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
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
Gods people and destruction to their enemies Doth there come up an huge multitude of Moabites Ammonites and Mount Seir against King Iehoshaphat let but him proclaime a fast throughtout all Iudah and let them pray and God will make their enemies destroy one another and he and his shall looke on and only sing and praise God Oh Peter is in prison a great calamity is thereby threatned to the Church but if the Church make praiers to God for him the Angell of the Lord came with great power and glory into the prison and brake off Peters chaines opened the prison doores yea and made the iron gate open of it owne accord Loe how the praiers of Gods children are stronger than fetters and gates of iron Yea Christ is gone on high and hath left his Church what is now to be done let them continue in praier and doe their duty after the Holy Ghost commeth as this day witnesseth which and much more that might be said to this purpose doth abundantly confirme your raised Doctrine viz. That Gods faithfull servants by their praiers are powerfull with God to turne away and prevent threatned and imminent judgements to themselves or the Church of God which made zealous Luther say There is nothing omnipotent under God but faithfull praier This commandeth all things in heaven earth hell in all the elements aire fire earth water But it would not be amisse to search that we may know the reasons why the praiers of Gods servants are so powerfull with God and they are principally these two viz. First our praiers are not our owne as the worke of our reason will affections or any thing that is naturall in us but the operation of Gods owne Spirit in us For as for us we know not what to pray as we ought but the spirit it selfe maketh request for us and againe It is the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father In nothing is there so evident demonstration of the spirit of God as in zealous praier To which purpose Gregory hath an excellent saying The Saints receive from God what they oppose to his blowes and as I may say from him it is whereby they lift up themselves against him and whereby they are enabled to resist him Iacob wrestled with God prevailed but it was God gave him the strength so to doe now God cannot but acknowledge the worke of his owne Spirit and therefore we know that whatsoever we aske of the Father according to his will he heareth us and our Saviour hath said Whatsoever yee shall aske my Father in my name he will give it you But the praiers of Turkes Iewes Idolaters Heretikes Infidels Hypocrites are of no power with God because such are not made by the Spirit of God the praiers of a wicked man are abominable and turne into sinne no more accepted of God than if he cut off a dogs necke God hath threatned that though such doe multiply their praiers hee will not heare them The second reason hereof is Gods owne free love and mercy who is pleased to make all the faithfull his favourites so as Haman nor any favourite could ever doe so much with those Monarchs and Kings that have set their love upon them as the least of Gods Saints may doe with the Lord for if earthly Kings be exceedingly offended favourites must give way Hamans face must be covered he shall never see the Kings face any more But though God be angry and have mustred his Armies yea and besieged and battered so powerfull are Gods servants that they can stand up in the breach and by their praiers turne away threatned judgements Oh who would not be such a Kings favourite who cannot deny any thing which is for his glory and their true good The more I thinke on this the more I am astonished that man poore miserable man weake sicke diseased vile and abominable in his owne eies despised of others yet should be such a favourite to the King of Kings Oh the free mercy and love of God! How should the consideration hereof ravish us This being so when the sinnes of a people are full and when the Lord is purposed to bring a judgement upon a people hee commonly maketh way thereunto As an earthly King purposing to doe a thing which he knoweth is displeasant to his favourite who would hinder him in it will make way by sending him out of the way or forbidding him to speake or some way taking him off So the Lord sometimes by taking to himselfe and calling out of this world such as else would stand in the gap whereof the Prophet Esay thus speaketh The righteous is taken away from the evill to come Thus God tooke away good King Iosiah that in his sonnes daies he might bring the threatned evill upon the Land And God tooke good S. Augustine when his City Hippo was besieged by the Vandals that he should not stand in the breach for them Or if he suffer them to live he restraineth them from praier as here he did our Prophet and rebuked Samuel How long wilt thou mourne for Saul seeing I have reiected him from reigning over Israel Or else he takes away the spirit of praier and doth suffer it to be dulled as that they cannot pray fervently as Esay complained that no man did stirre up himselfe to lay hold on God but as it were grew weary As then it is a most comfortable thing to see godly men to live and to see men zealous in preaching praying and serving God as when a storme commeth to see all men betake themselves to their tacklings as the Prophet saith to stirre up them selves to lay hold on God so is it a fearefull thing to see the righteous taken away by death or such as have beene zealous to become cold carelesse and negligent set all at six and seven let others care whom it doth more concerne and so post it over from one to another For hereby God even maketh way to the execution of some great judgement by removing such as might stand in the breach and stop his course And verily herein lieth no small part of our feare that within these few yeeres past God hath taken away a great number of his faithfull servants both Magistrates Ministers and Christian people and howsoever in his mercy he hath left a remnant some few Noahs and Lots Nehemiahs and Esaies that being sensible of Gods judgements doe warne this secure and unthankfull world lift up their hearts and hands with Moses against Amalek make intercession with faithfull Abraham mourne for the abominations of the Land wrestle and weepe with Iacob otherwise we had surely beene made long agoe as Sodome and like to Gomorrha yet alas what are these amongst so many prophane carelesse and secure sinners and how are these scorned and derided disgraced and discouraged how are such for signes
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
say Tush this is no matter of feare unto us we have no Prophets in these dayes to foretell judgements or whose threatnings we need to regard I answer Though the gift of prophecie properly so called be ordinarily 〈…〉 Church neither doe the true Ministers of the Gospell now take upon them to foretell wherewith when and how the Lord will punish the sinnes of a people yet assuredly the providence of God is wonderfull to direct them in their ministerie what texts of Scripture to handle what Doctrines to raise what promises or threatnings comforts or reproofes to use If therefore thou art placed under the ministerie or hearest such an one as thy soule and conscience doth witnesse he is the true Minister of Christ know that the spirit of God doth wonderfully guide and direct his studie and meditation his Sermons and preaching and therefore if he be much in the promises of the Gospell reioyce if in reproofe of sinne be sorrie if in the threatning of judgements feare he speaketh not rashly and at randome the fictions of his owne braine or publish the suggestions of an evill spirit but undoubtedly he delivereth what he hath received from the Lord it is the good Spirit of God directeth his heart tongue and pen to thinke write and speake what he knoweth most needfull for his people and therefore receive it with reverence as from God and submit your selves to such as watch over your soules and must give account unto God for you And verily herein lieth no small part of our feare that as God hath many waies testified his anger so hath he stirred up his faithfull servants both here and elsewhere by word and writing 〈…〉 and presse zealously to reprove the great and monstrous sinnes of this age and as sonnes of thunder to cause every corner of the Land to ring with the threatning and denunciation of some judgement or other and to call and cry for repentance whereby the same may be prevented which cannot be without God who undoubtedly without repentance will in his good time make good their word when mens hearts shall breake within them to remember they were told so before And so much for the maine reasons why sometimes God will not be intreated to the contrary but will punish a people viz. The declaration of his justice and truth that he may be feared and beleeved when by his servants he doth threaten It now followeth according to my proposed method to declare what sinnes they are which then did now doe and for ever will so provoke God and exasperate him that he will not spare and namely what were the sinnes which brought this miserable and inevitable captivity upon this people and which threaten the like judgement wheresoever found And therein two things are to be considered viz. The sinnes for their kindes and the measure or proportion of them What their sinnes were will appeare from the Prophets sent unto them to reprove them and threaten their captivity which were our Prophet Ezechiel Nahum Zephany Habacuck and Ioel Wherefore from their Prophesies only and specially of those two great and worthy Prophets I will gather light to this purpose and from them prove what I shall deliver And that I and you may the more orderly proceed and better remember them I will range them in certaine rankes As first the sinnes of the Priests and then of the people the sinnes of the Priests either in regard of their Ministery or conversation the sins of the people were either the greater as against the first Table or lesser as against the second Table The laying open of these things will both declare the justice of God who would not be entreated to spare so sinfull a people and also admonish all people to beware of such sinnes for feare of a like judgement And first note that judgement beginneth at Gods Sanctuary And no marvell for there beganne the corruption of all sorts of men The Prophets did most reprove and cry out against the Priests who in their Ministery first were blinde and ignorant It is true they were wonderfully conceited of their learning and knowledge and like enough they had a great measure at least some of them of worldly wisdome and humane learning but they rejected the word of the Lord and then what wisdome was in them Whereby it appeareth that howsoever the Priests lips should preserve the knowledge of God and God made his Prophets Seers and Watchmen to preserve the people from judgements to come by declaring their sinnes and directing them in the waies of God yet before the captivity they generally rejected the word of God and were simple without any power to tell the people of their sinnes or give direction what course to take whereby to prevent ensuing judgements Secondly they dealt falsely in their Ministery which the Lord complaineth of saying If they had stood in my counsell and declared my words to my people then should they have turned them from their evill waies And the Prophet bewaileth this fault Thy Prophets have not discovered thine iniquity to turne away thy captivitie but gave themselves to serve the time and please men flattering and saying peace peace building and dawbing with untempered morter They told the people all was well and that they should see neither sword nor famine nor any evill And if any one dealt more faithfully with the people shewing their sinnes and labouring to touch their consciences and to humble them that so they might prevent the judgement as Ieremy Ezechiel and some others did those wicked Priests and Prophets were angry and assured the people they did but terrifie and discourage them without cause all was well Yea that false Prophet Hananiah tooke away the yoke which by Gods command Ieremy did weare whereby to signifie their captivity and brake it prophesied falsely Thus within two yeeres will God breake the yoke of Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babylon yea Pashur could not hold his hand but smote Ieremy and put him in the stocks And as they were corrupt in their Ministery and enemies to such as were faithfull so were they most prophane in their lives and conversations being carnall and earthly minded From the least to the greatest every one was given to covetousnesse and from the Prophet to the Priest every one did deale falsely And againe Both Prophet and Priest are prophane yea in mine house have I found their wickednesse saith the Lord Whereas God told Baruch that which I have built I will breake downe and that which I have planted I will plucke up even this whole Land and seekest thou great things for thy selfe seeke them not Ier. 45. 4. As this was the great corruption of the Priests and false Prophets so the people did exceedingly further it and increase it in them For first they approved and liked well of flattery so the Lord himselfe said
persecuting Citie which liveth so deliciously and saith I sit a Queene and shall see no sorrow Her purple flatterers vaunt that temporall felicite is a note of the Church and make a catalogue of the strange victories which the Catholikes have had and as one saith scarcely ever received the foile in a just warre yet the holy truth assureth us the Beast and false Prophet shall be taken and all the sowles of Heaven filled with the flesh of those Kings Captaines and mightie men which have fought against the Gospell Yea Babylon as a mill-stone cast into the sea shall be throwne downe and found no more and she rewarded double according to her works at whose destruction all the Kings and Merchants of the earth who have lived deliciously and committed fornication with her shall bitterly lament and cry Alas alas that great Citie bow in one boure is she made desolate So Heaven Prophets Apostles and all the Martyrs Saints shal praise God with many a ioyfull Alleluiah Therefore stumble not at it that for the sins of his people hee giveth them into the hands of such as are more wicked than themselves for when his people are sufficiently scourged their enemies shall for ever be destroyed But some object againe wee have continued long in our sinnes and have felt none evill why should wee now be so earnestly called upon and urged to repent and threatned with judgement If wee repent not God is not so hastie I wis as our Preachers would make us beleeve I answer It is the continuance in sinne doth increase our danger as Iudah and Ierusalem were not carried into captivitie for the sinnes of a few yeeres but for their sinnes wherein they had long continued even ever since they were brought up out of Aegypt the men of the old world were spared long even an hundred and twentie yeeres yet continuing in sinne were in the end drowned Iudah and Ierusalem were spared long after their brethren were carried captive even 130. yeeres but continuing in sinne in the end they were carried into captivitie too The Lord is patient and slow to anger yet if there will bee no end of sinne there will be an end of mercie and God may repent so often that hee will repent no more and as our Prophet saith he can no longer beare and as he saith in another place God is wearie with repenting this wee have in the Scriptures illustrated by two familiar and elegant metaphors The first is of a large vessell which by drops asketh a long time of filling so God told Abraham the iniquitie of the Amorites was not yet full and our Saviour bade the Scribes and Pharisies of his age Fill ye up the measure of your fathers The second is of an harvest Corne when it is sowen is not by and by ripe The husband-man saith S. Iames hath great patience Why did not men cut downe their corne at Easter because it was not then ripe why are they now in many places so busie with sithes and sickles because the harvest is come and corne is ripe So God calleth to the executioners of judgements when wickednesse is great as unto his reapers Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe Oh then doe not say we have sinned often or long and what evill hath happened for a vessell at last may be filled with drops and corne may so long grow till fields be white to harvest and readie to be cut The last objection is Oh but England is a most happie and flourishing kingdome blessed with a most wise and prudent King a most hopefull issue wee have many learned and religious Preachers multitudes of godly and sincere professours Gods true religion established by Law and maintained by authoritie God hath heaped such temporall blessings upon us that it is another Canaan flowing with milke and hony God hath most wonderfully delivered it from matchlesse dangers and ruine intended it is a verie Sanctuarie of refuge for the Saints of God elsewhere persecuted Oh the consideration of these things makes many an one so secure that no warning fro heaven or earth word or works of mercie or justice will doe them good but they proceed from evill to worse as though no hurt could come unto them But give me leave as I doe most unfainedly acknowledge the great mercies of God so I would plucke away these pillowes from under their elbowes whereupon they sleepe in security I say then that the greater are the mercies of God unto any people the greater shall be their judgements if they abuse them The higher that Capernaum is exalted to heaven the lower shall it be cast downe into hell if it repent not And God threatneth Coniah As I live saith the Lord though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Iudah were the signet upon my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence and I will give thee into the hands of them that seeke thy life Was there ever any people in the world could compare with Iudah and Israel for privileges and prerogatives yet could they not secure them but their sinnes comming to height God forsooke the house whereon his Name was called yea and gave the dearely beloved of his soule into the hands of her enemies or as some Translations reade his beloved soule Oh if God did not spare such a people as he acknowledgeth to be the dearely beloved of his soule who had such a good and religious King when Ieremy beganne to prophesie viz. Iosiah who reformed Religion destroied the monuments of Idolatry and strictly compelled all to serve the Lord according to his word such excellent Prophets and some learned and worthy Teachers and some good people that mourned for the abominations of Ierusalem yet when their sinnes came to be full he would not heare any for them but gave them over to a long and wofull captivity What have any people to presume on No no this Doctrine shall stand against all the subtill objections of Satan and of flesh and bloud against it That the sinnes of a people may come to that height that God will bring some temporall judgement upon them and not heare any that shall pray for them Now to come to ourselves that we may make good use of all that hath beene spoken and heard You hearken what I should say concerning our owne estate and that you shall doe first from the mouth of an enemy When Ieremie heard the false Prophet Hananiah prophesie much good to Iudah he answered feelingly Amen the Lord doe so Pererius the Iesuite writing on that you have heard in Genesis The sinne of the Amorites is not yet full saith If any doe marvell why England continueth to flourish notwithstanding the cruell persecution of the Catholikes there he doth answer thē with the words of the Text Because their sinne is not full