Jacobs trouble Lam. 1.17 The Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob that the Adversaries shall be round about c. therefore by Jacob here is meant only Judah that is the two Tribes that did not depart from God in the Revolt and Apostacy of the ten Tribes and that those of Israel that for conscience sake did leave their Habitations and went and dwelt in Judah and Jerusalem yet there 's a time of trouble for them also 2. What 's meant by the time of trouble It 's in the Original Hab. 3.16 tempus augustiae a time of straits which is called a day of straits when the Lord did come up upon them and invade them with his Troops for so the Army of the Babylonians is called when they should be led into Captivity by the will and command of others for their Persons and Estates to be made use of as a prey to serve the wills and ends of strangers and servants For strangers Jer. 30.8 Strangers shall no more serve themselves of them And for servants Lam. 5.8 Servants rule over us and there 's none to deliver us out of their hands Now when the walls of the City were broken down the Temple destroyed the Worship of God prophaned and all the Ordinances of God trampled under foot all Order Authority deposed and all things subjected unto the wil and lusts of a conquering Army now it was a time of straits great straits in point of conscience for they would now be working them about to their way and perswading them to worship their Gods Jer. 10.11 Now to be under the power of men and not to be subjected to their lusts and serve the lusts of men it 's a great strait and straits also in respect of the affliction having their lives alway hanging in doubt having their bread by weight and their water by measure and in respect of succour in a great strait also for there was no deliverer Lam. 1.3 All her Persecutors overtook her between the streights that there was no escaping no way to avoyd them and therefore 2 Tim. 3.5 These shall be difficult times in which men should meet with great and variety of straits that they should not know which way to turn themselves c. Thirdly it 's called a great day magnum pro formidabile Cal. Terribilis aut mire calamitosa à magnitudine supplicii magnus nominatur Theodor. And we doe read of five Great Dayes in the Scripture First the day of the Lord spoken of in Malach. 4.6 I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and terrible day â—f the Lord that is interpreted Luk. 1.17 of John Baptist who was to be the forerunner of Christs coming And this is called a great day for the great manifestations of God wherein life and immortality should be brought to light by the Gospel the great changes of Ordinances and the great destruction of the Enemies the terrible Judgements that should then be poured out for Mal. 4.1 The day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all that do wickedly shall be stubble that is when the Sun of Righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings c. And for the terrible Judgements that under the Gospel the Lord would pour out upon the world and that is meant Acts 2.28 Joel 2.3 The Sun shall be turned into darkness the Moon into blood before that great day of the Lord come It 's spoken of the great Judgements that the Lord Christ would pour out upon the world and thereby make way for the receiving the Gospel publickly for he doth shake Heaven and Earth and thereby makes way for the coming of the desire of all Nations for out of the Throne when Christ is exalted comes thunderings and lightnings and voices Rev. 4.5 Secondly there 's the great day of Jezreel Hos 1. last That is when the Lord shall call home his antient people and gather together the outcasts of Israel Which shall be a day in which the Lord shall appear in his glory for when he doth build Zion he doth appear in his glory a day of the restitution of all things a day of enriching of the world a day when new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven and a day in which the kingdoms of the earth shall be given to the Lord and his Christ and there shall not be any more any pricking bryer or any grieving thorn in all the land there shall be no more a Canaanite in the land forever all persecuting Powers shall be subdued Thirdly there 's a great day when the battel Armageddon shall be fought Rev. 16.14 When all the Powers of the earth shall rally and gather together their broken Troops against the Church of God they shall be the greatest combination that ever hath been and in which all the opposite Powers shall be utterly and finally broken and thereby way shall be made for the vial poured upon the air which brings in the binding of Satan chap. 20. Now this battel with the issue of it we have chap. 19.19,20,21 Now from the great preparations that the enemies do make and the great destruction which then they shall be sure to find and the great things which shall follow upon this and that in this day the Lord will make way for therefore it 's called the great day of God Almighty when the Lord shall fulfil all his promises and prophecies and Christ shall be cloathed with a garment dipt in blood and his name shall be called the Word of God Fourthly the day of Judgement is a great day also the Angels are said to be reserved in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day for then shall the son of man sit upon the throne of his glory and all Nations shall be gathered together before him and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepheard divides his Sheep from the Goats c. and he shall then passe a finall sentence an eternall judgement upon the eternal estates of men and set a gulph between them for ever which they shall never pass when he hath so done he shall resign or give up his kingdom unto God the Father and then all the present wayes of administration shall cease Fifthly when the Lord brings any speciall judgement or affliction upon his people that also is called a great day Zeph. 1.14 the great day of the Lord is near it 's a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness that Trumpet and Alarum against the fenced Cities and against the high Towers it 's a threatning of the same Judgement there which here the Prophet speaks of the captivity of Babylon and it s called the great day of the Lord and so it 's here called also Fourthly it 's said that it 's such a day that there is none like to it that is First it is the greatest evil that ever befell that people they had been smitten with Pestilence with scarcity
were but two Tribes returned from Babylon we never read of the return of the ten Tribes They went into Captivity with weeping and with weeping shall they return But if so it shall be sorrow under suffering in the one and under the sight and apprehension of their sin in the other Fifthly the Scripture seems to speak as if the great meanes of their Conversion should not be by the preaching of the Gospel as the Gentile Churches are brought home unto the Lord but that it shall be by sight and by a visible appearance of the Lord Jesus unto them I shall assert nothing possitively in it onely give me leave to set before you some Scriptures that seem fully to speak so much Zach. 12.10 They shall look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn And that it is not barely a spiritual looking upon him with an eye of faith such as the holy Ghost calls Joh. 6.40 Seeing the Son and believing on him but that it is a bodily vision and to see him with bodily eyes for Dan. 7.13 there is the Son of man comming in the clouds of heaven brought to the ancient of days to receive a Kingdome What Kingdom sure his Davidical Kingdom when he shall sit on the throne of his Father David When Christ receives this Kingdom it is not as he receives the spiritual Kingdom and entred upon the administration of the providential Kingdom that was by his sitting down at the right hand of his Father and so enter as man actually upon the administration of all things for its plain that to receive this Kingdom which shall be after the four beasts are destroyed He shall come in the Clouds of Heaven and they shall bring him unto the ancient of dayes he comes attended with the Angels and they bring him unto the ancient of days its true that Gods comming in the Clouds his riding upon the Clouds it s that which notes out the eminent visible glorious appearance of his Majesty but it s the appearance here of Christ as he is the Son of man which I conceive is never found to be so used in the Scripture but at the last day the Lord Jesus shall appear in the clouds when he comes to judgement As spoken of a visible appearance so this also shall be and so much haply is meant Mat. 4.30.31 Then shall appear the sigh of the Son of man in Heaven and then shall ye see the Son of man comming in the clouds of Heaven I know its a perplexing Scripture yet haply is meant this appearance of the Son of man not to judgement but as a signe that the judgement is neer that which they may be as truly assured of as the husband-man can be that the summer is neer when he sees the fig-tree put forth leaves c. and therefore I should rather conceive there is meant the appearance of Christ in the clouds for the conversion of the Iewes and to receive a Kingdom rather then his appearance at the day of judgement when he must shortly give up the Kingdom and I am induced rather to think so because it follows and he will send the Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather together the elect from the four windes Which is I do not conceive to be restreined unto the day of judgement though the Apostle doth so speak also of the general Resurrection 1 Cor. 15.52 The Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised the Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God 1 Thes 4.16 But when this Trumpet shall sound all the Nations shall be raised bad as well as good Elect as well as Reprobate and they shall all awake unto judgement but this is a Trumpet that gathers onely the Elect from the four winds therefore it seemes that none shall hear this trumpet but the Elect and that it shall sound unto them as such and shall never reach unto the Reprobate and that instruments of mercy or judgement are called Angels is ordinary and that what the Lord doth eminently and publickly and dreadfully make known his glory to them with the sound of a Trumpet is clear Rev. 1.10 4.1 and therefore it may be spoken of the Lords gathering in the Elect of the Iewes having not cast off whom he knew before who are now scattered even into the four windes of Heaven and therefore there is that which seems to incline unto this of the conversion of the Iewes at first shall be by sight and by appearance of the Lord Iesus Christ visibly in the clouds of Heaven and so Pauls conversion should be as the first fruits the Lord setting forth him as a pattern to the whole Nation his conversion was by a sight of Christ from Heaven and a glorious light that shone round about him and so its probable there shall also be but yet not all of them so converted but the Lord will take some of them and make them to be as Priests unto the Lord and they shall declare his glory amongst the Gentiles and shall be instrumental in gathering of them and they shall also bring in their brethren that is say some the unconverted Gentiles which shall be as brethren then all the differences between them being taken away Others more properly refer it unto the Iewes the remainder of them not brought in the first grand conversion of the Nation for it is said They shall bring all their brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all Nations upon Horses and Charriots and upon wild beasts unto my holy mountain So that it may be some of them shall be converted by the appearance of Christ and others of them by the preaching of the Gospel by those that are amongst them converted that their brethren going forth to them and declaring to them the returning of God in wayes of grace unto their Nation and the great things that he hath done for them and so they having a spirit of grace poured out upon them shall also be brought as an offering to the Lord. Sixthly The manner of their calling shall be exceeding eminent and glorious unto the admiration of all Nations that they shall all see how the Lord hath honoured them Esa 60.1 The glory of the Lord is risen upon them Hos 1.11 Great shall be the day of Jisreel it shall be a glorious day that which shall make them honorable in the eyes of all the Nations of the Earth that ten men out of every Nation under Heaven shall lay hold of the scirt of a Jew and shall say we will go with you for we have heard that God is with you Ps 10.2.16 When the Lord shall build up Sion he will appear in Glory they shall have glorious appearances of him such as no people ever had and this shall make them to be the desire of all people as they have had a great day of misery so a great and glorious
sense of the Gospel I will give you six rules briefly I beseech you carry theâ— home with you and the Lord carry them to your hearts First a man that i truly holy according to the sense of the Gospel is truly affected with the honor and dishonor of God for holiness exalts God I say holiness exalts God in Joshua 7.9 Israel had fallen before the men of At their enemies what is it now that troubles Joshuah most Israel flyes before their enemies Lord what wilt thou do for thy great name truly though we should perish and our names be rooted out from under heaven our names rot in the earth it were no great matter but thy name Lord saith he I am not able to bear the thought of it what wilt thou do to thy great name so likewise David The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me he could have born any thing better then that God should have been dishonored my cyes gush out with Rivers of water because men keep not thy Law malo in nos murmur hominum quam in Deum Bernard I remember it is Bernards expression rather saith he let men vent their displeasure against us then against God bonum est mihi si dignetur Deus me uti pro clypeo if the Lord would please to make use of me to keep off reproaches and injuries from himself it would be satisfaction enough to me let my name be blotted never so much if Gods name be not spotted if his name be not profaned it is enough Now if I should put you to examine your hearts by this Is Gods glory dear to you and do you say profaned be my name so as Gods name be honored is there nothing better to you in this world like to this my conscience answers in the presence of God to such a question as this Truly my Brethren I am afraid few of you can say in truth that the Lord is thus exalted in your souls how is it that the dishonors done to God either we make matter of scoff or otherwise it doth but draw out our envies and invectives but it is not matter of drooping continually upon our Spirits there are few Ages that you shall read of wherein the name of God hath been higher in a more impudent way dishonored then in this Age I may say it with boldness with more open face a Whores forehead that cannot blush and yet notwithstanding where be the morners in Sion where be those that do say My estate doth me no good and my honor doth me no good nor never will while I enjoy it without God while I see God dishonored Well certainly suitable to the measure of holiness that is in any man so will his affections be to the honor of God and where this affection is not in truth there is no holiness in truth This is the first thing The second sign that I shall give you to examine your selves by is this Where holiness is in truth there the heart is mightily affected unto the truth of God which is the foundation of boliness sanctifie them by thy truth it is the expression in Joh. 17. then Truth is the foundation of sanctification whensoever holiness is in truth then the man is mightily affected to truth I do reuâ—ember it was an excellent rule that Virenencius gave long ago Virenenc quo quis sanctior co promptior novellis contraire the more holy any man is saith he the more his heart goes against all humane inventions contrary to the truths of God Why now should I put you upon the tryal by this have not you all Truths corrupt even to the very foundation those in this City that dispute whether there be a God or no to the very foundation that deny the God-head of Christ and of the Spirit deny the truth of the Scriptures why now how I pray you doâ—h this sit upon your spirits how are you affected with truth for truth is the mother of holiness and I say unto you it will bear a child-like affection thereunto my Brethren will you give me leave a little to speak plainly to you the great design that Satan hath I conceive in this present age the great design for he hath many but I say the Great design I look upon to be this So to dispute all things as that in matters of Religion men might look upon nothing as certain dispute all things that so you may be certain of nothing for this hath been the great business and truly I must though some of them go under the name of Saints I must say they are highly the instruments of the Devil in it I fay the great business of these latter years hath been this it hath been to dispute principles and overthrow foundations Augustine Augustine saith there are two waies by which the Devil draws men from Christ one in a time of peace and another in a time of persecution in a time of persecution coget homines negare Christum he compels men to deny Christ in the time of persecution But in the time of prosperity docet he teacheth men then to deny Christ he finds out such Doctrines as shall teach men handsomly to deny Christ and to defend it when he hath done O my Brethren how doth this sit upon your Spirits It was Luthers saying Luther Spiritus sanctus Scepticus non est the holy Spirit is not a Sceptical Spirit there is little of that Spirit in this Land Christianism is turned to Sceptism question every thing and dispute every thing and men look upon it as a great piece of Religion to maintain that there is no certainty in Religion and truly this is the way of the wise men of our times Why now consider two things are added hereunto One is to prosecute this design the Ministry must first be undervalued that by that means there may be way made that they may be suppressed for while these men live they do say in their own bosoms so much as Saul did of David to Ionathan while the son of Iesse liveth saith he thy Kingdom will never be established they do say so that these new waies of Religion will never be established so long as some of these men continue they do say that this is the Heir let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours we shall never be the great Preachers till then nor our lights and opinions will never be entertained for Gospel till then for so what was the advice of Consenus the Jesuite a great while ago and truly this is the very truth for as it is justly to be feared you have a great many among you so those that are acted among you are acted very much by a Jesuitical principle and what was his advice he wisheth them by all means to take away the Ministry but saith do it not all at once but take away some first and disgrace the rest and so by that means a way will
of the world Now if men be under the hand of God in wrath and one judgement doth make way for another God will punish them seven times more surely they must be utterly destroyed at the last so it was with Rome one Judgement makes way for another and one vial doth prepare and fit the subject for another So that as unto the Saints one mercy doth but prepare the subject and open the door unto another so also to ungodly men one judgement makes way for another and their hearts are hardned unto their own destruction Fifthly it is the expectation of Christ and all the Saints and all their prayers have been poured out this way First it is the expectation of Christ he is sate down at the right hand of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expecting the rest which God hath promised him that all his enemies shall be made his footstool and Christs prayers shall be heard and his expectation shall not be frustrated nor made void and all the Saints have laid up prayers for it for Rev. 16.1 the vials come out of the Temple there is a double voice in this book a voice from the throne quod immediate a deo prosiciscitur and out of the Temple cum precibus sanctorum Impetratur Brightman Brightman Therefore all the degrees of wrath that Rome hath had upon her hath been from the prayers of the Saints and not by their Power and it hath been their expectation long ago that Rome should be utterly ruined Lactantius Horreo dicere dicam tamen quia futurum est Romanum nomen de terra amovebitur Now God that hath raised this expectation in the hearts of his people and drawn out this supplication he will not frustrate their expectations he will fulfill their petitions Doct. 2. All the Roman Power shall utterly fall they shall be destroyed with double destruction Jer. 17.18 and the sword shall be double upon them Ezek. 21.14 Babylon is fallen is fallen First the destruction of Babylon as from God it shall be pure wrath without mixture Rev. 14.10 they had a cup of fornication with which they made all Nations to drink Now God hath a cup of indignation also that which they must all drink and it is poured out without mixture if water be mixed with wine it breaks the force of the wine so that it doth not so soon bring a man to drunkenness as pure wine does this notes summum poenae severitatem judgement without mercy Here the judgements of God that he executes upon men have mercy mixed with them there is a mixture of light with all their darkness non dantur puraetenebrae but in Hell there shall be judgement without mercy and fury without compassion and truly the judgement that shall come upon Rome shall have a great resemblance of the Torments of Hell with it and therefore their judgement is very terrible Secondly it shall be an utter destruction which shall be the more Tormenting because it shall be in the height of their hopes Rev. 18.7 when she shall say I set as a Queen and am no widdâ—w and shall see no sorrow the thoughts of Babylon have been and still are high and are eminently confident of victories and successes and yet ver 8. her plagues come in one day as Sodoms with fire and brimstone Rev. 14.10 they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone God will as it were rain Hell out of Heaven upon them he hath fire and brimstone for this spiritual Sodom that they shall not know it till it comes upon them when they think themselves safe then shall judgement come and Babylon shall fall into the Sea like a mill-stone suddenly and irrecoverably Thirdly the judgement shall come upon all parties and upon all degrees and conditions of men that joyn with them all those that do partake of their sins shall have a share of the plagues there is a vial upon the earth that is upon the common people Secondly upon the Sea also there is a vial the jurisdiction of Rome Thirdly upon the rivers their ministers and Instruments that advance this authority all the ministerie of Rome that carry abroad this power over the world Fourthly upon the Sun all Princes and Magistrates and all powers so far as they hold of Rome Fifthly there will be a vial also upon Rome it self the throne of the Beast in the Lords time all this will be accomplished and the day hastens apace and there is no degree from the highest to the lowest that shall escape no place shall protect a man for the vial is poured out by the Lord and there is no escaping Fourthly there is an utter desolation described it shall become an habitationfor Devils which love to be in solitary and desolate places and it shall be a cage for every unclean and hateful bird as Sodom was it shall be a monument of wrath unto all the world Isa 13.19,20 Rev. 18.22,23 The voice of Harpers and Trumpeters shall be heard no more in thee c. and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee c. Fifthly God will stir up the Instruments of vengeance to do their utmost to destroy them as he had before put it in the hearts of the 10. Kings to set her up so shal he also put it into their hearts to cast her down they shall make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh and burn her with fire Rev. 17.16 and Rev. 18.6 reward her as she rewarded you double upon her double and if the Lord put a principle of vengeance into the hearts of men and command them to do it surely the destruction may be exceeding fearful when the Lord does bid and command men to be cruel Lastly it shall make way for their eternal destruction For a man to undergo Temporal afflictions though they be grievous yet it were not so much so his soul might be saved in the day of the Lord but when death goes before and Hell follows after this is the greatest misery Now this is the condition of all that follow the Beast and receive his mark whose names are not written in the Book of the Lamb and therefore Rev. 19.20 the Beast was taken and the false Prophet and they were cast alive into a Lake that did burn with fire and brimstone Truly then it is terrible when judgements do make way for a mans everlasting destruction and eternal ruine Doct. 3. The destruction of Rome and every degree of it the Saints of God do look upon as matter of joy and triumph the righteous shall be glad when he sees the vengeance that shall come upon Rome and shall with a holy scorn say as they do upon the fall of litteral Babylon Isa 14. How art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer son of the morning Rev. 19.1 There is a voice of much people in Heaven Heaven that is put for the Church saying Amen Hallelujah because the Lord had judged the great whore c.
set before other men and exalted above them for in Church societies it is not outward honours or wealth that exalts men men may be great men yet have but mean gifts and of little honour and esteem in the Church of God but also they are called by terms of authority they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place and v. 7. they are your Guides Leaders and Commanders and therefore it is taken from the Master or Pilot in a Ship that turns it about to steer it in its right course and therefore they were of old called The Masters of Assemblies Eccl. 12. and this appears so much the greater if you do consider also that they speak to you in the name of Christ for 1 Thes 5.12 They are over you in the Lord and what they do require by vertue of their office they can do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as an Embassador hath great power because he speaks in the name of the King and they can enjoyn you as you owe obedience to Christ in whose name we speak and whose work we do therfore he that rejecteth you rejecteth me 1 Cor. 5.4 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ deliver such a man to Satan if they did it in their own name there were little power in it indeed but in the name of Christ there is great authority and there is this the more to be added because as it is a power given them by Christ and Christ is despised in them so it is a power given them by your own consent now for a man to give consent to put power into a mans hand and afterwards he denyes him the exercise of that power which he hath given him it is for a man to Judge and condemn himself in the thing which he himself allows therefore it layes a necessity upon you of subjection to this power both for conscience sake and as a thing that was done by your own free election and consent and so there is not only an authority that commands it but a Law of love also as a woman subjects her self to her husband not only as God hath commanded it and given him authority over her but also from a principle of love because this is the man that I did chuse to my self to obey and to be subject unto all my dayes therefore a double Law is broken in this respect and this still argues the greatness of an Officers power in the Church It s called the power of the keyes which doth note a very great authority and office Isa 22.22 power in the house the ordering of governing of all the affairs in a family shall go through their hands as it is said of Joseph what ever was done in all the land of Egypt he was the doer of it so it is true of them what ever is done in the Church of God it must go through their hands they must also be the doers of it and Math. 16.19 it is the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven which is meant both of grace and glory a power to bind and loose in the Church by vertue of the Institution of Christ and what they do bind and loose or they remit or retain shall be so done in the world to come in the Kingdom of Heaven so that they shall open Heaven to the Church and if they shut them out heaven shall be shut out if they binde upon their consciences so will the Lord also in the world to come in Heaven and in this respect it is a far greater power then if a man had the keyes of the authority and Government of all the Kingdoms of the Earth Thirdly the subjects of this authority it is not the bodies lives of men or their estates but the authority is spiritual and it relates unto the soul only and this will appear First because it is managed only by spiritual means as the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world the management of things in the Church of Christ are not to be done in the way of the world it is not by any outward power and greatness or by authority and force of arms c. but all is ordered by the word 2 Cor. 10.5 The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God for it is this that is the Scepter of the power of Christ and all the authority that he doth exercise by his Ministers and Officers under him it is by the word only and if they wil not hear the word let such a man be unto thee a Heathen man let him be Anathema Maranatha to the coming of the Lord we must leave him as a man incurable we can do no more to him 1 Cor. 16.22 if the word will not reclaim him we have no way to deal with him but to set before him the Judgement that is written which if he despise then Church-Officers have no more to do but as they when they refused the Gospel did shake off the dust of their feet it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgement they have no power either to imprison or afflict their bodies or seise upon their estates if they obey not they can only leave men to the Judgement of the Lord. Secondly answerable unto the power such are the censures and they are all spiritual they relate unto the soul they can inflict no corporal punishment upon men but the Punishment in Scripture and first a binding of their sins Joh. 20.21 as they pardon sin in the conscience and in regard of their Church-state by receiving them after sinning upon their repentance So there is a binding of sin upon the conscience convincing a man of the guilt of sin and also the putting him out of the society so that the mans sin is bound in his own conscience and before the Church and the Lord saith It shall be bound in heaven and shall not be pardoned to him or if he be godly he shall not have the sense of pardon till by this ordinance of Christ he be again received Secondly they withdraw communion with him 2 Thes 3.14 If any man obey not our word note that man and have no fellowship with him that he may be ashamed all this is in reference to the soul that the man may be reclaimed it is only Mingle not with him that when he shall see all godly men to avoid him as a Pest and his communion as some filthyness he may thereby take shame to himself Thirdly deliver him to Satan 1 Cor. 5.4,5 Ordinances are means to inflict spiritual Judgements as well as to convey spiritual Blessings cast him out by a Judicial act from the Assemblies of the Saints and so being cast out he is in the world where Satan rules he shall have nothing to do with Ordinances more and yet all this is with special respect unto his soul it is for the destruction of the flesh that the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord therefore all power
can alledge to defend it the greatest plot that ever the Divel had and so it is with Popery they 'l alledge the same Scriptures together with us Secondly The bitterest enemies that ever the Church of God had have been those that have owned the same Scriptures with themselves as the Samaritans and the Jews and the Papists unto us for hereby wickedness comes under the title of a Duty John 16.2 They shall suppose that they do good service and Paul saith I verily thought that I ought to do many things against the name of the Lord Jesus he did it in Duty and did Sin conscientiously as I may say c. Vse The Lord hath given you Liberty in many things such as we could not have expected that ever our eyes should have seen done Now let me exhort you Do not turn this Grace of God into vantonness Use not your Liberty as an occasion â—o the flesh Take heed of this way of sinning above all other to make the Word of the holy God a Patron of Lust abhor those men above all other men next the Divel that are best skill'd in Scripture to this end that they may justifie an evil way Truly I shall say better our old bondage or suffering again if this be the use we make of it if our new liberty be a liberty in sinning One disputes for Free-will and Universal Grace and he hath Scripture for it another he disputes against the regulating power of the Law and he hath Scripture another against Prayers but when the Spirit moves him and he hath Scripture another against the Sabbath and others for all manner of wickedness for they say we live in God and others plead for swearing for it 's an Ordinance of God Thou shall swear by his Name and others plead for mixt multitudes in Ordinances and they have Scripture and others act for every ignorant and confident fellow to preach in our publike Congregations for say they the Scripture says as every man hath received the gift so let him minister c. whereas we know the publike ministery is an Office and it is committed unto some and not to all 2 Cor. 5.17 Consider but these four things and I have done First Is this the return you make for all the goodness of God towards you Consider the evil of it First hereby you do dishonour God in that which is highest to him and which he has most exalted next to his Son Psalm 138.2 His Word is exalted above all his Name Now to lay the Word of God aside and to count it as a strange thing Hos 8.12 is a great evil much more to turn it against the Lord and gather rules from the Word to justifie that which the Lord himself abhors Secondly Hereby you do gratifie the Divel for that hath been his great Design First when the Lord hath at any time powered out a higher measure of light as in Luthers time then rose up abundance of heresies and so in the days immediately succeeding the Apostles and when the Lord works any great changes tending to Reformation for cast Satan down in one kind and he will rise in another as when Rome Pagan was cast down now there is a floud upon Rome Christian c. and by degrees to be at last gathered together into the See of Rome Thirdly No men brings on themselves greater destruction then these men do who turn the grace of God into wantonness by bringing into the Church damnable heresies 2 Pet. 2.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are men ripe for destruction and as I have told you the Lord will make it eminently appear that they are the greatest enemies to his glory and his Churches good and therefore God reserves them for worse punishment then other wicked men shall have God looks on them as men of Blood Bloody men that are drunk with the blood of souls the sons of perdition men of sin 't is an Hebraism that signifies an eminency in every one of those kinds of sin that wicked men are guilty of and it is not only reserved for them hereafter God will not stay till he gives punishments and rewards at the day of Judgement as he will do to all men both good and bad but they shall receive an earnest of damnation here in a special manner as well as hereafter God will exalt their damnation above other mens Primogenitus Sathanae Hereticks are the first born of the Divel and they shall have a double portion with the Divel in his Inheritance Fourthly This is a dangerous fore-runner of destruction to any Nation or Church Truly if if you bear with the woman Jezabel God will not bear with you for he is tender of his Truths and prizeth them above all the world Heaven and Earth shall fail before one tittle of that shall fall to the ground Christ made that the great signe of the destruction of Jerusalem that it was neer There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets many and so 1 John 2.18 There are many Antichrists and hereby we know it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it s not spoken of the end of the world but of the destruction of the Jewish state and it drew very neer upon this ground because many Antichrists had turned the grace of God into wantonness and made use of the Word of Christ to the dishonour of Christ in opprobrium Christi and it was the over-spreading of heresie that did give the Sarasins footing in the Eastern Empire and seeing they are willing to be deceived the Lord let out that floud upon them therefore oh all you that fear God that desire to serve him as he has revealed himself in his Word whose spirits God has drawn forth to prize the truth of the Gospel Take heed of false Teachers Hold fast the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints For if damnable heresies do creep in amongst you Consider nothing threatens destruction so much as they do THE Just Mans End AT THE Funerall of William Ball Esquire a Member of the House of Commons ESAY 57.1 The Righteous perish and no Man lays it to heart IN these words are four things to be considered First here 's a godly man described in his life and that either in respect of his inward disposition or his outward conversation In his disposition of soul hee is a Righteous man and a merciful man also A Righteous man hee had need have good eyes that finds out such a one for Psal 53.4 The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men and he found none righteous Indeed in a legall sence there is none but hath an allay in a Gospel sence there is arighteousness that is imputed upon justification and there is a new image infused upon sanctification and both these must concur in the righteous man and the merciful man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the man of mercy who hath attained mercy himself and who is ready to shew mercy unto others
rest without this is nothing worth in Gods account because this people was like unto the ground that had drunk in the rain that came oft upon it and brought not forth herbs meet for him that dressed it not fruit meet for repentance but rather bare thorns and bryars therefore Christ shews that they were nigh to cursing and their end was to be burnt Heb. 6.8 The words are the Exprobation of Caparnaum and the sentence which the Lord Christ did denounce thereupon because they had neither answered the Lords mercy nor expectation First he looked for fruit and there was nothing but leaves he looked for grapes and they brought forth wild grapes he looked for repentance and behold impenitency no man repented of his wickedness saying what have I done but they held fast deceit and refused to return Ier. 8.5,6 Therefore he that upbraids none propter inopiam necessitatem Iam. 1.5 before they do receive mercy yet he doth upbraid them propter ingratitudinem after they have received he upbraids none respectu Dei dantis as if he did it out of unwillingness to give but respectu hominis accipientis to shame and fear the man who desires to receive And to this end is this Exprobation used by Christ in this place In them we may consider first a concession something is confessed and acknowledged which was that Capernaum was lifted up to Heaven Secondly a Commination in them we may consider this place First in its exaltation and that is the highest they were exalted up to heaven Secondly in its humiliation and abasement and that is they shall be brought down to hell Thirdly the cause of both the cause or means of their exaltation was the ministery of Christ and his mighty works ver 20 and the cause of their depression their impenitency under such a powerful ministery and such glorious means which is amplified by a comparison by which Christ makes them to be more incurable then the worst of sinners humani generis opprobrium the Sodomites for if the mighty works that have been done in you had been done in Sodom they would have repented and remained to this day for that must needs be implyed though it be not expressed We have first Capernaums exaltation and therein we are to consider the place Capernaum Secondly the glory thereof thou art exalted up to heaven Thirdly the means of this exaltation the ministerie of Christ and his mighty works First the place was Capernaum situate in Galile a maritine Town neer to the lake of Genezareth and as Andriconius conceives in the half Tribe of Manasseh and bordering upon the Tribes of Zebulon and Napthaly and so that place seems to be understood Math. 4.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the borders Not in either of those Tribes but bordering upon them and in the Tribe of Manasseh The Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem and then in his infancy for fear of Herod by Gods direction he was carried by Joseph into Egypt there he spent as is conceived some years then returning for fear of Archelaus the Son of Herod Joseph took up his habitation in Nazereth Mat. 2.23 and there Christ abode till the time that he was to shew himself unto Israel in the publike execution of his ministery but when he began to preach though he made choice of that Contry Galilee and not of Ierusalem and Iudea for to exercise his ministery and there he spent most of his time and labour yet he passed by Nazareth and resolveth not to make choice thereof as the place either to preach or live in he leaving it made choice of Capernaum Mat. 4.13 and if you ask the reason why Christ passed by and shewed so little respect to the place of his education the true cause is given John 4.44 because he knew he could have no honour there in his own Countrey therefore leaving it he takes up Capernaum for the place of his chief residence and abode there for to exercise his ministery and to manifest his power in mighty works unto the world so that during the time of his ministery here he lived most and here he preached most and manifested forth his glory Secondly this place though in that dark Country Galilee of the Gentâ—les yet I say this place was exalted up to heaven which expression in Scripture notes the higest degree of Honour and Exaltation as Deut. 9.1 Their Cities are fenced up to heaven that is exceeding high A rage that reacheth up to heaven that is the height and extremity of fury 2 Chron. 28.9 Ezra 9.6 So Isa 14.12 how art thou fallen from heaven O great Lucifer It s spoken of the fall of the King of Babylon from the top of all earthly honour in that day when Judgement should overtake him and he is said to fall from heaven So that his meaning is that Caparnaum was exalted to a transcendent and a superlative degree of honour Thirdly by what means was it thus advanced How came this Town in this obscure Contrey of Galilee to be so highly honoured rather then Jerusalem it was only as the glory of the second Temple was greater then the former the Temple of Solomon Hag. 2.9 not in the frame and fabrick not in the curious stones and goodly building thereof in this the glory was of Solomons Temple which made the old men to mourn who had seen the beauty of the former House yet the Lord saith it should be greater that is greater by reason of his Presence that is King of glory Mal. 3.1 The Lord shall speedily come into his Temple So here it is true that Ierusalem was the joy of the whole earth Babylon the Lady of the world Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet Capernaum an obscure Town in Galilee which very name was a reproach advanced above them all by the presence ministery and miracles of the King of glory so much is intimated in the two former verses Christ did upbraid those Cities because in them most of his mighty works were wrought that is there he had mainly exercised his ministery for though the miracles only are named yet the ministery also in them is included and this was the ground of their honour by this means it was exalted up to heaven Doctrine The Ordinances of the Gospel being set up in their Power and Purity are a great honour and advancement unto the meanest people and the obscurest places For this cause Gods Ark is called the glory of Israel 1 Sam. 4. ult and the Land of Juda therefore called Dan. 11.16 the glorious Land and this is made one end why God did set up the Temple and the Ordinances therein amongst the Jews as some interpret it Ezek. 7.20 the beauty of his Ornament he set it up in Majesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad excellentiam ad magnificentiam c that is not only that there God might manifest his own glory and there he might be glorified by the Church but also for the glory honour and
against thee thou hast none to make answer for thee for thy Covenant admits no advocate Lastly if any services be required thou hast none to help thee but thy own might no Christ to strengthen thee no Spirit to help thy infirmities Rom. 8.26 as it is with the people of God in the Covenant of grace Secondly none to bear thy sins or sufferings and so wrath must needs come upon thee immediately it comes upon the godly under the second Covenant and Christ the Mediator stepped between he bare the curse being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 but when the Lord shall come to pour out his wrath upon thee thou maiest rather hope to prevail with the Rocks and the Mountains then with Christ he will not appear for thee but thou must wrastle it out with the wrath of the great God for ever and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.30,31 there must needs be Iudgement without mercy and fury without compassion when the Lord will stir up all his wrath and none step in to bear one drop of this storm for thee for thy Covenant admits no Mediator Thirdly it is a Covenant under which unto man fallen there is no hope of reparation First it promiseth no repentance after sinning it belonâ—s to the second Covenant that Christ shall give repentance unto Israel Acts 5.31 Secondly it promiseth no space to repent but Gen. 2.17 the day thou eatest thou shalt dye and so they had had not Christ stept in Rev. 2.21 space to repent is not from the first Covenant Thirdly if a man did repent this Covenant promiseth no acceptation upon repentance it saith indeed Gen. 4.7 if thou dost well thou shalt be accepted but it faith not if thou dost evil thou shalt upon after repentance be accepted therefore this is a mans miserable condition and this it must be by this Covenant for ever therefore the Devils are in a hopeless Condition because the Covenant under which they stand offers them no mercy after sinning and God hath not revealed unto them any other Covenant and the same is the condition of every man by this first Covenant only men have this priviledge that they have a second Covenant offered unto them upon which they may lay hold with hope of mercy therefore neglect not these glorious offers seek the Lord while he may be found close with the grace in the new Covenant know the day of thy visitation for if thou be found at the last day under Adams Covenant and untranslated thou must expect no other but to bear thy own sin and shame for ever Let this awaken you to seek first for a change of thy Covenant and then afterward for a change of thine Image many men labour to change their waies and to abstain from many sins but whilest thou art under this first Covenant thy Covenant promiseth no grace to perform duties thy Covenant promiseth no acceptance therefore the first thing that a soul should set upon is to seek to God to be translated out of that Covenant that bondage under which by nature he stands FLESH SILENCED BY Gods arising A Sermon Preached before the Lord Maior Aldermen and Commons of London on a Thanksgiving day at Christ-Church London July 26. 1651. ZACH. 2. ver ult Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation IT is the great honour of the Saints that they are made the Temples of the Holy-Ghost and the Priests of the most high God that they may offer to him spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Iesus Christ The sacrifices of the Jews were of two sorts Some were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propitiatory Sacrifices for the obtaining of pardon and peace and reconciliation after sins committed there were other sacrifices that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace-offerings a returning unto God of thanks and praises for blessings received When God did put into the hands of his people a cup of consolation for that is the Prophets expression in Ier. 16. then did they take the cup of salvation the cup of benediction and returned unto God again Psal 116.13 You have both these sacrifices in the spiritual sense of them under the Gospel and the Lord delights in each of them in their seasons Sometimes the Lord calls his people to mourning and it is dangerous to deceive the expectation of God Sometimes he calls them to rejoice Consider in Heb. 12.23 you are by the Gospel taken into Communion with Angels and your Communion with the Angels in a great measure doth consist in bearing a part with them in your praises it is the action of heaven and requires hearts in heaven to joyn with it therefore the hearts of the Saints are so described Rev. 19.1 I heard a voice of much people in Heaven saying Amen Hallelujah it is spoken of the Saints upon earth it is usually in that book styled the Church of God in heaven but how when they praise God they are a great multitude in Heaven The Countries that have most staple commodities in them for exchange you know they have the freest and the fullest traffique The most glorious intercourses between heaven and earth is in mercy and the most glorious return between earth and heaven is in grace praises and the returning of mercies into themselves ad locum unde exeunt gratiae revertantur Bernard saith Bernard it is a returning of mercy into the same fountain the same bosom of love from whence it flows it is indeed the habitation of God that next to heaven he delighteth to dwell in he inhabiteth the praises of Israel These considerations I desire to premse that you may a little observe of what weight and importance the services that you now go about are For the words that I have read to you that you may find out the meaning and scope of the Holy-Ghost in them it is necessary that we look into the story the context and the connexion of the verse which I shall briefly give you and I intreate you diligently to mark The Babylonian Monarchie having trodden down the City of God the holy City and laid wast the Temple and worship of God for seventy years that time being expired the Lord according to his promise delivers his prisoners out of the pit in which there was no water Deliverance was proclaimed by Cyrus the first King of Persia this liberty some of the Jews undervlaued and they still chose rather to abide in the Land of their captivity to them is the speech directed in the 6. ver of this Chapter Ho saith God come forth and stie from the Land of the North they might have had liberty but they embraced their former bondage those that did accept of deliverance and returned into their own Countrie they were no sooner returned but there rose a Samaritan faction their neighbours those that were neither Gentiles by profession nor Jews by religion
of it is for medicine now there will be no healing at the last day in Heaven there are the souls of just men made perfect and they need no healing Thirdly seeing it cannot be understood literally of a material Temple nor spiritually of heaven it must then be understood mystically of the Church of Christ made up of Iews and Gentiles when they shall be one fold under one shepherd Agnoscunt Haebrei quod ad futurum seculum hoc est ad Regnum Messiae haec pertineant Oecolamp Iâ—…m Nos ad Christi referimus Ecclesiam quotidie in Sanctis aedificari cernimus St. Jerom. But it is not a Temple that is always building and a City but it s a City that shall be built after such a time and therefore I conceive it not to be the Church of the whole New-Testament but barely the Church in the latter days of the world which is commonly called The city of our God but this in a special manner Rev. 3.12 is called so because of an Almighty hand of God in raising it and a glorious and special presence of God dwelling in it and by the Temple is meant those glorious ordinances of worship which should be exercised in this Church in the latter days which is set forth by expressions according to the Jewish pattern as the manner of the presence of Christ amongst the people under the Gospel is set forth by his presence amongst his people of Israel in the Tabernacle Rev. 4. so all the worship of God is set forth to us according unto that Standard pro ritu Templi there is a Temple and Altars and incense c. And that Ordinances of worship the institutions of Christ shall continue in this glorious Church unto the worlds end that 's plain for First it is said that the tabernacle of the Lord is with men Rev. 21.3 and that was a place for worship if the Lord will have a Tabernacle amongst men he will have amongst men instituted worship still Secondly the presence of God amongst men in this City is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Lamp Rev. 21.23 therefore it shines in a dark place it is not such a presence as makes it a perfect day as it shall be in Heaven there will be no more the light of the candle c. And therefore it is a light in Ordinances for in them as in a Lamp the Lord gives unto his people light 2 Pet. 1.10 Thirdly there shall be all manner of Ordinances in this City of God First there shall be preaching for there shall be abundance of fishers chap. 47. Secondly there shall be the Sacraments for the Lord is with them baptizing to the end of the world and they are to shew forth the Lords death till he come Thirdly there shall be discipline for without are dogs and they that love and make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lie or do incline to it and there shall be a greater Spirit of discerning poured out this way then upon any of the former Churches of the Saints Fourthly there shall be Officers in this Church for fishers there are the Ministery Eph. 4. and they are to last till all the Saints be gathered and perfected and there is a right and a priviledge that belongs to them and not to others they that have a right to the Tree of life and may enter in at the gates of this city which every one had not a right to do for the dogs are without as having no right to enter Rev. 22.14,15 3. What is meant by waters that issue out of the Sanctuary which flow from the presence of God in the middle of his people it is to be understood first of truths A river of the water of life clear as Christal Rev. 21.2 Hic fluvius uberrima doctrina Christi So Brightman Zach. 14.8 in that day Brightman Zac. 14 8. Living waters shall go out of Jerusalem that is Evangelii doctrina so Drus Rev. 12.15 Drus. Rev. 12.15 The Dragon is said to cast out of his mouth a flood after the woman what is this flood his doctrine Mede he cast out Doctrinam pestiferam Arianismum scilicet sobolem ejus Mede 2. Because the effects that are here attributed to these waters cannot belong unto the waters alone therefore I do not only understand the truths of the Gospel but the graces of the Gospel and the gifts there bestowed Joh. 7.38,39 Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters c. Joh. 4.14 Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again but he that drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but it shall be a well of water springing in him into everlasting life its true that there is not a healing vertue nor a quickning vertue in the word of it self Wheresoever the waters did come they were healed and every thing did live but yet it is by the word that the Lord doth work these great effects and by which the healing and quickning vertue of the Spirit is convey'd for it is a good rule that of Luther All things in the Church are to be measured by the word Florente verbo omnia florent in Ecclesia c. Luther But if all places where the waters come are not healed the Truths of God have not the same power and effect upon all there are some myrie and marish places First what is meant by these myrie and marish places the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie dirt or mire such as man sinks into that is can neither go forward nor backward Ier. 38.22 thy feet are sunk in the mire and it is such a place where waters stand and have not a free passage Iob 8.11 Can the rush grow without mire and the other word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a ditch lacuna a sink or a pit for dirty and foul water Isa 30,14 There is not a sheard to take water out of the pit and the resemblance between men that live under Ordinances unfruitfully and marish and myrie places is very plain in three things First in a marish place the water hath not a free passage but it stands and setles there it hath not affluxus and resuxus it meets with many a stop and a dam so it is with such a soul also therefore the Apostle prays that the Gospel may run and be glorified 2 Thes 3.1 Now when is the word said to run First when it meets with no stop no opposition but it hath a free passage Cum libere propagatur Secondly when it goes through the whole man and the will of God commanded is subjected unto Psal 47.15 when the word runs very swiftly that is Glass Cum voluntas Dei peragitur c. Glass So that when it hath no stop either in the mouth of the Ministers or in the hearts of the Hearers then the word is said to run and be glorified but when there are some truths of
God that men cannot receive the heart makes up a stop a dam against them they pass not through the whole man to bring into subjection every thought 2 Cor. 10.6 but men imprison truth in unrighteonsness Rom. 1.18 and will not suffer it to pass through the whole man through the whole soul this is a marish place c. Secondly when the waters and the earth do mix together this makes the myre when the Truths of God do mix with the corruptions of men that either men can hold some Truths and yet keep their lusts they can stand for truths and yet they live in their sins and so shine as lights and have their lamps and yet be unclean all the while or else when men do make use of the Truths of God to justifie their sins and they do plead the word of God to maintain their lusts they can stand for the Truths of God yet will not leave their lusts but seek to cover them under it Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. forâ—ing the Scriptures to their lusts Voluptatem sequi non quam audit sed quam attulit Aust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Austin 2 Pet. 3.16 They do wrest the Scriptures and make them to speak that which the Spirit of God never intended in them and all is to favor some lust or other following the hidden things of dishonesty they do handle the word of God deceitfully and make it speak peace when the Lord in the word doth speak terror c. Thirdly the longer men continue the more filthy they grow the longer the Truths of God lie upon the heart of a man and if they reform not they make him grow the more filthy and the more polluted it makes a mans lusts the more hatefull and the more defiling for Ordinances do ripen mens sins as well as their graces and in this respect they may the more fitly be called myrie places Nâ—w the judgment is They shall not be healed they shall be given unto salt First They shall not be healed they had the waters flowing in upon them and by them many were healed but they were not healed under them and now in judgement the Lord saith that they shall not be healed those healing Ordinances which work a very great change upon other men and restore their souls they shall take no place upon them that which was their sin shall be their plague they would not be healed they shall not be healed they would not be purged they shall not be purged they will not come when they are invited they shall not taste of my Supper A man cannot have a greater plague befall him then to be given up unto his own sin and that which is the natural fruit there of Men that have lived under the Truths of God and have not been healed by them the Lord gives them up as incorrigible in judgement they shall not be healed that makes the Anathema Maranatha reserved they are as incorrigible for the judgement of the Lord at his coming for this is that curse upon them which is denounced by God most properly its Gods ordinary way to deal with sinners that shall be their punishment which they chose to themselves as their way of sinning He that is ignorant shall be ignorant still and he that is filthy shall be filthy still he that will not be healed the Lord says he shall not be healed c. Secondly They shall be given to salt which hath a double interpretation given of it First they shall be given up unto a perpetual barrenness Deut. 29,23 The whole land is brimstone and salt it is not sowen and neither grass nor any thing grows therein So Abimelech dealt with Shechem he beat down the city and sowed it with salt Judg. 9.45 Psal 107.34 a fruitfull land he turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into saltness that is barrenness and so Jerom given to salt Ut in perpetuum frugibus careant that they may not bear fruit for ever Secondly Given to salt ut alios condiant exemplorum sale that is he shall be given up unto some exemplary judgement that may teach all other men to beware For he that built his house and not upon a rock when the rain falls and the winds blow he will fall and the fall of that house will be great Doctrine Some men that live under the purest and the most powerful Ordinances are in judgement given up unto a perpetual barrenness For the explication of this there are these sour particulars First that God doth by the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings Secondly that of all judgements those that are spiritual are the most dreadfull Thirdly why the Lord doth in Judgment give men up to a barrenness under the Gospel Fourthly the manner how the Lord doth this and how these Judgements are executed in an ordinary way First the Lord doth by the Ordinances of the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings there are the greatest curses as well as the greatest mercies come out of Zion all Judgements both temporal and spiritual come out of Ordinances for as they have the promises of this life that now is and that which is to come so there belongs to them also the threatnings of the life that now is and that which is to come temporal Judgements come out of ordinances Ezek. 10.2 Take fire from off the Altar and scatter over the city they thought that the fire of the Altar had served for nothing else but ad expianda scelera Calvin To expiate their sins but the Lord doth let them see that it will burn their City also 1 Cor. 11.30 for this cause many are sick and many weak and many are fallen asleep and when the day of Revelation shall come that the Counsels of God and the hearts of men shall be made manisest we shall then see that many of the Judgements that now we complain of will be found to be fire taken off the Altar and to be inflicted for the neglect and abuse of the Gospel which now we do very commonly attribute unto other causes every man according as his own fancy or party leads him and also spiritual Judgments as Rev. 4.5 there are before the throne the seven spirits of God all spiritual gifts and graces are poured out in Ordinances and there are out of the throne thundrings and lightnings and voices which note the terrible ways that the Lord has of punishing wicked men for their contempt and neglect of the Gospel Fulgura tonitrua terribilia supplicia significant nec ullo modo vitanda Brâ—ghtman Judgements from Heaven shall be poured out immediatly upon the spirits of men and that from Heaven Isa 28.13 The word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept and line upon line here a little and there a little that is summacum industria indulgentia He did it daily and he did it with a great deal
Judgements Rev 13.8 and Rev. 17.8 How came men to be insnared with the Doctrine of Popery and carried away with that doctrine of devils they were given up in Judgement to it as an evidence of their reprobation for they worshipped the Beast and received his mark and his image whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life c. for as Spiritual blessings are pledges of election so spiritual Judgements are dangerous signs of a mans reprobation Secondly they are a fearful earnest of a mans damnation 2 Thes 2.12 He gave them up to believe that lye that all they might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness Heb. 10.27 We read of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A receiving of a sentence an eternal judgement in a mans own soul when a man carries in his own heart the sentence of his own condemnation and there is not a greater earnest of it in the world then for a man to be given over by God unto spiritual Judgements for that is the portion that all the Heirs of Hell have from the Lord and as by the works of the spirit of adoption upon the soul there is an earnest of Heaven so by the work of the Spirit of Bondage on the soul in judgement there is an earnest of Hell the approaches of God are in the one and the desertions of God are in the other Thirdly consider what a great evil it is to be given up unto this judgement of a perpetual barrenness the sins against the Gospel must be especially requited by such judgements for the Lord will have the judgement hold a proportion unto the sin now the more spiritual sins are and the more spiritual Ordinances are the more spiritual must the judgement needs be now as there are no sins nor no Ordinances so spiritual as those under the Gospel so there are no judgements that are so spiritual and therefore as God is a spirit and hates spiritual sins most so it is most agreeable unto him the soul being a spirit and having the main hand in the sin to load that with spiritual judgements But why will the Lord punish the neglect of the Gospel with a perpetual Barrenness Why shall the marish places be given to salt The grounds are these First consider of all Spiritual Judgements this is the greatest of all judgements the greatest are spiritual judgements and of all spiritual judgements to be given up to barrenness is the greatest for it is that unto which all other Judgements tend and in which they all end and center There are many other spiritual Judgements as there is a Judicial blindness and hardness of heart a seared conscience a reprobate sense but what is all this for it is that we might bring forth no fruit to God and that nothing that is good might grow thereupon and therefore it is that the Devil doth catch away the good seed Matth. 13.19 That we might be as the high-way ground unfruitful we complain of a barren earth by reason of the curse Cursed be the ground for thy sake when thou tillest it it shall not yield thee fruit but there are three sorts of Spiritual Barrennesses which are far beyond this and are the fruits of a far greater curse and they are barren Churches barren Ordinances and barren hearts there was never a more terrible monument of temporal wrath then the Lord shewed upon Sodom and Gomerrah and those Cities of the plain which are now turned into the salt sea and their smoak ascends continually where nothing lives where nothing grows neither fruit nor grass Deut. 29.23 and therefore called the dead Sea as Jerom saith Ierome Quia nihil in se vitale habet unde nomen mortis sortitumest And if a fish be at any time carried out of Jordan into it Statim moriuntur nthâ—l utilitatis in se habet ut simplex sermo testatur the fishes presently die therein Now take an unregenerate man a barren soul and he is compared here unto the dead sea for it is said that fishers shall stand from Engedi to Eneglaim Eneglaim in principio est maris mortui ubi Iordanum ingreditur Engedivero ubi finitur atque consumitur As great yea a far greater monument of Judgement God gives unto a barren heart then is that of the dead sea which is nothing else but a barren land and barren waters as they bring forth nothing that is good of themselves so neither is there any thing that can live or thrive or grow in them but if it come into it it immediatly dies and so it is with any thing of God or the Spirit of God that comes into the barren heart it is like unto the dead sea what truths or motions soever are cast in they die immediâ—tly Secondly This is the greatest judgement because hereby thou losest the fruit of thy union with Christ and the comfort of it for the end of union with Christ is fruitfulness and it is a plain argument that he that brings forth no fruits to God was never married unto Christ for Rom. 7.4 We are said to be married unto Christ that we may bring forth fruit to God There is a double end of Marriage convictus proles Cohabitation and propagation and therefore there cannot be a greater evidence that thou art not yet married unto Christ then this thou art barren for the Spouse of Christ is fruitfull and he hath no further a delight in them then as they bring forth fruit for it was the very end of his coming That they might bring forth fruit and that more abundantly and that their fruit might remain Now to be much in fruitfulness to be rich in good works is a great mercy Si mihi daretur eptio eligerem unius Christiani rustici opus sordidissimum prae omnibus victoriis triumphis Alexandri Caesaris c. Quando fidelis es Deo placent etiam Physica corporalia animalia officia And how great a comfort is it to bring forth fruit to God because it is fruit abounding unto our accounts at the last and the great day now as fruitfulness is a certain evidence of our marriage to Christ so barrenness is a certain evidence that thou art not yet married unto Christ and to be given up in judgement to barrenness is an earnest thou shalt never be married to him and fruitfulness is an argument and a pledge unto a mans heart that Christ will delight in him as Leah said when she had born a son Now my husband will love me now he will be joyned to me now I have born him this son also So may a soul reason it out with Christ Now I shal have his love he wil love me he will delight in me he will dwell with me â—ow I have yielded him fruit for he doth delight in the fruits of his pleasant things Cant. 5.12 Thirdly there is nothing that stands between such a soul and wrath for Ioh. 15.2 Every
with Christ for the term of vocation is union they were never cut off from their old root and never had experience of an ingrafting work never knew what it was to be translated Col. 1.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum deductum ab iis qui colonias transferunt e natali solo Its a Metaphor taken from transplanting of Colonies They are in him by profession only without any real implantation for Christ as he is a vine upon earth has in him many unfruitfull branches though as he is a head in Heaven so he hath no dead members and this is the great ground of all barrenness and so all that a man doth is but building upon the sand when it flows not from Christ through the union of faith which is the ground of all fruitfulness Non semper ore non semper meditor sed vestio dormio bibo comedo c. Haec omnia si in fide fiant tanquam recte facta divino judicio approbantur As are my prayers so my eating drinking sleeping and clothing my self they are all Luther fruit abounding to my account in Christ Luther Gen. 33. Secondly he gives them up unto a heedless spirit in the things of God so much of Religion as shall uphold a form they take up but they regard not the keeping of their hearts and the approving of themselves unto God in secret there is a cultus conscientiae that is wholly neglected 2 Kin. 10.31 But Jehn took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart what shew so ever they make of Religion and how great so ever their pretences are yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.3 They neglect or they care not for the salvation that is offered therein Bernard Vita uniuscujusque non cognoscitur nisi in conscientia Bernard A mans life may seem as fair in a hypocrite and as fruitful as in a godly man but it is the inward frame of the heart and the constant care of that in which Religion doth consist and if a man do duties with a Spirit of inadvertency they are none of them fruits but leaves and make way for a judicial barrenness Thirdly he gives them up unto new opinions and these do ingross the heart and take up the strength of the man by contests of this nature whereas the kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink Rom. 14.17 and when men are given up to this then Hylar quas volumus doctrinas coaptamus Hylar That must go for true doctrine which is agreeable to their apprehensions and there is more pains taken in contending for and in maintaining of such opinions and things which we have made our own then there is about knowing or practising all the Truths of Christ and the duties of godliness besides and so the whole practice of godliness is neglected while the man is sinfully busied in novelties and unpractical curiosities and so urbem produnt dum castella defendunt when as in absoluto facili stat aternitas The things necessary to salvation are easie and as for lesser disputes be not much in them say Elias cum veniet Let us leave this unto the day of Resurrection which will declare of what sort every mans work is whither it be gold or silver hay or stubble and the truth is this is a grave in which Satan hath buried many a soul causing men to fall in love with their own births and apprehensions and thereby to take them off from the things which are of eternal concernment in the things of God which turn men commonly from Idolatry to Heresie Fourthly the Lord gives them up to have their thoughts set much upon other things as it was with the thorny ground the thorns sucking in the strength of the soil choaked the seed Matth. 13. One is taken up about getting an estate and another about raising a building of honor and another he is busied in the great affairs of a Commonwealth and he talks of making of Laws defeating of enemies saving of Kingdoms c. and in the mean while he himself is lost Matth. 7 22. There is a man busie preaching to others whilst he himself is a castaway and casting out devils out of other mens bodies when he himself is all the while in his inward man possessed of the devil and so while he is made a keeper of the vineyard he neglect to keep his own vine Cant. 1.6 And so many a great Statesman gives the same accompt at his death as Luther brings in Cicero complaining Luther Olim frustra me sapientem putatum vocem indignationis desperationis plenissâ—mam c. So that men never consider by their gifts and places and powers they bear fruit among men and be usefull to a Civil State they never think of being useful to the people of God and saving of their own souls but it s one thing to live fruitful towards God and another to be thought so by men as it s said of Jeroboams son There was found some good thing in him towards the Lord God of Israel Therefore consider that may be good among men which is not good towards the Lord God of Israel Fifthly After this the oath of God passes on the man there is a swearing in his wrath against men now as there was against Israel of old Hebrews 3. and therefore we also must take heed for this is the most dreadfull Judgement can come among men and this oath though it be secret yet it hath this effect that the Spirit of God in the common works and gifts is by degrees withdrawn for though there be a decree that passeth upon every mans eternal estate as an act of the Soveraignty of God Iacob have I loved and Esau have I hated and the foundation of God remains sure the Lord knows who are his yet there are many strivings of the spirit of God about a mans eternal estate before the Lord swear in his wrath he shall never enter into his rest for my spirit shall strive with that man no more Gen. 6.3 for as the Lord will not always suffer his Ministers to speak in vain therefore sometimes he saith they shall be a reprover unto such a people no more and therefore he will change the orb in which the stars sometimes shine he that hath them in his right hand so he will not always suffer his spirit to strive in vain and therefore he doth call home this Spirit as his extraordinary Embassador when he prepares open war against that man and all Treaties of peace are at an end the Lord will treat with him about the matter of reconciliation no more Sixthly after this there comes upon a man from the Lord as a fruit of this oath a spirit of slumber and a heart that cannot repent Isa 29.10 the word in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same that 's used of Adam when the Lord took out his rib
measure that Christ hath appointed unto them and with which he will fill and enrich them that are the body of Christ of which every member is a part and which he by the increase of his grace doth fill up which is in this respect as it were imperfect till the measure of his Saints be filled not only in suffering Col. 1.24 but in graces also Now the Lord having appointed them a measure which they are all in this life to fulfill as he will not destroy wicked men till they have fulfilled their measure fill up saith Christ to the Pharisees the measure of your fathers iniquities so neither will he translate the Saints till they have fulfilled their measure which is done by some sooner and some later and when the measure is full as then Rev. 19. He doth tread the wine-press of his Fathers vengeance upon the wicked So when the Corn is ripe he doth put in his Sicle and reap and gathers it into his barn c. therefore Job 5.26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a good full age as a shock of Corn in his season God will not reap till his harvest be ripe therefore the Lord hath appointed a measure and what it is we know not we should set no bounds to our selves but strive unto the uttermost adding one degree of grace unto another so be sure of this till thou attain thy measure thou shalt never be received unto glory and therefore unto the actual possession of grace growth in grace is as necessary in some respects as truth of grace is What is the reason that a wicked man doth commit iniquity an hundred times and his dayes are prolonged it is because he hath not filled up his measure Joel 3.13,14 So what is the reason that some of the Saints are taken up betimes into Heaven and others of the People of God are a long time in the world Why it is because they have not fulfilled their measure for the Lord would not stay a day beyond his time in the one as well as in the other the one is ripe for wrath and the other is made meet for glory Thirdly look upon Holiness quoad exercitium and so it s called Obedience and this also is necessary to salvation that unto men grown strong Christians without the exercise of Holiness in wayes of Obedience they can never see the Lord A man must run before he can receive the prize 1 Cor. 9.24 And he must fight the good fight of faith and finish his course before he shall receive the Crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 To him that overcometh I will grant to sit upon my Throne as I overcame and am sat down with my Father upon his Throne c. Rev. 3.21 It s called The Labourers are worthy of their hire the hire is for the Labourers and for none else Opera non sunt minus necessaria quam sides ipsa Luther Obedience and good works are in some sense as necessary to Salvation as Faith I say as necessary though not in the same kind as the Instrument of Justification And there is also a double ground for it First because there is a measure of Obedience which the Lord hath appointed unto all the Saints before they shall be translated it shall not be till their Obedience is fulfilled 2 Cor. 10.6 as men shall not take them away The Witnesses shall not be slain till they have finished their testimony Rev. 11. So God will not take them away till they have finished their course Joh. 17.2 saith Christ Father I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do and a Saint shall not be taken from hence till he be perfected I work to day and to morrow and the third day I shall be perfected that is in respect of the work that was given him to do and the perfection of the service is the perfection of the man the same is true of all the Saints when they have brought forth their uttermost fruit unto God and their work is ended they shall never till then be translated Secondly all men that are received into glory they are received unto the degrees of glory unto which they are appointed and though its true that by Conversion they are put into a right of glory but degrees of glory are answerable unto degrees of service which men are in this life drawn forth for though God will not reward men for their works as if they were the meritorious cause yet he will for degrees reward them according unto their works and so good works are a good foundation by which men lay hold of eternal life 1 Tim. 6.19 As Christ hath upon his head many Crowns sutable to the multitude of his Victories Rev. 19.7 Amongst the Romans there was a common Crown and some Crowns that were more special and peculiar Corona Civica and Navalis c. So there is a common Crown too belongs to the Saints as they are in Christ and so enter into their Masters joy but there are some peculiar Crowns which belong unto some more then to others answerable to the special services that they have performed upon Earth As the Apostles shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel There are stars primae magnitudinis though all the righteous shall shine as the stars yet it is observed by our Divines in the Angels themselves that though there be no difference betwixt them in natura Angelica the Angelical nature is alike in all Yet in of ficio in office there is a great deal of difference in the glory of the Angels as the Lord doth employ them some in more high and excellent services then others and answerable to that shall their reward be the essential glory shal be all alike but there is an additional glory that shall be made out unto them answerable unto the services that they have performed therefore it s true of holiness in this large extent of it That without it no man shall see the Lord. There is but one Use I will make of it which is of marvellous concernment unto every one of you Vse The Use shall be of Examination prove your selves for without holiness there is no salvation it is that in which men are apt to deceive their own souls Job 34.30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an hypocrite that the hypocrite reign not least the people be ensnared the word signifies nubilus a man in a cloud or velatus pallio Aven Avâ—… a man that covers himself with a cloaâ— men find out often-times artificial coverings for themselves and thereby deceive their own souls it is not holding some opinions in matters of Religion or going zealously with some one partie it s not barely appearing for truth for thou maist do all this and be unholy a worker of iniquity and if so there is no vision of God for thee But how shall a man know whether or no he be holy according to the
the mercy and this brought a Judgement upon him and upon the whole land 2 Chron. for let me tell you of all things God can least bear the despising and contempt of his mercies there are two things that are very terrible to the Saints and that they are afraid of and would be preserved from First that they reap not curses from the Ordinances of God which are usually the great means of blessing Secondly that they have not Judgements grow out of mercies because of their unanswerable walking under their present enjoyments Thirdly the praises of the Saints are as terrible unto the Churches enemies as their prayers you think it is your duty to pray often truly it is your duty to praise God also for Psal 8.2 out of the mouth of Babes and sucklings he hath ordained strength to still the enemy and the avenger it is spoken of Satan and of all spiritual enemies So the children of Israel 2 Chron. when they praised God in the beauty of Holiness God set ambushments they destroyed their enemies with the sword that proceeded out of their mouths Orabilibus telis and that is as much by their praises as by their praiers therefore if you would not have the present mercy prove a future judgement and if you would have the work go on let me exhort you as you did give in your assistance in prayer for this beginning of mercy so let not your praises be wanting with-hold not them for the perfection of it So let all thy enemies perish oh Lord but let them that love thy name be as the Sun going forth in its strength And now I address my self unto the words out of which I would speak something as matter of your thankfulness and meditation suitable unto this present occasion Babylon the great is fallen is fallen there are in the words four things to be opened First who it is that speaks Secondly who this Babylon is of whom it is spoken Thirdly why called Babylon the great Fourthly why its put in praeterito pro futuro is fallen and why it s set down by way of ingemination is fallen is fallen c. First who it is that speaks it ver 1. it is an Angel that came down from Heaven having great power c. By Angels some do expound the heavenly hosts those ministring spirits that are sent forth for the good of the Elect which are therefore called principalities and powers because of that great and that glorious government that the Lord hath committed unto them during the Mediator Kingdom of Christ Ezech. 1. the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels so that they have a great hand in the government and the administration of all things below and in this doth their degrees of glory consist in officio in the office in which the Lord Jesus doth imploy them they differ not in their nature at all but only in their office as Zanch. observes answerable unto what the Lord Jesus will employ them in for they are the great instruments and officers in the ordering of all things and when Christ shall give up his Kingdom then shall they lay down theirs for Cor. 1.15,28 he shall put down all rule authority and power Calvin de principatu Angelico etiam intelligitur all power and authority that was set up by the oeconomical Kingdom of Christ shall at the giving up of that Kingdom be laid down and therefore according unto the particular services in which God doth imploy the Angels such a great work is committed unto one Angel and another great work is committed unto another 2 Dan. 10,21 Zach. 6.8 the Instrument of Vengeance went forth into the North So Rev. 7. there are four Angels that held the four winds that they must not blow upon the earth that is motus bellicos Impetus hostiles and some there are that sound the Trumpet unto war and then if the Angel go out before them he stirs up all the Instruments amongst men and all things shall succeed accordingly to that saying of Opera divinae providentiae Angelico administerio geruntur answerable unto the work so there is an Angel to whom the great care of it is by Christ committed for they are ministring spirits sent forth for the good of the Elect. Some by Angels understand messengers and Instruments raised up amongst men whether Magistrates or Ministers and so Brightman Brightman vir aliquis praestans egregius qui subito nec expectatus adveniet quemadmodum res quae coelitus delabuntur Suddenly and unexpectedly as if he had discended from heaven some great instrument that the Lord would unexpectedly raise up which I should not understand of any individual persons and bring it down to this man and the other as the seven Angels full of vials unto Rome not to seven individual persons but for seven sorts of Instruments â—nd officers that God would successively raise up for to finish that work which should though they be many all concurr as one person to effect that about which they are employed Now I shall chuse to put both these together and to understand it of heavenly Angels which the Lord Christ imploys in these administrations which have the first hand in the work and also all men all sorts of instruments and officers that those Angels do stir up and imploy for the Spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels and when I am gone forth the Prince of grace shall come therefore the Angels and the Instruments stirrd up and acted by the Angels the Lord looks upon as but one person c. So that first the ruine of Rome and all the Roman power is committed unto an Angel and therefore if all the power of the earth were engaged for it to support Rome yet this Angel is a mighty Angel and he will surely destroy it and if an Angel hath undertaken it he will not want instruments those that he will surely in all ages stir up to effect it Secondly Romes ruine as it is the work and office of the Angel so it is unto the Angels matter of joy and triumph for as the conversion of the Saints is joy to the Angels so is the destruction of the enemies also but especially unto those Angels that are employed as officers therein as Ezech. 9.1 there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Angels the ordering of that great work was committed and therefore they are said to have the charge of it the Babylonish Armie did the work but the Angel that had the charge of it ordered it Secondly of whom is this spoken it is spoken of Babylon Rev. 17.12.3 there is a woman seen riding upon a scarlet-coloured Beast full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns and this woman hath written upon her forchead mysterie Babylon the great the mother of Harlots who is it ver last it s that great City that reigneth over the Kings of the Earth Now this could not be litterally
But what is there in their destruction that is such matter of joy to hear of the shedding of blood and the destruction of many thousands and those many of them poor souls very unfit to dye to see them in garments rouled in blood is this matter of joy a man would rather think you should rather sit down and sigh to the breaking of your loins There are many things in it matter of joy and triumph unto the Saints as first they rejoyce in the Judgements of God Rev. 19 2. True and righteous are thy judgements for thou hast judged the great whore they do taste a sweetness even in the judgements of God as Ezek. 3.1 it was in my belly as honey even that roll which contained nothing but bitter lamentations yet it was very sweet to him the Saints love to see Christ with his sword girt upon his thigh and cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood and treading the wine-press alone travelling in the greatness of his strength Isa 63.1,2 Secondly because God hath appeared for the Churches cause and hath owned their quarrel and hath avenged the blood of his servants at their hands Rev. 19.2 when God doth appear for them and doth not leave them unto the will of their enemies but doth awake as a Giant in the behalf of his people this hath alwaies occasioned songs and rejoycing in his people the Lord hath triumphed gloriously over the horse his rider Exo. 15. not that they do triumph meerly upon the account of their own safety but they triumph because God hath triumphed over his enemies else to see so many drowned in the mercyless grave who would not have pittyed them Thirdly of all the Churches enemies that ever were this is the cruelest enemy the fourth beast is worse then any of the former and in the fourth beast the little horn was more fierce then his fellows they have been alwaies drunk with blood and their endeavour was to weare out the Saints of the most High Fourthly it shall be the last enemy for as soon as they shall be destroyed the seventh Trumpet sounds and then shall the mystery of God be finished it hath been an enemy to the Church of longest continuance of any their oppressions have lain longest upon the Church of God and the longer a burthen doth lie and hath been complained of the greater mercy you would count it to have it taken off if to be 430. years in Egypt and 70. years in Babylon be a long time for the people of God to indure yet this is a bondage that lasts 1260. daies in the greatest tyranny and rage that can be they Tread down the Temple Rev. 11.1,2 Fifthly when this enemy shall be destroyed the cup of her fornication shall be removed by which the men of the earth but specially the Kings of the earth have been made drunken Rev. 18.11 Now there is no man shall be their merchants more they had Chap-men abundantly before but now there shall be a dealing in that trade no more the same God that did cast out Satan in the Pagan way of Idolatry will also cast out Satan in the Antichristian way of Idolatry but they shall not deceive the earth by such sorceries any more for there is by this means a cloud that hath filled the house and no man could enter into the Temple Rev. 15.8 there was no considerable number of menconverted there was such a darkness and a smoake upon the ordinances of God and all his dispensations but all shall be removed Sixthly Lastly from the glorious fruit and consequences that shall follow upon the destruction of Antichrist the people of God will have great cause to rejoyce and praise God I le name only these four First then the Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 there shall be multitudes converted unto the Lord. Secondly it shall be the inlet of all the promises now Christ shall be called the word of God he was so before but now he is called so for the accomplishment of it as Exod. 3.6 by the name Jehovah God was not known unto them Thirdly then all persecutions shall cease Rev. 20. Satan shall be bound so that he shall not stir up the world to the persecution of the Saints as he had done in times past Fourthly New Jerusalm shall come down from God out of Heaven there shall be that glory of the Church that the Kingdom and dominion under the whole Heavens shall be given up to it and they shall possess it for ever and ever Dan. 7. the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted on the top of the mountains there is a triumphant state of the Church that is yet to come in this life when all the glory of the world shall be brought unto the Church and people of God Vse Seeing God hath in a degree accomplished this in this late mercy do you rejoyce with Triumph and say great Babylon is fallen for they are some of the most blind and Jesuited Papists in the world and those that profess oâ—herwise yet they do enter upon the Popish interest and engage in the same quarrel with them and take heed you be not deceived with vain words we see how not only this but the neighbor Nations do declare against them that seek to promote that cause of tyrannie and oppression which you have hitherto fought against let not your discontents carry you to the quite contrary point of the compass and your zeal against sects and heresies make you to succor their prophaness and to enter upon their interest and thereby to destroy that which you have endeavoured to build and to pluck down with your own hands that which you have so much with your purses and prayers laboured to set up I le only speak briefly to these five particulars to quicken you in this duty of praising God First it is a command that God doth give to all his Saints to rejoyce at Babylons downfal Rev. 18.20 rejoyce over her thou heaven universa sanctorum multitudo all the Saints but specially the Prophets and the Apostles the saithful Preachers of the word of God let not them be last in their joy and praises that had the great hand and were first in praying for it it is your duty and it lies as a command upon you and if you make conscience of other commands do not for fancies dispence with this Secondly they be Romes merchants only that be sad at it let them say Rev. 18.10 Alas alas that great City Babylon that mighty City this doth not befit the Sons of Zion but the merchants of Babylon and truly let me tell you a man may receive the mark of the beast in his right hand and may strongly promote the Popish interest that doth never wearâ—t by profession in his forehead Thirdly if Babylon shall fall then come out of her my people saith your God when Rome doth fall now is the time
that hath known the terror of the Lord in himself it is a terrible thing unto him to give an account of other mens souls also Fifthly there is a different account that Officers will give at the last day some will give an account with joy and some with grief there is a double connexion First they watch for your souls obey that they may do their work with comfort watch for your souls with comfort Secondly that they may give up their account with joy for the obedience of a people is a ground of both the greatest joy of a faithful Minister of God is in this which was the great satisfaction of Christ Isa 53.10 To see the Travel of his soul the joy of harvest is the greatest joy one sows and another reaps to receive the fruit of a mans labour is as it were reaping it brings great joy 1 Thes 3.8 Now we live if you stand fast the great comfort of our lives comes in by it for it is a comfortable living to see the souls of men committed to our charge prosper 1 Thes 2.19 Ye are our glory and joy our Crown of rejoycing in the presence of the Lord Iesus Christ at his coming ye are our glory and joy next unto a mans interest in Christ and the joy that he hath at his appearance are the souls that he hath brought unto him on the contrary what they do if the people profit not they do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suspirantes its true that there shall be no sorrow of the Saints at the last day for there shall be no more sighing ou◠tears shall be all wiped away but yet there will be something that will be even matter of sorrow to them First that they have lost their labour Isa 49.45 I have laboured in vain and the labour of the officers is great it is the greatest labour 1 Thes 5.12 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wearisom cutting labour and to look upon all this as lost in reference to the main end of it is a grievous thing Secondly that the souls of the people are lost which was the greatest care that they should dye in their sins though their blood be not required a◠their hands Oh it is sad for there is a great love in the Officers that are faithful unto the souls of the people and they ought to walk in a high degree of love towards them now to see those souls lost for whom I put up so many prayers and about whom I took so much pains it is grieving the Spirit of God to see men turn his grace into wantonness Eph. 4.30 And it will also exceedingly grieve them that are acted by the same Spirit Thirdly that I should be instrumental in their Condemnation and be a means to heighten it for it will be casier for Sodom in that day and the greater means men have had the greater will their condemnation be the greater pains any Minister hath taken with a people the greater will their Judgement be they that have been exalted up to heaven shall be brought down to Hell and in the day of Revelation when the secrets of God as well as the hearts of men shall be made manifest it shall appear how Ordinances did ripen sins and how God did make use of them to pour out spiritual Judgements by them the greatest curses come out of Sion as well as the greatest blessings Fourthly that I should be brought in as a witness against them at the last day Satan shall be the accuser but there will be three very dreadful witnesses against them First Christ then shall the King say c. Secondly Conscience a mans own thoughts will accuse him in the day that God shall judge the secrets of men Thirdly the Ministers when they that have been labouring for their good all their life time shall witness against them There is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust when a man shall bring in his accusation against a disobedient and a rebellious people Mark 6.11 Shake off the dust of your feet for a testimony against them it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah then for them c. Sixthly From all that hath been opened we may plainly by way of use gather what manner of men Church-Officers ought to be First they must be gifted and it is this must be the ground of the Churches choice for as grace fits a man for communion with God so do gifts fit a man for the edification of the Church and who ever is chosen that is not gifted was never appointed by Christ for the Holy-Ghost doth gift men before he doth set them over any people therefore you are not to look only at the grace but at the gists of Officers every godly man is not fit for an office Secondly they must be humble men for they have a power put into their hands and an honour put upon them now it will be a snare to a proud man to be in honour and he will never use power well that is not humble the great care of officers should be that they might so walk as not to Lord it over Gods heritage they must not exercise a Lord-like authority but carry themselves in all manner of meekness and humility or else it is dangerous to put such a snare upon them it is a temptation for them to be in place Thirdly they must also be holy men such as have a care of their own souls and rightly judge of the price of a soul for they that have no care of their own souls will never have a care of yours Fourthly they must be faithful men that is faithful in labour Laying out themselves to the utmost without any respect to themselves or to their own ease for the business which they are to do concerns souls and they must be faithful in their account those that shall do all things that their office requires of them upon this consideration that we must give an account for the souls that are committed to us it is not an account unto the Church that will serve but our account must be unto him that shall Iudge quick and dead Fifthly he must be a man eminent in holiness for he must be a Leader Now there are many Saints that are not fit to lead their Officers are to walk holily before them that they may follow their example and he must also be couragious or else he will never dare venture in dangers to go before them and if he be not so he will be a man apt to mis-lead and pervert there is nothing more dangerous then to have a man of great parts and eminent place in the Church if he be a leader in an evil way men will be ready to follow him and therefore above all take heed of this that he be a man eminent in holiness and of an exemplary conversation Sixthly that he be well known and acquainted with you c. if he have not all these
generation then take heed to walk close with God It is good for you to draw neer to God But Secondly it is good for you to draw neer to God when all things else withdraw themselves from you My Beloved it is good for a Christian to make such a supposition as the Prophet Habbakuck doth in Chap. 3.17,18 Though the Fig-tree should notblossom though there be no fruit in the Vine though the labour of the Olive should fail and the fields should yield no meat the flocks should be cut off from the folds and the Herds from the stalls yet I will rejoyce in the Lord and I will triumph in the God of my salvation Mark he doth not only pitch upon those comforts that are rather for complement then necessity but the choicest provision as I may so speak of the worlds making here is the Fig-tree the Vine the Olive the Field the flock and he saith not If any of these should fail then they might be recompenced with the labour of the other but if all these should fail together and conspire to make man miserable and not only to fail in hope but even what you have already in possession When doth a man think his flocks to be certainer then in his folds and his herds then in his stalls but though the flocks and the herds should fail what now will bear up his soul I will rejoyce in God Oh it is time to keep close to God let me tell you the Land reels to and fro like a Drunkard sometimes leanes this way you know it and sometimes that way truly when the Land begins to sink under a mans feet once foundations shake then it is time for a man to lift up his hands and to take hold of heaven restat iter coelo for this will be the great cut to a mans heart when he shall be shut out of all things here below as it was with Saul in his agonie the Philistins made war against him and God hides his head the Philistines made war so they did many times before and Saul got the better Saul had now an Army in the field I but though he had an Army Saul had lost his God the Lord is departed from me and answers me no more This is the best way indeed to keep close to God it is time to draw neer to God when all things else withdraw themselves from you Thirdly it is best because if you draw neer to God God will certainly draw neer to you he hath promised it in Jam. 4.8 Draw neer to God and he will draw neer to you and the approach of God summs up all Gen 15.1 for in his presence is fulness of joy It is a mighty expression Rev. 21.7 that he that overcomes shall inherit all things I and that of our Savtour Mark 10.30 If a man forsake father and mother house or lands he shall have a hundred fold more in this life a hundred fold in some respect he cannot have an hundred Fathers or an hundred Mothers but Interpreters say it is not to be understood formaliter but eminenter he shall have all the comforts in God that these could afford him if they were a hundred times more Oh then draw neer to God and God will certainly draw neer to you But I but name things Fourthly to draw neer to God is best for by this means you shall be preserved from the evil that other men suffer the evil of suffering The promise is in Psal 91.10 He that dwelleth under the shaddow of the most high no plague shall come nigh him he will give his Angels charge over thee it notes a constant fellowship thou shalt be the special charge that the Angels have I shall desire you but to consider the Lord hath projects of providence for his peoples preservation as well as for his enemies destruction Noah walked with God and had an Ark when the rest of the world of ungodly men perished in the waters David a man that kept constant communion and we see how the Lord owns him in all his tryals and appears for him upon all the glory there shall be a covering and there are projects of providence beyond the wisdom of men or Angels for the Lord knows how to deliver the just from all their trouble and how to reserve the wicked to the day of Judgement These things now I am forced to pass over Lastly and so we will hasten to the Application It is best for men to draw neer to God because a close communion keeps up in a mans soul those qualifications as shall make every afliction comfortable and easie be the times never so bad for the drawing neer of the soul to God is like the Sun to the earth which by its heat and perfect influence puts life vigour and beauty into things dead and withered before Cant. 1.12 Communion with God is the spring-time of all grace and therefore I will but name them First Communion with God will keep a mans soul in a silent humble frame that was the fruit of Aarons Communion in Levit. 10.3 a great cross be fell him he lost two Sons taken away by an immediate act of Gods hand even in an act of sin yet Aaron held his peace Aaron held his peace fellowship with God will certainly keep the soul in a peaceable submissive frame that be the affliction what it will be the soul shall say Gods will is the rule of goodness when Judgement was pronounced against Hezekiah good is the word of the Lord and Iob the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away Secondly fellowship with God will keep a mans soul in a holy independency upon the things below there is nothing my Beloved puts a mans soul out of band with the creature like communion this is the way to have the Moon under your feet as the expression is for that in fellowship with God a man that knows what it is to have close communion knows that he doth really set his feet where other men set their hearts it puts the mouth out of tast to all creature comforts to him Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost though the world were on fire about his ears yet he hath lost nothing for his portion is enough In the third place as a holy independency so a holy magnanimity of spirit he shall not think those things great that other men think insupportable Iesus Christ endured the Cross and despised the shame and the shame of the cross was the greatest suffering Why do you weep and break my heart I am ready not only to be bound but to die for him Luther And Luther I remember when the enemies gave out that he had recanted he writes in a Letter of his that I will never recant think that I will do any thing rather then recant be the dangers and threatnings what they will be they are not careful to answer thee in this matter omnia de me praesumes praeter fugam
school of affliction and God doth cast some men into great afflictions that thereby he may fit them for high and eminent services afterwards Joseph had never been so fit to have been a Governour in Egypt if his foot had not been hurt in the stocks nor Moses to have been a leader of the people of Israel if he had not been banshed forty yeares in the Wilderness and David his Crown had never sate so well if he had not been hunted as a Partridge upon the mountains Fourthly that the Lord may have some to give their testimonies unto his truth that it may appear that there are some that do stand for God and dare appear for him when the world wonder'd after the Beast there are some that stand with the Lamb upon mount Zion Rev. 14.2 There are two Witnesses The Witnesses of God are but a few yet some there are that God will raise up in all Ages so that corruption in Doctrine and Worship shal not go untestified against for the Lord will not leave the world without witness and hereby the Lord will endear his Witnesses and raise them up in the hearts of the Saints it will make them dear and their names precious in the Churches for none have been so precious in their names as they that did not count their blood precious they thought not their lives dear to them they loved not their lives to the death How precious was Peter in his suffering When all the Church ingaged their interest unto God for him Acts 12. As Roses are sweeter in the Still then upon the stalk so it is with the Saints in all their sufferings in the apprehension of the Churches Use 2. Is it so that there is a day of trouble to Jacob Then do you look for a day of trouble also and to that end it 's your wisdom to discern the signs of the times Mat. 16.3 God hath stretched the expansum of his Word over the rational world and as by the heavens a man may discern in the natural world so by the Word if a man be skilful in it a man may discern the signs of the times in the rational world also In the Word there are two sorts of rules First antient Predictions Secondly present Dispensations 1. Antient Predictions Rev. 10.7 cum finituis sint when they were about to finish The 1260 daies are not yeares fulfilled therefore the killing time is to come for the Beast receives his Kingdom with the seven Kings since the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was removed 2. There was never yet that perfect Victory that they did say they are dead there were none that did visibly appear to bear witness against them therefore it is yet to come Secondly present dispensations compared with the rules of the Word First when there 's a general decay of Wisdom in Rulers and children and babes rule over a people Isa 27.14 I will do a marvellous work the wisdom of the wise men shall perish and now I will distress Ariel Secondly when there is poured out upon a people the spirit of a deep sleep as Isa 29.10 that nothing could awaken them but as men sleeping upon the top of a Mast though the Sea roar and the Wind make a noise yet they sleep stil when men are secure then the distress of Ariel is near I will search Jerusalem with candles and the men that are setled upon their Lees c. Thirdly when there is a general oppression and mercilesness in the Rulers Zac. 11.5 When a people become the flock of the slaughter Mic. 7.3,4 the Judge asketh for a reward now shall be their perplexity Fourthly when there are general neglects of Government and order amongst a people every one does what 's right in his own eyes when the base doth presume against the honourable and the children against the antient Isa 3.5 then presently there is a ruin coming ver 8. Jerusalem is ruin'd and Judah is fallen Iudg. 18.7 When there was no master of restraint in Laish their ruin was near Fiftly when there are bitter envyings and parties the people shall be as fuel for the fire Isa 9.19,20 No man spares his brother but every man eats the flesh of his own arm c. Jer. 8.7 My people know not the judgement of the Lord. Doctrin 2 Yet Jacobs trouble is but for a time then shall deliverance be Mich. 7.9 Though I fall I shall arise and the Lord will be light about me the rod of the wicked shall not alway lye upon the lot of the righteous The Witnesses though they be killed yet they shall not alwaies lye dead but they shall rise again c. I cannot now stand to prove this Doctrine but spend the remainder of the time I have to speak in a short use to all the people of God Use First live by faith in this time of trial the Lord doth but wait to be gracious and he saies blessed be those that wait for him Hab. 2.4 The just shall live by his Faith The meaning is he shall live comfortably under the cross for it is an expression like that of the Apostle Now we live if ye stand fast And the acts of Faith that we should now exercise should be these I le name two or three First commit your selves to him quietly leave your selves with him Psal 114.14 As you have committed your soules to him so to him also commit your way Dan. 3.17 Be not careful in this matter he that hath cast me into the fire will assuredly watch over me in it because he hath promised to bring me out of it Secondly wait for him till he be gracious and doe not make hast he that beleeves does not make hast Doe not use unlawful means out of pride of passion because you will not wait Gods leisure nor do not use compliance with carnal men to deliver thee for that is not the way of faith Thirdly look towards God in thy prayers under this consideration that he hath undertaken deliverance 2 Chron 22.12 We have no might neither know we what to do but our eyes are towards thee for it is the exercise of Faith that doth procure deliverance Gen. 49 21. His bow abode iâ—…â—…re gâ—… that is invictum robur it 's by this that the 〈◊〉 of God prove victorious in their sufferings But how may a man know when deliverance is near Are there not rules for that as well as the other I will only name there three rules First when the people of God look towards him and return if not Lev. 26.24,25 â—e will punish them seven times more till he hath destrey'd them for there is a pedigree of judgement Hos 1. Jeel 2.14 Rent your hearts and no your garments c. Prepare to mâ—et thy God O Israel There is no going to God in the way of his judgement but by meeting of him and that is not in a way of opposition but in a way of submission Secondly when the hearts of the
power Rev. 9. that though they had faces like men and the teeth of Lyons a great shew of meekness and yet abundance of stoutness and courage joyned with success in all their undertakings for they were crowned Locusts yet they had a sting in their tails diabolicam pseudo-Propheticam propaginem denotat all the power of their Conquest was used to no other end but to leaven and poyson all places where they came and conquered with their corrupt opinions whoever they be that use their power in this manner be their success what it will be they are in judgement and for the Torment of all where they come and such Locusts proceed out of the smoke of the bottomless pit Secondly They forsake God that forsake his worship ye are they that forsake the Lord that forget his holy Mountain to prepare a Table for that host c. Isa 65.11 Some expound it of the host of heaven and there is a great number of them for they that forsake the way of the Lord they do find out many inventions in Gods worship There is a double worship of God natural and instituted the one following upon the nature of God and the other flowing from the will of God and the latter the Lord did see necessary in all ages as medium cultus naturalis it was necessary unto Adam when he was in Paradise the Sabboth and the tree of life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil were then instituted it was so for the honor of God that the Lord Jesus himself observed it in the days of the flesh and did thereby fulfil all righteousness and worshipped God according unto the institution of the Jewish Church and he hath left such Institutions to be observed in his Church to the end of the world the Saints continued in the Apostles Dectrine and fellowship in breaking of bread and prayer and now men are grown so Religious as they cry down instituted worship and say that they are but forms it is true that rested in they are no more as the Ceremonies of the Jews were not but as they are Forms so they are Duties therefore to say men may use them or not use them and that Christians are sometimes for seeking under Formes but there is yet a higher way some that are unwedded unto any Forme that reserve themselves single for the immediâ—te embraces of their love What is this but to forsake the Lord because it is to forget his holy Mountain to worship God in any other way then he hath appoynted that is Idolatry and to neglect that way of Worship that he hath appoynted his people to walk with Him in that is prophaneness We complain of the prophaneness of the people throughout the Nation they are such Principles as these that are the great Grounds of prophaneness and from hence it goes forth into all the Land for how ready will all they that were weary of Ordinances and lookt upon them as a burden long agoe how greedily will they imbrace such a Doctrine as this is that may be a bribe unto their Consciences in their prophaneness and utter neglect of God surely it is a good rule qui non est Religiosus Christianus non est that man doth very much forfeit his Christianity that doth either in Doctrine or Practice in this manner decry the instituted Worship of Christ I am not willing to speak much of Officers now which is an Institution as well as that of Ordinances for the Lord hath set them in the Church 1 Cor. 12.28 and he hath appointed their term of continuance till we all come unto the unity of the Faith unto a perfect man till the whole body of Christ be gathered and perfected and the end Ephes 12.14 why he hath appoynted them is that we may not be carryed away with every wind of Doctrine that was the end why God appoynted them and this is the main reason why men oppose them because they cannot carry men away as they would by this means and theresore it is a true observation that never any man did begin to overthrow and corrupt Religion but he began with the Ministery first It is that which Adam Contzen directs to the Ministers and those that give their Testimony to the Truths of God specially suppress them error cui patrocinium deerit sine pugna concidet so calls he Truth and there is a promise made to them that God will be present with them to the end of the world and a provision is made for them to the end of the world for the Lord hath ordered that they that serve of the Altar should live at the Altar Cor. 1.9,14 though now a great part of the Religion of the times is to cry down a Ministery and so as Luther hath observed Satan hath had two ways to put out the light of the Gospel mendaciis Inopia And he saith men do profess Ministris nihil opus est they were things not much to be regarded though there is a justice to be exercised unto them as men how much soever they are despised as Ministers but it were not much to be regarded though you look upon them as men of all others the least considerable if God were not forsaken in it but to forsake Gods Worship is in the Scriptures account to forsake God Thirdly we forsake God by carnal confidence The Lord saies Jer. 2.13 they have forsaken me and they have digged to themselves broken Cisterns Jer. 17.5 Cursed is he that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm and his heart departeth from the Lord if the Lord be not exalted alone in the soul either sub ratione boni aut auxilii the heart of man forsakes him and leans on something else that is not God Now if it be Counsels of men the power of Armies the Assistances of Confederates so far a man forsakes the Lord therefore the Lord doth way lay all humane succours that they shall prove vain and unsuccessful and men shall be ashamed of their Confederacies thou shalt be ashamed of Assyria as thou hast been ashamed of Egypt thy considence yea destruction comes out of it they that sit down under the shadow of a creature it is but under the shelter of a bramble fire will surely come out of it to consume the Câ—dars of Lebanen when men turn to God they are taken off from carnal confidence they shall then say Ashur shall not save us therefore men turn to the creature when they do forsake and depart from God Fourthly men forsake God in their conversation when they neither walk with God or worthy of God the waies of sin are departing from God going into a far Countrey it is communion with Belial and walking in waies of pride oppression and uncleanness it is living without God and therefore surely it is a forsaking of him a departing from him and forsaking of his Truth and Worship is the only and special means thereunto our Saviour says
hath well digested there is in the best men much precipitancy many oversights much inadvertency there is folly and madness in the heart of a man whilest he liveth Eccl. 9.3 and both are hasty therefore a man had need take heed to himself Lastly there is much loosness and vanity in a mans thoughts Ier. 4.14 how long shall thy vain empty thoughts that have nothing in them lodge within thee that when a man sets about any duty his thoughts will not keep to the thing in hand he likes not to retain God in his knowledge Rom. 1.28 the mind of man will never leave tossing from one thing to another till it shift out thoughts of God and of the spiritual part of duty also mans mind in a duty conversing with God is like one that looks through an Optick-glass upon a star with a palsey hand it is long before he can ken and discern it and as soon as he hath found it so unsteady is his hand that he looseth it again and such is the unsteadiness of our thoughts in the most serious services Now seeing it is so if ever a man will serve God acceptably he had need serve him heedfully take heed how you hear watch unto prayer Mar. 13.33 Secondly here is also a sin reproved and that is heedlesness but Iehu took no heed or did not diligently observe to walk c. hence Heedlesness in a mans converse with God is a provoking evil First It is so by the Lords own sentence and censure Isa 29.13 This people draw nigh to me with their lips but their hearts are removed far from me Ezek. 33.31 Secondly it is so by the Saints own confession Isa 64.67 Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags there is none to call upon thy name and that stirs up himself to take hold of thee Thirdly It is so by Gods just Judgement as in 2 Sam. 6.7 where Uzzah without due consideration did touch the Ark not being thereunto called it is said the Lord smote him for his errour or as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his rashness and forgetfulness and he dyed before the Lord Now to press this upon you also I desire that these particulars may be well considered First ordinarily according to your care and heed in the duty so will God measure to you grace and profit by the duty Mar. 4.24 Look with what measure you meet shall be measured to you again that is look what measure of care and preparation you bring to the ordinance such a measure of fruit and profit shall you carry from it Secondly when either Judgement shall come or God thus open thy conscience in sickness or death all these services that thou hast heedlesly performed thy spirit in them will fade away as leaves nipped with the wind and a man shall have no comfort in them at all Isa 64.6 we fade away as a leafe in our iniquity that is the iniquity of our righteousness the iniquity of our holy things whereas the duties of godly men that have life and care and substance in them their leaves shall not fade and their fruit shall not be consumed Ezek. 47.12 Thirdly Consider the oftner a man doth perform duties in a heedless manner the worse he will daily grow and what good soever he had in him before will surely decay Luk. 8.18 Take heed how you hear for to him that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken away he that stirs not up the measure of grace that he hath in the duty he will surely grow worse after his performance for in the Scripture sense idem est non habere non uti Fourthly there is no service that thou performest heedlessly but thou art in danger of some temporal Judgement we see Nadab and Abihu were consumed with fire from heaven Lev. 16.2 And Uzzah 2 Sam. 6.7 and who can promise himself security from the same punishment that doth go on in the same sin Fifthly hereby thou sinnest against a cloud of witnesses the blessed example of all the Saints and it is in some respect a greater Aggravation of sin to sin against Example then against Precept because the one hath a stronger hand upon a man then the other praecepta ducunt exempla trahunt look to Abraham the Father of the faithful see how heedfully he walks with God Gen. 18.27,30 Seeing I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord that am but dust and ashes and then by and by Oh let not my Lord be angry and I will speak c. Iacob is humbled that he was not so aware of the presence of God as he ought to have been Gen. 28.16 and David was afraid when the Lord had made a breach upon them and cryes Oh shall the Ark of the Lord come to me and durst not remove the Ark till he had enquired of the mind of the Lord 2 Sam. 6.8,9 Lastly it is a sin against great mercy thou shouldest be a vessel of honour fitted for the masters use and in this respect godly men prize their services above their comforts And amongst the glorious promises Psal 10 17. Consider this he prepares the heart to pray and causeth his ear to hear he will accept the heedful service and will give much grace to them that hear shall more be given Mark 4.24 else Mar. 1.14 Cursed be that deceiver that hath in his flock a male and offers to the Lord a corrupt thing c. Thirdly this is not only an evil thing but an evil sign also and so here made by the Holy-Ghost a sign of hypocrisie and unsoundness of the heart of Iehu hence this Doctrine A constant heedlesness in a mans converse with God is a dangerous sign of an unsound heart Isa 29.13 they draw neer to me with their lips but even while they did so they took no care to bring their hearts with them but they were removed from the Lord and this heedless performance was a sign of their hollowness and unsoundness So Christ saith of the Pharisees their care was wholly about the out-side of the duty making clean the out-side of the cup Christ made this a sign of their hypocrisie for hypocrisie is but an out-side like cloth of Arras fair and beautiful without but look to the inside nothing but raggs and ends now when a mans constant care is only for the outward performance and never looks whether the heart answer within that is an unsound heart but yet I say constant heedlesness for the best of Gods people are many times too rash and hastie and inconsiderate in their approaches unto the Lord but it is not constantly so neither do they rest therein but that man with whom it is so surely he hath nothing but a form 2 Tim. 3.5 Now to apply this briefly there are in it three Directions First Be humbled for the hypocrisie past so doth the Church Isa 6.4,6 they were ashamed of their righteousness Hypocrisie is so exceeding hateful to
God that he makes all their punishments to be measured out by that they shall have their portion with Hypocrites Mat. 24.51 they shall have their portion with the Devil and his Angels to shew none so neer to the Devil as they no man so hateful unto God or creatures but the Devil and this is a most common and ordinary way of hypocrisie that can be this makes the Saints groan in themselves therefore Bradford did write in his Letters to his friends Iohn Bradford a very hypocrite a very painted hypocrite look back with how little preparation how vain thy thoughts how thy eyes have wandered c. Secondly Apply the righteousness of Christ for the pardon of this amongst other evils Exod. 28.38 Christ must have upon his forehead holiness to the Lord that he may bear the iniquity of your holy things a great part of the holiness of Christ is appointed for this for the pardon of your unholiness in service Thirdly be more heedful for the time to come and to stir you up to it consider but only this how heedful you have been in the waies of sin Prov. 16.30 He shuts his eyes that deviseth mischief a man that will study and be intent upon a thing will shut his eyes that so objects from without do not distract his mind so intent is this man in a way of deceiving Iob 17.11 the thoughts of man are called the possessions of the heart whereupon a mans heart doth dwell now we know upon any sinful projects and thoughts of evil a mans thoughts are so settled upon them that a man cannot remove them but there they dwell but as for the things of God a mans heart dwells in them as one doth that is in another mans house he is alwaies going and taking his leave Now let this heed be seen First in thy Preparation prepare with all thy might as David did for the material Temple 1 Chron. 29.2 and say in thy heart as Solomon did the house must be great and magnificent for it is for the Lord 2 Chron. 26.6 Isa 12.3 Come to the Ordinances as wells of salvation as breasts of consolation Isa 66.11 to see the face of Christ and the goings of the Lord Come to them as the ministration of the spirit and a Doal of spiritual gifts Rom. 1.12 Secondly when thou art come take heed in the performance be not rash with thy mouth let not thy heart be hasty Eccl. 5.1,2 when thou dost do it with all thy might as David did 1 Chron. 29.17 act all graces stir up all thy affections awake my glory c. else when thou hast done there will be an out-side of service but yet they will not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They will be empty works hollow no inward grace or strength or affection to fill them out Thirdly to shew that thou canst never take heed enough after every service go and humble thy self before God for thy want of heed and watchfulness say with Abraham I that was dust and ashes did take upon me to speak to the Lord and with Iacob How dreadful is this place it is the house of God the gate of Heaven God was here and I was not aware c. Lastly and to enable thee so to do get the fear of the Majesty of God throughly planted in thy heart and whenever thou comest before God stir up thy fear and all those awful considerations that may be for fear is the watch-man of the soul exceeding heedful and vigilant that is appointed as the remedy be not rash with thy mouth but fear thou God Eccl. 5.7 and to this end walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long walk with God in his fear at other times a special cause why men are no more heedful in Gods worship is because they give liberty to themselves and have no eye to his presence at other times therefore be thou in it all the day long GOSPEL EXALTATION MATTH 11.23 And thou Capernaum which art exalted up to heaven shalt be brought down to hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained unto this day THE Lord hath not chosen one fixed place for the Gospel to reside in unto which all Nations that expected any benefit thereby were to resort as he did for the Jews at Jerusalem that only was the valley of Vision but now its sound is gone forth into all lands and there is beauty in the feet of those that bring those glad tidings Isa 52.7 the Lord hath now made it an ambulatory an itinerary Gospel it walks from place to place and comes home to the doors of those who will scarce go out of their doors to it And wheresoever it comes it brings with it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A fulness of blessing Rom. 15.29 It is to a place as the Sun to the world a beam of the sun of righteousness Mal. 4.2 It is the rain of the earth Heb. 6.8 it is a feast of fat thingâ— of fat things full of marrow of wine on the lees well-refined Isa 25.6 it is the glory of God and the glass wherein we behold it 2 Cor. 3.18 it is the face of Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 the ministration of righteousness 2 Cor. 3.9 it is the dole of spiritual gifts Rom. 1.11 it is eternal salvation it self yea great salvation Heb. 2.3 Here are garments to cover your nakedness meat to satisfie your hunger medicine to cure your diseases armor to protect your persons and a Treasure of precious promises and sure mercies to provide for your posterity that so there may be nothing wanting to make it up a fulness of blessing But wherever the Lord sends this Gospel and the Ordinances thereof he doth send it with a threefold reference First as donum with reference to our thankfulness Secondly as depositum which respects our faithfulness Thirdly as talentum which respects our fruitfulness that we may bring forth fruit meet for him of whom we have received it that we fall not into the sin and so become liable unto the censure of the unprofitable servant now the fruit which the Lord expects where he sends these Gospel-Ordinances is Repentance and Conversion Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand Matth. 3.2 The Lord lights not up this canâ—le but it is to find the lost groats he goes not abroad in this but it is to find the lost sheep or to meet some prodigal son And though there may be fruit of an inferiour nature civility and formality which men may bring forth yet the Lord counts this nothing unless repentance and conversion go before them as ciphers they be that stand for nought if set alone though they add to the Number if the figure of conversion go before Christ saith not unto them Auditores Spectatores Administratores ni fuissent virtutem ejus divinam non laudavissent â— saith Brugens plainly manifesting unto us that all the
the hand of the Son as Mediator First a Government of Angels the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels Ezek. 1.20 Had not Jesus Christ had the Government in his hand the Angels should never have been principalities and powers their authority came in with the Government of Christ Secondly the Authority and Government of Magistrates and Ministers came in with the second Covenant August istud nomen culpa meruit non natura so Augustine But there is another kind of Government And that is the Saints being taken into Covenant with Christ they have a great hand with him in the Government of Christ in Rom. 10.18 the Apostle saith their sound is gone forth into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world This is spoken of the Sun in Psal 19. how can this be applyed to the preaching of the Gospel I conceive the accommodation runs thus As the great God hath stretched out the Expansum caeli super mundum naturalem the heaven over the natural world so he hath stretched forth the glorious Expansum verbi super mundum rationalem the word over the rational world Now be pleased to consider when the people of God put Prophesies and Promises in suit beholding the several conjunctions aspects of them in the world truly those things that are done by Gods power they are done also by their prayers they have a strange hand in the Government of all things There is a double voice in the Book of the Rev. vox e throno vox e templo You read of a voice out of the Throne and a voice out of the Temple Bright Mr. Brightman I remember puts this difference and hath this hint vox e throno saith he is that quando immediate aliquid à Deo proficiscitur when any thing comes from God immediately But vox e Templo quando precibus sanctorum aliquid Impetratur that is when any thing is obtained by the prayers of the Saints that is a voice in the Temple Now I intreate you to observe this is the first thing This holy habitation is heaven in the Text. The Lord setteth so high a price upon the services of the Saints that they have a very great hand with him in the Government of all things It is Augistines speech that I have met withal sometimes in Luther August he professeth aliquid bonum opus licet agreste sordidissimum est pretiosius caelo terra the meanst good work of the Saints be it never so poor never so ordinary he saith it is more precious then Heaven and Earthâ— there is more in it because it hath so great a power with God it is no wonder then if the Lord be said to be raised up in his Temple Well that is the first thing Secondly but how is God said to be raised up how can it be said that God should rise the word in the Original that is here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies Eâ—…somno excitari for a man to be raised up out of sleep the very same word that you have used in Psal 44.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Awake Lord why sleepest thou awake Lord or arise Lord for it is such a rising as is after an awaking out of sleep How can God be said to sleep and how should God be said to awake and rise The cessation of acts of providence is Gods sleep the putting of them forth is Gods arising Gods awaking as when a man sleepeth sleep bindeth up his senses in reference to their proper objects that they cannot act why so when the Lord doth not act doth not appear for his people then is the Lord said to sleep when he doth act for them and providence puts forth it self gloriously now the Lord is said to be raised up God is awake Now observe I pray you when the Lord breaketh the designs of the Churches enemies when he bloweth upon their counsels smiteth them in the hinder parts puts them to a perpetual shame why then doth the Lord arise as a Giant refreshed with wine Psal 78.65 So that now the meaning is this When the Lord doth appear for his people as a return of their prayers when the Lord ariseth gloriously for them for their deliverances and their enemies overthrow then it is said the Lord is raised up out of his holy habitation But I must hasten The Observations that I shall give you from hence are two Doct. 1. The first is this The great comfort of the Saints in all their straits and difficulties lies in this when they see God ariseth for them for here is that now that they have pitched upon to comfort themselves with I say the great comfort of the Saints in all their straits and oppositions and difficulties is in this when they see God arise for them in his providential actings Doct. 2 Secondly Experiments of Gods rising in acts of Providence are great grounds to his people to stay their faitâ—hâ— that God will go on he will bring his work to perfection for both these I conceive are intended in the Text God is raised up therefore fear not though you have no men rising God already hath manifested that he is raised up do not doubt but he will carry on the work These two things I conceive the Lord intendeth in the words And this I mean to make the Doctrinal part of this Sermon I pray observe them I will begin with the first It is the great comfort of the Saints in the midst of all their difficulties and oppositions to see God arise for them in his providential actings In the opening of it I shall speak to three heads First there is a time when God seems to sleep when the Lord seems to set still as a mighty man that cannot save you know in Zach. 3.9 the vigilance of providence is compared to seven cyes and sometimes the Saints of God do even think that all these seven eyes are asleep together but yet you must know he that keepeth Israel never slumbereth nor sleepeth but as it is said of the Saints I sleep but my heart waketh in their spiritual failings So likewise it is true of the Lord in his providential actings his heart awaketh towards his people even then when every eye seemeth to be asleep There is a time when God will bring his people low and he doth it in design Observe it Jerusalem is sometimes put into a cup ready to be drunk off that the enemy should think it is no more to devoure them then it is to drink as you use to say to a proverb I can do it as easie as to drink The state of the Church is brought unto that low ebb But now mark then saith the Lord it shall be a cup of trembling there is a time when God seems to lay all his power aside Rev 11.16,17 he hath taken unto himself his great power God is alwaies omnipotent but for a great while the power
did seem to be in the enemies hands as if God had put all power out of his hand I but he can reassume it when he will he takes to himself his own great power and raiâ—eth himself it is a most glorious Scripture and full of all consolation that in Zach. 1.8 Jesus Christ was on horseback he had an Army following him in battle array all in a readiness the Church saw no succour all this while the enemy came on none appeared but the enemy he was behinde the mirtle trees in the bottom saith the text the Lord many times seems to sleep appeareth not when yet notwithstanding his heart is on the business as I say the Saints sleep but their hearts wake in their spiritual failings so doth the Lord towards his people in his providential actings Well that is the first thing for the opening of the Doctrine Secondly The great labour of the Saints in all their straits is to awaken God that God may arise their business is not to raise armies and forces powers of men no my Beloved their great business therefore is to raise up God Psal 68.1 Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered whether any body else rise or no that is nothing Let God arise in Psal 44.23 Awake Lord why sleepest thou stand up for my help lay hold of the spear I God must do it and stop the wayes O stand up for my help the great business of the Saints hath alwaies been to raise up God Awake awake put on strength O arm of the Lord that is the Churches prayer Art not thou he that didst cut Rahab and wound the Dragon it is spoken of the destruction of the King of Egypt the great business of Saints hath been alwaies to get God to arise There are two things commonly awaken God two things cause him to rise up presently The one is the prayers of the Saints Because of the crie of the poor and of the sighing of the needy I will rise saith the Lord Psal 12.5 the truth is my Brethren God cannot sleep when you pray it was a golden speech that of Tertullian Tertul. Deum orationibus ambimus caelum tundimus misericordiam extorquemus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Basil We knock at Heaven gates we environ God beleguer God by our prayers we as it were wrest mercy out of his hands Be pleased to consider this is one means when the Disciples were in the storm at Sea what was their great business their great business was to awaken Christ and then immediately the storm was over and there followed a great calm and they were at the Haven where they would be God is awakened with the prayers of the Saints Secondly the Lord he is awakened likewise by the blasphemies of the enemies truly you have many times even my Brethren beheld how that the very end of Gods rising for you was because of the rage of the enemy I will awake and set him at rest from him that puffeth at him because of the rage of the enemy the enemies cruelty doth cry loud in the ears of God as well as the Saints prayers Now this being the great end that the people of God propound truly when God ariseth they are satisfied let God arise and they can sit down secure be the difficulties and oppositions what they will be in fine acquiescit appetitus efficientis It was a strange spirit that possessed Steven you will say that he was able to lie down to sleep when the stones flew about his ears having so said he fell asleep what is the reason why I see heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Christ was up for him Christ standing why Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God how doth Steven see him standing standing tanquam sui sudex vindex as one that would judge and one that would avenge his quarrel and truly he could lie down and sleep securely Lord Jesus receive my Spirit and when he had so said he fell asleep The great business of the Saints then in all their difficulties is to get God to arise that is the second thing In the third place The consolations of the Saints must needs be very great from the arisings of God for them in his providential actings though men do not rise though Armies do not rise yet I say they are mighty consolations to see God arise And that upon these three grounds Observe them I pray you In the first place When the Lord doth arise whatsoever standeth in opposition must fall God will rise up alone that assure your selves whatsoever stands in opposition I say must fall yet many times poor creatures we look upon Armies and multitudes of men and we think now Oh alas here is now no hope but the Church will presently be overwhelmed mark you have seen sometimes a black smoke arise out of a Chimney that you would think it would threaten even to darken the Sun in its orb but mark in Isa 13.3 I wilscatter them saith God as smoke out of a chimney when you see Nations and multitudes combine they are confederate as thorns when you see them confident drunk with confidence as the Drunkard then shall they be consumed like stubble fully dry Nahum 1.10 it was a good intimation that of Cyprian Cyprian ne attendas numerum never observe the number they be so many thousands and so many thousands certainly when God ariseth whatsoever stands in opposition must fall for God will rise alone that is the first ground of the Saints consolation Secondly when God ariseth he over-ruleth the spirits of men over-ruleth the malignity of the spirits of men so as they shall effect and accomplish his end â—…ou may see Psal 76.9,10 When God shall arise to Judgment the wrath of man shall praise him verily and the mainder of wrath thou shalt restrain my Brethren though we consider little of it yet we owe very much to restraining grace I say we owe very much to restraining graceâ— in the Saints indeed I conceive restraining grace and renewing grace to be one and the same habit as Justifying faith and Historical faith is the Saints owe very much to restraining grace that in their own persons but they owe much to restraining grace in reference unto others This is exercised two wayes There are restraints upon mens actions and there are restraints upon mens lusts God restrains not the Devils lusts he lets them out to the utmost but he restrains his actings but for men the Lord sometimes restrains their acts and sometimes their lusts No man shall desire thy Land God would lay a restraint upon their lusts now when God ariseth then I say he so orders the spirits of men that so much of their rage shall be let out as shall accomplish his ends and the remainder he will restrain In the third place the Saints have a great comfort in Gods rising for them upon this ground when
imagine that when the cup of fury that is in the Lords right hand hath gone round and all nations have tasted of it and yet that we shall not drink thereof Ier. 25.15 may it not be as truly said of us as of our brethren Ezek. 12.4 thou hast caused thy dayes to draw neer thou art come even unto thy years there is a time for Judgement the text tels you upon a Nation and he that is wise shall know and discern both time and Judgement Eccl. 8.5 Now as I have before shewed you thâ—… Ministers are Servants so also they are the Prophets of the Nation and therefore preaching is called prophecying and the Ministers of the Gospel are called Prophets 1 Cor. 4.32 though not in so full and compleat a sense as the Prophets antiently were yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quadam by a true resemblance and analogy though not a fore-telling yet a fore-speaking things to come for that God that had made all things by his word doth uphold all things by the word of his power Heb 1.3 governing all things by the rules of the same exactly dispensing punishments and rewards according to the tenour of the promises and threatnings therein recorded so that as he hath appointed the Sun Moon and Stars to rule by day and by night over this natural world Psal 19. so he hath stretched forth the Expansum of the Law over the rational world Rom. 10.18 all things being ordered according to the precepts promises and threatnings thereof Now as a man that is skilful in the one by observing and calculating the influences and aspects and conjunctions of the one can foretel in many things what is to come in the natural world So the other by observing the promises and threatnings and the special aspects that is in them both can in a great measure fore speak what is like to come to pass in the rational world also sutable hereunto the Prophet here tels â—s that there is First a time for Judgement Secondly that this time may be known Thirdly the ignorance of this time makes a man more bruitish then the unreasonable creatures For the scope of the place seems to be this that such is the wisdom of unreasonable creatures the Stork Crane and Swallow that in winter they flie from cold and hard places unto those where there is a more temperate and moderate air they knowing the seasons and the appointed times for this they flie away before and by the instinct of nature to make provision for a natural life Now God had made man wiser then the Beasts that perish above the beasts of the field and he hath appointed a time for Judgement and he hath foretold it shall come and yet man is not so wife for himself as either to prepare for it or to flie from it and this is meant by not knowing the Judgement of Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Judgement of God is either Directive as the Law written in the Book or the Law written in the heart as Mat. 12.20 bring forth Judgementto Victory Secondly Corrective Thirdly Destructive and this last is meant here it is spoken of the Judgement of utter ruine and desolation upon whom the former Judgements neither the directions of the word nor corrections of Gods rod had taken its due effect its proper work Neither is it meant of the Judgement it self only that it should be utter destruction the fatal blow the last and utter ruine of that people but also the time of this Iudgement which was at hand and this the people knew not and so much the word in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies tempus certum constitutum a certain and an appointed time Gen. 17.21 My Covenant will I stablish with Isaac which Sarah shall bear unto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at this set time in the next year and this seems to be intimated by the subjects the Stork and the Crane know their times but my people know not the Judgement that is not only the Iudgement it self but not the time of Iudgement that is at hand that which the Prophet had so often told them and that which they were continually admonished that it was neer cum in re tam clara dilucida coecutirent therefore here the Prophet doth justly complain that they were more bruitish then these unreasonable creatures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they know not verba sensus significant cum affectu effectu In the count of the Holy-Ghost in Scripture a man knows no more then he believes and is affected with and makes use of they knew not they considered not believed not were not affected with neither did they make use of it either the Iudgement it self nor the time of the Iudgement either to fear it or to flie from it so that the Iudgement and the time of Iudgement was appointed this they should and they might have known believed and been affected with but they were more unwise for themselves and for their temporal and eternal safety then the unreasonable creatures they knew not the Iudgement of the Lord. Hence the observations that I purpose to insist upon are these two First that there is unto a sinful Nation a set and an appointed time of Judgement Secondly that this time may and should be known or else in vain are they blamed for not knowing it First Doctrine Doctrine There is unto a sinful Nation a set and an appointed time for Iudgement a time when Iudgement shall infallibly come and God will bear with them no longer God being the antient of dayes he is the Lord of time and the great Land-lord of the world and he hath set unto every thing a season or an appointed time to every thing under Heaven Eccl. 3 1. but in reference to the point in hand it will be requisite that we consider of a six-fold time appointed by him that is Lord of time First there is a time of sinning a set and an appointed time for there is First a fulness of sin appointed by God that it shall have its period it shall not grow in infinitum Gen. 15.16 The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full and as there was a fulness so there is a time appointed to fill up this measure to fill the Ephah Zach. 5.6 where the measure of the sin of the people of Israel is set out for the greatness of it by an Ephah the greatest dry measure amongst the Iews and there was a time for the filling up of the Ephah before it was carried into the Land of Shinar Secondly there is a measure of wrath which every vessel of wrath shall treasure up for all shall not have the same measure and the Reason is because all do not treasure up the same measure unto themselves Rom. 2.4,5 Now seeing it is a Treasure that doth grow by degrees and several additions there must be a time for the filling and the gathering of this Treasure some Exchequer daies
hath its evening there is indeed a long time sometimes of whetting the sword and bending the bow and making it ready Psal 7.12,3 But there will be a time of smiting also no souldier doth alwaies whet his sword but because he hath a purpose to cut at last though the decree bear long in its womb yet it will not bear alwaies there is a time when it will bring forth Zeph. 2.1 so that the time of patience hath its period Fifthly when the time of patience is expired there is then a time for Iudgement a day of recompence a year of vengeance a time for the expending of those Treasures of wrath that have been so long laying in because there was by sinning a time of treasuring and so there shall also come a time of spending Rom. 2.4,5 a time for the wall that is swelled out to hang but there will come a time also when it will fall Isa 30.13 husbandmen expect with much patience the ripening of the grapes there is a time of ripening and there is a time of pressing and treading the winepress Rev. 14.10 The Butcher stayes till the cattle be fat there is a fatting-time and there is a killing time and then they shall be plucked out as sheep for the slaughter Ier. 12.3 Lastly when this time doth come the Lord will forbear a people no longer this determinating of Iudgement in the time of it is exceedingly set before us in the word and that under divers expressions First the Lord doth express it by a full and a peremptory resolution that he will do it Ezek. 21.27 I will over-turn over-turn over-turn and it shall be no more I the Lord have spoken it Chap. 24.14 It shall come to pass I will do it I will not go back neither will I spare neither will I repent but according to thy waies and according to thy doings shall they judge thee saith the Lord God they are the expressions of a great and a full and peremptory resolution that will not be turned Secondly it is called a decree or the bringing forth the decree Zeph. 2.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies decretum or statutum scriptum from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scripsit and so it is commonly used in the Scripture and so I conceive it to be understood non de occulto consilio sed de decreto promulgato It s true in that the word of God by the ministery of the Prophets there were many threatnings and judgements denounced but faetus adhuc in utero latet there is a time when all these threatnings will take place for they shall not be in vain there is not a word that goes forth but it shall accomplish the thing that I speak Isa 55.11 Now it is called a decree in a double respect First decrees are acts of authority Secondly they are established and firm they shall not be altered or disannulled therefore every judgement is a decree and though it may be long hid that a man doth not know what is in the womb of it yet there will come a time for the Decree of God to be delivered and then there is no hope men shall be as chaff and pass away in that day Thirdly it is called swearing in his wrath Psal 9.11 It is true that the word of God is as firm and sure as his oath for Heaven and Earth shall pass away rather then one jot of it shall pass away but yet in the word there may be and commonly is an implicit and a tacit condition as we see Ier. 18.18 If I speak concerning a a Nation or a Kingdom to pluck it up and destroy it if that Nation turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them but the oath of God shuts out all secret and tacit conditions whatsoever that nothing shall arise de novo that shall hinder the accomplishment thereof which must not be conceived as if it were peculiar unto that time or unto this people but that the Lord doth constantly the same against other people and in other times also as the Apostle plainly manifests to us Heb. 3.11,12 Fourthly those means that do usually prevail with God and turn away Iudgement when it is threatned In the time of Iudgement they prevail nothing with the Lord and they are these First repentance comes too late so much the Prophet doth intimate Zeph. 2.1,2 gather your selves that is by repentance and publike humiliation but what is the season it must be before the decree come forth implying otherwise it would not avail many there were no doubt in Iudah that were the Basket of good figs that did repent and humble themselves but yet it came too late to keep off the Iudgement they must be carried into captivity as well as the bad indeed repentance never comes too late if it be true to prevent the curse but many times it may come too late to keep off the cross Secondly but if that to their repentance they add prayers will not the Lord hear them Prov. 1.28 they shall call but I will not answer for there is a time when that the Lord will not be found Isa 55.6 Thirdly but what if to their prayers they add fasting will not the Lord hear them then No Ier. 14.12 When they fast I will not hear their cry but I will consume them by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence Fourthly but if God will not do it for their own sakes yet it may be he may for some other godly mans sake if the godly pray for them they may stand in the gap as we know Moses did and did hinder the breaking in of Iudgement upon the people No then the Lord will not hear them Jer. 7.16 Pray not for this people neither lift up a cry or a prayer for them for I will not hear thee Fifthly but yet if he will not hear one of the Saints apart yet the united prayers of the godly may prevail far with him and that may overcome but the Lord names the most powerful men with God that ever were Ezek. 14.14 Noah Daniel Job and Moses and Samuel Jer. 15.1 and yet the Lord saith if they did stand before him an expression of prayer and intercession yet his mind could not be towards that people There is therefore a set and appointed time for judgement and if that be once come the Lord will forbear a people no longer it will be easier to weigh the fire to measure the winds to recall the day that is past to change the Ordinances of heaven and to restore the verdure of the withered grass then to reverse the Sentence and Decree gone forth against a sinful Nation for as Samuel said to Saul he is not a man that he should repent Doctrine This time of Judgement may and must be known for why are they blamed if they might not and how justly could they be blamed if they ought not to have known it
fit nourishment for the rest of the members so do these Brightman Brightman Dividendo distinguendo nodos solvendo obscura illustrando dentium funguntur munere c. These for their purity are like a flock of sheep newly washed and for their fruitfulness they bear twins and not one is barren amongst them but by their labours they bring forth much fruit and they bring home many a soul to the Lord but if once God withdraw his Ordinances his people become barren as it is in the Church of the Jews and it is true of the seven Asian Churches and many other forsaken Churches of the Gentiles the barren hath born seven and she that had many children is waxen feeble Isa 5.4 Fourthly its a glory to a people to have store of all things in it so that they may be able to communicate to others in their necessities but need not borrow of any this was the advancement that the Lord promised unto his people Deut. 28.12 you shall lend unto other Nations and shall not borrow this is that wherewith God hath exceedingly honoured this Nation of ours and when that we many times vainly boast that we need not for outward things be beholding to any people but much greater is this glory in things spiritual and all this is by the Ordinances if the embryos in the womb of the Church want nourishment her Navil is like a round Goblet that wants not liquor and by it the children in the womb are nourished unto life Cant 7.2 if babes want milk they may suck and be satisfied with these breasts of Consolation Isa 66.11 if the children want bread the belly of the Church the Sacrament of the Lords supper the belly which receives the sustenance for the rest of the body is like a heap of wheat set about with Lillies Cant. 7.2 if strong men want meat it is to be had in them Heb. 5.12 and if they need water for their spiritual refreshment here are the wells of salvation Isa 12.3 and that you may not think that in the daies of drowth these will be drye the Lord tells you that there are springs to feed them all my springs are in thee Psal 87. ult But when the Lord takes away the Ordinances then the tongue of the sucking child cleaves to the mouth for thirst then the children cry for bread and there is none to break it to them then they that fed delicately upon the purest Ordinances they are desolate in the streets and they that were brought up in scarlet imbrace dunghills it is spoken by the Prophet of a bodily famine Lam. 4.5,6 it is much more true of a spiritual famine when men shall run from Sea to Sea to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Amos 8.12 this is not only a misery but also a dishonour unto any people Fifthly it s a great advancement when the Lord makes a people flourish in outward things making them the head and not the tail as the Lord promised Deut. 28.13 and how comes it to pass that a people do not flourish all the outward prosperity that we have in which we so much glory it is only by the Ordinances 2 Chron. 7.19,20 the Lord threatens that if they did forsake his Ordinances and serve other Gods then he would remove his Ordinances from them and the House that I have sanctified for my name I will cast out of my sight c. And what follows then saith the Lord I will pluck them up by the roots out of the land that I have given them when the Ordinances were removed and the Lord called them Loammi all their outward prosperity did quickly vanish Hos 2.9 I will take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and I will recover my wool and my flax given to cover thy nakedness c. Ezek. 16.39 I will break down thine eminent place that is the Temple where they did play the Harlot and set up the Image of jealousie before the Lord Cap. 8. therefore the Lord will remove the Ordinances and what then then they shall strip thee of all thy cloathes and leave thee naked and bare we therefore that count our outward prosperity our glory consider we hold it by the Ordinances Sixthly it s a great advancement to a people to be well fortified so as to be able in danger both for defence and offence to secure themselves not to fear their enemies this was the glory that God did vouchsafe the Jewish Nation and was sometime the glory of the English also the fear of thee shall fall upon all Nations round about Deut. 2.25 These are spiritually the Towers of Zion Psa 48.12,13 that we are bid to tell and the bulwarks that we are wished to mark it is because of this that the Church is described to be terrible as an Army with banners Cant. 6.10 that is because the weapons of our warfare in them are not carnal but mighty through God therefore they are as great a dread unto the enemies as an Army set in battle-array But as they are either corrupted by a people or removed from them so doth their defence depart as the Lord threatens Isa 5.5 I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up I will break down the wall thereof and it shall be trodden down Now what was this hedge and this wall nothing else Musculus as Musculus interprets it but the Ordinances the Word and Sacraments c. which did serve for two ends as a hedge and a wall ad separationem ad munitionem therefore when the Lord took away the Ordinances their defence departed from them and as men corrupt them so they break the Hedge and pluck down the wall of our protection it is true it may not fal at once but one picks out one thing and another another till at last they make a plain way for the Beasts of the field to break in upon the Vineyard of the Lord In all these respects and in many more the Ordinances of the Gospel in their purity and power are a great advancement to a people Surely then they are in an errour that esteem the Ordinances in their power to be a matter of disgrace a note of indignity upon any place or person First make it your glory Secondly walk toward it as your glory for that which is so great an advancement to a people must needs be an honour to a person also yet such is the enmity and the folly of our nature that we are apt to glory in any thing yea many times in those things that are our shame the wise man in his wisdom the strong man in his strength and the rich man in his riches c. Jer. 9. and pass by that as an aspersion which indeed would make us truly honourable and in comparison of others advance us up to heaven for any thing else to be pointed at men count an honour
pulchrum est digito monstrari c. there goes a rich man a wise man a great Schollar c. but to be pointed at there goes a holy man a diligent hearer a constant frequenter of the Ordinances in the place where Gods honour dwelleth this is an imputation and a matter of disgrace and this especially in any of the higher and the greater sort Salvian It is that which Salvian in his time did complain of p. 113. that if any Noble man or great man begun to be religious statim honorem nobilitatis amittit quantus in Christiano populo honor Christi ubireligio ignobilem facit The same is the disease of the present times that dishonour some men for no cause but because they do honour God of whom the world may truly say Thy God hath kept thee from honour It will appear in the consideration of these things First what a man counts a matter of honour he will not be ashamed to appear to be Paul was not ashamed to preach the Gospel but was abundant in it laboured more then they all why because he counted it the matter of his glory Rom. 15.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was so his labour that he counted it his honour too and that made him so abundant in it he was willing to appear so to be the Martyrs in the Primitive times counted Christianity their honour and therefore they were not ashamed to profess with triumph before their cruellest persecutors Christiani sumus c. but amongst us we find men are loth to be taken notice of for constant preachers for diligent hearers c. because they count it will be a blemish to their names and may be a stop to their honour and preferment in the world c. Thus many a man is by this means kept off from the Ordinances which would be his glory quodammodo mali esse coguntur ne viles habeantur they must be evil or else they say they shall be vile if they be not wicked they say they shall be men of no esteem Surely all those that are ashamed to appear or to be thought holy they count the Ordinances of God their disgrace and not their honour for a good man is that Seneca Epist 81. Seneca boni viri famam perdidit ne perdiret Constantinus let every man look into his own heart whether it be so with him I accuse none but as Salvian saith Salvian Si quis in se esse novit quae loquor non à mea sihi haec lingua dici aestimet sed à conscientia sua not my tongue but his own heart is his accuser Secondly what a man counts his honour that he will have recourse to or setch comfort or encouragement from it in disgrace or any other calamity whatsoever When Mordecay refused to bow to Haman unto what did his heart recoyl in this contempt as he conceived Hest 5.10 it is said that he told his friends of his glory riches multitude of children and all the things wherein the King had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the Princes c. and with this he bore up his own Spirit So it will be with the Ordinances if a man make them his glory as the Lord himself tells his people Isa 30.20 though they were not freed from outward afflictions though they were fed with the bread of affliction and the water of trouble yet their Teachers should be removed into corners no more but their eyes should see their Teachers c. and with this the Lord strives to uphold their hearts against all their outward calamities they should be sure of plenty of the bread of life though they did want the staff of bread when a soul is able to turn in upon himself and in any calamity uphold his spirit herewith It is true God feeds me with the bread of affliction but yet my eyes do see my Teachers and can he be hungry that is fed with the bread of life can he fare meanly that is alwaies at a feast of fat things No surely brown bread and the Gospel is rich provision Can he thirst that may at pleasure draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation Can he be poor unto whom is daily offered the unsearchable riches of Christ Can he be sick to whom the Sun of righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings and can he be alone who is come to the innumerable company of Angels or the general assembly and Church of the first born which are written in heaven to God the Iudge of all c. Thus we are by Gospel-Ordinances Heb. 12.22,23 Matth. 9.2 Christ saith unto the poor man sick of the Palsey Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee A poor man in sickness and in pain how could he be of good chear yea there is sufficient in the Gospel and the Comforts and Ordinances thereof to chear a mans heart and to bear him up against all the outward sorrows and calamities in the world if a man do make the Ordinances of the Gospel the matter of his honour then they will be his chiefest joy in the best times and his only joy in the worst Thirdly a mans honour and that which he glories in he will lay all at stake to defend the people of Israel counted David a great honour to his Nation as indeed he was and therefore they called him the light of Israel 2 Sam 21.17 and being in battle there came Ishbebenob the Giant and would have slain David but Abishai the son of Zerviah interposed himself rescued the King and slew the Philistine Now when the Giants of the world strike sometimes at one Ordinance sometimes at another and think surely to quench the light of Israel Where is the man that hath interposed himself and born the blow that he might succour the Ordinances Where is the man that is of Saint Bernards mind Bernard Malo in nos murmur hominum quam in Deum bonum est mihi si Deus dignetur me uti pro clypeo Objection But when you have said all the world will never count these Ordinances an honour nor those that do frequent them to be honourable men but either men of mean parts or mean fortunes the instable multitude c. or what ever a man was before he shall never be so esteemed afterward Si honoratior quispiam religio ni se applicuerit Salvian illico honoratus esse desistit Salvian p. 113. Answer But consider First though the world will not so count it yet there is an honour that comes from God only Iohn 5.44 and there is circumcision in the heart and in the Spirit whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. 2. ult There are indeed two great rate Books or counts in which all the persons and actions of men be valued Goâ—s book and the worlds and they set upon persons and actions different rates for that which is highly esteemed amongst