in human appearance whereas their Enemies are powerful and formidable in the esteem of the World Besides God calls his People Men of Israel or Israel that are but Men. Israel you know my Brethren is the name God himself gave Jacob when he contended with him This holy Man hearing his Brother Esau was coming out against him with four Hundred Men was put into a great consternation therefore he passed the whole Night in Supplications and Tears As he was alone the Son of God in the shape of Man strove with him till break of Day and when this Divine Person saw that he could not prevail against him he touched the hollow of his Thigh so that the hollow of Jacobs Thigh was out of joynt as he wrestled with him and he said Let me go for the Day breaketh But Jacob answered him I will not let thee go except thou bless me And he said unto him what is thy Name And he said Jacob And he said thy Name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel For as a Prince hast thou power with God and Men and hast prevailed As we read in the 32d of Genesis So again in Hosea chap. 12. We read that By his power he prevailed with the Angel he wept and made Supplication unto him he found him in Bethel and there he spake with us That is to say he contended all the Night with his God by his Prayers and Tears and by that means he as it were conquered the Almighty and obtained his Favour Blessing and Succour so as that he was delivered out of the astonishing danger he was in But God thought fit his Lameness should remain to put him in mind that he ought to humble himself continually before God in order to obtain mercy and relief in all his necessities So God in my Text when he calls his Afflicted People Israel 't is that he might make us understand that when we are benighted in Affliction as we are at this time and when we fear the rage and fury of our Enemies that then it is our Duty to humble our selves before God in an extraordinary manner to repent of all our Sins and entirely renounce them and to have recourse to his Mercy and Grace alone for pardon and that we ought to strive with him continually by our Prayers and Supplications till we have disarmed as it were his Almighty Arm and obtained his Blessing and Assistance and that for the time to come we ought always to set his fear before our Eyes and to walk humbly with our God all the days of our Life 'T is for this end likewise he calls us Men ye Men of Israel For thereby he designs to put us in mind of the frailty of our Nature and to make us consider that since our life is in continual danger either by the fury of our Enemies or by Sickness or by a thousand other Accidents to which we are liable we have reason to Pray without ceasing and to throw our selves into the Arms of our God who alone is able to conduct and preserve us in the midst of all the dangers our life is continually expos'd to II. Now we are to consider the Consolation he gives his People under their Sufferings Fear not says he thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel Believers my Friends have several Reasons to be afraid but 't is the Will of God that they have recourse to him alone upon all occasions 1. The Devil uses all his Efforts to tempt us with the Pleasures Riches and Vanities of the World But then we are to beg of God without ceasing that he lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from the evil One. And at the same time we must take care our selves to avoid the Occasions of Sin and separate our selves from the Places and Persons that might induce us to offend God We must also renounce the World and mortifie our Bodies by moderation and Sobriety according to the Words of St. Peter 1 Pet. 5.8 Be sober be vigilant for your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist stedfast in the Faith Moreover we must read and meditate on the Word of God with continual Application of Mind and constantly pray to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit for 't is by his Word and Spirit he fortifies our Faith and 't is by Faith we are enabled to repel all the fiery Darts of the Devil 2. If our Sins terrifie us God commands us to have recourse to his Mercy and Grace As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33.11 In case we are sincerely converted so as to conceive a sacred Horrour for sin and heartily renounce all our evil Habits and cease to do evil and learn to do good then the promises in Isa 1.18 That though our sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool To this end we must heartily embrace Jesus Christ as our Saviour by a firm and lively Faith for 't is he that suffered death for us upon Earth and now intercedes in our behalf in Heaven 't is he that is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the World John 1.29 3. If Believers are at any time afflicted with bodily Diseases 't is the pleasure of God that we apply our selves to him as the Sovereign Physitian of our Bodies as well as Souls for 't is he alone that is able to deliver us out of all our Troubles and has promised that all things shall work together for our good if we do but fear him and profit by his Chastisements 4. The faithful people of God have likewise reason to be afraid of the Cheats and Disguises of False Teachers For as St. Paul says 2 Cor. 11.13 14 15. These false Apostles are deceitful Workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ And no marvel for Satan himself is transform'd into an Angel of Light therefore it is no great thing if his Ministers also be transform'd as the Ministers of Righteousness But if Believers constantly address themselves to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit God will deliver them out of the Snares of these false Teachers My Sheep says Christ John 10.28 29. shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my Hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's Hand For this end Believers must try the Spirits to know if they are of God They must like the Antient Bereans examine the Doctrines that are preach'd to them to know if they agree with the Holy Scriptures For as St. Paul says Rom. 2.20 the Word of GOD is the Rule of Knowledge and Truth 5. In fine
the assistance of his Holy Spirit that he may make us always walk in his Holy VVays Let us not suffer our selves to be surpriz'd by the specious Pretences of false Teachers They come to us in Sheeps Cloathing but within they are Ravenous VVolves At first sight one would think they had the Sweetness and Charity of Angels but no sooner do the Faithful give them to understand that they will not defile themselves with Idolatry and that they are resolved to serve God with purity according to his Commandments but these false Teachers discover a Cruelty not inferior to that of the most Savage Beasts You will know them by their Fruits says our Saviour Examine well their Conduct and you 'l see that they bear the Image of the Devil The Devil as we said before is a Liar and a Murtherer from the beginning Now these false Teachers are not they Liars like him Do not they teach Errours and Lies And do not they spread Abroad Fables and false Miracles to seduce the Simple and the Ignorant Have they not likewise violated Edicts Treaties of Peace and the most solemn Oaths which are the Pledges and Seals of the Publick Faith On the other hand are not they Cruel and Murtherers as well as the Devil Do not they every day make the Faithful suffer Torments Martyrdoms and horrible Massacres Do not they likewise use on all occasions the two great means which the Devil invented to endeavour to shake the Faith of the Elect Do not they offer to some the Riches and the Honours of this World Do not they propose to them Pensions Offices of the greatest Trust and Dignity and other Worldly Advantages And do not they spoil others of their Goods take away their Children from them and oppress them with a thousand Evils We must therefore my beloved Brethren refuse with horrour to hold Communion with these Ministers of Satan and if it be the Will of God that we suffer for the Interest of his Glory and Service let us submit to his Sacred Disposal and prepare our selves to lose and suffer all things that we may give him a Testimony of our Obedience and Faithfulness Let us remember that we were created for his Glory and that we ought to glorifie him both in Life and Death Let us remember that we ought to love him above all that is dearest to us in the World more than Father Mother Wife Children Lands and Vineyards nay more than Life it self if we would be his Children and desire to partake of his Salvation Let us consider well my beloved Brethren that this Earth is not our Home that 't is a Valley of Tears the place of our Sojourning full of Misery and Trouble and that our True Country is Heaven The Patriarchs whose Children we are had not so much as where to set the Sole of their Feet they were Pilgrims and Strangers upon Earth they sought a City that had solid Foundations whose Builder and Founder is God We must therefore renounce all earthly Things and continually breathe after the Glory and Happiness of Heaven Let us consider again that if God permits us to be persecuted 't is to the end that we may discover to the World our Faith Piety and Constancy and that this Tryal by which God is glorified may also turn to our own Glory Salvation and Comfort Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation saith St. James ch 1.12 for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness sake says our Saviour Mat. 5.10 for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Now for a season we are in heaviness through manifold Temptations But as St. Peter says 1 Epist 1.7 8 9. 't is that the Tryal of our Faith being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth may be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ whom having not seen we love in whom tho' now we see him not yet believing we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory receiving the end of our Faith even the Salvation of our Souls Nevertheless my Friends we must acknowledge that our sins are the cause of all the Evils we suffer The Churches of France were abominably corrupted in their Manners Therefore God has pour'd out his Judgments upon them and his Wrath is still burning against us because our Repentance is not such as it ought to be We must then every one of us turn himself from his evil Course and those that have been so unhappy as to enter into the Communion of Babylon must for ever renounce her Abominations for the time to come We must be possess'd with a Sacred Horrour for our Sins and in a Holy Manner afflict our Souls and humble our Selves at the Foot of the Throne of the Divine Majesty we must have recourse to the Mercy and Grace of God in Jesus Christ who has died for the remission of our Sins We must strive continually with God by our Tears and Supplications and not let him go till he has blessed us and the good God will at last suffer himself to be overcome by our Cries and Supplications Tho' our sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho' they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Then will he be mov'd by our Misery to give us Succour and Relief He will bow down the Heavens and come down and deliver us out of the great Waters that surround us Now good Men are oppress'd He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey Isa 59.15 They that would be true to God serve him with Purity and sing Praises to his Holy Name are afflicted and persecuted whereas Idolaters the perfidious Judas's the Drunkards the Lascivious the Wicked the Swearers and Blasphemers are tolerated and countenanc'd in the World But these disorders shall not always last Yet a little while and he that is to come shall come and will not tarry Let 's take courage then my Friends not suffer our selves to be frighted with the Menaces of the Enemies of the Truth Let us throw our selves into the Arms of our God let us retire under the Shadow of his Wings let us deliver our selves up to the conduct of his wise Providence and put our confidence in him he promises to be our Protector and Deliverer and he is faithful in all his Promises Let us have these comfortable words always in our Thoughts Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel We are but Worms of the Earth in comparison of our Enemies but let us remember that the Lord of Hosts the Great God is our Strength VVe are mortal Men our Life is continually in danger but let us remember that he that has Life and Death in his Power promises to assist and protect us Let us not be afraid
our Faith and Patience to force us to have recourse to him in our Afflictions and to put our Confidence in him to make us taste of the Consolations of his Spirit and at the same time to convince us that his good Providence takes care of his Children in their Streights and Necessities and in fine to make us admire the wonderful Deliverances he vouchsafes to give them when they have profited by his Chastisements and have glorified him in the time of their Tryal And therefore now he says in our Text Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel Now to understand well the Sense of these Words and of the other Prophecies of the old Testament we are to observe that since the Jewish Church was the Type of the Christian and the same things that befel the Jewish Church were to befal the Christian we must observe I say that though the literal Sense of the Prophecies of the Old Testament had respect to the Church of Israel after the Flesh yet their Mystical Sense relates to the Christian Church which is Israel after the Spirit and moreover that those ancient Prophecies have their chief and full Accomplishment no where but in the Christian Church They that take this remark along with them as they read these antient Prophecies will make wonderful Discoveries of what should fall out in the Christian Church In the general they 'l find there that the Christians would be corrupted by Prosperity as the Jews were before them That they would plunge themselves even in the Idolatry of the Gentiles and that afterwards these Idolatrous Christians would for a great while oppress the Faithful Servants of God that Worship him in Purity according to his Word but that God would relieve them at last and deliver them out of all their Troubles And to this purpose God speaks to his destitute People in the Verses afore my Text Fear thou not says he for I am with thee be not dismay'd for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness Behold all they that were incens'd against thee shall be ashamed and confounded They shall be as Nothing and they that strive with thee shall perish Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them even them that contended with thee They that War against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee Fear not I will help thee Whereupon he adds the Words of my Text Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel I shall confine my self to the Mystical Sense of these Words and only examine them as they may relate to Christians And with the assistance of the Holy Spirit which I have already implor'd and do still with all my Soul I shall consider these two things 1. The Name God calls his Distressed People by Thou Worm Jacob Men of Israel 2. The Consolation he gives them in this their Destitute State Fear not says he I will help thee and thy Redeemer is the Holy one of Israel God grant my Beloved we may all meditate on these things with due attention to the end we may receive that Instruction and Comfort which the Spirit of God holds forth to us in these Words and is so necessary for us in this time of Distress wherein all that will serve God with Purity according to his word suffer a Cruel and Bloody Persecution I. God calls his People here Thou Worm Jacob or Jacob thou art but a Worm Now 1. When God calls his People Jacob he would have us consider them all but as one Man And in effect all the Faithful together compose but one mystical Body whereof Christ is the Head They are all united by the Holy Spirit they are all Members of one another therefore they ought to live in perfect unity and like the Primitive Christians love one another so entirely as to be but one Heart and one Soul 2. True Christians are called Jacob because they are the Posterity of Jacob after the Spirit and Heirs of his Faith and Piety and of the Promises which God made to him of old Jacob parted with the food that perisheth that he might obtain the Blessing of his Father and that of his God together with the Heavenly enjoyments thereto annex'd In like manner the Faithful ought to abandon all Earthly Advantages that they may have a share in the Glory and Felicity of Heaven 3. Believers are call'd Jacob because their condition in this Life is like that of Jacobs For as Jacob who was born after the Spirit was heretofore Persecuted by Esau his Elder Brother that was born after the Flesh So Faithful Christians that are Christians after the Spirit are likewise persecuted by Antichristians who are Christians after the Flesh These wicked false Christians reproach us every now and then that we are but of Yesterday The truth is more Ancient than they But with respect to our Reformation which is our Spiritual Birth we grant they are in a sort older than we as Esau was older than Jacob. But then as I told you before they are born after the Flesh as Esau was and we after the Spirit as Jacob was and that is the reason they persecute us And this is no new thing Abel that was born after the Spirit was persecuted to Death by his Elder Brother Cain who was born after the Flesh The same may be said of Isaac the Heir of the Promise who was likewise persecuted by his Elder Brother Ishmael that was born after the Flesh So likewise the Prophets of old who serv'd God with purity according to his word were persecuted by the Jewish Church when it was fallen into Idolatry We ought not therefore to be surprized that at this time we who adore God in Spirit and in Truth according to his Commandments are in like manner persecuted by a corrupted and Idolatrous Church Moreover the People of God are not simply call'd Jacob but Thou Worm Jacob. And in effect my Friends we are but Worms of the Earth in the presence of our God whose greatness knows no bounds for he fills the Heavens and the Earth Heaven is his Throne and the Earth is his Footstool We are but dust and Ashes in comparison of our great God nay we are less than the small dust of the Ballance Therefore he calls us Worms that we may always remember our misery and nothingness that we may always humble our selves in his sight and never violate that respect which is due to his Sovereign Majesty But evermore be possessed with a Religious awe in his presence Further we are but Worms in comparison of our Enemies For generally the Faithful are weak and despicable
then since he will be our Redeemer and Defender He commands us to call upon him in our Distress and promises to deliver us out of it to the end that we may glorifie him Let us then make him our Refuge let us cry to him continually and he 'll come to our relief that so we may bless him for it all the days of our Life God will do wonders for our sakes as he has always done in favour of his Children For as St. Paul says Rom. 15.4 whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our Learning that we thro' Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have hope that is to say that we may have this confidence in God that in case we imitate the Faith the Piety and the Fidelity of those antient Servants of God whom the Scriptures mention God will vouchsafe to us the same Deliverances and the same Comforts as he vouchsafed to them on the like occasions He 'll restore our Children to us again as he did to Abraham of old He 'll preserve our Lives as he did Isaac's He 'll be always with us as he was with Jacob and give us the same Protection that he gave him He 'll release us out of our Prisons as he did Joseph He 'll deliver us out of all our Sufferings and Misery as he did Job and like him will put us in a happier Condition than that we were in before our Tryal He 'll put an end to all our Troubles as he did formerly to those of David Now we are in the Furnace as the three believing Hebrews were of old but God will preserve us as he did them in the midst of the Flames The fire of Persecution will only serve to purifie us and to consume the Bonds of Sin within us and he 'll bring us out of the Furnace of Affliction much brighter than we were before Now we are in the midst of Lyons as Daniel was of old But God will shut the Mouth of these Savage Beasts he 'll repress the Violence of our Enemies that encompass us about on all sides and come not behind the very Tygers and Lyons in Cruelty Now we groan under hard Bondage as the People of God did heretofore in Egypt but God will deliver us out of it with a strong Hand and stretched out Arm. Now we are terrified with the Power of our Enemies But since 't is against God they wage War God tells us in his Word 2 Chr. 20.15 that the Battle is not Our's but God's and that he 'll fight for us himself while we are singing Praises to his Holy Name as he fought heretofore for his People in the time of King Jehoshaphat Now they that afflict us laugh at us for putting our confidence in God as if he was not strong enough to deliver us out of their Hands But God will send an Angel to destroy them as he did the Army of the King of the Assyrians who blasphem'd the Lord and ridicul'd them that put their confidence in him as we read Isa 36. For this end my beloved Brethren let us live in the fear of the Lord let us obey his Holy Commandments be faithful to him confess his Truth and continually implore his Mercy Favour and Relief and this God will hear our Cries will hearken to our Prayers will plead our Cause will help and deliver us will fill us with his Graces and Comforts will load us with his Benefits and will one day take us up to Heaven to maâ—â— us happy for ever with himself Which God of his infinite Mercy grant Now to Him Father Son and Spirit one only God belessed for ever be Honour and Glory world without end Amen Preach'd in several places in the Wilderness July 23 and 31. 1692. and Septemb. 14. 1693. FINIS