of Him who bore so great a Character 'T was a Representative of his God whom he therefore thinks himself obliged to Honour He embraces Him as Such and mixes a Carriage full of Reverence and Sweetness towards him His late Prosperity had not in the last swelled him into Neglect or Forgetfulness of his Duty Minds that are truly Great cannot act beneath themselves He is surprized to find in that Idolatrous Kingdom so great a Person that owns the God He Professes to Worship and questionless promised to himself Happiness in the after Enjoyment of so Divine Acquaintance tho' we find not any further converse they maintained Abraham cannot receive so many rich Effusions of his Piety and Bounty without finding a thankful Remuneration Grateful Hearts are in Pain till they ease themselves from the burden of those Obligations that others Courtesie have heaped upon them And now is he glad that the baffled Kings haveleft him in some Capacity to make an Acknowledgment of his Gratitude both to God and his Priest upon the Spot And therefore he very humbly Devotes a Tenth Part of all the Spoils he had taken If Christians were all the true Heirs of Abraham's Holy and Generous Heart there had little needed those multiplied Laws to constrain the People and secure to the Priests their Maintenance by Tythes Melchisedeck having performed his Duty receives without scruple the Sacred Dues of his Office which the Patriark so chearfully paid him and with all the Reciprocations of mutual Affection to each other and solemn Praises to God he departs away to his Salem His Discession makes way to another Prince of a very far different Temper and Spirit 'T is Piety makes the only Discrimination between Persons All men have not Faith. This is the sparkling Diamond that enriches the Crowns of Kings Where that is wanting Honour is but a Jewel in a Swines Snout If private Men are illustrated by it for since thou wast precious in mine Eyes thou hast been Honourable what Glory might it add unto Monarchs The King of Heaven shines in the Majesty of his Holiness Abraham knew well enough that the Sodomitish King wore no such Pearl in his Crown therefore he puts on a Behaviour towards him agreeable to the Baseness of his Spirit He had dishonourably turned his back from the Kings that Himself had Charged and made Havock of He cannot therefore think him worthy of that Reception that a Gallant Prince might have merited from him Men are to be treated by the Rules of Discretion according to the Nature of the Designs and Ends they have upon us Melchisedeck came to bless God for that Excellent Person whom his Goodness had raised up to be an happy Instrument of delivering the Country from the mischiefs of the War and to bless Himself in the Sight and Acquaintance of him But this King is so far from any the least Resentment of the good Providence and Means by which his Subjects were redeemed that he looks down with a plodding Eye and projects how to make Abraham's Victory an Advantage to himself He appears here rather as a Merchant to Truck and Barter than as a gallant Prince to throw his grateful Soul into the Embraces of the Brave Conquerour with Ten thousand Thanks for so vast a blessing as the Overthrow of the Enemies by his Victorious Arms. He could not be Ignorant that by the Laws of War Abraham was indisputably entitled to whatsoever his Sword had Won in the Field Himself had lost all by his Cowardise what Abraham had recovered by his Courage And yet hath he the Confidence to Challenge a share in the Benefit of his Noble Adventure And mistaking the brave Patriarch for a Man of as Sordid a Soul as Himself thinks that he Bids him Fair in the proffer of the Booty provided he might have the Persons to himself This is the main Errand that brings the King of Sodom as his own Ambassador to the Camp of Abraham How perfectly Strangers are the Men of this World to the Princely Greatness of Mind that directs and ennobles all the Actions of the Righteous and the Holy Now shall this King of Sodom see the difference of a Star from a Clod and a Spirit enkindled by the true Celestial Fire from his own that glared in the contemptible Light of a Glow-worm Would he have Abraham to go One Mile with him in Courtesie behold he will go Two Would he have his Coat from him let him take his Cloak also Does he make suit to have the Persons Let him take them yea and the Goods also the Spirit of an Abraham can grant more than The Sodomite hath confidence to Crave The Noble Patriarch opens Heaven to him and darts out a Beam of the Divine Nature that strikes him into perfect Extasie there is no more Life in him while he beholds the Majesty of the great Soul of Abraham His own Dunghil Gods shed no such Insluences on their Votaries He looks on him as on some Sacred Shrine fallen from Heaven and sent for him to Worship and be enrich'd by So impossible is it for the true Race of the Heavenly Progeny to degenerate from the Royal Nature of their Mighty and Bountiful Father who scatters Scepters and Kingdoms and freely gives Grace and Glory Avaritious Minds in every Lincament of their Actions plainly betray their Sordid Extractions and let them wear the Philactaries of their profession never so broad yet these Fig-leaves dropping away very visibly discovers the Shame of their Nakedness and want of those Holy Garments that God himself wears and which should Dress them up to Salvation The long Robes of the Pharisees were too curtile and thin to hide from the Holy Jesus their Hypocrisie and Covetousness Nor is there surely a greater Affront unto Heaven than for these Sons of the Earth to pretend themselves Married to the Daughters of God. I will confidently a verr that the Coveâ—ous Soul hath not the least Spark of the Sacred Fire in it An Earthly Saint is a Monster in the Church with six Fingers and Toes on his Hands and Feet scraping and raking in the Muck-heaps of the Creation Let not such dare to say We have Abraham to our Father since of the very Stones of the streets God is every day polishing up brighter Children unto Abraham while themselves lie wallowing in the Dirt. Now the brave Abraham heaps the Goods of this World upon the Head of a Sodomite whose very Heart was upon them and scorns to afford them a Lodging in his Thoughts Let him cripple his Shoulders with the burden of them himself would keep his affections free Abraham piles up Earth upon Earth and buries him into the Dust Should but a little Mote of that Mould hang on his own Foot he would shake it from him into his Lap and disdains to wear but a Buckle in his Shoe that ever came out of Sodom He might have sav'd himself the trouble of this Journey hence long before he
the natural Seed of his Body whose names should be written in the Earth and whose very Souls would cleave to the Dust But by these he decyphered to him the Spiritual (*) (*) (*) Prius promiserat semen tanquam pulverein terrae hic sicut stellas coeli illud potuit fillos Naturales hoc Spirituales significare Ainsworth Children of his Faith all the World over whose names are written in Heaven and who should shine as Stars for ever and ever Great indeed is the difference of these from the other And Holy Records wiâ—ness that Abraham of the innumerable Children of his Flesh had but too few of his Spirit Isaiah is so bold to tell us That by that time God had measur'd off with the long Ell of his Justice almost the whole Piece to Destruction for their unhappy Apostasie from the Holy Practices of their Great Father but a short Remnant was left that following his steps arrived at last in the Heavenly Canaan with him From the lovely face of that Heaven enamell'd with so many shining Stars which Abraham's Eyes beheld in the clearest night Turn now thine own Reader and gaze on another enriched with Lights surmounting far all those and of a more eternal duration than they illustrating the Great Abraham's name 'T is his splendent Faith attended on by all her Train of Graces expatiating all the Rooms of his Soul by a ravishing Dilatation to receive in all the Joys of this so vast a Blessing and giving it the most welcome Entertainment that her little Powers are able in this narrow condition she is in 'T was mighty Faith that brought him out of his Country but what is this that passeth him out of himself leaving all his Reason and Senses behind him combating against all the Impossibilities of Nature when there was not the least ground to fix the Foot of Belief on but what was ready to sink under him All hopes as tottering as his reeling Body and as dead as his Sarah's Womb yet now to hope against all Hope and out of Death it self to believe out Life and that with a Courage as resolute and immovable as admits not the least Allay of Fear or Doubt but to give Glory to God by resigning himself up by a perfect dependance on the Infallibility of the Promise and full assurance of the Faithfulness and Power of him that made it without the least staggering thought This is such a Faith in the Perfection and Flower of it that doth render him so exceeding acceptable in the Eyes of God that he shall be henceforth confirmed in a perfect Immunity from all the dangers of Sin and Death which shall never prevail eternally against him and shall qualifie him so compleatly for all â—he Honours of Divine Friendship that he shall â—e taken into the Bosom and for ever acknowâ—edged as the Faithful Friend of God. As he â—ath justified his Faith by so noble Fruit as this â—o will God Justifie it too by setting his Seal to the Truth and Excellency of it and Justifying Him the Subject of it and stamping on him the Mark and Honourable Character of a truly Religious and most sincere Believer Abraham believed in the Lord and it was counted to him for Righteousness Come hither thou that art called a Christian see the Criterion of thy future Estate Thou say'st thou believest thou doest well do not the Devils also Believe and Tremble But hast thou Abraham's Justifying Faith Take a Survey of the Weakness of thine and the Vanity of thy Hopes for Heaven Abraham travelled out of all and chearfully gave up himself to be led by the Absolute Will of his God when thou lodgest still in the dark Entry of Nature and laughest at all the Invitations of his Grace Thou mockest the Messengers of God that are sent to call thee and sticking still in the Creature and Self disputest his Authority to rule thee Abraham feasted himself in the Joys of an Invisible Saviour and made many a Sweet Banquet upon the Promise while thou art guzling on the draughts of Lust and greedily sucking in the deadly Potions of Sin little remembring there is Death in the Pot that Poysons thy Soul and Hopes together He rejoyced in the Children of his Faith which should make up a Church unto God while they are all the Objects of thy Malicious Hate who bear the least shadow of his Image upon them He bore up a Spirit against all the Temptations of Life and under all the Enticements of a Great and Rich Estate ever devoting the Cream and Elixir of his Thoughts and Heart unto God when thou lockest up thy Soul in a narrow Ware-house and drownest all thy Hopes in a shallow Stream He dreaded not the formidable Powers of the World that had captiv'd a Member of the Church whilst thou with Saul art breathing out Menaces and Slaughter and shooting all thy Darts into the Heart of Christ He had strength to wrestle with God himself and would not be beaten back without a Blessing when thy Spirit sinketh with the very thoughts of that Power whom thy wicked Life hath made thine Enemy He comes back laden with the Riches of a Promise which should make himself and all his true Children Happy when thy poor Heart is courting other Delights and is a perfect Stranger to the Pleasures of a Saviour Go Christian get a better Faith that may Justifie thy Person before God since be sure such works as these can never Justifie thy Faith before Men. Abraham thus assured of an infinite Posterity grows now sollicitous and thoughtful for them he discovers the nature of those cares that Afflict the Bosoms of every Godly Parent He is fearful that his Children may deviate from the steps of his own Uniform Obedience and Righteousness nor wear the same Livery of Grace that adorned his Loyal Spirit and Hallowed all his Actions His first Care is to enjoy a Progeny and his next that they might enjoy God and be Good. How rarely doth this Holy Anxiety oppress the Minds of Men How would Abraham have swooned then to have seen some of his Impious Children sacrificing their Sons and Daughters unto Devils The Angels themselves were created subject to a possible Folly and Multitudes of them fell by a dreadful Apostacy He had reason to fear that his Children who were but Dust might be foolish too and forgetful of the Rock of their Salvation who might therefore sell them into the hands of their Enemies who would surely deprive them of their Fruitful Canaan Nor was this fear the least Flaw in the Jewel of his Faith but rather an Holy Ray that darted from it It abates not at all of the Perfections of God that he is Jealous The Church is his Spouse he is Married to her and would have her Holy as Himself If Abraham to the Promise of a Seed and an Inheritance for them might have another to secure them in it by a Faith and Spirit like his
but rather that they turn themselves and Live If they will not yet shall they not want the Sacred and Hearty Prayers of the Church that they might Neither can God take it ill of any that wisheth no more than himself doth nor doth Man know what Individual Person shall miscarry Abraham had the Grace of a Publick Spirit who doing what he could to further the Happiness of each Servant in his Family could not be without working of Heart for any Child of his Bowels And no wonder then that hearing of all the Mercies of the Covenant transferred to Isaac he seems to entertain some Jealous Apprehensions of the future Estate of Ishmael and falls on his Knees to intreat that the whole Shower of Divine Grace might not so fall on the One but that some sprinklings of his Favour may Sanctifie the Other also God forbid that any thing descending from the Body of Abraham should fall short or miscarry of the Great Salvation Therefore intending to give a Charge upon Heaven he sharpens the Point of his Arrow with an acute Passion that it might with deeper Penetration enter the Heart of God and bring back thence a Blessing upon his Child O that Ishmael might live before thee O that he may Prayers shot from our own seldom miss the Bosom of God when those that are sent at Random lose their way and act no Execution He desires not that God would break the Links of that Golden Chain to which his Decrees have fastened the Salvation of all or that Ishmael might be dispens'd with from the Duties of the Covenant to which his Mercies are annexed But O that Ishmael might live before thee be indued with those holy Principles of Grace and Spiritual Life which might enliven all his Affections and Consecrate all his Actions to his Glory and might be such a one as himself sincere and upright before him through all the whole course of his Pilgrimage in the World. 'T were Rudeness indeed to impose upon God for Salvation to such a one that should make no Care or Conscience of living before him But O that Ishmael may Glorifie thee here 'T is Holiness that Abraham begs for his Son he knows that God would not pass out of his usual Road to save him in an extraordinary manner And what less could a Father do that was so well acquainted with the Happiness attendant on the Faithful Discharge of every Duty and Service to God Eyes that â—ierce into the Glories of Eternity and know they are attainable by Prayer quickly get the consent of the Knees to bend for them while the Heart enflamed with all the Ardencies of Passion and Zeal makes its Pursuits after them He knows not what Salvation means that makes but slow and heavy Motions towards it Cold and indifferent Petitions teach but God to deny them We are but in Jest for Heaven till God give us Eyes to see and know how great the Hope of his Calling is and how unsearchable the Riches of the Glorious Inheritance of the Saints are When the Light Shone from Heaven upon Paul then Behold he prayeth he had made many a Pharisaical Prayer to little purpose but now he prayeth Indeed Those are the best Intercessors at the Throne of Grace for others that have prevailed there already for Themselves The Parent that hath prayed down Mâ—rcy upon his own Soul is most likely to speed for his Child Abraham had so often made his Attacks upon Heaven that he knew how to Sling the Stone of his Devotions to an Hand-breadth that it could not miss And indeed God had set himself as his Mark and given him to fair an Advantage against him that it was impossible for him not to Hit I will be a God unto thee to do all that a God can do for thee was such a Broadside as might well secure him from Despair of Execution Abraham pleads the Articles already and it being the first Claim since the Sealing of them he left it to God himself to consider how little Honour it would be to him to deny it And Abraham doth but humbly plead for what God had granted him already and his Faith might reverently draw out from him So amazing is the Priviledge of the Covenant that God seems to own that he hath left himself without Power to with-hold from any Heir the reasonable Requests of his Soul. Concerning the work of mine hands command ye me So Omnipotent a Grace is humble Prayer While they are yet speaking I will answer See Abraham thy Petition comes flying back already with Gods Fiat upon it As for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blessed him He is thine by Nature and shall be mine by Grace He shall become a Nation and the Great Father of Twelve Princes but these degenerous and all of them together not comparable to One of the Kings Issuing from Isaac's Loyns How sweet and obliging is the present return of our Prayers Arbaham is the Type of the Great Intercessor He sees the Travel of his Soul and is satisfied The fervent Prayer of this Righteous Man is effectual and prevailing Hence our Divines conclude the Salvation of Ishmael as Lyra c. though his Posterity were cut off from partaking of the Fatness of the Root and true Olive and grew naturally Wild and too Sowre for Heaven but for Ishmael himself I have heard thee What Faithful Son of Abraham bears not his Fathers Heart yearning after the same Blessing for the Children of his own Bowels and can the Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not travel again in a second Birth until Christ be formed in him Monica's Prayers and Tears brought forth an happy Son to her self and Glorious Father to the Church We are not more bound to Feed and Cloath than to Intercede for them To little purpose do Men Sweat and Labour to provide and hoard up Estates for them while they are unconcerned in the One thing needful the better part which shall never be taken from them Abraham knew what a Rich Portion an All-sufficient God was without whose Favour the whole World could not make up an Happiness to his Ishmael Blessed are those Children whose Fathers have Abraham's Spirit and Interest in God and miserable are those Children who are not dutiful to such Parents and thankful for that Interest Behold a Felicity Great as this Life is capable of A Favourite of Heaven dress'd up into all the Perfections of Blessedness by the infinite Bounty of God The Treasures of Providence flowing in upon him in streams of Riches and Wealth Those attended by Honour and Greatness and all crowned with a Gracious Heart to improve them His Soul brim full of Spiritual Comfort not a Fear or Doubt that clouds the Serenity of his Thoughts ravished with the sweet Sense of Divine Love and Assurance of endless Happiness as secure as the Word and Oath of a God can make it Blessed with One Son already growing up to
the sottish World should stand at a distance and look to be courted into a Compliance with those happy terms that would bless them into the Felicity of a perfect freedom from those Chains of Darkness that bind them over to an endless Captivity Nay to hugg those very Fetters and and to fall in love with Bondage and Misery it self and by no Arguments be wrought to embrace the purchased Safety Whence is this unaccountable Madness but from the Devil and that cursed Heart of unperswasibleness and Infidelity that detains them Prisoners to their own Obstinacy with the same Obduration and Judgment of God as that unhappy Nation upon whom his wrath is come to the uttermost Let such consider whether all the World much less the poor Slaves of his Family could have tempted Abraham to have shed the Blood of his dearest Child or with what offers could Isaac have been bribed to suffer that deadly Massacre when only the Command of God revealed by his Father brought him to it and shall not the Power of the same God prevail with thee to save thy self by a little pains only in mortifying an unprofitable Lust or two Shall this indulgent Father Kill a Son in whom was all his earthly happiness at the will of God and that Son as quietly lye still in a minutely Expectation of the destructive Gash while he doth it from a pious Conformity to the same Will Nay further shall God Himself for such a Slave to Sin and Lust as Thou lay hold on the dearly Beloved of his Soul and most pitilesly suffer him to be Mangled and Torn nothing all over but Wounds and Gore and Himself all the while silent and submissive Not a murmuring Thought seizing on his heart not a discontented Syllable passing his Lips while he hath nothing to comfort him but the Remembrance of the Happiness that thy unsensible Self mayst reap from those Sorrows When now after after all this his very Passion is Ridicul'd the whole Process lookt on but as Story and Romance The Stone of his Sepulchre roll'd on thine own Heart shutting thee up in Vnbelief and hardning thee to that degree that nothing but murthering a second time will serve thy Turn the Jewish Malice rekindled within thee and thou art Crucifying him afresh with the same Fury driving in more Nails into his holy Body than ever did they and giving him more bitter Potions to drink The Angel from Heaven not hearkned to when he cryes to thee to spare Isaac Blessed Redeemer Is this the Fruit of thy Sacrifice Did our true Isaac bleed for this Was the Fountain of Life opened to gush out in so full a Stream for no other end but to damm up the Current of Sin and Uncleanness that it should not issue from us but abide in us for ever Was this the Mercy promised to our Father Abraham That we should be delivered up into the hands of our Enemies of whom Sin is the greatest and not from them Where is the blessing so often repeated of being turned away from Iniquity if we continue for ever in it How long hath Jesus been a Saviour from the Guilt and not from the Dominion of Sin Is he become favourable to the Thorns that pierced His Sacred Head and the Spear that wounded his innocent Heart that He can tolerate them in Christian Hands In vain do Men think Him reconciled to these Traytors because themselves give them harbour When they know not how soon they may be surprized in the Guilt of that Treason and made to suffer the Penalties of Eternal Death for it either Isaac must be sacrificed or themselves for not doing it Abraham by this having given convincing Evidence of his perfect Integrity and unreserved Devotion to the Divine Precept God is so greatly Affected with it that he cannot forbear from letting him know how very grateful this Eminent Service was unto him He first sends him down Letters Testimonial whereon he sets his Seal to the Truth of Abraham's Religion which all his true Heirs must imitate and follow Now I know that thou fearest God c. Thou fearest God and I know it and all the World shall know it too by what thou hast done c. And further for his sake he will now be so very kind to confirm to him and his for ever all the Mercies of his Gracious Covenant with the unalterable Ratification of an Oath which shall make it impossible to be broken and as sure to them as Truth it self can make it That as Abraham had been faithful to God in his Obedience and Duty to him so it should be past all possibility for God himself to fail in his Promises or be unfaithful that he should not perform the Mercies he had formerly engaged to grant them who should walk in the same steps of Abraham's Faith and Sincerity By this Grace he opened his very Heart to shew them the Immutability of his Council and Greatness of his Affections to them with this advice That they would draw from this Living Well the refreshing Draughts of strong Consolation When they shall consider That God must first cease to be e're he be unconstant or faile in his purposes of shewing Kindness to them What a reviving Julip is this to the drooping Spirits of Abraham's Children That all their Mercies are as secure to them as the very Being of God is to Himself Every Link of the whole Chain of their Salvation so strongly fixt that he seems not free from his Oath till they are Lodg'd in the same Kingdom with him whither he hath so resolvedly sworn to bring them 'T is a strange Faith that gives no Credence to the Oath of a God! As I live saith the Lord that in blessing I will bless thee c. Do but think Reader with what unspeakable Joy the Soul of this holy Man overflowed not only for the preservation of his Sons life but the Attestation of his own Integrity in that he had approved himself so faithful a Servant to his great Lord in yielding up his Isaac so chearfully to his pleasure Our enjoyments are doubled to us in sweetness when they have been first Offered in Sacrifice by us and we hold them only at his Devotion In this work of Righteousness he had present peace and in the effects of it quietness and Assurance for ever The same Comfort hath every Son of Abraham in the conscionable discharge of his Duty with a sweet Testimony of divine Acceptation sealed to the Conscience by a ravishing voice from Heaven He that doth my Commandments and loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him The obedient Soul shall not only be loved of God but a manifestation of that Love shall be given into Him by the Witnessing Spirit 'T is Common in well doing to hear ill from the World but Who ever did well for God that heard ill from him The Lord will Create the Fruit of the Lips
arises and makes them a Genteel Bow in Acknowledgment of their great Civility and Kindness to him in that Offer Yet while they were all so courteous 't was Ephron alone that must gratifie his desires and all the Kindness the rest can do him was but to Intercede for him that on valuable consideration his Field and the Cave in it might be secured to him and his Heirs for ever But when the brave Hittite perceives himself concern'd in Abraham's Choice and that He only hath the desired Cave that must be honoured in becoming the Repository of these precious Ashes how proudly doth his Liberality contest with Abraham's Justice and is hardly conquer'd from Resolutions of giving that Freely which Abraham desires only at a Price What pity is it that sweet Disposition and Generosity should go to Hell while sordid Niggardliness and base Selfishness hope for Heaven Can bare Nature so easily depart from her Rights on Earth which hath no pretence for others in Heaven while those who pretend an Interest there have their very Souls cleaving to the Dust below and their feet sticking fast in the Mire are so far from yielding up the least shadow of a Title to what they have of their Own that they greedily invade and flye upon the Properties of Others Abraham tho he minds not to accept the noble proffer yet is so greatly affected with it that once again he repeats his grateful Sence of Ephron's and all their Reverence towards him by an yet more humble Obeysence than before He bowed himself down before the people of the Land. Who can see this Great Prince and Friend of God twice together paying his Duty of civil Respect and Honour to the very Heathen by the External Demonstrations of it without pity towards those Rude and Unmannerly Professors of our Age whose very Religion hath no other Test of Distinction but Surliness and Inhumanity Abraham while he is treating about a Grave takes great Care that he may lye down in it with a peaceable Conscience He hath been hitherto a mighty Pattern of Holiness in all his Transactions with God Here we shall find him an Example of Righteousness in all his Affairs with Men That all his Children may know that Commutative Justice and the Duties of the Second Table were written by the same hand that will require as exact Observation of them as of all the other of the First In vain do we pretend Sanctity to God if we are not Righteous to Men. He that doth Righteousness is of God and he that loveth his Brother See how Strait the Lines of Abraham's Righteousness run thro' all the management of this Compact with Ephron First He will by no means take advantage of his Neighbours Good Nature against his Profit he will neither defraud him nor suffer him to defraud himself by an easie Disposition Hear me I pray thee I will give thee money for the Field take it of me c. Secondly When he hath the equitable Value of the Land set to him he undervalues it not in hopes to beat down the Price It is Naught it is Naught saith the Buyer but when he is gone his way he boasteth Thirdly He makes present Payment for what he Buyes and purchases not with Paper and Wax Abraham weighed out the Silver c. Fourthly He Buyes not Good Land with Bad Coin but all is Currant Money with the Merchant Lastly The Conveyances are Sealed and Witnesses taken to prevent all Causes of future Debate The Field was made sure unto Abraham in the presence of the Children of Heth and before all c. And now is Abraham as pleased with a Grave as ever was Prince of a Palace How many Mens Estates are their Graves while they live and never think of another Their very Souls are buried in their Acres below wherein if they might they would lye for ever They Live and Rot in their Pleasures and are Dead while they seem to Live Life to any thing but God is but very Death This is the only Joynture that we find ever settled upon Sarah which the Heirs of her Body against their coming to Age shall find enlarged into a Kingdom for by the purchase of this little Field which cost not much more than Two and twenty Pounds or thereabouts he had given Security to the Faith of his Posterity That God would one day give them the Inheritance of that whole Land where Abraham Isaac and Jacob with Sarah Rebekah and Leah lay close together to keep possession for them until themselves should come And sure there is a better Security given to us also by his Great Heir Jesus Christ who is gone before us and entred into the Heavens as a Forerunner to prepare places for us That where he is we may be also And is not his Spirit lying Leiger in us as the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased Possession to the praise of his Glory 'T is observable That after Sarahs Death God makes no more Appearances to Abraham from Heaven having now performed the Great Promise of a Seed he leaves him to walk in the Light and Comfort of those he had already made To teach us that the Great Heir being now come into the World in whose coming all the Promises are perfectly secure to the Faithful the Church is not to expect any Extraordinary Revelations of any farther Truths than what he hath already sent into the World by his Son. He hath now sealed up the whole Canon and will hereafter be silent for ever To these received we ought to trust in the Hope of these we ought to Live in the Comfort of these we ought to dye For this cause God in the close of his whole Book hath carefully contrived the Prevention of Alterations Additions or Diminutions by the Menace of an Eternal Curse imposeable on that Guilt and the multiplying Plagues upon Him that shall add any thing to it There being enough Written if well believed to make us Blessed and Happy for ever CHAP. XII Isaac 's Marriage FOr Three full years together had Isaac mournfully lamented the Death of his Mother now will God make up that loss to him in a Wife Eliezer the Steward of his Fathers House is dispatched as Legate with an Angel Attendant into Mesopotamia and takes with him his Masters Orders where and from whom to choose him a Daughter Abraham before his Journey Swears him to Fidelity in an Affair of so grand Importance and he as cautiously Swears that he might the more Religiously keep his Oath When he draws near the place he Invocates his Masters God for Prosperity and good Success and begs that the first Match may be made up between the Decrees of Heaven and his own Endeavours that they might not thwart each other but happily Marry together He humbly resigns up his own Discretion to the wise Council of God which he knew had determined already in the fittest Choice of a Wife for so
great a Prince as Isaac He knew that Marriages were made in Heaven Let her whom thou hast appointed c. His Prayer is no sooner made than granted Those drive on heavily where God knocks off the Wheels of Expedition but where Himself is in the Course the Chariot flees like that of Aminadab Abraham might have taken his Choice of all the Princesses of Canaan for his Son but behold here a Woman with a Pitcher on her Shoulder is ordained to make his Daughter Hath not God chosen the Poor of this World Rich in Faith to make a Spouse for his own Son We Note not the Meanness of Rebekahs Family the same with Abraham's but the Simplicity and Innocency of those early Times in the plain Education of their Children when Pride and Idleness ruines our own Eliezer is so far from liking her the worse that her Humility was the only Virtue that recommended her to him and the Woman that could be so courteous and lowly to draw Water for himself and his Camels is a concurrent Evidence from Heaven to his own judgment of the best Wife for his Young Master While the Dainty Fingers of our Ladies muff up themselves from Rebekahs Pitcher and Rachel's Crook God thinks them unworthy to be promoted into the Beds of Isaac and Israel in the Family of Abraham 'T is the humble Mary that in the rejection of all the Proud Princesses of the World is called to the everlasting Honour of drawing out her Breasts to a God. Eliâ—zer makes the first Attack upon Rebekahs Heart by a Charge of Jewels and Manacles her Arms and Affections together Now is the House and all in it too little for him into which she runs as his Prisoner with the Chains on little yet thinking that within a day or two she should be drawn out of it by the Man whom she calls her Brother to lead in The diligent Servant will receive no Entertainment till he knew whether his Message may not be as welcome as his Person 'T is not enough that he comes from Abraham unless he may go away with Rebekah He politickly takes the course of the World and first presents them with an Inventory of his Great Masters Estate He thinks that the Argument of Riches will prevail more than that of Consanguinity and he Doubles it to them when he truly tells them that all was given him of God. His Gold would wear like Iron without the Canker of a Curse upon it And to all he adds this That the Excellent Person he woes for is the Sole Heir of all And in conclusion intreats the result of their Thoughts and that they might come to some speedy Resolution So good a Motion as this requires no long time for Consideration unless they purpose to deliberate to their own disadvantage They could not mend themselves any where in all the World and therefore they think it Prudence to come off Frankly and yield up a ready Consent They plainly perceive a Divine Providence in the Motion and will not oppose the Holy Will and Wisdom of God Behold Rebekah is before thee take her and go c. The Hearts of Men are in the Hands of God therefore Eliezer humbly bows in Thanksgiving to the God that had bowed them The Good Servant had learnt this holy Practice from his Old Master that was ever falling down before his Maker Not a word all this while of any Portion 't is a Wife that Abraham requires for his Son not Money Matters thus Auspiciously concluded the Presents are delivered first to the Bride and then to her Friends This was the laudable Custom of Antiquity Rebekah by these Jewels may judge before-hand what a well-furnished Closet she will find at home All Parties are satisfied Mirth and Joy refresh their Hearts while they eat and drink together in Love. Eliezer as a good Servant urges dispatch while they plead for Ten days time to take leave of their Sister The Controversie at length is referred to Rebekah her self who modestly yields her assent to the Stewards Request She is dismissed with her Nurse and Maids and a Thousand Prayers to attend them While we leave them a little on the Journey let us take notice how happy she is like to be in an Husband Isaac's Holy Mind was not so vainly carried away with the pleasing Conceits of Marriage that should cause him to neglect the Remembrance of his Duty to God Piety is the sure Ground of every Blessing He builds aright indeed that layes his foundation in Heaven The World is but a tottering Basis that hath buried the Greatest Families in Ruine Blessed is the Heart that is first Married to Christ and from the Crowd of Distractions here below makes very frequent Retreats to keep up a daily Converse with the Spiritual Husband who is not so Strange or Unkind but will give it a Meeting at any time and manifest Himself to it Thou Lord meetest him that rejoyceth in thee We are assured he will not fail drawing near to those that draw near to him This was the Heavenly Practice of Isaac the Holy Son of so Blessed a Father whose Soul was ever filled with God. What a lovely Draught of his Devotion hath the Divine Pencil presented to our Eye Isaac went out to meditate in the Fields in the Evening Meditation is the Souls pitching on some Branch of the Tree of Life where it sits viewing its own Happiness and chirping out Praises to God the Author of it Next to Abraham no Man living had a more pleasant Prospect of sweeter Objects than Isaac to contemplate Heaven and Earth was but one Field for his unlimited Soul to walk in From the lower Terraces here in the World without the help of his Sons Ladder might he mount up to the the Turrets above and Feast his Eyes with the Glories of Paradise He was equally Heir of both Canaan's confirm'd to him by the very Oath of God. Could he want Subject then for holy Meditation or Praise or Comfortable Matter for his busie Thoughts to work on Thoughts are the Issues of the Mind that Prolifick Parent whose Children are all of one Nature with it self and never differ in Quality from it If that be Terrestrial so are They but if Holy they cannot be unclean and should they prove so they are with Ishmael cast out There is no lodging for them in Abraham's House Behold Isaac's Pious Exercise like an Antiquated Custom grown quite out of Use The Defection of the Old World come upon us All the Imaginations of the Heart for the greatest part of Men evil and only evil and that continually God is not in all their thoughts He by whom we have the Power and Faculty of Thinking quite forgotten The very Cream of our Souls leaking out in full Streams after Vanity and nothing left for God Ephraim feedeth on Wind. But hath the Christian no better fare to Feast on Hath God spread all the Treasures of his unsearchable Grace and
Holy Testament of the Son of God and counting the Blood of the Covenant but a mean and unholy thing shall do this despite to the Spirit of Grace But Blessed God! pity the Blind and Pardon the Blasphemy of those miserable Creatures who tax Infinite and Incomprehensible Wisdom of Weakness and Defect in not cloathing the Imperial Ordinances in such proper Dress as should best set off their Beauty and Lustre and therefore run Whoring after the vain Ebullitions of humane Brains in Slight of the Divinity and Glory that every where sparkles thrô the Sacred Leaves of these Heavenly Volumes and which are so far from the least failure in the Majesty of their Meen that 't is That alone has smitten away their Eyes and now they idly Prate against the Sun whose powerful Darts have struck them blind and left them senseless And surely the Voice of the Lord is powerful the Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty And the Thunder that rattleth from the God of Glory through the Air of but Three Chapters in Job and but One or Two in Isaiah hath sent away in a Fright the loudest Hyperbole's as the Winds into their Caverns to hide their Heads in shame and silence and who sees not that the whole Vatican of all Created Wit shuts up it self in Despair and sneaks away perfectly baffled by them But it pitieth me to hear of any Son of Levi furthering the Conspiracy who is commanded to execute the Revenge and to sheath the Sword of his fiercest Rage in the very Bowels of this Lust 'T is insufferable to bring the Trayteress into the very Pulpit there to draw the Ark of God with Philistine Heifers yet there are who strongly infected with this Gnostick Humour blow up the Bladder of this Hypocondriack Vanity with most strenuous Sides and Lungs but to judge Charitably in an enforced Conformity to the proud Humour of the Age they Sing the Lord's Song in a strange Language while by the too ravishing Notes of their quavering Throats they faintly languish away the whole strength of their Errand and cause it all to dye into Air and Nothing feeding their Auditors with a flash of Wind and giving them Musick instead of Meat Though Nero was so Ambitious to be reputed the best Fidler in Rome yet 't is below the glory of a Prince to speak Romance Laws are delivered in the gravest Expressions God spake these Words and said is Oratory enough to Preface the Divine Mandates and enforce the World to obey them Who sees not how strangely Profaneness hath encroached upon us since we have fancied the Men of this Generation so easie and good Natur'd to be thus readily Complemented out of their very Right Hands when yet we see them keep their Purses so close and part from their Lusts and Money with the like Torment Though the Galathians Eyes were once at Paul's Service yet our People have Wit enough to keep theirs in their Heads Nay 't is observable too how well it pleaseth some of these Gentlemen to meet their Idea's at Church and he that with the finest hand can Anatomize their Lusts before them shall be Prophet to them while themselves with the Monster that ript up his Mother make a curious Inspection into the very Bowels of them and repeat them again by endearing Contemplation As that famous Usurer that so generously rewarded the Homilies that sunk his Extortions to the pit of Hell out of hopes that while they frighted others into some Reformation himself might continue them with the advantage of a better Trade The Spirit of the World which maintained so firm Possession in the Hearts of Ezekiel's Hearers had more Wit than to be play'd out by the sweet Minstrelsey of his pleasant Layes and sure we have less hope whose Lyres are not strung by Heaven that the Devil of Atheism that snugs so securely in the innermost lodges of Mens Souls and with the Serpent twists himself about their whole Hearts will be exorcis'd by the loudest Adjurations of any Son of Scaeva who shall idlely call on the Name without the Spirit or Power of the Holy Jesus and how far such have prospered in the attempt I must leave to the discretion of too sad and sensible Experience But still methinks it is pity the Fiend should so peaceably Nestle there while the effectual Charms of ever powerful Naked Truth would work more successfully to unloose and unkennel him Very Rams-Horns when blown by the Breath of Faith shall Rase the Foundations which all the Engines of Nature must ever despair to shake or pull down Thus by an Ominous Chymistry we are Calcining all the very substance of our Religion into Dust and Fancy and nothing less than a Miracle of Mercy can deliver us from the ill Effects of the same Humour in that Egyptian Dame who in a tottering Pinnace light as her Brains and Body driven with Purple Sails and Silver Oars and attended with infinite Consorts of Musick did thus lasciviously deliver her self up into the fatal Dalliances of the Roman Usurper and God knows how little Ballast of Solidity is left to secure us while we are whiffling away the Honour and Happiness of being once esteemed the most Sober and Excellent Nation in the World When now the Massey Gold of our former Reputation and Virtue is beaten into Leaf and with the hopes of being better is all taking flight into Air. 'T is not from the abundance but want of that Holy Oyl that once perfumed Aaron's Beard the true Unction that would Consecrate even us into Kings and Priests unto God if we had it that this Levity like a Dangerous Defluxion is passed down from our Heads upon the Skirts of our Garments A giddy Brain hath created in us a frothy Spirit hung all within with Vanity the very Soul wantonizing in her darkest Cells and then hating so close a Confinement makes haste to break Prison and open those Windows which expose her Meretricious Wares to publick View and Plague and to draw a more universal Trade and Custom the very Case whence this Raree-show stares out with her Whorish and bewitching Lights must be Glazed and Guilt O Dinah Dinah the too clear Mirrour of our Vnfortunate Age my Soul bleeds for thee the only Daughter of so great a Prince the Delight of his Eyes and Joy of his Life what a wound didst thou open in the Bosom of so dear a Parent What killing Sorrows did thy perhaps innocent and undesigning thô most Tragical Curiosity in gazing after such Prospects as these heap on his woful aking Heart but what dreadful effects to thy self the irrecoverable Loss of thine Honour and his Peace together And thou England the very Darling of Heaven who hast been wrapt in the distinguishing Coat of thy Father's Love to the Envy and Sorrow of thy treacherous Brethren who have been Trucking with Ishmaelites to sell thee into Egypt and dipping thy Coat already in Blood to represent thee as devour'd when
in the Infallible Decision that instead of submitting to the Holy Decree it flies to Arms and Smites through the Loins of Truth it self whose Innocency God is oblig'd to clear up and defend The Fountains are broken up and the Waters appear already which in time shall swell into a mighty Deluge to overwhelm the whole Posterity of the Murderer The miserable Parents are drowned in a Flood of Tears which are hardly dried up on the discovery of that happy Spot of Earth which God substitutes to fill up the Vacancy of the Holy Martyr So easily can he baffle the Plots of Hell in polishing up a new Pillar of Righteousness to support his tottering Church 'T was the brave Seth that started into Life with the very Lineaments of his Brothers Piety and Goodness upon him and which afterwards Survive and Illustriously Shine in the incomparable Enoch the very Glory and Flower of the Old World whose Records though drawn with a sparing Hand and very hasty Pencil yet shall the Memory of this Saints mighty Namâ— and Excellencies be surely Immortaliz'd foâ— though others did Vertuously yet he exceeded them all And the Blessed Pen-man could noâ— justly pass from Him whose History would haâ— furnished a Volume when yet he Posts froâ— others with the short Dash of a long Life and a late Death only as if Eight or Nine hundred years were too little time to ripen them up to any Memorable Perfection but here he stops to transmit the Memoirs of the Great Enoch's unparallell'd Life and miraculous Translation to all Posterities for evermore For if the Treasure of a Pious Education into the Knowledge and Faith of the Messias If the mighty Effluxes of the Blessed Spirit Hallowing that Knowledge into an unreserved Dedication of his Heart and Life unto God If an irradiated Mind a resigned Will and right ordered Affections If Hatred and Abhorrency of Sin a valiant Opposition of others Impiety aâ—d a blessed Walking and Communion with the Holy Trinity be Furniture enough to Adorn and Dress up a Saint surely all these unitedly met and concentred in Him. No wonder then that some whose Eyes are dazled in the Brightness of his Holiness mistake him for an Angel Incarnate but others more modestly the Friend and Familiar of God. View him enriched with a Prophetical Spirit and the Eye of his Soul divinely illuminated to foresee at the many Thousand years distance the Glorious Procession of the blessed Jesus with the Myriads of his Holy Ones passing down from Heaven to keep the Great Assizes of the General Judgment and to execute Vengeance upon all the Vngodly of both Worlds whose Blasphemous and Vngodly Speeches whose Profanenesses and Vngodly Practices his Chast Soul so heartily abominated and so passionately lamented and against which the flaming Zeal of his Heart issued forth in so constant Menaces of the Wrath and Judgment that That Fearful Day would bring upon them That his Prophetick Soul foresaw the Deluge is not to be questioned since his very Son was a Pillar on whose Name that Judgment was very legibly Inscribed And in Truth an easier Augury might Prophesie the Overflowing of Wrath as but the Natural Effect of the Inundation of Sin which in His days by the unhappy Commixture of the Two Families had spread its contagious Streams over all the World. History tells us that it was his Custom to Congregate the People in order to the deprecating so direful an Execution And to assure them that the World was of no longer Duration than the Life of his Son and that whensoever he died the Bloody Blow will come upon them which answerably happened for though some say that the Flood came not till six years after Methuselah's Death yet others averr more truly in the very same year and others again but seven days God it seems giving in that Week also to the hundred years allowed for Repentance but not a day longer when now after the Decease of this Good Patriarch they might according to his Fathers Prediction expect the Judgment to fall upon them every hour Doubtless the Holiness of Enoch as the very shining of the Sun is a Torment to Sore Eyes had contracted upon him the General Odium of the Wicked but while he laboured under this Burden and the Danger of their Persecutions the Almighty God mounts him up into the Securities of his own Bosom 'T was not fit indeed that the Phoenix of the whole Creation should be liable to the Gun-shot of its Malice To prevent which and lest they should offer Indignity to his Sacred Dust after Death the very Qualities of his Body by a sudden and admirable Change are rendred connatural with those of his Soul He is all Spiritual and made a fit Inhabitant for the Celestial Kingdom whose Translation hath caused a World of different Opinions many voting him to be still Alive but cannot agree where to find or where to fix him whether on Earth or Air in Adam's Paradise or Gods. They tell us he feeds on Angels Food and his very Cloaths are preserv'd from wearing as theirs in the Wilderness leading a Life of perpetual Contemplation and Joy in God and is reserv'd with Elias to the Service of the Confusion of Antichrist in the last times But enough of this While the Eye of the Soul is Watchful to keep it self fixt and Intent on the Beauty of Holiness that is Ten thousand times enough to compleat up a perfect Happiness to Angels and Men Inferior Suitors may despair to Lure away the Affections that are infinitely delighted in that Ravishing Object yet no sooner is it averted from the Fountain of Complacencies but an Army of Temptations break in upon it and offer their several Contributions to patch up a Satisfaction that is only to be found in God. Thus the Unconstant Family of Seth Blessed and secure in their Virgin Love while they persevered in Fidelity to their first Amours Now alas grown weary and tir'd with a Spiritual Husband employ their Traiterous Senses to cater a-new after fresh Provisions which must fill up the Vacuities of their Squeamish Appetites when lean Kids are dress'd up into Venison and serve well enough to delude the undiscerning Stomach Thus their First Father exchang'd a God for a Wife of Dust and mistook an Apple for a Deity And these degenerous Sons of God unworthy of that high Relation while they gaze on the Beauty of the Daughters of Men are bewitch'd to write the Bill of their own Divorce from their Chaster Nuptials to Marry themselves to everlasting Ruine The Ties of Friendship that long Acquaintance and Familiarity have contracted between Men have been often so Sacred and Strong that the Violation of them have occasioned great Commotion of Heart and can we think that these Gentlemen could so chearfully pass from the purer Flames of Divine Love into the Embraces of Vanity without some Check and Allay to the Fury of their hot Desires There is something within that is ever
whose mighty provocations made his Heart to ake so and were no other but the very Flowers and Heads of the People to speak plainly the very Nobility and Gentry of both the Families of Seth and Cain mighty Men and Men of Renown So usual hath it been for Divine Mercy to pity the sottishnesses of the Rude and Illiterate unhappy in the want of those advantages of Education and Learning which might have resin'd them into the Ingenuities of a generous and reasonable Service that he hath sometimes spared the greatest Cities upon the account of the very Bruits that were in them but still remember it was then too when the Princes sat in Sackcloth and Fasted with them God knows the Authority and Port of Greatness strikes so great an Awe into the Spirits of the Beasts of the people and hath so great an influence upon them that they dare not be so unmannerly to be more Devout than their Masters and out of fear to spoil the Frolick merrily venture a Damnation with them Thus the Blasphâ—mies of the Parlour pass out with the Dishes into the Hall and are kept on the Coals for the Servants to swallow with as great a pleasure and sweetness as the Meat which was sauc'd with them before 'T is a wonder to me that Dives should forget his Livery-men in the Prayer that he makes unto Abraham But anon when the Cataracts of Heaven flie open and Judgment appears upon all Then shall the miserable Wretches know that as they had the confidence to Sin with their Masters so shall they have the unenvied Honour of Suffering with them Mighty Men and Men of Renown Come then ye Mighty and evidence the Bravery of your great Souls God is resolved to try the mettle of your Courage Great Dangers do but edge the noble Steel the mighty Alexander once Triumphed in the Encounter of an Enemy that Peer'd his Spirit Shew us now how bravely ye can Bridle the Clouds and fetter up the insulting Waves that dare be so insolent to invade your Presence and trip up your Heels How oft have you boasted of your Valour in your Cups and breath'd out Thunder from your Nostrils against Heaven How often have you rent the terrible Majesty by the frightful claps of your Oaths and the dire flashes of your profaner Tongues and Wits What do your Spirits sink now at the Appearance of a Shower Blessed God! wherefore are these so Renowned whose Souls are weaker than Water that are thus dismayed at the insurrection of so common an Element Were these Mighty Men Valiant for thy Truth upon Earth and did they take thy part and Side with thee against the flood of Impiety that then overflowed the World Were they Knights of the holy Order who fought thy Battels and sacrificed their Blood to thy glorious Interest Why then is their Name perished and we have not the Legends of their Chivalry But if they were famous for Wickedness Men Mighty to Oppress and Renowned for Profaneness Is it so glorious a thing to Brave a God and Challenge the Omnipotent Arm to a Combat Is the contempt of a Deity the Foundation of this great Coloss I plainly find that none shall be losers by thee Thou wilt give Atheism it felf the due Encomium of its Daring Spirit that has Courage enough to flie in the Face of thine infinite Justice and Power Mighty Men and Men of Renown but I fear this is to their little Comfort when these mighty Worms are washed away in the more mighty Waters and turned all into Slime and Dirt and thy Sword prides it self to be Bath'd in their Blood while it executes thy pleasure in the devouring such Mighty Enemies Men of Renown God deliver me from the Vanity of a swelling Title which will little Ease me when in Hell. But would'st thou that I give a more distinct Account and produce a Catalogue of those particular Sins that put the Almighty upon such Resolutions of a total defacing the Beauty and Furniture of the whole Earth Sure they were â—o Punie Ones no Peccadillo's that could prevail to pour down so great a Ruine Verily they are with thee Reader already in the Streets where â—hou livest Nay they are in thee Closseted up â—n the Bosome thou bearest about thee at least â—n semine Take head therefore they break not out and force down a shower of Wrath upon thee And tho' Moses hath given us but the small draught of them and seems but lightly to touch them yet such were they as never could be forgotten and are indelibly Engraven upon the Heart of God so written in Heaven as it were with a Sun-beam that the blessed Jesus Two thousand years after brought them down to display them before us not for Imitation and to teach us new Arts of Debauchery but for utter detestation and to Arm us against the Riots that so perfectly destroy them Tho' still he fears the new World in the heat of Blood will be so mad to degenerate into the very same again for if Gluttony and Drunkenness Lust and Obscenity Forgetfulness of God and Mocking at his Ministers Scoffing at our Noahs while they are Fanatically building the Ark against a Flood that will never come If Oppression of the poor by the mighty Gyants Vnmercifulness and Cruelty Contempt of the Patience and Longsuffering of Heaven if all these and a World more as Blasphemies and Oaths c. which I have not named Usher'd in by Pride the Midwife of all Plagues both to Angelâ— and Men be not enough to justifie the righteous Proceedings of God against them and to verisie the Prophecy of our Saviour against our selves let us wait till the next Deluge of Judgment overwhelm us and then we shall feel how just a God he is to Sinners Sin was born with a Sword in its hand and hath been a Murderer from the beginning when a Child it slew the World in Adam and all his Posterity by little and little one after another â—ut now grown to full Age it makes nothing with Sampson to pull down the very Pillars of â—he House to destroy Worlds and to make but â—ne blow of them all Original Sin is favourable and kind it gives Letters of Licence for Life if it be once satisfied â—f at all it sufficeth but open Profaneness eggs â—n Justice to take out Execution without any Paâ—ience like the unmerciful Servant it takes all â—y the Throat and sends to Prison without pity Yet God who sometmies cries out of the Burâ—hen as if unable to sustain it any longer does â—ere engage his Patience yet to bear up resoluteâ—y under the Load of all this Mass of Provocaâ—ions to let us see what Infiniteness can do and â—hat he delighted as little in their Blood as he â—id in their Sin. He very well knew that as slender satisfaction would be made at the end of that Term as preâ—ently could be yet because he foresaw that he had â—ime enough to pay himself in the
Night The Play is over and the Musick is ended 'T was all but a Frolick and Frolicks are grown so Natural and Customary to thee that even in Death thou canst not leave them thou wilt Act one more and thy Last upon the very Ladder and that shall shut up all for ever The Executioners of Justice drawing near to the Gates the Genteel Lot who had learned from his Vnkle the generous Duty of Hospitality and Kindness perceiving them entring was there sitting ready to offer them a free and courteous Invitation to his House little thinking they brought with them the Writ for the Burning it and the whole City together He is Cordial in his Civility that no pretence of excuse shall prevail upon him to be denied He knew the Streets of Sodom were too dangerous for Strangers to lodge in when the strongest Bolts could hardly secure them from the Insolencies of the Place In their passage from the Gate to his House the Fair Guests are observed by every Eye to be Persons of lovely and delicate Presence as Angels ever delight to bind themselves up in handsom Covers such Beauties as these must not think to depart the Town where Pride and Luxury kept a Court without paying Homage to their abominable Orders The Word is given by the Pimping Officers about all the City and scarcely had these Strangers unknown received the Courtesies of the House and Lot's unhappy Wife dress'd the last Supper before she condens'd into Salt but their Lodging is beset with the General Assembly of the Rioters Old and Young all the People from every quarter as well such as Age had rendred Impotent as those whom yet Time had not maturated into Sufficiency demanding out the very Harbingers of their Death as if the pure Spirits had assumed Bodies to become the base Succubusses of their Lust giving them by this too clear an Evidence that the loud Cry of their Villanies had not made a false Alarm to Heaven and that the bitter Clusters of this unnatural Vine of Sodom were fully Ripe and ready to be press'd into the Fat 's of Eternal Vengeance There is yet hope when the poor Slave of Concupiscence veils his Guilty Head and Muffles himself up while he slily creeps through the back Door into the Brothel of Impurity trembling in every Joynt lest discovery be made of his shameful Adventure to his eternal Ignominy and Reproach But for Lust to beat up the Drum and make her Proclamations till the Roll of her Levies swell into so formidable a Bigness as shall create in her a proud Confidence of beating down all the possible resistance that Virtue and Modesty can Rally against her 'T is high time then for the Hierarchy of Heaven to fly to their Arms and alas a small Powder-charge shot into the Eyes of the Rebels shall secure them well enough for the present till on the morrow the Ammunition arrive that shall dispatch them all at a Blow The Sun made hast from the Antipodes that Night and was gotten up very early into the visible Horizon to appear in Triumph over Sodom's Tragedy Many fair Courses had he made while his glittering Eyes in a full Prospect had been steddily fixt on their profligate Actions and blush'd when themselves could not at their abominable Impudencies repining to yield them Light to so many Deeds of Darkness But this Morning he appears to bid them Adieu for ever and e'er He or They return to Bed again they shall find themselves scorch'd in more sensible Heats than His However he would be kind still to visit their Ruines in his passage which done he wrapt himself up in a Cloud and gives notice to the Ministers below that the dreadful Hour was come and Heaven was ready to give fire How little apprehensive the Town was of a Storm of Brimstone and Flakes of Fire ready to consume them we may judge by last Nights Attack made with such Vigour and Force upon the Angels They hold up their Courage to the last Moment and Magnanimously pass down into Everlasting Burnings To little purpose did Lot make his Harangue to his Sons in Law who repay his Kindness with Jears and Mocks and believe him as little as the Old World did Noah when he Prophesied to them of a Deluge Or as the Men of this Generation do those who talk to them of a Day of Judgment they therefore Meritoriously reap the Fruits of their Incredulity and Contempt of Admonition and leave us the true Prospective to discover which is the most condemning Sin Even Vnbelief And surely there is a Faith in the World Lazy and Idle that makes as little haste to escape the General Ruine as Lot did out of Sodom who though himself believes and perswades others to secure their Safety yet is not very Expeditious to further his own and appears to be saved rather by the meer Mercy of God and the Power of Abraham's Intercession than its own care Very happy are we in a better Advocate who delivers us from the Drowsiness of our own Faith and keeps us by his own power to Salvation The Pleasures of Sodom that brought him hither detains him here and though the Angels hasten and urge him to dispatch by the affrighting Arguments of Destruction with the Sinners yet he lingers still till they pluck him as a Brand out of the fire 'T is not our own Free Will but Gods Free Grace that preventeth our Ruine We should ever be attentive to the Angel of the Covenant who is always crying out to us Arise and depart for here is not your Rest Make haste least ye be consumed in the Iniquity of the World. Lot and his Wife and two Daughters are brought without the City and commanded to escape for their Lives and look not behind them but Eight Persons out of the whole Old World and but Four are preserved out of Sodom Follow not a Multitude to do evil To walk with God is a securing Grace though none but thy self do it To walk with the World is sure Destruction though Millions together do it Peter knew what he said when he advised Men to Save themselves And now in the very Moment to let us see that Mercy can Triumph over Judgment He that would have saved all for Tens sake will yet save One of the Cities for Ones sake Zoar shall escape at the Entreaty of a Lot. 'T was Sodom that had driven the Whole-sale Trade of Abominations and was the Head Quarters of Pride This was unpardonable that Pride was in her Zoar dealt but by Retail and Pedled in her Merchandizes of Fornication Hither the Old Man flies as to a City of Refuge from the Storm God hath his Rella's still for his hidden ones till the Indignation be over-past Well might they afford him Lodgings there whose Prayers prevented all their going to Bed in Hell. I perceive there is a Time when Complements and Courtship will be quite out of Fashion Lot hath not an Hand
or an Arm for his Wife when his own whole Body is in danger he presses forward and shifts for himself leaving her to Trudge after as she could 't were well if so many were not over-courtly together handing one another into Death The hour is coming when the Dearest Relations shall be all swallowed up in that nearest Interest of Self-preservation Lot's Wife was a Native of Sodom her Body was out of but her Affections were in it still So little doth God value the Carcass service of Hypocrites that he will make them the more lasting Monuments of his Wrath While she disobeys the Command and her Eyes turn back to look after her Heart her whole Body is Petrified and the Eyes of the whole World commanded to look upon her now become a standing Pillar that yet hath a Voice and loudly preaches the Dangers of Disobedience Ingratidude and Backsliding and least Time should wear ouâ— the Memorial of so strange a Prodigy the Son of God comes from Heaven to proclaim it afresh and sets up a Buoy to prevent our Splitting upon the Rock against which that unhappy Creature broke her self And whenever thy deceitful Heart starts back from God Terrifie it with three words as three Darts shot by Joab into Absalom's Heart to end that Rebellion against so great a King and Father Remember Lots Wife God had sent his Angel to deliver her out of the Flame that Angel had given her fair warning by no means to Look back Zoar was but a little way whither she had Orders to escape She had the company of her Husband and Children with her yet she alone insensible of these Mercies despises them all and will Sin and she alone that Sins doth Suffer No Means nor Mercies can prevail with the Obstinate and Wilful while others believe to the saving of the Soul They draw back to Perdition and turn from the Holy Commandement delivered unto them Whose end therefore is Destruction Naked and Bare passes Lot out of Sodom leaving all his Riches and Goods behind him as Fuel to the Flames His Life only is given to him for a Prey to let Him see how little he had advantaged himself by an Intermixture with the Wicked and to teach us how low and mean our Gains will be in this Evil World when at the last we shall carry nothing out of it but a Shroud to lap the Poor Carkass in And very happy shall we be if in the loss of every thing else we make our escape with a Soul to God washed from the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust by the precious Blood of Jesus Art thou gotten up Reader and with Abraham early viewing the dismal Obsequies upon the Hill of Contemplation Look out yonder and see how Wrath and Justice are burying the filthy Cities into their fiery Graves in a miserable new and unheard of Manner Here is no Earth to Earth Dust to Dust Alas they had acted as Devils and overturned all the Laws of Humane Nature Therefore as Infernal Spirits shall receive their Interrment Fire to Fire Flame to Flame Burning to Burning in sure and certain Desperation of any other Resurrection than to everlasting Damnation from Jesus Christ who shall raise their vile bodies to make them yet more vile according to his mighty Power whereby he subdues all things to himself Come lend thine Ears a while to the sad Screeks and Yellings of the miserable Wretches thorough every Street in Sodom and the same answered by those of Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim Ecchoing to both Lord into what Confusion hath Pride and her Idle Gluttonous Drunken Beastly Filthy Vnnatural Counsels betrayed them When there was but one dead in the several Families of Egypt what an Outcry and Noise what a fearful Distraction was there at Midnight what a Tossing and Tumbling to hasten away Israel when there was no other Fright but of one quietly Dead in his Bed in each House But here the Lord thundered in the Heavens the most high gave his voice Hail-stones and Coals of Fire he sent out his Arrows and scattered them he shot out his Thunderbolts and discomfited him Their cursed Eyes behold the Shower of Fire and Brimstone falling down on them all whole Flakes and Rolls of Fire first burning down their Houses to make the more haste to seize on their more combustible Carkasses which had been so long baking in the Oven of their flaming Lusts into a perfect Crust of Obduration and Sencelesness they were become now fit for nothing but the Fire The Plague is proportionably suited to the Sin they flame in Lust God flames in Wrath and because their Heats were Vnnatural so shall these also and the aspiring Element shall act Retrogade and descend to consume them They Universally Suffer as they Universally Sin Old and Young environ the House Old and Young are environed in their own The young Vrchins of Villany are put into the Fry to prevent the cursed Succession of their Breed Their Fruit is rooted out of the Earth and their Seed from among the Children of Men. O tremendous Spectacle to see them altogether Houses and Bodies of Men Women and Children Cattel and whatsoever was found within their Bounds all roaring together in one Raging Furnace heated seven times and blown up by the furious Breath of an incensed God whose Smoak passed up in thick and black Clouds and Pillars darkening the very Air and benighting Heaven it self Upon what Hill wert thou gotten thou most accursed Sorceress Piping and Dancing with Nero to the Flames of thine own kindling while it is Sport and Recreation to thee to see them all burning in a Flame together Where will be the end of thy bloody Tragedies Sixteen times in Holy Record hath God lighted up the Fire of Sodom to affright if possible the whole World from the Execrable Provocations that enkindled them His Holy Spirit hath held up the Tapers in whose Light we see them in Hell as if our very Eyes beheld them there They are Suffering the Vengeance of eternal fire and their Damnation set forth for a fearful Example to those that hereafter should live ungodly But Alas Man's Wickedness hath made Gods Examples as void and uneffectual as his Counsels To find Sodoms Vices surviving among the poor Heathen is horrible but to see them translated into the Church of God is Insufferable whose Eyes runs not down with Tears to hear of the Daughters of Sion exceeding the Daughters of Sodom in Pride and Wantonness But to find the Brothel-houses erected for the very Trade of Sodomy so impudently out-facing the Temple of God This might call for Tears of Blood. And I could wish History had fail'd of Truth when it tells us of a Dispensation granted to the Family of a Cardinal for the same Villany with a Fiat ut petitur 'T is a strange Power that can rake up Vices out of Hell to bring them up and make them in Fashion again upon Earth It were well too
of his holy Government transacted in the Court of Conscience where Himself sitteth Judge or the blessed Spirit his Vicar over every Thought of the Heart and Action of the Life Not a vain Imagination but is brought down and humbled not an idle thought but what is captivated to the obedience of Christ 'T is he that strikes the stony Rock and the Waters gush out such a Rock was Peter whom he smote but with a glance of his Eye the Sun dissolving the Ice melted him all into Water He went out and wept bitterly He sheddeth his Love into the Soul and cold Mary is all in a Flame He pours in his Spirit of Joy and Paul and Silas sing in the Stocks He opens the Prison doors and the Shackles of Sin and Death flie off from the whole World lying in spiritual Captivity He Prophesies over the dry Bones and they come together take Life rise up and follow him as well thro' all Tribulations Sorrows Sufferings from Men Temptations Buffetings Persecutions raised by the Devil Fears Disquietments Dejections of their own Hearts Infirmities Weaknesses and Imperfections of their Duties As Comforts Encouragements Spiritual strength present Sence of his Love and secret Testimonies of his Spirit which is ever present with them to Illuminate Strengthen Comfort Establish and Direct them and therefore whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of His. This holy King rules not immediately only by his blessed Vicar above but mediately also by his Subordinate Officers here below Whether 1. Civil whom His Subjects Obey for his Sake and for Conscience Sake from a right Principle and not Brutishly in all their Lawful Impositions agreeable to his Glory they are ever Praying and Praising God for them yea tho' they be Persecuted by some of them Or 2. Ecclesiastick whom they Receive Honour Love and Obey as his Ambassadours and such as are sent by Him to break to them the Bread of Life whom they therefore follow and yield themselves up to their Lord by a gracious Conformity to the holy Doctrine brought them by his Ministers and Adorning that Doctrine by a suitable conversation in all things Abounding in every good word and work and approving themselves the faithful Servants of God in all the duties of both Tables having an equal Respect to all the Commandments of their Lord and approving themselves to Men by every Act of moral Righteousness and Daty They shall be at the last day approved by him to be no Hypocrites vain Pretenders proud and empty Professors self-seeking Designers or troublesome dividers of his Church and People but the True Hearty Sincere Rooted Living and Fruitful Members of his Mystical Body passing here the time of their Sojourning in filial fear and love and persevering in all Fidelity and Constancy of Obedience to all the revealed Laws of their great King as their Fore-father Abraham did they at last receive the end of their Faith and everlasting Salvation in Heaven where with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Heirs of their Covenant they are blessed and happy in and with God and the Lord Jesus for evermore Come Reader hast thou no Heart to accompany the blessed Communion of Saints to this glorious Home Why dost thou then bear about thee the Seal of the same Covenant and art Crossed for the Holy Land and hast received the sacred Name of Christ upon thee and thou pretendest to be a Candidate for Heaven and wilt rage against any that will dare to sweep away the Cobweb of thine Hopes when alas it hangs by a slender Thread and the lightest hand breaks every Cord of it away and down it falls and thy self with it into utter despair and Ruine See whether thine Anchor have better hold than theirs whose Dooms the great Heir himself pronounced The Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out Matt. 8.12 So little will it avail thee to walk for a while alas for a Moment on the Borders of the blessed Land if thine own Infidelity and thy treacherous Heart shut thee out at last Either Rend off the Title and wipe away the drops of that holy Water issuing from the Wounds of the Crucified Saviour wherewith thou wert once Baptized into that sacred Name and renounce the hopes of that glorious Profession Or else be Faithful to thine Articles and give thy self wholly to him who hath given himself to thee Nothing less than the Hearty devotion of thy whole Soul and Life unto God can baer any reasonable Proportion with his Royal Bounty or give any convincing Demonstration of thy Real Gratitude less than this God will not Take less than this thou canst not Offer Every Imperfection and falling short of this must be lamented with bitter Tears wherein the poor Heart swims back again to better Duty and stricter Watchfulness and the broken Bones are jointed in to greater strength and Establishment made fit to walk with a more direct and even Progress in the holy Path rejoycing in their own Integrity But if instead of this thou be found wandring in the Wilderness of Error and Vanity walking after the imagination of thine evil Heart according to the course of the ungodly World and not after God know that thy Covenant is Sealed with melting Wax and thou thy self art holding it to the Flame in the light whereof thou mayst read thy despairs and find thy self in no better condition than those Sons of Abraham whose Unbelief and Obduration hath cancel'd the whole Effects of it and walking up and down in the Earth as the Deplorable Monuments of divine Indignation with Antipathies as great as ever against the blessed Person and Doctrine of the mighty Redeemer Thou maist indeed as some of them have a goodly Portion and Heritage here below Consolations suitable to thine own poor carnal Heart and God will not break the first Articles of a plentiful Canaan in the World thy Belly shall be filled with hidden Treasures But remember then that thy Tenure is but for Life and an uncertain Lease which may expire e're to Morrow comes and the Morning Sun may find thee a Carkase the Fearful case of him in the Gospel who went to Bed well but awaked in Hell. God hath reserved no second Portion in the next World but that of Fire and Brimstone The Heavens shall reveal thine Iniquity and the Earth shall rise up against thee the Increase of thine House shall depart and thy Goods shall flow away in the day of his Wrath There is the portion of a wicked Man from God and the Heritage appointed him by God. Away vain Man to thy Closet with David and consider the deplorable condition of These Make hast to the Sanctuary and there understand their latter end It may be when thou seest the Slipperiness of their Steps and how soon they are brought to a fearful end thou wilt pour out at least a sigh for a better Portion and to enjoy a more lasting Inheritance in God. Remember me O Lord with
they may follow strong Drink that continue until Night till Wine enflame them The Master of the Feast is yet ignorant of the Quality of his Guests There is no judging of inward worth by outward Appearance Since a plain Vesture once Shrouded the King of Glory from the Eyes of Men. Who many times before the uniting of his Divinity with humane Flesh was pleased in Old Time to assume the Shape of Man and pass Visits upon his dearest Servants His delights were with the Sons of Men. He was no less Person than the Son of God for whom Abraham was preparing attended on by his Angels in the same form tho by conjecture somewhat inferiour in Appearance of Habit. What a stately Embassy was this to an Abraham He is a Mighty Prince indeed to whom the Kings Son is deputed Legate Isaac as Jesus himself hath Angels to Prophesie his Conception and now is Abraham giving Order for the Annunciation Dinner to those Guests as never had Stomack for any but have Spiritual Food of their own more proper to their holy Natures while this shall be digested all into Air Yet Nine Months hence shall Sarah find the Milk again in her own Breasts more genuinely to suckle her little Son. The Collation is taken for the greater Pleasure under a Tree which then was honoured in lending her Shade to the Sun himself by an humble Dilatation of her Branches over his Glorious Head. And Abraham waited in Person to teach us that while we do our Duty to Men at the same instant we Act it to God himself and do but honour him in shewing Respect to our fellow Creatures Nor need we fear that we forget our selves while we intend it as Glory to him So well did Abraham demean himself in this humble Service that the Holy Guest to whom he performed it disdained not an Imitation of his Father when he Took on himself the form of a Servant and came not to be ministred to but to minister The Head of Angels washing the Feet of Men. The Lower we sink in Humility the Higher shall we rebound in Glory But where is Sarah Where is she but where she should be within her own Apartment Had the Guests been of her Sex she had not fail'd to have waited on them with the same Officiousness and Duty but now is Observant enough in confining her self to her own Province giving an Example to all her Daughters of Modesty and Obedience to their own Husbands Tho' she give them not her whole Presence yet she lends them an Ear the Contiguity of her Tent to the Tree gives her advantage of overhearing their Discourse and while she attentively listens finds her self concern'd in the Conference Happy that Soul who hearkening to the blessed Words of the same Jesus while he speaketh not of us only but to us in his Ordinances and in us by his Spirit I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak Peace Thus Sarah hearkens and hears Good News yea so good that her Faith is at a loss to believe it and she imagines that these Men only Complement her Husband in Discourse which they think will be most Grateful to him and therefore she laughs at the Jest confuting its Vanity by a kind of Retortion which is often made use of to a ridiculous Argument The which how closely soever she had Compress'd within the Concave of her Breast yet could she not detain it from the Ears of a God to whom our darkest thoughts are equally discernable with the loudest Exclamations While she is weighing Omnipotence in the Scales of her own Judgment and fancying it too light to encounter with her own Weakness she renders her self justly liable to severe Censure Wherefore did Sarah laugh is any thing too hard for God The God who is able to raise up Children to Abraham of stones might surely be thought as able to do it by his own Wife how Hopeless or Uncapable soever The Reproof falling so heavy on Sarah and Abraham being ignorant of her Guilt makes him begin to suspect that his Guests were more than Men and that they carried about them Omniscient Ears Man knows no more than what he draws from the outward Organ but he that made the Ears needs none himself to convey Knowledge to him Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at the Tidings of a Son yet is Sarah's laughing an Act perfectly different from that of her Husbands He laughing in Faith and Joy she in Distrust and Vnbelief God hath Mercy on the Infirmities of his Servants Sarah is reproved but not rejected the Reproof strikes upon her Conscience and makes her afraid That Fear casts her into a further Guilt She denies that she laughed and is shamefully convinc'd of what she knew her self Conscious Yet shall not all this invalidate the Decree God will have Mercy on whom he will let Sarah Laugh and deny it too yet God will not deny himself Sarah shall have a Son. The Embassy thus happily concluded the Legates depart they have a Commission to execute of a different Nature e're they return into Heaven Abraham that he might not be defective in the least part of his Duty performs the last Act of his Hospitality and genteelly brings them on their way He had kindly invited them liberally treated them now he as Courteously dismisseth them He Ran to call them in at the first and afterwards Ran to the Herd for Provision for them He stood waiting upon them while they took it yet still hath he Feet to travel with them Thus Good Men never fail in doing their Duty they go on from Strength to Strength They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint Abraham's vigorous Heart adds Sinews to his feeble Joynts We should never complain of tired Limbs if we had but zealous Affections Get but Abraham's Company into thine Heart thou wilt have Abraham's Heart in the same Company 't was when Christ was not with them that the three Disciples fell Asleep At the steering of their Course towards Sodom I doubt not but Abraham's Heart began to Throbb He was no Stranger to the Villanies of those Cities and the approach of such Inquisitors as these he fears will bode them little Good. A less skilful Augury may serve to foretell the Destruction of Wickedness yet is he modestly Silent and dares not enquire into the Mysteries of God. 'T is ill prying into the Estate of Others till we find some sure ground of Security to our selves But Abraham is the Friend of God and Communication of Secrets is one of the Veins that conveys Life and Strength to the whole Body of Friendship 't is not every one that is admitted into the Cabals of Princes Abraham is a Favourite and fit to be one of the Privy Council of Heaven God that had honoured him by a Revelation of the secrets of his Love to himself cannot keep from him the discovery of his Intentions of Wrath on the Wicked
Abraham shall know that his God can be as Just as Good and that few partak'd of the special Priviledges that himself was bless'd in 'T is no small Obligation that lyes upon the Faithful from the Knowledge of their differing in Condition from the worst of Men only by distinguishing Mercy What are we that thou shouldst manifest thy self unto us and not unto the World. Faith grows up to a perfect Stature by the Knowledge of every dispensation of God. The Prophets enforce their Doctrines from the Examples of the fiercest Executions of Vengeance Pass ye unto Calneh and see c. Abraham who hereafter should read Lectures upon Sodoms Flames to affright his Children and Family from Sodom's Lusts shall first hear with his Ear and afterwards see with his Eye the pernicious and dreadful Desolation that Sin had made upon them that with greater sence of those Calamities he might terrifie others against the Sins that procur'd them God knowing how powerfull Application so Experienc'd a Preacher as Abraham would surely make from such a Text. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do c. For I know him that he will Command his Children and his Houshould after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord c. Behold the great Ordinance of Family-Instruction establish'd by Divine Institution Abraham must execute both Offices of King and Priest In vain is Obedience exacted from such as know not their Duty But in order to the means of that Knowledge Obedience is justly required and Jurisdiction given by God Himself to enforce it I know Abraham that he will Command his Children and Servants c. If the Sword or the Word be too precarious look for Confusion and Ignorance to prevail over all Abraham is invested with a perfect Power to subject them to the Discipline of God He was Soveraign over his Family and God is so far from Clipping his Authority that he gives him the Broad Seal of Heaven to confirm his Commission He had Power of Life and Death within his own House they were not worthy to live should they not learn the saving Knowledge of the holy Commandments to little purpose were they Circumcised in the Flesh if they be not enlightned into the Knowledge of that Sacrament nor how far it oblig'd them to Obedience and Duty But I know Abraham that he will teach them c. Even this Great Prince will not think it beneath him to Catechise the meanest Herdsman in his Family 'T is the Work of God an Abraham hath an Heart to it 't is a Glorious work the Saving of Souls and Abraham shall be rewarded for it 'T is transmitting Piety to Posterity and the Child unborn will praise God for Abraham 'T is the advancing the Interest and Glory of God upon Earth which never faileth to bring to Glory in Heaven See the decay of Religion and weep tears of Blood Where lives the Son of Abraham that improves his Authority in his Family for God and the Souls he hath made unless in a cold and perfunctory manner If an Impious casting off the Thoughts and mention of God unless in cursed Oaths and fearful Imprecations if an utter banishing his Holy Worship and Service as an unfashionable disparaging thing If the Training up Children into the low and base Opinion of the strict Wayes and Methods of Godliness such as their Parents have sucked in before them If Servants must think it ill Manners to serve their Maker better than their profane Masters and must wear the Livery of their Relation and Vices together If instead of Praying Catechising and Holy Instruction and Excellent Example which ever flourished in the Great Family of this mighty Prince there be nothing but Prophaneness Atheism and all the Trades of Confusion driven and carried on with a perfect Industry from day to day surely we must sadly conclude that the Good Abraham hath but few Heirs to follow him in the same holy Path. God knew this faithful Servant to be constant to his Glory and Interest and all the World shall one day know that such as these are very Traytors both to Him and their Own Happiness for ever 'T was because of this Fidelity that the Great Abraham was admitted into the Secrets of his Judgment against Sodom The clamour of whose Provocations would suffer divine Justice to forbear them no longer God could not be in Quiet for them in Heaven either they must cease to be thus wicked or to have any further Being in the World He will ease himself of these Adversaries they shall no longer oppress his Patience or abuse his Goodness His Long-suffering had run out to the utmost Extremity He is now ready for vengeance they ripe for destruction When the whole World shall be white unto the great Harvest Then shall the Sickle of Ruine cut it down Yet shall not Execution be done upon Sodom before all the Formalities of Judgment precede Process and Enquiry shall be made into the Merits of their Cause The Judge of all the Earth will do right None shall perish but from the plain Evidence and Conviction of their own Guilt Righteous art thou O Lord and just are thy Judgments Two Angels are sent in Commission to make the Inquisition we shall anon hear what the Issue of that Tryal will be Now is Abraham left with the Lord alone and 't is remarkable that himself who had vouchsafed to Honour the Tabernacle of this holy Man with his gracious Presence disdains to bless the Infamous City with the same favour God is far from the ungodly but he waiteth here still to hearken to the Prayer of the Righteous Abraham receives not the News of Sodom's destruction with any pleasure at all Gods Children as himself delight not in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn and live 'T is Fury and not Zeal that on every affront calls for Fire from Heaven to destroy There is a City will know this one day that hath made so many Massacres and kindled so many Flames upon the Bodies of the Saints Abraham prepares to Plead as Fiercely as he had Fought for Sodom before How serviceable are the Favourites to the Enemies of God who yet hate and persecute them Down he falls and on the bare Knees of his very Soul Beggs That God would maintain the Honour of his own Justice and that the Righteous might not taste of the bitter Cup of the Wicked And further If it would please him that the Wicked might live for the Righteous sake and the Righteous for their own Tho' the Wicked will not suffer the Righteous to live for whose sake themselves live and with the Jews kill their Saviours yet are the Righteous of another Spirit and would give their lives that all Men were as themselves the innocent and blameless Sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation 'T is wonderful to find how Abraham by the bare Breath of his Prayers makes the
But Old Abraham had been so long accustomed to Celestal Sounds that the Voice of an Angel could be no Surprize unto him He that ever kept his Ears open to every Call of God could not be Deaf to this Musick that ravish'd his Ear and Heart together 'T was a very Melancholly Note Take thy Son Isaac and offer him up c. But now the Sphears strike up a more melodious Tune Lay not thine hand upon the Lad. Yet Abraham danced after both but his very Soul makes a Caper at this He that refused not God in the killing very easily obeys him in the Sparing of his only Son Commands that Run counter to our Wills must all be received but those that jump in with them are embraced with open Arms. The glad Father stands not to argue the Authority that brings him a Discharge from the Execution of the first Warrant but readily Believes what he heartily Desires and knows that God himself is the best Dispenser with his own Statutes The Sheep of Christ that know his Voice are startled at the Arrogance of the Stranger that presumes to countermand the plain Injunctions of Heaven Read the Scriptures No they are dangerous Drink ye all of this No not all but the Priest only Pray with the Spirit and with Vnderstanding No but in an Vnknown Tongue Marriage is honourable to all Men No not in the Sacerdotal Order There is one Mediator even Jesus Christ No there are Innumerable others Angels and Saints This Intercessor is able to save to the uttermost all that come to him No not unless you joyn your own Good Works with him which are Filthy Rags Dung and Nothing In vain doth Diotrephes pâ—ate against the Divine and Infallible Spirit of Truth Lord where will this New Gospel stand in the Great day You have heard the Faith and Patience of Abraham now see the End of the Lord. Will any one think that Isaac's Blood could be profitable unto God yet shall Abraham's Obedience bring Him Glory and be profitable to Himself and to the whole Church of God for ever to teach us that Faith without Works is dead and by works of Obedience is Faith perfected And both Faith and Obedience perfected by Grace through Christ Now hath God built a Tabernacle for the Table of his Covenant with Abraham to rest in to the end of the World that all Flesh may know that he who refuseth to offer up his Isaac on Abraham's Altar can never expect Salvation with him God leaves such for Moses and not this Angel to deal with who came on purpose four hundred years after with a killing Letter to those as spare their darling Sins from the command of God to have them Crucified when Abraham his Favourite could not be suffered and had more love to him than to withhold his only Son. Abraham himself hath no Bosom for such as hide their Iniquity in their own And 't is observable how little Compassion he had for the Man in Hell that of Three Requests made by him he granted him not one and Torments him with the same Uncharitableness that himself had used to poor Lazarus He should not have a Drop that would not give a Crum Abraham is the only Saint that we find prayed to in all the Scripture and that to so little purpose as the miserable Supplicant gets not the least Ease from his Pains who had kept all his Isaacs about him on Earth and now very idly becomes his Votary in Hell. Mercy to Sin is Tyranny to the Soul If Absalom be dealt gently with and suffered to Live David himself is in danger to dye Most Men take David's Care for the Rebels Safety as if their own Life were bound up in the Life of him when if God be True either Sin or the Soul must certainly dye If we cannot part with our Lusts for Gods sake we shall part with our Souls for our Lusts sake Who that is wise but would harden himself against damning Corruption that lurks to destroy him When Abraham hath a Courage for the sake of his God to stick his Knife into the Throat and to burn into Ashes his own Flesh and would have thought himself unworthy of the Kindness of Heaven had he refused that Obedience to the holy Commandment If the Interest of God be so low in thine Eyes that for Sins sake That must suffer take heed the Interest of thy Soul be not one day so low in Gods Eyes that for Sins sake thy Soul may suffer for ever But if Abraham's Obedience and Love to God be grown quite out of Fashion and Men fancy they may be saved on cheaper terms than He Let them shew the Dispensation whereby they are allowed to spare their Beloved Isaac since not Abraham only but God Himself spared not His and delivered him up a Sacrifice for those Sins whose safety Men so carefully provide for Ah me never considering that those they are so fond of would not suffer the Son of God to live 't was Sin that brought him to his Death and are the Sinners like to efcape with life when He Himself that had none of his own dyed and was destroyed but for wearing the Garment that was spotted with the Flesh thô his Own were so pure and without Stain Whence is it that notwithstanding Christ hath dyed so great a part of Mankind dye too and perish but from this very Treason they will not deliver up their Lusts to dye with him but maintain a Friendship with those Enemies that destroyed him as if the same Iron that pierced his Flesh would not one day enter into their own Souls making wounds there that shall never be healed Nor will any thing make them rage with a greater Torment than to consider That God delivered up his Son and that Son delivered up himself to free them from those cruel hands which they will find too soon embrewed in the Blood of their Souls thô they believe it not nor will be perswaded to free themselves in time Methinks they might pass to Golgotha and see what bloody work Son made on the blessed Body of an Innocent Jesus and can they think that Justice is become more Merciful to wilful and obstinate Offenders 'T is one of the Mysteries in Religion that after God himself the Almighty Father hath bin prevail'd on by his own free and unexpressible Love and Riches of Grace to give out his Son ten thousand times dearer to him than all the Creatures from his holy Bosom where he had lain from all Eternity to be delivered up to bitter Sufferings and Death it self for ungodly Enemies And that after Jesus that blessed Son had yielded so readily to become the Sacrifice lying upon the Altar and not as Isaac countermanded again but actually Bleeding out his very Heart for them to the very last drop yet when all this is done and the Gates of eternal Righteousness and Redemption opened to all that will but humbly and thankfully enter them
Sarah's Tent what hath the joyful Father to expect more than an happy Translation to Heaven But to hear of a Marriage-Bed instead of a Grave and six flourishing Branches to spring out from the Dead Stock of his Body this is a little strange and surprizing Let not my Reader profane himself by imputing Levity much less Lasciviousness to Him that for so long a time had conversed with Angels and God Himself on Earth For as Jesus could not Bow his Sacred Head nor give up the Ghost before each Syllable that was Prophesied of Him was perfectly fulfilled even to the bitter Draught of Vinegar and Gall in his last Moments so neither could Abraham suffer a Demise e'er the Promises made to Him were as perfectly Accomplished And by the Power of a Divine Revelation I will make thee a Father of many Nations he is Invigorated with Prolifick Vertue for blessing six Countries more with Princes from his own Body Nor shall this Numerous Brood of Keturah be injurious to the Great Heir the very Offal of the Estate shall suffice for Portions to Them while Isaac's Dishes stand never the Thinner on his Table Let the Men of this World run away with the poor Legacies of general Providence Heaven is enough and enough for the true Heirs of God. Lord however hardly thou deal with me here in the World Reserve a Portion for me with thy Self and it shall suffice The Glorious Sun is now upon Setting and my Pencil must prepare to draw the Shadows of the Night which are Doubled by the shutting up the Eyes of the Great Abraham in Death Since Eternity was Retail'd into Parcels of Time and Dayes never was there a Century better pass'd in Universal Obedience to the Glory of the God of Life whose Divine Wisdom thinks it but just to send him a Writ of Ease from all his Travels under the Sun and having finished the Work he had given him to do to call for him Home and to fix him in his Lodgings with Himself in the Unmoveable Kingdom Abraham is dead and the Prophets They have chalked out to us the Path of Life and then retired to Heaven With what Impudence can any Church tell me That if I follow the Steps of the Great Abraham believe and Live as He yet shall I never Arrive to his Bosom unless I seal to the Articles of their own devising and believe what Abrahams Holy Heart would have Risen at and Abhorr'd to consent to Should God send again this holy Saint from Heaven to walk a while among his Children on Earth retaining still but his own Principles and teaching them to others as what were sufficient to bring them to Happiness in a Zealous Rejection of all the vain Inventions of Men imposed now on the Christian World under the Anathema's of Death confident I am even Abraham would very hardly escape the Censures of the Cursed Inquisition which Wracks the Faith of every Soul within its Clutches into larger Extensions of impossible things to be Credited than the Tortured Joynts are drawn out to under the cruel Twitches of the Tyrannical Engine If Revelation of Divine Truth imprinted on the Heart fitted and softned to receive the Impression upon it and gaining upon the Affections to embrace and delight in it working off the Life from unsuitable Practices to reduce it into a Natural and pleasing Conformity to the Holy Rule be not enough to secure me from the Dangers of Error and Delusion wherewith the Superstitious World so uncharitably charges every Dissenter from its Follies so unreasonably imposed let me contentedly dye and put it to the Tryal before the Tribunal of the Great Judge who I am sure cannot deny his own Work in Attempering an Heart to his Holy Knowledge and Obedience that naturally is so Averse and Rebellious against both And for Appendices to Religion Policies of Government and offensive Ceremonies c. I can easily distinguish in the Light of Truth how far I am obliged to conform to them for the sake of Peace and Honour of the Church and in the same Light to differ from them where they dissent from the Truth and grate too much upon Conscience and yet still 't is my Duty to pay Respect so far as I can to the Persons of Men Thô I know it mine Interest in no wise to bend to their Principles or close in with them in Cringing to a false God and this I learn from Abraham whose Demeanour towards the Children of Heth was full of Condescention and Civil Respect while he would have chosen to Dye rather than given them the Honour of his Presence in their Idolatrous Temples Civility and an Endearing Carriage hath its huge Advantages in the World where Crabbedness and a Morose look is not only ungenteel but affrighting If Abraham had been a Person of a Rugged Supercilious Deportment amongst Men how dimly had his Light shined in the Diversity of Nations where God directed him to go how little had his Profession profited towards an embracing of the Truths he followed I think it may be truly Remarqued That the Generous and obliging Spirits of some Gentlemen in the Romish Communion have done more to allure the Minds of our unstable Neighbours to harbour good Thoughts of their ill Religion than all the designing Attempts of their Priests whose Cloystâ—â— naturally breed them to a sort of Carriage that never fails to create Jealousies and Fears upon the Minds of Men that occurr them and bespeak them rather to stand upon their Guard against them than to receive them in open Arms of Love And while very few of that Fraternity can give a rational Account of at least Two parts in Three of their Faith which they ever devolve upon the Church who takes care too that a prying Inspection be ever discouraged and Brow beaten it shall suffice me to walk in the lustre of Abraham's Religion from whom the Reformed Churches have received the Pattern and care not to follow any other And for my Self had I a thousand Souls to Answer for I would adventure them all upon the pure and unspotted Profession of Him who had all his Knowledge from God sanctified into an Excellent Life which fitted him in the End for a Glorious Death and a blessed Eternity FINIS Books lately Printed for John Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey over against the Compter 1 A Continuation of Morning Exercise Questions and Cases of Conscience practically Resolved by 31 Reverend and Learned Divines in the City of London in October 1682. Printed in a very large Quarto Price bound 10 s. 2 A compleat History of the Lives Tryals Sufferings Deaths and Characters of all those Excellent persons who fell in the West of England and elsewhere from the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfry to this present time with the Pictures of several of the chief of them in Copper plates To which is added The Life Death and Character of George Lord Jefferies Written by a Person of great Learning and Piety 3 Reformed Religion or Right Christianity describ'd in its Excellency and Vsefulness in the whole Life of Man Wherein is given an Impartial Character of a Right Christian in General of a right Christian Minister of a right Christian Magistrate of a right Christian Subject of a right Christian Worship of a right Christian Parliament and of a right Christian Souldier Written by M. Barker Minister of the Gospel in London Price bound 1 s. 4 Mr. Howes Sermon at the Funeral of that Faithful and laborious Servant of Christ Mr. Richard Fairclough price 6 d. 5 The Joy of Faith or a Treatise opening the true Nature of Faith its lowest Stature and distinction from Assurance with a preliminary Tract evidencing the Divinity of the Sacred Scriptures By Samuel Lee M. A. sometime Fellow of Wadham Colledge Oxon. price bound 1 s. 6 d. 6 Early Piety Exemplified in the Life and Death of Mr. Nathanael Mather who at the Age of 19 dyed an Instance of more than common Learning and Vertue The second Edition with a Prefatory Epistle by Mr. Matthew Mead price bound 1 s. 7 Mr. Slater's Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Oaks price 6 d. 8 His Sermon preached to Young Men at their desire Dec. 25. 1688. price 6 d. 9 Mr. Shower's Sermon upon the Death of a young Gentlewoman Mrs. Ann Barnardiston Daughter of Nathanael Barnardiston Esq late of Hackney with her Exemplary Life and Death 10 Mr. Roger's Sermon preached upon the Death of a Young Gentleman with an Account of the young Gentlemans Life and Death 11 A Sermon occasioned by the Execution of a man found guilty of Murther preach'd at Boston March 11. 1686. By Increase Mather Rector of Harvard Colledge in New-Engl price bound 1 s. 12 Mr. Baxter's Directions to a sound Conversion The Fourth Edition price bound 2 s. 13 Mr. Doolittel on the Sufferings of Christ from the Garden to the Grave price bound 2 s. 14 A necessary Companion for a serious Christian directing him aright through the whole course of his Life price bound 6 d.
Sighs to have that Promise more particularly express'd Generals in Religion leave the Affections Dull and Cold and are but as the Embers upon the Hearth which more explicite Revelation blows up into Flames of Spiritual Heat and Joy. All the rich Legacies of the New Testament do but meanly Affect us till they are translated into the Heart by the Finger of God. Then O how I love thy Law 'T will never be well with us till we Pray and Sigh too with Abraham for a more express Illumination and accomplishment of the Promise I will write my Law in their inward parts General Promises satissie well enough a dead and General Faith all whose Hopes are on the Paper but a Lively Faith is ever Restless till they be transcribed thence and engraven in legible Characters within The Law of his God is in his heart That is the Fleshly Table upon which it is fairly written Salvation is secure to all whose Names are written in the Book of Life but 't is a Lamp from the Sanctuary the Spirit of Revelation that must clear up the Evidence to the Soul of its own Name being there inserted Abraham's true Faith Sighs after more explicite Demonstration 'T is a dreadful thing to leave the Concerns of Eternity under Fear and Doubts Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure Abraham's Soul was at stake and longed till he were better secured of the promised Seed which should make himself and all the Nations of the earth happy He Pants (*) (*) (*) Quodnam donum oblectationi aut consolationi mihi erit quâ—â—diu non video prâ—missionem tuam completam de semine meo ex quo Messias est procreandus till he see that natural Root from whence the Blessed Branch of Righteousness should in Gods good time be most happily derived What could he beg less than this In vain would all other Blessings be heap'd on his Head. But to pass down into the Chambers of death Childless and all the Memoirs of his Faith and Obedience to be buried with him in the same Sepulchre This is matter of Grief to him under all the Royal Largesses of Divine Bounty towards him Progeny is the natural desire of Man whose Ambition is to see himself survive in others springing from him and Children are but the living Images of their deceased Parents who so long as They live are not altogether dead Besides Abraham foresees his great Name might be interred in Oblivion if God should not inscribe it on a more lively Monument than his Steward Eliezer of Damascus was like to make who although he were a good Man and by being adopted his Heir might be raised to bear some Figure and Resemblance of his State in the World yet he sears he would prove but a dark Representative of the Great Abraham's Spirit and no Express Image of his Masters Person Too dark a Region for his Illustrious Vertues to shine in The Sence of this Infelicity lay so heavy upon his troubled Spirits that now he sights for Life and reduplicates his stroaks The Roâ—k had not yet yielded him one comfortable Drop which in an instant shall gush out in Floods of living Water he renews the complaint and piteously laments his condition To me hast thou given no Seed None yet appears though thou tellest me of a numberless One. I find no Accomplishment of thy Promise God sometimes makes as if he did not hear and seems to shut his Ears while yet his Heart is open He loves to put a Value on his own Mercies which we so much the more esteem as they cost us dear in purchasing and waiting for Blessings too cheaply gotten are too meanly priz'd Abraham's Soul is in Travel for an Heir he must not hope to be delivered by one poor single Pang In vain do we knock at Heavens Gates without watching there till Answer comes and if that be delayed our Requests are to be enforced by new Arguments and more pathetick workings of Heart And though our Prayers be answered before we cry yet must we call again and again for that Answer And Jesus taught us a Parable to this end that we ought always to pray and not to faint Let Abraham hold out but one throw more and the Child shall come to the Birth Christian thou hast been in long Labour for a Saviour the next Groan may bring him from the Womb of Gods Decree and thine own Prayers into thy joyful Arms wilt thou dye before thou see thy Saviour Born in thy Heart Christ in thee the hope of Glory Behold God this very Moment appearing to cancel all the Evidences of the Strangers Pretensions and breaking for ever the Heart of Eliezer's Hopes See the Seals of those despairing Conveyances making over thine Estate and Soul to the Forreigner all lying on the Ground torn off and himself sneaking away in utter Desperation at the first breaking out of the true Isaac Go Father Abraham and teach all the World the profit of patient waiting at the Throne of Grace for by thine Importunity and Perseverance hast thou prevailed with God. Since the pains of thine Heart have turned even Gods within him and caused his very Bowels to roll in the Sounding whereof thou hearest the joyful Tidings of a Son which shall issue from those very Bowels that have stirred in so violent Motions against which his pity hath no strength any longer to withstand thee and hath all this while made but a feigned Resistance while thou hast been shewing a Tryal of thy Skill how well thou canst manage thy Shield and how prosperously God himself may be attack'd when it shall please him to yield up himself to be conquered by his Creature Abraham hath been in Travel and Behold a Troop cometh What a prolifick Grace is Prayer which brings forth Thousands and ten Thousands in our Streets and makes Parents of an Incomprehensible Seed The Off-spring of that Grace are all the Innumerable Productions of Eternity which all the Arts of Arithmetick must for ever despair to sum up Can the Great God give any thing little Hath Abraham wrought all this while but for one Son Come all ye glittering Lamps of Heaven your mighty Creator sends you a Summons to make your Appearance here in your clearest Shine not the One thousand three hundred twenty five chief Commanders that seem to exceed the rest in Glory but give your Orders to the Minor Lights to make up all the Force and with all your united Numbers make some Figure to the Great Abraham of the infinite Issue that I will bless him in who from one Son shall multiply into Myriads to bespangle the lower Firmament of my Church For so shall his Seed be God had employed him before â—o the endless work of accounting the numbers of the little Dust of the Earth Now will he have him to enumerate the Stars of Heaven with the like impossible Imposition Some critically observe that by the former God pointed out