heart is a Scripture-frame The holy Ghost tells you Isa 66. 1. God looks at him that trembleth at his word come with hearts trembling at the word of God come not to be Iudges of the Law but doers of it You may judge of your profiting in grace by the delight you finde in Scripture as Quintilian was wont to say of profiting in eloquence a man may know that saies hee by the delight hee findes in reading Cicero much more may this be said of the Scriptures it is a true signe of profiting in Religion to whom the Scriptures are sweeter then the honey and the honey-combe And now I shall onely tell you what the work is we have to doe and then we shall fall upon it and that is to open Scripture unto you not onely difficulties but to shew unto you what divine truths are contained in them what may come fresh and spring up from the fountain it selfe to present them unto you with adding some quickness This is our worke not to enlarge any thing with long Explication Probation or Application There are these five things to be enquired concerning this our Prophet whose Prophesie I have now pitched upon to open 1 Who he was 2 To whom he was sent 3 What his errant was 4 His Commission 5 The time of his prophesie All these you have either in the first verse where most of them are or you shall find them in the Chapter For the first then who this Prophet was I will tell you no more of him then what you have in the first verse Hosea the son of Beeri His name signifieth a Saviour one that brings salvation It is the same root that Ioshua had his name from and many saving and savory truths wee shall finde this Prophet bringing to us He was the sonne of Beeri This Beeri we doe not find who hee was in Scripture only in that he is here named as the father of the Prophet in the entrance into this Prophesie Surely it is honor is gratia to the Prophet and from it we may note thus much That so should parents live and walke as it may be an honour to their children to be called by their names that their children may neither be afraid nor ashamed to be named by them The Iews have a tradition that is generally received among them that whensoever a Prophets Father is named that Father was likewise a Prophet as well as the Son If that were so then surely it is no dishonor for any man to be the Son of a Prophet Let those that are the children of godly gracious Ministers be no dishonour to their Parents their Parents are an honour unto them But we find it by experience that many of their children are farr from being honours to their godly parents How many ancient godly Ministers who heretofore hated superstitious vanities whose sonns of late have been the greatest zealots for such things It puts me in mind of what the Scripture notes concerning Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah the difference betweene his father and him Iosiah when he heard the Law read his heart melted and he humbled himselfe before the Lord. But now Iehoiakim his sonne when hee came to heare the Law of God read he tooke a pen-knife and cut the roll in which it was written in peices and threw it into the fire that was on the hearth untill all the roll was consumed A great deale of difference there was between the Son and the Father and thus it is between the sons of many ancient godly Ministers and them their Fathers indeed might be an honour unto them but they are dishonour to their Fathers The sonne of Beeri This word Beeri hath its signification from a Wel that hath springing water in it freely and cleerly running So Ministers should be the children of Beeri That that they have should be springing water and not the mud and dirt and filth of their own conceits mingled with the word This only by way of allusion To whom was this Prophet Hosea sent He was sent especially to the Ten Tribes I suppose you all know the division that there was of the people of Israel in Rehoboams time tenn of the Tribes went from the house of David only Iudah and Benjamine remained with it Now these tenne Tribes renting themselves from the house of David did rent themselves likewise from the true worship of God there grew up horrible wickednesses and all manner of abominations amongst them To these ten Tribes God sent this Prophet He sent Isaiah Micah to Iudah Amos and Hosea he sent to Israel all these were contemporary If you would know what state Israel was in in Hoseas time read but 2 K. 15. 19. you shall find what their condition was Ieroboam did that which was eâ—ill but he fight of the Lord he departed not from all the sins of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat which made Israel to sinne But notwithstanding Israel was thus notoriously wicked and given up to all Idolatry yet the Lord sendeth his Prophets Hosea and Amos to Prophesie to them even at this time O the goodnesse of the Lord to follow an apostatizing people an apostatizing soule It was mercy yet while God was speaking but woe to that people to that soul to whom the Lord shall give in charge to his Prophets prophesie no more to them But what was Hosea his errand to Israel His errand was to convince them clearly oâ— this their abominable Idolatry and those other abominable wickednesses that they lived in and severely to denounce threatnings yea most fearfull destruction This was not done before by the other Prophets as wee shall afterward make it appeare but it was Hosea his errand to threaten an utter desolation to Israel more than ever was before and yet withall to promise mercy to a remnant to draw them to repentance and to Prophesie of the great things that God intended to doe for his Church and children in the latter dayes What was his Commission The words tells us plainly The word of the Lord came to Hosea It was the word of Iehovah It is a great argument to obedience to know it is the word of the Lord that is spoken When men set reason against reason and judgment against judgment and opinion against opinion it prevails not but vvhen they see the authority of God in the Word then the heart and conscience yeeldeth Therefore hovvever you may look upon the instruments that bring it or open it to you as your equalls or inferiours yet knovv there is an authority in the Word that is above you al It is the word of the Lord. And this word of the Lord it came to Hosea Mark the phrase Hosea did not goe for the word of the Lord but the word of the Lord came to him he sought it not but it came to him factum fuit verbum so are the words the word of the Lord came or
time for the decree to come forth against a kingdome when God will not be intreated a time when though Noah Job and Daniel should stand before him yet he will not be intreated though they cry cry â—arly cry aloud cry with teares cry with fasting yet God will not be intreated Gods mercy is precious and he will not let it run out to waste he will not be prodigal of it a time wherein God will say Now I have done I have done with this people mercy hath had her turn It is true except we had that immediate revelation that the Prophets had we cannot now determine of the particular time yet by examining Gods way toward his people in former times the truth is that those that laboured most to search Gods minde in his word they were even afraid that this decree had been gone out upon us in England It is true God hath seemed for the present to tell us that hee hath a prerogative and he will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy But yet neither are those altogether to be blamed that even in their own hearts determined as it were that mercy was gone except they did wholly limit God and left nothing of prerogative at all to him but because it was Gods ordinary way and except God had wrought with us in a way of prerogative otherwise than ever he did with any nation before they did then conclude that the decree was gone forth and so it might be true and what God may do with us yet we do not know But this we can say if the decree be not gone forth if there be mercy for us God hath shewed his prerogative that he will now goe on in such a way otherwise than formerly he hath done in the world and if God will do so who can say against it A time there is likewise for God to say against particular persons he wil not have mercy upon them a time when God will say those men that were bidden shall not tast of my Supper he that will be filthy let him be filthy still my spirit shall no longer strive with them God hath no need my brethren that we should receive or entertain his mercy we had need that God should grant it God many times is quick in the offer of his mercy Goc and preach the Gospel he that believeth shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned A quick worke God makes many times in the effects of mercy Yet 3. I will not have mercy This is pronounced as the most dreadfull judgment What not have mercy upon them then indeed is a State or a Kingdom in a dreadful condition when God shall say of them that he will not hve mercy Wo to you saith the Lord when I depart from you wo then to you when my mercy is for ever gon then all judgments miseries must needs flow in upon a nation or a particular soul when the Sea-bank is broken up then the waves will all flow in Isa 56. 9. All you beasts of the field come to devour yea all you beasts in the forrest why what is the matter His watchmen are blind c. I argue thus from thence if the prudence of the watch-men being taken away which should stop misery then all evils come flowing in upon a Nation What then if the mercy of God that should stop misery be taken away whither should the poore creature goe if mercy be gone to what creature should it look for help if it cryes to any creature the creature saith I can afford no comfort because God affordeth no mercy what shall uphold the heart then when it hath no hope at all It must needs sink I will not add mercy saith God shewing that what good they had received before it was from his mercy though they would take no notice of it well saith God you shall have no more you have taken no notice that it was my mercy that helped you before but when my mercy is gone then you will know it but then I will not add more Men best know what the worth of mercy is when mercy is taken away from them when God addeth no more Again I will not adde mercy God doth not use to take away his mercy fully from a people or from a soul but when mercy hath been shewed and abused after much mercy hath been received and that being abused then God saith hee will not adde more You have a parallel place to this Iudg. 10. 16. I will deliver you no more saith God I have delivered you many times my mercy hath been abused I will deliver you no more It is just with God when mercy is abused that wee should never know farther what mercy meaneth Mercy as it is a precious thing so it is a tender thing and a dangerous thing to abuse it There is nothing that more quickly works the ruine of a people or of a soule then abused mercy But further I will utterly take them away Before it was only that they should be scattered the name of the first child before was but Iezreel that they should be the scattered of the Lord but the 2. is Loruhamah that they shall have no more mercy from the Lord. Gods 2. strokes usually are more dreadfull then the first God beginneth first with the house of Correction before he bringeth to the gallows There is branding first before hanging there are warning pieces before murthering peeces God makes way for his wrath by lesser afflictions before hee cometh with destroying judgments I remember Mr. Knox in his History of Scotland hath this story of one Sir Iames Hamilton that having been murthered by the Ks. means there he appeared to him in a vision with a naked sword drawn and strikes off both his arms with these words Take this before thou receive a finall payment for all thy impieties and within 24. hours 2. of the Ks. sons dyed God cometh to nations particular persons with a sword cutteth off arms before he takes their lives he commeth by degrees upon them As the Lord when he cometh in a way of abundance of mercy lesser mercies make way for greater mercies When Manna was rained down the dew ever came before it So lesser judgments to the wicked are forerunners of and makers way for greater judgments first they are parboild before they come to be rosted in the fire Further I will not adde mercy to the house of Israel He doth not say I will not adde mercy to this or that particular man of Israel but to the house of Israel A Multitude of sinners with God is no argument for their escape of judgment It is a rule indeed with man Multitudo peccantium tollit peccatum Multitude of offenders take away their offences Men know not how to execute the offenders when they are in Multitudes here and there some of the ring-leaders may be taken for example sake But it is no
and then there commeth in some darting thoughts of him but so as your conscience knowes they are very terrible to you you can never now have a thought of God but it is as a clagger at your heart and indeed it must needs be terrible to a guilty conscience that is departed from God Well take heed what thou doest O thou sinner goe not on so long in thy sinfull wayes till thou wearest out all the thoughts of God for some have done so though they had checks of conscience when they have beene in wicked company God hath come into their thoughts and troubled them but they have gone to wicked company againe and some thoughts of God have yet followed them but they have gone again and again and now they have forgot God as if there were no God at all in heaven as if God had nothing to doe with them and they nothing to doe with God O this is a sad condition indeed If any of you be declining into such a condition as this is the Lord stop you this day the Lord awaken your consciences Ordinarily the more prosperity men have the more forgetfull they are of the Lord They forgat me as Genesis 48. 20. Jacob set Ephraim before Manasses first Ephraim then Manasses Ephraim signifies fruitfulnesse and Mansses signifies forgetfulnesse thus it is with men Ephraim comes first fâ—uit fulnesse God is fruitfull to you and blesseth you in your estates then comes Manasses forgetfulness you are forgetfull of his goodnesse to you My brethren if always we had such impressions of God as we have sometimes O how happy were it It will terrifie hereafter when God shall againe so present himselfe to you and cause you to remember what impressions of his divine Majesty once you had let us hold forth our continuall remembrance of God so as all that behold our conversaions may say surely the thoughts of God are mighty upon the spirits of these men thus we should live before our brethren I will give you this one rule for your lives Live such lives as by them you may hold forth before your brethren such remembrances of God as they may conclude by that they see in your conversations Certainly there are deepe thoughts of God upon the heart of this man there was a time indeed he walked lightly vainly foolishly but now he is serious in his way he is considerate he is heavenly he walks with feare Certainly there are great impressions of the divine Majesty upon his heart if it be so with us how joyfull will it be to us hereafter when God shall appeare in his glory then to have our consciences tell us the impressions of the Majesty of this God that now I see so high and great have beene upon my soul in the whole course of my life I now see the glory of the great God shining and blessed be his name even this God that appeares so gloriously hath appeared often to my soul before and I have kept the impressions of his glory upon my heart and he was continually in my thoughts It is a wonder that God should ever thinke of us who are so forgetfull of him as we are Psalm 8. What is man that thou remembrest him saith the text what is man The word there that is translated man some would bring forth the Hebrew roote which signifies forgetfulnesse I finde Eusebius taking it thus What is man O Lord that thou shouldst remember him that is what is forgetfull man that thou shouldest remember him yet I confesse the Hebrew word that is there translated man comes from another roote that signifies weakelinesse sicklinesse what is weake man what is sick-man yet if this word come not from that roote that signifieth to forget yet I am sure there is a word that commeth from that roote that signifies to forget that is used for women because of their forgetfulnesse we would be glad to have God remember us in the day of our adversities let us remember God now all you young ones remember God remember your Creator in the dayes of your youth you old people whatsoever you forget forget not the Lord let us all remember the Lord who hath remembred us all who hath remembred England in its low estate for his mercies endure for ever We have done with the threatning part now it followes Therefore behold I will allure her bring her into the wildernesse and speake comfortably to her Therefore Beloved it is a strange therefore what they followed after their Idols they have said that all their prosperity was a reward of their Idols they have forgot the Lord they have decked themselves with their jewels to honour their Idols and marke it comes presently Therefore I will allure her and I will speake comfortably to her one would rather have thought it should have followed Therefore I will yet plague her therefore my judgements shall pursue her and cut her off but marke it followes Therefore I will allure her and speake comfort ably unto her O the rich and free grace of God to his people But of that the next day The Twelfth Lecture HOSEA 2. 14. Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse and speake comfortably unto her and I will give her her Vineyards from thence HEre begins the second part of this Chapter the former was in conviction threatning pronouncing judgements this from verse 14. unto the end is the opening of the free and rich grace of God to Israel It may be said of this Chapter as Psalm 85. 10. Mercy and Peace are met together Righteousnesse and Truth kisse each other There is a blessed conjunction betweene threatning of judgement and proffering mercy but where is the copula of this conjunction What is that knits these two together Here is a conjunction but it is very wonderfull it is in the first word therefore that is the copula therefore I will allure her Wherefore This therefore hath a very strange and wonderfull wherefore if we consider of what went before the words immediately before were She went after her lovers and forgate mee saith the Lord therefore behold I will allure her there needs an Ecce be put to this therefore be hold Behold I will allure her Lyra could not see how these things could bee joyned together therefore hee thinks that this verse hath not reference to that that immediately went before but to the words in the beginning of the Chapter Say to your brethren Ammi my people and to your sisters Ruhamah shee that hath obtained mercy therefore And Cornelius à Lapide not understanding the cause of such a connection he would referre the beginning of this verse to the end of the seventh verse She shall say I will goe to my first husband for then it was better with mee then now therefore also I will allure her these two though learned men yet are Papists and therefore understand but little of the free rich grace
was good and the land that it was pleasant and he bowed his shoulders to bear became a servant unto tribuâ—e And when mens spirits are effeminate in regard of the civill state they quickly grow so in regard of their consciences and religion too Purity of religion in the Church cannot stand long with slavery admitted in the State We read Rev. 4. 7. of 4. Ages of the Church set out by four living-creatures the 3. living-creature the Text saith had the face of a man and that was to note the state of the Church in the time of reformation they began then to be of manly spirits to cast off that yoke of bondage that was before upon them to enquire after what liberty God had granted to them Not then like those we read of Isa 51. 23. that would bow down to such as would say to their soules Bow downe that we may goe over them This my brethren hath been the condition of many of us there hath bin that effeminateness of spirit in us that we have bowed down our necks yea our souls to those that would go over us yea as it is there in 51. Isa they made themselves the very street to them that went over them their very consciences were trampled upon by the foot of pride and all for the enjoyment of a little outward accomodation in their estates in their shops and in their trading Oh they must not venture these rather yeeld to any thing in the world And truly we were afraid not long since that God was calling us by the name of this daughter Loruhamah in regard of our effeminateness of spirit that the Lord was departing from our nation But blessed be God that now here hath begun to be a rising of spirit among us especially among our worthies in Parliament and their warmth vigour life hath put warmth vigour spirit and life into the whole Kingdome Now our Kingdom will never bow downe and submit their Consciences nor Estates nor liberties to that bondage and oppression that heretofore hath been No they had rather die honorably then live basely But why do I make such a disjunction dy honorably or live basely Had we spirits we might free our selves and posterity from living basely and we need not dye at all for the malignant party hath neither spirit to act nor power to prevail if we keep up our spirits and be strong in the Lord we are safe enough yet we shall not have our name Loruhamah but Ruhamah the Lord will have mercy upon us 1 King 14. 15. God threatens to smite Israel that they shall be as a reed shaken with the wind and then mark what followeth and then he would root them out of this good land which hee gave to their Fathers If this judgement be upon England that our spirits be shaken as a reed with the winde that wee bow and yeeld to any thing in a base way the next may justly follow that the Lord may root us out of this good Land As it was with Israel before their destruction they grew effeminate so it was with Judah too before theirs Isa 3. 3. when God intended judgment against them you may observe there that He took away the mighty man the man of war the prudent and the ancient the Captain the honourable man the Counseller men of truly noble spirits were taken away their Nobles became to be vile and sordid to yeeld to any humors and lusts then they were neer the ruine and ver 12. the Text saith women rule over them for women that have many spirits to rule is no judgment at all but for women of revengeful spirits to rule over a nation is a most fearful judgment But so much of the first that it is a daughter that is here born to Hosea What is this daughters name Call her name Loruhamah Non dilecta so some Non misericordiam consecuta so others both come to one either not beloved or one that hath not obtained mercy for Gods mercy proceedeth from his love I will no more have mercy I will add no more mercy Nothing that God had shewed abundance of mercy to Israel before but now he saith I will not adde any more I will shew no further mercy to them But I will utterly take them away Tollendo tollam so turned by some In taking them away I will take them away Levaho levando so others I will lift them up that I may cast them down so much the more dreadfully The old Latin hath it thus Obliviscendo obliviscor forgetting I will forget And this was upon a mistake of the Hebrew word because there is little difference in the Hebrew between the word that signifieth to to forget and that which signifieth to take away The 70. setting my selfe against them I will set my selfe against them Well the name of the child must bear this upon it that God will have no more mercy upon them Hence then first Sometimes the very children of families and in a kingdom do bear this impression upon them that God will have no mercy upon this family upon this kingdome One may my brethren read such an impression upon the children of many great families in this Kingdome when wee looke upon that horrible wickedness of the young ones that are coming up how different from their former religious Ancestors we may see with trembling hearts such an impression of wrath as if God had said I have done with this family I intend no further mercy to this family As sometimes when we see in a family gracious children gracious young gentlemen noble men we may see the impression of Gods mercy to that family Ruhaniah I intend mercy to it It was not long since that we might and we thought indeed wee did see such an impression upon the young ones of this kingdome the young ones in the City the yong ones in the chief families in the Country that we vvere afraid that Lornhamah to England was written upon them for oh the rudenes and wickednes of the young ones But blessed be God that we see it otherwise now now in regard of that graciousnesse that forwardnesse of so many young ones amongst us we may see written upon them Ruhamah to England mercy to England God hath taken away his Lo and writeth only Ruhamah mercy to you this great change God hath made For the great ground of the hope we have for mercy to England is the impression of God upon the young ones When God hath tender plants growing up in his Orchard certainly he will not break down the hedg or dig it up Secondly Call her name Loruhamah for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel There is a time when God will not have mercy upon a kingdome or upon a particular people Gather your seves together oh nation not worthy to be beloved before the decree come forth There is a
of my patience to be yours you shall not have my creatures to be yours you shall not have those fruites of my bounty to be yours No but I will not be yours I my selfe will not be yours This is the sorest threatning that posibly can be to a gracious heart It is a greater misery to lose God himself then to be deprived of whatsoever commeth from God And this indeed is one special difference between an hypocrite and a true gracious heart an hypocrite is satisfied with what cometh from God but a true gracious heart is satisfied with nothing but God himselfe though God lets out never so many fruits of his bounty and goodnesse to him yet he must have union with God himselfe or else he is unsatisfied It is a notable speech of Bernard Lord saith he As the good things that come from me please not thee without my selfe so the good things that come from thee please not me without thy selfe This is the expression of a gracious heart Let us tender up to God never so much never such duties with never so great strength except we tender up to God our selves they never please him So let God bestow never so many favours upon us except God give us himselfe they should never pleaseus I mean please us so as to satisfie us so as to quiet us if for our portion You know what God said to Abraham Fear not I am thy exceeding great reward But Lord what wilt thou give me seeing I goe childelesse What is all this to me so long as I have not the promise fulfilled that so I may come in Christ to enjoy thy selfe And Moses would not be contented though God told him his Angel should goe before them No saith hee Except thou goe with us thy selfe let us not depart hence It is the difference between the Strumpet and the loving wife the strumpet careth not so much for the person of her lover as for his gists for what she hath by him but the true lover cannot be satisfied with lovetokens but she must have the person himselfe So it is with a gracious heart It is very observable that of David in Psal 51. 9. Turne away thy angry face from my sins It seemes Gods face was angry and yet presently ver 11. Cast me not away a facie tua from thy face Gods face was an angry face yet David would not be cast away from this face of God Oh no rather let God be present with a gracious heart though he be angry though his anger continue yet let me have his countenance This is plainly gathered hence in that God saith not I will not give you these and these favours but I will not be your God that this is the sorest threatning that possibly can be to a gracious heart 5. This is the judgement for sin Gods not being their God It hence appeares that sin carryes along with it in it selfe its own punishment How is that Thus By sin we refuse to have God to be our God by it we depart from God we do not trust God nor love him nor fear him The very nature of sin hath this in it that it causeth a sinner to depart from God yea to reject God from being a God unto him and this is the punishment I will not be your God And this is the sorest punishment to a sinner that he shall not for ever have God to his God Lastly You are not my people and I will not be your God Hence learn this When any forsake God from being their God we should do as God doth reject them from being ours if they will not be Gods neither should they be ours will not such a man have acquaintance with God will he forsake him and his wayes then he shall not have our acquaintance we will forsake him How far we may withdraw from a Church that it shall not be ours we shal fully meet with all in the second Chap. somewhat will be said about it there Onely now thus much though it be true when a people forsake God we are to forsake them yet let them grow never so wicked our natural and civill relations cannot be broken because of their wickednesse but the relations of husband and wife father and childe master and servant must be acknowledged servants must be dutiful to their masters though never so wicked And the wife must be loving and dutiful to her husband though he be never so wicked a man But for any inward intimate familiarity with those not thus joyned in such Relations ought not to be if they reject God if they will not be Gods they should not be ours It is said Iob. 8 20. That God will not take the ungodly by the hand It should be true of us all wee should not take the ungodly by the hand Thus much for the name of this third childe Lo-ammi you are not my people and I will not be your God That which remaineth in the Chapter it is a promise of mercy both to Israel ver 10. and afterwards to Israel and Judah together ver 11. To Israel first and that is Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the Sea which cannot be measured or numbred c. And so he goeth on with wonderful gracious promises of mercy to Israel in future generations though for the present God had determined what to do with this Israel Here then we have first a promise of mercy to Israel in the middest of the sorest judgement that God threatneth he comes in with promises of mercy even unto Israel And Secondly this mercy to be in future generations And thirdly to consist in the multitudes that should be gathered to Israel These three things are observable in general First That there is such a gracious promise immediately after such a sore and dreadful threatning as this as indeed it is one of the most dreadful threatnings we have in all the Book of God yet here in the close of the Chapter we have as gracious a promise again as is in the whole Book of God From whence we may observe thus much That the Lord in Judgement remembreth Mercy It is a sore thing when God in mercy shall remember judgement but it is as comfortable when God in judgement remembers mercy When God threatneth most dreadfully yet he promiseth most graciously Wee should therefore when we most feare the threats of God yet looke up to the promises of God looke up to see when wrath is denounced in the most hideous and dreadfull way whether we cannot spie a Promise whether there be not yet a little cloud though but as big as a mans hand whether there be not yet a little crevis through which we may see whether God doth not break forth with a little light in a way of promise It is a usual thing when we are in prosperity to forget all threatnings and fo it is
and so terrible yet now behold the feete of him that bringeth good tydings that publisheth peace God abroad publisheth war yet he hath a messenger to publish life and peace to some Is it not so this day It is true the wrath of the Lord is kindled the wrath of the Lord burneth as an oven and it is hot but it is against the ungody but peace shall be upon Israel And let us sanctifie the name of God in this too for so it followes in this very Chap. of Nah. ver 15. Oh Iudah keepe thy solemne feasts performe thy vowes for the wicked shall no more passe through thee And because God revealeth such rich grace in the middest of judgement let this engage your hearts to the Lord for ever Yea a little further because it is an instraction of great use in these times and may be yet of further use in times we may live to see not onely when God threatneth judgements let us sanctifie Gods name in looking up to promises but when judgements are actually upon us Suppose we should live to have most fearful judgments of God upon us yet even then we must look up to promises and exercise our faith and have an eye to God in the way of his grace at that time this is harder then in threatnings You have an notable place for that in Esay 26. 8. In the way of thy judgements O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soule is to thy name Oh blessed be God my brethren the Lord calleth us to wait upon him in the wayes of mercy for the present It is true there was a time not long since that the Lord was in a way of judgement toward England and there were some of Gods people when he was in the wayes of his judgements amongst us yet would wait upon God and keepe his wayes though there were many because Gods judgements were abroad and they saw that they were like to suffer departed from God and declined his wayes Much cause of bitterness of spirit and of dread of humiliation have they that did so But others may have comfort to their soules that in the very wayes of Gods judgments they waited for him they can now with more comfort wait upon God when he is in the ways of his mercy But if God should ever come untous in the ways of his judgments let us learne even then to wait upon God keep his way And yet another Text that may seeme to be more notable than this for this purpose and that is Iere. 33. 24. Consider est thou not what this people have spoken saying the two families which the Lord hath chosen he hath even cast them off thus they have despised my people that they should be no more a nation Marke the low condition the people were in at this time Oh God hath cast them off they are despised contemptible not worthy to be accounted a nation This condition was very low but though they were brought low in a condition contemptible yet now God confirms his Covenant with them at this time For observe ver 25. Thus saith the Lord. If my Covenant be not with day night and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven earth then will I cast away the seed of Iacob ond David my servant As if God should say let them know that whatsoever their condition is now yet my love my mercy my faithfulness is toward them as sure as my covenant with day night and as the ordinances of heaven and earth An admirable Text to help not onely nations but particular persons when they are cast under contempt by wicked ungodly men yet at that time the Lord is most ready to confirm his covenant with them to be as sure as his covenant with day night and heaven earth This bringeth honour to God when at such times we can looke up to God and exercise our faith And indeed this is the glory and dignity and beauty of faith to exercise it then when Gods judgements are actually upon us But what promises are these They were not promises to any that then lived the promise that is here made was to be fulfilled in future Ages yet it is brought in by the Prophet as a comfort to the people of God living then in that time Hence this excellent note that nearly concerns us Gracious hearts are comforted with the promises of God made to the Church though not to be fulfilled in their dayes If the Church may prosper and receive mercies from God though I be dead and gone and rotten in the grave yet blessed be God When Jacob was to die saith he unto Joseph Behold I dye but God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers he will fulfill his promises to you though I am dead Our fore-fathers that generation of the Saints that lived a while since how comfortably would they have dyed if God before their death had revealed to them that within 3. or 4. or 7. yeares so much mercy should come to England as we now have seen in these dayes Yea how comfortably should any of us have died I appeal to any gracious heart here suppose God should have taken thee away but this time two yeares and he should have said thus to thee Go and be gathered to thy fathers in peace within these two years such and such things shall be done for England as we now live to see would not we willingly have dyed would it not have been comfort enough against the fear of death but to have had revealed to us what should have been done in after time to our posterity what mercy then is it now that it is not onely revealed to us but enjoyed by us That is the second Note But thirdly What was this promise This promise was that Israel should be a multitude that the number of them shall be as the sand of the sea shore VVe shall examine the excellency of the mercy of God in this promise by and by Onely for the present enquire we a little why God would expresse himselfe in this that his grace should be manifested in this to multiply them as the sand of the sea shore If we compare Scripture with Scripture we shall finde that God therefore promiseth this because he would thereby shew that he did remember his old promise to Abraham for that was the promise made to Abraham that God would multiply his seed as the starres of heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore and now God along time after commeth in with renewing this promise Hence we are to observe this Note That the Lord remembers his promises though made a long time since God is ever mindful of his Covenant as it is Psal 111. 5. When we have some new and fresh manifestations of Gods mercy our hearts rejoyce in it but the impression of it is
God where ever I went but now I do not know what danger and miseries I am subject unto daily what may befall me before night God only knows Before the Saints rejoyced with mee in my company and communion now every one is shy of me Before I was going on in the wayes of life now these wayes I am in God knows and my conscience tels me are wayes of death It was better with me then then it is now Now then put all these together as I make no question these thoughts are the thoughts of many Apostates if wee knew all that were in their hearts we should find such thoughts as these As the Prodigall when hee was feeding upon the husks he began to bethink himselfe What is not there food enough in my Fathers house every servant there hath food enough and here I am ready to starve I feed upon huskes when there is bread enough in my Fathers house So may many Apostates say Alas before I had sâ—eetnesse enough and was satisfied with those abundance of pleasures that were in the house of God in his Word and Ordinances now I feed upon husks and amongst swine Oh that it were with me as it was before As Job speaks in another case concerning his afflictions Iob 29. 3. Oh that it were with me as in moâ—eths past as in the dayes when God preserved me when this candle shined upon my head and when by his light I walked through darknesse Before I had some afflictions but I could walk through all afflictions by that light which I had from God Oh that it were with me now as it was then as in the dayes of my youth when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle when the Almighty was yet with me It may be said of many Apostates as Lam. 4. 8. They were once as polished Sapâ—irs but now they are become as blacke as a coale But â—h that you had hearts to say let me return let me returne because it was otherwise with mee heretofore then it is now Oh that this day there might an Angel meet thee as he met with Hagar when shee fled from Sarah the Angel sad to her Hagar Sarahs maid whence comest thou whether wilt thou goe So I say oh Apostate whence commest thou and whither wilt thou goe Marke Hagar Sarahs maid whence comest thou Dost thou come from Sarah from Abrahams family where God is worshipped where the Church of God is and whither goest thou canst thou be any where so well as there So I say to thee Thou who wert a forward professor before Whence comest thou Dost thou come from such Ordinances from such communion with the Saints What hast thou gotten by those base wayes Thou canst eate and drink and laugh a little and have some esteem with such as are carnall Oh whither wilt thou goe Oh that God would shew you this day whither you goe There followeth yet another Observation Seeing there is so much grief and shame in complaining of our apostatizing when ever God awakeneth us it should teach all that are not yet Apostates to take heed what they doe that they may never bring themselves into such a condition that they may not be forced to complaine Oh it was better before then it is now It is a note of Caution to you who are through Gods mercy in his way you are now well know when you are well and keep you well And you young ones who are beginning to give up your names to God take heed you do not decline from what now you doe that you doe not apostarize and fall off from God afterward lest this be your condition that you shall be brought to at best for this is at best thus to lament the change of your condition perhaps you shall goe on and God will never cause you to see your shame and folly till you be eternally undone but at best you must be brought to this shame and confusion of face to acknowledg how much better it was with you before then now how much better was it when I lived in such a family under such a Master in such a Towne Oh it was better then with me then it is now Oh the precious days that once I had when I was a young one those dayes are gone and whethâ—r ever they will come again God knows Yet further when the judgement passeth on Gods side that it was better before then now then the soul is in a hopefull way So long as the judgment holdeth for God and his wayes though thou beest an Apostate though perhaps thy heart be drawn aside from God and thy affections be unruly thou art not in a desperate condition there is hope of thee There are two sorts of Apostates There are some Apostates who though they are so through the unrulinesse of their affections and the strength of temptation yet they keep their judgements for Gods wayes and acknowledge Gods people to be best and his Ordinances to be best and themselves in the danger But now there are some Apostates who do so fall off from God and his wayes that they begin in their very judgements to thinke that those wayes they profest before were but fancies and that the people of God are but a company of humerous people and blesse themselves in their owne wayes and think that they are better now then they were before oh this is a hideous thing If thy judgement be once taken that thou thinkest the wayes of sinn to be better then those wayes of God that before thou professedst then Lord have mercy upon thee thou art a gone man wee doe not know that God will doe with thee but in the judgement of man thou art even a gone man I remember Latimer in a Sermon before King Edward hath this passage I have known saith he many Apostates but I never knew any more then one that proved a scorner and yet returned again Take heed therefore saith he of apostasie Though a man may fall off from God and possibly return but yet if he fall off so that his judgement is taken that he is become a scorner that is a wofull condition such a one scarce ever returneth Many such Apostates you have in England I would challenge you all to give me one example of any one that ever returned again that so fell I know many scorners are converted but they that have beene forward in professing and then fall off and prove scorners where have you any of them come in You have a notable place for this Levit. 13. 44. there you shall finde when the Priest shall come and see a man that hath got the leprosie in his head the Priest shall pronounce him utterly uncleane for the plague saith the Text is in the head You shall observe in all the Chapter when the Priest found uncleannesse in any other thing he was to pronounce it unclean but if the leprosie be in the head he shall pronounce the
the latter dayes shall bring his Saints unto yet then they shall remember with thankfulnesse what their poor unsetled condition once was Thus you have had a view of the chiefe of the Jewish Feasts which God threatens here shall cease There are onely these three Observations to be drawn from altogether First Even those things that are appointed by God himselfe if once they be abused God will not own them but then they are accounted ours rather then Gods her sabbaths why not my sabbaths why not Gods sabbaths God did appoint them but because they had abused them God would not own them her sabbaths and her solemn Feasts The Ordinances of God though never so good in themselves if you pollute them God rejects them they are your ordinances then and not Gods looke then that all ordinances be as God would have them Secondly It is a grievous and lamentable affliction upon any people for God to deprive them of his sabbaths and ordinances his ordinances are included in their solemne Feasts nay saith God you will goe on in your wickednesse and would put me off with your sabbaths and solemne meetings and with those things that were once my ordinances you will satisfie me with them though you continue in your wickedness no you shall be deprived of them you shall have no more sabbaths no more solemne Feast dayes it is a sad affliction for a people to have no more sabbaths How many of you neglect solemne meetings of Gods people time may come when God will rend these priviledges from you and then your conscience will grate upon you O the sabbaths that once we had O the solemn meetings that once we enjoyed but our hearts were vaine and slight we did not make use of them and now they are gone now perhaps thou art cast into a goale or into a dungeon and there thou keepest thy sabbaths thinkest upon thy solemne meetings O how unworthy is this land of sabbaths how did we set our selves to persecute those that kept sabbaths there was never any such a thing in any Christian nation other places though they are somewhat loose upon their sabbaths yet they never persecute them that will keep sabbath how justly might God have taken away our sabbaths let us acknowledge Gods free grace what reproach hath it been in England to assemble to heare Sermons how justly might God have taken away these solemne Assembles from us long before this let us pray that what ever judgement God sends upon us he will not take away our Sabbaths nor our solemne assemblies but that we may still enjoy those we have and enjoy them to better purpose then ever we have done 3. God hath no need of our services If God call upon us to worship him it is for our good not for any need he hath of what we doe What do I care saith God whether I have any Sabbaths kept or no I can provide for my glory what ever becomes of your duties I need them not I can be glorious without you But these threats are but to take away things that are spirituall carnall hearts thinke if they may live and prosper in the world what care they for Sabbaths and for solemn meetings Tell them of taking away Ordinances tell them of truth of Gods worship what is that to them Let us have our peace our trading and our outward blessings and truth will follow O no a gracious heart will rather reason thus O Lord let us have thy Ordinances let us have thy Gospel and then for our Vines and Fig-trees our tradings and our outward blessings we will leave them to thy dispose if thou will give us thy Sabbaths and thy Ordinances we will trust thee for our Vines and for our Fig-trees But if the Lord be so angry to deny us his Ordinances how can we ever thinke that he will be so mercifull to us to continue our peace or our civill liberties No sure if Truth be gone Vines and Fig-trees will not stay long The next words therefore are I will destroy her Vines and her Fig-trees The Lord may suffer those places that never had Sabbaths and Ordinances to prosper in their Civill â—eace a long time but where these have and the wrath of God be so incensed as to take away these it cannot be expected that outward peace and plenty can hold long there First seeke the kingdom of heaven saith Christ and all these things shall be added unto you No say they let us first seeke the kingdome of earth and the things of heaven will be added to us which shewes the sleightnesse of their account of heavenly things As the paper and the thred in a shop is given in to the commodity it is added if a man bargaine for the paper and thred and think the commodity will be given in what a folly were it Many men have their thoughts altogether upon the things of this life and they think the Gospel will be given into the bargaine as if they have peace they shall no question have truth as if the Gospel were the paper and thred and the things of the world were the commodities It is your wisdome if you would enjoy outward peace let your hearts be for Ordinances cry to God for Ordinances and then God will take care you shall sit under your Vines and under your Fig-trees peace The Eleventh Lecture HOSEA 2. 12. 13. And I will destroy her Vines and her Fig-trees whereof shee hath said These are my rewards that my lovers have given me and I will make them a forrest and the beasts of the field shall eate them And I will visit upon her the dayes of Baalim wherein she burnt incense to them and she decked her selfe with her eare-rings and her jewels and she went after her lovers and forgat me saith the Lord. GODS threatning Israel in taking away spirituall mercies their Sabbaths and Ordinances their solemne Feasts you have in the former verse but because they might not be much sensible of such a judgement to be deprived of Sabbaths and solemnities of worship would not be so grievous to many but the destroying of the fruit of the ground the spoiling of their land the losse of those things wherein their riches and outward comforts lay would be more grievous therefore God joynes this threat with the former And I will destroy her Vines and Fig-trees In these two Vines and Fig-trees there is a Synecdoche by these are meant all her outward prosperity I will not lop their Vines I will not cut downe some branches of their Fig-trees only but destroy them If God stayes long before a judgement comes hee comes fearfully indeed he comes with destroying judgments then he strikes at the very rooâ—e of all a peoples prosperity and leaves them hopelesse of ever recoveriug themselves It concerns us to humble our selves under Gods hand when he doth but cut off some branches of our vines and fig-trees of our outward
power going along with them so lately bringing them over Jordan so wonderfully and given them Jericho so miraculously yet now at the losse of 36. men their hearts begin even to faile Ioshua falls with his face upon the earth and Josephus in his hystory of the Jewish Antiquities sets down Ioshuahs prayer at large these are some expressions Beyond all expectation having received an overthrow being terrified by this accident and suspitious of thy promises to Moses we both abstaine from war and after so many enterprises we cannot hope for any successfull proceedings by thy mercy relieve our present sorrow and take from us the thought of despaire wherein we are too farre plunged Now God comes to him and askes him Why he lay upon his face and bad him get him up for Israel had sinned in the accursed thing upon search made Achan was found out whereupon Joshua tells him that he had troubled the Hoast of Israel and God would trouble him upon which they stoned him and from thence it was called the valley of Achor vers 26. that is Vaâ—â—is tribulation is the valley of trouble The third thing is the principall why this valley is called a doore of hope Herein two things First how it was a doore of hope to Israel then when they first came into Canaan Secondly how it is promised to be a doore of hope to repenting Israel in after-times For the first It was a doore of hope to them in two respects First because it was the first place wherein they tooke the possession of Canaan when they began to have outward means of substance to eate of the corne of the land all the while they were in the wilderness although God provided wonderfully for them by sending them Manna from Heaven yet because they had no way of substance by ordinary means they always feared lest they should want upon any strait they were brought into their hearts began to sinke Now in this valley God gives them outward means this raises hope in them that their danger was over and that they should do well enough This is our nature when ordinary means fayle our hearts fayle yea though in regard of Gods extraordinary workings we have never so many gracious encouragements and when God grants means againe then we hope Secondly God made their great trouble there a means of much good unto them for by that they were brought to purge their Campe they learned to feare the Lord and were prepared more then before for so great a mercy as the further possession of that good land The Septuagint instead of those words a doore of hope have these to open their understanding for there indeed they learned the dreadfulnesse of God who for one mans sin was so sorely displeased there they understood to purpose that the God that was amongst them was a holy God and that he would have them to be a holy people But how should this valley of Achor be a doone of hope to Israel in after times First the Jews think that Israel shall return into their own country againe yea and the same way they shall come again into Canaan by that valley which shall be a door of hope to them Secondly but rather by way of Analogy as God turned this valley of trouble to much good unto them so he would turn all the sore afflictions of Israel in after dayes to their great advantage grievous afflictions should make way for glorious mercies Thirdly But especially thus in this expression God followes the Allegory of marriage now it was the custome of the Jewes in their marriages that the Husband gave his Spouse according to his quality as a dowry some peece of ground rich as he was able and this he gave as a pledge of his love to her to assure her that whatsoever was his she should have the benefit of it so saith the Lord although you have gone a whoring from me and may justly expect that I should for ever reject you yet I will marry you to my selfe and I will fully perform all marriage rights for the expression of my love towards you to the uttermost you shall know that you are marryed to a Husband who is rich I will give you a rich and plentifull dovvry and this but as a token and pledg of further love mercy riches that you shall enjoy by me it shall be that valley of Achor that rich delightfull fruitfull valley By this he means he would bestow some speciall choise mercy upon them at his first taking them into his favour again and that should be a pledg of and making way to much more mercy that he intended for them a doore of hope to let in greater things as the first fruits of all those glorious things that he had treasured up for them From this valley of Achor as it concerned Israel before First Sometimes when God gives men their hearts desires when they think themselves happy as if all trouble were past then he comes in upon them with great and sore afflictions Secondly although God hath been humbling mens hearts with sore and long afflictions yet just before he bestows great mercies he afflicts againe to humble and break their hearts yet more Thirdly sin will make the pleasantest place in the world a place of trouble Fourthly the afflictions of the Saints do not only go before mercies but are doors of hope to let in to mercies means to further the way for mercies God commands light to shine not only after darknesse but out of darkness Josephs prison Davids persecution Daniels den made way for glorious mercy God had in store for them that which once The mistocles said to his children and friends the Saints may much more say to theirs I had beene undone if I had not been undone had it not been for such a grieyous affliction I had never come to the enjoyment of such a mercy Hence we must learn not only to be patient in tribulation but joyfull But the especiall thing intended in this expression is this When God is reconciled to his people then present mercies are doors of hope to let in future mercies the Saints may look upon all mercies received as in-lets to further mercies to be received Every mercy a door to another mercy and all mercies here put together are a door to eternall mercy When Rachel had a sonne she called his name Joseph Gen. 30. 24. saying The Lord shall add to me another sonn Every mercy the Saints have may well be called Ioseph it brings assurance of mercy to be added this is the high priviledge of the Saints every mercy that a wicked man hath he may look upon as his utmost as his all he may write a ne plus ultra upon it one misery one judgment upon a wicked man makes way toanother but not one mercy howsoever God in his bounty may lengthen out mercies to him
are under condemnation for if the least sin be not pardoned there is condemnation but this cannot be I do not say the sin is pardoned before it is comitted for that is a harsh improper speech for when we speake of pardoning sin we speak of a work applyed to the creature not of that which is in God a pardon is laid up to be applyed by God when ever the sin is commited so that there shal be no instant of time wherein the sinner is unpardoned so under condemnation Then surely he can never fall off from Christ for what doth endanger the falling off from Christ but commission of sin Christ hath as well merited at the hand of God pardon for any sin that is to come as he hath merited pardon for sin past do not say this opens a gap to licentiousnesse then we need not care No the grace of Christ hath no such malignity in it in saying thus thou speakest against thy life The second soul-staying argument for perseverance is that perseverance is a spiritual mercy purchased by Christ as well as any grace Ephes 1. 3. Blessed be God who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ Now you will say Faith is a blessing and Humility is a blessing and Joy is a blessing we have in Christ why is not Perseverance a blessing a spirituall blessing too Christ hath as truely and as really layd down his bloud to purchase the perseverance as to purchase thy pardon as to purchase any thing he hath purchased for thee That which Christ hath laid down his blood to purchase surely must be had the purchase of Christs blood shall not be frustrate Is there any thing thou hast by vertue that purchase Thou mayest be as sure of perseverance for Chrst hath laid down his blood to purchase that also Christian then satisfie thy soul in this God gives the comforts in this world but he gives them not for ever but when he betrotheth thee unto his Son he betrotheth thee for ever Perhaps the Lord in mercy hath made thy life here in this thy pilgrimage very comfortable in giving thee a comfortable meet yoke-fellow in this thy betrothing thou art happy but this happinesse is not for ever thou canst looke upon thy yoke-fellow as a mercy of God unto thee that makes thy pilgrimage sweet but there must be a dissolution between thee and her but thy union with thy Husband Christ is for ever there shall never be dissolution of that Perhaps some of you have lost comfortable yoke-fellowes death hath come and snapt asunder the union between you and you complain never woman lost such a husband never man lost such a wife as I have if you be godly you have a husband that you shall never lose it is he that will fill up relations he saith Thy maker is thy husband Esay 54. 5. And further this is mutuall I will betroth thee unto me for ever I will give thee a heart that thou shalt cleave unto me for ever This will afford unto us another usefull meditation viz. When the Lord chooseth any soule to himselfe as he setteth his own heart for ever upon thar soul so he gives unto that soul a principle of grace to cleave unto him for ever too to give up himselfe unto him in an everlasting covenant Psal 119. 112. I have inclyned my heart to performe thy statutes alwayes Is not that enough No he must have another word to expresse the thing alwayes even to the end Davids heart was much taken with the statutes of God O Lord through thy mercy my heart is inclined to keep thy staâ—utes yea and it is so alwayes yea and it shall be unto the end It is a kinde of pleonasme or rather the expression of the fulnesse of his heart in his resolutions never to depart from God But what are those riches Christ bestoweth upon his people whom he betrotheth to himself the bracelets and ornaments hee putteth upon their necks and upon their hands are these I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement in loving kindnesse and in mercies I will ever betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse aud thou shalt know the Lord. There is much of the Gospel in this In righteousnesse This according to some is understood as opposed to dissimulation Sine fuco without any dissembling in this he assures his people that they shall finde his dealings with them altogether right and equall and so I expect from you and will cause it in you that in your dealings towards me you be right and equall there shall be nothing feigned betwixt us all shall be plain right and just You know there is often a great deale of dissimulation in marriages great prâ—ffers and promises and overtures of what one should enjoy in the other and when they meet not with what they expect it causes great dissention between them and makes their lives exceeding uncomfortable But now saith God there shall be no dissimulation betwixt you and me I will deale with you in the plainnesse of my heart and you shall deale with mee in the plainnesse of your hearts So the word righteousnesse is taken in Scripture Isa 48. 1. They make mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousnesse one expounds the other I will receive you againe though you have departed from me in the very integrity of my soule doe not feare me doe not suspect me doe not thinke though he make a shew of love unto mee and of great favour yet hee intendeth to cast mee off at last These are the jealous thoughts of many troubled consciences Indeed I heare of mercy and God is working toward me as if he intended mercy to me but I am afraid he will cast me off in the conclusion No saith God do not feare do not suspect me this mercy I offer is bona fide it is in the very truth of my heart therefore let there not be such suspitious thoughts betwixt you and me you may be sure that what is fit and right for you to have from such a husband as I am that doth belong to such a Spouse as I professe to take you to be you shall certainly have it you need not be afraid for you shall have plain and upright dealing with me This I take to bee one part though not all of the meaning of the holy Ghost here I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse that love I professe to you I do not do it to mock you saith God but I do it in truth From whence the notes which are very usefull may be First guilty hearts are full of suspitions of Gods reall meaning in all his expressions of love and mercy They judge God by themselves As they first slight sinne because they judg of God by themselves they see not such a dreadful evill in sinne they think God sees it not so after they have sinned they judge of
are a dishonor unto him before Men and Angels what you the Spouse of Christ where is this ornament this bracelet of righteousnesse then whosoever Christ maryeth he putteth upon them this Jewel of righteousnesse Hee blasphems Religion which he seems to honour sayes Cyprian who makes not good in his life what he professes The Eighteenth Lecture HOSEA 2. 19. And in judgement and in loving kindnesse and in mercies IN Judgement Some Interpreters we finde make this and righteousnesse to be all one according to that Psal 33. 6. He loveth righteousnesse and judgement and so passe it over but we must not do so for wee shall finde much of Gods minde in this Others take judgement as divers times it is taken in Scripture for sanctification so they would make this promise sutable to that of Christ John 16. 10. 11. I will send the Comforter and he shall convince the world of sin of righteousnesse and of judgement that righteousnesse there is the same with that here judgement there by many Interpreters is understood of sanctification because the Prince of this world is judged the power of Satan is already broken he is already cast out of your hearts And they thinke to strengthen that by that place in Mat. 12. 20. He will not quench the smoaking flaxe nor breake the bruised reed till he send forth judgement unto victory that is untill he perfect the work of sanctification that it shall overcome corruption This text in Matthew is quoted out of Esay 42. 3. but there we have the words somewhat different there it is He shall bring forth judgement unto truth Now if that should be the meaning that by judgement is meant sanctification then we may learne an excellent note from the comparing these two Texts together that it is all one to bring judgement sanctification unto truth and to bring it unto victory when it is in truth it will certainly be in victory But we shall a little more examine this interpretation of Judgement presently for my part I do not think that it is meant either in this Text or in any of the Texts named Thirdly I finde others make this in judgement to be Gods judgement against the adversaries of the Church I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse I will deale with you in a way of righteousnesse and for your adversaries I will deale with them in a way of judgement you shall have judgement against them So I finde Luther carries it and he saith that judgement here is the second pearle of the Husbands ring he gives to his Spouse God promiseth to exercise judgement vengeance against the adversaries of the Church and so he applyeth it unto those times wherein he lived in Germany saith he for these many years wicked Magistrates have oppressed the Church and prophane Doctors have corrupted the doctrine of it but Germany hath seene God judging his adversaries And if we should understand it in this sense we have a sutable place Esay 54. 5. where God telleth his Church that He that is her maker is her husband even the Lord of hosts and her Redeemer the God of the whole earth the word there is Vindex the avenger he that will avenge thee of thine enemies is the God of the whole earth he is thy husband This might afford a sweet meditation that the Lord will defend his Church from the rage of adversaries as the husband will defend his Spouse being betrothed unto her the Lord certainly will take a valuable consideration at the hands of the adversaries who wrong his Church But this I thinke not to be the scope of the place Another is In Judgement Though things be now out of order all things seeme to be in confusion yet the time is coming when all things shal be ordered in the Church according to equity and right These two I thinke are meant in the former Texts I will convince the world of judgement that is the world shall be convinced that Christ hath all judgement committed unto him and he shews it in this that the Prince of this world is judged so that place before in Matthew I will cause judgment to returne unto victory that is though the adversaries of the Church be many yet he will cause them all to be vanquished judgement shal conquer over them all though there be much opposition and confusion in the Church yet I will bring all things in the Church to be ordered composed in a right way according unto equity That place likewise Esay 4. 4. where the Lord saith he will purge his Church by the spirit of judgeâ—ent and by the spirit of burning I know some carry it as if it were meant of the spirit of sanctification that is as fire to consume lusts but rather thus whereas there were such as did oppresse the Church by false judgement the Lord would cleanse the Church from wrong and oppression by giving a spirit of judgement unto those that should be the Officers of it and consuming the adversaries But yet I thinke we have not the full scope of this place I rather would pitch upon this as that which is more principally intended though the other may be in some degree included viz. I will betroth thee unto me in judgment that is there shall be a good reason for what I doe that which I will now do in betrothing thee unto my selfe shall not be out of rashnesse it shal not be done unadvisedly but with understanding with good deliberation I know what I do in it and I know what glory I shall have by it I will do it in judgement So I finde the word judgement taken in scripture Jer. 4. 2. Thou shalt sweare in truth in judgement and in righteousnesse In judgement that is when you sweare know it is a worship of God and you must doe it in judgement you must not only sweare in truth that is sweare to that which is true and in righteousnesse that is not to the wrong or prejudice of your neighbour for you may sinne in swearing though you sweare in truth if you have an intent to wrong any but thirdly you must sweare in judgment too you must understand what you doe that is when you take an oath you must know that it is not as the Ex Officio was to sweare to answer to every thing that shall be asked you but you must understand beforehand what you are to sweare to and so sweare out of judgement So saith God I will betroth thee unto me in judgement that is I have considered what I am to doe in this thing and I doe it out of judgement And for your parts when you shal come and close with me in this blessed conjugall union and communion you shall doe it out of jndgement too I will betroth you in judgement so as to make it appeare before the world that I had good reason so to do and you shall likewise close with me as you shall be able
which is said 2 King 14. 27. that before this time God had not so threatned Israel for the Text saith The Lord said not before this time that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven but hee saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the sonne of Joash Mark there is given the reason why the Lord saved them by the hand of Jeroboam because he had not yet said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven that is the Lord never before sent any of his Prophets thus plainly and fully to declare his intention to them for the utter blotting out th name of Israel upon their going on in their sins So that it is clear that Hosea was the first that was sent about this message And certainly it was so much the harder he being the first of all For they might have said why do you come with these new things and in so great severity who did ever so before you It was a hard task For we know if a Minister come with any thing that seems to be new if he presents any truth to you that hath but a shew of Novelty that you heard not before though it be never so good aud comfortable he shall find little encouragement Nay if hee doe but come in a new way as this very exercise because it is like to goe on in a way that yet hath been disused it will meet with many discouragements What then will the threatnings of hard things of judgments and destruction do when they come with novelty Surely Hosea had a hard taske of this and yet he went on faithfully with it Thus much for the time wherein Hosea prophesied Now to make a little entrance into the prophesie The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea Some from these words doe gather that Hosea was the first Prophet that ever was Though it is true we cannot gather it directly from hence yet it is apparent that notwithstanding Isaiah be set first yet Hosea was before him for if you look into the 1 Isa you shall find that his beginning was in the dayes of Vzziah Now Hosea was in the dayes of Jeroboam and Jeroboam was before Vzziah And this may be one reason why though I intend the whole propheticall books yet I rather pitch upon Hosea first because indeed he was the first Prophet it is cleare you see from the Scripture though we cannot gather it from these words in this second verse But yet thus much we may gather from these words The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea that this was the beginning of his prophesie And what was this beginning what did God set him about first Mark presently the next words he must take him a wife of whoredomes and children of whoredomos and so declare to the people of Israel that they had committed great whoredome departing from the Lord. The most grievous charge and most severe and terrible expression of Gods wrath against that people that you meet with in all the book of God This is the work Hosea must doe and Hosea was very young when first he went about it Now as I told you before God sometimes calls young ones to great services but to call a young man to this service to goe to this people with such a message now in the midst of all their pride and flourish to contest with them thus to tel them that they are children of whoredomes and no longer the people of God for what for a young man to do this Why they might have said if this came from the mouth of some old ancient Prophet reverent for his years and experience it had been somewhat but to come from a green head for an upstart to upbâ—aid us with such vile things Thus men grown old and sodden in their sins are ready to reason But let us know my brethren if God send any message unto us though by young ones he expects your entertainment of it When God would destroy Elies house he sends the message by young Samuel but Eli did not reason thus what this young boy come to speak thus malapartly to me No he stoops to it Good is the word of the Lord saith he Againe Hosea must tell them that they are children of whoredomes and not the people of God What for a Minister when he comes first among a people to begin so harshly and severely and ruggedly is it not better to comply with the people to come with gentle and â—aire means to seek to win them with love if you begin with harsh truths surely you will make them fly off presently Thus many do reason Now I beseech you take heed to your own hearts in reasoning thus Many have done so and have sought to comply with people so long till they have complyed away all their faithfulnesse and conscience and vigour that before they had When they come to great men rich men men in place and emmency they will comply with such but let them have any of Gods people in their Parish that are of a mean rank and poor they comply little enough with them but are harsh and bitter to them and regard not the tendernesse of their consciences at all It is true If Ministers have the testimony of their own consciences that they would take no other way but what shall be for the greatest profit of their people maintaining such a disposition as to be willing to undergoe any sufferings that God shall call them unto they may say first when they come to a house Peace be to this house especially when they come to a place that hath not had the means before But if it be to a people that goe directly against the light of their consciences a superstitious people that cannot but be convinced and have had many evidences that it is against the mind of God and yet only for their owne base ends will goe on and not amend in such a case as this wee may come with harshnesse at the very first So Paul gives a charge to Titus in dealing with the Cretians who were evill beasts and slow bellies that he should rebuke them sharpely so wee translate it the word in the Originall is cuttingly The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea The particle which is translated by signifyeth in as well as by it is not El but Beth and so it is read by some The word of the Lord came in Hosea This expression notes the inward and intimate converse that the Lord had with the spirit of Hosea in the work of the Ministry The Lord spake first in Hosea and then he speaks out unto the people Some such expression we have concerning Paul Gal. 1. 16. That Christ may be revealed in me not onely to me but in me The more inwardly God speaks and converseth with the hearts of his Ministers the more inwardly and efficaciously they are able to speak to the people This
is the deep preaching when it is from the heart And so Augustine sayes of Hosea because that which he spake was so deep it wrought more strongly Hoseas Prophesie must needs be deep for God spake in him before he spake out to the people We say that which commeth from the heart will go to the heart Surely that which commeth from the voyce of God in the heart will goe beyond the ears to the hearts of people And blessed are the people that have such Ministers that shal speak nothing to them but what hath first been spoken by God in them Againe in this second verse he comes twice with the same expression The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea and againe The Lord said to Hosea and yet in the beginning of the first verse The word of the Lord came to Hosea Why all this three times All this upon good reason for Hosea was to come with a terrible message to the people and to reprehend them with much sharpnesse to tell them that they were the children of whoredomes and that they had departed from the Lord and he would have no more mercy upon them but would utterly take them away He had need therefore have an expresse command for what he did and to have much evidence of the Spirit that what he said was from God and not any thing of his owne spirit When a Minister of God shall come and reprehend a people severely for their sins and threaten Gods judgement let him then if ever look to it that he hath a good ground for what he saith that what he shall deliver may be nothing but the word of God in him the sheer word of God without any mixture of his owne It is an ordinary thing in Ministers in reprehending of sinne and denouncing of threatnings to mingle much of their own spirit and wrath But if at any time Ministers should take heed of mixing their own wrath then especially when they are to denounce Gods wrath then they should bring nothing but the word of the Lord for it being a hard message the spirits of men will rise up against it if they once see the spirit of the Minister in it they will be ready to say as the devill in the possessed man Iesus I know Paul I know but who are you So they the word of the Lord I know but what are you here is your own passion your own humour c. O let not any think to oppose sin with sin the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God You that are Ministers would you have a sentence I wil give you one and I have done When you are called to reveale Gods wrath conceals your owne The Second Lecture Hosea 1. the middle of the second verse and so on Go take unto thee a wife of whoredomes and children of whoredomes for the land hath committed great whoredome departing from the Lord. 3. So he went and tooke Gomer the daughter of Diblaim which conceived and bare him a son 4. And the Lord said unto him Call his name Iezreel for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu will cease the Kingdome of the house of Israel 5. And it shall come to passe in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Iesreel THE Preface to the work and to the whole prophesie you heard the last time The scope of the prophesie is the very same that the scope of this Chapter is to declare first The evill condition that Israel the ten Tribes were in in regard of their sins and punishment that was to be executed for their sins Secondly Gracious promises of mercy to a remnant to Iudah in the 7. ver and to Judah Israel both from the 10. ver to the end of the Chapter First God beginneth with conviction to shew them their sin and the dreadfulnesse of it Conviction should goe before correction You must not presently fly in the faces of those that are under you when they crosse you first instruct them and then correct them do as God did here God would first convince them of the greatnesse of their sinnes not by verball but by reall expressions Those things that come but to the eare they doe more slowly stirre and work upon the heart but things that are presented before the eye are more operative and therefore Hosea must not tell them onely that they had committed whoredome but must tell them in this way he must goe and take a wife of whoredomes and beget children of whoredomes In the very threshold in the entrance of the prophesie you see we meete with a difficulty a great difficulty First a command from God from the holy God unto a Prophet a holy Prophet to goe and take a wife of whoredomes not an ordinary whore but a most prostitute whore for so the word signifieth of whoredomes as in the Scripture phrase a man of bloods is a man that hath shed much blood and a man of sorrowes is a man that hath been exercised with many sorrows and so a wife of whoredomes is one that hath committed notorious whoredomes vile whoredomes Yet such a wife must the Prophet take to himselfe and his children must be children of whoredomes too How can this be S. Austin who had been a Manichee having to deale much with Macichees met with this object on from one Faustas a Manichee against the Old Testament for they denyed it saith Faustas that Old Testament of yours Moses and the Prophets is that of God doe you not finde there a command to take a wife of whoredomes and can this be from God Austin answereth it thus Though shee had been a prostitute whore before yet she might be reclaymed and so shee might be called a wife of whoredomes from that whoredome that heretofore she was guilty of and now reclaymed And so he thinketh that it was a reality indeed that Hosea did take to himselfe a wife of whoredomes and think to salve it up thus Theodoret is somewhat angry with those that thinke it was not really done but done only in away of vision I find many of our later men that are of the same minde that thinke there was a reality in it that God did command Hosea to take to himselfe a wife of whoredoms and that he did take such a wise one that was a notorious harlot so Arius Montanus Piscator Pareus Tarnovius and others they go that way and they thinke to salve it only thus that it is a command of God and therefore though it had not been lawfull for Hosea to have done it yet God commanding it he might do it As they instance in other cases that seeme to be somewhat of the like nature as the children of Israels robbing the Egyptians Abrahams killing his sonne and the like If this should be so as many
between the name Israel and Jezreel but there is a great deale of difference in the signification for Israel is one that prevaileth with God the strength of the Lord Jezreel is one that is scattered by the Lord. Israel hath lost the honour of his name Many out-live the honour of their names and reputations These tenne Tribes are no more worthy to be called by the name of Israel their famous Progenitor but now Jezreel the scattered of the Lord. Thirdly Jezreel to shew the way that God intended to bring judgement upon these ten Tribes And what was it The way should be by scattering God would scatter them It is a speciall way of Gods bringing judgement upon a Kingdome by scattering of them We read that when Micaiah saw the destruction of Ahab and his people he had this vision I saw saith he 1 King 22. 17. all Israel scattered one from another as sheep that have no shepheard There is a two-fold scattering A scattering among our selves in wayes of division and a scattering by the Enemy one from another to flie for our lives The one part of this judgement the Lord be mercifull to us is upon us already and in this sense we may be called Jezreel Oh how is our Kingdome divided how is it scatted The Lord keepe us from the other scattering that wee be not scattered one from another by being forced to flye for our lives before the Enemy It is just with God that if wee scatter our felves sinfully by way of division that God should scatter us in his wrath to our destruction by giving us up to our Enemies If we love scattering if we delight in division we may soon have scattering enough there may soon be divisions far enough one from another 4. Call his name Jezreel to note that the Lord would scatter them even in that very place where they did most glory as they did in the valley and city of Jezreel they did much glory in that place as you shall hear afterward But God would scatter them even in that place in which they did so much boast And lastly Jezreel because the Lord would hereby shew that he would turne these conceits and apprehensions that they might have of themselves quite the contrary way As thus Jezreel it signifieth indeed scattered of the Lord but it signifieth also the seed of the Lord or sowen of the Lord and so the Jewes were ready to take the name Jezreel and would be content to own it because it signified the seed of God And hence it commeth to signifie scattered too because that seed is to be scattered when it is sown And hence it was that they might glory so much in that name Oh! they were the seed of the Lord in an abiding condition as being sowen by the hand of God himselfe No saith God you are mistaken I doe not call you Jezreel upon any such tearms because you are sowen of mee but quite the other way because you shall be scattered and come to be destroyed by me It is the usuall way of God to turne those things which men take as arguments for their comfort to their confusion Haman who made such an interpretation of the action of Esters inviting him to the banquet alone with the King the truth is the right interpretation of it had been that it was to his destruction and so here whereas they might make such an interpretation of Iezreel as that they were the seed the sowen of the Lord the true interpretation is that they are the scattered of the Lord. All these five reasons you have either in the nearenesse of the name Israel with Iezreel or otherwise in the words that follow after For yet a little while I will avenge the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu and cause to cease the Kingdome of the house of Israel Here now wee come to that which is the maine in this Scripture And these foure questions are of great use and will tend much to edification 1. What is this blood of Iezreel that God will avenge 2. Why God will avenge the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu 3. Why is it called the house of Iehu and Iehu alone without the addition of the name King as it is usuall in others as Hezekiah King of Iudah and such a one King of Israel but here only the house of Iehu 4. What is this little while God speaks of yet a little while The words are read I suppose ordinarily and past over as if there were little in them but you shall finde that there is much of the minde of God held out to us in them For the first then What was the blood of Jezreel that here God threatneth 〈◊〉 You may read the History of it in 2 King Chap. 9 10 11. for the way of opening the Prophets is to compare them with the Scriptures that went before read those Chapters and you shall find what this blood was It was the bloud of the house of Ahab the bloud of Iezabel the bloud of the 70. sons of Ahab whose heads the Elders of Iesreel sent to Iehu in baskets This was the bloud that was shed here in this place which God saith he will aveuge God will certainly avenge bloud and if God will avenge the bloud of Ahab he will surely avenge the bloud of Abel if the bloud of Iesabel then surely the bloud of Sarah if the bloud of Idolaters then the bloud of his Saints Oh what vengeance then doth hang over that Antichrist for all the bloud of the Saints that hath been spilt by him the scarlet whore hath dyed her selfe with this bloud yea and vengeance will come for that bloud that hath been shed of our brethrens in Ireland upon any whosoever have been instrumentals in it great or small Certainely the righteous God will not suffer that wicked and horrid work to goe unavenged even here upon the earth Let us wait a while and we may live to see that time whâ—rein 〈◊〉 shall not only be said by the voice of faith but by the voyce of sense itselfe Verily there is a God that judgeth the earth But why will God avenge the blood of Iesreel upon the house of Iehu Indeed this to an outward view at first is one of the strangest things wee have in all the book of God If you compare this place here in Hosea with other Scriptures you shall find that it is a strange thing that ever it should be said that the Lord would avenge the blood of Iesreel upon the house of Iehu For in 2 King 9. 7. you shall finde that Iehu was anointed by the Lord on purpose for that action to shedd that bloud and he had a command from God he was bidden to goe and shed it and the holy oyle was poured upon him for that end that he might shed that bloud yet now this bloud must be avenged and avenged upon the house
Gods patience when their sins are grosse and vile afterwards upon some lesser sins they are utterly undone VVhat is the name of his son The name of this son is Lo-ammi and the word signifieth as it is interpreted here by God himselfe You are not my people and I will not be your God The people to whom Hosea prophesied they might have objected against him thus What Hosea doe you say that God will not have any more mercy upon us what will not God have mercy upon his own people Is not God our God What doe you threaten such-things as these are The Prophet answers It is true God hath been your God and you have been his people but there is an end of those dayes God now degradeth you from those glorious priviledges that formerly you had he willowne you no more to be his and you shall have no further right to own him to be yours From whence First this A people that have been once a people dear to God may be so rejected as never to become a people of God more For so these did not though afterwards wee shall bear of the promise for others in other Ages God hath no need of men God is able to raise up a people what wayes he pleases even from the very stones in the street to raise up children unto Abraham Though Rome may boast that they have been a glorious Church True there hath been heretofore a glorious Church in Rome what then Those that were his people are now no more his people VVe shall meet further with this in the next Chapter Only in this Note observe but this thing The great difference betweene the estate of a Christian in communion with Christ by grace and a Church estate Men and women may loose their Church estate and that for ever but their estate in communion with Jesus Christ by grace they can never lose that And this is a great difference and affordeth abundance of comfort True our Church state I mean in regard of an instituted Church in Congregations it is a great priviledge a great mercy but our Communion with Jesus Christ is a higher priviledge and that priviledge gan never be lost we may be cut off from the one but never cut off from the other Secondly yet it is a most heavy judgemenâ— for any to have been heretofore the people of God now to be unpeopled for God to be no more theirs and for them to be no more the Lords A heavy judgement for the Lord to say Well I will be no more a God to you whatsoever I am to others no more yours in my goodnesse in my mercy in my power or whatsoever I am in my selfe The being cast off from God First takes us off from that high honour that was before upon a people for so in Esay 4. 4. Since thou wast precious in my sight thou host beene honourable The people of God gathered together in Church Communion certainly are in an honourable condition when they are dispeopled they are cast off from this their priviledge from their honour Secondly They have not the presence of God with them as before not the care of God towards them nor the protection of God over them not the delight of God in them nor the communication of God to them What should I speake of all these particulars But among other priviledges they want this namely that great priviledge of pleading with God for mercy upon this relation which was the usuall way of the Prophets to pleade with God because they were the people of God So Esay 64. 9. Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever upon what ground Behold see we beseech thee we are all thy people This is a good Argument Againe Jer. 14. 9. Why doest thou stand as a man astonished amongst us as a mighty man that cannot save Yet thou O Lord art in the middest of us and we are called by thy name leave us not This Text is ours this day and well may we say O Lord why doest thou stand as a man astonished Oh yet if we can but take up the second part and say We are called by thy name we may make more comfortable use of the former Why doest thou stand as a man astonished How doth a man astonished stand He stands still in a place as if he knew not which way to goe he is in a kinde of destraction first he goes one way and by and by he returns again The Lord we know knoweth his purpose from eternity but the Scriptures are pleased to expresse Gods wayes towards us in the similitude Hath not God stood amongst us as a man astonished God hath beene in a way of mercy and then stood still and then gone forward a little and afterward gone back again and yet back and back still and we have prayed and cryed and God hath stood as a man astonished as if he were not yet resolved which way to goe Let us pray earnestly to God that he would not stand as a man astonished but that the way of the Lords mercy may be made cleare before him and cleare before us But this I bring in to shew that the relation that people have to God is the ground of their encouragement to pray to God and when a people is rejected they lose this priviledge Our relations to God are very sweet things though ordinarily they are exceedingly abused yea they are glorious things As it is said of other relations Relations are of the least entity but of the greatest efficacy so it is here Our relations to God are of very great efficacy whatsoever the entity be and therefore to lose our relations to God especially this relation of Gods being ours and we being his is a sore and he avy curse Again You are not my people and I will not be your God Marke here the first is you are not my people before the second commeth I will not be your God VVe first begin with God in our apostacy before God begins with us in his rejection I would not have withdrawn my self from being your God if you had not first rejected me and would not be my people When God loveth he begins first we love not him but he loveth us first But when it comes to departing it then begins on our side wee first depart before the Lord doth and this is that which will be a dreadful aggravation to wicked men another day to think with themselves This evil is come upon us God is gone mercy is gone but who began this first where is the root and principle Thy perdition is of thy selfe I begin first and therefore all the losse of that grace and mercy which is in God I may thanke this proud this distempered this base passionate wretched heart of mine owne for it Again I will not be your God He doth not say you shall not have the fruite
soone gone Many of you when you have beene seeking God have had many manifestations of his love and God hath entred into Covenant with you for a while you have been comforted but you lose all your comfort againe within a short time Oh remember God is ever mindefull of his Covenant though made 20. 40. years agoe he remains the same still be you the same still be you ever mindful of your Covenants When men are brought into the bond of the Covenant their consciences are awed with it and they walke very strictly and they clare not in the least thing goe from the Covenant at first But after a few moneths or weekes are over their heads they forget their engagement their Covenant they made with God there is not such a strong bond upon their spirits as there was before Oh my brethren know that this is a great and sore evil in you God is ever mindfull of his Covenant so you should be And as of his Covenant so of his threats too by way of proportion God remembreth his threats that were made many years agoe we are affected with Gods threats for the present but within a while the impression is gone But let us know time altereth not God as it doth us But yet we must enquire a little further because it is often in Scripture that the children of Israel should be like the stars of the heaven and as the sand upon the Sea shore Why did God expresse this covenant to Abraham what was the matter Thus First Abraham hee left his fathers house and all his kindred at Gods command and upon that first God made this covenant wiâ—h him that he would make his seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the Sea As if God should have said to Abraham Abraham be willing to leave your fathers house I will make a great house of you a great family of yours Secondly you shall observe that afterwards God confirmed this covenant to Abraham and that with an oath It is very observable when he came first out of his countrey and left his fathers house God made this promise of the encreasing of his seed but not with an oath but afterwards in Gen. 22 16. God renews this promise of multiplying his seed and that by an Oath for saith he By my selfe have I sworne for because thou hast done this thing and hast not witheld thy sonne thine onely son that in blessing I will blesse thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the Sea shore Marke here It was upon Abrahams being willing to offer up his son Isaac his onely son Isaac Abraham was willing at Gods command to offer â— ship own son and upon that God promiseth to multiply his seed as the stats of heaven and as the sand of the sea Yea he comes in with an oath By my selfe I sweare saith the Lord that I will do it because thou hast done this We have two most excellent notes from hence First there is nothing lost in being willing to lose for God Abraham was willing to lose his fathers house the comfort of his family for God I will make thee a glorious family as the stars of heaven saith God Againe Abraham was willing to lose one son his onely son for God Art thou willing to lose one son for me thou shalt have ten thousand sons for this one thou losest yea though it be lost but in thy intention Thou shalt have thy own son and yet have ten thousand sons besides Oh let us not be afraid to part with any thing for God Gods people they know how to make up in God what ever they lose for God But God will not onely make it up in himselfe but will make it up even in the very thing it selfe the creature it selfe thou losest for God Art thou willing to lose a little of thy estate Thou mayst with comfort expect so far as if thou knewest all thou thy selfe wouldst desire to have it made up in abundance even in that very way You know the promise He that forsaketh father or mother or wife or children or lands or houses for my sake shal have an hundred fold in this world and in the world to come life everlasting How hath God fulfilled this this day in many of our eyes and too many of our experiences how many have you known who have beene willing to part with that they had and to put it out as it were to the wide world God hath made it up not onely in himselfe but in the very thing it selfe and thereby taught them and all the world to be willing to venture for God to part with any thing for him and his cause Secondly When we are willing to lose for God then is the time when God will renew and confirm his Covenant with us Then God confirmed his covenant with Abraham when he was willing to part with his sonne to be deprived of all his seed The way to be made sure of what we have is to be willing to part with it You all desire to be sure of your estates oh that we could in these times wherein we see nothing sure make our estates sure this is the desire of every one Would you make sure of your estates sure illing to imploy your estates for God for a good cause This is the way to have God to renew his covenant to you for an assurance of that way Here is the best assurance office in the world But how comes this in at this time to his people in Hosea his Prophesie Thus it comes in now because the Lord by the Prophet would answer an objection of the people They might have said thus What Hosea doe you thus threaten judgement the destruction of Israel why you promise mercy to Judah and Judah is but a handful to us we are the ten Tribes with us are the chiefe the greatest part almost all the seed of Abraham and yet you threaten our destruction it can never possibly be What will become of Gods promise then Did not God promise Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven as the sand on the sea shore you seeme to goe crosse to God God saith that he would multiply that seed and you take a course to make men beleeve that the seed of Abraham should bee brought into a narrow compasse and be nothing Thus doubtless they were ready to pleade against the Prophet The Prophet answereth thus What doe you say what will become of Abrahams seed Know that God can tell how to provide for his Church and fulfill his promise made to Abraham whatsoever becomes of you for you are mistaken in thinking you alone are the seed of Abraham for you shall know that Abraham hath not onely a carnal but a spiritual seed all those that shal come to joyne in the faith of
seed of God a great day 1. They are the seed of God The seed of the blessed and there is a blessing in them They are the precious seed that God preserves in the world hath done ever since the beginning of the world They are that seed that preserveth the glory of God in the world Were it not for a few gracious holy people in the world where would the glory of God be What would become of it Those that are godly however contemptible in the world they are the precious seed that God reserves in the world for great and glorious ends They are the seed to preserve the continuation of the Doctrine of the Gospell and the blessed truths of God as Isa 6. 13. The holy seed shall be the substance thereof Though they shall be under great afflictions yet there shall be a holy seed that shall be the substance thereof and there shall be his blessing Psal 72. 17. His name shall endure from generation to generation the words are read by Montanus His name shall be childed that is so continued as families are continued one generation after another one begetteth another and so shall the name of Christ continue in the world and so it hath done And though seed be but a handfull in comparison of the harvest so the Saints of God then were and yet are but as a handfull in comparison of the glorious harvest that shall be yet they are very precious before God and God will make the world hereafter know that they are the precious ones of God Isa 61. 9. All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed Seed you know a man will be carefull of that what ever becomes of his other corne In the time of dearth the husbandman wil rather pinch his own belly then have his seed-corne to be spent So in times of common calamity of common dearth yet Gods care is over his seed the Saints are as I may say Gods seed-corne to preserve his name in the world to other generations that are to come he will not therefore have them destroyed Seed is the most precious of the corne which is most winnowed and made cleane and so are the Saints the cleane ones and the most precious ones God perhaps doth winnow them and fanne them more than he doth others by the fannes and winnows of afflictions why because they are his seed Perhaps other corne that hath drosse in it the husband-man will give the fowles and the cattell that he bestoweth not much winnowing upon it but the corne that is for seed he winnows that he would not willingly have a dernell amongst it It may be thou complainest thou art more winnowed more fanned then other men perhaps thou art more precious in Gods eyes thou art to be reserved as seed as the seed of the blessed The wicked indeed they are seed too but a corrupt seed a seede of evill deers Esay 1. the grand-father was an enemy unto God yea the great grand-father and the father and the children after him continue enemies to God And God in mercy unto his Church doth many times cut downe the wicked before they do seed too much As you that have gardens if they have weeds in them and you see the weeds come up and grow to seed you think then that it is time to pull them up you will not suffer them to seed God lookes upon many families and sees wretched and sinfull men as a seed of evil doers and sees they are ready to seed and if they be not cut down suddenly there will be a wretched brood of wicked ones in such a family This is the reason of Gods suddain cutting down of many wicked families But to come to the point that is chiefly intended that is That this seed of the Lord shall have a great day Great shall be the day of Jezreel The men of the world they have their day in which they ruffle it out and they have all the doings Saint Paul seemes to speake of this in 1 Cor. 4. 3. he saith there that he did not passe for mans judgement the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for mans day Now men have the day they have all the bravery in the world well saith Saint Paul I doe not passe formans day I expect another day besides mans day I know not how it commeth to passe to be otherwise translated you translate it judgement in your books but in the Originall it is day Man hath a day As men have a day so shall Gods Saints have a day too Wee use to say many times when we see the Malignant party jocund and merry surely they hope to have a day My brethren be joyfull in the Lord God hath a day for you and a great day too Great shall be the day of Jezreel The beginning of Gods mercy to his people is called a day of small things Zach. 4. 10. and that must not be despised Let no man despise the day of small things It was the beginning of the reformation and deliverance of the people of Judah from their captivity But God hath a day of great things and certainly that day shall be honorable A day first in which the glory of God shall exceedingly appear wherein God shal be as I may so speak with holy reverence as it were in his robes As we know Princes upon great dayes put on their robes so the King of glory shall have a day for his people wherein even he himself will put on his robes Ps 102. 16. When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory It seemeth while the Church is in affliction while the witnesses prophesie in sack-cloath God is as it were cloathed in sack-cloath In all their afflictions he is afflicted but because God hath a day a great day to his Churches he will reserve his robes till then and when that day commeth he will put on his robes for when he shall build up Zion saith the Text then the Lord shall appeare in his glory A great day it shall be for Jezreel for the seed of the Lord. Secondly It shall be a great day for this day shall be the riches of the world Marke that place in Rom. 11. 12 speaking of the Jews If their fall saith he be the riches of the world and their diminishing the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulness It was a rich mercy to the Gentiles when they were brought out of darknesse and called into the knowledge of Jesus Christ here was riches to the world of the Gentiles But God hath a greater day then that for it is spoken here of a day that is to come that is their fall was the riches of the Gentiles much more their calling in again So then there is such a day of calling home the people of God as shall be the riches of the Gentiles the riches of all the world
whorish upon the breasts of the Church upon the Ordinances the Word and Sacraments Christ Jesus a bundle of myrrhe between their breasts hath been delightfull to them I finde another reading of the words in the Septuagint Translation Whereas we reade it Let her take away her whoredoms from her sight I finde that they reade it as a speech of God I will take away her whoredoms from my face And Ciryl reading the words according to the 70. hee hath an excellent note from thence God saith he threatneth that he will take away her whoredomes from his face as when a member of a body is so putrified that it cannot be cured by salves and medicynes it is cut off and so the disease commeth to be cured so God laboureth to cure the people of Israel by admonitions by exhortations by threatnings by promises of mercy and when all would not do then he threatneth to cure them by another way that is by cutting them off by the Assyrians I will send an enemy against them and he shall take them out of their owne land and carry them into a strange land then they shal be farre enough from their calves far enough from Dan and Bethel so I will take their whoredomes from before my face Thus many times doth God take away the sinnes of a people or of a particular person from before his face As for instance Thou drunkard thou unclean person thou hast had exhortations threatnings many mercifull expressions from God toward thee from thy sinnes to take away thy sinnes from thee that will not do God commeth with some noysome vile disease upon thy body that thou shalt not be able to act thy sinne any more and God takes away the act of thy sinne at least that way in such a violent manner by his judgements and so sometimes men and women that have estates and will be proud and vaine and make their estates the fuel of their lusts when the Word cannot take away their sinnes and the expression of their wickednesse God by some violent judgement takes away their estates that they shall not be able to commit those sinnes that they did before though they would never so faine This is a dreadfull taking away of sin Yea when God shall come so to take away the sinne of men and women as to take away their souls together with taking away their sinne for so it is threatned Job 27. 8. What is the hope of the hypocrite when God taketh away his soul Thou that wouldest not suffer the word to take away thy sin thou must expect that God wil take it away another way even by taking away thy soule Ezek. 21. 29. It may be said of some sinners as there God threatneth The time is come saith the Text when their iniquity shal have an end God will suffer them to live no longer to sin against him he will take away their sinnes but so as to take away their soules they shall not sinne any more against God in this world Lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day wherein she was borne There is much in these words and because they are so exceeding sutable unto us God still bringing points to hand sutable to our times so long as this is you must give me liberty to insist a while upon them and not runne over them so fast as otherwise I would doe I must not slightly passe over those truths that are so cleerly presented and so neerly concerning us Lest I strip her naked c It seems by this that Israel had once been in a very low condition when she was borne a very pittifull estate But God had put many ornaments upon her and now he threatneth to bring her again into the same condition and to strip her naked In the day wherein she was borne This I finde Interpreters to referre to divers conditions of Israel but most refer it to the time of their deliverance out of Egypt that is called here by God the day wherein she was borne We must inquire first what was the condition of Israel in the day wherein she was borne Secondly what ornaments God had put upon her afterwards and then we shall come to see the strength of the threat that God would strip her naked and set her as in the day wherein she was borne For the first two we shall not need to goe farre we have them fully and most elegantly set out unto us in Ezek. 16. That Chapter may be a Comment upon this what Israel was in the day wherein she was borne and what ornaments God had put upon her In the third verse Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan thy father was an Amorite and thy mother an Hittite ver 4. And as for thy nativity in the day thou wast borne thy â—avill was not cut c We must a little open the expression there or else wee cannot open this Text in Hosea Thy father was an Amorite and thy mother an Hittite When thou wert borne thou wert in this condition What their father an Amorite and their mother an Hittite Abraham was their father and Sarah their mother why here an Amorite and an Hittite Secondly Because there were other nations besides Amorites Hittites theâ—â— were the Jebusites the Perizites why rather an Amorite Hittite then a Jebusite and Perizite These two questions must be answered First Abraham was their father yet because they were in such a disposition so like to the Amorites and Hittites so vile and so wicked now they deserve not to have the honour of Abrahams being their father but to be called the children of the Amorite and the Hittite As John Baptist calleth the Pharisees the viperous the serpentine brood so those that are like the devil are called the Children of the Devil Secondly Why the Amorite and Hittite rather then others For the first the Amorite because the Amorite was the chiefest of those nations in Canaan that were driven out All the five were called by the name of Amorite The sinnes of the Amorites are not yet full Secondly the Hittite because they seemed to be the vilest of the five and for that there is a Text of Scripture that seemeth to infer so much Gen. 27. 46. I am weary of my life saith Rebekah because of the daughters of Heth. She onely mentioneth the daughters of Heth and those that were now called Hittites were of the daughters of Heth And saith she What good will my life doe if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth Why there were other daughters besides them but those were the vilest therefore she onely mentioneth them Yea but what was Israel at this time when they were delivered out of Egypt for that is the time wherein shee was borne that is spoken of here were they in so ill a condition as that their father was an Amorite and their mother
not give the people throughout the Kingdom a heart to stick to the Cause of the Truth and to those whom they have intrusted with their estates liberties and lives in every good way it were the heaviest judgement of God that ever was upon a Nation since the beginning of the earth it would never be paralleld that ever a people should have such an opportunity put into their hands to help themselves aud to vindicaâ—e themselves from slavery and bondage yet out of I know not what respects to betray all those that have ventured their lives for them and to have their blood shed I say it were such an example as were not to be paralleld since the beginning of the world Therefore I beseech you my brethren let us lay this to heart and the Lord make known to us all what is to be done in such a time as this that we may not be stripped naked and set as in the day wherein we were borne The Third Lecture HOSEA part of the third verse and verse 4. And make her as a wildernesse and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst And I will not have mercy upon her children for they be the children of whoredomes IN the first part of this second Chapter wee have already shewed part of Gods threatning even to strip his people naked as in the day wherein they were borne to bring them into as low and mean a condition as ever they were in Now that which was more generally exprest the last day we have in the latter end of this third Verse more particularly set forth unto us And make her as a wildernesse and set as a dry land God would bring this people that dwelt in the land of Canaan flowing with milke and honey that were in regard of the beauty that God had put upon them excellent for beauty now to be as a wildernesse In the former Chapter you heard that the state of the Ten Tribes vvas set out by Hoseas wife her name was Gomer ad this Gomer was the daughter of Diblaim Gomer signifieth perfection and what Diblaim signifieth I told you then But now there is another signification of this Diblaim that we are to refer unto this expression of the Lord in this place that he will make her as a wildernesse for you shall finde Ezek. 6. 14. that there is mention made of a desolate countrey and a wildernesse that was towards Diblath to which this that the Prophet speaks of the mother of Gomer may seem to have reference Diblath then it appeareth was a place where there was a very desolate waste wildernesse and Gomer was the daughter of this Diblath from whence Diblaim that is Though the ten Tribes were as Gomer in regard of their beauty perfect for so they were yet she was the doughter of Diblath or Diblaim that is she came forth out of a low and meane condition and was even brought out of a wildernesse now shee shall be brought again into the same estate wherein shee was for I will set her as a wildernesse As a wildernesse The Church of God is in it selfe Gods garden a garden inclosed and so it is called Cant. 4. 12. As a garden inclosed is my sister my Spouse It is the place of Gods delight not a place for beasts to come into but inclosed they are to be kept out of it a place where very precious fruits doe grow that are very pleasing to God a place that hath the dew the showers of Gods blessing the dew of Hermon the dew that descendeth upon the mountains of Zion there God commandeth his blessing even life for evermore But now she must come to be a wildernesse For first the hedge the pale the wall of Gods protection shall be taken away from her and she shall be laid open lyable for all wilde beasts to come in and to devoure her They loved liberty and were loth to be inclosed though it were in Gods garden though it was with the pale wall of Gods protection Well seeing you will have liverty you shall have liberty and this pale and wall of my garden shall be taken away and your condition shall be like the condition of the beasts in the wildernesse Againe you shall be as a wildernesse There shall no good grow among you There was no good grew amongst you that was your sin and there shall no good grow among you that shall be your plague and punishment The blessing of God shall be taken away from you you shall not have those showers of blessing as formerly you were wont to have but you shall be as a wildernesse Jer. 17. 5. 6. Cursed be that man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme and departeth from the Lord Why For he shall be as the heath in the desart and shall not see when good commeth and he shall inherite the parched places of the wildernesse in a salt land Vatablus interprets this judgement upon the hearts of Idolaters they are dry unsavory they are destitute of all spirituall good And I will set her as a dry land So the Septuagint read it I will order you so Your sinnes bring you out of order but Gods plagues order that which sin doth disdorder At a dry land This is contrary to the blessing of a godly man for he is said to be as the tree planted by the river of water The graces and comforts of Gods Spirit are compared to waters in the Scripture Psal 87. 7. All my springs are in thee All my comforts all the gifts that I have all the graces that I have are in thee But now God will set them as a dry land he will take away his gifts and take away their comforts from them and so leave them wast and desolate The Observation then from hence is That sinne is of a wasting nature sinne layeth wast Countreyes and places that people live in VVee have a most remarkable place of Scripture for that Zach. 7. 14. They laid the pleasant land desolate They who are they you shall finde it ver 12. Those that made their hearts as an Adamant stone lest they should heare the law and the words which the Lord of Hosts had sent in his spirit by the former Prophets They made the pleasant land desolaâ—e VVe cry out of those that make stripe and waste and there are actions commenced against them O let not us lay waste this pleasant land this good laud of ours this garden of the Lord. It is indeed as an Eden as a Paradise our fore-fathers have left us this our land as Gods garden let not us through our sinnes leave it to our posterities as a wildernesse and a dry land Psal 107. 34. there is a threatning that God will make a fruitfull land barren for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein Sinne hath heretofore laid wast as pleasant and fruitfull Countreys as ours Those that travell in Germanie their hearts even bleed
upon them when it shall be seasonable for them but when they come upon the wicked it shal be when they are most unseasonable for them As a husband-man if he would cut his Tree so as onely to lop it that it may grow and flourish again he will be sure to do it in due time as in January or February but if he would cut it that so it may dye hee will lop it when it flourisheth most at Midsummer God indeed letteth wicked men grow up and flourish to the height of their prosperity and then he commeth and loppeth them because then hee knowes they must die and perish It were better to be lopped in January in winter time before you flourish then you may live for your good but if you stay till the summer you die for it You have an excellent Scripture Zeph. 2. 4. They shall drive out Ashdod at noon day In those Countries that were exceeding hot and scorching she pheards and others that had their businesse abroad used to keep their houses at noon day or get into some shady places and sleepe Now when God threatneth a judgement in wrath and denyeth mercie saith hee they shall drive out Ashdod at noone day in the worst time that possibly Ashdod can be driven out in the middest of scorching Because God intended to destroy them he drives them out at noone day Again thirdly When God commeth upon the wicked and denyeth mercie he regardeth not the proportion of any affliction or any evill whether it be enough or not enough for them what is that to him When hee cometh upon his own people he weigheth out his wrath Never did any skilfull Physitian or Apothecary more carefully weigh out to every dram what the potion should be that is to be given to a child then God doth weigh out every affliction that he sendeth upon his children The difference is just as if you should goe to the Apothecaries to take ratsbane to poyson or kill vermine you doe not weigh out how much you should take but give them it at adventure and let them take as much as they will and let them burst but if you take any thing for your child if it have any strong vertue in iâ— or without composition it may be poison you will take heed you will not take a dram a graine too much but will be sure to weigh it out exactly Thus though when God commeth to his children hee weigheth out their afflictions yet when he cometh with judgements upon the wicked he cares not how much how many or great they be whether sutable to their conditions or no whether they can beare them or no whether their backes breake or no he cometh with judgements upon them to destroy them Fourthly When afflictions commeth without mercie upon the wicked God stoppeth his ears at all their cryes If they cry when God cometh with judgements against them he calleth their cryings howling Hee tells them though they cry aloud yea cry with teares he will not heare them Fifthly God commandeth all creatures that they should deny help to them They may stand and be amazed but help them they cannot They all say how can we help seeing God helpes not Sixthly There is the curse of God mixed with every judgement to drive them further from God and to harden them more in their sinnes Lastly One judgement is but the making way for another yea all judgments in this world are but the fore-runners and makers-way for eternall judgements This is the portion of the cup of the wicked when God saith he will shew them no mercie The afflictions of the Saints may seeme to be more grievous outwardly but thus God never afflicteth them there is mercie alwayes for them VVherefore all yee Saints of God who are under any affliction at any time be patient and quiet be contented under it for though your afflictions before and grievous yet God delivereth you from such afflictions as these wherein he saith he will shew no mercie But further I will not have mercy upon her children Her children The judgement of God in punishing the sin of the fathers upon the children we spake somewhat of in the Chapter before wee will wholly let that passe now and onely consider children in another way then we did before in a politicall consideration for certainly that is the meaning of the Text I will not have mercy upon her children that is I will not have mercie upon the particular people that belong to Iezreel Private and particular people are called the daughters of Jerusalem the daughters of such a Country So that the whole community together with the officers Governours they are as the Mother and the private and particular people they are as the children So that when God saith he will have no mercy upon her children hee doth not onely threaten the State and the Church the Governours and the whole Community thus but he threatneth every particular person of them though you that are in the multitude perhaps thinke you may escape in the crowde No saith God I will looke to every one of you of the multitude of the private and particular persons of Israel and my wrath shalâ— not onely come out against those that are in higher places but it shall come out against you also I will slay her children It is true indeed the heads and governours of places are usually most invelved in the guilt of the sins of nations and their judgements are usually most dreadfull when God commeth with nationall judgements As Num. 35. 3. 4. The Text saith there that Israel joyned themselves to Baal Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and the Lord said unto Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the sunne The Lords anger was kindled against the people but he bade Moses especially look to the heads and take them and hang them up beâ—â—re the Lord that the fierce anger of the Lord might be turned away from Israel Certainly execution of wrath upon great ones upon such as have beene heads in evill is a Sacrifice exceeding well pleasing to God But though God ayâ—â—e at them especially in nationall judgements yet the multitude and private people must not thinke to escape and that upon these grounds First Because many times it is for their sins that God suffereth their Governours to doe so much evill as they doe As Israel had sinned and God was wrath with Israel therefore David did what he did in numbring the people When you see your Governours doe that which is naught lament for your own sins doe not spend your time onely in crying out against them but look to yourselves it is for your sinnes that God hath left them to do as they have done Secondly It may be the reason why Governours do not reforme is in the perversenesse of people that they are not in a preparation to receive that good which
men from their sins God usually cometh with greater and sorer I see some of them will break through the hedge I will make a wall therefore that is I will come with stronger and greater afflictions and so keep them off Levit. 26. 18. If you will not for all this saith God turne unto mee I will punish you seven times more and I will breake the pride of your power you thinke there is a power in your hand and there is pride in your power for power raiseth the heart up to pride I will break it I will never leave till I have broke your hearts in spight of you and you shall find ein that Chapter four or five times mention of seven times more This is after the hedge then there cometh a wall And they shall not find their paths Hence God is able to strike men with blindness that they shall not see their way Though there be an evill way of mischief before them yet God knows how to strike them with blindness though there be nothing to hinder them in it God can strike men with blindness one way or other that they shall not bee able to see their way before them We have this this day exceedingly fulfilled in our eyes how doth God blind and befot our adversaries that they cannot see their way the truth of that Scripture Job 5. 13. is this day before our eyes He taketh the wise in their owne craft inesse and the counsel of the froward is carried head long How hath God taken wise men in their own craftinesse the counsell of froward men their spirits are froward because they are crost they are vexed their counsell is carried headlong God takes away their understanding and doth baffle them in their own counsels A notable Text we have in Psal 75. 6. The stout-hearted are spoiled they have slept their sleep and none of the men of might have found their hands They are cast into a slumber and know not what in the world to doe they know not how to make use of that power they have in their hands It followeth further in that Psalme At thy rebuke O God of Iacob both the charet and horse are cast into a dead sleep A strange expression that a Charet should be cast into a deepe sleepe the meaning is they can no more tell how to make use of them then if they all lay for dead or asleepe Let us not be afraid of the power of adversaries suppose they had power in their hand God can strike them with blindnesse they shall grope to find the door they shall be baffled in their own waies they shall not tell how to make use of their own power Isa 29. 14. Behold saith God I will proceed to doe a marvailous worke even a marvailous work and a wonder What is it The wisedome of their wise men shall perish the understanding of their prudent men shal be hid This is a wonderfull thing that God will doe yea and he will mingle a perverse spirit in the midst of them so you have it Isa 19. 11. Surely the Princes of Zoan are fooles the counsell of the wise counsellours of Phaâ—aoh is become bruitiâ— and verse 12. Where are they where are thy wise men And againe verse 13. The Princes of Zoan are become fooles the Princes of Noph are deceived and verse 14. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit it in the midst therof they have caused Egypt to erre in his worke as a drunken man that staggereth in his vomit Here is the judgement of God upon Men when he list he can blind them in their way that they shall erre in their worke and they shall stagger in their own counsels and designes as a drunken man in his vorâ—it they shall not finde their paths they shall not know in the world what to doe VVell Thus God dealeth with wicked men But now let us consider this in reference to the Saints to Gods own people they shall not finde their paths then the Observation is It is a good blindnesse for men not to see the way of sinne It is promised here in a way of mercy that they shall not finde their paths this darkeness it is not the shadow of death but the way of life It is rich mercy I have read of one Maris a Bishop of Calcedon a blinde man to whom Julius the Apostate giving some opproptious words and calling him blinde foole because he had rebuked Julian for his Apostacy the good man answered thus I blesse God that I have not my sight to see such an ungracious face as thine So many may blesse God for their bodily blindnesse because it may be it hath prevented abundance of sinne that might have beene let in at the casements of their eyes But especially for blindnesse not to see the way of sinne if we may call that blindnesse It is a mercy that God doth not grant to all it is a singular mercy to the Saints For you shall finde there are abundance of people exceedingly quick-sighted in the way of sinne that can finde the path there and yet are exceedingly blinded in the way of God and cannot find the path there On the other side that Saints are blinded in the way of sinne but are quick-sighted in the wayes of God How many men are wise to do evill as the Scripture saith they are able to see into the depths of Satan they are profound to damn themselves they can finde out such objections against the 〈…〉 answer such things that are said against 〈…〉 devises contrivances how to get to their sinfull wayes but when they come to the wayes of God as blind as Moles they cannot see such necessity of such strictnesse they cannot understand men of great parts great Rabbies of great understanding otherwise they have no skill in the wayes of God I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth saith Christ that thou hast hid these things from the wise and learned and hast revealed them unto babes Whereas on the other side you shall find that the Saints are able when they come to Gods waies to see farre into the excellency and glory of them they have understanding there though they be but weake otherwise they can see into the great mysteries of God into the beauty of his wayes so that it dazeleth all the glory of the world in their eies they are not easily catched with temptations but can see into the subtilties of the devill that would draw them out of Gods waies but when they come to the wayes of sin there they want understanding and it is Gods mercy to them to doe so there they are but bunglers they do but grope as blinde men they are not their crafts masters they are not cunning artists in those waies but as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 1. 1â— Wee have not received the spirit af the world wee cannot shift for our selves as the men of the
have been good and God hath blessed them because they have done as they have though we know their ways to be such as brings most fearfull guilt upon themselves and their families and we have all cause to have our hearts tremble within us to think of them and if it be through seducement and not through a worse principle to pray to God O Lord forgive them for they know not what they doe and for the success they boast of who would not if he might wish such success to his Enemy But if Idolaters can encourage themselves in those ways they are in from what good they suppose they have by them for their rewards how much more then should the Saints encourage themselves in the rewards that they have from their lover from the Lord Christ Psal 129. 56. This I had saith David because I kept thy word this is the reward I have had from my lover I blesse God I have in some measure got my heart to breake before the Lord and to melt after him and the Lord hath come in mercifully to me though indeed there be no worthinesse in what I have done yet the Lord hath beene gracious he hath encouraged his poose servant in his way these and these mercies the Lord hath given me as a fruit of seeking him he hath not said to the seed of Iacob seeke ye me in vaine I have sought for comfort for peace and at last it is come I will call upon the name of the Lord as long as I live we should consider of Gods mercies we have and rejoyce in them as the love-tokens that come from our beloved These are the rewards these are the love-tokens that come from our dearly beloved Hereafter when the Saints shall come to heaven how will they blesse God and blesse themselves in their God for those glorious things those blessed rewards that they then shall receive from their beloved and enjoy for ever with him then they shall triumphingly say the world said heretofore What profit is there in serving of the Lord But blessed be God that I went on notwithstanding in the wayes of God and now I see there is profit to purpose O these joyes O this glory O this crowne this happinesse these are the rewards that I have from my beloved A fift what any man gets by sin or lookes upon as gotten by sin or uses as a meanes to harden himself in sin the curse of God is in it and it will rend it from him he shall not ever enjoy it I will destroy their vines their fig-trees whereof they have said these are the rewards that my lovers have given me 1 Kings 21. 16. you shall finde that Ahab blessed himselfe in getting Naboths vineyard by the device of Iezebel the text saith He rose up to goe to take possession but verse 9. Thus saith the Lord hast thou killed and also taken possession in the place where the doggs licked the blood of Nabeth shall doggs licke thy blood even thy blood What you have got an estate now you have got the vineyard you have got possession how got you it by wickednesse though you blesse your selves in it now as a reward of your vile wayes certainly the Lord will either force you in the anguish and terrour of your soules to vomit up those sweet morsells againe you shall not hold them or some fearfull judgement of God up-you will rend them from you that which many have got by unjust and sinfull wayes they have indeed rejoyced in for a while but after a while that estate hath beene in their consciences as drops of scalding lead in the very apple of a mans eye so terrible hath it been unto them For this I will onely give you an example a late one that came to my owne hands in restoring that that was wrongfully got many yeeres agoe from one neere my selfe I shall the rather name it because the partie desired that the thing might bee made knowne to the glory of God He sends that that he had wrongfully got divers yeeres after with a letter with these expressions Many a throb of conscience had I about it many an â—king heart and many promises have I made of restitution and thousands of times have I wished unto you your silver againe what shall I doe to keep it it is to continue in sin to give it to the poor alas it is not mine owne or at least the evill purchase of gaine hourded up in the stuffe of my iniquity to send it home the owner is dead I would to God I had sent it before that it might not have layne so hard upon me but seeing that is past and cannot be recalled here I sent it you I aske God forgivenesse and pray you fayle not to pray for me Sweet Jesus forgive me It was kept divers years but was biting all the while in the conscience of the poor man and at length it must breake forth in such expressions as these are Consider of this every one who hath got any thing by a sinfull way and have blest himselfe in it this is the reward I have got by such a cunning device and such an unjust and deceitfull way you got it cleverly and have enjoyed it and been merry with it well one day it may thus lie grating in your conscience O then how rerrible will it be to you this is the best way to be rid of the rewards of sin when they begin to cause aking in your consciences cast them out your selves all your praying to God for forgivenesse will never ease you without this way if you be able to restore but if you will not doe it this way God may come by some hideous judgement and force them from you in spite of your hearts and then how terrible will it be to you when you looke upon them as going from you as being rent by God from you O now I must part with all that gaine and sweetnesse that such and such wayes of sin have brought me in the gain the sweet is gone but the guilt the curse the dregs the filth that remains upon my spirit and for ought I know must stick by me to all eternity Gods judgements will be upon you one day but as strainers to let out whatsoever is sweet delightfull to you and to keepe in the filth and dregs Remember this you that have got rewards by sinfull wayes your rewards of sinne may now delight you but there is a time you shall have rewards for your sins that will not please you I will make them as a forrest God threatens his people to make them as a forrest the Seventy they reade it otherwise I will put those things as a witnesse you will say here is a great difference I will make her as a forrest and I will put those things as a witnesse Those things that is those rewards they rejoyce in the rewards that they have had of their
iniquity but I will make them to be as a witnesse against them Certainly there is a truth in this Those things that you rejoyce in as got by sin the Lord will make them to rise up and witnesse against you be sure now you cast them out they will be witnesses against you another day else A man that is guilty would be glad when he knows one that would witnesse against him were dead or out of the way have you got any thing by a sinfull way have you got any thing by a sinfull course put it out of the way for otherwise it will bee a witnesse against you either upon your sick-bed or at the great day of Judgement but how can thesee-two readings be reconciled I will make them as a witnesse against you and I will make her as a forrest It is true the words in the English seem to be very wide one from another but there is an easie mistake that might cause the Seventy to read those words so as to render them thus I will put them as a witnesse for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a forrest in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to witnesse so it is used Zach. 3. 6. Montanus reads those words Contestabatur Angelus now those that are skilful in the Hebrew know that there being no more difference in the words then in those letters which are so like one another one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there might easily be a mistake in that regard but we take it as it is here I will make her as a forrest The Church is Gods garden hedged in with Gods protection but God here threatens to take away the hedge and let in the wild beasts Concerning the hedg of God about his Church we have spoken before The wilde Beasts are one of Gods sore judgements often threatned Those who will not be subject to the blessed holy God they shall be subject to the ravening and rage of Beasts And it is like the Seventy understood it even literally of that judgment of noysome beasts to be let in upon them for I find that they add to these words the beasts shall eate them the fowles of the Heaven and the creeping things of the earth shall devoure but though I find that in the translation of the Seventy yet I do not find it in the Hebrew Text and therefore we must let it passe and only speak of what we have here of the beasts eating Now therefore by that according to most Interpreters I incline to think and am perswaded that it is the intention of the holy Ghost to express a judgment beyond the judgment of letting in of noysome beasts namely the Assyrians the adversaries of Israel who should come upon them as ravening beasts to devour them from whence the words being so opened you have these three notes of great use concerning us The first is sin makes men like Beasts the beasts of the earth he meanes the Assyrians great ones and yet he calls them the beasts of the earth to be like a beast is worse then to be a beast for to be a beast is but to be as God made the creature it is no dishonour to it but to be like a Beast that is the corruption of a creature and the deformity of it the worst deformity that possibly can be Chrysostome shews it thus Beasts saith he have but some particular evill take the worst of all as the Swine sensuality the Tyger and the Bear cruelty the Fox subtlety c. But wicked men have all evills that all beasts in the world have in them One wicked man hath the sensuality of a Swine and cruelty of a Tyger of a Bear the subtilty of a Fox and whatsoever is set out Emblematically by any Beast a wicked man hath it all in his heart yea and farther wicked men are worse then beasts in this that they doe corrupt themselves in those things that they have common together with beasts more then beasts do As the Drunkard corrupts himself in his drink which a beast will not do a glutton corrupts himselfe in his meaâ—â—ore then ordinarily a beast will do and that I think is the 〈◊〉 〈…〉 in 〈…〉 Iude ver 〈…〉 of that they know not and what they know naturally as bruit beasts in those things they corrupt themselves As for their intellectuall parts they will be speaking evill of what they know not they will take upon them as if they knew much but the truth is they understand little and yet they will speak evill of that they know not It is a dreadfull Text against such as will be crying out against men and their ways when as in truth they know not what they are but further in that they know naturally as bruit beasts in that they corrupt themselves that is in things they do know meerly by sense as bruite beasts do they know by tasting and by smelling as bruit beasts do in those very things they corrupt themselves more then bruit beasts that is by excess in meats and drinks Would not any account it to be one of the greatest judgments that could befall him if God should turne him into the fashion of a Beast while he lives here in this world though he should still retain the mind of a man in him Suppose God should inflict this judgment upon a Drunkard he should still have his intellectuall parts as now he hath but yet his body should be turned into the form of a Swine or a rayler into the form of a dog as they say Hecuba Priamus his wife was for her rayling would not this be a fearfull judgment It is an expression of a heathen Lactantius hath it from Cicero saith he If it would be such a judgment as a man would be willing to indure any misery in the world rather then to have his body turned into the fashion of a Beast is it not as great a misery to keep the fashion of the body and to have the mind to become like a beast to keep a humane shape with the soul of a beast surely it is worse then to have the shape of a beast with the soul of man Secondly God looks upon wicked men who do great things in the world with a contemptible eye the Beasts shall devour that is the great King of Assyria and all his Courtiers about him and Cavalliers with him they shall come to devour them they are but the beasts God speaks in a contemptible manner as he doth against Senacherib that King of Assyria in Isa 37. 29. God threatens to put a hooke in his nostrils and a bridle in his lips because of his rage and of his tumult that is he would use him as a beast to hook his nose to put a bridle into his jaws Mark likewise how contemptible God speaks of the King of Babylon and his whole army Ioel 2. 20. His stinke
and his ill savour shall come up because hee hath done great things and so in Psal 59. 7. They belsh with their mouths saith David and they goe up and down the Citie grinning like a dog these are the expressions of David and in that Psalm he means no other but those his adversaries that were about Saul in his Court and Ezek. 38. 3 4. To the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal I will put hooks in thy jawes saith God and in Dan. 7. the four great Monarchs Babylonian Persian Grecian Roman are set out by four beasts the fourth Monarchy which by most Interpreters interpreted the Roman Empire Dan. 7. 7. it is described to bee dreadfull and 〈…〉 and strong exceedingly it had great iron teeth it devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it and it was divers from all things that was before it Now this beast raged first in the heathen Empire and after it gave its power to the beast Antichrist as you may reade in Rev. 13. and that beast was like a leopard spotted full of uncleannesse and filth or as some translate it a panther who by the scent of it drawes other beasts to him but devoures them and his feet like a Beare and his head like a Lyon Thus you see how God describes the great ones of the world to be as beasts looking with a contemptible eye upon them Thirdly It is a sore and a heavy judgement for a people to be delivered up to the rage of cruell adversaries the beasts shall devoure them I will give you up to them who will bring you under you will not be obedient to me but to them you shall I will let out cruell wicked men upon you Hence David prayed Lord let me not fall into the hands of men when God would put him to his choyce to choose what judgement he would have he was quickly resolved what to refuse hee would be sure he would not have that judgement to be given up to the hands of men that he knew was dreadfull and Psal 55. 6. he prayes O that I had the wings of a dove that I might flye into the wildernesse and there abide Into the wildernesse Why hee should be among the wilde beasts in the wildernesse and yet he cryes O that he had the wings of a dove he would abide in the wildernesse VVhy what is the matter here it was because of the cruelty of Saul and his courtiers David apprehended them so cruell that he had rather fall into the hands of Tygers and wilde beasts in the wildernesse then into theirs I could give you notable examples of people that would rather endure any misery in the world then be given up into the hands of their enemies That story is most famous of Numantia in Spaine when Scipio came against it and they were afraid it would be taken all the young men first took all the old men in the City and killed them with as faire a death as they could then they brought all the treasure and riches of the City to the market place and set all on fire and after that they all took poyson and poysoned themselves and thus in one day old and young and all in the City were quite destroyed rather then they would fall into the hands of their enemies Psa 22. 20. Deliver my soul saith David from the sword my darling from the power of the dog the power of the dog and the sword is but one the interpretation of the other and that text is observable 1 Cor. 15. 32. That I have fought with beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men some interpret this litterally that he did indeed really fight with beasts as being one way of torment they put the Christians to to fight with beasts but it is rather thought by most interpreters that the meaning is with men that were beastly with cruell men and Esthius thinkes those men to be no other but those that are mentioned in Acts 19. 9. of whom the text saith there that divers were hardned and spake evill before the multitude Paul then departed from them and 〈◊〉 he disciples Paul says that it was a most 〈…〉 to get the multitude to be gathered together and there to speake against him and his doctrine and against Christ when all the multitude were got together now their malice thought that a fit opportunity to vent all their venome against Paul and his doctrine upon that the spirit of Paul was so provoked saith the text that he departed from them and separated the disciples he saw them desperately set upon it with malice that they would take such an advantage so to speake against him and his doctrine before the multitude it is thus with many the more sedition is raised the better are their designes furthered Christ tells his Disciples Marke 16. 18. that Serpents should do them no hurt and drinking poyson shall not hurt them yea in the 19. of Luke the beginning he tells them they shall have power over divels Serpents shall doe them no hurt poyson shall doe them no hurt they shall have power over Devils but Mathew 10. 17. Beware of men they might say why blessed Master what need we be afraid of men Serpents shall do us no hurt we shall have power over Devils and yet for all this Christ bids them take heed of men as if there weere more danger of hurt from wicked men then from Devils or from Serpents and therefore S Paul in the 2. of the Thessalo 3. 2. prayes that they may be delivered from absurd men so the words are that those that had lost the very principle of reason and were even as beasts There are a generation risen up amongst us who have sucked up the poyson of the old Serpent and are sweld with it who are set on fire of hel and the poyson of Asps is under their lips and in their hands and as it was said of Romulus and Romus the founders of Rome they were suckled by woolves so are these who desire to build up Rome againe much like the first founders of that Rome they seeme to be men suckled by wolves or as the Poets faine of Lycaon turned into a wolfe for his cruelty or as it is said of their S. Dominick that was the Father of the Dominicans that when his Mother was with child of him she dreamed that she brought forth a wolfe with a firebrand in his mouth according to that representation she had in her dream of her childe she proved afterwards and if we look to the cruelty and the rage of these kind of men we may even think that their Mothers have brought forth wolves with firebrands in their mouths in these Satan rages and we hope therefore his time is but very short because he rages so much had they prevailed and brought all under their power no Chronicle of any Nation under Heaven would afford the like stories of horrid
being in the wildernesse was Gods training them up as it were in their youth For a people that are under bondage can scarce be said to be born they are but as the Enbryo at least in the womb in that prison They cannot be said to be a people when they are under bondage at least they are not a living people Hence Chap. 13. of this Prophesie when they were in bondage under Jeroboams wicked commands the Text saith vers 1. that they died When Ephraim spake trembling in Israel he exalted himselfe but when he offended in Baal hee dyed A people under bondage are as a dead people before they have their liberty they are to be accounted as not born and if they lose their liberty they are to be esteemed as if they lost their lives But here a question ariseth How can God have reference to this time and tell them they shall sing as then whereas in the beginning of the Chapter we find that when God threatneth them he telleth them he will set them as in the day wherein they were born so that to be brought to the same condition they were in is a threatning How then is it here a promise The answer to that is it is true the time when they came up out of Egypt was indeed a time of much mercy but they were in great straits in regard of externall helps as a succourlesse helplesse and shiftlesse people when therefore God threatneth to set them as in the day wherein they were born he only aymeth at that that is to bring them into a succourless helplesse and shiftlesse condition in regard of creature-helps as formerly they were But when God promises mercy and telleth them he will bring them into that condition they were in their youth hee doth not consider of their succourlesse shiftlesse condition but rather looks at all the mercie they had in their deliverance out of Egypt As it is a great affliction for a people to be brought into the same condition that once they were in that is to have all the sowr bitter without any of the sweet so it is a great priviledge for a people to be brought into a former condition when they shall have all the sweet without the sowr when God shal take away all the branne give them only the flowr strain out all that is evil give them all that is good that is a comfortable condition but when God shall strain out what is good and give them what is evill that is a sad condition and that is the threatning before and this is the promise now The fourth thing for explication is what the song was that they did then sing in the daies of their youth when they came up out of the land of Egypt That song of theirs you shall find Exod. 15. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord c. And afterwards you shall reade that Miriam and all the women sang likewise In this song of theirs there are these five things Observable First this song o Moses Exod. 15. was the most ancyent the first song that ever was in the world that we know of Orpheus Musaeus and Linus the most ancyent of the Poets were 500 yeares after this time Secondly It was a triumphing song Then sang Moses and the children of Israel the Lord hath triumphed gloriously c. When they saw Gods judgements upon the adversaries then they sang in a triumphing way But you will say how could they sing thus when they saw such a dreadfull spectacle before their eyes What sing at such a lamentable object when the Egyptians were so miserably destroyed when they were sprawling up and down in the water and it is like they heard their shriekings their dolefull cryes and saw their bodyes how they were cast upon the shore And then shall Moses and the people of Israel sing O cruell hearted people that should sing at such a lamentable object as this What to triumph over their adversaries thus fearfully perishing To that we answer We must not be more pittifull then God is Psa 58. 10. The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked But you will say this is austerity they are cruell hearted people that shall doe so Not so neither Moses was the meekest man that ever lived upon the face of the earth the lovingst man except Christ that ever was yet Moses sang thus when he saw the Egyptians destroyed so that to rejoyce in Gods judgements against the ungodly may stand with meeknesse quietnesse of spirit with a loving and sweet disposition as Moses had It is true we ought not to insult over wicked men in way of revenge in respect of our selves but when we consider the righteous judgments of God upon his adversaries we may be swallowed up in the consideration of Gods justice and rejoyce in it But so as not altogether to be without some pitty and commiseration of the persons perishing As Titus Vespation is said to weep when he saw the destruction of Jerusalem though his enemies But there is a time comming when all the Saints shall be so swallowed up with God so as they shall rejoyce in the destruction yea in the eternall damnation of the wicked without the least pitty commiseration of them they shall wholly mind God and his glory without pitying of them yea though they were the fruit of their own bodies and came out of their owne loyns But for the present though wee are to rejoyce and triumph in the works of God and his judgements upon the wicked yet with some mixture of pitty and compassion towards their persons And mark by the way some difference between Gods affection toward his people and toward wicked men It is very observable that when Gods people come to be in an afflicted condition if there shall be any that dare to be so wicked as to rejoyce in that God will avenge himself on them yea if they doe but looke upon his servants that are in affliction with any kind of contentment the Lord will be avenged on them for it But when the wicked are destroyed God doth not onely give us leave to look at them but to rejoyce and sing praises to God for their destruction I will give you a Text for this Obad verse 12. Thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother neither shouldest thou haeve rejoyced over the children of Iudah in the day of their destruction Mark God hath a quarell against them that did but look upon the day of their brothers distress and rejoyce But when destruction commeth upon the enemies of God then the people of God may look and rejoyce and triumph Thirdly It is a song most excellent in regard of the elegancy of the expressions and variety of the matter For verse 1. He hath triumphed gloriously or thus He is become gloriously glorious or in
between Gods wrath and your former sins Further They shal not so much as be remembred by their name they shal not thinke of them The note from hence is all superstitious vanities though they may seem for the present never so glorious yet in time they will vanish and come to nothing God hath a time to make them so to vanish as they shall not so much as be thought off Col. 2. 22. it is said of the rudiments of the world that are according to the Doctrine of men they perish in the use in the present use that is they effect nothing that they seeme to be appointed for there is no good cometh of them for the present but in the very use they come to nothing but time shall be that God will cause them all to perish utterly and the very remembrance of them shall be taken away It is true for the present while mens hearts are set upon superstitious wayes O how glorious are they in their eyes but these glorious things will come to nothing whereas those Ordinances of God that seeme to be but meane things wherein the simplicity of the Gospel appeareth they shall appeare full of beauty though for the present they seeme to be darkened they shall be glorious in the eyes of the Saints to the end of the world Not long since what a stirre was there about the more then decent even superstitious adorning of Temples and building of Altars and brave Canopies what sumptuous things and fine knacks had they and all to set out a pompous superstitious way of worship this altogether prevailed as for the purity and simplicity of Gods wayes and worship how was it trampled under feet as an unworthy contemptible thing but these things that for a while seemed so glorious begin to vanish and wee hope ere long will come to nothing the very memory of them shall perish the purity of Gods worship and the simplicity of the Gospell in Gods Ordinances shall recover their beauty and glory when those braveries shall be no more 7. A true penitent cannot remember former sinnes without indignation for so is the meaning of the phrase they shall not remember Some of us may remember how we have beene intangled with wayes of false worship and how we have fullyed and wrung our consciences that way we said we would yeeld as far as we could but indeed we yeelded further then wee could for id possumus qnod jure possumus we have cause to remember it with shame and confusion of face Ye old men may remember the sins of your youth but how can you remember them and speake of them with joy and meryment that is an evil yea almost a desperate signe do you so remember the sinnes of your youth as to tell tales of the pranckes of your younger dayes with joy you are in a high degree left of God and given up to hardnesse you shall remember them with shame and indignation the sweet morsells of former sinnes coming up into remembrance should be bitter and sower unto you The last note is the taking off mens hearts from Idolatrous wayes is a speciall worke of God I will do it saith God I will take away the names of Baalim out of their mouthes Certainly the people in these times hung much upon their false ways of worship they had many arguments for their way no question but they had many distinctions to uphold it but there shall come a day saith the Lord when I will take away the names out of their mouths I will stop your mouthes I will take off your hearts from all those Objections and reasonings you have had to maintaine such ways as those were I will silence all then you shal see evidently convincingly to your shame that you have been gulled by such vaine false distinctions I will take off all those ingagements your hearts were bound in those being taken off I will soon take you off from all What a deale of stir hath God that we may speake with holy reverence to take mens hearts from wayes of false worship What a company of distinctions and objections have men their hearts clinging to them being very unwilling to be taken off now then their consciences are wrung yet they hold fast and then conscience hath another wring and then they another objection and another distinction and yet perhaps true grace lyes at the bottome after all this But God having a love unto them by some way or other takes off their hearts if he doth it not by settling truths upon the heart by his Spirit he will doe it by some notable works oâ— providence we finde it by experience so long as mens engagements hold that they cannot enjoy their estates liberties and comforts without yeelding to such wayes of superstition they will not be taken off from them they please themselves in this and perhaps they speake what they thinke that they doe nothing against the light of their consciences for why their ingagements keepe off the strength of truth that it comes not to a full conviction of conscience But when God shall by any worke of his providence take off their hearts from ingagements and then come and set before them the same truths that formerly he did they come to see now a convincing evidence in those truths they stand admiring that they saw it not before wonder what the matter was they read such bookes before that had the same arguments against their wayes and for the truth but they could not see the strength of them before now they see it apparently and they are ashamed of themselves every time they goe into the presence of God they are confounded in their owne thoughts to thinke that though truths were so clear before they did not see them now they see them with such cleareness as they thinke they could lay downe their lives for them whatsoever they suffer for time to come they can never yield to what they have yeilded to heretofore What is the matter God hath come in with power God hath taken off their hearts God attributeth this to himself I will take the names of Baalim out of their mouthes whatsoever they have to say for the keeping of such names and reliques of Idolatry yet I will come with power upon their hearts and take them out of their mouths Then indeed when God thus commeth the thing will be done And let us take heed we doe not stand out too long lest God come to take off our hearts by some dreadfull way of judgement or other It were better our mouths were stopped our objections silenced and so all the reliques and remainders of false worship were taken from us thorough the word and Spirit of God If that will not doe God will come in some other way and take the name of Baalim out of our mouths And if wee will keepe the memory of superstitious wayes God may extirpate the memory of them by such
Neither must the Saints follow God or any way of truth meerly from the example of others but out of their owne judgements Perhaps you see such and such of whom you have a reverent esteeme and that justly doe thus and thus I confesse that is enough to put you upon examining to bethinke your selves surely there is something in it or else it is not like they would do it but that must not be the onely reason but if upon examination you finde it to be good then embrace it out of judgement never rest untill you come to that that the men of Samaria said to the woman Now we believe that this is the Messiah not because of thy sayings because you told us so but we have heard him our selves and we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world At the first they came to Christ upon her relation but they did not beleeve in Christ but upon seeing and hearing Christ themselves You may come to examine the wayes the truthes of God upon the relation and example of others but you must not ingage your hearts in them untill you see the reality of them your selves Thirdly you must embrace Christ and his wayes out of judgement not out of sudden flashes of affection suddeu flashes goe out as soone as they come You have a notable example for this Luke 14. 15. Happy are they that may eate bread in the Kingdome of God O this is blessed doctrine indeed But by that which followes we may finde that they were such as presently went to their Farmes and to their Oxen and prized them before Christ refused to come to the supper Sudden flashes there were in thsoe that cryed Hosanna Hosanna but presently they cryed Crucifie him crucifie him Josh 24. 19. the people seemed to be moved with sudden affections they would serve the Lord yea that they would but they considered not what they said You cannot serve the Lord saith Joshua to them So Deut. 5. 27. All that the Lord our God hath said unto us that will we do but presently saith God Oh that there were such a heart in this people to doe it The truth is they know not what they say they have sudden affections but they will quickly vanish We must choose Christ out of judgment Againe Not choose him out of mistakes we must understand who hee is we must sit downe and cast with our selves afore-hand what we are like to suffer in his wayes Compare for this Cant. 5. 9. with the beginning of Chap. 6. What is theâ—â— loved say they more then another beloved Let us know what thy beloved is Then the Church falls a commending her beloved and in the beginning of Chap. 6. Whither is thy beloved gone whither is thy beloved turned a side that we may seeke him with thee that he may be our beloved too Nor out of by-ends but out of a right knowledge of the excellencies of Christ having our judgments overcome that way We must not choose any truth or wayes of God because the times favour that way we have now a company of Parliament converts who were formerly Prelaticall and ceremoniall they see how the times sway this is not out of judgment Every Christian should be a judicious Christian Those adorn Religion they are an honour to Christ As the more deliberation and judgement there is in sin the worse it is so the more deliberation the more judgment there is in godlinesse the better it is When a soule chooseth Christ and his ways upon this Oh I see a beauty in the Lord Jesus that I never see afore I see him to be the character and the ingraven form of the image of the Father in him dwels all treasures the very God-head dwells in him bodily he is the most precious among ten thousand the wayes of God are holy and righteous Here is the rule of eternall life here lyes the happinesse of the rationall creature these are the wayes that my soule closeth with and shall cleave to for ever whatsoever I suffer in them for I see the excellency the beauty the equity the glory of them the Lord is worthy of all honour from all his creatures This is a choise will hold The world thinks the Saints are giddy headed people why because they cannot see any reason for what they doe they cannot see bottome enough in reason of such forwardnesse and strictnesse and zeale as there is in them they think they do in calescere in re frigida that they are very hot about a very poore sorry cold businesse and therefore they count their ways folly that any man will do when he seeth another do a thing that he understands not the reason of hee will either suspect his owne judgment or otherwise think the man foolish now wicked men are too proud to suspect their own judgments to think their own reason folly therefore they count the wayes of God foolishnesse They looke upon Gods wayes at a distance therefore they thinke there is no reason for them It is reported of that notable Convert Marcus Galeasius that hee was converted by a sermon of Peter Martyrs coming to heare him he expressed the excellencies of Gods wayes and the mistakes of the world in this similitude the men of the world saith he mistake Gods wayes as if a man see a company of Musitians that were playing and dancing according to the most exactest rules of art if he see them at a distance he sees them skippiug and leaping up and down as a company of madde men and wonders what they mean but when he comes nearer and hears the melodious sound and observes how all their motions are directed according to rules of art then he begins to change his thoughts so the men of the world look upon the wayes of God and upon the Saints at a distance and 〈◊〉 thinke the motions of Gods people and their ways are madness but when they come nearer and observe the exactnesse of the rule they walk by and the wisedome of God that appears in them they change their judgments and begin then to thinke surely there is something in them more then they thought This similitude God blessed so as it was the means to convert that Noble man and made him leave all his possessions in Italie and come to Geneva where hee became such a pattern of self-deny all as scarce any age ever had the like God working by such a thing upon his heart When you come neer Gods ways and see them indeed you will see infinite reason in them and charge your selves oâ— infinite folly that you should have such low thoughts of them as you have had This is the reason why the Saints hold on in their ways This judgment is as the ballast of the ship many hurry on in a kind of profession of Religion and the truth is they know not what they do nor what they professe if there be any new opinion I mean not only in regard
of new manifestation but in regard of the thing it selfe presently they follow it that they may be counted some body and seem to go beyond other men they are as a ship that moveth a mighty pace all the sails are up and winds blow fairely but there is no ballast so the ship topples up and downe but never comes to the end of the voyage Lu. 8. 6. when the seed was sown in the stony ground it sprung up presently but because there wanted moisture at the root it withered away This judgment is as moysture at the roote that is the reason that Mat. 13. 21. we read of the stony ground that notwithstanding it received the word with joy yet when persecution arose because of the word by and by they were offended they were mightily taken with the wayes of God with the great things of the Gospel at first but not having judgment as soon as suffering came by and by they were offended If times should change again the adversaries should prevaile which God forbid we shal soon have experience enough of abundance of professors who have chosen the ways of God not out of judgment by and by they will be offended Thirdly I will betroth thee unto me in loving kindnesse Though Christ takes us to himself and will not cast us off yet he may see such failings and frailties in us as we may be grievous and burthensome unto his spirit we shall enjoy but little sweetness in our comunion together through the wretchednesse of our hearts No saith Christ I will betroth you unto mee in loving kindnesse my heart and wayes toward you shall be full of gentlenesse and sweetnesse and I will put such a frame likewise into your hearts both toward me and toward one another you shall have hearts full of sweetness and gentleness The Scripture speaks much of the loving kindness of God to his people in Christ Eph. 2. 7. The exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards us in Christ Jesus Tit. 3. 4. After the kindness love of God our Saviour toward man appeared You have these Epithets given unto Gods kindness great kindeness Neh. 9. 17. Marvellous kindness Psal 31. 21. Mercifull kindness 〈◊〉 19. 2. Everlasting kindness Isa 54. 8. Excellent â—ving kindnes Ps 〈…〉 Multitude of loving kindness Isa 63. 7. Thus full is is the Scripture of the loving kindness of God towards us in Christ To open it a little The kindnesse of God unto us in Christ consisteth First In the freenesse of Gods goodnesse kindnesse in a friend is seene much in this when he doth a thing meerely out of his good nature freely when he doth a kindnesse so as he doth not burthen it he doth not upbraid his friend with what he hath done as he expects little before he will not be mercenary so when he hath done he doth not upbraid him with it he expects not such great matters in lieu and recompence of what he hath done as shall make his kindness worth nothing but leaves it to his friend to answer him in a way of kindness again as he thinks fit Thus it is in all Gods dealings with us he looks not for much at our hands before but that he doth is out of his free grace he doth not upbraid us he giveth liberally and upbraideth no man he doth not burthen his kindnesse towards us But doth not God burthen his kindnesse he requireth that we should give up our selves unto him and serve him and suffer for him for his kindness I answer there is nothing God requireth in lieu of all his kindness to us but it is another kindness in God to enable us to do it and a further kindness in him to accept it at our hands when we have done it therefore his kindness is free The Heathens were wont to paint their Gratiae their goddesses of kindness naked upon this ground because all workes of kindnesse should be free not clogged not burthened The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it The kindnesses of this world are ordinarily clogged scarce worth the having the kindnâ—ss of God not so it is free Again kindness consists much in this in our tenderness over those wee shew kindnesse to The kindness of God in Christ is much this way in tendring our weaknesse and dealing with us in all his wayes accordingly Esay 57. 16. I will not contend for ever why lest the spirit which I have made should faile before me He considereth our weakness Psal 103. 13. The Lord knoweth our frame and heremembreth we are but dust Isa 40. 11. Christ gathers the Lambes with his arme and carryeth them in his bosome and gently leadeth those that are with young Esay 63. 9. In his clememcie so the word is he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them alwayes continually Kindnes makes one long-suffering he bare them always and continually It is kindness for the Man to consider all the weaknesses of the wife and to deale with her in a loving way accordingly tendring her good this is the kindness of Christ to his Church Thirdly kindness is passing by all infirmities not taking advantages against his people because of them Christ takes notice of all the good that is in his people though it be never so little but that which is a weaknesse he will passe it by The Lord is not strict to marke what we doe amisse but the Lord is strict to mark what we do well if there be never so little good in an action that hath an hundred weaknesses in it Christ will mark what good there is in it and passe by all the weaknesses 〈◊〉 commended by Pecer for calling her husband Lord in that speech of hers there was nothing but sin saving that word and the holy Ghost takes notice of that one word and le ts goe all the other If thou aymest at serving Christ and canst appeale to him that thy heart istowards him to honour him as he requireth I say though there be an hundred weaknessesin an action if there bee but one thing good all thy weaknesses are past by that one good thing is taken notice of Again kindnes is in a loving sweet amiable carriage toward one another in our converse one with another Oh the sweet amiable carriage that is in Christ toward his people and that Christ expects likewise from them to him again If you reade the book of the Canticles you shall finde what sweet amiable expressions there are between Christ and his Church what rebounding as it were there is of love and kindnesse one to another Thy love is better then wine saith the Church unto Christ and thy love is better then wine saith Christ unto his Church This ought to be between man wife this is kindness 1 Cor. 13. 4. Love is there said to be kinde there is no morosity in love but all a sweetnesse Fiftly kindness is in easiness to be
pawne when there is some speciall thing done in way to that which wee make account of that we are not only promised it and have it under hand and seale and have an oath and a pawne but it is in a great degree begun and so begun as the difficulty is over Those who live under the Gospell see the greatest part of our salvation already done for us God made a promise of sending his Son into the world Now in Gods performing that promise that God-man should come into the world to be made a curse for sin this is the greatest worke of all that is to be done to all eternity and if God would have failed in any thing it would have been in that It is not so much for God to deliver us in this world it is not so much for him to bring us to heaven as it is to send his Son into the world to be made a curse for us Now when God hath done so great a work and hath beene faithfull in that great promise he hath taught us for ever to trust in him to beleeve his faithfulness in making good other promises If a man who owes five thousand pound and payes you foure thousand nine hundred of it you thinke surely hee will never breake for one hundred I may trust him for the rest seeing hee hath dealt so faithfully with me in the great summe God hath paid the four thousand nine hundred and much more in comparison of what God hath done for us take all the glory of heaven we have not one hundred of the five thousand left behince therefore we may well confide in him for the payment of the rest But is God able It is true God is faithfull This is seldome an objection at least an explicite objection in the mouths of people but surely an implicite one it is in the hearts of many that appears by those cautions God gives to take away that objection 1 Pet. 4. 19. Commit the keeping of your souls unto him as unto a faithful Creator as if he had not said enough in saying he is faithfull he adds faithfull Creator as if he should say f there be no means to help you I will create means I will put forth my Almighty power to create helpe for you but you shall have helpe Dan. 9. 27. The Lord will confirme the Covenant the word is used for a mighty man a Giant in Scripture Gen. 19. 8. He began to be a mighty one in the land as a Giant in the earth the word here is of the same root God will come forth as a Giant as a mighty man to make sure the Covenant he hath made with his people if there be any thing in the world wherein God will stirre up his infinite power the excellency of his power the glory of his right hand it will be in confirming his Covenant to his Saints Esay 26. 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Esay 54. 5. Thy Maker is thy husband the Lord of Hosts is his name the God of the whole earth shall he be called Seeing God is so faithfull let not us be faithlesse But things goe very crosse and how shall we beleeve our faith shakes the true genuine love of the Saints is such as will love God without gifts for himself so the genuine art of faith is to beleeve in God without experience yea though things seem to goe contrary That love is but a lame love that loveth God onely for that which vve receive from him for the present and that is but a lame faith that beleeveth only in â—od for that which we see for the present Doe things goe crosse they are corrections and those may come from faithfulnes as well as any thing the Church enjoyes Psal 119. 75. I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou in faithfulnesse hast afflicted me As God comes downe to you and sutes himself to you as his poor creatures so you should labour to raise your hearts to him to beleeve in him as a great God â—od deals with you as having to deale with weak creatures you should deale with him as having to doe with an infinite God You must give God leave to doe his worke his owne way The object of our confidence in God it is the thing will be done it is not how it will be done or when it will be done but that God will carry his worke thorough Shall our weakness be so much regarded as that things must not work so as to shew Gods power Certainly it is too too much for us to think our weakness must be so far condescended to One would think that it is enough that God condescendeth so much as to expresse himself so to you as you may beleeve would you have God condescend to expresse himselfe so to you as he should not have the glory of his worke nor you the glory of your faith this is too low Though we be bound to deny our selves much because of the weakness of our brethren Must God deny his glory because of our weakenesse We burden God too much with our weaknesse It is for Gods glory that things goe as they doe Lazarus was dead and dead so long that the work of God might appeare But I finde not things go so as I expected I thinke I have beleeved at such a time in prayer I thought my heart did close with the promises of God but yet things goe not so as I expect Though things be otherwise then thou expectest yet it may be God calls for new acts of thy beleeving and it is because there is no renewing of thy faith in his faithfulness You must know the continuall actings of Faith draw out the continuall actings of the power of God I will give you for that one famous Text perhaps you may reade it often and heare it but not perceive the strength there is in it Psal 31. 19. O how great is thy goodnes which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee but marke what followeth which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee Great is the goodnesse thou hast laid up Gods goodnesse is great to admiration for them that feare him but how It is laid up for them but now marke which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee All the goodnesse that is in God is for them that feare him but it is not fearing God that will bring it to work it is laid up in a treasury indeed do you feare God God hath laid up abundance of goodnesse in a treasury for you but you must not expect this will work for you unless you trust in him your Faith must bring it forth into work and that before the sonns of men thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men Would you be hid in the secret of Gods presence from the pride of men you
King without a Prince Their Church in the four that follow after Though once they were the happiest people upon the face of the earth both in regard of their Civil and Church estate yet now they shall be most miserable This they had brought upon themselves they had set up their Idols in Dan and Bethel Dan is the place of judgement Bethel the house of God so the words signifie there was abundance of corruption both in places of judgement and in the house of God and now there comes upon them abundance of confusion both in their Civill and in their Church state They received their order for both from God himself from heaven and their Laws as well for Cvill as for Church Government which no other people yet ever did in the state manner but they leave Gods instituions and so they are brought into all confusion They shall be without a King How without a King When they were in captivity yet they were under a King the King of Babylon and the Assyrian and now they are scattered under the Government of Kings and Princes still where ever they are They have Kings over them but they have none of their own Nation to be their King and that is the judgement Neither are they governed by their own or rather by Gods Laws and for them to be in slavery under Kings was to them as ill yea worse then to have no King at all It is a sad condition for a people to be so without a King to protect them without a King to maintaine their Laws their Priviledges and Liberties When men reject God from ruling over them it is just with God to put them under the rule of Tyrants of Oppressors of publike enemies unto their state of destroyers The blessing of government is very great if it be right and therefore the Persians were wont after their Governor dyed to let all the people for five dayes be without any governour at all that seeing the inconvenience and mischiefe of being without it they might the more willingly yeeld themselves under Government and be obedient to it when they came under it It is a question among Polititions whether Tyrannie or Anarchy be the better Tyrannicall Government or no Government at all Though Tyrannie except it come to a great extremity may be better then Anarchie yet certainly it is not better then to bring power to be regulated though it be with some trouble That power that at first raiseth power that designes such persons and families to have the power that limiteth that power surely cannot want power to regulate that power that it should not be to its owne destruction But here it is not onely to be without a King but without a Prince too The word that is here translated Prince signifieth a Ruler Judge or Governour and so I finde it often used in Scripture 1 Chron. 27. 31. All these were rulers of the substance Princes the same word that is here used and Nehem. 3. 9. The ruler of the halfe part of Jerusalem the Prince So that by Prince here is meant Judges or any kind of Rulers they shall be without Prince without any Judges or Rulers Though they had no Kings yet if the government had been in the hand of eminent men of Judges over them their condition had not beene so sad Time was not long before that their happinesse did not consist in being under the government of Kings they were in a happy condition before ever these were over them and the first time that ever they came under their government it was upon their own choice and so as God professeth they had rejected him and God sent them their first King in his wrath Therefore their misery certainly did not depend wholly upon being without a King If God restraine not Kings they often desire to encroach upon the Liberties that the Laws of the Land the light of Nature and God himselfe gives Subjects Plutarch tells us a story of Pyrrhus who comming to Athens the Athenians to shew their respect and to give honour to King Pyrrhus let him come into their Castle to sacrifice there to Minerva which was a place they were not wont to let strangers into VVhen he came out of the Castle he told them that he was much engaged to them for that great favour in requitall of which hee told them he would give them this good counsell Take heed saith he that you never let King come more into this place Immitating how easily they may be perswaded to internch upon the liberties of those who come under their power And this should abide for many dayes It did abide for 700. yeares and upward before Christs time in regard of the ten Tribes for from the sixt of Hezekiab to Christ it was so long the tenne Tribes never came under any Governour of their owne in all that time And since Christs time neither Judah nor Israel have had either King or Prince of their own Oh what a blindness is there upon this people how dreadfull is that darkness they are now in That notwithstanding the Prophesie was so cleare that the scepter should not depart from Judah untill Shiloh came and yet now they have been without Prince these 1600. yeares and yet they will not believe that Shiloh is come Thus when God giveth over to blindness and hardnesse things that are never so cleare will not be believed But their confusion in their Church state is more grievous then the other They shall be without a sacrifice and without an image and without an Ephod and without a Teraphim Two of these foure expresse their being deprived of Gods own Ordinances and the other two their being deprived of their false worship They made a mixture in worship they would have their sacrifice their Ephod but together with them their image and their Teraphim This is mans perversness to make mixtures in Gods worship they will keep something of that which is Gods but they will bring in something of their own too and that spoiles all I have read of an Emperour of Rome that in one Temple he would have Christ and Orpheus worshipped both together And those who were sent into Samaria by the King of Babylon of vvhom we reade 2 Kings 17. 33. They feared the Lord and served their own gods but verse 34. it is said they feared not God that is though they would acknowledge the true God yet they would mix the worship of Idols with the true God and so God rejected all they did not feare 〈◊〉 God at all It is no feare of God except we feare him onely it is no worship of God that is accepted unless we worship him onely It is true the Heathens are content with mixture in their worship you may worship one God and have the worship of another God mixed with it because there is not any one of them who challengeth to himselfe to be the universall good but God
never sinke But may they not be so burthensome to Christ as that he may shake off his burthen No therefore he hath them upon his breast-plate too as well as upon his shoulder there was upon the breast-plate in the middest of the Ephod the names of the twelve Tribes Christ carryes the memoriall of his Churches at his heart as well as upon his shoulders that makes Christ put his shoulders to the good of the Churches because they are so neare his heart An infinite comfort it is in the spirituall meaning of this Ephod that belongs to all the godly Christ night and day hath thee upon his shoulder and upon his heart as a precious stone before God the Father This one thing further is observable about it you shall finde if you reade that place in Exodus that the names of the twelve Tribes were to be ingraven upon these stones in order according to their birth now in Revel 21. the twelve Apostles who in regard of their Doctrine are made the twelve precious stones of the foundation of the new Jerusalem you shal reade that they are all the very same precious stones by name excepting four and those foure I finde that Interpreters think to be the same that the other were only with different names for precious stones either in regard of the places where they are found or in regard of their quality or colour carry divers names so that it is very probable that those precious stones in Rev. were the same with these in Exo. but there we do not finde that they are set according unto any dignity of one Apostle before another as they were in the setting of the names of the Tribes for the first precious stone that was to be set of the foundation of the new Ierusalem of the glorious Church that should be it is the stone of Benjamin who was the youngest And if there might be any mystery in it we may think it signifies thus much at least we may make use of it by way of allusion that the Lord wil use of the young ones of this generation who shal make way for the new Jerusalem before any of the other tribes God will cull out them to the first stone of the foundation of that glorious Church In that we find there was not such order set of the Apostles as was of the Tribes we are taught that Christ would not have us look upon the Apostles as one above another therefore you shall find the Apostles are never named in one and the same order in one Evangelist they are set down in one order and in another in another as Mat. 10. Mar. 3. Luc. 9. so Act. 1. In all these they are named in a different order noting thereby that there is no superiority nor inferiority in the Ministers of the Gospel Upon the Ephod there was likewise the Vrim and Thummim It is very hard to tell you what this Vrim and Thummim was it costs a great deal of time to find out what men think it was and if I should tell you the variety of the guesses of men about this it would be tiresome unto you and me Austin in his 117. question upon Exod. In venire quid sint deficile what this Vrim and Thummim was it is hard to find and Cajetan saith none ever yet explained what it was and they tell us that even the Rabbins themselves say the Jewes were very ignorant of this But most probable one of these two especially the latter Some think that they were some stones set in the breast-plate which by their brightness or darknesse did give an answer to what they demanded of God that is thus when the high Priest went to demand of God what was to be done in any great and publique affairs hee presented this breast-plate with these stones before the Lord and if God would give an affirmative answer the stones gave a more then ordinary brightness and lustre but if he would give a negative answer then the stones were darker then they were before but we are not certain of this we may rather conclude upon the other viz. that the Vrim and Thummim though we know not what matter they were made of no more then we know what Manna was made of it was somwhat that God gave Moses to put into the breast-plate which by him was appointed as an ordinance which was to be presented before the Lord by the Priest when they would know the mind of God when this was presented before the Lord God did then usually give an answer to the Priest either by an audible voyce or by secret inspiration yet not always tying himself to give it thus for we find in Scripture somtimes God did not give an answer when he was sought by Vrim and Thummim as when Saul enquired of God by Vrim Thumim there was no answer from God and it is like Josiah would not have sent onely to Huldah the prophetesse if hee could have had answer by Vrim and Thumim but when God pleased he would give an answer this way The word Vrim Thummim signifies light and perfection some would make it to signifie the knowledg and integrity of life that is to be in Ministers but I rather think the meaning is that they were bright precious stones which were of a great perfection and fit to doe that which God did appoint them for The Septuagint calls this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Oracle Hence 1 Pet. 4. 11 Let 〈◊〉 speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Oracles of God Now this must be upon the breast-plate of the Priest which the Priest making use of thereby the people came to know the minde of God This was to signifie that we must look for the mind of God by Christ It is Christ who is come from the Father to reveale his counsels to us if we look to have the mind of God any other way but through him we are mistaken And further this Vrim and Thummim this breast-plate of judgment was to be upon the heart of the high Priest and that when he went in before the Lord as Exod. 28 30. There are two notable morall observations to be observed from thence First The answer that any Minister of God in the name of Christ should give his people should be such an answer as should lie at his very heart hee must speak nothing but his very heart unto them when he would answer any case of conscience or make known any thing of the mind of God his answer must lie at his heart Secondly It must be as in the presence of the Lord it must be as before God he must consider in whose place he standeth to answer as from God from the great Prophet of the Church It is a great judgment threatned to be without Vrim and Thummim seeing it was of so great use to them And this should be for many dayes Josephus saith that they were without this
and make us look up to free grace not take us off from the practise of any but from relying upon any onely to rely upon free grace in Christ As this is the supernaturall seeking God so it is the most powerfull way of seeking him It is not enough to seeke God by vertue of a promise except vve seek him by vertue of Christ who is the foundation of all the promises VVe seek him because he is mercifull that is one way yea we seek him because he hath promised mercy this is a higher degree but we must go higher yet we must look to his Son in whom all the promises are Yea Amen otherwise though we seek him never so earnestly though we chalenge his promises and cry to him to remember his promises yet if we do not act our faith upon his Son wee may misse in all And herein we sanctifie that great name of God in that which is the great work of his his master-piece as we may say or the great designe hee hath to honour himself in the world here and everlastingly hereafter Certainely though God hath made the creature for his own glory expects we should honour him in beholding him in the creature yet the great design God hath to honour himselfe in and by is in that glory of his that is manifested in his Son to have the children of men behold this his glory and reflect it upon his own face except you give God his glory in this he cares not much for what soever glory you can give him otherwise You must not therfore expect when you seek God that you must have good things from him meerly because he is mercifull you must not thinke that the mercy of God serveth to eike out our righteousnesse Perhaps some will say it is true we are poor sinfull creatures and what can wee expect from God being fin full but we hope that God will pardon our sin and so will accept of the poor services that we perform This is the way that most goe they do as it were imploy Gods mercy in such a worke that God never intended it for that is they would make the mercy of God to eike out their owne righteousnesse and so both put together they think they will serve to be a means of atonement No you mistake Gods mercy the worke of Gods mercy is not this but it is to shew us our unrighteousnesse our misery our unclearnesse to shew us Jesus Christ to draw our hearts to him to emptie us of our selves that wee may wholly rely upon that righteousnesse that is by faith in him and tender up that to the Father for sanctification and attonement that is the work of Gods mercy when it hath this work then it hath the true genuine work indeed The fifth is why here added King True wee must seeke the Lord and Christ but why Christ the King The reason is because Christ in the latter dayes shall be fully honoured in his Kingly power they shall looke upon him not only as Prophet and Priest but as King Hitherto Christ hath bin much honoured in his Propheticall and Priestly office but not so much in his Kingly but in the latter dayes when God shall call home his people the Jewes then Christ shall be fully honoured in his Kingly office The Tabernacle of Christ was raised in the Primitive times according to that speech of St. James we had before Acts 15. 16. God shall raise the tabernacle of David hee puts it as fulfilled then but there is a time when God shall not only raife the tabernacle of David but the throne of David Christ the King shall appeare in glory Ezek. 37 24 25. And David my servant shall be King over them It was spoken upon the union that there should be between Judah and Israel then David my servant shall be King over them David was dead a great while before there is a time that David must again be King that is Christ upon the union of all the Tribes together And againe David shall be Prince for ever when they are brought againe into their owne land David shall be Prince over them for ever saith the Text surely this prophesie is yet to be fulfilled And Luke 1. 32. The Lord shall give him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdome there shall be no end I know we usually think that this is meant only of his spirituall reign but there is a mistake in it certainly there is to be a fulfilling of this prophesie in a reign that shall outwardly appeare before the children of men which will appea more in comparing this with other Scriptures Revel 11. 15. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord his Christ and so he shall reign for ever and ever VVhy in a spirituall sense the kingdoms of this world are always the kingdomes of the Lord and of Christ but there is spoken of some famous notable time when the kingdomes of this world shall appeare to be the Lord and his Christs and then he shall reigne for ever and ever after another manner then now he doth Revel 3. 21. To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my throne as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne Mark this Text as one of the most notable of any wee have That kingly rule that Christ hath for the present is upon his Fathers throne he is not yet upon his own in comparison of what he shall be the kingdome that Christ hath now is the joynt reigne of him with the Father but there is a time for Christ to have a Throne himselfe Now that Throne of Christ it may be you will thinke it is in heaven at the day of judgement but we finde 1 Cor. 15. 24. that at that day he comes to refigne the kingdome the words do not seeme to import as if hee came to take it but that then hee doth give up the kingdome unto God the Father therefore there is a time for Christ himself to have a Throne with whom the Saints shall reign Matth. 21. 9. The children cryed out Hosanna to the sonne of David because they looked upon the sonne of David as one who was to reign In these latter dayes CHRIST shall breake the Kings of the earth who stand against him as indeed many yea most of the Kings of the earth have ever stood out to hinder this kingdome of his There will be a mighty shaking of the kingdoms of the earth when this shall be Heb. 12. 26. Whose voyce then shook the earth but now he hath promised saying yet once more I shake not the earth onely but also the heaven quoted out of Hag. 2. 6. 7. God in giving the law shooke the earth but he will shake the earth and the heavenâ— which some Interpreters expounds thus not only the meaner power of
Religion no God forbid yea she so promised that the story saith no man would or could misdoubt of the performance But afterward when she came to get the power in her hand the Suffolk men came to make supplication to her that she would be pleased to performe the promise she made them she answered them thus Forasmuch as you being but members desire to rule your head you shall one day well perceive that members must obey their head and not looke to beare rule over the same And not only so but to cause the more terrour a Gentleman one Master Dobs that lived about Windsor who did but in an humble request advertise her of her promise made to the Suffolke men he was three times set on the Pillory and others for the same cause were sent to prison We may see what hold hath been heretofore in the promises of those who had power to breake them you know what temptations they have to withdraw their hearts from what they have ingaged themselves unto But when this our Prince comes David our King we shall finde the sure mercies of David we shall finde nothing but faithfulnesse in all his dealings And they shall feare the Lord and his goodnesse in the latter dayes They shall feare the Lord. The words are they shall feare to the Lord pavebunt ad dominum The feare of God is much upon the heart of a sinner in his returne to God Such a sinner hath high and honourable thoughts of God They shall returne and feare the Lord. The slightnesse the vanity of his spirit the boldnesse of his heart it is taken off and the feare of God ruleth in it The Majesty the power the authority of the great God is strong upon him when he comes to worship him the feare of God makes him to worship God as a God and in all his conversation he walkes in the feare of God even all the day long you may see written upon his life the feare of the great God And this not a servile slavish feare but a holy reverenticall filâ—â—â— feare Jsaac had such a feare of God that God hath his dominion from Isaacâ— feare He is called the feare of Isaac This is a most precious feare others feare poverty feare imprisonment feare disgrace feare men but saith a true repenting heart I feare the Lord this feare is the well-spring of life to him it is the very treasure of his soul Esay 33. 6. I shall speake of the feare of God here onely as it concerns this place the intent of bringing it in here that is to shew that in the time when this glorious Church shall be when God shall call home his own people the Jewes and bring in the fulnesse of the Gentiles then shall the feare of God mightily prevayle upon the hearts of people more then ever and the greater Gods goodnesse shall be the more shall the feare of God be upon their hearts this we shall finde almost in all the Prophesies of the glorious condition of the Church which is very remarkable there is ever speaking of the feare of God that should be upon the hearts of people One would rather thinke there should be speaking of the joy that they should have that there should be nothing but mirth and triumph in those times but the Scripture speakes exceeding much of feare that shall be then and more then then at any other time Thus Revel 11. 18. a most famous Prophesie of Christs comming and taking the kingdomes of the earth and bringing his reward with him he shall come and give a reward to those that feare him And Revel 14. 7. I saw an Angel flee in the middest of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth saying with a loud voyee feare God and give glory to him Marke an Angel when he comes to preach the verlasting Gospel how doth he preach it what now cast away fear and rejoyce in this everlasting Gospel No preaching this everlasting Gospel saith with a loud voyce feare God and give glory to him So Rev. 15. 3. 4. There is the song of the Saints when they are delivered from the power of Antichrist what is it be jocund and joviall No Great and marvailous are thy workes Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints who shall not feare thee O Lord and glorifie thy name for thou onely art holy for all Nations shall come and worship before thee for thy judgements are made manifest And again Rev 19. 5. And a voyce came out of the Throne saying Praise our God all ye his servants and yee that feare him both small and great But feare the Lord now in these times why so Upon these foure grounds First Feare the Lord now because of the glory of Christ their King they shall behold their King in that glory that shal cause fear Rev 19. 12. Christ is described with his eyes as flames of fire and on his head many Crownes cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood at wo-edged sword out of his month and on his vesture and on his thigh written King of Kings and Lord of Lords Thus they shall behold Christ and therefore they shall feare Secondly in those times the feare of God will much prevaile in the hearts of people because of the great workes of God that shal be then the heavens shall depart like a scrole and the elements melt with fervent heate This is meant of the time when there shal be new heavens a new earth which referreth to the Prophesie of Esay and it is apparantly and so generally Interpreters carry it meant of the estate of the Church then the heavens shall depart like a scrole Heb. 13. 26. quoted out of Hag. 2. 6. The Lord did shake the earth once but he hath promised saying Yet once more I shaâ— not the earth onely but also heaven There shall be wonderfull workes of God in the earth when those dayes come therefore there shall be much of the feare of God Thirdly Much of the feare of God then because of the holiness of the worship of God and of his Ordinances the purity of them shall cause fear Did we see the Ordinances in the true and native purity and holinesse of them it would strike much feare in us Some have but seene the execution of that one Ordinance of Excommunication in a solemn gracious way and it hath daunted their hearts it hath struke feare in a most proud profane stubborn wicked heart the beholding then of all the Ordinances and all duties of worship in their true native purity holiness and glory cannot but cause much feare Psal 68. 35. O God thou art terrible out of thy holy places God will be terrible out of his holy places and out of all his holy Ordinances Fourthly Much feare there will be at that day because of the holiness of the Saints there shall be so much holiness that shall