it shall be given into the hands of the King of Babylon and he shall burne it with fire saith the Lord The like he counselled Zedekiah the King Bring your necks under the yoke of the King of Babylon and serve him and his people and live why will ye die thou and thy people by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence And as he advised the King and people to yeeld themselves so he wrote a letter to those that were carried away captives requiring them in the name of the Lord to be quiet and to pray to the Lord for the peace of the Citie which sheweth that Ieremie well knew that the Lords purpose was absolute and his prohibition to pray for them so too If any man shall aske me whether Gods threatnings be not conditionall I answer that many of Gods threatnings of temporall punishments are conditionall so saith God by our Prophet At what instant I shall speake concerning a nation and concerning a kingdome to plucke up pull downe and destroy it if that nation against whom I have pronounced turne from their evill I will repent of the evill I have thought to doe unto them It was the case of Ninivie against which Ionah by commission from the Lord pronounced Yet fortie dayes and Ninivie shall be destroyed yet Ninivie repenting Ninivie was not then destroyed God changed his revealed will and sentence the prophesie fell but the Citie fell not yea the same punishment which at the first threatning is conditionall yet afterwards may become absolute and unavoidable as the destruction of Sodome conditionally threatned when as at Abrahams suit the Lord was brought from fiftie to ten If there be found but ten righteous persons in Sodome I will spare it for the ten sake but because they could not be found the destruction was absolutely threatned when the Angell said to Lot We will destroy this place the Lord hath sent us to destroy it and if God had not beene mercifull to pull Lot away he had beene destroyed in it Such was the case of this people If when Ieremie began his ministerie reproved them for their sinnes and threatned them with captivitie they had humbled themselves and repented in sackcloth and ashes it might have been prevented but growing worse and worse and unto their former sinnes adding this of extremely abusing the Prophet the Lord grew to be resolute they should into captivitie as well as their brethren he revealed it unto his Prophet and forbade him to pray for them which he did and only counselled them to yeeld themselves into their enemies hands Thirdly by way of prevention God satisfied his Prophet in what he foresaw might be objected The Prophet might object that hereby both his justice and truth might be questioned he satisfieth the Prophet in both first he cleareth his justice and that two wayes first by declaring the greatnesse of this peoples sinne whereof you shall more hereafter for a taste looke but the next verse following my text Seest thou not what they doe in the Cities of Iudah and streets of Ierusalem The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire and the women knead their dough to bake cakes to the Queene of Heaven Therefore my furie shall be poured out on such a people unworthie to be prayed for Is it not a just thing to send such into captivitie Secondly he declareth his soveraigne and absolute authoritie over all people and nations so as without controll he may justly build and plant or pull downe and destroy which he shewed in the pottershouse in whose hands a vessel that he made of clay being marred he made it another vessell as seemed good to the potter then came the word of the Lord saying O house of Israel cannot I doe with you as this potter behold as the clay is in the hands of the potter so are yee in mine hands The clay is not beholden to the potter for it had being before and the clay never offended the potter yet the potter may make what vessell he will and the vessell not complaine Why hast thou made me thus But we are beholding to God for our being and we have sinned against him and may he not doe with us as pleaseth him This sinfull people shall into captivitie the Prophet must not pray for them yet is God herein most righteous and just Yea but harken how the Prophet bemoaneth Gods truth saying Ah Lord God the Prophets say unto them yee shall not see the sword but you shall have an assured peace in this place Then sayd the Lord the Prophets prophesie lies in my name I sent them not neither have I commanded them neither spoken unto them they prophesie a false vision and divination the deceit of their owne heart but I will bring the sword yea and by the sword shall those false Prophets also be consumed speake unto the people and charge them that they harken not to the Prophets Diviners Dreamers Inchaunters and Sorcerers which say ye shall not serve the King of Babel for they prophesie a lie unto you Thus God preventeth his Prophet and declareth that this judgement is well deserved and standeth with justice and truth and would have the Prophet to rest therein and not pray for them Lastly though many temporall judgements be denounced conditionally yet that this is absolute and that he meaneth indeed his Prophet should not pray for them in this may be gathered from the manner of his revealing of this purpose which was first with many words of most earnest and vehement asseveration saying The land shall be desolate the earth shall mourne and the heavens above be blacke I have spoken it I have purposed it and will not repent neither will I turne backe from it That must needs stand which the Lord thus avoucheth yet to make it if it were possible more sure the Lord hath sworne it I sweare by my selfe saith the Lord this house shall become a desolation An oath saith the Apostle is amongst men an end of all strife and God that he might fully declare the immutabilitie of his counsell having no greater to sweare by hath sworne by himselfe Loe how the Apostle saith an oath declareth the immutabilitie of his counsell God never sware but hee performed it He hath sworne and will not repent saith David if God sweare he will never repent of it he may change his sentence but never reverse his oath yea God swearing that Moses should not enter into the promised land though he repented of his sinne and most earnestly intreated this favour could not obtaine but received a kinde of rebuke Let it suffice speake no more to me of this matter Deut. 3. 28. He cannot lie much lesse forsweare himselfe he hath seldome sworne but ever made it good Seeing then God revealed to his Prophet that
I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand up in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none Oh that is comfortable that though the sinnes of the people being great and God sayd he would destroy that yet he did even seeke for a good man to stand up by prayer in the gap to turne away his wrath and is sorry that he found not such an one but loe here is an holy Prophet ready to stand up in the gap and hee is expresly forbidden to doe so Make no intercession to me Againe Call on me and I will answer cry and I will say here I am Oh that is comfortable that God is more ready to heare and helpe than his people are to call upon him But here God telleth the Prophet he will not heare him oh this is fearefull As then Iacob awaking out of his dreame said How dreadfull is this place this is none other but the gate of Heaven so may I say when I muse upon these words Oh how dreadfull is this text this is none other but the gate of destruction Oh sinne oh sinne whither leadest thou how vile and odious a thing art thou that bindest Gods hands that he cannot helpe stoppest Gods eares that he cannot heare shuttest his eyes that he cannot see turnest compassions into cruelties smiling countenance into frownes promises into threatnings mercies into judgements and of a loving Father makest an angry Iudge Oh wofull the condition of Gods people now That it may not be yours be ware of their sins And this is the maine marke I aime at both in the choyce and handling of this Scripture which that I may the more orderly and profitably doe I will first give you the sense of the words and then raise the Doctrines with their severall Uses and Applications and because they are many and very usefull let me stand a little longer in the inlightning of this darke Scripture because upon the true understanding thereof as on an immovable foundation the ensuing Doctrines are raised and builded The question then is whether this be an absolute interdiction or no whether God meant as the words sound that indeed the Prophet must not pray for them if he did it were a sinne of disobedience against Gods revealed will or no I answer It was an absolute prohibition as the letters sound so as if hee had prayed for them hee had sinned yet with this qualification that he is forbidden to pray for them that they may not be carried into captivitie Their captivitie in Babylon was the burthen of his prophesie and against that he may not pray as a judicious Divine saith on the place hee might not pray for the state of the kingdome hee might and doubtlesse did pray for many blessings of God yea for greater blessings than this was or could be hee might pray to God to give them knowledge faith repentance remission of sinnes redemption from eternall captivitie he might pray to God to give them comfort and patience in their captivitie and to send them deliverance according to promise he might pray for deliverance from some other judgements as famine or pestilence but to pray for the state of the kingdome that it might stand and flourish and the enemie not prevaile so he might not pray God was resolved for their sinnes they should goe into captivitie as their brethren before them had done That this is the true sense seemeth to mee sufficiently confirmed by these foure Reasons First after this time we doe not reade that ever the Prophet did pray for them It may be some that are well acquainted with this prophesie will say I failed in memory for he prayed and prayed most earnestly for them saying We acknowledge ô Lord our wickednesse and the iniquitie of our fathers for we have sinned against thee doe not abhorre us for thy names sake doe not disgrace the throne of thy glory remember and doe not breake thy covenant with us Could there be a more powerfull and patheticall prayer made than this I answer that the very next words to that prayer the last verse of that chapter doth declare that at that time there was a great famine by reason of drought and for remove of that judgement and for the blessing of raine he prayed saying Is there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause raine or can the Heavens give showers art not thou he ô Lord our God therefore we will wait upon thee But I say againe he never prayed that the people might not goe into captivitie which proveth that this was an absolute prohibition Yea for further fortification of this Reason take notice that he was so farre from praying for their deliverance that occasioned from the great wrongs they offered him by the motion of Gods Spirit he doth most fearefully imprecate them Poure out their bloud by the force of the sword let their wives be bereaved of their children and be widowes let their men be put to death and their young men slaine by sword in battaile And againe Let me see thy vengeance upon them for unto thee have I opened my cause Thus humbly did the Prophet subscribe to Gods revealed decree and zealously pray for the execution of it though most contrary to his naturall desire neither did ever any thing so much grieve and afflict him as his Lamentations beare witnesse If any object that herein the Prophet was wanting in love No no we must love one another but it must be in God Abraham must but love his sonne Isaack in God if God command him to take and sacrifice him he must rise earely and go as chearfully about that as if he went to his marriage Eli must not love himselfe nor his sonnes but in God if hee crave such a message against him and his house as whosoever heareth it would make his eares to tingle It is the Lord saith Eli let him doe what seemeth him good Hath not Christ taught us to pray that Gods will may be done This Prophet loved Gods people dearely and appealeth unto God Remember that I stood before thee to speake good for them and to turne away thy wrath from them but when God forbiddeth him to pray he must either hold his peace or pray for execution of Gods judgements Secondly the Prophet ever perswaded the King Princes and people without any resistance to yeeld themselves to the King of Babylon saying Thus saith the Lord behold I set before you the way of life and way of death he that abideth in the Citie shall die by the sword by famine and by pestilence but he that goeth out and falleth to the Caldeans that besiege you he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey for I have set my face against this Citie for evill and not for good
To which with our Prophet I doe feelingly say Amen Amen God grant it yea I doe hope though the sins of England be many and great yet the sins of it are not so full but that God heareth and will heare the praiers of his servants for it and that the decree is not so far forth but it may be still suspended or recalled As a great Argument to perswade me so it is that God doth both stirre up many his faithfull servants by word and writing preaching and Printing publikely privately and every way they can to provoke men and women to repentance and also for that we see men and women generally to take to heart the afflictions of their brethren and to helpe them with their praiers and purses and every way they can yea me thinketh in all places I see a quickning of zeale and devotion and a commendable care to seeke the face of God in his holy Ordinances both publikely and privately Every where more thankfulnesse for our peace and the blessed day of visitation Oh the sanctified use of their troubles is a sweet assurance that our sins are not full but the Lord will be our protector still and doe great things for us But because the Iesuit seeing his fellowes and the Romish Catholikes could not swallow us up quicke as they intended in the gunpowder-plot yet to keepe life in them that they may with good hope hold on in their deuillish plots and devices against us doth prophesie saying The sinnes of England will shortly be full Oh let us make him a false Prophet let us repent and turne to God in fasting weeping and mourning Let Ministers with word Magistrates with sword make a leake in the vessell of sinne and rouze up ourselves and one another out of deepe security and meet the Lord with all humble and earnest entreaty of peace Now if ever as we tender the salvation of our soules and the good of the Common-wealth wherein we live the safegard of his Majestie and the royall Issue the good of body estate and all we have as we love our selves husbands wives children friends let us seeing Gods judgements are abroad in the world and the Lord of Hoasts hath raised terrible Armies marching furiously for our destruction mourne bitterly for our sinnes and all our abominations fall upon our faces and cry aloud and mightily both day and night in the eares of the Lord that he would forgive us our sinnes and turne away the armies of his plagues and punishments from us and continue a gracious good God to us and our posterities untill the comming of the Lord Iesus Christ in the clouds to judgement I have armed at no mans person or particular calling Only as one of Gods servants desiring to be faithfull and free from the bloud of all men I have set Trumpet to my mouth and according to that ability I have received laboured to stirre up all such as have heard me to the practise of speedy and unfained repentance This hath beene the maine end of all my discourse which now by Gods good hand I have finished If it worke that effect in many if in any I have my desire if but in one if in none but my selfe my labour is not lost in the Lord. I shall be found a sweet savour unto God even in those that perish and at the least save mine owne soule And so to his blessing from whom I have received it I doe commend it FINIS '' In eo quod amatur aut non 〈◊〉 aut labor ipse amatur August * Ambo verbum praediâ—ion hic quidem scripto ille vero voce Clem. Alex. Stromat lib. 1. Euangelizo manu scriptâ—â—â—â—e Reinold praesat in lib. de Rom. Eccles Idolat * Solet acceptior esse sermo vivus quaÌ„ scriptus Bern. a 2 Pet. 1. 13. b 2 Tim. 4. 2. c Esay â—â— 9. d Matth. 3. 7 8. Luke 13. 5. e 1 Cor. 9. 16. f 1 Tim. 1. 11. g Matth. 25. 27. h Ierem. 6. 4. i Matth. 24. 46. k Prov. 16. 31. l Psal 92. 14. m Rev. 2. 19. n 2 Pet. 1. 14. o Eccles 12. 3. p Luke 16. 2. q Luke 19. 17. * Alterius Ecclesia necessitatibus evocatus minimè vobis solitum studium dependisse videor Amb. Serm. 28. r 1 Thess 2. 8. a Nov. 11. 1618. b In Christ-church Cant. c Mat. 2. 2. d Ier. 7. 16. e Ezech. 22. 30. f 1 Cor. 2. 4. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h Lachrymae auditorum sint laudes tuae Ierom. ad Nepot i In Ch. Church and Saint Georges Canterb. Aug. 11. 1622. k Carpere vei noli nostra vel ede tua Martial l Psal 52. 4. m Vndique 〈◊〉 adest undique miuâ—â— abest a Mal. 2. 7. b Act. 15. 21. c 1 Sam 9. 9. Amos 7. 12. d Numb 12. 6. * Only five in the old and foure in the new or at most but ten in both if the blessed Virgin be numbred for one Dan. fore-notes pag. 44. e Luke 1. 70. * Dan. sup p. 86. f Mat. 11. 13. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dialog cum Tryph. p. 308. g 1 Cor. 14. * Lumen Propheticum Bellar. T. 1. lib. 4. cap. 15. de not is Ecclesiae * D. will Synop. Cont. 2. Quaest 3. h Psal 74. 9. i Ier. 11. 7. 35. 15. a Iirmijah Ram. Jah excels Dom. Ieron * Concionator admirabilis Keckerm de Rhetorica Ecclesiastica cap. ult * Projectio Domini Isidor Pelâ—usiot Chrysost discipulus f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Castro Isag in Ier. a 2 Cor. 11. 22. k Iosh 21. 18. * Dan. fore-notes cap. 11. pag. 60. The whole time betwixt the captivity of the ten Tribes and of Iudah was 130. yeares towards the latter end whereof our Prophet was sent and so continued till the captivity Josep Ant. lib. 10. cap. 11. l Ier. 1. 1 2 3. * 2 Kin. 17. in the dayes of Hosheah by Shalmanasâ—r Vse Considerations The sum of it Application m Dan. 5. 6. n Rom. 15. 4. o 1 Cor. 10. 6. Aggravation That I may say of it as Iacob did of Bethel How fearfull is this place Gen. 32. 1 p Psal 50. 15. 2 q Psal 65. 2. 3 r Psal 122. 6. 4 Å¿ Iona. 3. 8. t Exod. 14. 13. u Psal 6. 8. 5. * Ezech. 22. penult 6. x Esay 58. y Gen. 28. 17. Sense * Est speciale interdictum Piscat in locum “ Non debuit prostatu regni or are Calv. 1. Reason Hee did not pray for them z Ierem. 14. 20. Fortification a Ierem. 18. 21. b Ierem. 20. 12. Obiect Sol. c Gen. 22. d 1 Sam. 3. 18. e Matth. 6. f Ierem. 18. 20. Gods will be done with us and on us 2. Reason Hee ever perswaded them to yeeld g Ierem. 21. 9. h Ierem. 27. 8. 12. i Ierem. 29. 7. Quest. Answ k Ierem. 18. 7 8. l Ionah 3. m Gen. 18. penult n Gen. 19. 13. The
for their sins they should be carried into captivitie and with an oath affirmed it it must needs be granted the decree and sentence were absolute and that according to the letter of the prohibition the Prophet must not pray for them in this neither did hee but submitted himselfe to Gods holy will and pleasure The maine objection which I know of that may be made either against this sense delivered or the practice of our Prophet is a like Prohibition to Moses which yet was but conditionall for he presently prayed and prevailed so we reade that in Moses absence the people causing Aaron to make a golden calfe which they worshipped God told Moses what a great sinne they had committed and addeth Now therefore let me alone that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation and Moses besought the Lord and he repented of the evill which he thought to doe to his people I answer that betwixt that to Moses and this to Ieremie there is a great difference for howsoever that be delivered to Moses in the Imperative as well as this yet that carrieth the face of a milde instruction and intimateth that it was in Moses power to give leave or to let God so as Moses receiveth thereby encouragement to pray What is it for God to say Let me alone but to make him bold to pray but this charge is with waightie words Thou shalt not pray nor crie nor make intercession for I will not heare thee Secondly Moses was but once bid let God alone but our Prophet was thrice expresly forbidden to pray for them Now if Ioseph told Pharaoh his dreame was doubled because the thing was established of God he will bring it to passe how much more may I say this charge is tripled to his Prophet to signifie that he meaneth good sooth their captivitie is decreed and established of God and he will bring it to passe Thirdly and lastly God threatned to Moses he would utterly consume the people yea and blot out their name from under heaven that God could not doe but much dishonour his name and therefore Moses urgeth in his prayer wherefore should the Aegyptians speake and say For mischiefe did he bring them out to slay them in the mountaines and to consume them from the face of the earth Againe to doe so were to breake promise and oath which he had made with their fathers and therefore Moses doth specially urge that Remember Abraham Isaack and Israel thy servants to whom thou swarest by thine owne selfe and saydst unto them I will multiply your seed as the starres of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed and they shall inherit it So that what face soever it carried Moses saw well enough God did not meane he should not pray for them But the case is here altered first Gods glorie is no way endangered no more than it was by the captivitie of the ten Tribes nay this was greatly for his glorie first that all nations might see what a just God he is who will not forbeare to punish sinne no not in his owne people for many nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done thus to this great Citie and they shall answer Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshipped other Gods and served them but his deliverance of them out of captivitie should be much more for his glorie for hee meant that should be more eminent and glorious than their deliverance out of Aegypt was so as after that time it should be no more said The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of Aegypt but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the North and from all the lands whither he had driven them See how greatly their captivitie should be for his glorie Neither was this against any promise or oath for hee had already performed them he had cast out the Heathen and planted Israel in Yea rather herein God was as good as his word for hee had threatned them if they were rebellious and disobedient he would give them into the hands of their enemies and they should reigne over them Thus I hope by conference of Scriptures I have sufficiently cleared the sense of this viz. that it was an absolute prohibition and therefore howsoever the Prophet was exceedingly afflicted to foresee in spirit and afterwards to see with the eyes of his bodie the captivitie of the Iewes and desolation of the Citie and Temple neither was hee ever wanting to give them good counsell and pray in other cases for them yet in this he might not in this he did not Now it followeth to build doctrines for Instruction Consolation and Reprehension and by application to make them usefull unto us which doctrines naturally arising are many and namely these First God commonly giveth warning before he bring any judgement upon any place or persons specially on his Church or people or on any place where his people are This doctrine will be sufficiently proved both from positive and exemplarie Scriptures Thus saith the Prophet Surely the Lord God will doe nothing but hee revealeth his secrets unto his servants the Prophets Before God brought the floud God revealed it to Noah who by word of mouth and building the Arke gave warning to the old world for 120. yeeres before hee sent fire and brimstone to consume the Cities in the plaine hee revealed it to Abraham and then to Lot and his children before the judgements were executed on Pharaoh and Aegypt God revealed it to Moses and Aaron before he destroyed Ninivie he gave knowledge thereof to Ionah and he proclaimed Yet fortie dayes and Ninivie shall be destroyed The Iewes shall not be destroyed but the day and time shall be first proclaimed that Gods people may betake themselves to fasting and prayer Before the captivitie of the ten Tribes God revealed it to many of his Prophets as Isaiah Iehu Eliah Michaiah Obadiah Hosheah Amos Ioel that as before a great storme the cocks crow loud and thicke so before this great judgement the Prophets threatned and cried loud and shrill before the captivitie of Iudah and Beniamin many other Prophets knew of it and were sent to threaten it as Esay Ezechiel Zephanie and our Prophet who most plainly told them for how long it should continue How were the Iewes abundantly warned before their finall destruction and dispersion how is Babylon fore warned how those golden Churches in Asia Minor how are wee all forewarned of the destruction of the world by fire how are we all forewarned of the destruction of the wicked in hell fire yea what judgement can befall us but our consciences must needs testifie that some way or other yea many wayes God hath given us warning All which doe sufficiently confirme our
and appearance of Gods anger Who saith Moses considereth the power of his wrath Psal 90. Oh it is a powerfull wrath indeed as Hezekiah and David say It crusheth and breaketh the bones it woundeth and killeth If the wrath of a King who is but a mortall man be as messengers of death what is the wrath of the King of Kings Oh saith David when thou turnedst away thy face I was troubled and Solomon said A wounded spirit who can beare Oh it is the sense of Gods anger troubleth woundeth killeth is the hell on earth at the appearance whereof Gods children are so affected mourne and cry The second reason is because next unto God Gods Church and people are dearely beloved of all the true members thereof as being the people that God hath redeemed with his bloud entred into perpetuall league and covenant with yea the spouse of Christ Ephes 5. 32. and therefore it wonderfully affecteth Gods servants with griefe and maketh them cry when they foresee any judgement or miserie befall them the rather because in the miserie of Gods Church Gods glory seemeth to be stained whereof they are so zealous that rather than that should happen Moses wished to be blotted out of the booke and S. Paul to be separated from Christ Oh how father Eli was afflicted at the report of heavie newes when one told him that Israel was fled before the Philistims his two sonnes slaine and the Arke of God taken It strucke him dead at heart he fell backward from his seat and broke his necke and his daughter in law hearing the same newes presently fell into the throwes of travaile and being delivered of a sonne called his name Ichabod When zealous Nehemiah heard how the people of God were in great affliction Ierusalem broken downe and the gates burnt with fire he could not containe himselfe but sate downe and wept and being the Kings Cup-bearer and as much as his office and life was worth to appeare sad and hee never had beene so before yet now he could not hide it his countenance bewrayed it the King tooke notice of it and asked him Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sicke this is nothing else but sorrow of heart Oh the ruines of Ierusalem lay at his heart which also made the people of God so imprecate themselves If I forget Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning yea let my tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth if I preferre not Ierusalem to my chiefestioy The third and last reason whereof flesh and bloud are more sensible than the two former is That the godly may be wrapped with the wicked in the same temporall punishment and therefore when they see it comming they are much affected and labour to prevent it I say againe howsoever God is marvellous in commonly providing for his children before a judgement come as we shall heare more hereafter yet many times even the godly are wrapped with the wicked in the same temporall punishment and therefore are so affected Shall we condemne all that perished in the waters and all that were consumed with fire God forbid If yee doe yet know that though all were not guiltie of the sinne of making and worshipping the golden Calfe yet it endangered all Let mee alone saith God and I will utterly consume them and blot out their name from under Heaven for Achans sinne Iosuahs armie is put to flight and many slaine for Sauls sinne in killing the Gibeonites there came a famine upon the land for three yeeres together and you know for that great villanie committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah in abusing the Levites Concubine not only vengeance came upon the Citie wherein it was committed but upon all the Tribe of Beniamin because they delivered them not up to be punished but rather would seeme to defend them yea not only upon that Tribe which might seeme justly accessarie but upon the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead because they came not up to the warre to see Gods judgements executed upon those wicked men Let him that readeth that story consider how farre the judgements of God may extend themselves towards all such as are not affected with Gods anger and doe not to the uttermost of their power endevour to punish sin This was it made all the people of Israel so much afraid when they heard how the Reubenites Gadites and halfe the Tribe of Manasseh had erected an Altar on the other side Iordan and supposed it had beene to offer sacrifice on their Commissioners told them if they did so rebell against the Lord the next morrow the Lord would be wroth with all the Congregation of Israel If then the zeale of Gods glorie and love to Gods people will not move yet the love to ourselves and estates may move us to mourne for sinnes and abominations of the land and to take greatly to heart the tokens of anger and threatnings of judgements because wee also may be wrapped up in them But mee thinketh I heare some say such is Satans malice and bloudie murtherous desire to have Gods judgements generall and therefore dulleth the spirits of Gods children thus Alas what profit will it be for me to mourne and afflict my soule if the judgement come I and mine all we are and have shall be wrapped up in it as well as those who take nothing to heart but live joyfully and therefore let us even eat and drinke and let God doe his will Oh fainting soule be not abused and deceived step up for thy part into the breach to stay Gods wrath seeke the Lord amongst the meeke of the earth for Sions sake hold not thy tongue and for Ierusalems sake give God no rest bee one of his remembrancers day and night in all thy supplications and prayers hold up thy hands against Satan and Antichrist and bee thou to the uttermost of thy power an enemie to all the enemies of the Church and helpe the Lord and his people against them with prayer prease and push of pike if thou beest thereunto called and crie mightily unto God for helpe in this that God would generally open the eyes of all men to see our sins and the judgments thereby deserved that all mens hearts may melt into teares as Iosiahs did in the like case and that all as one man may goe out and meet the Lord by repentance before his decree bee executed upon us Yea if none shall joyne with thee but in this case thou mayest complaine with Eliah that thou art left alone yea so farre from helping as that they doe mocke and discourage thee as David complained For thy sake I have borne reproach and shame hath covered my face when I wept and chastened my soule with fasting that was my reproach I put on sackcloth and became a proverbe they that sate in the gate spake against
judgement afarre off and like faithfull watchmen from the wall give warning to the City as soone as ever they descry the Lord comming against his people Secondly they must labour by their Ministery to bring the people to repentance that so Gods wrath may be pacified and judgements prevented and to that end they must faithfully reprove them for their sinnes and let them see the hainousnesse of their transgressions and call earnestly upon them for repentance Thus did Noah before the floud Lot before the burning of Sodom the Prophets Isay Ieremy Ezechiel Ioel before the Captivities Rent your hearts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God thus did Christ and Iohn Baptist before the finall destruction of the Iewes Repent repent Except yee repent yee shall all perish Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree and O generation of vipers who hath forewarned you to flee from the anger to come bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life yea thus have all Gods servants done that desire to be free from the bloud of all men for if they give not warning the bloud is required at their hands and therefore it behoveth them to bestirre themselves that if it be possible they may save Gods people from the wrath to come or at least deliver their own soules and be found a sweet savour unto God even in them that perish Thirdly it is the faithfull Ministers duty to be very tenderly affected towards all such as mourne in Sion and with David are afraid of Gods judgements they must be sure to speake a word in due season to such as are weary God gave the Prophet Isay a charge to speake comfortably to the heart of Ierusalem And hence it is that the Prophets Christ Iohn Baptist and the Apostles did ever interlace reproofes and threatnings with heavenly comforts to prepare them for times of triall and tentations that howsoever they lived amongst the wicked and some great judgement and generall might come yet come what will it should goe well with them yea let vs Ministers be assured the Lord will require as strict an account of us how we have cheared and comforted the godly as that we have reproved and threatned the wicked And I say upon this occasion in the word of the Lord Be of good comfort all godly Magistrates and Governors if your hearts be set aright to advance Gods Religion and holy Gospell of Christ and to suppresse and beat downe Atheisme Poperie and all wickednesse whereby Gods anger is kindled and heavie judgements procured Be of good comfort yee Ministers of Christ that watch and warne Gods people having continuall sorrow and heavinesse to see their sinnes and being farre off from serving the time and flattering them saying Peace peace when there is no peace but faithfully reproving them for all their sinnes and earnestly calling on them for repentance And be of good comfort all yee people whose hearts are broken with godly sorrow to see the sinnes of the Land and you that strive to keepe your selves unspotted of the world and to walke worthy the Gospell and such great mercies as God vouchsafeth and humble your soules before God privately in fasting and praiers and so farre as you can and is lawfull labour to draw on others in the like practise of piety know that you are sealed and maintained of God assure your selves the eie and hand of God are on you for good his compassions shall not faile the hils shall sooner remove out of their places than his mercy can be removed from you his covenant with day and night shall sooner be broken than with you you are written upon the palmes of his hands and are ever in his sight and either God will be pacified and spare for your sakes or as he knoweth best will provide for you either take you to himselfe that you shall not see the evill to come or whatsoever evill come his good Angels shall guard you his spirit support you his grace be sufficient for you he shall enrich you with peace patience and joy and in good time make an end of all misery and set the crowne of immortall glory on your head The second duty particular is for the chiefe Magistrate to command such as are subordinate and inferiour to see execution these are to testifie how greatly they are affected with tokens of Gods wrath and appearance of judgements by labouring to reforme sinne and enjoyning fasting and humiliation for pacifying of Gods anger and preventing of judgements Thus did Moses Ioshuah David Iehoshaphat Nehemiah Hesty King of Ninivie It would aske too long a time to shew you how wonderfully God hath beene appeased and how strangely judgements have beene prevented by this most godly and Christian exercise the Scriptures are plentifull in this point Yea it is registred that even Ahab only thereunto moved with a base feare of judgement threatned and but fasting and wearing sackcloth in hypocrisie God deferred the judgement untill his sonnes daies Oh what a blessing did this Land receive hereupon in Ann. 1588. I am perswaded never any did humble themselves before the Lord in true fasting and praier but found a blessing from heaven thereon Oh that I could but perswade you to make triall hereof and to prove the Lord herein I assure my selfe God is the same loving God as ready now as ever most graciously to answer the soule that setteth it selfe aright to seeke God by such waies and meanes as he hath prescribed Now let us come and make application of these things to ourselves That God hath many waies testified his anger and displeasure and not only threatned but also in some measure executed his judgements who so blinde as seeth not But how are men and women affected herewith Doe we in the conscience of our sinnes judge our selves unworthy of any common blessing peace food sleepe apparell and most worthy of all those heavie judgements which either he hath threatned or executed on any others Are we afraid of Gods judgements and specially of those that are spirituall I say againe of those that are spirituall and most dreadfull Doe we grieve exceedingly and mourne in our soules that we have so justly offended God and purchased his anger and displeasure and to have the very floudgates and all the sluces of his judgements drawne up to our utter overthrow and destruction Doe we bend our selves with all our strength to pacific God and prevent his judgements And to that end doe we with full purpose of heart resolve to forsake our owne knowne sins and to put in practise all holy purposes and vowes to reforme presently whatsoever we know to be amisse in us and to shew forth more true zeale of Gods glory and the power of godlinesse in our lives than we have done
to have need of stirring up like unto that elegant metaphoricall decomposite of the Apostle unto Timothie Stir up the gift of God The graces of God being like fire must ever and anon be russled and stirred up else will grow cold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh stirre up your selves Secondly being stirred up by prayers faithfull and fervent men lay hold on God And againe I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it Our Saviour speaketh of offering violence to the Kingdome of Heaven and the violent taking it by force wherein prayer hath a speciall part for woe were it with many if bodily strength carried it away but the poorest and weakest Christian sicke in bed and scarce able to breathe yet by sighes and groanes may offer violence and take Gods kingdome by force and S. Paul beseecheth the Romanes For the Lord Iesus Christs sake and for the love of the Spirit that they would strive with him in their prayers to God for him He would have them pray but not coldly and negligently as the Papists mumbling and tumbling over their beads when their mindes are wandring about earthly occasions but hee would have them strive with God and put all their strength to it yea to strive to the shedding of bloud as the word signifieth Christ being in an agonie his sweat was as it were great drops of bloud Thus for confirmation of this Doctrine you have God and his Prophets in the old Testament and Christ and his Apostles in the new To this purpose sweet are the sentences of some of the Fathers An ancient one saith When prayers joyne together in devotions they doe as it were even band themselves together to encounter God And another saith The Saints have God so bound that he cannot punish without their permission and licence Loe loe the incomprehensible mercie and loving kindnesse of God towards such as truly feare and serve him making them in his goodnesse in his bottomelesse goodnesse I say so powerfull and mightie with him that their prayers are as it were bands to tie his hands and as a wall against him that hee cannot execute his anger though most justly deserved unlesse they will suffer him and as it were stand out of his way How may the consideration hereof make us exclaime O Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou regardest him or as Iob hath it That thou doest set thine heart upon him Iob 7. 17. Will you see how powerfull Gods Saints are with God by their prayers I meane not to obtaine great blessings and doe great works the Scripture is so full in this I should finde no end but according to the Text and Doctrine raised in preventing threatned judgments to themselves or the Church of God Take a few selected out of many for instance When Iacob soresaw destruction threatned to himselfe and wives and children by his cruell and bloudie brother Esau comming out against him with 400. men then saith the Text was Iacob greatly afraid and distressed and falleth to prayer unto God for deliverance yea and with that fervencie that hee is said to wrestle with God and told him hee would not let him goe till hee had blessed him and in the end by his prayers and teares he prevailed and thereupon was his name changed from Iacob into Israel which signifieth a Prevailer with God the evill he feared was removed his brother that came out against him as fierce as a Lion when they met was as meeke as a Lambe yea hee confesseth hee saw his face as the face of God When the Amalekites came out against Israel and threatned their destruction Moses went up into the mountaine and prayed and when hee held up his hands in prayer unto God Israel prevailed but when he let downe his hands Amalek prevailed which sheweth that the push of Moses prayers did more than the pikes of all Israel besides When againe for that great sinne of worshipping the golden Calfe God before hee signified to Moses his purpose to consume them and blot out their names from under Heaven bade him let him alone yet Moses by prayer prevailed with God for pardon of their sinne and continuance of his favour whereof David speaketh thus He said he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach to turne away his wrath where he compareth Moses to a valiant Captaine who when besieging enemies have made a breach in the wall the Citie is like to be lost steppeth up into the breach and defendeth it which Moses did by the power of his prayer and turned away Gods wrath from his people Againe for the children of Israels murmuring against Moses and Aaron the plague beganne amongst them and there died foureteene thousand and seven hundred wherefore Moses commanded Aaron quickly to take fire from the Altar and put on incense and stand betwixt the living and the dead and so the plague ceased whereof in the Wisdome of Solomon we have an excellent paraphrase and fitting our purpose the blamelesse man made haste and stood forth to defend them and bringing the shield of his Ministerie even praier the propitiation of incense he set himselfe against the wrath and overcame the destroyer the words in the Greeke Text are verie significant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propugnavit hee fought valiantly hee brought forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arma Ministerij the weapons of his Ministerie and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he resisted wrath non vi sed precibus all the created powers in heaven and earth cannot resist God yet may a poore man by the power of his prayers turne away Gods wrath and procure an undeserved blessing and remove a most just deserved punishment As the young infant more prevaileth with the father or mother by a teare than the strength of arme so God pitieth us as a father hath more compassion than a mother he cannot but fulfill the desires of such as feare him David saw the Angell stretching his hand out upon Ierusalem to destroy it and yet by praier prevailed with God to spare it who said to the Angell It is enough stay now thine hand In that great tempest by sea when there was no hope of life yet Paul prayed and God gave him the lives of all that passed being to the number of two hundred threescore and sixteene soules so as though they made shipwracke and with the violence of the sea the ship was broken to peeces yet not one soule was lost all came safe to shore And if the praiers of one be so powerfull with God how much more the praiers of many being united Let Hesther and Mordechai and the Iewes fast and pray and then commeth most wonderfull deliverance to
desolation a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of the trumpet and alarum against the defenced Cities and high towers bloud shall bee powred out as dust and flesh at dung neither shall silver nor gold bee able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath but the whole land shall bee devoured by the fire of his iealousie for hee shall make a cleane riddance of all them that dwell in the land I say after the Prophet had thus spent and concluded the first chapter in denunciation of severe judgements in that fearefull manner as might make the knees knocke and haire stand upright marke how he beginneth the second chapter with heavenly and good counsell Gather your selves together yea gather together ô nation not desired before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lords anger come upon you seeke yee the Lord all the meeke of the earth which have wrought his iudgement seeke righteousnesse seeke meeknesse it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger Where note that when Gods judgements are threatned men and women must not sit downe carelesly with hand over head Let God doe his will I shall escape aswell as others it concerneth mee the least of many thousands But God would have men to be exceedingly affected at the testimonies of Gods anger and to tremble at his judgements a Doctrine which hath beene raised and largely handled from this Scripture already Secondly note that hee would not have the faithfull content themselves to mourne and pray in secret but to gather together so farre as their callings and gifts will serve to draw on others to the practise of pietie and godlinesse Thirdly note who they are that God specially looketh should seeke him as being his favourites and such as are best able to resist him even such as are meeke on earth i. Such as are meeke to stoope to the instructions of the Word such as are meeke patiently to beare the corrections of his rod and such as are meeke to put up wrongs and injuries still crying to God for the good of his people even when they offer them greatest injuries Such a meeke man was Moses most earnest for the peoples good when they were readiest to stone him Moreover they must be such as have wrought his judgements i. Such as have kept themselves unspotted and specially from Idolatrie such as have still cleaved unto God his Word Law and Commandements doing such things as hee hath judged to be just and right still walking with God as Enoch did these are the men who in all ages have only beene in favour with God and most powerfull with their prayers wherefore Pharaoh intreated Moses and Aaron to pray for him and the people in their distresse runne to Samuel and pray him not to cease to one to God for them And verily how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked world esteeme of them all the hope and helpe of a people that can come from man remaineth in these and their prayers only Againe that their prayers may be the more available it must not suffice that they have beene meeke and have wrought right but they must seeke meeknesse and righteousnessei Labour everie day to be more and more meeke and righteous walking with such care and conscience in all the Commandements and Ordinances of God that the world cannot have the least matter against them except it be as against Daniel for the matters of their God for the more mortified sanctified and holy any are in the greater favour they are with God and the more powerfull are their prayers for themselves and others Whereas God will not heare sinners no not for themselves much lesse for others it being as dangerous for a sinner to come neare unto God as for the drie stubble to come neare the flaming fire Wherefore David would wash his hands in innocencie and so goe to his table and the Priests had their laver to wash hands and feet in before they went to minister to the Lord. Then lastly observe what shall be the comfortable issue of such seeking God viz. That if they cannot prevaile with Gods Majesty for the sparing of his people yet they shall save their owne soules and finde an hiding place in the day of the Lord. One of these two or both they shall be sure to finde and the very lesser of them is an abundant reward for all the labour any can take in seeking God though it were day and night An example whereof we have in our Prophet who taking exceedingly to heart the misery of Gods people which he foresaw and wishing his head were waters and his eies a fountaine of teares that he might weepe day and night for his people and protesting to God that he stood before him to speake good for them and to turne away his wrath howsoever therein he could not prevaile and in the end God forbade him to pray for them yet his praiers and teares were returned into his owne bosome for as God promised him Verily I will make the enemies to entreat thee well in the time of evill and in the time of affliction so God performed it For Ieremy being in prison when Ierusalem was taken Nabuzaradan the chiefe Steward according to the command which Nebuchad-nezzar had given him not only set him at liberty but gave him victuals and a reward with leave to goe whither he would so good a thing it is to be faithfull unto God how ever things goe with his Church Upon these grounds from Gods Word I renew mine exhortation againe Pray pray pray you shall at the least deliver your owne soules Yea let me yet speake a word of further comfort unto you I cannot finde one example in all the Booke of God wherein a people humbling themselves in sincerity in any measure according to the ordinance and word of the Lord but they were ever delivered from that temporall judgement threatned at the least for the present Oh therefore that it would please God that the Lords Ministers could stirre up all the meeke of the Land to seeke the Lord in repentance and praier to step up into the breach intercede and resist God I would not doubt but as to see judgements passe over us so to see peace on Gods Israel abroad There is helpe for Ierusalem in her God and when the Lord hath brought her on her knee and clothed her with sackcloth for her sinnes he will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the King of Ashur and the glory of his high lookes who doth not know that he is the rod of Gods wrath The stripes of Ierusalem shall be healed but the wounds of Babylon are incurable there is no Balme in Gilead for her Ierusalem may be shaken but it is Babylon shall fall and never rise againe Oh then pray and
cleare that such may be the sinnes of a people that God will not regard their owne praying and fasting Hearken how the Lord himselfe threatneth a rebellious people Because I have called and yee have refused I have stretched out mine hand and no man regarded but yee have set at nought all my counsell and would none of my reproofe I will laugh at your calamity and mocke when your feare commeth when your feare commeth as desolation and your destruction commeth as a whirlwinde Then they shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seeke me earely but they shall not finde me Lo how the sinnes of a people may come to that height that in their greatest calamity and destruction and when they cry most fervently and seeke God earely yet God will be so farre from hearing and answering of them that he will laugh and mocke them And againe When yee spread forth your hands I will hide mine eies from you yea when yee make many praiers I will not heare And againe by our Prophet he saith When they fast I will not heare their cry but I will consume them by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence And againe I will bring evill upon them which they shall not be able to escape and though they shall cry yet will I not hearken unto them And againe I will deale in fury mine eie shall not spare neither will I have pitie and though they cry in mine eares with a loud voice yet will I not heare them Loe how plainly and plentifully this is proved though but by a few places in stead of many And as he hath threatned he will not heare themselves though they fast and pray and cry aloud so neither will he heare any others no not the best of his servants for them Marke your Text Ieremy an excellent man of God and sanctified in his mothers womb yet God telleth him if he pray against the peoples captivity he will not heare him yea and telleth him because he should not thinke that he was out of favour that if Moses and Samuel stood before him yet his minde could not be towards his people Cast them out of my sight and let them goe forth and if they say whither shall we goe forth thou shalt tell them Thus saith the Lord such as are for death to death and such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine and such as are for the captivity to the captivity See what persons God hath picked out of all the bunch of the Patriarches Prophets Judges and Kings Who ever prevailed more by praier with God for others than Moses and Samuel When the people had committed that foule Idolatry in worshipping the golden Calfe God said He would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood up in the gap But Moses he besought the Lord and prevailed The Lord repented of the evill and did it not And when the Philistims came up against Israel and they were exceedingly afraid Samuel Oh faithfull Samuel the Lords Priest cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him and thundred with a great thunder and discomfited the Philistims But if Moses and Samuel did now stand before the Lord his minde cannot be won towards this people but they shall goe into captivity And againe by another Prophet he saith Sonne of man when the Land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously and I stretch out mine hand and breake the staffe of bread and send a famine and cut off man and beast though these three men were in it Noah Iob and Daniel they should deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse Or if I bring noisome beasts or bring a sword or a pestilence to cut off man and beast as I live saith the Lord though these three men were in it Noah Daniel and Iob yet should they deliver neither sonne nor daughter they should only deliver their owne soules but the Land shall be desolate Oh see againe what three Worthies he doth instance in Noah that upright man in the old World when all flesh had corrupted their waies Iob that upright man and fearing God in the Land of Vz and Daniel that man of Gods desire in Babylon Three men who could doe much with God for whom God did much yet if they had praied for this people God would not heare them they should not be able to deliver sonne nor daughter but only their owne soules And as such may be the sinnes of a nation or people so also of a particular person yea of Gods deare servants that he will not heare them but bring some temporall punishment upon them How great a favourite was Moses unto God to whom God spake mouth to mouth as a man talketh familiarly with his friend who obtained by his praier so many and great things at the hands of God for others so apparently honoured and graced of God that the Lord asked Aaron and Miriam Wherefore were ye not afraid to speake against my servant Moses Yet this great and good man for not sanctifying God at the waters of strife yea for once speaking unadvisedly with his lips and thereunto much provoked by that rebellious people was threatned he should not goe into the promised land An heavie judgement And though Moses made it his earnest suit unto God O Lord God thou hast begun to shew to thy servant great kindnesse I pray thee let me goe over and see the good land that is beyond Iordan that goodly mountaine and Lebanon yet the Lord would not heare him but cut him off saying Let it suffice thee speake no more to me of this matter David Gods deare servant and a man after Gods owne heart and for whose sake he did much to others how often have we these promises for my servant Davids sake yet he begetting a childe on Bethshebah the wife of Vriah the Lord strake the childe that it was very sicke and though David besought the Lord for the childe and fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth yet God would not heare him but on the seventh day the childe died according to the word of the Lord by his Prophet Nathan Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the childe that is borne to thee shall surely die And againe for his great sinne of numbring the people the Lord sent him a message by his Prophet Gad that he would send either pestilence famine or sword and though David repented and complained that he was in a great strait yet he could not obtaine freedome but according to his choice God sent a pestilence whereof in three dayes there died seventie thousand men Let all men and women then subscribe to this undoubted truth of God that such may be the sinnes of Gods Church in
A wonderfull and horrible thing is committed in the Land The Prophets prophesie falselie and the Priests beare rule by their meanes and my people love to have it so Whereas a false Prophet is the very taile and a most vile person in the eies of the godly and as unsauoury salt yea and God had cast dung in their faces Mal. 2. 3. Now such as in their Ministery would not trouble them by telling them of their sinnes and threatning of judgements but preach pleasing things heale all with sweet words rocke the cradle and let them sleepe in security apply themselves to their humours and play the good fellowes with them oh these were Prophets for the nonst these were commended honoured admired nothing too good for them but such as God sent and in their ministerie dealt faithfully and truly with them they loved them not could not away with them whereas their feet should have beene beautifull unto them they should only have knowne their voices and obeyed have esteemed and loved them as their fathers submitted themselves with reverence given them double honour had them in singular love for their workes sake received them even as the Angels and Ambassadors of God yea as Christ Iesus to have encouraged them in their Ministerie that they might have performed their office with joy duties which God expresly requireth at the hands of his people Now before the captivity they heaped all manner of discontents discouragements and disgrace upon them they would not heare them or else it was but to talke of them when they came home as one that had a pleasant voice and could sing well if they reproved them for sinne or threatned them with judgement they regarded it no more than winde but said evill shall not come upon us we shall neither see sword nor famine They did but mocke and deride and reproch him for his Ministerie his owne countrey-men of Anathoth threatned him to preach no more unto them in the name of the Lord for if he did he should die by their hands yea at another time when he had in a publike and great assembly delivered what he had received from the Lord Priests and Prophets and all the people caught him and said Thou shalt die the death They grievously slandered and accused him as a man that discouraged the people by his preaching and weakned the hands of the men of warre and sought not the wealth of the people but their hurt and therefore the Princes besought the King to put him to death his enemies conspired against him and his owne familiar friends watched for his halting yea they did sinite and imprison him both and much endanger his life with the filth of the prison for he did sticke fast in the mire which made him so bitterly to complaine Woe is me my mother that thou hast borne me a man of strise and a man of contention to the whole earth I have neither lent nor borrowed an usury yet every one of them doth curse me Yea he was so discouraged that he meant verily to have given up his calling and to have preached no more unto them and certainly this he had done but that the word and Spirit of God were in his heart as fire shut up in his bones which made him weary of forbearing and he could not stay Thus have you seene the great corruption that was in the Priests and Prophets generally both in regard of their Ministery and conversation and how the people behaved themselves both towards the good and bad Now let us see what was the generall condition and the sinnes of the people As to beginne with such as were greatest First they were ignorant of God as he complaineth My people is foolish they have not knowne me they are sottish children and have no understanding they are wise to doe evill but to doe good they have not knowledge yea they were more blockish and senslesse than the bruit creatures For the Storke of heaven knoweth her appointed times the Turtle Crane and Swallow observe the time of their comming but my people know not the iudgement of the Lord Secondly Atheisme they professed The Lord hath forsaken the earth he seeth not Neither was this the sinne of the common people onely but the Princes like Atheists devised mischiefe gave evill counsell mocked the threatning of the Prophet and said Iudgement was not neere they might build houses Yea King Iehoiakim himselfe like an Arch-Atheist having heard some of Ieremies Prophesie read unto him he cut the roule in peeces with a pen-knife and cast it into the fire and consumed it Thirdly foule and grosse Idolatry both private in the houses of their imagery in the darke God let his Prophet through an hole in the wall see seventy of the Ancients worshipping Idols and also publike On every hill and under every greene tree playing the harlot saying to a stocke thou art my father and to a stone thou hast brought me forth yea in the Cities of Iudah and streets of Ierusalem offering cakes to the Queene of heaven and powring out drinke offerings to other gods yea they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to defile it See how Idolatry groweth from chambers to hils from hils in the Country to streets in the Cities yea into the Temple This was that spirituall whordome which all the Prophets with open mouth cried out against and no marvell for as a man will beare with much frowardnesse and unkindnesse in his wife but by no meanes will endure her to commit whordome so God will beare with many sinnes in his people but cannot endure Idolatry spirituall whordome and adultery that never escaped heavie punishment Fourthly the taking of Gods name in vaine hearing the word but of fashion custome or sinister respects Behold saith God their eare is uncircumcised they cannot hearken behold the word of the Lord is to them a reproch they have no delight in it Adde hereunto their soule hypocrisie whereby they caused the name and religion of God to be blasphemed Will yee steale murther and commit adultery and sweare falsely and burne incense to Baal and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my Name Is this house become a denne of robbers in your eies behold I have seene it saith the Lord And he told his Prophet Ezechiel the people would say one to another Come let us heare what is the word that commeth forth from the Lord and they come and sit before thee and heare thy words but they will not doe them for with their mouthes they shew much love but their hearts goe after their covetousnesse And againe treacherous Iudah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but fainedly saith the Lord Prophanation of