Excellent Words of Solomon that Solomon who was once a Famous and Renowned King of Israel and who besides those Advantages of Education which he received from the pious Care of his Father King David was also inspired with Wisdom from on high and endued with such Understanding and Largeness of Heart as was commensurate to the Sand of the boundless Ocean Besides what has hitherto been said concerning the excellency of Proverbs in general and these of Solomon in particular there is one Observation still behind which will yet farther recommend the Text to your best Attention For of all those three Thousand Proverbs which are Recorded as the products of Solomon's Wisdom there is not any one the Holy Ghost has thought fit to repeat so often or inculcate more frequently than this of the Text for it is repeated thrice in this one Chapter besides what it is in other places of this Book of Proverbs In all which places the Wise man gives us to understand that the wonderful Providence of God does rule and govern all the Actions of Men. The Metaphor of a Way which is here used in the Text is known in Scripture to denote all the Actions of Men whether good or evil And according to this latitude the Metaphor here used is understood variously by Divines St. Cyprian refers it to the good Actions of Men and accordingly interprets the Text thus Cor viri cogitet justa ut à Deo dirigantur gressus ejus Let the Heart of Man saith he think righteous things that so his goings may be directed by the Lord. But tho' this be a very great Truth namely that Good Actions are govern'd and directed by the Providence of God yet others rather understand the Text of mens wicked Actions for the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Deviseth is for the most part used in a bad sense and what we render Man is Adam in the Original which according to Luther's known Observation is seldom taken in a good sense So that the words taken in this limited and restrained sense will run thus A mans Heart i.e. the Heart of Adam or of a wicked Man deviseeh and contriveth his wicked ways but the Lord by his wonderful Providence governeth and directeth all his steps The Heathen may rage as the Psalmist speaks and the People devise vain things yet he that sitteth in Heaven shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision God as he is Omniscient can easily know all the wicked devices of sinful Men and as he is Omnipotent he can as easily over-rule them and direct them so as may be most for his own Glory and the good of his People God He is no idle Spectator in this vast Theatre of the World but doth continually as the Psalmist speaks whatsoever pleaseth him both in Heaven and in Earth Indeed he has made Man a free Agent and therefore as the Son of Sirach speaks He leaves him in the Counsel of his own hand and allows him to act according to the liberty of his Will But then as the Wise Rector and Almighty Governor of the Universe He over-sees and over-rules all the Actions and Devices of wicked Men so that such as will not do him true and laudable service by obeying the known Will of his Precept are forced to obey the secret Will of his Providence and are made subservient to his Everlasting Counsels Thus tho' the Heart a of wicked man deviseth his wicked ways yet the Lord governeth and directeth all his steps For the fuller opening of which Words I design to confine my present discourse to the discovering of these two things First How the over-ruling Providence of God is imployed about sin and wickedness whilst it is but in fieri or the Heart of Man is but yet devising it And Secondly How it governs and directs sin in facto esse when sin is brought forth into act And First Of the First how Gods over-ruling Providence is imployed about sin whilst it is yet but in fieri whilst the Heart of Man is yet but contriving and devising it And this will appear in some measure from these following Considerations 1st God's Providence orders and directs sin and wickedness to such objects as he thinks fit It is a true saying of Hugo de Sancto Victo i.e. Deus non dat malis voluntatibus corruptionem sed tantum ordinem God saith he never infuses any corruption or wickedness into the Wills of Men but only gives Order and Direction to their Wicked Actions All the preparations and contrivances of sin are from the depraved hearts of Men the ordering of them to particular and suitable objects from the good providence of God As the Huntsman in Bellarmines comparison holds the Hound in a Slip and suffers him only to run at such Game as he best liketh So God keeps a constant Watch upon the Wicked he puts his Hook in their Nose and his Bridle in their Lips and suffers not their Rage to break forth but only on such persons as he thinks fit We know Gods Providence extended it self to the very Swine and would not suffer Satan to enter into them without his particular Warrant and sure then we need not doubt but this Providence of God is more eminently concerned about Man whom he was pleased to make after his own Image and likeness God does therefore set a Guard upon the malice of Satan and his Instruments nor can it break forth but as he permits it sometimes on his Enemies for their destruction and sometimes on his own People for their chastisement A proof of the latter we have Isa. 10. 5 6 7. at the 5th Verse Sennacherib King of Assyria is called the Rod of God's Anger and the Staff of his Indignation which metaphorical expressions import thus much that Men are but Instruments in the Hands of Gods Providence and must expect the direction of a superiour Cause Now this Assyrian this Sennacharib is said to be sent and directed against Israel an hypocritical Nation and now become the People of God's Wrath. And at the 7th Verse we find that this Staff of Gods Indignation was more in the Hand than in the Heart of this proud Assyrian Howbeit saith God he meaneth not so neither doth his Heart think so but it is in his Heart to destroy and to cut off Nations not a few There was no need God should instil any wickedness into the Heart of Sennach arib who is here in the Prophet called the Assyrian it seems it was full enough and too full before Berosus an Antient Historian has left his Character of him Sennacherib qui apud Assyrios regnabat omnem Asiam Aegyptum bello infestabat Sennacherib saith he who was King of the Assyrians vexed and insested all Asia and Aegypt with Bloody Wars Ye see the Head and Heart of this Assyrian were full enough of devices how to satisfie his Ambition and raise his Empire on the ruins of
our Psalmist had surely they frame to themselves such notions of a Deity as allow them with Iehu to drive on furiously in the ways of wickedness It will therefore be a piece of Charity to undeceive these deluded Wretches to shew them the weakness of those Principles they build upon and the vanity of those Reasons which so much emboldens them in their evil Practices and this was the Second General I proposed to speak to And First Atheism is one main Reason why many discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations As the Belief of a Deity is the Foundation of all Religion and he that cometh unto God must first believe that he is as S. Paul speaks Heb. 11. 6. So on the contrary Atheism must needs be the spring and source of all Irreligion and Profaneness Hence is that of the Psalmist Psal. 14. 1 2. The Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God and then follows in the next words they are corrupt they have done abominable works there is none that doth good But how well doth he deserve the Title of a Fool who denies the Being of a God which the whole Creation is one great evident and undeniable demonstration of This vast and wonderful Fabrick of Heaven and Earth proclaims with a loud voice the infinite Power and Wisdom of that Glorious Being which did at first Create it For as the Roman Orator observed of old Should a Traveller come into a strange Country and find some vast magnificent Palace there tho' he should see nothing but Rats Weasels and such like Creatures in it yet he would easily conclude some Wise and Skilful Architect had been there even so the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his Handy-work Hence is that of S. Paul Rom. 1. 20 The invisible things of God from the Creation are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse The Atheist therefore must needs be in a very dangerous condition who denies that Almighty Being the whole Creation doth so loudly proclaim Secondly Infidelity of the Scripture is another great reason why Men discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations Many there are that believe a God who do not yet believe those dreadful punishments which are threatned in the Scripture and therefore the hopes of impunity makes them run to all excess of riot For when there is an evil heart of unbelief there will be a departing from the Living God hence is that advice of the Apostle Heb. 3. 12. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an Evil Heart of Vnbelief And what better remedy can there be of this Unbelief than a serious consideration of those Miracles which were wrought to confirm our Faith in the Gospel For as Miracles are the highest Evidence Heaven can give and the Truths of the Gospel have been confirmed by many prodigious Miracles so these Miracles have been attested both by Friends and Foes The Universal Tradition of the Church for more than 1600 years cannot but be a very substantial Evidence of these Miracles to all Christians and yet besides this we have the concurrent Testimonies both of Iews and Pagans Iosephus the Iew reports of our Saviour that he went about doing good and confirmed his Doctrin by Mighty Signs and Wonders Nay farther yet Pontius Pilate as Eusebius informs us sent a large Narrative of our Saviours Miracles to Tiberius Caesar who laid them up among the Records of the Empire and accordingly they are appealed to by the Ancient Fathers Let us not therefore be any longer faithless but believing We cannot have a surer Foundation for our Faith than the Evidence of Miracles and he must needs be a Miracle of Infidelity himself who doth not believe those Miracles which were wrought by our Saviour seeing they have been attested both by Friends and Foes and confirmed to us not only by Christians but also by Iews and Pagans Thirdly I shall name but one Reason more why many men discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations and that is a dangerous opinion they have imbib'd of a state of Annihilation after death The Infamous Author of the Monstrous Leviathan has sadly debaucht this unhappy Age of ours by teaching That the Wicked after Death shall have no Resurrection no as he tells them they shall return to their Primitive Nothing and have no more sense of Pain than they had before they received their Being A Doctrin this most fatal to Piety and Vertue For if Wicked Men can once perswade themselves that they need not fear any severer punishment after Death than that of Annihilation then they will for certain run to all excess of Riot For this and no other was the use which was made of this pernicious Doctrin in the days of St. Paul this and no other was the language of Epicureans then as you may read in 1 Cor. 15. 32. If the Dead rise not say they let us Eat and Drink for to morrow we Die But what saith Solomon to such Sinners as these Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce O Young Man in thy Youth and let thy Heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth walk on in the ways of thy own Heart and in the sight of thine own Eyes yet know thou that for all these things God will bring thee unto Iudgment What a dismal day will the day of Judgment be to such deluded Sinners They will then at least find this Doctrin of Annihilation sadly confuted when they shall wish in vain that they had never been born and shall call upon the Rocks and Mountains to do them so much kindness as to crush them into nothing For certainly the gnawings of the Worm and the unquenchable burnings of Fire denote another state than that of Annihilation I hope by this time you will allow me to say with the Psamist in the Text Thou even thou O Lord art to be feared Believe it there is no contending with Almighty God Let the Potsherds strive with the Potsherds of the Earth but wo unto him that striveth with his Maker Cease therefore to do evil and learn to do well perfect Holiness in this fear of the Lord all the days of your lives and then that God who is able to destroy you will be found as able and much more willing to save you for the Merits of your dearest Saviour Jesus Christ to whom c. SERMON II. Revel ii 5. I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou repent ST Ierom says of this Book of Revelations that it hath as many Mysteries as Words and St. Austin gives a like Character of it when he tells us it will exercere mentes legentium that is set their Wits to work who set themselves to read it But notwithstanding all this what is said of the Scripture in
and hinder the Execution of his wicked Designs Tho' he can strike the Sinner with a Thunderbolt into Hell before he accomplishes his mischievous Enterprises yet having made Man a free Agent as I said before he allows him to act according to the liberty he has implanted in his Nature Ratio non est absque libertate Arbitrii saith Damascen there can be no Reason where there is no liberty to act But tho' God does permit the heart of man freely to devise and accomplish its ways yet still by his Providence he rules and directs his Steps Indeed the wicked themselves are far from designing any good but yet God makes their blackest designs subservient to his glory They do at best but resemble those monstrous People in Pliny whose Feet stood contrary to their Faces or if you please to take a more familiar comparison like Watermen they are made by Providence to row one way whilst they look another To this purpose is the known observation of St. Austin Bonus Deus non sineret fieri mala nisi Omnipotens ex malis bona elicere potuisset God who is good saith he would never permit sin but that being Omnipotent he is able to extract Good out of the greatest Evils The Rod of Moses whilst it lay upon the Earth was an ugly dreadful and poysonous Serpent but in the Hand of God and Moses an Instrument of great and glorious wonders Such is the Power and Wisdom of God that he is able to bring Light out of Darkness and work great and glorious ends out of the most black devices and machinations of sinful Men. Some few Instances of this I shall give you in these following particulars 1st God does often take occasion from sin to glorifie the Riches of his Goodness and Mercy It is the Tradition of the Antients that the Skull of Adam was found on Mount Calvary the very place of our Saviours Crucifixion And there is not less Comfort in St. Ieroms Note on Mat. 1. Namely that no holy Women but such Notorious Sinners as Thamar Raab and Bathsheba are mentioned in the Genealogy of the Blessed Jesus and all this to denote thus much unto us that sin was the Cause which brought our Saviour into the World and gave God an opportunity to magnifie his Free Grace and Mercy unto Sinners So that now we may take up the ranting language of St. Gregory O felix culpa quae talem meruit Redemptorem O happy sin happy sure upon this account that it has through Gods good Providence obtained so great and so glorious a Redeemer The Whole saith our Saviour needs not the Physitian and where there is no Misery there is no need of Mercy Had there been no bitterness in the Waters of Marah Moses had not needed Sweet wood to have thrown into them So had there been no sin there had not needed the Tears of Repentance and consequently there had been no need of the Wood of the Cross to sweeten these bitter Waters 2dly As God has thus taken occasion from Sin to commend his Free Grace and Infinite Mercy to the World so he has also taken occasion from hence to glorifie his Holiness and Justice If bold sinners shall dare to run upon the Bosses of his Buckler and bid defiance to the great Majesty of Heaven If neither the Threats of his Law can drive them to Obedience nor yet the Promises of the Gospel invite them to their Duty there remains then nothing but a fearful looking for of Iudgment and fiery Indignation to devour these Adversaries Hence Solomon tells us ver 4 of this Chapter that God has made all things for himself yea even the wicked has he made for the day of Evil Tho' he may endure with much Long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath and employ them as Rods for the Chastisement of others yet at the last he casts these Rods into the Fire and magnifies his Power and Justice upon them when once they are ripe for destruction It is very observable that the first Hallelujah which we find in the Old Testament is in the Psalms where mention is made of the destruction of Gods Enemies and the first Hallelujah which is mention'd in the New Testament is where the overthrow of Antichrist is foretold in the Revelations Should God suffer sinners still to go unpunish'd it would reflect upon his Holiness and cast a stain upon his Justice Men would be apt to think God a Patron of Wickedness and would be very much encourag'd in the ways of Ungodliness God therefore to vindicate his Honour and deter Men from sin is pleased very frequently in this World to send signal Judgments upon the Workers of Iniquity Thus when proud Pharaoh had a long time withstood all the Miracles of Moses and wrought his Heart at last to the highest degree of hardness God did then resolve to glorifie himself in his ruin and destruction And that he might leave some signal Monuments of his Wrath to succeeding Generations Orosius an Ancient Author tells us that the prints and footsteps of their Chariots were a long time after to be seen on the shoar and in the bottom of the Red Sea We may do well also to remember that Fire and Brimstone which was rained from Heaven on Sodom and Gomorrha Brochardus and other sacred Geographers inform us that that very Land does still mourn in Dust and Ashes and such dismal Clouds of Smoak continually ascend from it as make it represent nothing so much as the very Mouth and Entrance of Hell Nay farther yet that God might make abundant provisions for the Honour of his Justice as some have computed this one single Judgment is mention'd in Scripture above twenty times God's Providence so ordering it that these wicked Sodomites might be set forth for an Example suffering the vengeance of Eternal Fire And this is the second End to which Gods Providence direct sin namely the glorifying of his Justice 3dly God's Providence does farther make use of sin to humble his own People When David had murther'd his loyal Subject Vriah and committed Folly with his Wife God does afterwards make use of these sins to keep his Servant humble To this end we find Shimei one a kin to Vriah sent by a secret impulse of Providence first to Curse David as a Bloody Man and so to remind him of the murther and then to make him sensible of his Adultery by casting Stones at him a Punishment under the Law appointed to the Adulterer Now what Influence this piece of Providence had upon David we learn from 2 Sam. 16. 9 10. where when the Sons of Zerviah would have slain Shimei according to his deserts David returns a Negative Answer in these passionate words What have I to do with you ye Sons of Zerviah And then see his Humility in the next words Let him Curse because the Lord has said unto him Curse David He knew God by this piece of Providence had a design to call
would have done with the young Children he answered boldly that all above seven years old should have been murdered with their Parents the rest should have lived but they were to be branded in the Forehead with the Letter L. signifying Lutheran and so be reserved for perpetual Bondage These and many other Specimens have they given of their Cruelty but this days Conspiracy seems to exceed them all For had this Hellish Plot obtained its desired end the Metropolis of our Nation had become a flaming Aetna our Church and State been turned into a Chaos our Court into a Golgotha and our whole Island into an Aceldama or Field of Blood Here is more than Assyrian Rage and Fury now at least we see the Rages of the Text such as we may well call the Wrath of Man the Wrath of Adam of the worst the wickedest of Men For let Men pretend what they will there is nothing of Religion nothing of Christ in such Wrath as this for he would not suffer his Disciples to call for Fire from Heaven to destroy a little Village of the Samaritans whereas these Heathen Catholicks these Bloody Barbarous Papists would have fetched Fire I cannot say from Heaven but at least from Hell to have destroyed one of the greatest Cities in the World but the remainder of wrath God did restrain Which brings me to the second thing proposed namely Secondly That God by his good Providence does over-rule and govern the Wrath and Rage of Wicked Men so as may be for his own Glory and his Peoples Good As for the Wicked they are far from proposing such ends this proud Assyrian in the Text did not in the least design the Glory of God or the Good of his People as the Prophet Esay tells us Chap. 10. 7. He meant not so neither did his Heart think so but it was in his Heart to destroy and to cut off Nations not a few His Head and Heart were full of devices how to satisfie his Ambition and raise his Empire on the ruins of other Nations but God's Providence over-ruled his Ambitious Rage and made the Wrath of this Assyrian to praise him But for the fuller opening this part of the Text we will consider First How God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him Secondly Whom he makes to praise him First Let us inquire how God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him Now he doth this several ways 1st By diverting their Power and their Rage otherwise than they first intended The Wise Man tells us That the Hearts of Kings are in the Hands of God he turneth them whithersoever he will Prov. 21. 1. Thus Nazianzen reports of Iulian the Apostate that when he had designed the utter ruin of the Christians God cut him out work elsewhere and made it necessary for him to go first against the Persians by whom he was overthrown So this Sennacherib in the Text you 'l find Esay 10. 5. called but the Rod of God's Anger and the Staff of his Indignation to denote that the greatest of Men are but a kind of Instruments in the Hand of God's Providence and must expect the direction of a Superiour Cause Hence it is very observable that when this proud Assyrian had bent his Rage against Hezekiah it was diverted by Tirhakah the King of Aethiopia waging War against him as you may read 2 Kings 19. 9. And it is easie to parrallel this out of the late History of the Reformation For in the Reign of Queen Mary Gardiner and other Papists endeavoured to destroy the Lady Elizabeth on whom alone under God the hopes of the Reformation did depend K. Philip did interceed for her and preserved her out of interest of State God putting it into his Heart to fancy that if she were put out of the way and he should have no Issue from Queen Mary which he very much feared then the Queen of Scotland who was to be married to the Dauphine would succeed and make too great an accession to the French Crown 2ly God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him sometimes by suffering it to proceed so far till nothing but a Divine Power an immediate Arm of the Almighty can deliver God does not always blast the designs of the Wicked in the Bud or crush their Enterprizes in the Shell but frequently suffers them to come to the Birth and his chosen People to fall into great extremity thus the tale of Bricks was doubled before Moses was sent Thus Haman was allowed to go so far as even to erect the Gallows for Mordecai Thus Pharaoh was allowed to pursue Israel not only to the Banks but even into the midst of the Red Sea that by destroying him there the Right Hand of the Lord might become more Glorious in Power And were we not delivered in such a sort this day Were not all the Instruments of Death made ready Were not the Barrels lodg'd the Train laid the Match burning and the time well-nigh expired before the Lord made bare his Arm and pluckt his People as so many Brands out of the Fire 3ly God does sometimes make the Wrath of Man to praise him by infatuating the Counsels of his Churches Enemies thus he is said to have made the Princes of Zoan Fools and the wise Counsellors of Pharaoh to become brutish Isaiah 19. 11. Thus he Countermined the politick Advice of Achitophel and made that great Oracle appear according to his Name in Hebrew which signifies the Brother or Cousin-german to a Fool. A like instance of of God's Providence was that which happned in the Reign of Queen Mary for when She first fell into that kind of Dropsie which Physicians call the Mola the wisest of her Friends and Physicians were so far infatuated as to conclude her to be with Child by this means all Physick was forbid till her Distemper grew Desperate and that great Obstacle of the Reformation was happily removed 4ly God does sometimes make the Wrath of Man to praise him by making wonderful discoveries of their most secret Plots and closest Conspiracies Thus strangely did he discover Hamans bloody Plot against the Iews and that of the Iews against St. Paul But surely the Goodness of God was never seen more eminently in the discovery of any Plot than it was this day for the subtilty of the Serpent did never appear more than in the managing of this Conspiracy We know it was laid in the very Bosom of Hell hammer'd in the Devils Forge nurst up in a dark Vault We know also that the Traytors bound themselves by the Holy Sacrament and the strictest Oaths of Secresie not to discover it But yet how wonderfully did God discover it For did not the Lord cause one of the Conspirators notwithstanding he had taken three solemn Oaths to conceal the Plot to reveal it by Writing verifying that of the Wise Man in his Ecclesiastes That which has Wings shall tell the Matter Nay further was it not the over-ruling Providence of God
Resolution Now tho' all this do abundantly shew a late Death-bed Repentance to be a thing most dangerous and in some sort impossible and yet seeing this is a Subject of most serious importance 5ly I will in the Fifth place add one Consideration more which will shew it yet to be more dangerous and in some sort impossible And pray let it be Consider'd that the Day of Grace may be lost before the Day of Death come Sure it is not possible that such sinners should repent without the assistance of God's Grace and yet before their death they may sin to such an height as to forfeit this assistance of God's Grace It is the vain fancy of such presumptuous sinners that the Day of Grace and the Day of Life run parallel and that as long as the one lasts the other will last too and therefore they encourage themselves in their wickedness thinking they shall have time enough to repent when they come to dye But if this Fancy of theirs be vain the delaying of Repentance till the Hour of Death must needs be a thing most dangerous and in some sort impossible Now it is very plain from Scripture that God has set bounds to his Patience and limits to his Mercy Tho' he bears very much with sinners and waits a long time to be gracious yet he has told us expresly Gen. 6. 3. My Spirit shall not always strive with Men We find in the following Verse that God allowed the Anti-Deluvians or Old World a long Day of Grace he promised to bear with them 120 Years now during this time he sent unto them Noah a Preacher of Righteousness Besides those Admonitions and frequent Calls the Holy Man gave them to repent his very building the Ark was a constant daily Sermon to them but when they would not hearken unto this Preacher but scoffed at his Discourses God did not tarry for the time of their death but with a dreadful Deluge swept them all away In Luc. 19. 41 42. we find our Saviour weeping over Ierusalem and declaring their wretched Condition in such like doleful Accents as these O that thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the things which belong unto thy Peace but now are they hid from thine Eyes It seems the Day of Grace has an Evening before the Night of Death approaches The things of Peace were hid from the Eyes of Ierusalem before they were closed by the Hand of Death To this we may add what we read in Prov. 1. 28. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but shall not find me There is a certain measure of Iniquity God is said in Scripture to allow Sinners to fill up and when this Measure is full they may call upon him in vain they may seek him early and late but he will not hear them And as is it thus plain from these Texts that the Day of Grace may be lost before the Day of Death so the same Truth may be evidenced by sundry Scripture Examples God allowed Cain a Day of Grace and during the Time of this Day Cain tho' he sinned again and again yet he heard nothing but this Still Voice if thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted but if thou dost ill Sin lieth at the door But when all the Means of Grace were lost upon him when notwithstanding the frequent Admonitions of his Father and solemn Remembrances of Heaven he added sin to sin till at last he fill'd up the Measure of his Iniquity by murdering Righteous Abel His season of Grace was then gone and God tells him in plain terms that he was then accursed from the Earth Now this hapned unto him some hundreds of years before his death Another Instance we have in Esau whom the Apostle styles a Prophane Person He was an idle unprofitable Fellow one who spent too much of his time in Gaming and impertinent Recreations and to all his other sins he added the felling of his Birthright on which were entailed all the Blessings of Heaven and this indeed shewed him to be a Prophane Person with a witness one that preferr'd his Sports and Recreations before God and his Religion Now this great sin fill'd up the Measure of his Iniquity so that his Day of Grace expir'd some 50 years before his death as Divines compute And tho' now he endeavour'd to regain his Birth-right tho' he sought the Blessing earnestly and with Tears yet he was rejected there was no place found for Repentance Heb. 12. 17. I shall add but one Instance more and it shall be the Example of wicked Saul God had striven with Saul many ways and many times He had given him Riches and Honours yea all the Glories of a Kingdom and which were more than all the gifts of his Spirit but when Saul multiplied his Transgressions and notwithstanding such signal Tokens of his Favour rebelled against the Lord God then cast him off yea he sent an Evil Spirit to torment him and would no longer hearken to his Cries as he sadly confesses to the Witch of Endor Now this Rejection hapned 36 years before he died according to Iosephus's Chronology Thus God does withdraw the Assistance of his Spirit from sinners long before they dye In their Life time he delivers them up to a Spirit of slumber and of giddiness He hardens their Hearts and sears their Consciences and gives them over to a Reprobate sense And since these things are so it will be too late for the Clinicks of the Age to Repent when they come to dye If they will obstinately go on in a Course of wickedness and multiply their Transgressions till the measure of their Iniquity be full then they are beyond the possibility of Salvation they have then forfeited the Assistance of God's Grace without which it is impossible they should repent It will therefore be safe for sinners to follow St. Pauls Advice To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts As the Prophets Exhorts Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near Let not this present Discourse this present Opportunity be lost upon you for as the Apostle speaks Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation Begin this very moment to resolve against thy sins come this day to the Holy Sacrament and there vow and swear that thou wilt hereafter keep all Gods Righteous Iudgments I shall conclude all with the excellent Advice of the Son of Sirach Say not God's Mercy is great and he will be pacified for the multitude of thy Sins For Mercy and Wrath is with him he is mighty to forgive and to pour out Displeasure and as his Mercy is great so are his Corrections also Therefore make no long tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddenly shall the Wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Humble thy self
Saviour is to have a bright shining Cloud for his Throne and is said accordingly in the Text to Come in the Clouds of Heaven To the same purpose is what we read 1 Thess. 4. 17. where we are told that the Righteous shall be caught up in the Clouds and meet the Lord in the Air And indeed the Air is a most proper place for our Saviour to keep his great Assizes For being here advanced some distance above the Earth he will more easily be seen by all the Inhabitants of it Nay farther yet this is now the Seat of the Devils Empire Satan we know is called the Prince of the Air and the Infernal Fiends are styled Spiritual Wickednesses in high places Here therefore will the Son of Man fix his Judgment Seat here he will place his Throne That all the World may know that he has now spoiled Principalities and Powers and got a compleat and perfect Victory over these his malicious Enemies Then is the time when he will trample Satan under his Feet and put a full Period to that Tyranny which he has exercised so long over the Sons of Men. Secondly We may infer from hence what deep Impressions such Doctrins as these ought to make upon us The News of our Saviours coming to Judgment with all this Glory should cause us to take the greatest Care imaginable to fit and prepare our selves to meet him at this great Day We have a remarkable Instance to this purpose in Ecclesiastical History which is attested by many and great Authors It seems about Four hundred years after our Saviours Ascension one Gregentius a Bishop endeavour'd the Conversion of those Iews which liv'd in Arabia Felix after a tedious Disputation of three days continuance some of the Iews desired the Bishop to shew them Jesus alive and it would convince them Immediately upon this the Earth began to tremble and the Sky to shine and eccho with Lightnings and Thunder After these ceased the Gates of the Celestial Palace open'd and a bright serene Cloud appear'd darting forth Beams of an extraordinary lustre At last our Blessed Saviour shewed himself walking on this bright Cloud and a Voice was heard from this Excellent Glory saying I am he who was Crucified by your Fathers This glorious Appearance cast all the Iews prostrate on the ground and beating their Breasts they cried with a loud Voice Lord have mercy on us and afterwards were Baptized into the Faith of Christ. A like account we have of the Conversion of St. Paul Act. 9. 3 c. where we read that as he journied towards Damascus breathing forth nothing but Rage and Malice against Christians suddenly there shined round about him a Light from Heaven and he heard a Voice saying unto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Upon which he trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me to do Such effects as these are the Natural Attendants of such great and glorious Appearances as these And ought they not to have the same influence upon us What tho' they are not made to the Eye of our Sense yet in Scripture they are made to the Eye of our Faith If we are sincere Christians and do heartily believe the Gospel we have no more reason to doubt of this Coming of our Saviour with great power and glory than if we were actual Spectators of it Let us therefore bethink our selves what manner of persons we ought to be in all holy and godly Conversation If we were certain this great Day were near at hand I am confident we would walk more circumspectly not as fools but as wise We would then soon be perswaded to break off our League with Sin and endeavour by a sincere and speedy Repentance to make a firm Peace with our God and Saviour I shall not pretend to tell you the precise time of this Day of Judgment but this I can assure you that several Learned and Pious Divines who have lately enquired into the Scripture Prophesies with great accuracy and diligence do tell us that this great Day is even at the door and that we may expect this glorious Appearance of the Son of Man in a very short time But tho' they should be mistaken in their Conjectures yet this is most certain that it will come at last and that the time of our Life which is all the time we have to prepare for it is exceeding short Let us therefore beseech Almighty God that we all may be found such wise and faithful Servants as are described v. 46. then shall we with joy meet our Saviour in the Air and make a part of his glorious Train when he returns to the highest Heaven giving as is most due all Honour and Glory unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for evermore Let us therefore beseech Almighty God to give us Grace so to redeem our time that we may be found in the number of his wise and faithful Servants then shall we at the Day of Iudgment meet our Saviour in the Air and return with him to the Highest Heavens singing Praises and Hallelujahs unto him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore Amen Amen SERMON XI Prov. xvi 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps WHat great Esteem and Veneration the Ancient World entertain'd of Proverbs may easily be learned from the Writings of Aristotle He tells in his Rhetorick that they always allowed them the next place to Oracles And in other parts of his Writings he gives them the noble Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if they were the very Extract and Quintessence of Refined Wisdom The Divine Solomon sets them yet higher and thinks them worthy to be placed in the very Throne for Prov. 86. he styles them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which tho' our Translation renders only Excellent words Gejerus and other Learned Criticks translate them more agreeably to the Hebrew Princes of Words Intimating thus much to us That these Divine Sentences which are called Proverbs excel as much other Schemes of Speech as Kings and Princes do their ordinary Subjects But tho' Proverbs in the general have so much of Majesty in them and have always challenged a particular veneration from the Sons of Men Yet the Proverbs of Holy Writ are farther commended to us from the very Inscription and Title Page of the Book It is a known Observation of Learned Men that neither the Books of Moses Ioshua nor other Pen-men of Sacred Writ are recommended to the World by the Name of the Author till we come to this Book of Proverbs as if the Holy Ghost had designed some extraordinary advantage to this Heavenly Book when in the very Front of it was prefix'd the most August Name of Solomon Son of David King of Israel and we may be sure the Queen of the South will rise up in Judgment against us at the last Day if we do not give our best Attention to these