the Lord has made in the midst of them 'T is true the length of those heavy Judgments under which they groan to this very day hath often puzled the Intellectuals of their Rabbies and hath many times put them to a stand and sometimes to break out into a kind of confession That surely their Judgments could not last so long but for crucifying of one that was more then a man There was one Rabbi Samuel who six hundred years since writ a Tract in form of an Epistle to Rabbi Isaac Master of the Synagogue of the Jews wherein he doth excellently discuss the cause of heir long captivity and extream misery And after that he had proved it was inflicted for some grievous sin he sheweth that sin to be the same which Amos speaks of For three transgressions Amos 2 6. of Israel and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver The selling of Joseph he makes the fiâ—st sin the worshipping of the Calf in Horeb the second sin the abusing and killing of Gods Prophets the third sin and the selling of Jesus Christ the fourth sin For the first they served four hundred years in Egypt for the second they wandred forty years in the wilderness for the third they were Captives seventy years â—n Babylon and for the fourth they are held in pitiful Captivity even till this day 'T is certain that the body of that people are under woful blindness and hardness to this very day And thus much for the opening of the words The 25. verse is the Scripture that I do intend to speak something to as the Lord shall assist Now the Proposition which I only intend to insist upon is this Viz. That God is the Author or Efficient cause of all the great Doct. Calamities and dreadful Judgments that are inflicted upon Cities and Countries and in particular of that of fire Now that God is the Author or Efficient cause of all the great Calamities and dreadful Judgments that are inflicted upon Cities and Countries will evidently appear to every mans understanding that will but take the pains to read over the 26. Chapter of Leviticus and the 28. Chapter of Deuteronomy with that 14. of Ezekiel from vers 13. to vers 22. That God is the Author or Efficient cause of this dreadful Judgment of Fire that is at any time inflicted upon Cities and Countries will sufficiently appear in these following Scriptures Amos 3. 6. Shall a Trumpet be blown in the City and the people not be afraid shall there be evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it This is to be understood of the evil of punishment and not of the evil of sin Amos 4. 11. I have overthrown some of you as God overthrâ—w Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a fire-brand pluckt out of the burnings yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. Here I is emphatical and exclusive as if he should say I and I alone Amos 1. 14. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah that is in the Metropolis or chief City of the Ammonites and it shall devour the Palaces thereof Rabbah their head-City was a cruel bloody covetous and ambitious City vers 13. And therefore rather than it should escape divine vengeance God will kindle a fire in the wall of it and burn it with his own hands Ezek. 20. 47. And say to the forrest of the South that is to Jerusalem that did lye South-wards from Chaldea hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the You will find this Scripture fully opened in the following Discourse Lord God Behold I will kindle a fire in thee and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree the flaming flames shall not be quenched and all fuel from the South to the North shall be burnt therein verse 48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched Men shall see that 't was God that kindled the fire and not man and therefore 't was beyond mans skill or power to quench it or to over-master it Jer. 7. 20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place upon man and upon beast and upon the trees of the field and upon the fruit of the ground and it shall burn and shall not be quenched The Point being thus proved for the further opening of it premise with me these things 1. First That great afflictions dreadful Judgments are likened unto fire in the blessed Scriptures Psal 66. 12. We went through fire and water Jer. 4. 4. Circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the fore-skins of your heart ye men of Judah and Inhabitants of Jerusalem lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings Jer. 21. 12. O house of David thus saith the Lord execute Judgment in the morning and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor lest my fury go out like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings Lam. 2. 3 4. He hath cut off in his anger all the horn of Israel he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy and burned against Jacob like a flaming fire which devoureth round about he hath bent his bow like an enemy he stood with his right hand as an adversary and slew all that was pleasant to the eye in the Tabernacle of the Daughter of Zion he poured out his fury like fire Ezek. 15. 7. And I will set my face against them they shall go out from one fire and another fire shall devour them and ye shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them Ezek. 22. 20 21 22. As they gather Silver and Brass and Iron and Lead and Tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you yea I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you Thus you see that great afflictions great Judgments are likened unto fire But in what respects are great Afflictions great Judgments Quest like unto fire In these seven respects they are like unto fire Answ First Fire is very dreadful and terrible to mens thoughts spirits and apprehensions how dreadful was the fire of Sodom and the fire of London to all that were near it or spectators of it 'T is observable that some are set out in the blessed Scriptures as Monuments of most terrible and dreadful Vengeance whom the Kings of
of its Ruines and to see the Top-stone laid your great readiness and willingness to spend and be spent for the publick Good these are the things that have made your Name as a precious Oyntment and that have erected for you a noble living Monument in the breasts and hearts of all sober serious Christians these are the things that have made you the Darling of the people Let all succeeding Lord Mayors but manage their own Persons Families and Government as you have done by divine assistance and without a peradventure they will have a proportionable interest in the hearts and affections of the people For my Lord 't is not barely the having of a Sword of Justice a Sword of Power but the well management of that Sword that makes most for the interest both of Prince and People and that gives the Magistrate a standing interest in the hearts and affections of the people My Lord the generality of people never concern themselves about the particular perswasions of this or that Magistrate in the matters of Religion their eyes are upon their Examples and upon the management of their Trust and Power for publick Good and they that do them most good shall be sure to have most of â—heir hearts and voices lâ—â— their private opinions in the matters of Religion be what they will My Lord I have not so learned Christ as to give flattering Titles to men the little that I have written I have written in Job 32. 22. the plainness and singleness of my heart and for your Lordships comfort and encouragement in all well doing and to provoke all â—thers that shall succeed in your Chair to write after that fair Copy that you have set them which will be their Honour London's Happiness and Englands Interest Plutarch said of Demosthenes that he was excellent at praising the worthy Acts of his Ancestors but not so at imitating them The Lord grant that this may never be made good of any that shall succeed your Lordship Carus the Emperours Motto was Bonus Dux bonus Comes A good Leader makes a good Follower The complaint is ancient in Seneca that commonly men live not ad rationem but Seneca de vita beata cap. 1. ad similitudinem Praecepta docent exempla movent Precepts may instruct but Examples do perswade Stories speak of some that could not sleep when they thought of the Trophies of other Worthies that went before them the highest Examples are very quickning and provoking O that by all that shall succeed your Lordship in the Chair we may yet behold our City rising more and more out of its Ashes in greater splendour and glory then ever yet our eyes have seen it that all sober Citizens may have eminent cause to call them the Repairers of the Breaches Isa 58. 12. Chap. 61. 4. Amos 9. 14. Ezek. 36. 33 34 35 36 38. Dan. 9. 25. and Restorers of our City to dwell in Concerning Jerusalem burned and laid waste by the Assyrians Daniel foretold that the streets and the walls thereof should be rebuilded even in troublesom times Though the Assyrians have laid our Jerusalem waste yet even to a wonder how have the Buildings been carried on this last year My Lord the following Treatise which I humbly dedicate to your Lordship has been drawn up some years the Reasons why it has been buried so long in oblivion are not here to be inserted the Discourse is sober and of great importance to all that have been burnt up and to all whose Houses have escaped the furious Flames Whilst the remembrance of London's Flames are kept alive in the thoughts and hearts of men this Treatise will be of use in the world My Lord I do not dedicate this Tractate to your Lordship as if it stood in need of your Honours Patronage I judge it to be of Age both to plead for it self and to defend it self against all Gain-sayers Veritas vincit veritas stat in aperto campo Zeno Socrates Anaxarchus My Lord some sacrifice their labours to great Maecenas's that they may be aton'd to shield them from potent Antagonists but these Sermons which here I present to your Honours perusal being only the blessed Truths of God I hope they need no arm but his to defend them c. sealed the lean and barren truths of Philosophy with the expence of their dearest blood as you may see in the Heathen Martyrologie O how much more should we be ready to seal all divine Truths with our dearest blood when God shall call us forth to such a Service My Lord I humbly lay this Treatise at your Lordships foot to testifie that Love and Honour that I have in my heart for you both upon the account of that intrinsecal Worth that is in you and upon the account of the many good things and great things that have been done by you and publickly to testifie my acknowledgment of your Lordships undeserved Favours towards me My Lord of right this Treatise should have been in your hands several months since and in that it was not it is wholly from others and not from me If your Lordship please but to favour the Author so far as to read it once over for his sake he doubts not but that your Lordship will oftner read it over for your own Souls sake and for Eternities sake and for London's sake also My Lord by reason of my being remote from the City several weeks I have had the advantage but of reading and correcting two or three sheets and therefore must beg your Lordships pardon as to all the neglects and escapes of the Press A second Impression may set all right and straight My Lord that to your dying day you may be famous in your Generation and that your precious and immortal Soul may be richly adorned with all saving Gifts and Graces and that you may daily enjoy a clear close high and standing Communion with God and that you may be filled with all the fruits of Righteousness and Holiness and that your Soul may be bound up in the bundle of Life and crowned with the highest Glory in that other World in the free full constant and uninterrupted Enjoyment of that God who is the Heaven of Heaven and the Glory of Glory is and by divine Assistance shall be the earnest prayers of him who is Your Honours in all humble and due Observance Thomas Brooks The Fiery Jesuits Temper and Behaviour I Fain would be informed by you what ails These Foxes to wear Fire-brands in their tails What did you teach these Cubs the World to burn Or to embottle London in its Vrn Are Hugonots as rank Philistins grown With you as dwelt in Gath or Askelon Bold Wretches must your Fire thus antedate The General Doom and give the World its Fate Must Hells Edict to blend this Globe with Fire Be done at your grave Nods when you require THE TABLE A. Of strange Apparel OF the Vanity of strange Apparel Page 56
shall devour the bryars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickest of the forrest and they shall moont up like the lifting up of smoak So the burning lust of uncleanness Rom. 1. 27. They burned in lust one towards another So 1 Cor. 7. 9. It s better to marry then to burn And so Sodom was fiâ—st in a flame of burning lusts before it was burnt with fire from Heaven But this is not the fire that is here meant in the Proposition that we are upon But Fourthly Premise this with me fire is sometimes taken for the blessed Angels Psal 104 4. Who maketh his Angels Spirits his Ministers a flamâ—ng fire Hence it is that Heb. 1. 7. the Angels are called Seraphims which signifies burning or flaming ones and they are set forth by this name to note Isa 6. 2. their irresistable power for as there is no withstanding of the furious flames so there is no withstanding of these burning or flaming ones Jerom Musculus and several others are of opinion that the Angel that destroyed of Sennacheribs Host 2 Kings 19. 35. a hundred and fourscore and five thousand in one night that he did it by fire burning their bodies their garments being untoucht But the fire in the Proposition cannot be understood of the blessed Angels for several reasons not here to be alledged But Fifthly Premise this with me fire in Scripture is sometimes taken for Wars The fire of thine enemies that is the Wars that shall be amongst the Nations shall devour them Isa 26. 11 12. Chap. 29. 6 7. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord with a flame of devouring fire but the Nations that fight against the Altar shall be a dream Now fire in this sense is not to be excluded out of the Proposition But Sixthly Premise this with me fire sometimes notes the special presence of God in a way of special love and favour to his people in Exod. 3. 2. you read how the Lord appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a Bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed here was a representation of the Churches affliction that was then in Egypt a house of bondage Deut. 4. 20. in the midst of a fiery furnace But now the Lord was in the bush while the bush the dry bush or the Bramble-bush as the Hebrew word signifies was in a flaming fire In Seneh that Deut. 33. 16. you read of the good will of him that dwelt in the bush God was there in a way of merciful protection and preservation they were in the fire but the Lord was with them in the fire in all their fiery tryals God did bear them company But Seventhly Premise this with me in the blessed Scriptures we read of supernal fire of fire that came down from above and that 1. as a sign of Gods anger so fire came down from Heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah Gen. 19. 24. Also fire Numb 16. 35. came down from Heaven on them that offered incense in the conspiracy of Korah And so fire came down from Heaven 2 Kings 1. 10 11 12. 2 Chron. 7. 1. 2 Kings 18. 38. on the two Captains and their Fifties Secondly we read of fire that came down from Heaven as a sign and token of Gods favour And so fire came down from Heaven on the Sacrifice of Solomon and on the Sacrifice of Eliah God in those times did delight to shew his special love and favour to his precious servants by fire from Heaven But in the Proposition we are to understand not supernal but material fire But Eighthly and lastly Premise this with me fire is sometimes taken literally for that material fire that consumes Houses See 2 Chron. 36. 19. 2 Kings 19. 18. Chap. 21. 6. Psal 74. 7. Deut. 13. 16. Towns Cities and the most stately Structures Jer. 21. 10. For I have set my face against this City for evil and not for good saith the Lord it shall be given into the hand of the King of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire 2 Chron. 35. 13. And they roasted the Passover with fire Nehem. 1. 3. And they said unto me the remnant that are left of the Captivity there in the Province are in great affliction and reproach the Wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the Gates thereof are burnt with fire Chap. 2. 2 3. Wherefore the King said unto me why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick this is nothing but sorrow of heart then I was very sore afraid and said unto the King Let the King live for ever why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my fathers sepulchres lyeth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire Now this material fire is the fire that is meant in the Proposition O Sirs God is as much the Author or Efficient cause of this Judgment of fire as he is the Author or Efficient cause of Sword Famine and Pestilence This I have in part proved already but shall more abundantly make it good in â—hat which follows But you will say Sir we know very well that God is the Author or Efficient cause of this dreadful Judgment of Fire as well as he is the Author or Efficient cause of any other Judgment that we have either felt or feared But we earnestly desire to know what the ends of God should be in inflicting this sore and heavy Judgment of Fire upon his â—oor people and in turning their glorious City into ashes This we are sure of that whoever kindled the fire God did blow the coal and therefore we shall not now consider what there was of mans treachery concurring with Gods severity in that dreadful Calamâ—â—y by Fire but rather inquire after the grounds reasons or ends that God aims at by that fiery Dispensation that has lately past upon us Now here give me leave to say that so far as the late Fire was a heavy Judgment of God upon the City yea upon the whole Nation the ends of God in-inflicting that Judgment are doubtless such as respect both sinners and Saints the righteous and the wicked the prophane and the holy the good and the bad Now such as respect the wicked and ungodly I take to be these that follow First That he may evidence his Soveraignty and that they may know that there is a God The prophane Atheist saith in his heart there is no God but God by his terrible Judgments Psal 14. 1. Psal 10. 4 5. Psal 50. 21. Eccle. 8. 11. Psal 24. 1. Dan. 6. 25 26 27. Isa 45. 9. Psal 2. 9 10 11 12. Hos 2. 8 9. startles and awakens the Atheist and makes him unsay what he had said in his heart When God appears in flames of fire devouring and destroying all before him then the proudest and the stoutest Atheists in the world will confess that there iâ— a God yea
Pharaoh his People and Land to revenge the cruel oppression Exod. 3. 9. of his poor people Prov. 22. 22 23. Rob not the poor because he is poor neither opprâ—ss the afflictâ—d in the gate For the Lord will plead their cause To rob and oppress the rich is a great sin but to rob and oppress the poor is a greater but to rob and oppress the poor because he is poor and wants money to buy justice is the top of all inhumanity and impiety To oppress any one is a sin but to oppress the oppressed is the heighth of sin Poverty and want and misery should be motives to pity but oppressors make them the whet-stones of their cruelty and severity and therefore the Lord will plead the cause of his poor oppressed people against their oppressors without fee or fear yea he will plead their cause with pestilence blood and fire Gog was a great oppressor of the poor Ezek. 38. 8 9 10 11 12. 13 14. And God pleads against him with pestilence blood and fire Verse 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood and I will rain upon him and upon his bands and upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain and great hail-stones fire and brimstone Such as oppress a Mich. 2. 1 2. man and his house even a man and his heritage they take the surest the readiest way to bring ruine upon their own houses Isa 5. 8. Wo unto them that joyn house to house and field to field till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth â—ut mark what follows verse 9. In mine ears said the Lord of Hosts of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without inhabitants of a truth many houses shall be desolate This is an Emphatical form of swearing 't is as if the Lord had said Let me not live or let me never be owned or accounted a God or let me never be looked upon as a God of truth a God of my word let me never be believed nor trusted more for a God if I do not lay desolate the houses of oppressors the great houses of oppressors the fair houses of oppressors yea the multitude and variety of the houses of oppressors So Amos 3. 9 10 11. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces â—n the Land of Egypt and say Assemble your selves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof and the oppressed or oppressions in the midst thereof For they know not to do right saith the Lord who store up violence and robbery in their palaces Therefore thus saith the Lord God an adversary there shall be even round about the Land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee â—nd thy palaces shall be spoiled Now mark the 15. verse And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house and the houses of ivory shall perish and the great houses shall have an end saith the Lord. In their Palaces and in their Winter and Summer-houses they stored up all the riches preys and spoils that they had got by oppression But God tells them that their Palaces should be spoiled and that he would smite the Winter-house upon the Summer-house so the Hebrew runs God was resolved that he would dash one house against the other and lay them all on heaps Though their Palaces and houses were never so rich and strong and stately and pompous and glorious and decked and adorned and enamelled and checkered yet they should all down together So Zach. 7. 10 11. 14. Oppress not the widow nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear Well now mark what follows verse 14. But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed thorow nor returned for they laid the pleasant land or as the Hebrew has it the second Land of desire desolate Palestine was a very pleasant Land aLand which flowed with milk and honey a Land which was the glory of all Lands God had made it as his Paradise and enriched it with all plenty and pleasure and above all with his presence and residence in his City and Temple but they by oppressing the poor the widow and the fatherless laid all desolate Jer. 12. 12. O house of David thus saith the Lord execute judgment in the morning and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor lest my fury go out like fire and burn that none can quench it Oppression lays a people open to Gods fury it provokes the Lord to turn their all into unquenchable flames Psal 12. 5. For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him in safety from him that passeth at him Upon these words Chrysostom saith Timete quicunque pauperem Chrys in Psal 12. injuriâ afficitis habetis vos potentiam opes judicum benevolentiam sed habent illi arma omnium validissima luctus ejulatus quae à coelis auxilium attrahunt Haec arma domus effodiunt fundamenta evertunt haec integras nationes submergunt Fear ye whosoever ye be that do wrong the poor you have power and wealth and the favour of the Judges but they have the strongest weapons of all sighings and groanings which fetch help from Heaven for them These weapons dig down houses throw up foundations overthrow whole Nations Thus you see by all these clear Scriptures that oppression is a sin that brings wasting and destroying Judgments upon a people Ah London London was there no oppression and cruelty to be found within and without thy Walls Eccle. 4. 1. So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the Sun and behold the tears of such as were oppressed and they had no comforter and on the side of their oppressors there was power but they had no comforter And behold the tears of such as were oppressed The original word signifies lachrymam non lachrymas a tear not tears as if the oppressed had wept so long and wept so much that they could weep no longer nor weep no more having but only one tear left them Were there not O London many of thy poor oppressed Inhabitants that wept so long that they could weep no longer and that wept so much that they had but one tear left O the crys and tears of the oppressed within and without thy Walls did so pierce Gods ears and so work upon his heart that at last he comes down in flames of fire to revenge the oppressed Were there no rich Citizens that did wrack their Tenants and grind the faces of the poor that took an advantage
Rulers of this World are as Pliny speaks of the Roman Emperors Nomine Dii Natura Diaboli Monsters not men Murtherers not Magistrates such a Monster was Saul who hunted David as a Partridge slew the innocent Priests of the Lord ran to a Witch and who was a man of so narrow a Soul that he knâ—w not how to look or live above himself his own interests and concernments The great care of every Magistrate Exod. 32. 10 11. 32. Nehem. 5. 6. to 19. Psal 137. 5 6. Acts 13. 36. should be to promote the publick Interest more than their own as you may see by comparing the Scriptures in the Margine together 'T was Caesars high commendation that he never had himself after the World had him for a Governour his mind was so set on the â—ublick that that he forgot his own private Affairs The Stars have their brightness not for themselves but for the use of others The Application is easie My Lord several Philosophers have made excellent and Carneades Aristotle Socrates c. The Roman Orator hath long since observed that the force of Justice is such and so great that even Thieves and Robbers both by Sea and Land who live upon injustice and rapine yet cannot live upon their Trade without some practice of it among themselves Cleobulus one of the seven Sages was wont to say that mediocrity was without compare The very Heathen could set so much divine glory in the face of a Magistrate that he styled him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the living Image of the everliving God Magistrates are as Nazianzen expresses it Pictures drawn of God Every Magistrate though in never so low a place bears the Image of God a Penny bears the Image of the Prince as well as a Shilling Magistrates are not immortal Deities neither have they everlasting God-heads Those gods as they had a beginning so they must have an end Quicquid oritur moritur There is a Mene Mene on them their days are numbred their time is computed Hercules his Pillar stands in their way Non datur ultra legant Orations in the praise of justice they say that all Verâ—â—es are compreâ—ended in the distribution of justice Justice saith Aristotle is a Synopsis and Epitome of all Vertues All I shall say is this the world is a Ring and justice is the Diamond in that Ring the world is a body and justice is the soul â—f that body It is well known that the constitution of a mans body is best known by his pulse if it stir not at all then we know he is dead if it stir violently then we know him to be in a Fever if it keep an equal stroke then we know he is sound well and whole So the estate and constitution of a City Kingdom or Common-weal is best known by the manner of executing justice therein for justice is the pulse of a City Kingdom or Common-weal if justice be violent then the City Kingdom or Common-weal is in a Fever in a very bad estate if it stir not at all then the City Kingdom or Common-wealth is dead but if it hath an equal stroke if it be justly and duely administred then the City Kingdom or Common-weal is in a good a safe and a sound condition When Vespasian asked Apollonius what was the cause of Neroes ruine he answered that Nero could tune the Harp well but in Government he did always winde up the strings too high or let them down too low Extreams in Government are the ready way to ruine all The Roâ—â—ns had their Rods for lesser faults and their Ax for capital crimes Extream right often proves extream wrong he that will always go to the utmost of what the Law allows will too too often do more than the Law requires A rigid severity often mars all Equity is still to be perferred before extremity To inflict great penalties and heavy censures for light offences this is to kill a flye upon a mans forehead with a Beetle The great God hath put his own Name upon Magâ—strates Psal 82. 6. I said that ye are gods Yet it must be granted that you are gods in a smaller letter mortal gods gods that must dye like men all the sons of Ish are sons of Adam Magistrates must do justice impartially for as they are called Gods so in this they must be like to God who is no accepter of persons Deur 1. 17. Leviâ— 19. 15. He accepts not of the rich man because of his Robes neither doth he reject the poor man because of his Rags The Magistrates eyes are to be always upon causes and not upon persons Both the Statues of the Theban Judges and the Statues of the Egyptian Judges were made without hands and without eyes to intimate to us that as Judges should have no hands to receive Bribes so they should have no eyes to see a friend from a foe or a brother from a stranger in judgment And it was the Oath of the Heathen Judges as the Orator relates Audiam accusatorem reum sine affectibus personâ—rum respectione I will hear the Plaintiff and the Defendant with an equal mind without affection and respect of persons In the twelfth Novel of Justinian you may read of an Oath imposed upon Judges and Justices against inclining or addicting themselves to either party yea they put themselves under a deep and bitter execration and curse in case of partiality imploring God in such language as this Let me have my part with Judas and let the Leprosie of Gehâ—zi cleave to me and the trembling of Cain come upon me and whatsoever else may astonish and dismay a man if I am partial in the administration of justice The Poet in the Greek Epigram taught the silver Ax of justice that was carried before the Roman Magistrates to proclaim If thou be an offendeâ— let not the silver flatter thee if an innocent let not the Ax 〈◊〉 â—ight thee The Athenian Judges judged in the night when the faces of men could not be seen that so they might be impartial in judgment My Lord your impartiality in the administration of justice in that high Orb wherein Divine Providence hath placed you is one of those great things that hath made you high and honourable in the eyes and hearts of all that are true lovers of impartial justice Some Writers say that some Waters in Macedonia being drunk by black sheep change their fleece into white Nothing but the pure and impartial administration of justice and judgment can transform black mouth'd black-handed and black hearted men into white There is nothing that sweetens satisfies and silences all sorts of men like the Isa 1. 23 24. administration of impartial justice the want of this brought desolation upon Jerusalem and the whole Land of Jury and upon many other flourishing Kingdoms and Countries as all August de Civitate Dei lib. 10. cap. 21 c. lib. 4. cap. 4. Lipsius de constan l. 2. c.
set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart THE Lord in this Chapter by the Prophet Esay doth foretell heavy things against the people and by the way marks the Lords dealings he ever gives warnings before he sends any plagues he lightens before he thunders that the people might not say they did not hear of it and that the wicked might be the more inexcusable and that the godly might make an Ark to save themselves in These words contain in them five â—â—veral things 1. The Author of this Destruction or Judgment 2 The Causes of it 3. The Judgment it self 4. Wâ—â— they were on whom this Judgment was inflicted 5. The Effect of it Now by Divine permission I will open these wordâ— in order to you For thâ— first the Author of it Now this is laid down by Quâ—stion and Answer Who gave Jacob to the spoil and Israel to the Robbers there 's the Question Did not I the Lord there the Answer God is the Author of all the Plagues and Judgments that befal a Nation Secondly The Causes why the Lord did this to a people that he had chosen to be a special people unâ—o himself to a people upon whom he had set his love to a people that he Deut. â— 5. 7. 8. Deut. 32. 10 11 12. had owned for his portion and that he had formerly kept as the Apple of his Eye and carried as upon Eagles wings Now the causes are set down fiâ—st more generally in these words Because they have sinned agaâ—nst the Lord. Secondly more particularly in these words For they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient to his Law The third thing observable in the words is the dreadful Judgments themselves that God inflicted upon his sinful people his sinning people and these you have in vers 25. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger not only his anger but the fury of his anger to shew the greatness of it the extremity of it Mark he doth not say that God did drop down his anger but he poured down hiâ— anger and indignation This Phrase he poured out is an allusion to the clouds pouring down of water violently all at once in an instant as they do many times in the Levant Seas in Egypt at the Indies and in several other parts of the Gâ—n 6. 11. world as they did in the Deluge when the windows of Heaven were broke open Now by this similitude the Lord shews the dreadfulness the grievousness the suddenness and the vehemency of the Judgments that were fallen upon them And the strength of Battel The Lord appears in Arms against them in the greatness and fierceness of his wrath he sent in a very powerful Enemy upon them that with fire and sword over-ran them and their Country and destroyed them on every side as you may see by comparing the 2 Kings 23. 33. ult with the 24. and 25. Chapters following And hath set him on fire round about That is say some all the Countries Cities and Towns round about Jerusalem were set on fire Yet be knew not Though God had burnt them up on every hand yet they took no notice of it they regarded it not they were not at all affected with the fiery Dispensations of Diod orus Siculus writes that in Aethiopia there is such a sottish insensible people that if you cut them with a drawn sword or slay their wives and children before their faces they are not at all affected with it nor moved at it Such brutes were these Jews God O the dulness the insensibleness the sottishness of the Jews under the most awakning and amazing Judgments of God! And it burned him This some apply to the City of Jerusalem it self God did not only fire the Cities and Towns round about Jerusalem but he also set Jerusalem it self into a flame Jerusalem which was beautiful for situation the joy of the whole Earth the Paradise and Wonder of the world is turned into ashes Yet be laid it not to heart or upon his heart as the Original runs O the monstrous stupidity insensibleness and blockishness of this people Though God had brought them low though their Crown was fallen from their head though their gloriâ—us City was turned into ashes and though they were almost destroyed by many smarting miseries and dreadful calamities yet they were not affected with the stupendious Judgments of God they were not awakned by all the flames that God had kindled about their ears they did not lay the Judgments of God to heart nor they would not lay the Judgments of God upon their hearts The fourth thing observable in the words iâ— the persons the people that were spoiled destroyed and consumed by fire and they were Jacob and Israel Who gave Jacob for a Isa 58. 2. Zach. 7. 5. Exod. 19. 5. spoil and Israel to the Robbers They were a praying people a professing people a fasting people a peculiar people a priviledged people and yet for their sins they became a destroyed people a consumed people a ruined people The fifth thing observable in the words is the little Effect the Judgments of God had upon them Now they were under such monstrous stupidity that they were not all awakned nor affected By Tiâ—us Vespasian their land became astage of blood and of all kind of barbarisms and now their so renowned City their Temple and Sanctum Sanctorum so fam'd all the world over was turned into ashes and laid level to the ground Buxtorf Synag Judaica cap. 5. c. 36. with the Judgments of God they regarded them not they laid them not to heart And as stupid and senseless were they when Titus Vespasiâ—n had laid their City desolate by fire and sword and sold thirty of them for one piece of silver as Josephus and other Historians tell us O Sirs since their crucifying of the Lord of Glory they have never laid their finger upon the right sore to this very day they wo'nt acknowledge their sin in crucifying of the Lord of Glory They confess they have sinned more then ever and therefore 't is that God hath more sorely afflicted them then ever but their cruelty to Christ their crucifying of Christ which ushered in the total ruine of their City and Country they cannot be brought to acknowledge to this very day though the Lord hath burnt them up on every hand and hath scattered them as dung all over the earth to this very day A Learned Writer tells us that they call Christ Bar-chozab the Son of a Lye a Bastard and his Gospel Aven Gilaion the Volume of Lyes or the Volume of Iniquity and us Christians Goiiâ—n that is Gentiles Edomites when they salute a Christian they call him Shed that is Devil They hate all Christians but none so much as those that are converted from Judaism to Christianity and all this after so great a burning and desolation that
his fury like fire when like a flaming fire he devours all our pleasant things and lays all our glory in dust and ashes we may safely conclude that his anger is fierce and that his wrath is great against us and therefore what eminent cause have we to fear and tremble before him God is a great and dreadful God Dan. 9. 4. A mighty God and terrible Deut. 7. 21. A great and terrible God Nehem. 1. 5. He is so in himself and he has been so in his fiery Dispensations towards us that the world by such remarkable severities may be kept in awe of him Generally fear doth more in the We are worthy saith Chrysostom of Hell if for no other cause yet for fearing Hell and the evil of punishment more then Christ Chrys Hom. 5. in Epist ad Rom. world then love As there is little sincerity so there is but little ingenuity in the world and that is the reason why many very rarely think of God but when they are afraid of him Many times Judgments work where Mercies do not win That famous Thomas Waldo of Lions the Father of the Waldenses seeing among many met together to be merry one suddenly fall down dead in the street it struck so to his heart that he went home a penitent it wrought to a severe and pious reformation of his life and he lived and dyed a precious man Though Pharaoh was not a pin the better for all the heavy Judgments that God inflicted upon him yet Jethro taking notice of those dreadful Plagues and Judgments that fell upon Pharaoh and upon his people and likewise upon the Amalekites was thereby converted and became a Proselyte as Rabbi Solomon noteth upon that 19. of Prov. 25. The world is so untractable that frowns will do more with them then smiles That God may keep wicked men in awe and in subjection to him he sees it very needful to bring common and general and over-spreading Judgments upon them Rev. 15. 4. Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou only art holy for all Nations shall come and worship before thee for thy Judgments are made manifest O Sirs when the Judgments of the Lord come to be made manifest then it highly concerns all ranks and sorts of men to fear the Lord and to glorifie his Name How manifest how visible has the raging Pestilence and the bloody Sword and the devouring Flames of London been in the midst of us and O that our fear and dread and awe of God were as manifest and as visible as his Judgments have been and still are for his hand to this very hour is stretched out against us Isa 9. 12. But Thirdly God inflicts great and sore Judgments upon the Sons of men and upon Cities and Countries to express and make known his Power Justice Anger Severity and Indignation against sinners and their sinful courses by which See Jer. 14. 15 16. Lam. 4. 11. Jer. 4. 15. to verse 19. he has been provoked Deut. 32. 19. And when the Lord saw it he abhorred them because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters Vers 21. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation Vers 22. For a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains Vers 24. They shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat or with burning coals and with bitter destruction There is a knowledge of God by his Works as well as by his Word and by his Judgments as well as by his mercies In his dreadful Judgments every one may run and read his Power his Justice his Anger his Severity and his Indignation against sin and sinners 'T is irrevocable sins that bring irrevocable Judgments upon sinners whilst men hold on in committing great iniquities God will hold on in inflicting answerable severities When God cannot prevail with men to desist from sinning men shall not prevail with God to desist from destroying of them their habitations and all their pleasant things Jer. 2. 15. The young Lions roared upon him and yelled and they made his Land waste his Cities are burnt without Inhabitant Vers 17. Hast thou not procured this unto thy self in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way When Nicephorus Phocas had built a mighty strong Wall about his Palace for his own security in the night time he heard a voice crying out unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. O Emperour though thou buildest the wall as high as the clouds yet if sin be within it will overthrow all Sin like those Traitors in the Trojan Horse will do Cities Countries more hurt in one night then ten thousand open enemies could do in ten years Cities and Countries might flourish and continue as the days of Heaven and be as the Sun before the Almighty if his wrath be not provoked by their prophaneness and wickedness So that it is not any divine Aspect of the Heavens nor any malignant Conjunction of the Stars and Planets but the loose manners the ungracious lives and the enormous sins of men that lay Cities and Countries desolate Jer. 13. 22. And if thou say in thine heart wherefore come these things upon me wherefore hath the Lord sent plague sword famine and fire to devour and destroy and to lay all in ashes The Answer is For the greatness of thine iniquity God will in flames of fire discover his anger and indignation against sin and sinners The Heathen Herodotus Historian observes in the ruine of Troy that the sparkles and ashes of burnt Troy served for a lasting monument of Gods great anger and displeasure against great sinners The burning of Troy served to teach men that God punisheth great sinners with great plagues and certainly Londons being laid in ashes is a high evidence that God knows how to be angry with sinners and how to punish sin with the sorest of Judgments The Gods of the Gentiles were senseless stocks and stones not able to apprehend much less to revenge any injury done unto them Well therefore might the Philosopher be bold with Hercules to put him to his thirteenth labour in seething of his dinner and Martial with Priapus in threatning him to throw him into the fire if he looked not well to his Trees A child may play at the hole of a dead Asp and a filly woman may strike a dead Lyon but who dare play with a living Serpent who dare take a roaring Lyon by the beard O that Châ—istians then would take heed how they provoke the living God for he is a consuming fire and with a word of his mouth yea with the breath of his mouth he is able to throw down and to burn up the whole frame of Nature and to destroy all Creatures from
men under their losses crosses tryals and sufferings from the people of God When they are under fiery tryals what an evil spirit what a desperate spirit what a sullen spirit what a proud spirit what a Satanical spirit what a hellish spirit do they discover they tell all the world that they are under the power and dominion of the God of this Phil. 2. 2. 2 Tim. 2. 26. World But when the people of God are under fiery tryals they make conscience of carrying of it so as that they may convince the world that God is in them of a truth and that they are sincere and upright before the Lord however they are judged and censured as Hypocrites Deceivers Dissemblers and what not O that all that are sufferers by this fiery Dispensation would make it their business their work their Heaven so to carry it under their present tryals as to convince all gain-sayers of the sincerity integrity and uprightness of their hearts both towards the Lord his people his ways his Ordinances his interest and all his concernments in this world And thus much for the gracious Ends that God aims at in all those severe Providences and fiery Tryals that of late he has exercised his people with The next thing we are to inquire after is those sins for which the Lord inflicts so heavy a Judgment as this of Fire upon the Sons of men Now for the opening of this give me leave to propose this Question Viz. What are those sins that bring the fiery Dispensation that Quest bring the Judgment of Fire upon Cities Nations and Countries Now that I may give a full and fair Answer to this necessary and important Qâ—estion will you please to premise with me these four things First We need not question but that some of all sorts ranks and degrees of men in and about that once great and glorious City did eminently contribute to the bringing down of that dreadful Judgment of Fire that has turned that renowned City into Ashes doubtless Superiors and Inferiors Ministers and People Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants Rich and Poor Honourable and Base Bond and Free have all had a hand in the bringing down that Judgment of Fire that has turned London into a ruinous heap But Secondly Premise this with me viz. That 't is a greater Argument of humility integrity and holy ingenuity to fear our selves and to be jealous of our selves rather then others as the Disciples of Christ did Mat. 26. 21 22. And as they Math. 26. 21 22. did eat he said Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto him Lord is it I 'T is better for every man to do his best to ransack and search his own Soul and to find out the Achan the accursed thing in his own bosom Lam. 3. 40. Joshua 7. that has brought that dreadful Judgment of Fire upon us then for men without any Scripture-warrant to fix it upon this party and that this sort of men and that There is no Christian to him that smites upon his own heart his own â—â—east his own thigh saying What have I done The neglect of this duty the Prophet long since has complained of No man repents himself of his wickedness saying Jer. 8. 6. What have I done that is none comparatively So how rare is it to find a burnt Citizen repenting himself of his wickedness and saying What have I done Most men are ready to blame others more then themselves and to judge Math. 7. 1 2 3 4. others rather then themselves to be the persons that have brought down this Judgment of Fire upon us 'T was a good Saying of one of the Ancients Amat Deus seipsos judicantes Augustine non judicare God loves to judge them that judge others rashly but not those that judge themselves religiously But Thirdly Premise this with me in times of common Judgements common Calamities and Miseries other of the Saints and Servants of God have lookt upon their own sins as the procuring-procuring-causes of the common Calamity Thus David did in that 2 Sam. 24. 15. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed and there dyed of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men but mark the 17. verse And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the people and said Lo I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done let thy hand I pray thee be against me and against my fathers house And thus did good Nebemiah Nehem. 1. 3 6 7. And they said unto me The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof burnt with fire Both I and my fathers house have sinned we have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept thy commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant Moses Now certainly 't is as much our glory as our duty to write after these blessed Copies that these Worthies have set before us Alexander had somewhat a wry neck and his Souldiers thought it an honour to be like him How much more should we count it an honour to be like to David and Nehemiah in such a practice as is honourable to the Lord and advantagious to our selves But what Plutarch said of Demosthenes That he was excellent at praising the worthy Acts of his Ancestors but not so at imitating them is applicable to the present case and to many who have been burnt up in our day But Fourthly and lastly Premise this with me there were many sins amongst them that did profess to fear God in that great City which may and ought to work them to justifie the Lord and to say that he is righteous in his fiery Dispensations I may well say to the burnt Citizens of London what the Prophet Oded to them in that 2 Chron. 28. 10. But are there not with you even with you sins against the Lord your God But you will say What sins were there among the professing people in London that may and ought to work them to justifie the Lord and to say that he is just and righteous and that he has done them no wrong though he has burnt them up and turned them out of all I answer That there were these seven sins among others Answ to be found amongst many of them I say not amongst all of them all which call aloud upon them to lye low at the foot of God and to subscribe to the Righteousness of God though he has turned them out of house and home and burnt up their substance on every hand First There was among many Professors of the Gospel in London too great a conformity to the fashions of the
will send a fire on the Wall of Tyrus which shall devour the Palaces thereof So he doth to Edom verse 12. But I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the Palaces of Bozrah So he doth to Ammon verse 14. But I will kindle a fire in the Wall of Rabbah and it shall devour the Palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battel with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind So he doth to Moab Chap. 2. vers 2. But I will send a fire upon Moab and it shall devour the Palaces of Kirioth and Moab shall dye with tumult with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet So he doth to Judah vers 5. But I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem By all these remarkable Instances t is evident that God by his fiery Dispensations tells all the world that the sins of that people are great and many upon whom the dreadful Judgment of Fire is inflicted in its fury and therefore 't is high folly and madness in many men that makes them impute this heavy Judgment of Fire to any thing rather then to their sins O Sirs 't is sin that burns up our habitations and that turns flames of love into a consuming fire And this the Parliament in their Act for the Rebuilding of the City of London well observes the Clause of the Act is this And that the said Citizens and their Successors for all the time to come may retain the Memorial of so sad a desolation and reflect seriously upon their manifold iniquities which are the unhappy causes of such Judgments Be it further Enacted That the Second of September unless the same happen to be Sunday and if so then the next day following be yearly for ever hereafter observed as a day of publick Fasting and Humiliation within the said City and Liberties thereof to implore the mercies of Almighty God upon the said City to make devout Prayers and Supplications unto him to divert the like Calamity for the time to come So Sir Edward Turnor Knight in his Speech to the King upon the Prorogation of the Parliament We must saith he for ever with humility acknowledge the Justice of God in punishing this whole Nation by the late dreadful Conflagration of London We know they were not the greatest sinners on whom the Tower of Siloam fell Luke 13. 4. and doubtless all our sins did contribute to the filling up that measure which being full drew down the wrath of God upon that City So much the King in his Proclamation for a General Fast on the Tenth of October observes The Words of the Proclamation are these His Majesty therefore of out a deep and pious sense of what Himself and all His People now suffer and with a Religious care to prevent what may yet be feared unless it shall please Almighty God to turn away his anger from us doth hereby Publish and Declare His Royal Will and Pleasure That Wednesday being the Tenth of October next ensuing shall be set apart and kept and observed by all His Majesties Subjects of England and Wales and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed as a day of solemn Fasting and Humiliation to implore the mercies of God that it would please him to pardon the crying sins of this Nation those especially which have drawn down this last and heavy Judgment upon us and to remove from us all other his Judgments which our sins have deserved and which we now either feel or fear Thus you see that not only the blessed Scriptures but also King and Parliament do roundly conclude that 't was for our sins our manifold iniquities our crying sins that God has sent this heavy Judgment upon us His Majesty also well observes that there are some special crying sins that bring down the fiery Judgment upon us Now this Royal Hint leads me by the hand to say Secondly That though sin in the general lays people under the fiery Dispensations of God yet if we will but diligently search into the blessed Book of God which never spoke Treason nor Sedition we shall find that there are several sins that brings the heavy Judgment of Fire upon Cities and Countries As First Gross Atheism practical Atheism is a sin that brings desolating and destroying Judgments upon a people Zeph. 1. 12. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will Atheism denieth God in either 1. in opinion saying there is no God or 2. in affection wishing there were no God or 3. in conversation living as if there were no God Rev. 22. 12. search Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that are setled upon their lees that say in their heart the Lord will not do good neither will he do evil What horrid Blasphemy what gross Atheism is here How do these Atheists ungod the great God How do they deny his Omnipotency and Omnisciency What a God of Clouts what an Idol-god do they make the great God to be when they make him to be such a God as will neither do good nor hurt Epicurius denied not Gods Essence but only his Providence for he granted that there was a God though he thought him to be such an one as did neither good nor evil but certainly God sits not idle in Heaven but has a sharp and serious Eye upon all that is done on the Earth and this both Saints and sinners shall find by experience when in the great day he shall distribute both his rewards and punishments according to what they have done in the flesh Atheism is the main disease of the Soul not only pestilent to the person in whom it is harboured but also to the whole Land where 't is practised and permiâ—ted Atheism is worse then Idolatry for Idolatry only robs God of his Worship but Atheism robs God both of his Attributes and Being and therefore mark what follows verse 13. Therefore their God shall become a booty and their houses a dâ—solation they shall also build houses but not inhabit them and they shall plant vineyard but not drink the wine thereof So Ezek. 20. 47 48 49. And say to the forest of the South Hear the Word of the Lord thus saith the Lord God Behold I will kindle a fire in thee and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree the flâ—ming flâ—me shall not be quenched and all faces from the South to the North shall be burnt therein And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched Then said â— Ah Lord God they say of me doth he not speak parables Here was a pack of Atheists that did mock and scoff at the Prophet and his Parables they told him that he taâ—kt like a mad man and that he spoke of such things that neither himself nor others understood for he talkt of the South and of the forest of the South and of fire and of flaming fire and of
Satan and Antichrist the weakning of whose Kingdom is the glory safety and security of the Land 5. For the turning away of wrath either felt or feared 6. For the bringing down of the greatest weightiest and noblest of James 5. 16 17 18. temporal favours and blessings upon Cities and Countries as might be proved from scores of Scripture And therefore The first on the 24. of August and the other on the 2. of September never marvel if God revenges the abuses done to them in flames of fire It was on a Sabbath that the publick liberty of the painful faithful Ministers of London was terminated and came to an end and it was on a Sabbath that London was burnt Thirteenthly Shedding of the blood of the Just is a crying sin that brings the Judgment of Fire and lays all desolate Ezek. 35. 4 5. 7. I will lay thy cities waste and thou See Ezek. 21. 28. 31 32. And Chap. 25. 3 4 5. shalt be desolate and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred or hatred of old and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity in the time that their iniquity had an end Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth Vers 10. Because thou hast said these two nations and these two countries shall be mine and we will possessit whereas the Lord was there Vers 11. Therefore as I live saith the Lord God I will even do according â—o thine anger and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them and I will make my self known among them when I have judged thee Vers 12. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel saying They are laid desolate they are given us to consume or devour Vers 13. Thus with your mouth you have boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me I have heard them Vers 14. Thus saith the Lord God when the whole earth rejoyceth I will make thee desolate Vers 15. As thou didst rejoyce at the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate so will I do unto thee Thou shalt be desolate O mount Seir and all Idumea even all of it and they shall know that I am the Lord. The Edomites were deadly enemies to the Israelites their hatred was old and strong and active against them and they took hold on all occasions wherein they might express their rage and cruelty against them both in words and works And therefore Psal 137. 7. when the Babylonians took Jerusalem they cryed Rase it Rase it even to the foundation thereof When the Babylonians entred Jerusalem many of the Jews fled to the Edomites for succour they being their brethren but instead of sheltring them they cruelly destroyed them and greatly insulted over them and were glad of all opportunities wherin they might vent all their rage and malice against them that so they might the better ingratiate themselves with the Babylonians Now for these cruel practices and barbarous severities of theirs towards the poor afflicted and distressed Israel of God God is resolved to bring utter desolation upon them Vers 3. Thus saith the Lord God Behold O mount Seir I am against thee and I will stretch out my hand against thee and I will make thee most desolate Or as the Hebrew is Shemamah Vmeshammah desolation and desolation Now this doubling of the Hebrew word shews the certainty of their desolation the speediness of their desolation and the greatness and throughness of their desolation Jer. 26. 14 15. See vers 8 9. 11. As for me behold I am in your hand do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you But know ye for certain that if you put me to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon your selves and upon this city and upon the inhabitants thereof That was good counsel which Tertullian gave Scapula a Pagan Persecutor God will surely make Inquisition for our blood therefore saith he if thou wilt not spare us yet spare thy self if not thy self yet spare thy Country which must be responsible when God comes to visit for blood So Lam. 4. 11. 12 13. The Lord hath accomplished his fury he hath poured out his fierce anger and hath kindled a fire in Zion and it hath devoured the foundations thereof The Kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entred into the gates of Jerusalem For the sins of her Prophets and the iniquities of her Priests that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her The Prophets and the Priests enraged the people against them and ingaged the Civil Power against the just and the innocent to the shedding of their blood But this innocent blood could not be purged away but by fire To shed the blood of the Just is a most crying sin and that for which God has turned the most glorious Cities in the World into ashes Jerom upon the Text saith that the Prophets and Priests shed the blood of the Just in the midst of Jerusalem by drawing them into errour which is to the destruction of the Soul But Calvin upon the Text well observes this cannot stand because just men are not so destroyed but the wâ—cked only that take no heed to their false teaching Therefore saith he the true Prophets of God are meant by the just for whom they had Prisons Dungeons and Stocks to put them into and sometimes stoning or otherwise tumults which they stirred up among the people whereby their blood was shed Rome has much of the blood of the Saints upon her skirts and for this very sin she shall be utterly burnt with fire as you may see at large if you will please to read the 18. Chapter Rev. 16. 6. Rev. 17. 6. Rev. 19 2. Rev. 18. 24. of the Revelations at your leisure Though Rome was a Cage of unclean Birds and full of all manner of abominations yet the sin that shall at last burn her to ashâ—s is the blood of the Saints mark though the people of God are in Babylon and may partake of her Plagues and fall under the fiery Dispensation with her it is not the sins of the Saints but the sins of Babylon that bring the Judgment of Fire upon Babylon Mark the people of God may live in a City that may be burnt to ashes and yet their sins may not be the procuring causes of that Judgment Lot lived in Sodom and Gen. 19. had his failings and infirmities as well as other Saints but it was not his sins that brought the Judgment of Fire upon that City but the sins of the Citizens as the Scripture assures us But
body suffers all the members of the body suffer 't is so in the Politick body c. Look as all Rivers run into the Sea and all the lines of the circumference meet in the center so did the interests of the most eminent persons in the whole Nation meet in London c. Now London is laid in ashes we may write Ichabod upon poor England By the flames that have been kindled in London God hath spit fire into the face of England an universal stroke The sore strokes of God which have lately fallen upon the head City London are doubtless designed by Heaven for the punishment of the whole body In the sufferings of London the whole Land suffers For what City County or Town in England was there that was not one way or other refreshed and advantaged if not enriched with the silver streams of London that overflowed the Land as the River Nilus doth the Land of Aegypt Doubtless there are but few in the Land but are more or less concerned in the burning of London There are many thousands that are highly concerned in their own particulars there are many thousands concerned upon the account of their inward friends and acquaintance and who can number up the many score thousands imployed in the Manufacture of the Land whose whole dependance under God was upon London What Lamentation mourning and wo is there in all places of the Land for the burning of London especially among poor Tradesmen Inn-keepers and others whose livelihoods depended upon the safety and prosperity of London Certainly he is no English man but one who writes a Roman hand and carries about him a Romish heart who feels not who trembles not under this universal blow Many years labour will not make up the Citizens losses to them Yea what below the Riches of the Indies will effectually make up every mans losses to him He shall be an Apollo to me that can justly summ up the full value of all that have been destroyed by those furious flames that has turned the best if not the richest City in the world into a ruinous heap Now their loss is a loss to the whole Nation and this the Nation already feels and may yet feel more and more if God in mercy dos not prevent the things that we have cause to fear 'T is true London is the back that is smitten but what corner is there in all the Land that hath not more or less one way or another contributed to the burning of London Not only those that lived in Jerusalem but also those that came up to Jerusalem and that Traded with Jerusalem they even they did by their sins contribute to Jerusalems ruine They are under a high mistake that think it was only the sins of the City which brought this sore desolation upon her doubtless as far as the Judgement extends and reaches so far the sins extend and reach which have provoked the Lord to make poor London such an astonishing example of his justice How are the effâ—cts of Londons ruine already felt and sighed under all the Nation over The blood and spirits which this whole Nation hath already lost by this late lamentable fire will not be easily nor suddenly recovered The burning of London is the Herald of God to the whole Nation calling it to repentance and reformation for the very same sins that have laid London in ashes are rampant in all parts of the Nation as you may easily perceive if you please but to compare that Catalogue that in this Book I put into your hands with those sins that are most reigning and raging in all places of the Land by which you may also see that they were not the greatest sinners in England upon whom the fire of London fell no more than they were the greatest sinners in Jerusalem upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell That the burning Luke 13. 4 5. of London is a National Judgement is evident enough to every man that has but half an eye But if any should doubt of it or dispute it the Kings Proclamation for a General Fast on that account puts it beyond all dispute The words of the Proclamation that are proper to my purpose are these A Visitation so dreadful speaking of the burning of London that scarce any Age or Nation hath ever seen or felt the like wherein although the afflicting hand of God fell more immediately upon the inhabitants of this City and the parts adjacent yet all men ought to look upon it as a Judgement upon the whole Nation and to humble themselves accordingly O Sirs you are to see and observe and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in every personal Judgement and in every Domestâ—cal Judgement O how much more then in every National Judgement that is inflâ—ctâ—d upon us And thus I have done with those ten Considerations that should not only provoke us but also prevail with us to see and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in that late dreadful fire that has laid â—ur City desolate The second Use is a Use of Lamentation and mourning Vse 2 Is London laid in ashes Then let us all lament and mourn that Lâ—ndâ—n is laid desolate Shall Christ weep over Jerusalem Luke 19. 41 42 43 44. when 't was standing in all its glory knowing that it would not be long before it was laid even with the ground and shall not we weep over London whose glory is now laid in the dâ—st Who can look upon London as the Anâ—ient and Noble Metropolis of England and not lament and mourn to see it laid in ashes It might have been said not long since Psalm 98. 12 13. London the Crown of England haâ—h â—ost its Jewel of Wealth and Beauty Walk about Sion walk about London and go round about â—er tâ—ll the Towers thereof mark ye well her Bulwarks considâ—r her Pâ—laces look upon her stately Houses Halls and Hospitals take notice of her Shops and fair Ware-houses and Royal Exchange c. and lo the glory of all â—hese things is now buried in a common ruine O the incredible change that a devouring fire hath made in four dayes time within thy Walls O London So that now we may lamentingly Alas poor London Is this the joyous City whose antiquity is of ancient dayes Is this the crowning City Isa 23. 7 8 whose Merchants were Princes and whose Traffickers were the honourable of the Earth Who can but weep to see how the Lord hath made a City an heap and a ruine of a defenced City and a Pallace to be no City Who can look upon Chap. 25. 2. naked Steeples and useless Chimneys and pittiful fragments of ragged walls Who can behold stately Structures and noble Halls and fair Houses and see them all laid in ashes or turned into a heap of Rubbish without paying some tears as due to the sadness of so dreadful a spectacle Who can with dry eyes hear London thus speaking out of its râ—ines Is it nothing
world Afflictions are the common lot of the Saints and who shrugs repines complains murmurs or faints under a common John 16. ult Acts 14. 22. lot it s at the Sun because it scorches c. There are none of the brother-hood but first or last they shall know what the fiery tryal what the fiery fornace means Jerom writing to a sick friend hath this expression I account it a part of unhappiness not to know adversity I judge you to be the more miserable because you have not been miserable it being the common lot of the people of God to be exercised with adversity and misery I think he hit it who said Impunitas securitatis Bâ—rnard mater virtutum noverca religionis virus tinea Sanctitatis i. e. freedom from punishment is the Mother of security the Step-mother of Vertue the poison of Religion the Moth of holiness Nihil est infoelicius eo cui nil unquam contigit Seneca adversi There is nothing more unhappy than he who never felt adversity said the refined Heathen and shall not Grace rise as high as nature The calamity has been common therefore wipe your eyes and don't say there is no Lam. 1. 12. sorrow to my sorrow no loss to my loss no ruine to my ruine Under common calamities men should neither groan nor grumble Look as no man may conclude upon the Eccles 9. 1 2. account of common mercies that he is really beloved of God so no man may conclude upon the account of common calamities that he is really hated of God And therefore bear up sweetly bear up chearfully under your present trials In the common calamity of the Plague the destroying Angel perceiving the blood of sprinkling upon the posts of your doors and upon the doors of your hearts Exod. 1â— 7. 13. past you by and said unto you Live But by the common calamity of the Fire the Lord has turned you out of house and home and burnt up your substance before your eyes Now do but lay your hands seriously upon your hearts and tell me whether you have not more cause to admire at the mercy of God towards you in 65. than you have cause to complain of the severities of God towards you in 66. The fourth Support to bear up the hearts and to cheer up the spirits of the people of God who have been sufferers deep sufferers under the late fiery dispensation is this viz. That though they have lost much as they are men as they are Citizens Merchants Tradesmen yet they have lost nothing as they are Christians as they are Saints as they are the called and chosen of God Though they have lost their goods yet they have not lost their God Though they Rev. 17. 14. have lost their Shops and Chests yet they have not lost their Christ Though they have lost their outward comforts yet they have not lost the comforts of the Holy Ghost Though Joh. 14. 16. 26. 2 Cor. 5. 1. they have lost their houses made with hands yet thâ—y have not lost their house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Though they have lost their earthly inheriâ—ance 1 Pet. 1. 4. yet they have not lost their heavenly inheritance Thougâ— they have lost their temporal portions yet they have not lost Psal 73. 25. their eternal portions Though they have lost their open Publick Trade yet they have not lost their Secret Trade Matth. 6. 6. their private Trade to Heaven I readily grant that your stately houses and your well furnisht Shops are turned into ashes and that your credit is gone and your trading gone and your money gone and you utterly undone as to this Gen 18. 25. world and yet in all this God has done you no hurt he has done you no wrong and though this at first sight may seem to be a great Paradox a very strange Assertion yet I shall thus evidence it to be an unquestionable truth The happiness of man in this life consists 1. In his Union with God 2. In his Communion with God 3. In his Conformity to God and Fourthly and lastly in his spiritual fruition and enjoyment of God Now none of those losses crosses and afflictive dispensations that have past upon you have or can make any breach upon your happiness or upon any one of those four things of which your happiness is made up The top of mans happiness in Heaven lyes in his near unâ—on with God and in the beatifical vision of God and in his full communion with God and in his exact and perfect conformity to God and in his everlasting fruition and enjoyment of God Now the more of these things any Christian enjoyes in this world the more of Heaven he enjoyes on this side Heaven the more happiness he has on this happiness and therefore I would willingly know how it is possible for any outward troubles or tryaâ—s to make a breach upon a Christians happiness Doubâ—less Job was as happy Job 2. when he sate upon the Dunghil without a ragg on his back or a penny in his purse as he was when he sate Chief and Joâ— 29. 25. dwelt as a King in the Army If God be the most perfect Being then to enjoy him and resemble him is our greatest perfection If God be the best of Beings then our communion with him and fruition of him must be our greatest glory and highest felicity Let what will befall our outward Omne bonum in summo bono man as long as our union and communion with God holds good as long as our precious and immortal souls are in a safe and flourishing condition as long as the Springs of Grace of holiness of comfort of assurance rises in our souls we are happy and no outward miseries can make us miserable There is saith one Bona Throni and there is Bona Scabelli Augustine there is goods of the Throne as God Christ the Spirit Grace the favour of God pardon of sin peace of conscience c. And there is goods of the footstool as food raiment house honors riches trade credit and all bodily conveniencies and accommodations Now it was not in the power of the flames to burn up the goods of the Throne they still remain safe and secure to you all that the flames could reach too was only the goods of the footstool the lumber of this world And therefore what cause have you to bear up cheerfully quietly sweetly and contentedly under all your crosses and losses trials and troubles They which adorn Clâ—mens Alexandrinus Grâ—gory the Great themselves with Gold saith one and think themselves bettered thereby are worse than Gold and no Lords of it as all should be He is poor saith Another whose soul is void of Grace not whose coffers are empty of money By these short hints you may clearly see that the people of God are never the worse for all their losses they are as happy now
Faâ—illime incenditur pertinacissime fervet c. Dâ—ffiâ—â—lâ—ime extinguitur It is easily kindled violently fuellâ—d and hardly exâ—inguished Brimstone and all that vast qâ—antity of sulphureous fiery matter by which those rich and popâ—lous Ciâ—ies were â—urned into ruinous heaps were never produced by naturâ—l causes nor after a natural manner no culinaâ—y fire being so speedy in its consumptions but immedâ—ately by Gods own miraculous power and allmighty aim But thâ— fire that has laid London in ashes was no such miraculous or extraordinary fire but such a fire which Divine Providence permitted and suffered to be kindlâ—d and carrâ—ed on by such means instruments and concurring circumstances as hath buried our glory under heaps of ashes But Secondly The fire that fell upon Sodom â—â—d Gomâ—rrah consumed not only the greater part of thosâ— Cities but the whole Cities yea and not only Sodom and Gomorrah but all the Cities of the Plain except Zoar which was to be a Sâ—nctuary to Lot but the fire of London has not destroyâ—d the whole City of London Many hundred may I noâ— say thousands houses are yet standing as monuments of Divine Power Wisdom and goodness and the greatest part of the Suburbs are yet preserved and all the rest of the Cities of England are yet compassed about with loving kindnâ—ss and mercy and I hope will be reserved by a gracious Pâ—ovidence as shelters as Sanctuaries and as hiding places to poor Englands distressed inhabitants But Thirdly The fire that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah did consume sume not only places but persons not only houses but inhabitants but in the midst of Londons flames God was a Zech. 2. 5. wall of fire about the Citizens in that day of his fiery indignation he was very tender of the lives of his people Though the Lumber was burnt yet God took care of his Treasure of his Jewels to wit the lives of his people But having spoken before more largely of this particular let this touch now suffice Fourthly Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire suddenly and unexpectedly they were destroyed by fire in a moment Lam. 4. 6. For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my peâ—ple is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment and no hands The Judgemenâ—s of God upon the Jews were so great that they exceeded all credit amongst their neighbour Nations stayed on her Sodom and Gomorrah sustâ—ined no long siege from forreign forces neither were they kept long in sorrows and sufferings in pains and misery but thâ—y were quickly and suddenly and instantly dispatched out of this world into another world Men had no hand in the destroying of Sodom no mortal instrument did co-operate in that work God by his own immediate power overthrew them in a moment Sodom was very strangely suddenly and unexpectedly turned upside down as in a moment by Gods own hand without the help of armed Souldiers Whereas the Chaldeans Armies continued for a long time in the Land of Judah and in Jerusalem vexing and â—laguing the poor people of God Now in this respect the punishment of the Jews was a greater punishment than the punishment of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment But that fire that has turned London into a heap of ashes was such a fire that was carried on gradually and that lastâ—d four dayes God giving the Citizens time to mourn over their sins to repent to lay hold on everlasting strength and to mâ—ke peace with God But Fifthly and lastly Sodoms and Gomorrahs Judgement is termed Eternal fire which expression as it refers to thâ— Jude 7. places themselves do import that they were irrecoverablâ— destroyed by fire so as that they shall lye eternally waste Those monstrous sinners of Sodom had turned the glory of God into shame and therefore God will turn them both into a Hell here and a Hell hereafter God will punish unusual sinners with unusual Judgements The punishment by this fire is lasting yea everlasting 't is a standing monument Deut. 29. 23 of Gods high displeasure We never read that ever God repented himself of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah those Cities are under a perpetual destruction and so shall continue to the end of the world if we will give credit to Authors of great credit and reputation It well Strabo Solinus Tacitus Plinius Josâ—phus c. becomes the wisest and best of Christians seriously to consider how God setteth forth the destruction of his Churches enemies Isa 34. 8 9 10 11. For it is the day of the Lords Vengeance and the year of recompences for the controversie of Zion And the streams thereof shall be turned into Pitch and the dust thereof into Brimstone and the Land thereof shall become burning Pitch It shall not be quenched night nor day the smoke thereof shall go up for ever from generation to generation it shall lye waste none shall pass through it for ever and ever But the Cormorant and the Bittern shall pâ—ssâ—ss it the Owle also and the Raven shall dwell in it and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptinâ—ss In these words you have a rhetorical description of that extream devastation that God will bring upon the enemies of the Church in way of allusion to the destruction of Sodom and Gomoâ—rah But I hope Lâ—ndons doom is not such for God has given to thousands of her inhabitants a Spirit of Grace and Supplication Zech. 12. 10. which is a clear evidence that at the long run they shall certainly carry the day with God I have faith enough to believe that God will give Londons mourners beauty for ashes the oyle of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness And that London may yet be called Isa 61. 3. a City of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified I hope that God will one day say to London Arise shine for the light is come and the glory of the Lord is Isa 60. 1 2. risen upon thee the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee By what has been said 't is evident enough that there has been a great mixture of mercy in that fiery dispensation that has past upon London And therefore why should not this consideration bear up the hearts of the people of God from fainting and sinking under their present calamity and misery But The tenth Support to bear up the hearts of the people of 10. God under the late fiery dispensation is this viz That there are worse Judgements than the Judgement of fire which God might but has not inflâ—cted upon you Let me evidence the truth of this in these five particulars First The bloody Sword is a more dreadful Judgement than that of fire Fire may consume a mans house and his estate but the Sword cuts off a mans life Now at what a poor
the lips that men should not speak rashly Words once spoken cannot return A man that thinks before he speaks seldom repents of what he speaks Silence is far better than rash speaking or than vain speaking c. O Sirs the tongue is the nimble Interpreter of the heart If there be piety or iniquity at the bottom of your hearts Matth. 12. 43 44. your tongues will discover it The stream riseth not above the fountain We know not what mettal the Bell is made of by the Clapper What is in the Well will be in the Bucket What is in the Ware-house will be in the shop So what is in the heart will be in the mouth if there be any thing of God of Christ of grace of heaven of hell of sin of the world of self in the bottom of your souls your tongues will discover it Man saith one is like a Bell and his tongue Plutarch like the Clapper So long as this standeth still he may be thought to be without any flaw craze or crack in him but let it once stir and then he discovers himself presently No man can so change himself but his heart may sometimes be seen at his tongues end Men watch Interpreters Oh that on the Lords day especially you would make more conscience of watching your tongues if the tongue be not watched it will be sins Solicitor General it will be a Bawd to all lusts it will plead for sin and defend sin and lessen sin and provoke to sin and shew the pleasure of the heart in sin There are but five Virtues of the tongue reckoned up by Philosophers but there are twenty several sins of the tongue reckoned up by Peraldus The Arabians have a Proverb Take heed thy tongue cut not thy throat Many a mans tongue James 3. 3. 11. The Holy Ghost sheweth the mischief of the tongue by the several characters by which he brands it He calls it the flattering tongue the double tongue the deceitful tongue the the lying tongue the perverse tongue c. Psalm 52. 2. Prov. 18. 21. Eccles 10. 12. Psalm 19. 4. Psalm 73. 9. Mat. 28. 13 15. has cut his throat that is it hath been his ruine Our Chronicles make mention of one Burdet a Merchant who living at the Sign of the Crown in Cheap-side in the dayes of King Edward the fourth in the year 1483. jestingly said to his Son that he would leave him heir of the Crown meaning the Sign of the Crown where he lived for which he was apprehended and within four hours hanged drawn and quartered The tongue is often like a sharp Razor that instead of shaving the hair cuts the throat If a man do not look well about him he may every day be in danger of dying by his tongue Life and death saith Solomon are in the power of the tongue Gaping mouth'd men are noted for fools by Lucian and a better and a wiser man than Lucian hath told us That the lips of a fool will swallow up himself Ah how good had it been for many that they had been born dumb The tongue can easily travel all the world over and wound mens names and credits in this Countrey and that in this City and that in this Town and that in this Family and that it can in a trice run from one place to another here it bites and there it tears in this place it leaves a blot and in that it gives a wound and therefore you have cause to watch your tongues on every day but especially on the Lords day There are many whose tongues do more mischief and travel further on the Sabbath day than they do on all the other dayes of the week You ought to keep a strict Guard upon your tongues every day but on the Lords day you should double your Guard Satan without you and that strong party that he hath within you will do all they can so to oyle your tongues on that day as to make you miscarry more wayes than one if you do not carefully look about you Are there none on that day that do watch your Jer. 20. 10. It is better for a man to watch and stop his own mouth by silence than to have it stopt by others reproofs words to deride you and jear you Yes Are there none on that day that do watch your words either to ensnare you or trapan you Yes Are there none on that day that do watch your words that they may find matter if possible either to reprove you or to reproach you Yes Are there none on that day that do watch your words that do hang upon your lips expecting to be instructed edified confirmed comforted and strengthned by you Yes Well then if this be your case how highly it doth concern you on this day to watch your words I shall leave you to judge O Sirs all your words whether good or bad are all noted and observed by God as you may see by comparing the Scriptures Psalm 139. 4. Isa 59. 3. Jer. 33. 24. Chap. 44. 25. Mal. 3. 16 17. Job 42. 7. Matth. 12. 37. in the Margent together If a person were by us that should book all our words from Sabbath day morning to Sabbath day night and the like on other dayes would we not be very careful what we spoke Why God is by and hears all Athenodorus a Heathen used to say that all men ought to be very careful of their actions and words because God was every where and beheld all that was done and said And Zeno a wise Heathen affirmeth that God seeth and taketh notice of our very thoughts how much more then of our words O Sirs how many men and women are there that are choice of what they eat that are not choice of what they speak that are curious about the food which goes into their mouths lest it should hurt or poyson them who are no wayes curious about the words that go out of their mouths lest they should hurt or poyson others Oâ— all the members in the body there is none so serviceable to Satan as the tongue And therefore Satan spares Jobs tongue his grand design being not to make Job a begar but a blasphemer Job was blistered all over by Satan only his tongue was not blistered Satan thought by that member to work Job to fight against God and the peace of his own soul It is queried in the Schools what was the first sin of the first Angel that fell for they assert that one fell first then the rest Now there are very many opinions about it Some say it was envy others discontent and some say it was their refusing to undertake the charge that was given to them to Minister unto man Others think it was a spiritual luxury others ingratitude The most and best say pride but wherein that pride consisted is not easily determined nor by them unanimously resolved and by some it is as confidently observed that it was a sin
and kindness of God towards you manifested in the mighty preservations protections and salvations that he has vouchsafed to you when you were surrounded with all manner of hazzards and dangers O that you would strive as for life to come up to duties which are certainly incumbent upon all those who have escaped the burning flames But you will say What are they Quest These that follow Answ First It highly concerns you who have escaped the fiery dispensation to take heed of those sins which bring the fiery Rod and which have turned many of your neighbours out of house and home What they are I have already declared 2 Pet. 2. 6. Luke 17. 32. Jer. 7. 12. 1 Sam. 4. 11. Psalm 78. 60 at large If those sins that have brought the fiery judgement upon your neighbours are to be found among you you have cause to fear the fiery Rod or else some other judgement that shall be equivalent to it If you sin with others you shall suffer with others except there be found repentance on your side and pardoning grace on Gods The Lord hath punished your neighbours with that judgement of judgements the fire and he expects that you should take notice thereof and be instructed thereby to take heed of those sins that they have been judged for else the same or worser judgements will certainly befall you Because Jer. 3. 8. Obad. 11 12 13 14. Edom made no good use of Jerusalems sufferings therefore the Lord threatens her that shame should cover her and that she should be cut off for ever God expects that the judgements that he hath executed upon all round about you should awaken you out of security and work in you a holy dread of his name and provoke you to repentance for what is past and engage you to a more exact walking with him for the time to come But Secondly It highly concerns you not to think those who are burnt up to be greater sinners than your selves who have Isa 5. 22. 23 24. Chap. 51. 17 22 23. â—er 25. 15. 30. escaped the consuming flames Some there were that told Christ of certain Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their Sacrifices an argument of Gods sore displeasure in the eye of man to be surpised with a bloody death even in the act of Gods service But Jesus answered suppose Luk. 13. 1 2 3. ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And Christ confirmeth it by another parallel to it of the men upon whom the Tower in Silâ—am fell Luke 13. 4 5. Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower in Siloam fell think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Doubtless there are many fifties in London whose habitations are laid desolate who were more righteous than many of those whose houses have escaped the consuming flames Judgements many times begin at the house of God The hand of God is many times 1 Pet. 4. 17. Ezek. 9. 6. Job 1. heaviest upon the holiest of people Job was stript of all his earthly comforts and set upon a Dunghill to scrape his sores with Potsheards and yet Job had not at that time his fellow in all the East Countrey for a man fearing God and eschewing evil Job was a perfect peerless man and yet had his habitation laid in ashes and his substance destroyed when his neighbours round about him enjoyed their all without disturbance Doubtless many of them whose houses are turned into a ruinous heap were good people people of unblameable lives people of exemplary lives yea earthly Angels if compared with many of those who have escaped the fiery Rod. Many have drunk deep of this cup of wrath who are a people of his choicest love and therefore do not judge all them to be greater sinners than your selves that have not escaped the fiery Rod as well as your selves You who have escaped the consuming flames should make other mens lashes your lessons and their burnings your warningâ— You should not so much eye what others have suffered as what your selves have deserved But Thirdly It concerns you to be much in blessing of God that your habitations are standing when others habitations are laid desolate round about you But here look that your thankfulness is 1. Reall 2. Great 3. Cordial 4. Practical and 5. Constant No thankfulness below such a thankfulness will become such whose habitations are standing Monuments of Gods free mercy I have largely prest this duty before and therefore a touch here must suffice Bâ—t Fourthly Be not secure do not say the bitterness of death is past as Agag did when he came before Samuel stately and 1 Sam. 15. 32. haughtily with the garb and gate of a King Many times when wicked men are in the greatest security they are then nearest the highest pitch of misery Is there not guilt enough upon all your hearts and upon all your habitations to expose them to as great a desolation as London lyes under Ans Yes yes Why then do not you get off this guilt by frequent exercises of faith in the blood of Christ or else prepare to drink of the same cup that London hath drunk off or of a worse Ponder seriously and frequently upon these Scriptures Isa 51. 17. Awake awake stand up O Jerusalem which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out Verse 22. Thus saith thy Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my fury thou shalt no more drink it again Verse 23. But I will put it into the hands of them that afflict thee which have said to thy soul bow down that we may go over and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over Jer. 25. 15. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me take the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the Nations to whom I send thee to drink it Verse 17. Then took I the cup at the Lords hands and made all the Nations to drink unto whom the Lord had sent me Verse 18. To wit Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah and the Kings thereof and the Princes thereof to make them a desolation an astonishment an hissing and a curse as it is this day Verse 28. And it shall be if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink then shalt thou say unto The particular Kings and Kingdoms that must drink of this cup are set down from verse 19. to verse 28. See Lam. 4. 21. Ezek. 23. 31 32 33 34. them thus saith the Lord of Hosts
then they will bow and tremble under a sense of the Soveraignty of God The Soveraignty of God is that golden Scepter in his hand which he will make all bow to either by his Word or by his Works by his Mercies or by his Judgments This Scepter must be kist and submitted to or else fire and sword desolation and destruction will certainly follow Jer. 18. 2 3 4. 6. Arise and go down to the potters house and there will I cause thee to hear my word Then I went down to the potters house and behold he wrought a work on the wheels And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter so he made it again another vessel that seemed good to the potter to make it O house of Israel cannot I do with you as the potter saith the Lord. Behold as the clay is in the potters hand so are ye in my hand O house of Israel The Jews were so stupid and sottish that verbal teaching without signs would not work upon them and therefore the Lord sent Jeremiah to the potters house that he might see by what the potter did that though he had made them a People a Nation a Church a State yet he could as easily unmake them and mar them as the potter marred the vessel that he had made God would have this people to know that he had as much power over them and all they had as the potter had power over the clay that he works upon and that he had as much both might and right also to dispose of them at his pleasure as the potter had over his clay to dispose of it as he judged meet Nay Beloved the potter has not such an God hath jus ad omnia jus in omnibus a right to all things a right in all things absolute power over his pots and clay as the Lord has over the Sons of men to make them and break them at his pleasure and that partly because that the clay is none of his creature and partly because without God give him strength he has no power to make or break one vessel God by the Prophet would have the Jews to know that 't was meerly by his good pleasure and grace that they came to be so glorious and flourishing a Nation as they were at this time yea and further to know that they were not so great and rich and flourishing and setled and built but that he could as easily break them and mar them as the potter could the Isa 64. 8. vessel that was under his hand Ah Sirs God by that dreadful fire that has destroyed our houses and burnt up our substance and banished us from our habitations and levelled our stately Monuments of Antiquity and Glory even with the ground has given us a very high evidence of his Soveraignty both over our persons and all our concernments in this world Ah London London were there none within nor without thy Walls that did deny the Soveraignty of God that did belye the Soveraignty of God that did slight the Soveraignty of God that did make head against the Soveraignty of God Were there none within nor without thy Walls that did say We are Lords and we will come no more unto thee That did say Is not this great Babylon is Jer. 2. 31. Dan. 4. 30. Lam. 4. 12. not this great London that we have built That did say the Kings of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy the flaming and consuming fire should have entred into the gates of Jerusalem into the Gates of London That Exod. 5. 2. did say Who is the Lord that we should obey his voice That did advance a worldly Soveraignty above and against the Soveraignty of God and Christ Ah London London if there were any such within or without thy Walls then never wonder that God has in a flaming and consuming fire proclaimed his Soveraignty over thee and that he hath given such Atheists to know from woful experience that both themselves and all their concernments are in the hands of the Lord as the clay is in the hands of the potter and that the sorest Judgments that any City can fall under are but the Isa 5. 16. demonstrations of his Soveraign Prerogative Psal 9. 16. The Lord is known by the Judgments which he executeth the Power Justice and Soveraignty of God shines most gloriously in the execution of his Judgments upon the world Secondly God inflicts great and sore Judgments upon the Sons of men that the world may stand in awe of him and that they may learn to fear and tremble before him when he Consult these Scriptures Exod. 15. 14 15 16. Josh 2. 10 11. Rev. 15. 4. appears as a consuming fire he expects that the Nation should tremble and that the Inhabitants should fear before him 1 Sam. 16. 4. And Samuel did that which the Lord spake and came to Bethlehem and the Elders of the Town trembled at his coming and said comest thou peaceable Shall the Elders of Bethlehem tremble for fear that Samuel came to denounce some grievous Judgment against them and shall not we tremble when God has executed his terrible Judgments 1 Kings 21. 20 21 22 23 24 27 28 29. upon us Shall Ahab tremble and humble himself and fast and lye in sackcloth when Judgments are but threatned and shall not we tremble and fear before the great God who has actually inflicted upon us his three great Judgments Pestilence Sword and Fire Shall the Ninevites both Princes Jonah 3. 3 4. 5 6 7 8 9 10. Nobles and people tremble and humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes when God doth but threaten to over-throw their great their rich their populous City and shall not we tremble and lye low before the Lord when we see great London rich and populous London laid in ashes before our eyes When the hand of the Lord was stretched out Exod. 15. 15 16. See 2 Kings 6. 30. and Chap. 7. 6 7. 15. Jer. 4. 7 8 9. against the Egyptians the Dukes of Edom were amazed and the mighty men of Moab trembled Ah how severely has the hand of the Lord been stretched out against London and all her Inhabitants and therefore what cause have we to be amazed and to tremble before that God who has appeared in flames of fire against us Lam. 2. 3 4. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel he hath drawn back his right hand before the enemy and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire which devoureth round about He bent his bow like an enemy and poured out his fury like fire God burnt down their City their Temple their Gates their Princely Habitations their glorious Structures in the fierceness of his anger and in the greatness of his wrath O Sirs when God falls upon burning work when he pours out