is here rightly stiled a famine Man consists of two parts of Soul and Body and both these must be fed the body which hath its Original from the earth is maintained by earthly nourishment but the soul which is spiritual must be fed with the spiritual food of Gods Word for as bread is the stay and staff of mans body and the body cannot live without it so Gods Word is the support of the soul and it cannot live without that hence it is called Food Ier. 3.15 15.16 Iohn 21.15 17. Act. 20.28 'T is here and here onely that Christ the bread of life is revealed unto us Iohn 6.35 Prov. 9.1 to 7. 'T is in the Gospel that wee have a feast full fraught with spiritual delicates Psal. 65.4 Isa. â—5 6 55.1 2. Hence David makes such bitter lamentation for want of it Psal. 42.2 3. and 84. and 't is made one note of Gods people that they mourn for want of the holy Assemblies Zeph. 3.18 Lam. 1.4 7. and 2.6 7. and 4.1 and 5.18 Iâ—â— esteemed the word of the Lord above his necessary food Job 23.12 He did not only esteem it above Lands and livings above gold and silver but even above his appointed food without which he could not live He did more earnestly desire it more heartily delight in it and more highly prize it than he did his necessary food without which he could not â—ubsist He had rather lose his usual meals than lose his opportunities of meditation on the Word of God Hence 't is that Gods Ministers are called Stewards 1 Cor. 4.1 2. Titus 1.7 which must dispense this Bread of Life according to the capacity of their Hearers They must give Milk to Babes and strong meat to strong men for Gods Word is both Semen Pabulum it is the seed by which we are new-born Iam. 1.18 1. Pet. 1.23 and the food by which we are nourisht after 1 Pet. 2.2 by this the dead are inlivened Ioh. 5.25 the dark inlightned Psal. 19.8 and the sorrowful comforted Isa. 40.1 2. This shewes the great necessity and benefit of the preaching of Gods Word and should make us prefer it unto our chiefest joy But to this point I have spoken at large in a set Treatise 2 Contempt of Gods Word brings a famine of the Word The Lord here suites his Judgements to his Peoples sins He had in great mercy raised up for this people of their owne Sons for Prophets and taught them not by strangers but by Children that came from their owne loyns yet they ungratefully said to the Prophets Prophesie not Amos 2.11 12. and commanded this our plain-dealing Prophet to preach no more at Bethel but to goe see some other Countries Amos 7.12 13 16. Hinc illae Lachrymae This brought the famine amongst them VVhen God shall bestow the preaching of the VVord upon a people which is the choycest gift which he can bestow on the Sons of men and they shall loathe this Mannah and vilifie those that bring it it is time the Lord should cease giving when such gifts are scorned and cease loving when his love is contemned The Iewes that stoned the Prophets killed the Apostles and crucified Christ for this great contempt they have been a people of Gods Curse this sixteen hundred years When men grow weary of truth it is just with God that they should be left to error and when they are weary of a faithful Amos that they should have a flattering Amaziah When men will not receive the truth in love God will give them over to strong delusions that they shall beleeve lyes A dreadful Curse 2 Thes. 2.11 q. d. Since I have given them Light and shewed them my Truth and the way to Heaven but they have rejected it therefore there shall come false Prophets and shall cry down Ordinances Sabbaths c. and you shall beleeve them that shall set up humane inventions and you shall follow them When Children abuse their Bread and play with it and trample it under feet it is time for Parents to take it from them To bring these things à Thesi ad Hypothesin and to apply this contempt of the Word to our seâ—ves it may make us tremble to think whither we are fallen Since the Apostles times the Gospel never shone so brightly as it doth at this day and never was it and the Ministers of it more openly vilified and that by many old Professors who are turned blasphemers than at this day and therefore wee may justly fear that the Lord will punish our abuse of Light with the darkness of Popery and take his Gospel from us and give it to a people that shall yeeld him better fruits of it than wee have done Sad tidings alwayes follow the contempt of the glad tidings of the Gospel and they that think they have too much Preaching shall at last have none at all When Ierusalem began to abuse the Prophets they were quickly made a desolation 3 The loss of the Word of God is the sorest losse No famine like this famine no judgement like this judgement Lam. 1.4 it is the heaviest that can befall a people on this side Hell which made Luther say I would not live in Paradise without the Word but with it I could make a shift in Hell it self David knew this full wel and therefore in the midst of all his wants he was most sensible of this and begs it as that one thing necessary that he might dwell in the House of the Lord Psal. 27.4 It is true Corporal famine is very terrible and brings people into sad perplexities and extremities as you may see Lam. 1.11.19 2.12 20. 4.4 9. 5.16 but this Spiritual famine is farre worse For 1 That and other Judgements pinch but the body but this pines the soul now as the soul is more noble and excellent than the body so its Judgements are farre more dreadful because Spiritual It is sad when men shall cry for bread and they have a Stone given them for meat and they have a Serpent for drink and their Pastors or Impostors rather give them Poyson 2 That may be a means to bring a man home to God but this increaseth and confirms the separation between God and the soul. 3 That kills but the body at worst but this destroyes both body and soul. So that as our Saviour said in another case about fearing of men so may I say about fearing of â—amines fear not that famine which can but kill the body but I will fore-tell you what you should fear Fear that Famine which can destroy both body and soul yea I say unto you fear that 4 Here is a Thirst added to the famine a thirst of water Though God sometimes punisheth Cities with famine yet they may have water to drink but if they want both bread and especially water the distress lyes very heavy for Thirst if it be in extremity is one of
he deal with Calvin Hear how expresly he speaks against the Doctors opinion Quod hic dicitur de tritici et vini abundantia debet exponi pro natura regni Christi ergo quia spirituale est regnum Christi sufficiat etiam nobis affluere spiritualibus bonis Et Iudaei quos Dominus sibi residuos reservarit contenti fuerunt illâ spirituali abundantiâ Siquis objiciat Prophetam hic non Allegoricè loqui responsio facilis est â—empe hunc morem passim receptum esse in Scripturâ ut faelicitas sub commodis praesentis vitae terrenis benedictionibus quasi pingatur ante oculos nostros praesertim hoc observare in Prophetis licet quia stylum accommodabant ad captum rudis infirmi populi What could be spoken more from this text against the Doctors opinion and yet the Doctor still tells us that he mainly contends for a literal sense and for a Corporal bringing back of the ten Tribes into their own country But a greater than Doctor Homes is of another judgement it is the learned Doctor Rivet glossing on Amos 9.13 thus he saith Harum promissionum minima pars ad temporalia referri debet ut ex iis assurgamus ad spiritualia plera etiam non impleri perfectè in hac vitâ teneamus sed coelestem beatitudinem respicere quomodo quando excellentius est quod promittitur regni Christi civibus praestandum quà m unquam temporaliter fuit praestitum necessarium est ut de bonis spiritualibus accipiatur per Christum donandis c. ubi plura But to put all out of controversie St. Iames citing Amos 9.11 12. interprets them Spiritually and proves the calling and conversion of the Gentiles in the Apostolical times from them as I have shewed before Acts 15.7 to 17. now whether shall we beleeve the Apostle Iames that interprets these words Spiritually or Doctor Homes who mainly contends for a literal sense 2 Daâ—â— non concesso giving but not granting what the Doctor saith suppose all these promises were to be taken literally for temporal blessings yet how doth it follow hence that Christ shall reign with the Saints on earth in a visible manner a thousand years Let any one read over all these five Verses and put to any one of them singly or to all conjunctly ergo Christ shall reign with the Saints a thousand years here on earth and see if he can forbear smiling at such gross Non-sequiturs which agree like Harp and Harrow Lastly the Doctor in the close of all challengeth all the Men and Books in the World to shew when ever these promises were yet fulfilled When saith this self-conceited Doctor were all the wast Cities re-built the breaches made up when was there ever yet all spiritual and all outward prosperity in the Church When dâ—d the Mountains ever run VVine or the Hills ever melt into Oyl and Milk and Honey and when were all these enjoyments perpetuated Ans. If you take the Promises spiritually St. Iames hath told us they were fulfilled in the Apostles dayes if you take them literally they never were nor ever will be fulfilled who ever looks for a sinless sorrowless deathless condition as the Doctor dream of in this world when the Mountains shall run Wine c. none but grosse Fanaticks will fancy such fables I am even tired with mentioning them Obj. But if this text in Amos will not prove the point yet the Doctor hath one prime place which will prove it terminis terminantibus and that is Revel 20.4 5 6. Answ. Doctor Homes shall confute Doctor Homes Doctor Nathaniel Homes 1641. shall confute dreaming Dr. Homes 1651. the greatest Antimillenarian could hardly say more against them than he did then when the opinion was not in fashion But he may say as a loose Bishop did sometimes Nunc aliud tempus alii pro tempore mores But hear what he sayes in his Set. on 2 Pet. 3.13 p. 4. to 7. preacht before the Parliament 1641. where he strongly asserts the excellency of the Presbyterian Government p. 29.38 c. I mention this only lest he should face about again but I think his Rump is broken c. Our Divines saith he commonly called Millenaries would understand this text of Peter of the Martyrs reigning a thousand years on earth before they be taken up soul and body into heaven but these are as wide as earth from Heaven Of innumerable particulars which might be alleadged let us at this time be content with some touches on that leading place Revel 20.4 c. 1. The text tells us saith he that it is their Souls shall reign and not their Bodies and by a thousand years is meant an eternity of felicity and reigning in heaven Then he cites Parcus on Rev. 20. against them and perswades his Reader to read that Learned man on that point Then he takes off their objections and at last tells us that Papias the first Author of this opinion was a credulous man and apt to receive fables for verities I wish D. H. were not too like him You see by this time what little credence is to be given to this Weather-cock than can turn and turn but never crow But what talk I of D. H. when I find learned Sir Henry Vane in eadem haeresi in his vain peece of Learned Non-sense to favour this opinion I may say of that Cloudy Book with better reason what one said of Persius Si non vis intelligt debes negligi Truth loves not clouds and corners it is error that is lucifugus and fears the light I shall be brief remembring that of Cyprian Brevitas controversiarum legentibus plurimum prodest dum non intellectum legentis seipsum liber longior spargit sed subtil'ore compendio id quod legitur tenax memoria custodit Sir Henry Vane in his Mystery of Godlinesse ch 25. tells us that when this thousand years are come Magistracy and Visible VVorship and forms of Christian Religion c. shall be destroyed c. Those places which point expresly at the Day of Judgment he wracks and wrests to prove his thousand years reign as Acts 3.19 20 21. 17.31 1 Thes. 4.16 1 Cor. 6.2 3. Q. But when doth Sir Henry say that this thousand years reign shall begin A. So far as I can gather from him this thousand years reign of Christ on earth shall begin in the seventh thousand year of the world viz. about 440. years hence Wisely done S. H. to set a longer time than most of this way doe that so he may not be laught at for his vain calculation whilst he liveth But that I may not wrong him for he hath wronged himself too much already take his own Words ch 26 p. 418 428. The Generall assembly of the first born are to continue and abide for a thousand years in the exercise of this immortal incorruptible bodâ—ly life here in this world keeping
not only as a Load-stone but like a Furnace to separate the gold from the dross when God comes to search the heart of his Elect he hath a power beyond all other refiners for look what is good hee makes it better and what is nought hee takes away and makes it good He turns the vilest earth into the purest Gold and the vilest Mettal a proud heart he turns into an humble heart Hee casts a christ-despising-Christ-despising-soul into the Furnace and it comes out a high-prizing soul of Christ. Obj. How is it said that God only knowes and searcheth the hearts of men 1 King 8.39 whereas it is said that a man knows his own heart 1 Cor. 2.11 yea Samuel could tell Saul all that was in his heart 1 Sam. 9.19 and if the evil Angels know our hearts Joh. 13.2 then good Angels much more Ans. There is so great a difference between Creatures knowing of the hearts and the Creators knowledge of them that ours is nothing in comparison of his 1 They differ in respect of their Original God knows the heart of himself and needs not that any man should tell him Iohn 2. ult But Angels and Men know by revelation from God or revelation from others Thus God revealed to Samuel which was Saul that should bee King of Israel 1 Sam. 9.15 17. Thus Elisha knew the covetousness of Gehazi and Peter the Hipocrisie of Annanias and Sapphira Thus the good Angels know what is in us by Revelation and the evil ones by the working of our fancies they know what will take with us 1 King 22.22 2 In respect of Certainty we know things but conjecturally darkly and by halves but God knoweth all things exactly and perfectly he knowes us better than wee know our selves Christ knew Peters heart when hee knew it not himself and God knew Hazaels heart when himself could not beleeve the wickedness which was there Thus hee knowes our thoughts afarre off Psal. 139.2 men may see the thoughts of others near hand when they begin to break out and bewray themselves in the face and countenance in gestures words and looks by these we sometimes pump out what is in men Prov. 20.5 But this is but conjectural and we are oft deceived as we see in David he thought Absoloms purpose had been sincere in going to fulfill his Vow at Hebron and that Achitophel had been a faithful Counsellor Thus the Disciples took Iudas to be like themselves and therefore when Christ said One of you shall betray mee every one asked Master is it I But God did most certainly know Absoloms Hypocrisie Achitophels Policy and Iudas his Treachery In our thoughts there is the object which we think on and the impress of it as it lieth in our fancy and this the Angels being Spirits may know and see what is in the fancy But now to make up a full thought there must be an act that passeth on this object that carrieth with it an Affirmative or Negative for an hundred men may think on one and the same object and yet they may act diversly now because the mind of man may work several ways on one and the same object the Angels cannot certainly know the hearts of men which made the Devils Oracles to speak so ambiguously because they knew not certainly what should come to pass But God hath a clear and exact knowledge of all things and perfectly knowes all the turnings and windings all the imaginations and thoughts of our hearts whether good or bad sudden or deliberate past present or to come Gen. 6.5 Iob 42.2 Psal. 44.21 He knowes our thoughts before we think them Deut. 31.21 though men have fair words yet hee knowes they have many times foul hearts Deut. 5.28 29. God takes notice of every wanton thought which is in our hearts which made Iob ch 31.1 to make a covenant with his eyes that he might not so much as think on a Maid least he should sin against God and displease him who takes notice of all the motions of our hearts God took notice of Sauls murderous thoughts towards David when he was playing before him he thought to have murdered him and of Felix his covetous thoughts when he sent so oft for Paul thinking that money should have been given him But God in goodness to us hath lockt up the hearts of men from the knowledge of men for the preservation of Humane society for man is a sociable Creature now if there were a window made in the Soul of every man to know what is in him there would bee no living one by another so vile and fierce we are by nature Titus 3.3 every one hath several ends and if we could see whose heart opposeth us in the pursuit of them we should hate them Besides every man hath secret fins which if all the world should know we should be ashamed to look one another in the face and afraid one of another 1 Woe then to Quakers who assume to themselves Gods Prerogative Royal of knowing the heart How oft have they told us that they know mens hearts when it may bee they know nor their names so soon as ever they see their faces they know who are Hypocrites or prophane at first-sight But it is no wonder that those who have printed that they are equal to God as holy as God as just as God as good as God if they also say they are as knowing as God These high-flown Atheistical ones assume more to themselves than the very glorified Saints or Angels dare doe Such prodigious Pride and Blasphemy will be punisht with some signall faâ—l 2 This must humble us in all our approaches before this Omniscient Heart-searching God We have not to doe with men but with the All-seeing God who cannot and will not be mocked We are apt to think highly of our selves but God knowes that by us which we know not by our selves Wee know but in part but he knowes us thorowly and if our Conscience doe accuse us of something yet he is greater than our Conscience and knoweth all things Men may secretly and subtilly hide their sins from men but nothing is hid from God he sets our secret sins in the light of his countenance It is dangerous to plot any thing either against him or any thing which relates unto him for as he sees mens sins so hee hath power to punish them Woe then to such as oppose Gods Truth these oppose God and rob his people of the choycest purchase 2. Such as oppose his Embassadours doe oppose him he accounts the indignities done to them as done to himself 3. Such as abuse his people and despise them for their purity despise God who made them so 3 It must make us serious and sincere in all that we doe since we have to doe with a God that searcheth the heart and ponders the spirits of men and if they be but a graine too light his beam will soon discover it Prov. 16.2 Did we but set the
strained and purified by the Almighty hand of God that they become sweet and fruitful Quest. But who is it that doth all these wonderful things Answ. Why it is Jehovah The Lord is his name bee is no dead Idol as Baalim the god of the Sidonians or Moloch the god of the Ammonites but hee is Jehovah who hath his being in himself and who gives life and breath and being to all creatures from him by him and in him are all things and therefore hee will not bee deluded with your superstitious fopperies The summe of all is this Seek yee him who hath formed and framed the heavens and all the Stars therein who turneth the blackest night into a clear morning and causeth the brightest day to end in a dark night who waters the earth with rain the Lord is his name who doth this OBSERVATIONS 1 It is lawful for a Minister to press the same truths again and again upon his people Thrice in this Chapter doth the Prophet call on Israel to seek the Lord. Thrice in one Psalm is Gods Almighty power repeated that the Church might triumph in it Psal. 46.1 7 11. Christ presseth that Precept Hee that hath an ear to hear let him hear again and again Rev. 2.11 Paul oft put his hearers in minde of what hee had delivered to them Rom. 15.14 15. So Peter put his hearers in remembrance of the same things 2 Pet. 1.12 13. Yea so long as I live I will put you alwayes in remembrance This is profitable and safe for our people Phil. 3.1 To write the same things to me is not grievous but for you it is safe Abundans cautela non nocet This is a means to help the memory wee are naturally forgetful of the best things and therefore had need to have line upon line and precept upon precept Isa. 28.10 13. especially fundamental practical precepts such as Faith Repentance Obedience Death Judgement c. should oft bee prest When the Gentiles heard Paul preach Christ they desired to hear the same things again the next Sabbath day Act. 13.42 This helps to strengthen our graces to quicken us to our duties as the sounding of the Trumpet quickens the spirit of a valiant Souldier and it confirms us in the truth of the things delivered as the doubling of Pharaohs dreams assured him of the certainty of the thing Caut. Yet a Minister must not preach the same things out of idleness spending all the week in an Alehouse or in some secular affairs and then come with a crambe recocta some crude idle addle undigested stuffe Cursed are such as do this work of the Lord negligently An idle Minister is the worst man in a Parish for whereas an idle Artificer hurts but his Family an idle Minister hurts a whole Congregation But when wee repeat and inculcate things out of conscience and for the good of our people this is commendable Besides there is no Minister that is studious but if hee do come to press the same point again hee hath some new arguments or enlargements for Divinity is such a depth that wee are alwayes learning and may finde out somewhat which wee knew not before Bee not then offended when you hear necessary truths oft prest this is â—afe for us and good for you Many have itching ears they must have novum aut nihil they are all for novelty they cannot endure wholesome plain preaching whereas wee have but two things to preach credenda agenda faith and good works 2 Obs. The names which are commonly given to Stars may bee used by us Chimah and Kesil Pleiades and Orion were names given to those Stars by men and yet the Holy Ghost useth them here and speaks with the vulgar in their own language So it useth Heathenish names in the New Testament Act. 28.11 wee read of a Ship in which Paul sayled called Castor and Pollux two Pagan-sea-gods So for dayes and months wee may call them by such names as are best known to the people with whom wee live If wee live amongst a people that usually say the first second third month or day wee must say so too But if wee live in a land where they say Ianuary February March c. Munday Tuesday c. wee must say so too else how shall wee understand one another Thus the Iews called their months sometimes by Caldean names as Nisan Adar Cisleu and Tammuz from the Idolatrous feasts of Tammuz which they celebrated yearly in the fourth month Ezek. 8.14 wee may as well say Lammas as the Iews say Tammuz It is true David sayes hee will not once make mention of Idol gods Psal. 16.4 but that was by way of adoration and reverence or to swear by them but in a civil respect to distinguish dayes and to make known our mindes to those that wee speak to thus the Prophets themselves have used them 3 Obs. The Lord is the maker of the Stars Hee that made these two Constellations made all the rest for under these two the rest are comprehended Iob 9.9 It is hee and hee onely that hath garnisht the heavens with Sun Moon and Stars Iob 26.13 Much of Gods Power and Wisdome is seen in the Stars of heaven every flower of the field sets forth his praise but these declare his glory in a more eminent manner Psal. 19.1 and therefore the Lord calls upon his people in the Text to seek and serve him why so for it is hee that made Pleiades and Orion i. e. hee made all the glittering Stars and if the floor of heaven bee so admirable what is the inside Wee should therefore dayly admire and praise him who hath made the Sun to rule the day and the Moon and Stars to rule the night for his mercy endures for ever Psal. 136.7 8 9. Much of God is seen in the Multitude of the Stars Magnitude of the Stars Motion and Influence of the Stars 1 For Multitude they are for number numberless none but God that made them can number them Psa. 147.4 He tells the number of the Stars and calls them all by their names hee knows them as exactly and particularly as we know those men whom wee can presently upon sight call by their names Men can reckon some and count to about a thousand three hundred but hee calls them all by their names 2 Their Magnitude such great bodies shew the greatness of that God which made them Most men look upon the Stars as some small lights like the blaze of a candle but when it shall bee made appear by reason that one Star is bigger than the whole earth it may well move admiration in us 3 Their swift and regular motion That these mighty bodies should bee carried about the world every day and more exactly in order not one of them out of course though they have shone above five thousand years yet still they continue their former vigour and brightness The fixed Stars keep their own Orbs constantly so
confounded in Scripture and used promiscuously one for another 2 Here is the effect of their prudence They shall keep silence 3 Here is the time when they shall keep silence it is In that time viz. in that time of Israels obstinacy and in that time when God shall punish them for their obstinacy and give them up into the hand of the Assyrian for a prey for he speaks not of present but future evils and therefore it is not in hoc but in isto tempore it is not in this but in that time 4 Here is the reason of their silence and that is because it is an evil time both in respect of the evil of sin and of the evil of suffering 1. They were evil times in respect of the evil of sin All manner of sin in all manner of persons abounded both in City and Country Sin was come to that height amongst them that it was dangerous to speak truth unto them yea they silenced the true Prophets and commanded the Amos to bee gone and molest them no more with his preaching They hated reproof they afflicted the just and opprest the poor therefore the Prudent shall keep silence 2 The times were evil in respect of the evil of Punishment for where the evil of sin goes before the evil of punishment alwayes follows The Sword Plague Famine should all pursue them and if they escaped one of those evils yet another should arrest them vers 19. In both these respects times are called evil in Scripture Ier. 18.11 Ephes. 5.16 2 Tim. 3.1 though the latter seems here to some to be the most genuine it is a time of evil viz. of punishment of great misery and desolation so the word is oft used for the evil of punishment Psal. 37.19 Ier. 15.11 Micah 2.3 therefore the prudent shall be silent before the Lord and not once murmure against his just dispensations 3 Others but not so properly make the words to be a commination of a punishment q. d. Since you will not hearken to the counsel of my Prophets but shut your eyes against the light hating to be reformed and abhorring such as speak truth unto you vers 10. therefore I will punish you with the silence of the true Prophets Ezek. 3.26 and other pious men they shall bestow no more counsel in vaine upon you since you are snarling Doggs my holy things shall not be given to you Mat. 7.6 but I will leave you to Sycophants and Flatterers that shall daub over your sins and lead you blind-fold to destruction They could not endure sound Doctrine and therefore they should be fed with lies for that pleased them best There is hope of good when good men speak their lips will disperse knowledge Prov. 15.7 but when a people shall delight in none but fools and flatterers their ruine is not far off 4 Others thus their enemies shall be so Tyrannical and cruel that it will be their prudence not once to mutter but silently keep in their grief to themselves lest if they complained they should exasperate their enemies and so be worse used This is an ancient Gloss but not so genuine 5 These times were evil times for even the Rulers of the people were unruly and corrupt both in doctrine and manners They were grown so violent and virulent that they would neither hear nor bear a reproof they sought his death who sought their life and threw dirt in his face who shewed them the glass if any reproved them they wrested and misinterpreted all their sayings devising devices against them to destroy them They were come to that height of sin that the malady was too strong for the medicine and good counsel could doe them no good it was but casting Pearls before Swine which would be trampled under foot and lost the more they reproved them for their Bribery Oppression Idolatry and cruelty the more they enraged them and therefore the prudent shall keep silence since it is such an evil time This sense suits best with the context ver 10 11 12 13. Q. But must not Ministers speak against Sin for fear of bringing themselves into danger nor speak against the evils of the times unless they be sure to be free from suffering Ans. Ministers are bound by their Office to witness against the worst of evils in the worst of times so did the Prophets so did the Apostles A Minister must not presently give over his Ministery or forbear reproof because of some approaching danger yet he may be silent and forbear reproof when those sins have been sufficiently witnessed against already and men sin not for want of light but desperately against the light in such a case we have no reason to run our selves upon danger and therefore our Saviour bids us let such alone Mat. 15.14 when we see that our reproofs doe but exasperate and harden we may yeeld for a time and reserve our selves and our exhortations for better times when mens passions are qualified and they will hearken to us so that this makes nothing for Court-Parasites and Time-servers who under pretence of Prudence live like dumb Doggs never once barking against the Idolatry Superstition Apostacy and prophaneness of the times for fear of displeasing the Grandees of the time they dare not pray for Sion nor speak in defence of Gods Cause and People for fear of suffering This is so farre from prudence that it is the greatest imprudence in the world for any man for fear of mans wrath to run into Gods displeasure and to avoyd Temporal pains to run into eternal Christ will be ashamed of such as be thus ashamed of him and his truth before an adulterous Generation Mark 8. ult Rev. 21.8 Obj. Tyrants threaten me Ans. And thou must learn to contemne their threatnings He is not fit to be a Minister of Christ that cannot suffer as well as doe for him Every Minister is or at least ought to be a Souldier of Christs now a Souldier must not be a whining Milk-sop but a hardned seasoned peece 2 Tim. 2.3 Necessity is laid upon us and woe to us if we preach not the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.16 When God commands us to preach and man forbids the Apostle in this very case tells us that it is better to obey God than man Acts 4.19 5.29 It is no dishonour to the Kings on earth to see the King of Heaven served before them yea the worse the times are the more should the zeal for Gods glory consume us When Lot saw the wickedness of Sodome his righteous soul was vexed from day to day with their aâ—ominations No prudent man can be totally silent when hee sees his God openly dishonoured as we see in David Nathan Michaiah Paul c. The Prophet therefore speaks not here De jure but De facto not what men should doe or not doe but he rather intimates such was the iniquity of the times and the malice of those in authority that De
this That it was in vain for them to trust in their Mountains Riches and strong Cities since other Nations with their Metropolies which were greater and stronger than theirs were now decayed and ruined That Almighty hand which brought them down notwithstanding all their Ammunition and Fortifications will also bring Israel down notwithstanding all their riches and strength Behold therefore as in a glass whither Luxury Oppression Security and abuse of Mercies hath brought those Cities and do you fear by their Examples The summe of all is this O yee Inhabitants of Jerusalem and Samaria that glory in Mount Sion and trust in the Mountain of Samaria Go and see what I have done to Calneh Hemath and Gath three potent populous famous Cities seated in three different Kingdomes viz. Babylon Syria and Palestina consider how I have made them a desolation for their sins and have brought their borders into a narrower compass though they were larger and pleasanter than theirs and were fortified both by Art and Nature Bee warned therefore by their example and go not on in your Idolatry Luxury Security and Obstinacy lest you also become a desolation like to them OBSERVATIONS 1. Wee should diligently observe and carefully consider the Iudgements of God on others We should not let a judgement passe that we see at home or hear of abroad without learning something of God from it As wee should consider his mercies to make us love him so we should consider his judgements to make us fear him Hence 't is that God bids his people here Go Go Go Go to Calneh Go to Hemath Go to Gath and consider what I have done to them for their sins Go not with your feet but with your affections go not in body to view the ruines of those places for that you may do and be never the better but in your Meditations go thither and observe Gods hand upon them to awaken you As a man may go to Heaven even whilst his body is on earth yet by Meditation hee may ascend thither so by Meditation we may go to Germany Savoy Ireland Poland and see Gods Judgements there Do not barely think of Gods Judgements but ponder every circumstance and rest not till you have suckt some benefit out of them and got your heart affected with them Wicked men never once think of God or his judgements they forget him daies without number and he is not in any of their thoughts and as for his judgements they are far above out of his sight or if he sleightly think of them that is all But you must know that there are three Acts of the Soul 1. Cogitation 2. Meditation 3. Consideration Cogitation is a thought and away Meditation is a dwelling longer upon an Object But Consideration looks round about and weighs all Circumstances of Judgements and Mercies that they may take a deeper impression upon our hearts and this is that which the Lord so oft calls for Hee would have us consider our waies to humble us Hag. 1.5 7. His Iudgements to fear us Iob 23.15 His Mercies to allure us 1 Sam. 12.24 His Word that wee may attain the practical knowledge of it 2 Tim. 2.7 This consideration fortifies the soul against sin it layes before us the losse and hurt which attends upon sin so that wee cannot rush into it with that boldnesse as the wicked and inconsiderate do Ier. 8.6 2. Gods Iudgements on others must awaken us Their destruction must be our instruction As Gods people here must go to Calneh Hemath and Gath so he bids them go to Shiloh and consider what hee did to that priviledged place and be warned by their woes Ier. 7.12 'T is a great favour when the Lord teacheth us our lessons on other mens books and backs making them examples unto us when hee might have made us examples unto them 3. Sin brings famous Cities to ruine Wee see here three famous Cities with all their Territories made a desolation for their sins Let men make walls as high as heaven and ditches as deep as hell yet if sin reign within it will ruine all Deut. 18.9 12. This brought the Kingdome of Israel into the hands of the Assyrians 2 King 17.7 to 19. and Iudah into the hands of the Chaldeans Sins especially crying sins do emasculate mens spirits and weaken the hearts and hands of a people so that they become an easie prey to a cruel adversary VERSE 3. Yee that put far away the evil day and cause the seat of violence to draw near IN this Verse the Prophet goes on with his charge especially against the Judges Rulers Counsellours and those in Power and Authority in the Kingdome of Iudah and Israel Hee chargeth them in this Verse with two sins which were the effects and evidence of their security before mentioned Verse 1. The first is the contempt of Gods Threatnings God oft foretold them by his Prophets that Judgements were coming upon them but they would not beleeve it but put the evil day far from them Sleighting Gods Threatnings as if they had been but fables and would never surprize them Though they walk in wayes of wickednesse adding sin to sin and daily provoked the Lord to anger yet they blest themselves in their evil wayes promising themselves peace and prosperity for all that They were setled upon their lees and lived without any fear or thought of danger giving themselves up to Idlenesse Wantonnesse Pride Luxury Violence and all manner of Iniquity not once thinking of the destruction which was coming upon themselves and the Kingdome Yea they counted it a loathsome thing as the word in the Original signifies once to mention the evil day They were so given up to mirth and jollity that they would not once hear of sorrow They thought themselves priviledged by having the Temple and Gods worship amongst them against all storms and tempests But the further they put away the evil day the nearer it was to them and though they could have wished there had been no such day yet their wishes were but vain for the Lord had decreed to bring a dismal day upon them and it is not the counsels of men but the counsels of the Lord that shal stand and the thoughts of his heart unto all generations Psal. 33.10 11. As they had their evil day of sinning so God was determined to bring upon them an evil day of suffering Q. But what was that evil day A. The evil day here meant was more especially the day of their Captivity when the Assyrian should come and carry away Israel and the Babylonian should come and carry away Iudah out of their own Land into Captivity and banishment This evil day the Prophet calls before a day of darkness and not of light Amos 5.18 19 20. The words are read by some passively thus Yee are separated and set apart by divine Justice for an evil day even for a day of banishment and slaughter q. d. Yee
thine So the People of Israel are called The People which are called by Gods name Deut. 28.10 2 Chron. 7.14 that is the Church and People of God who professed his name acknowledging that he was their God and they his People So those Gentile-Nations which were sometimes strangers from the Covenant and aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and were not Gods People shall now be called the People of the living God they shall shew themselves unto Christ and have his name put upon them and shall be called Christians Acts 11.26 Obj. It is impossible that ever such desperate Edomites and old enemies should ever be converted and brought in to Christ. A. With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible It is the Lord that doth it saith the text and therefore doe not doubt of the performance for he is both faithful and able who hath promised Neither be offended that the Gentiles are called whom yee count unclean for it is God that doth this who doth all things well Q. But when was this Promise ever fulfilled say the Millenarian Iewes A. It began to be fulfilled when the Gentiles were brought in with the remnant of the Iewes who came in the roome of the unbeleeving Iewes in the Apostles times so that the Promise is fulfilled inchoativâ— already 2 It is daily fulfilling and shall be more and more fulfilled even to the end of the world especially when the Iewes shall be called and the 〈◊〉 of â—he â—entiles shall come in and they shall all become one Church and make up one Body and one Sheep-fold under Christ their head The summe is this In Gospel-times both Jewes and Gentiles shall be so united that they shall make up one Church and the bounds thereof shall be extended over all the earth even to the remotest Heathen which shall then be called by my name saith the Lord that doth this OBSERVATIONS 1 The Election of God is free He doth not chuse men for any fore-seen works or merits or improvement of Free-will but all is Mercy and Free-grace What did the Lord see in those prophane Idolatrous Edomites to move him to call a remnant of them nay what did he not see in them why he should not reject them and yet of his owne free-mercy these cruel Edomites and prophane Gentiles which were not his People are here called his People Away then with all those conceits of Merit Free-will Universal Election which is a gross contradiction for if all be chosen then it is not an Election but a Collection of all for Election implies a chusing of some and a passing by of others Let us then who are Gentiles remember our baseness and loathe our selves and let Free-grace in all the golden links of Election Vocation Justification c. be for ever magnified by us that the Lord should passe by his owne People the Iewes and make them a People of his Curse these sixteen hundred years and should plant us poor Canaanites and accursed Gentiles in their stead is no lesse an act of Mercy than of wonder Psal. 2.8 Isa. 54.23 60.4 5. Acts 2.39 Rom. 9.25 26. Ephes. 3.6 Yet let us not be high-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural branches much lesse will he spare such wild branches as we are if we walk in unbelief as they did Rom. 11.20 21. 2 Few are chosen It is not all Edom it is but a remnant according to the Election of Grace that shall be converted and saved Hence the Scripture so oft calls the Elect a Remnant multitudes perish it is but a remnant a little remnant that are saved Isa. 1.9 Ioel 2. ult Rom. 11.5 Straight is the Gate and narrow is the way that leads unto life and few there be that find it Mat. 7.14 Christs flock is a little little flock Luke 12.32 How few were saved of the Old World Sodom Ierusalem The way to Heaven it is a difficult way and calls for difficult things and hard lessons which the world cannot endure to hear of much less to practise 1 It calls for Universal Self-denial all Self-conceit Self-ends Self-interest c. must be renounced if we will bee Christs Disciples Here most stick 2 It calls for a saving sanctifying working lively faith and this is hard Presumption is easie but to beleeve requires the exceeding greatnesse of Gods Power to work it in us Ephes. 1.19 Coloss. 2.12 3 It calls for sincere Conversion and that is an exceeding hard thing it is no lesse than the change of Nature it is the changing of a Lion into a Lambe of a Wolf into a Sheep of Fire into Water c. 4 There are many hard things to be suffered as well as to be done many losses crosses tentations from the world the Devil and our owne corruption all which laid together shew the difficulty of Salvation and by consequence the paucity of such as shall be saved See more at large on this Point Mr. Ant. Burgess Spirit Refining 1 Part Ser. 222. p. 643. and on 1 Cor. 3.15 p. 192. Shepheard Sincere Convert chap. 5. p. 92. to 117. Mr. Watsons Ser. on Philip. 2.12 to 23. Mr. Swinnock on Philip. 1.21 p. 132. to 139. Mr. Rogers on 1 Pet. 3.19 p. 511. Mr. Sheffield against Hypocrisie ch 11. p. 91 c. 3 Real and sound conversion is the peculiar and proper work of God If a remnant of Edom be called and converted it is the Lord that doth it The way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Ier. 10.23 It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 Noah may speak perswasively but it is God only that can perswade Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Shem. VERSE 13. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that the Flow-man shall overtake the Reaper and the treader of Grapes him that soweth seed and the Mountains shall drop sweet Wine and all the Hills shall melt MAn by nature is a very froward pettish perverse Peece especially when under the crosse God hath much adoe to fasten any comfort on us When Israel lay in deep distress in Aegyptian bondage they hearkned not to Moses because of the anguish of their spirits Exod. 6.9 they were so opprest with sorrow that they could not mind what Moses said nor beleeve any thing that was spoken concerning their deliverance as deeming their deliverance desperate and past hope So this People having laine long in Babylonish Captivity and after that tired out with many troubles the Lord here heaps up Promise upon Promise to assure them of better times at hand In this Verse we have a third Promise where the Holy Ghost by the abundance of external and corporal blessings doth shadow forth unto us the great plenty of Spiritual gifts which should be poured out in Gospel-times yet since Piety hath the promise of the blessings of this life as well as of