him Rest and repose your selves in God daily look for all your provisions in him and from him walk in him and with him Make God your habitation 18. God calleth upon London to seek after an abiding City Heb. 13. 14. We have here no continuing City but we seek one to come London hath reason to say the former therefore let London do the later you have seen the City fall by the Fire seek after a City which hath more lasting foundations and is of such strong building that neither time can wear and weaken nor flames of Fire reach and consume I mean the New Ierusalem which is above the Heavenly City whose builder and maker is God there are Mansions abiding places for the Saints Ioh. 14. 2. there the wicked will cease from troubling and the weary will be at rest seek after this City labour for a title to it lay up your Treasure in it get your affections set upon it above all Trades drive a Trade for Heaven which in the issue will yield you the best returns 19. God doth expect that London should labour to build his House The neglect of Gods House I believe hath been a great cause of the fall of so many Houses in the City by Fire God expects that now you should endeavour the building of his House otherwise I do not think that God will build again your Houses you may have an Act of Parliament for building the City and set Workmen about it but unless God do enact it too the building will never go forward unless God build the City the Workmen will labour in vain Read and consider the Prophesie of Haggai Set about the work of Reformation more vigorously especially in the House and Worship of God 20. God doth expect that Londoners should dedicate themselves and Families unto him You have broken your Baptismal and other Vows and God hath made great breaches upon you for your Infidelity now renew your Vows give up your selves to God avouch him to be your God and avouch your selves to be his People and live accordingly Take up Ioshuah's resolution that whatever others in the Land do that you and your Families will serve the Lord Make it your only business in the World to serve God let Religion have an influence upon all your actions do nothing without the Warrant of Gods Precept let your Conversation be such as becometh the Gospel govern your Families in the fear of God fill all your Relations with duty learn more righteousness by Gods Judgements and be quickned by them unto a more holy and strict walking And if you yield such Fruits as these which God expects after his plowing and harrowing of you if you open your Ear to the Terrible Voice of the Lord which hath uttered it self in the City and with full purpose of heart set about the practice of the duties he expects and calls for then you may hope that he will yet build you up and plant you that he will close your breaches and raise up your ruinous Habitations that he will make you glad according to the Years wherein he hath afflicted you and give you to see good dayes instead of those evil which you have seen and felt then the Lord will rejoyce over you to do you good and make London like Mount Zion where he will pitch his Tent and take up his Habitation then he will compass you about with the Bulwark of Salvation and prevent those further utterly Desolating Judgements which you are in danger of yea the Lord will be as a wall of fire round about you and the Glory in the midst of London from whence his Praise and your Fame shall sound throughout the whole World FINIS Soli Deo Gloria Hab. 3. 5. Psal. 18. 13 14. Isa. 29. 6. Isa. 30. 30. Psal. 18. 45 7. 5. Isa 7. 2. Psa. 21. 9. Num. 16. 27 31 32. Gen. 19. Luk. 13. Isa. 5. 4 5 6 Isa. 15. Ioh. 15. 6 Heb. 6. 7. Gal. 5. 19 24. Mat. 12. 43 44 45. Eccl. 9. Psal. 50.