come near to you to Judgement and I will be a swift witness against the Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against False-swearers O that these things were seriously laid to heart by the prophane Cursers and Swearers and False-swearers and the Damme-creatures of our times O that they would consider how their cursed hellish hideous new-invented unheard of Diabolical oaths do now make the Land mourn and those that dwell therein to languish and how near the Lord is come unto them in the terribleness of his judgment Is it not very evident that the Lord for these things hath a controversie with the Inhabitants of the Land 7. The seventh Pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Adultery Fornication and such like corporal uncleanness See this in that 25. of Num. 1 6 7 8. verses When Israel abode in Shittim it is said the people began to commit Whoredome with the daughters of Moab And Zimri and Cosbi being taken in the very act of uncleanness Phinehas the Son of Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest when he saw it he rose up from amongst the Congregation and took a Javelin in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the Tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly So the Plague was stayed thereupon from the Children of Israel yet those that died in the Plague as was mentioned before was no less then Twenty and four Thousand So in the 12. of Gen. 14 15 17. When Abraham came into Egypt with Sarai his wife a fair woman to look upon and she was no sooner beheld by the Egyptians and the Princes of Pharaoh but they commended her before Pharaoh and saith the Text the woman was taken into Pharaohs house that is she was taken away from Abraham into the Royal Seraglio or Palace to be fitted and prepared there according to the Custome of those Countries that the King might take her to Wife as Hest 2.9 In the mean time God provided for Abrahams entertainment and his Wives chastity together for Pharaoh entreated Abram well for her sake And in the 17. verse is is said The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his House with great Plagues because of Sarai Abrams wife What kind of plagues those were is uncertain but doubtless they served as well to hinder and obstruct the abusing of Sarai's body as to punish the King and his Domesticks and Courtiers trespass This great deliverance David celebrateth in Psal 105.14 When they went from one Nation to another from one Kingdom to another People He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm But this is observable that if the Lord was so severe to punish this filthy sin of Adultery or Uncleanness when it was but designedly or intentionally committed and Pharaoh knew not that Sarai was Abrams wife with what severity may we think will he proceed against such who deliberately knowingly delightfully and impudently live in the perpetration and commission of it and when did this sin of Whoredom Adultery and Fornication ever walk upon down so brazen-faced with such an imperious worish forehead as in the men and women of our generation so unsatiable they are in their filthiness and uncleanness Upon which account may not the Lord say to this City of London yea to the Land and Nation in general as he did to Jerusalem in the Prophet Jeremy's time How shall I pardon thee for this thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods When I had fed them to the full they then committed Adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots houses They were as fed horses in the morning every one neighed after his neighbours wife Through lustfulness like wanton horses And mark what follows Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Go ye up upon her walls and destroy but make not a full end take away her battlements for they are not the Lords c. Jer. 5.7 8 9 10. And may we not think the Lord may justly have a controversie with the inhabitants of this Land as he had with the children of Israel in the Prophet Hosea's time And wherefore Because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land But by swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing Adultery they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish c. Hos 4.1 2 3. So that good Prophet Jeremy Mine heart saith he within me is broken because of the Prophets all my bones shake I am like a drunken man and like a man whom wine hath overcome because of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness For the Land is full of Adulteries Jer. 23.9 10. And in Jer. 13.27 I have seen thine Adulteries and thy neighings the lewdness of thy Whoredoms c. What then Wo unto thee O Jerusalem This though it may have reference to their sin of Idolatry as before which may be called spiritual Adultery yet it cannot exclude that which is corporeal which God will severely punish For Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge as such who shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God Heb. 13.4 and Eph. 5.5 Thus we see how highly provoking this sin of uncleaness is for the bringing down of National judgements even this of the Pestilence among a people 8. The Eighth Sin that provokes the Lord to send the Pestilence among a people is the sin of Infidelity distrust and murmuring against God notwithstanding the great and marvellous works which the Lord hath wrought for the salvation and deliverance of his people See to this purpose the 13 and 14. chapters of Numbers There were certain men the heads of the children of Israel who by the commandment of the Lord was sent to search and spie out the land of Canaan and being returned they made a rehearsal thereof to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation and brought an evil report upon the land which they had searched saying The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature And there we saw the giants the sons of Anak which come of the giants and we were in our own sight as Grashoppers and so were we in their sight This evil report caused all the congregation to lift up their voyce and cry and to murmure against Moses and Aaron saying Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey were it not better
you are Gods Enemies and persecutors his hand will find you out yea his right hand will finde out those that hate him and he will make you as a fiery oven in the time of his anger Psal 21.8 9. For wickedness burneth as fire and it shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forrest and they shall mount up as the lifting up of smoke for through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts the land shall be darkned and the people shall be as the fewel of the fire no man shall spare his brother Isa 9.18 19. I say if you be the Lords Adversaries then if the Scriptures be true and cannot be broken you shall assuredly be broken in peices yea out of heaven will the Lord thunder upon you 1 Sam. 2.10 And if that will not do he will throw you into the deeps as a stone into the mighty waters as he dealt with the persecutors of his people Neh. 9.12 I cannot let pass those dreadful imprecations which the Prophet David thundereth out against his and the Lords Adversaries under the person of Judas Set a wicked man over him saith he Let Satan stand at his right hand let him be condemned and his prayer become sin and his days few and his children fatherless and vagabonds begging their bread and such like prophetical direful wishes And why all this Because that he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart Psa 109. to ver 17. so Psa 69. verse 22. and onward Let their table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Let their habitations be desolate and let none dwell in their tents Add iniquity to their iniquity and let them not come unto thy righteousness Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous Now what 's the reason that David devoteth his and the Lords enemies to such dreadful destructions why even for this cause For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded By all which he meaneth that the wicked laid grievous afflictions and punishments upon such whom the Lord in his fatherly love had chastised whether you understand it of Christ or of his afflicted and persecuted members This is a sin that is highly provoking unto the Lord drawing down the wrath of God to a Kingdoms inevitable desolation and destruction as upon Judah and Jerusalem 2 Chron. 36.15 16. where it is said That the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers or prophets rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets untill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy or no healing because on the one side the people repented not and on the other side Gods Justice required that their impenitency should be most severely punished It s a similitude taken from sick bodies that are incurable For as Stephen said truly whom they stoned which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just one meaning Christ of whom saith he ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Acts 7.52 And therefore it was that our blessed Saviour took up that sad lamentation and complaint O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not And what follows Behold your house is left unto you desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Persecution is the certain fore-runner of a Nations desolation and destruction And God does usually retaliate the sin of persecuting and destroying men upon their own heads Let their way be dark and slippery and let the Angel of the Lord persecute them Psal 35.6 As the fire burneth the wood and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire so persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm Fill their faces with shame that they may seek thy name O Lord let them be confounded and troubled for ever yea let them be put to shame and perish That men may know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah art the most high over all the earth Psal 83.15 16 17 18. And who are they whom the Psalmist imprecates these dreadful judgments to fall upon but Gods Enemies and Persecutors For lo thine enemies make a tumult and they that hate thee have lift up the head they have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones They have said Come let us cut them off from being a Nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance God has his hidden ones such whose life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 whom the Lord esteems as his jewels keeping them in faithful and safe custody hiding them in the secret of his presence from the pride of man which betake themselves to the Lord for refuge to be hid and secure under his tuition and protection Psal 27.5 and 31.20 And these are they that the enemies of God did consult and conspire against even to extirpate them and to root them out of the land But see how just the Lord is in the exeution of his righteous and terrible judgements upon such Thou shalt take up this proverb saith the Lord against the King of Babylon and say How hath the Oppressor ceased the golden City ceased the Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the Scepter of the Rulers He that smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke mark that he that ruled the Nations in anger is persecuted and none hindereth Isa 14.4 5 6. O that this were seriously laid to heart by the persecuting spirits of this generation whether Gods controversie with the Kingdom at this time in this sore visitation of the Plague among us doth not in a great measure spring from this evil and bitter root so heinous and provoking sin it is unto the Lord. 3. The third pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Murder and Blood-shed that is exercised upon the people of God See Jer. 50.11 12 13. the dreadful threatnings of the Lord against Babylon for this very sin Because ye were glad saith the Lord because ye rejoyced O ye destroyers of mine heritage because ye aro grown fat as the heifer at grass and bellow as bulls Mark they were the destroyers of Gods heritage that was their sin and now what must be their punishment
THE Best of Remedies FOR THE VVorst of Maladies OR Spiritual Receipts and Antidotes for the Preservation of a Plague-sick Sinfull Soul Wherein is shown Sin is the Cause and Repentance the Cure of the Pestilence Seasonably Published by a Lover of Peace and Truth and one that desireth that all would though the Lords hand seems to be withdrawn as to the late universally raging Pestilential Disease forsake those Provoking Sins which call for Vengeance and Judgements on the Sons of Men. R. A. LONDON Printed Anno 1667. THE CAUSES CURE OF THE Pestilence THe first Sin which I shall insist upon so highly provoking unto the Lord to send the destroying Pestilence among a people is the sin of Oppression When the Supream Powers and Authorities of a Nation do exercise a Usurpation or Oppession over the Bodies and Consciences of the people of God This was the sin of Pharoah who tyrannized not onely over the Bodies but over the Consciences also of the Children of Israel He sets Task-masters over them to afflict them with their burdens And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour and made their lives bitter with hard bondage in Morter and in Brick and in all manner of service in the field all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigour By reason of which bondage the Children of Israel sighed and cryed and their cry came up unto God Exod. 1.11 13 14. comp with Chap. 2.23 So Chap. 3.7 The Lord said I have surely seen the afflictien of my people which are it Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters for I know their sorrows And in the 9th Verse Behold the cry of the Children of Israel is come up unto me and I have also seen the Oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them This was an oppression that Pharoah and his cruel Task-masters did exercise over their bodies The oppression that he exercised over their souls and consciences did evidently appear in this The Lord he called and commissionated Moses to go unto Pharoah and he with the Elders of Israel were to say unto him The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us and now let us go we beseech thee three days journey into the Wilderness that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God Exod. 3.18 This they often prest upon him And the reason wherefore they so much urged it is very observable in the 3d. Vers of the 5th Chap. Let us go we pray thee three days journey into the Desart and sacrifice unto the Lord our God lest he fall upon us with Pestilence or with the Sword That is Lest he slay us and destroy us with Pestilence and with the Sword as in Judges 8.21 Pharoah he hardens his heart and is disobedient unto the word of the Lord. And Pharoah said who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go They be idle saith he therefore they cry saying Let us go and Sacrifice unto our God Exod. 5.2 8 17. But the Judgments of God pursuing him at the very heels and the greivous swarm of Flies coming into his house and into his servants houses and into all the Land of Egypt so that the Land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of Flies then he calls for Moses and Aaron that they might go and Sacrifice to God but where in the Land that is in his own Land the Land of Egypt But what said Moses It is not meet so to do for we shall sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God Lo shall we Sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians before their eyes and will they not stone us We will go three days journey into the Wilderness and Sacrifice unto the Lord our God as he shall command us It is not meet or it is not right so to do as being not so appointed of God who called into the Wilderness to Sacrifice Exod. 3.18 Shall we Sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians That is The Beasts which the Egyptians do worship and do abhor to kill or to see killed for Sacrifice And the Sentence twice repeated may imply two senses 1. Shall we Sacrifice to our God such things as the Egyptians Sacrifice that would be an abomination to the Lord Or 2. Shall we Sacrifice such things as God requireth that would be an abomination to the Egyptians The Scripture often calling the Gods and Services of the Heathens Abominations As Deut. 7.25 and 12.30 31. 2 King 23.13 Ezra 9.1 Isa 44.19 Now the principal Sacrifices of the Hebrews were Oxen and Sheep Gen. 15.9 And all Shepherds or Sheep-keepers were an abomination to the Egyptians Gen. 46.34 For the Egyptians abstained from Sheep and Sacrificed Goats By all which it is very evident that Pharoah denying the Israelites to Worship as God had appointed them did oppress them not only in their bodies but in their Consciences likewise which drew down the dreadful Judgments of God upon him and his Land among which this of the destroying Pestilence For proof whereof see Exod. 3.19 20. I am sure saith the Lord that the King of Egypt will not let you go no not by a mighty hand And what follows I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders c. So Exod 9.13 14 15. Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me for I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart c. and especially in the 15. Vers For now will I stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with Pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the Earth And in the 12. Chap. and 29. Vers See what a dreadful slaughter the Lord made accordingly in the Land of Egypt And it came to pass that at Mid-night the Lord smote all the first-born in the Land of Egypt from the first-born of Pharoah that sat on his Throne unto the first-born of the Captive that was in the Dungeon and all the first-born of Cattel and there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not a House where there was not one dead See further the severity of God in punishing this sin of Oppression Jer. 34.17 Therefore thus saith the Lord ye have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother and every man to his neighbour Behold I proclaim a liberty for you saith the Lord to the Sword to the Pestilence and to the Famine and I will make you to be removed into all the Kingdoms of the earth So highly displeasing it is unto the Lord for a people to be oppressed either in their civil or spiritual liberties and enjoyments according to that in Psa 12.5 For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him at safety from him that puffeth at him And
Lord to anger and did cast the Lord behind his back See 1 King 14.9 comp with Chap. 15.29 and 30. c. Add to this that in the 44. of Jeremiah the 7. and 8. Vers Thus saith the Lord the God of Hosts the God of Israel Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls to cut off from you man and woman child and suckling out of Judah to leave you none to remain In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands burning incense unto other gods c. that ye might cut your selves off and that ye might be a curse and reproach among all the Nations of the earth So highly provoking is this sin of Idolatry unto God as you many see further Exod. 20.4 5. Deut. 6.14 15. and 32.21 which I say that we may not be mistaken concerning it doth consist not only in the worshiping of Idols and false gods but of the true God in a false manner It may be thou wilt not be so gross to fall down and give divine Adoration to an Image yet if thou dost worship God before and by an Image thou art an Idolater The Image which the Jews made of the true God is condemned of God himself Exod. 32.8 and they that made it were punished as Idolaters 1 Cor. 10.5 7. It 〈…〉 a dotage in Popery to distinguish between Idol and Image and to make the Picture of a false god onely to be an Idol not considering that the making of an Image or the likeness of God or of any Creature in Heaven or Earth for a religions end to give it divine adoration and worship or to worship God by it is Idolatry forbidden by the Scriptures even by the Lord himself Deut. 5.8 9. Thou shalt not make thee any graven Image or any likeness of any thing c. Thou shalt not bow down thy self unto them nor serve them 2ly Idolatry may be said to be all humane inventions and traditions of men thrust into the divine worship and service of God Deut. 12.32 Whatsoever I command you saith the Lord that observe and do thou shalt not add thereto c. So said our blessed Saviour In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men And you transgress or reject frustrate and make void the commandments of God by your traditions Matth. 15.3 9. Mark 7.9 Therefore all traditions and superstitions contrary to the Word of God are to be avoided and abhorred by all who will be found worshipping of God in spirit and in truth according to his own institution and prescription 3ly The setting the heart inordinately upon any creature by fearing loving and trusting in it more then in God and above God is Idolatry in Gods account Phil. 3.19 The Apostle complains of some whose God was there belly and the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of setting up of Idols in the heart Ezek. 14.2 4. 4ly The Immoderate love unto and the distrustful care for the things of this life falls under this denomination of Idolatry Hence it is that the Apostle saith That no unclean person or covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God Eph. 5.5 the one makes his lust the other his mony his God And the Apostle in Col. 3.5 among other the sins and lusts of the flesh calls Covetousness Idolatry For which things sake saith he the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience All these kinds of Idolatries by the Apostle Peter are exprest I conceive under the name and title of abominable Idolatries 1 Pet. 4.3 Hence it is I suppose that John in the conclusion of his Epistle hath this exhortation to the beleivers of his time Little children keep your selves from Idols Now all Idols being vanities and the work of errors which in the time of their visitation shall perish Jer 10.15 Then it must needs follow That they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy Jon. 2.8 And this is the fourth Pestilential sin so highly provoking the Lord 5. The fifth pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Covetousness consisting in a greedy inordinate desire after gain unto which evill whosoever is subject is the servant and slave of all other sins So insatiable and unsatisfied he is that like the man that hath the Dropsie the more he drinketh the more he thirsteth This sin of Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 and Ephes 5.5 Because the covetous person not only prefers his treasure before God but doth place the happiness and felicity of his life in his substance like the fool in the Gospel Luk. 12.15 16. And what sin is there that is more provoking unto the Lord or that pulls down more the wrath of God upon a Nation or Kingdom as I instanced before then the sin of Idolatry For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience Col. 3.6 So abhorring a sin it is unto the Lord Psal 10.3 The wicked blesseth the Covetous whom the Lord abhorreth And therefore I finde it rankt with those other aforementioned so highly provoking sins of Bloodshed Oppression and Persecution Jer. 22.17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness and for to shed innocent blood and for oppression and for violence to do it And what before Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong Shalt thou reign because thou closest thy self in cedar Did not thy father eat and drink and do judgement and justice and then it was well with him c. Jer. 22.13 15. The like woe or denunciation of judgement against this vile provoking sin you have in Isa 5.8 9. Woe unto them that joyn house to house that lay field to field till there be no place that is for the poor to dwell that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth And mark what follows In mine ears said the Lord of Hosts of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without inhabitants O that our great Builders and Inclosers of our times would seriously lay this Scripture to heart How many houses now hath God made desolate in City and Suburbs how many great and fair dwellings now stand empty without an inhabitant You have the like woe denounced in Micha 2.1 2 3. Wo to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds c. and they covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppress a man and his house even a man and his heritage And what follows hereupon Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold against this Family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not remove your necks neither shall ye go haughtily for this time is evil Mark I pray you it s said they covet fields and houses and take them by violence If they do but fancy or get a mind to such and such a piece of Land to such a House or
Christ but are now again intangled therein and overcome turning with the Dog to his own vomit again and with the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire Let such know That their latter end will be worse with them then the beginning 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. 12. The twelfth Pestilential and highly provoking Sin is the sin of Rebellion and Obstinate Disobedience against God and his Commandments Levit. 26.23 24 25. And if ye will not be reformed by these things saith the Lord but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my Covenant and when ye are gathered together within your Cities I will send the Pestilence among you and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy So Deut. 28.15 16 20 21. If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandments and his Statutes c. These curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee Cursed shalt thou be in the City and cursed shalt thou be in the field c. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thy hand for to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly And wherefore Because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me The Lord shall make the Pestilence cleave unto thee until he hath consumed thee and the Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Feaver and with an Inflammation and with an extream Burning and with the Sword and with Blasting and with Mildew and they shall pursue thee until thou perish So in the 58 and 59. vers If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this Book that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful name The Lord thy God Then the Lord will make thy Plagues wonderful and the Plagues of thy seed even great plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance So Deut. 29.22 23 24 25. The Generations to come when they shall see the Plagues of the Land and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it and that the whole Land is Brimstone and Salt and Burning c. like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah c. with the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his wrath Even all Nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done this What meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers c. To this agrees that of the Prophet Jerom. 29.17 18 19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Behold I will send upon them the Sword the Famine and the Pestilence and will make them like vile figgs that cannot be eaten they are so vile And I will persecute them with the Sword with the Famine and with the Pestilence and will deliver them to be removed to all the Kingdomes of the Earth to be a Curse and an Astonishment and a Hissing and a Reproach among all the Nations whither I have driven them And wherefore will the Lord be so severe against them Because they have not hearkened to my words saith the Lord which I sent unto them by my servants the Prophets rising up early and sending them but ye would not hear saith the Lord. So Ezek. 6.11 Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel for they shall fall by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence He that is far off shall die of the Pestilence and he that is near shall fall by the Sword and he that remaineth and is besieged shall dye by the Famine Thus will I accomplish saith the Lord my fury upon them Ezek. 7 11. The Sword is without and the Pestilence and the Famine within he that is in the Field shall dye with the Sword and he that is in the City Famine and Pestilence shall devour him And why Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness v. 11. The rod hath blossomed pride hath budded So Ezek. 14.19 21. If I send a Pestilence into that Land and pour out my fury upon it in bloud to cut from it Man and Beast though Noah Daniel and Job were in it As I live saith the Lord they shall deliver neither Son nor Daughter they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness For thus saith the Lord God How much more when I sent my four sore Judgements upon Jerusalem the Sword and the Famine and the noysome Beast and the Pestilence to cut off from it Man and Beast And when will the Lord execute this great severity and be so inexorable the 13. vers declares it When the land sinneth against me saith the Lord by trespassing grievously I shall conclude with that in the Prophet Amos Chap. 2. ver 4 5. Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof Because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his Commandements c. And what follows I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem So Amos 4.10 c. I have sent among you the Pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the Sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stinck of your Camps to come up into your Nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. So incorrigible hard-hearted and un-reformed were they under all the sore Judgements that the Lord had inflicted upon them Yet before he will make an utter destruction he invites them once again to repentance Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Thus you see what a high provoking sin it is to rebel against God and his Commandments As Samuel said to Saul when he disobeyed the Word of the Lord. Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft and Stubornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry 1 Sam. 15.23 And if God was so severe to punish the transgressions of the law with what severity will Christ proceed against the willful contemners and disobeyers of his Gospel according to that of the 2d of the Heb. 2 and 3. vers If every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward that is of punishments inflicted on them How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation that is the Gospel which is called a Ministry of the spirit and of life whereas the law is a killing letter or the ministration of death and condemnation 2 Cor. 3.6 7 9. And the wrath of God cometh upon the children of Gospel disobedience Ephes 5.6 13. The thirteenth pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Insurrection and rising up against
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners yea the greatest and cheifest of sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 And that God hath set him forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his blood for the remission of sins Rom. 3.25 And though thou art naturally unclean and hast contracted much defilement by reason of sin yet that Christ hath loved thee and washed thee from thy sins in his own blood Rev. 1.5 That in him thou hast redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins Col. 1.14 Satan will tell thee thou hast broken the Law and incurred Gods anger wrath hell and eternal damnation Faith will tell him that Christ hath perfectly fulfilled the Law satisfied divine justice taken away the curse and freed thee from condemnation Rom. 8.1 and that Jesus Christ by his blood hath pacified Gods anger towards thee Rom. 3.25 Faith will tell him thou art not under the Law now and so not under the Curse and that though the Law does pronounce thee accursed for the breach of it yet Christ hath redeemed thee from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.10 13. Satan will tell tell thee still thou art unrighteous and the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but faith will tell him that thou art washed that thou art sanctified that thou art justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6.11 And that Christ was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 And as he was made sin so of God also is he made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Does Satan tempt thee â—o evil Faith will tell him that he so tempted Christ but Christ vanquished him in all his tempttaions Mat. 4. And we are more then Conquerors through Christ that hath loved us Rom. 8.37 Does he yet tempt thee to be proud tell him that God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble 1 Pet. 5 5. Does he tempt thee to passion tell him that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God Jam. 1.20 Does he tempt thee to uncleaness tell him thy body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and thou art not thine one but art bought with a price and therefore thou must glorifie God in thy body and in thy spirit which is Gods 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Does he tempt thee to be a servant of men tell him thou art bought with a price and so freed from that servitude 1 Cor. 7.23 would he have thee to please men tell him if yet thou shouldst please men thou shouldst not be the servant of Christ Gal. 1.10 Does he tempt thee to the love of the world tell him that if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2.15 Does he tempt thee to an indifferent luke-warm spirit in the things of God tell him that the Lord testifies against such a spirit that is neither hot nor cold that he will spue it out of his mouth Rev 3.16 Does he tempt thee to fall away draw back and renounce thy profession tell him that such as so fall away shall not be renewed again unto repentance Seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame Heb. 6.6 And that if any man draws back the Lord will have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 You see what a most excellent weapon this sheild of Faith is to repel the temptations and assaults of Satan upon all accounts Secondly And it is of like force and efficacy to expel the venome and malignity of sin Art thou stung with it at any time look up by faith unto the brazen Serpent there 's healing Numb 21.9 Are thy sins of a scarlet dye Faith in his blood can make them as white as snow are they red like crimson it will make them as wool Isa 1.18 Are they many and multiplied transgressions Faith will tell thee that where sin hath abounded there grace hath much more abounded that as sin hath reigned unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5.20 21. Hast thou abundantly sinned this faith will tell thee that God will abundantly pardon he will multiply pardons Isa 55.7 Dost thou fear the reigning domineering power of sin This faith will assure thee That sin shall not have dominion over thee for that thou art not under the law but under grace Rom. 6.14 Dost thou yet fear that thy sins shall stand on the file and that God will remember thine iniquity this faith in Christs blood will assure thee that he will blot out thy transgressions for his own name sake and will not remember thy sins Isa 43.25 But perhaps thou art afraid of Death and of the power of the Grave this Faith will assure thee that death is swallowed up in victory his sting taken out that Christ hath ransomed thee from the power of the grave and hath redeemed thee from death that he is deaths plague and the graves destruction Isa 25.8 Hos 13.14 1 Cor. 15.54 So that we may triumphantly say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay the gracious beleiving souls may be perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord Rom. 8. and some of the last verses thereof Wilt thou not then fear this severe stroke of Gods visitation O get more of the blood of sprinkling on thy soul this speaketh better things then the blood of Abet The blood of the Paschal Lamb was to be strook on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses of the children of Israel when God did intend to smite the first-born in the land of Egypt and execute his judgement against all the Egyptian gods and saith the Lord When I see the the blood I will pass over you meaning the children of Israel and the Plague sholl not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the Land of Egypt What did this typifie and hold forth but Christ the true Passover or Paschal Lamb whose blood besprinkling the conscience cleanseth us from all sin and delivereth us from the stroke of the destroying Angel even from wrath to come 1 John 1.7 1 Thess 1.10 See then that thou exercise thy self continually in that onely heaven upon earth and sweetest sanctuary to a
Ezod 18.8 11. This was the Argument that good King Jehosophat used in prayer with the Lord when a great multitude of enemies came against him O Lord God of our fathers art not thou God in heaven and rulest not thou over all the Kingdomes of the Heathen and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee Art not thou our God who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy freind for ever O our God wilt not thou judge them for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee And the Lord did thereupon shew forth his mighty power and that this great multitude was not able to withstand him For he set ambushments against the Children of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir that came against Judah and they were smitten and every one afterwards helped to destroy another 2 Chron. 20. O then be acting faith in this great and powerful Jehovah that he would make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the Nations that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God Isa 52.10 Fear and tremble before him whose mighty power hath limited and bounded the proud and imperious waves of the Sea that hitherto shall they come and no further and here shall its proud waves be stayed Jeremiah 5.22 comp with Job 37.11 Fear him that can cast both body and soul into hell Matth. 10.28 It is he that makes the pillars of heaven to tremble and to be astonished at his reproof Job 26.11 And learn to depend on this Almighty being for preservation in all streights and exigents whatsoever who can preserve without means as Elijah forty days and forty nights 1 King 19.8 by strange and miraculous means even by the help of Ravens that fed him 1 King 17.4 by the ministery of Angels vers the 5. and the 6. of that 1 King 19. Chap. By small means as the widows meal in the barrel and her little oyle in her cruse 2 King 17.14 Against means as Daniel in the Lions den Dan. 6.22 By ordinary means wherein his powerful blessing is to be desired else we may eat and not be satisfied Hag. 1.6 And let us praise him withal our strength for his almighty power Rev. 4.11 Worthy art thou O Lord to receive glory and honour and power Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory 1 Chron. 29.11 And let us be speaking of his power to make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and whose dominion endureth throughout all generations And for the adversaries of the Lord let them know that they shall be broken to peices and that out of heaven God shall thunder upon them 1 Sam. 2.10 And that his power and his wrath is against all them that do evil Ezra 8.22 And let it be matter of consolation and encouragement in our prayers that we call on that God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think Eph. 3.20 In our perseverance That the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth who fainteth not neither is weary will renew our strength that we shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint Isa 40.31 Because he upholds us in our integrity Psal 41.12 The Garrison that keeps us is the power of God 1 Pet. 1.5 And none can take us out of his hand because he is greater then all Joh. 10.29 In times of Temptation For our strength is in the Lord and in the power of his might Eph. 6.10 't is he that strengthens us in the inward man And when God shall help us with a little help Dan. 11.34 then our strongest temptations shall not prevail but we shall be more then conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 In times of Affliction Know that he that is Almighty orders them for the kind whether on our souls or bodies names or estates Amos 3.6 For the measure whether great or small Jer. 30.11 The time sometimes but an evening heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the mourning Psal 30.6 Sometimes ten days The Devil shall cast some of you into prison and ye shall have tribulation ten days Rev. 2.10 Sometimes our sorrows shall be for years Psal 90.15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil He orders the Deliverance there is an appointed time for that also Josephs feet must be hurt with fetters and lye in irons until the time that the word of the Lord came and tried him and then the King sends and looseth him and makes him Lord of his house and Ruler of all his substance Psal 105.19 20 21. There is a time when the Prisoners shall be loosed out of their pit and turn to their strong hold even the Prisoners of hope Zach. 9.10 11. Lastly what great consolation doth this minister in respect of death our bodies shall not always rot and consume we must awake and sing though we dwell in the dust Isa 26.19 And our vile bodies shall be chaanged and fashioned like unto his glorious body even by the mighty and absolute power of Christ according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.21 All created powers being derived from him and subordinate unto him 1 Chron. 29.12 and 2 Chron. 14.11 2. Act faith in the mighty power of God and that in times of sickness and of this sore visitation of the Lord. Know that this is the Lords prerogative royal to kill and to make alive to bring down to the grave and to bring up again 1 Sam. 2.6 This the Lord challengeth as his own sovereign peculiar right I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Deut. 32.39 In Psal 90.1 2 3 Saith the Church there Lord thou hast bin our dwelling place in all generations Before the mountains were brought forth c. even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God And what follows Thou turnest man to destruction and sayst Return ye children of men The consideration of this mighty power and the Churches acting faith in the same did put her upon pious thoughts of returning unto the Lord Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up And what follows After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight Hos 6.1 2. Consider then in the first place whoever thou art that art thus under the chastising hand of
hefore us which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast c. Heb. 6.17 18 19. And this was it without all question that made the Apostle break out with that holy boldness and exultation of spirit Who shall seperate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more then Conquerors through him that loved us For I am perswaded saith he that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 8.35 to the end Now this stability and firmness of Gods love grounded upon the faithfulness of God may be a great support to the poor doubting soul that is apt to question the Love of God and the certainty of its eternal estate in Christ 2ly This Faith in Gods faithfulness is to be acted upon the account of our Vocation or Calling to and confirmation or establishment in the Grace of God God is faithful saith Paul by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord And therefore will he confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1.8 9. That God who hath called you unto the communion or fellowship of his Son not externally only in point of Ordinances Church-fellowship and Publique-worship whereby we profess to have communion with Christ and his benefits but internally in a special manner whereby we are really united to him by faith and by the spirit of Christ and so are made partakers indeed of all the glorious benefits priviledges and advantages of his death resurrection ascension intercession Rom. 8.32 Eph. 3.17 1 Joh. 1.3 This God who hath so called you is the faithful God faithful in the performance of all his promises he hath made to confirm you unto the end not to leave you nor forsake you Heb. 13.5 as many freinds do in time of adversity not to cast you off Rom. 11.1 2. as many Parents do their Children not to forget you as many cruel and unnatural Women do their sucking children Isa 49.15 No surely he will not do it his faithfulness is engaged to stand by you fear not he will be with thee be not dismayed he is thy God he will strengthen thee yea he will help thee yea He will uphold thee with the right hand of his righteousness Isa 41.10 And make an everlasting Covenant with thee that he will not turn away from thee to do thee good but will put his fear into thy heart that thou shalt not depart from him Jer. 32.40 So the Apostle Paul praying for the Thessalonians that the very God of peace migh sanctifie them wholly and that their whole spirit and soul and body might be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ He makes this the ground of his confidence Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it 1 Thess 5.23 24. So 2 Thess 3.3 But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil Why shouldst thou then fear of falling away or of thy persevering in the grace of God when Gods faithfulness is engaged forthy establishment 3ly This faith in Gods faithfulness is to be acted upon the accompt of a Christians temptations and conflictings with sin and Satan 1 Cor. 10 13. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful observe that I pray you who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Thou poor tempted soul thou thinkest perhaps that no temptations are like unto thine but thou art mistaken thy temptations are not singular but in common with others other men have been exercised with the like And thou art apt to think thou shalt sink under thy temptations thou findest so little strength to undergo them but what saith the Apostle God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength but will proportion suitable strength according to your trials Gods Faithfulness is engaged to help you and to support you under all your temptations and trials Would Satan then make thee beleive that thy sins are of that nature and magnitude that they shall not be forgiven think upon Gods faithfulness then who is engaged to pardon thee So saith John 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confest our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness It would be an act of unfaithfulness and injustice in God if he should not pardon and forgive poor penitent sinners who confess and forsake their sins But God is faithful and just and cannot falsifie his word If we beleive not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 4. This acting of faith in Gods faithfulness is of excellent use in order to our standing fast in the faith and continuing in our publique faithful testimony for the Lord Heb. 10.23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering and why for he is faithful that hath promised faithful in performing what he hath promised Josh 23.14 And what hath he promised Surely as hath been declared before to establish and keep us from evil and confirm us unto the end 1 Cor. 1.8 According to that also in 2 Thess 3.3 But the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil Stablish you in the faith lest you fall from it and keep you from evil to wit the Devil lest he subvert your faith by evil men as the instruments of his art or it may be taken more generally for any evil as the Apostle declares in the 2 Tim. 4.18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom And therefore we may upon this consideration be much encouraged to hold fast our profession and not to be staggaring or wavering in our honourable and faithful testimony for the Lord. 5. This acting of faith in Gods faithfulness is of excellent use to encourage us as to a suffering state for Christ and to Christian contentation under the Cross It is a faithful saying saith the Apostle that if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him 2 Tim. 2.11 12. Rule or reign as Kings so the word it seems imports if we endure all manner of tribulations with patience and stedfastness in the faith And it is a faithful saying saith he a certain sure firm credible irrevocable word not to be questioned or doubted Or we shall be glorified together with him as the Apostle expresseth it Rom. 8.17 and
trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her roots by the river whose leaf shall be green and shall not cease from yeilding fruit Jerem. 17.7 8. Pro. 28.25 And as David Psal 40.4 Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies 3. A mans House or Habitation is the place of his Secresie Where does the Husband and the Wife or a man and his freind unbosome themselves communicate their thoughts and the very secrets of their hearts each to other but usually and for the most part in their Houses in their private Chambers and Closets So it is with the Man or Woman that makes God their habitation They 'l go to God and in their Closet and close retirements with the Lord how will they unbosome themselves and lay open their very hearts and most secrets thoughts and spread them before the Lord. So did Hanna in the bitterness of her soul she prayed and wept sore and in her secret retirements she poured out her soul before the Lord 1 Sam. 1.10 15. meaning the trouble and anguish of her heart So David when his spirit was overwhelmed within him then he cried unto the Lord and poured out his complaint before him and shewed him all his trouble Psal 142.1 2 3. So Jeremiah 20.10 11 12. when he lay under evil reports and defamation and his familiars watched for his halting what course does he take He goes to God and opens his cause unto him or discovers his cause unto him as to an Advocate or Patron O Lord of Hosts saith he that triest the righteous and seest the reins and the heart let me see thy vengeance on them for unto thee have I opened my Cause So is it said of Hezekiah when he had received the Letter of railing Rabshekah and read it he goes up into the House of the Lord and spreads it before the Lord in this manner O Lord God of Israel which dwellest between the Cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth Lord bow down thine ear and hear open Lord thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacharib which hath sent him to reproach the living God This hath been the manner of the Servants of the Lord who have made God their habitation they go to God in secret and pour out their souls before him O saith Job that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his seat I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments Job 23.3 4. Holy Job even now a Proverb or a Prodigy rather perceiving his freinds discourses were fuller of reproaches then consolations neglects to answer them and resolves to get him to God the onely support and refuge of the miserable The soarest strokes cannot drive away gracious souls from God but rather draw them nearer unto him they seldome or never think themselves near enough unto God its Sun and Sheild and Center O that I knew where to find him that I might come even to his Seat And Gods Judgment-seat where he sits to hear and determine Causes is not terrible or unapproachable to a Beleiver who knows it to be a Throne of Mercy as Job did here And happy are all that can say so For we must all appear defore the Judgment-seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 11. and it will be terrible to all those that do not often resort thither before hand And it is good to have our hearts and mouths fill'd with Arguments when we come to plead and expostulate and reason out our great concernments with our God who hath all good things lying ready by him and waits only for Prayer to come and fetch them away Not that God stands in need of our informing him concerning our necessities which he knows better then we but because hereby we give some proof that we are not altogether strangers at home as many careless ones are but know something of our selves and our own cases and of him and his dealings towards us If our mouths then be fill'd with arguments we may be sure of an Answer God will not sit still and say nothing he will not sit like an Image like a dumb Idol as the Abominations of the Heathens their Dii Stercorei their Dunghil Gods as they are called Deut. 29.17 must of necessity do they can do no otherwise though men fill their mouths with Arguments and empty their veins of their blood before them 1 King 18.28 Go boldly then to the Throne of grace plead with God and fill your mouthes with arguments spread thy complaints before him and open thy cause unto him for when ever you do so beyond all peradventure God will answer There 's no fear that he will interpret this sawciness and presumption in thee and so answer thee with his fists about thine ears or with his foot to kick thee out of his presence there is no fear that he will smother thee under the waight of his greatness or dazle thee with his beams or burn thee with his flames or drive thee from the judgement seat as Gallio did the Jews Act. 18.16 No he never beats his people lower then their knees and thence suffers them yea helps them to rise again nay he will lay his hand upon thy head yea under thy feet to do thee good he will stroke rather then strike a pleading soul He will strengthen thee and put mettle into thee He will not plead against thee with his great and absolute power So he dealt with Daniel a man that had great intimate acquaintance with God Chap. 10.19 How was he strengthened when the Angel touched him The Righteous may plead and dispute with him even at the bar of Equity and Justice and the Judge cannot but pronounce and pass sentence in their favour Thus righteous Jeremiah pleaded with him Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee Jer. 12.1 And he invites his people to come and plead freely Isa 43.26 Put me in remembrance saith the Lord let us plead together declare that thou mayst be justified if thou haste any thing to say for thy self say on Yea Idolaters shall have this permission to plead for themselves and their dumb Idols if they have any thing to say for them Isa 41.21 Produce your cause saith the Lord bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob Shall Idolaters have this liberty and not the true Worshippers that worship him in Spirit and in truth The wicked shall they have it and not the righteous Yes doubtless this is that boldness of speech 2 Cor. 7.4 mentioned as the great priviledge of the Saints especially now under the new Testament Heb. 4.16 Accedamus cum loquendi ubertate ad thronum gratiae Letus come boldly unto the throne of grace Heb. 10.19 Having