stormes of bloud would blow over and the sunne of Gods favour which is now hidden shine forth that we which the Lord in mercy grant and this whole Nation might see the salvation of our God I come now to the point When Gods wrath is revealed from heaven against a Nation in the way of his judgements then 't is high time for them to be humbled For the carrying on of which point I shall propound and endeavour to resolve these 3 Questions 1. What it is to be humbled and consequently what the sin is of which the Jewes stand charged in the Text they are not humbled 2ly Why 't is said that when Gods Judgements are upon a people then 't is high time for them to be humbled These 2 in Thesi And 3ly In Hypothesi to put our owne Case what cause we of this Nation have to be humbled at this day Having dispatcht these I shall then by Gods grace close up all with a seasonable application For the first what it is to be humbled I answere that it is not to be understood passively in this sense never Nation more humbled then they in the Text they were humiliati à Deo a people formerly exalted in Gods favour above all other in the world indeed they were his only by way of eminency and distinction His people but now not only degraded from that dignity but expos'd as the greatest object of contempt and wonder How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger and cast downe from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstoole in the day of his anger Lam. 2.1 All the Chronicles in the world cannot match the sad downefall of this People Peceatum humiliaverat sinne had taken off their Crowne from their heades and deprived them of their exellency they were humiliati but not humiles ipsi se non humiliaverunt they did not humble themselves 't is an active humiliation the neglect whereof is upbraided here unto them and of which God and the Prophet complaine They are not humbled even unto this day This active humiliation or selfe humbling implies 3 things 1. A sense both of sinne and the punishment a tendernesse of heart oppos'd to that the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Tertullians language Duricordia the hardnesse and unmalleablenesse of heart uncapable of any horror of sinne or impressions of wrath that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or indolentia stupidity and desperate senselessenesse of our hand against God and his against us when though the fierce wrath of God lies upon us yet we feele it not Heb. 12. â— a despising of Chastisement a not laying to heart of our owne wayes and of Gods our sinnes and his judgements a stupidity frequently charg'd against this people one place only I shall mention it comes home to our present case Esa 42.24 25. Who gave Iacob to the spoile and Israel to the Robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walke in his wayes neither were they obedient unto his Law Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battell and he hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Here is a perfect and full Character of an unhumbled people to lye under the guilt of the greatest sins and the pressure of the sorest Judgments and yet to remaine insensible of either not to lay them to heart 2ly Contrition Tremelius and some others render it nondum attriti and upon our owne Margent according to the Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contrivit comminuâ—â— we have contrite for humbled in the Text They are not contrite even unto this day The heart is then humbled when it is broken in peices hence those two phrases are joined together in Scripture Psal 51.17 The Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a contrite and broken heart cor contritum humiliatum O Lord thou wilt not despise It is called an abhorring of our selves in dust and ashes in Iob's phrase a rending of the heart in Ioeumll's a being in bitternesse in Zecharie's Afflicting of the soule in Moses Confusion of face in Daniel's a laying of the mouth in the dust in Ieremie's it is called Compunction or the pricking of the heart when sinne becomes as a thorne in the spirit and as a dagger at the heart it is said of Saint Peters hearers Act. 2.37 That they were pricked at the heart when the heart is smitten within the thigh without Ephraim's posture whom we find Jer. 31.19 thus bemoaning himselfe under his chastisement Surely saith he after that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth When the inward greife of the heart doth expresse it selfe outwardly in sighes and teares the affliction of the soule in that of the body by those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Is Pelusiot termes them Fasting and Sackcloth I clothed me with sackcloth and humbled my soule with fasting Psal 35.13 When the soule and the body which like Simeon and Levi were confederates in sinne shall sympathize in their sufferings and exercise a mutuall revenge upon themselves for the offences they have done when with David we shall wash that bed with our teares which we have defiled with our sinnes when those eies which before darted out rayes and sparkles of Lust shall streame forth waters to wash and those haires curl'd and frizl'd up to provoke dalliance shall hang downe to wipe our Saviours feet as Mary Magdalens In breife when the soule comes to be surprized with the horror of it's owne guilt and the feare of Gods Judgments and is more afflicted with bitternesse at the review of the dearest and most adored sinne then ever it was affected with delight in the commission of it The 3d thing implied in this active humiliation is a taking of shame to our selves and giving God the glory of his Iudgments according to the Counsell of Ioshuah to Achan My sonne give God the glory Joâ— 7 19. This is called the confession of our sinne and acceptance of our punishment as in that signall place Lev. 26.41 a place very worthy our notice as in which we may read both our duty and hopes in this our present distresse The Lord having there mustered before the Children of Israel a whole Army of plagues which he threatens to let in upon them in case of disobedience and from time to time to recruit against them with the vast accession of new and seven times greater calamities in case of Rebellion opens a doore of hope unto them even in the very worst condition If they shall confesse their iniquity and the iniquity of their Fathers and their trespasses which they have trespassed against
Oh there is a transcendent malignity in that sin which God that is infinite in mercy as it were knowes not how to pardon The Psalmist mentions it as the greatest aggravation of the Israelites Rebellion against God that they sinned yet more by provoking the most High in the wildernesse a place wherein God had given them so many ocular demonstrations of his indignation against their Rebellion Psal 78.17 yea 't is added if it be capable of any further degree of guilt The wrath of the Lord came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote downe the chosen men of Israel yet for all this they sinned still vers 31 32. There is onely one place more I shall minde you of I beseech you to lay it to heart I almost tremble to recite it because I greatly feare and I am perswaded your owne hearts will beare me witnesse this day that the guilt of that sinne lyes heavy upon the most of us the place is Isa 22.12 and some verses following In that day viz. a day of trouble and treading downe and perplexity by the Lord of Hosts as 't is called vers 5. did the Lord of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldnesse and to girding with sackcloath and behold joy and gladnesse slaying Oxen and killing Sheepe eating flesh an drinking wine eating and drinking for tomorrow we shall dye And it was revealed in mine eares by the Lord of Hosts Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye dye saith the Lord of Hosts ly Not to be humbled in times of distresse is the Character of a hopelesse People the blacke marke upon a man or Nation designed to ruine It is the property of the damned in Hell to be tormented and sinne to be tormented and to blaspheme God because of their torments To be more obstinate under plagues and to drive on then in sinne when God takes off their Chariot wheels and declares himself manifestly from heaven against them is the signe of a Pharaoh's heart and of that people that God will drowne in the red Sea of his wrath For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them neither doe they seeke the Lord of Hosts Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and taile branch and rush in one day Isa 9.13 14. This is a Nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God nor receiveth correction Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth Cut off thine haire ôh Ierusalem and cast it away and take up a lamentation upon high places for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath Jer. 7.28 29. A Father that after all gentle wayes frequently tried without successe at last finds his child obstinate under the rod gives him over as a lost child A Chirurgion that after all corrosions and lancings and mutilation of joints finds the Gangrene to spread further into the body lookes upon his patient as hopelesse of Cure And King Ahaztrespassed yet more in his destresse and the Holy Ghost points him out to the world as an eternall object of reproach and wonder This is that King Ahaz as if he had said Oh all ye that passe by did ye ever heare of such a man as this did ye ever read of one whom the sense of judgements embitter'd into the height of impiety why this is the man This is that King Ahaz These severer remedies are the last course God takes if that faile Conclamatum est the case is desperate you may write upon their Gates THE LORD HAVE MERCY UPON THEM The Lord shall smite Egypt saith the Prophet Isaiah he shall smite and heale is and the shall returne even to the Lord and he shall be intreated of them and he shall heale them Isa 19.22 Gods Rod as 't is said of Achilles speare hath a vertue to heale those wounds it makes Now how the Lord smote Egypt to heale it we read at the 2d verse of that Chapter I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbour City against City and Kingdome against Kingdome The Example applies it selfe This one would thinke a strange course to make whole by dashing in peices to bring things into order by confusion to reconcile by dissention to raise up the happinesse of a people upon the foundation of a civill Warre Yet this is the course sometimes of the great Phisitian of Nations who can bring light out of darkenesse and allay the most violent poyson into an Antidote he will smite and heale them if this way succed not we may conclude then that their wound is greivous and their bruise incurable Ier 30.12 The Scripture sets forth this Method of Gods dealing with Nations under the type of sundry most expressive Metaphors Hos 6.4.5 O Ephraim what shall I doe unto thee O Iudah what shall I doe unto thee I have hewen them by my Prophets and slaine them by the words of my mouth and thy judgements are as the light that goeth forth A Trope taken from the Mason or Carpenter who doth square and cut the stone or timber to make it sit for the building or such purposes as they are designed to by the Artificer unto which if after all their paines they prove uselesse and unserviceable then he throwes them away as good for nothing I have slaine them by the words of my mouth The Prophets I have sent have denounc't against them all the curses in the booke of the Law and declared to them that they are but dead men if they perservere in their sinnes yea moreover and thy Iudgements have beene like the light that goeth forth Thou Lord hast made knowne thy displeasure against them in the sight of the Nations but they like men have transgressed they have dealt treacherously against me God having ran his whole course with them seemes not now as it were to know what further to doe O Ephraim what shall I doe unto thee O Judah what shall I do unto thee The Lord in Ezek. 24.3 sets forth the desperate filthinesse of Ierusalem by a pot whose scum could not be consumed the Prophet there is commanded to set on a pot Set it on and also poure water into it then to put in the best pieces of flesh every choice bone after that to make them boile when this course prevailes not to get out the scumme the Prophet from God pronounceth a Woe against it Wherefore thus saith the Lord God Woe to the bloudy City to the pot whose scumme is therein and whose scumme is not gone out of it But yet God doth not give it off here there 's one course remaines yet to purge out the scumme and that he takes if any thing can doe it 't is that He commands the Prophet to empty the pot to make the pile for fire great to heape on wood and kindle the fire and then to set
reall feares no terrour of present Judgements can make any impression of feare upon my heart The Naturalist tells us too that the Adamant is broken with Goats bloud but neither the bloud of Jesus Christ that scape-Goate nor that of so many thousands of our brethren that have beene slaine have melted my heart into teares of Contrition What is it a rocke why the rocke when strooke but twice by the rod of Moses sent forth waters abundantly saith the Text Num. 20.11 But God hath often smitten us with his rod and yet no waters of repentance flow from my hard impenitent heart Oh this sets our condition in the very depth of misery and almost beyond the hopes of recovery that we sinne still that we repent not under Judgements What flouds of teares are sufficient to deplore this impenitency O our God saith Ezra what shall we say after all this for we have forsaken thy Commandements Ezr. 9.10 This is that which Daniel insisteth upon as the maine aggravation of the sinne of Judah Dan. 9.12 that though the like had not beene done under heaven as had beene done upon Jerusalem Though saith he all this be come upon us yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turne from our iniquities and understand thy truth Oh Beloved let this consideration be like Moses rod to strike water out of our stony hearts that the plague of sinne is upon us while we sigh and groane and dye under the plague of Judgements Let us lament that we have not lamented for our sinnes and say The Lord pardon our Impenitency the Lord forgive the sinnes we have committed since the time that his Iudgements have beene upon the Land Let it be the marke of the beast and the badge of the Kingdome of Anti-Christ when the Angell hath poured out the viall of wrath upon them to gnaw their tongues for paine and blaspheme the God of heaven because of their sores and torments and not to repent of their evill deeds Rev. 16.10 But let us whom God hath yet reprived from the two deaths of warre and sicknesse which have beene so long upon the Kingdome be on the mountaines like doves of the valleys every one mourning for his own iniquity Ezek. 7.16 I have now dispatcht the three questions and have done with the doctrinall part Let your patience I beseech you hold out a little longer while I close up all with a seasonable application In the first place the Text riseth with full force against the most of us I feare there are very few that can wash our hands of the guilt of this sinne which stands here charged against the Jewes They are not humbled even unto this day We find by wofull experience that this day to make use of our Saviours words this Scripture is fullfilled in our eares Though the wrath of God be in a high measure upon us and hath long continued upon the Land Yet where are the Jeremie's that mourne the Daniel's that fast the Nehemiah's and Ezra'es that pray the Preists that weepe betweene the Porch and the Altar and say Spare thy people O Lord the Moseses that by the humiliation of themselvs labour to stand in the gap If there be but one house on fire in the Towne there 's a generall cry and running to helpe every one carryes water to quench it Now that the whole Kingdome is all on a Flame and that cryes to every one of us Water water ôh for some such water as the children of Israel poured out before the Lord in Mizpeh 1 Sam. 7.6 fasting and crying out mightily we have sinned ôh for buckets of teares penitent teares to quench a flaming Kingdome ôh that every head were full and every heart a Fountaine of those waters that we might draw thence to extinguish the devouring fire of Gods wrath but alas woe is me woe is this whole Nation every one brings fuell to increase the flame few or none labour to quench it I know all that have any sense of our present miseries cannot but resent it with greife doe ye not observe a deluge of sinne upon the Kingdome as well as a floud of wrath which hath broken downe all the bankes of the feare of God and the reverence of man Salvian complaines in lib. 6. of the City Triers Assiduitas calamitatum illic augmentum criminum fait iis ipsis quibus coërcebantur scelera plagis erescebant ut putares poenam ipsorum criminum quasi matrem esse vitiorum I would our practice did not make it speake English Could you ever have thought impiety should have risen to so prodigious an height is there any wickednesse dares not shew it selfe in publicke The Licentious leudnesse of uncleane persons which heretofore abhorred the Light feare and shame made them put on a vaile then now dares the day all rapine and spoile and violence legitimated under the name of Plundering the worst kind of Robbery Oppression and unjust dealing improv'd by all the Art deceit can invent as if all Conscience as well as Lawes were asleepe if not quite dead Heart-burnings and malice in every Towne and village triumphing even over our common miseries as if nothing could reconcile us but onely utter ruine and the grave It was the observation of Augustus Casar Conviviorum vestium luxus agrotantis labentis imperii signa esse praenuncia That excesse and riot in diet and apparell was a signe and forerunner of a languishing and expiring Kingdome Was ever nation more guilty of these two sinnes then ours of late nay doe we abate now that God calls us to fasting and sackcloath Are not our Tables as full as heretofore if not are not our Tavernes and Ale-houses so those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 watry places where as Evagrius was wont to say the Devill most of all delighteth to haunt It is methinkes a very sad story which Salvian tells us of Carthage Alii foris jugulabantur alii intus fornicabantur l. 6. degub at a time when warre was even at their City Gates That while the enemy acted the Butchers upon their brethren without they played the Beasts in uncleanenesse within both Captives at the same time they to the Barbarians these to their Lusts these revelling in the City while they were groaning out their last in the Feild these wallowing in their filth while they lay weltring in their owne bloud their case was much like ours I would our course were not so like theirs Was there ever a greater riot in Cloathes among all sorts of people then now Ez. k. 16.51 England as well as Judah may seeme in her pride to justify Sodom a sinne committed with an high hand as it were in contempt and despight of heaven Cast your eyes about you and see Nunquid hae Tunicae plangentium Is this the habit and attire this the garbe of mourners Are not many arrayed as in the day of the Solemne Feast and triumph of
the Church and Kingdome rather then the time of the great perplexity and distresse of both the very names of our womens tackling would fill up the whole third Chapter of Esay Neither Gods Ministers nor yet his Judgements can preach downe this sinne no not so much as their blacke spots and their paintings Is it such a blackensse as this thinke ye that the Prophet Ioel speakes of Ioel 2.6 All faces shall gather blackenesse Consider that and be affraid ye know not how neare that day is and remember the fate of painted Iezabell Hath it not beene almost the Eccho of every Sermon against oathes and blasphemies and those cursed imprecations Oh doe not this abhominable thing that God bates and indeed should we be silent the very stones in the streetes would speake and the timber out of the house would answer them yet the wicked know no shame those sinnes are growne to a presumption both against God and the King The children of Israel faith God could not stand but turned their backe before their enemies because they were accursed Jos 7.12 Alas then how shall these stand in the day of battaile that doe so often curse and confound themselves It is said of the Thracians that when it thunders they shoot up their Arrowes as it were in defiance against heaven these men their oathes and execrations That excellent Law we have against this sinne hath beene strengthened by two pious Proclamations of late Oh that there were a like care and zeale in the execution Honourable and Beloved let me in the name of God and in the behalfe of this poore Kingdome beseech you as the Father in the Gospell sometimes did our Saviour for his child possessed with an uncleane spirit If you can doe any thing have compassion on us and helpe us I would I could say with our Prophet Mark 9.12 Surely those are poore and foolish they know not the way of the Lord nor the Iudgements of their God Jer. 5.4 5 I will goe to the great men and speake unto them for they have knowne the way of the Lord and the Iudgement of their God Oh ye heads of our Tribes 2 Chron. 28.10 and ye the sonnes of Levi as the Prophet Oded sometimes spake are there not with you even with you sinnes against the Lord your God Pardon me I beseech you if I speake freely The Sacrifice of this day is a sinne offering and 't is Gods expresse command Lev. 5.11 that neither oyle nor frankincense be put upon it it is a sinne offering Lay your hand upon your heart and tell me what Reformation doe you find every one in his owne heart what one sinne have you forsaken of which before you were guilty what one duty doe you now make conscience of which you formerly neglected doe you find a Frame of spirit in your selves answering the sad and trembling condition of the Land in a word are ye humbled even unto this day I would I could heare a good answer from you that I might yet hope for better times as your persons are representative so are your sinnes too your sinnes are the sinnes of a whole Towne a County a Diocesse and so should I account your humiliation I doubt not but here are many which are exil'd from their houses and â—ifled of their Estates your condition is sad but let me put the Question to you Are your hearts humbled O Humiliation Humiliation what 's become of thee where shall I finde thee that thou mayst be a Pella a City of refuge to protect us from the Avengers of bloud a Noahs Arke to save a sinfull nation from the flood of Gods wrath The City says she knowes thee not the Court complaines thou art a stranger there and the Country cries thou art gone out of the Land Though the two great destroyers the Red the Pale horses have march't through the whole Land multitudes of people every day swept away the cries of our oppresed wounded spoyled undone freinds Fathers Brothers kinsmen sound every houre in our eares the sighes and teares and groanes of our dying nation are fresh and loud the ruine of the Kingdome and desolation as it were in sight yet are not most of us like that stupid judge in the Acts Act. 11.17 And Gallio cared for none of these things The truth is when these cloudes first began to gather together there was much perplexity amongst us where the tempest then hanging over our heades would fall we were all in great feare what the event of those distractions would be but now that our feares are come upon us we cease to be affraid like those Froggs in the Fable when Jupiter threw downe the logg amongst them it put them in a great fright for a time so that they held their croaking but after a while when the feare was a little over they came neare to the Log and leapt upon it The most of us seeme to be sicke of Ichorams disease 2 Chron. 21.15 our bowells of compassion to others nay which is yet more of pitty to our selves are fallen out We relent not at the murther and undoing of so many thousands of our brethren we can heare the passing-bell tole and see the panges of death upon our owne Country with dry eyes and unhumbled hearts and not so much as say Alas my mother what Jeremy nay what seas of teares even teares of blood are sufficient to lament this obstinacy Jonah 4.11 Should I not have compassion on a great City wherein are six hundred thousand soules that know not the right hand from the left the greatnesse of the multitude was a motive that prevailed with God to spare Ninive and should not this be an Argument as prevalent with us to withdraw us from sinne and to perswade us this day every one to humble himselfe Exod. 10.3 O my wretched heart How long Pharaoh like wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe If thou hast no pitty upon thy selfe yet shouldst thou not have compassion upon a perishing Kingdome Shall I carry to my grave nay to Hell with me the guilt of the bloud of so many thousand Innocents Those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men that walke in their sleepe they will venture upon dangerous precipices because they know not their danger but when they are awakened and come to see what they have done they are astonish't and even strooke dead with the apprehension of the danger escaped it is a wonder to see that men awakened by the loud cries of Gods judgments or if we be asleepe still we are in a dead sleepe should dare to go on in such desperate wayes as many of us do that we should have our eyes open and see our danger and yet not be affraid that the wrath of God should be so long upon the Land and we not humbled even unto this day In a word to close up all I have already tyred both you and my selfe as Jotham sometime spake to the men
you and they as much united in guilt as Conjugall Contract will dye together in the same sinnes have ye no compassion upon your poore Infants those innocent sucklings that have not as yet contracted the guilt of your Rebellion Are ye content there should remaine no other remembrance of Iudah but onely of your sinnes and my wrath would ye willingly stand as an eternall monument to the whole world of divine Fury a reproach and a Curse So that posterity shall make mention of your name onely in their solemne Execrations The Lord make thee a Curse and an astonishment as he did Ierusalem and Iudah Or what doe you flatter your selves with hopes of impunity in Egypt doe you thinke to find security in that place whither you have carried downe with you my Curse and your old sins is Jerusalem destroyed and shall Egypt goe free Have all my Judgements upon you beene like the beating of the aire by the wings of a bird in his flight that leaves no footsteps or remembrance behind him Have ye forgotten the wickednesse of your Fathers and of your Kings Have your Fathers nay your Kings been made to drinke deepe of the cup of my Fury and shall you escape who were kept alive onely because ye were the poorest of the people Cannot all the Calamities you have suffered bring you upon your knees and melt your hearts into contrition for your sinnes I should have thought that the long tract of time and the severe discipline I have used might long e're this day have led you quite home to repentance But alas what shall I say of you you have not even to this day so much as set one foot in the way thither Nondum humiliati all the Judgements you have suffered have not made any no nor the least impression upon you God himselfe seemes amaz'd at this and to be at a stand as well as the Prophet and to want an expression to reach the height of this obstinacy and therefore breakes off in an admiration at the desperate perversenesse of this People by way of Epiphonema in the words of the Text They are not humbled even unto this day These words are Onus Iudae in terrâ Aegypti The Burden of those Jewes who contrary to Gods prohibition and their own protestation were gone downe into Egypt In them you may please to observe with me these three particulars 1. A duty implied the performance whereof the great Judgements of God so long upon them call'd for all their hands and the want whereof he here upbraides to them by way of admiration and that is Humiliation they should have beene humbled 2ly The neglect of that duty censured They are not humbled 3ly The Aggravation of that neglect 1. from the persons guilty They the Jewes Gods owne people that could not pretend Ignorance of their duty nor of the equity thereof 2ly From the Circumstance of time even unto this day Time they had and teaching enough to have learn'd their duty but yet after all instructions and invitations thereunto by the tenders of mercy all comminations against them for their obstinacy yea moreover and not onely after some scatterings of wrath upon themselves in lesser Judgements but also after as dreadfull a Tempest of vengeance as ever fell upon a people Even unto this day They are not humbled even unto this day These are the parts of the Text the sense whereof may be resolved into these three propositions 1. From the duty implied that which this people ought de jure to have done when Gods hand was against them in those terrible Judgements the Inference is That when Gods wrath is revealed from heaven against a 1 Propos people in the way of his Judgements it is high time then for them to be humbled 2ly From the neglect of this duty in that the Jewes de facto in their greatest distresse under the sorest Judgements were not humbled I conclude That a people in outward Covenant with God 2 Prop. may even under the extremity of the greatest Judgements remaine unhumbled 3ly From the aggravation of this neglect both in respect of the guilt it laies upon such a people in this verse and the wrath it drawes downe upon them at the next The Result is 3. Propos That it is the highest aggravation of the sinne of a people an evident token they are designed to ruine not to be humbled under the mighty hand the great and continued judgements of God They are not humbled even unto this day neither have they feared nor walked in my Law nor in my Statutes that I set before you and before your Fathers therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Behold I will set my face against you for evill and to cut off all Iudah But should I insist upon all these propositions severally I feare I should graspe more matter then I should be able to hold within the compasse of the time should I omit any I might seeme to trespasse upon the Text. I shall therefore take a middle way to reconcile both pitching upon the first as the head streame the other two as the lesser into which it runnes that as bearing the inscription of this dayes duty for the doctrinall part of this dayes exercise the other two will fall in either by way of proofe or Application In the handling of which I shall indeavour to follow St Hieroms counsell to Nepotian Ita docere ut non clamor populi sed gemitus suscitetur so to speake as to provoke the teares not the applause of my hearers such thoughts are unworthy to ascend this mount at any time much lesse at this words conceived only in the brain and born in the lips of the Speaker for the mos part dye upon the eare of the hearer they which come from the heart are likeliest to descend thither To feast the eare by an eloquent discourse this day were to breake the Fast while we are at the Church The eare and the eye every member of the body and faculty of the soule must beare a part in this dayes affliction as well as the belly The golden eareings were the matter of which the golden Calfe was made 't were an abomination to bring them into the house of mourning The children of Israel in the day of Gods displeasure and their sorrow Exod. 35.5 were commanded to plucke off their Ornaments that God might know what to do unto them till then they were not so much as in a posture for mercy sackcloth and ashes are the best Ornaments sighes and teares the best Orators of this day could I but mourne out a Sermon and you sit before the Lord this day weeping it would be best preacht and heard the word sowne in teares would be reapt in joy then might we hope that this Fast would prove a blessed Eve to some glorious Festivall the dismall cloud of wrath that now darkens the whole land and almost every day falls downe in
to humble themselves is when the Decree is broken forth and the wrath of God is actually upon them when the smart of the rodd makes them sensible of their sinne as it is sayd of Israel Ps 78.34 When he slew them then they sought him and enquired earely after God This was Mannasseh his season as vile a wretch as ever breathed upon the earth a very prodigie of wickednesse yet when he was in affliction when his chaines were upon him then he sought the Lord and humbled himselfe greatly 2 Chro. 33.11 A prudent man foreseeth the evill and hideth himselfe Prov. 22.3 Sees the Calamity in it's commination and prevents it in the threatning sees it first and as it is sayd of the man and the Basiliske kils it by having the first sight of it while the cloud of wrath is but like that of Eliah a hands-breadth foresees a tempest and makes hast for shelter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a foole will be instructed while the rod is upon his backe children when they smart will cry and begge and promise never to do so againe The racke of a great Plague will extort a confession from obstinate Pharaoh I have sinned this time the Lord is Righteous and I and my people are wicked Exod. 9.27 When the judgement is not onely at the doore but entred into the house Quis rogo interfici alterum juxta se videt ipse non metuit c. Salv. and shall take away one here another there and all are in danger will not every one be affraid If the Lion roare will not the beast tremble much more when he shall come and seize upon his prey Is it not time for the whole Towne to come in when their houses are on fire with water to quench it It was high time for Aaron to stand in the gapp when the Plague had made a breach upon the People And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and goe quickely unto the congregation and make an autonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun Numb 16.46 Such cases as this admit no delayes as Messadamus was wont to say of himselfe Know no to morrow a little neglect here may undoe a Kingdome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serious things to morrow cost him deere that spake it both his life and Thebes In such times as these who knowes what a day some few houres may bring forth Sodom and those sister Cities had a faire morne the Sun rose gloriously but never had people in the world a more terrible day High time therefore it is when Gods hand is exalted in the way of his Judgements for a people a Nation to humble themselves The necessity thereof will evidently appeare from the consideration of these particulars 1. That the sound of this Trumpet is the last summons God gives a Rebellious people it is the last Flagg that he hangs out if they submit not and yeild then nothing to be expected at Gods hand but utter ruine It is storied of the victorious Tamerlaine that great scourge of the Ottoman Empire that when he advanc't against any Towne or City so soone as he was set downe before it the first day his Tents were all spread with white a colour of Clemency importing to them that if they would presently surrender they should be receiv'd into Mercy if notwithstanding this tender they should yet stand out against him the next day his Pavilion was cloth'd with red a colour of bloud to give them to understand his severity If neither of these two prevailed for a surrender the third day the same Tents were all hung with blacke to let them know that now all overtures of mercy were past and that now they must expect whatsoever calamity the fury of a conquering enemy could bring upon them Such a course it is that God holds with a sinfull people according to the rule he himselfe gave unto the Jewes in their warres Deut. 20.10 He first proclaimes peace holds out the white Flagg summons them to repentance by the tenders of mercy Go saith the Lord and proclaim these words towards the North and say Returne O backsliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am mercifull saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you Ier. 3.12 If this gentler invitation prevaile not upon their love he next sends forth his Rod-Herald to make such a summons as may worke upon their feare Heare ye the Rod and who hath appointed it Micah 6.9 This is Gods Red Flagg and the last he holds out to sinners with conditions of peaces If the Rod cannot teach a People their duty nor the severity of Iudgements upon the Land instruct the Inhabitants in Righteousnesse if a Nation remaine deafe at the thunder of Gods loud voice this obstinacy obstructes all the doores of hope all the passages of mercy God hangs out against them the blacke Ensigne of desolation Secondly Obstinacy under Judgements raiseth a sin to the very height it fills up the bag compleats the measure of a peoples iniquity and leaves sin uncapable of greater aggravation In the fourth of Amos God sets forth the sinne of Israel arrived as it were at the non ultra of sinfullnesse further then which it could hardly goe that notwithstanding the variety and extremity of the greatest Iudgements upon them they relented not nor returned unto God it is the burden of every charge by a patheticall scheme which the Rhetoricians call Epistrophe or conversion there five times repeated Yet have they not returned unto me saith the Lord I have sent among you pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slaine with the sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stinke of your Camps to come up into your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. I have overthrowne some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a firebrand pluck't out out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. Oh this Yet hath an Emphasis an Accent upon it and makes sinne carry an infinite weight in the ballance of the Sanctuary They are not humbled even unto this day after all the experiences of divine Fury heightned the Iewes sinnes beyond an expression To relapse into the same offence after punishment doubles the malefactors guilt and deprives him of the Favour of the Iudge but to sinne upon the racke under the plague while Gods markes are upon them renders sinne almost incapable of forgivenesse O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a rocke they have refused to returne Jer. 5.3 It followeth at the seaventh verse How shall I pardon thee for this
the pot thus empty upon it that the brasse might be hot and burne that the filthinesse might be molten in it and the scumme consumed now because after all this her filthinesse remained and her great scumme went not out of her The Lord concludes her as an incurable City under that dismall sentence at the 13 vers In thy filthinesse is lewdnesse because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthinesse any more untill I have caused my fury to rest upon thee The Prophet Jeremy yet further illustrates the desperate estate of that people whom the extremity of distresse cannot reclaime from their wickednesse by a most apposite similitude taken from the Refiners who by melting their mettall in the fire make a seperation of the good mettall from the drosse Jer. 9.7 I will melt them and try them for what shall I doe for the daughter of my people as if he had said If there be any thing sound or of worth in a drossie cankred people it cannot be preserved but onely by melting them in the furnace this currupted Nation cannot otherwise be saved but onely by the fire Now with how great labour and exactnesse God performes this triall the Prophet expresseth Jer. 6.28 29. where he brings in God complaining against Iudah They are greivous revolters walking with slanders they are brasse and Iron they are all corrupters the bellowes are burnt the lead is consumed of the fire the founder melteth in vaine for the wicked are not plucked away Malitiae corum non sunt consumptae their wickednessees are not consumed and purged by the refining fire of Gods Judgments Their iniquity is so incorporated that though the bellowes be burnt i.e. the voyce of the rod as well as the Prophet made hoarse and quite spent with crying unto them to humble themselves the lead used for the separation of the drosse from the better mettall was all wasted in the fire yet they were not purified their drosse did still cleave unto them no extremity of calamity could part them and their sinnes and therefore it followes at the next verse Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them Fourthly God doth especially observe the severall deportments of the inhabitants of a land when his judgments are upon them his pure eye runns to and fro to see how men stand affected and to take notice what men do and say in the times of distresse It was a fearefull visitation which God threatens Iudah with Ier. 8.3 where the prophet tells them that so great should their calamity be that Death should be chosen rather then life at the 6 verse he represents God as it were going frō City to City from house to house and from company to company and there listening to heare what the people would doe and say in the day of their feares I hearkened and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of the evell saying what have I done They spake happily much as God helpe us too many now but they spake not as they should they spake not aright for they repented not of their wickednesse no man sayd what have I done What a paucity is there in the world who in times of distresse speake that which God expects and desires to heare amongst all the talke of the times how rare is that of repentance the erre of teares and the voyce of weeping those sighes and groanes which the penitent soule sends up to heaven as Ambassadours to the throne of grace for mercy How few such speakers as the Prophet Malachi mentions Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a booke of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name Mal. 3.16 Where shall God find a selfe-humbling selfe-condemning sinner who sensible of his owne guilt saith What have I done Beloved that great God before whom all things are naked that knowes the secrets of all hearts is present amongst us at this time in the midst of the Temple and sees with what devotion or with what want of it we stand in his Courts he takes notice how the pulse of every one of our hearts beats there 's never a thought which he marks not never a sigh fetcht in private but he sets down in his book never a tear shed in our Closets that he saves not in his bottle he observes too who stands off and comes not in this day to afflict his soule as if he had no sinnes to procure the Judgements that are now upon us or no sence to feele them There 's never a person carowsing at the Taverne nor swearing in the streets no Zimri and Cosby acting their Lusts none idle or happly worse imployed in the house when the Assemblies are mourning at the Church that he observes not Never a sinne this day committed but he seales up in his bagge the sinnes that at other times might be mitigated by an excuse committed on this day grow into a presumption beyond an Apology God writes them in Capitall Letters with a pen of a Diamond he doth at all times abhorre a proud and unhumbled soule such a one this day is an abomination the soule that is not afflicted at such times as this shall be cut off from the people a contrite and broken heart is the onely sacrifice that can propitiate him in this day of attonement If we consult the sacred Records we shall not find a more perfect Register of any thing then of such both persons and People as humbled themselves under Gods mighty hand stretcht our in Judgement against them and of such as at these times remained obstinate and impenitent those he remembers to their advantage and mentions with praise these he records with indignation and sets a stigma a brand of infamy upon them for their lasting reproach so long as those sacred monuments shall remain in the world I can but point at one or two instances of many In 2 Chron. 32.25 we read of Hezekiah whom God had miraculously recovered from a dangerous sicknesse and granted 15 yeares more to his life when his terme was expired that he rendred not againe according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himselfe for the pride of his heart both he and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the dayes of Hezekiah In the next Chapter we have the story of the unparallel'd wickednesse of Manasseh his Son and how vanquish't by the King of Assyria he was carryed away captive in fetters to Babylon and there when he was in affliction how he besought the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly On the other side it stands as a perpetuall blot upon the name of Amon the sonne of Manasseh
Tribe of Benjamin was cut off and destroyed that the other Tribes came to the House of God and abode there untill even before the Lord and lift up their voices and wept sore saying O Lord God of Israel why is this come to passe in Israel that there should be this day one Tribe lacking in Israel and the children of Israel saith the Text repented them for Benjamin their brother and said There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day We are met Beloved at this time in Gods house to humble ourselves and what cause of mourning have we for this Nation wherein I will not say one Tribe is cut off already but many of the heades and chosen men of every Tribe and the whole remnant of this once populous flourishing Kingdome is ready to be destroyed by the bloody sword of an intestine dissention 2 Châ—on 20.23 while we like those earth-borne Thebans or cursed Cananites help to kill and destroy each other When Ziglag was burnt with fire at the very sight of it David and his men wept so much that they could weepe no more 1 Sam. 30.3 what greater reason have we to weepe at the sight of the generall conflagration of our owne Country Were there nothing to be lamented by us in this day of our Fast but the publique miseries of this poore Kingdome with how loud and fearefull a cry doe they call every one of us to mourning Ye daughters of England weepe over me who cloathed you with scarlet 2 Sam. 1.24 and sed you with the flower of wheate How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the Battaile how are not only the weapons of warre but all the abundance and delightes and glory of your peace perished What cause have we I say not only with good Nehemiah to have our countenances sad Nehem. 1.4 and to sit downe and weepe and mourne and fast and pray before the God of heaven but to wish with Jeremie O that our heads were waters Jer. 9.4 and our eyes a fountaine of teares that we might weepe day and night for the slaine of the daughter of our people A second cause we have to humble our selves at this time is the consideration of every one of our owne sinnes and the sinne of the Nation the guilt and provocation whereof have drawne downe upon our heads the great wrath and indignation of our God Teares were made only for sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. God saith Saint Chrysostome hath implanted in us the passion sorrow for no other thing in the world but sinne Hon. 7. ad pop Antiochenuâ—â— in our Calamities we should looke with the eye of contrition more upon our sinnes then our sufferings and be more afflicted that we should deserve afflictions then that we should endure them A Pharaoh will cry out of the Plague and pray for the taking away of the death repenting Israel prayes for the removall of their sinne Take away all our iniquity Hos 14.2 and indeed all other Calamities to this are in the same Fathers words but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bare names of Calamity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. sin is only truly so Ibid. Whatsoever bitternesse is in any affliction is put into it by the malignity of sin and therefore the Godly who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of teares in their weeping have alwayes most lamented their sinnes When Gods wrath was incensed against Israel to have destroyed them for the golden Calfe Oh saith Moses this people have sinned a great sinne and yet now if thou wilt forgive their sinne c. Exod 32 31. O my God saith Ezra in the great distresse of his people I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee O my God for our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespasse is growne up unto the heavens Ezra 9.6 the same course is held by Nehemiah and Daniel in their supplication King David when the destroying Angel is sheathing his sword into Jerusalem cries out I have sinned and I have done wickedly 2 Sam. 24.17 Mine heart saith Ieremy within me is broken because of the Prophets my bones shake I am like a drunken man like a man whom wine hath overcome because of the Lord and because of the wordes of his holinesse for the Land is full of Adulterers for because of swearing the Land mournes the pleasant places of the wildernesse are dryed up and their course is evill and their force is not right Ier. 23.9.10 O for some Jeremies to lament this over againe for this nation Teares that are shed for sinne are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commendable teares Orat. 21. as Nazianzen tearmes them The Philosopher tells us that the dew of heaven and the raine from above is farre more fertile then the waters from the fountaines and rivers below and so are those teares for sinne then those that are for affliction And if ever people had cause to be humbled to have their hearts broken and their eyes run downe with rivers of waters for their owne sinnes and the sinnes of their Nation then have we certainly this day That we should sin away our peace and those blessings which made us glorious in the sight of the Nations that we should sin our selves into all these miseries that are now upon us The greatnesse of our present distresse testifies to our faces the greatnesse of our sinnes God that never afflicts willingly Lam. 3.33 and when he doth punishes citra condignum lesse then the desert of our sinnes Job 11.6 hath declared unto us the enormity of our sinne by the extremity of our punishment Ierusalem hath greivously sinned Lam. 1.8 saith the Prophet And therefore is she removed We may say too this day England hath greivously sinned therefore is she greivously afflicted her glory is removed and departed from her But yet this is not all the sinnes whereby we first drew downe this great wrath upon our selves are not all the cause we have to be humbled at this time no there is something more for which were it but throughly resented all our hearts should melt all our bowells tremble and all our Livers be poured out on the earth like water before the Lord this day and that is that we still sinne under Judgements that we have not humbled our selves as yet under Gods mighty hand that we have contracted the guilt of many new greivous sinnes even since the time that Gods hand hath beene upon us in so terrible a Judgement Great cause hath every one of us to sit downe and take up a Lamentation over his owne hard heart Alas What stone is my heart made of The hardest marble will weepe when the heaven is blacke with tempests above though great clouds of Gods anger have hung a long time over our heads and many stormes of wrath fallen upon us yet my heart mournes not The Adamant that they say will onely expell vaine feares no