be acknowledged warre is the more dreadfull judgement more terrible then either Famine or Pestilence both which ordinarily are attendants upon the Sword Man hath an hand in the one not so in the other Yet know we and know it to our comfort man hath not so an hand but that God hath an hand in it too I the chiefest hand God doth not so put the Sword into the hand of man as to leave the managing and handling of it wholy unto him No should it be so Gods people must looke but for little mercy no favour nothing but the height and quintessence of Cruelty But here is the Comfort man is but the Instrument God himselfe the principall agent ruling over-ruling handling that Sword which he puts into the hand of another So the Geneva Translation readeth that of the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 21. 11. Where the Prophet speaking of that sharpe Sword which the Lord would put into the hand of the Babylonians arming them against his people He hath given it saith he to be furbished that hee may handle it â— Marke it God in giving the Sword into the hand of man doth not give it out of his owne hand He giveth it to him ad tenendum in volâ as Montanus renders the words according to the Originall to hold in his hand but not to use as he pleaseth Even as a writing-Master puts a penne into the hand of his young Scholler which yet himselfe guideth Thus God puts the Sword into the hand of man which yet himselfe handleth Man holdeth it God handleth it Man being but as I said Gods Instrument his Sword As the Sword is to man so is man to God The wicked who is thy Sword in the place fore-named Psalm 17. 13. Now the Sword though a sharpe and dangerous weapon yet it wounds not it hurts not unlesse hee which weareth it strike with it Wicked men suppose them never so sharp set against the Church and people of God though Swords nay Razours so the Prophet calls that Assyrian Monarch Novacula mercenaria or conductitia a Razour which God had hired to shave his people with Isa. 7. 20. In that day shall the LORD shave with a razour that is hired c. yet cannot they draw the least droppe of blood or take off the least haire from any unlesse God himselfe make use of them to that end He it is that handles this Sword that shaveth with this Razour A soveraigne Consolation and Cordiall against the terrours of the Sword terrours which Gods people may be subject too Terrours by reason of the Sword shall be upon my people saith the Lord Eze. 21. 12. to keepe the heart from fainting melting Let it be taken downe and digested by every of us There is a Sword a sharpe Sword abroad and at worke at this day in this and the Neighbour Kingdome Many parts in both it hath already visited and it threatens the rest Some blood it hath already drawne and it seemeth yet to thirst after more doing terrible executions where it commeth A Razour indeed shaving to the quicke Yet let not the hearts of the Lords people melt before it Remember we whose Sword it is The Sword of the Lord And what Our Fathers Sword and in the hand of our Father Beare we up our spirits A Châ—…d how ever at the first sight of a glittering Sword comming high him he startles and runnes away yet if it be in the hand of his Father that quiets him and makes him the more confident that that Sword shall not hurt him The Sword which is drawne amongst us it is a glittering and a terrible Sword I cannot blame nature for startling at it Yet consider we in whose hands it is even in the hand of our heavenly Father And if 〈◊〉 this Sword though never so greedy of flesh and thirsty of blood yet it shall neither goe nor doe 〈◊〉 hither and what he will have it This Sword hath received his Charge from God and that Charge it shall observe and that exactly It was Balaams speech I remember to the servants of Balack Numb. 22. 18. If Balâ—ck would give me his house full of silver and gold a temptâ—ng Bribe J cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord my God to doe lesse or more And why could he not Why God had put a bridle into his mouth The same God hath in like manner put a Bridle into the mouth of the Sword so as it cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord to doe lesse or more then he hath given it in Charge To doe lesse it will not be bribed and to doe more it will not be hired The Charge which it hath received from the Lord it will it shall it must observe 1. Going to no place but where he sends it It is not without a divine Providence that it is come into this Kingdome What places in the Kingdom it hath hitherto visited it hath had a Charge against every one It neither hath nor shall visit any without a divine both Permission and Commission The Sword maketh a Progresse rides Circuit upon Earth I but the Gests are set downe in Heaven To this place it shall come not to that He that hath said unto that masterlesse element Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shalt thou stay thy proud waves Job 38. 11. Hee hath said as much to the Sword Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shalt thou stay thy proud rage To this place this Country this City not to that For an instance hereof reade but that 19. Chap. 2 Kings You shall there see the Assyrian Monarch with 〈◊〉 puissant Army in the Field marching against Jerusalem with a full purpose and reasolution to sacke it to destroy it but what saith the Lord See it ver. 32 33. Thus saith the Lord the King of Ashuâ—he shall not enter into this City nor shoote an arrow there nor come before it with a shield nor cast a Banke against it By the way that he came by the same shall hee returne c. The Sword though never so strongly backed or put on yet it shall neither enter nor come to any place but where that God whose Sword it is hath given it a charge to goe 2. Where it doth come it shall abide no longer then according to the Commission and Charge which it hath received That God who hath set downe a course and order for the rising and setting of that Martiall Planet in the Heavens at such an houre it shall rise so many houres it shall be above the Horizon at such an houre it shall set hee hath also by a like providence ordered the rising and setting the comming and going of the Sword which wandereth upon Earth And this Order and Command the Sword shall observe If Joab blow the Trumpet and sound a Retreat the whole Army retires Every man to his Tent 2 Sam. 20. 22. If God the great Generall shall say to the Sword Put up
Man His mercies are great With him there are bottomlesse Bowels of unexpressable unconceivable mercy All the Mercy that is to be found diffused through the Bowels of all the mercifull Men and Women in the world is but a drop not a drop to that Ocean And shall wee fall downe before him humbling our selves at his foote-stoole and shall hee not have compassion on us O try and see what this course will doe If this will not save us we are in the outward appearance but lost men and women Our condition being such as wee may well say with Jehoshaphat in that great strait 2 Chron. 20. 12. Wee know not what to doe but our eyes are towards thee O LORD In this case that we may prevaile with God that his Bowels may be stirred with compassion towards us O let us fall downe at his foot-stoole Humbling our selves in the Confession of our owne sinnes and the sinnes of the Nation acknowledging the Righteousnesse of Gods judgements against us This is the way which the LORD puts his owne people upon promising them that by this meanes they should be able to divert and turne the edge of the Sword See it Levit. 26. 40. If they shall confesse the iniquity of their Fathers with the Trespasse which they trespassed against mee And that also they have walked contrary unto mee and that I have also walked contrary unto them c If then their uncircumcised hearts bee humbled and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity What then Then will I remember my Covenant with Jocob c. and I will remember the Land Wee heere see both the Counsell and the promise Take wee the one and rest upon the other Confesse wee our owne sinnes with the sinnes of our forefathers which GOD by way of temporall judgements both in Justice may and often doth visit upon Posterity Withall Accept wee the punishment of our iniquity acknowledging GOD to be Just and Righteous in what ever hee hath done or shall doe against us So doing doubt wee not but GOD will yet Remember his Covenant with his people and wee may hope he will yet remember the Land returning and Repenting and leaving a Blessing behinde him Joel 2 14 Secondly Thus Humbling our selves for those sinnes which have beene the provokers of this Wrath the Causes of this Evill Indeavour wee in the second place to put them away to wash our hands of them Wash yee make you cleane put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes Isa. 1. 16. It is not hee that Confesseth but hee that Confesseth and Forsaketh that shall have Mercy Prov. 28. 13. This doe we for our selves this indeavour wee for the Kingdome Till Jonah be cast over-board the storme will not cease the Sea will not be quiet Till Shebaâ—s head be throwne over the walles Joab will not sound a Retreat Till the crying â—â—â—es of the Land be taken away by a Nationall Reformation wee cannot expect that the storme of GODS wrath should cease or the growen Sea of the present distempers amongst us should be quieted Every of us then indeavour this great worke onely observing our stations Publick persons in their places and private persons in theirs Every one beginning at home at his owne heart owne life See what is to bee found there that may bee charged with the maintenance of this present Warre and finding it out discharge it Which having done Thirdly Then in the next place Strike wee a New Covenant with our GOD Certainely they have not beene much mistaken who have both thought and said That it is a Covenant businesse which the Sword cometh about I meane not so much the Formality as the Reality of a Covenant To avenge an Old Covenant which hath bene broken to Require a New Covenant which may be kept And is it this that the Sword cometh about Why let us in the feare of GOD give it what it would have that it may depart from us Every of us in our particulars bewaile our frequent breaches of former Covenants made in Baptisme renewed in the Supper of the LORD and this day strike wee a New Covenant with and before the LORD Withall indeavouring as much as in us lyeth the renewing of a Nationall Covenant that the whole Kingdome may be bound and engaged to a Closer cleaving to the LORD and walking with him in an universall subjection to all his Ordinances an universall obedience to all his Commandements Surely this will bee found the best and onely way to procure mercy if it may bee for the publick However it will be a sure way to procure security and safety to our selves either to keepe off the Sword that it shall not come nigh us not touch us It is Eliphaz his speech in Job Job 5. 15. The LORD saveth the Poore from the Sword The Poore what the World 's Poore such as are outwardly Poore Not so alas they are frequently made a forlorne hope sacrificed to the fury of the Sword to dull and blunt the edge of it But GODS Poore the Poore in Spirit such as Humble themselves before the LORD as the Geneva glosse explaines it Or if it doe touch us yet it shall not hurt us It shall be unto us but as our Heavenly Fathers Red Horse so it is called in the Revelation Chap. 6. ver. 4. sent by him to bring us home to himselfe to convey us into his presence Fourthly For which in the fourth and last place to close up all time and strength being spent having done as afore-said then Let us make the LORD our trust Another meanes and a speciall one to secure us from the Sword To trust in GOD Not in Man not in Power or Policie These wee may use but trust not in them Which if wee doe it will be the next way to betray us It is that which the LORD threatens against the Jewes Jer. 5. 15 17. Loe I will bring a Nation upon you from farre c. And they shall impoverish or Plunder thy fenced Cities wherein thou trustedst with the Sword The next way to have a Kingdome a City a Towne sacked and plundered is to trust in the strength of it But make wee the LORD our strength our trust So doing if good for us hee will secure us wee shall not feele of the Sword or not fall by it It is that which the LORD promiseth to Ebedmelech Jerem. 39. 8. I will surely deliver thee and thou shalt not fall by the Sword Why Because thou hast put thy trust in mee saith the LORD What he there promiseth to him in particular David upon the same ground in Gods Name promiseth to all Gods people Psalm 37. ver. ult. The LORD shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him No such way to engage GOD to worke deliverance for us in any strait as this To trust in him This will David doe in his greatest straites when The foundations were destroyed as hee speaketh Psalm 11. 3. or out of course all things out of course in the Kingdome so as seemingly there was little hope of safety left for David his Enemies by way of insulting or his Friends by way of advising they said unto his soule Flye yee as a Bird to your Mountaine ver. 1. willing him to betake himselfe and his Family to some place of security and no longer to rest upon the promise but what course doth he resolve to runne Why In the LORD put I my trust ver. 1. The case at present is ours The Foundations in this Kingdome are out of course the dreadfull Commotions in it threatning ruine to it In this case Carnall reason will be dictating and suggesting unto us as they to him Flye wee as a Bird to our Mountaine c. Seeke we out some places of Refuge and Safety for our selves and ours But trust we not to this counsell In the Lord put wee our trust so doing doubt not of security It is Davids speech which he spake out of his owne experience and I shall conclude with it The Lord is a Buckler to all those which trust in him Psal. 18. 30. FINIS Coherence Division Explication Doct. Reas. 1 2. Application Vse 1. Information Greg. Nyss Vse 2. Terror Vse 3. Comfort Mat. 6 23. Vse 4. Counsell Meanes
emphaticall is that of the Prophet Isai Isa. 34. 5. My Sword saith the Lord shall be bathed or made drunke in Heaven A notable expression The Sword is never made drunke upon Earth but it is first made drunke in Heaven First made drunke in Heaven in the Decree and Purpose of God before it be made drunke upon Earth in doing Execution which is but the Execution of that Decree When God sends a Sword against a Nation he giveth it a particular Commission and that not onely against such or such a place but against such and such particular persons So much is intimated in that full expression Isa. 65. 12. where the Lord denouncing vengeance against those rebellious ones which had stopped their eares against his Call he tels them he would number them to the Sword Therefore will I number you to the Sword marke it where God giveth over a people to the Sword he doth it not by the grosse but by number and tale Such as are appointed to the Sword goe to the Sword as the Prophet Jeremy hath it Ier. 15. 2. They and none but they God giving over whom he pleaseth and exempting whom he pleaseth The one shall not escape the other shall not be touched It is the Lords promise to King Zedekiah that notwithstanding hee should fall into the hand of his Enemies yet he should not perish by the Sword Thou shalt not die by the Sword Jer. 34. 4. The like protection he giveth to Ebedmelech the Black-moore Jer. 39. v. last Thou shalt not fall by the Sword The Sword when it is sent against a people it is not left to the casualty of Chance or Fortune nor yet to the will of him that useth it God himself giveth it a Commission a Charge a charge as whither it shall go and how farr it shall go and how long it shall stay so what blood it shall draw And in all these respects well may it be called The Sword of the Lord To these let me adde yet one thing more The Sword where ever it goeth it goeth upon Gods errand to avenge his quarrell This is that which the Lord telleth his people Lev. 26. 25. I will bring a Sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrell of my Covenant Marke it The Sword is never unsheathed it never goeth forth upon any service but it is in Gods quarrell to take vengeance for some wrong some affront some indignity offered to him or to his people To such a purpose the Sword in the Text served It was to goe forth to avenge the quarrell of God against the Philistins those inveterate enemies to him and his people to take vengeance upon them for all the wrongs and injuries that they had done to the Arke of God and to the people of God Never doth the Sword goe forth but upon some such quarrell God hath first a Controversie with a Land as the Prophet Hosea speakes Hos 4. 1. before he send the sword to decide it The Quarrell is his and therefore the Sword may well be called His Sword O thou Sword of the Lord A usefull Point and so let it be to every of us That is the businesse I mainly intend at the present it being most sutable to the day and occasion which calls rather for Application then Doctrine That it may be so unto us In the first place bring we home this generall Truth to the particular case of this Kingdome in the bowels whereof there is a Sword a sharpe Sword wandring and forraging wasting and spoiling It may be at this very instant eating of Flesh and drinking of blood A Sword not unlike that in the Text which beginneth at Ashkelon reacheth to Tyre and Sidon beginning in the in-land parts of the Kingdome extendeth to the Sea Coasts some whereof have already felt of it and the rest being in daily expectation of it Now this Sword know we it to be as it is The Sword of the Lord and so looke we upon it which till we doe we are not capable of making a right use of it It is so in all judgements all corrections till we come to see God in them wee shall never make a sanctified a Christian use of them It is so in this great and soare judgement for so indeed it is no judgement piercing deeper The Sword reacheth unto the soule saith the Prophet Jeremie Jer. 4. 10. Now that we may make a right use of it that use which God would have us to make give way to this conviction acknowledging this to be Gods Sword True it is in the hands of men managed as we thinke by them but alas what are they Instruments At the most {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Living and Rationall I dare not say Reasonable Paul tells us of Wicked and Vnreasonable men so our Translation renders it 2 Thes. 3. 2. but Rationall Instruments as the Philosopher saith of Servants A Living Sword as the Father saith of a Dog that he is Vivus hominis gladius A living Sword to his Master Such are men specially wicked and ungodly men to God The wicked which is thy Sword saith the Psalmist Psalm 17. 13. And so looke we upon this Sword which is abroad and at worke in some parts of this Kingdome already know we it to be Gods Sword A Sword which hee hath both called for and sent having given it a Warrant a Charge whither to goe He that here gave the Sword a charge against Palestina against Ashkelon and the Sea Coasts hath now given it a charge against England and against the severall places where either it hath come or shall come Looke we not then too much at secondary causes at the Malignancie of what ever spirits we conceive to have beene Incendiaries in the State Alas what are they Instruments Bellowes which may blow up but cannot kindle a fire Nor yet attribute we too much to those imaginary observations of fatall Revolutions or Ominous Conjunctions of those heavenly Bodies So farre the Astrologer goeth upon what ground I know not A Christian must goe further not staying his thoughts upon earth nor yet terminating his sight in the visible Heavens but looking through all let him behold this Sword furbished and bathed in the highest Heavens the Heaven of Heavens So much God taught the people of the Jewes by a signe from Heaven by that prodigious Comes that flaming Sword hanging perpendicularly with the point downwards over the City Hierusalem for a yeare together before the destruction of it thereby shewing them from whence the Sword should come against them I am not over-credulous of a flying report which informes us of a like prodigie in this Nation a like Sword hanging after a like manner not many yeares since over the head of that place that City which at this present is made the seate of the Warre Sure I am from thence it is that the Sword drops upon the head of a place a Citie a Kingdom It
Sword Such was the Sword in the Text The Sword of the Lord though put into the hand of the Babylonians So the Prophet Ezekiel explaines it Ezek. 30. 25. When I shall put my Sword into the hand of the King of Babell In whose hands soever it is Gods Sword Even as the Sword of Magistracy in whose hands soever it be found yet still it is the Kings Sword In acknowledgement whereof it useth where he cometh in Person to be delivered into his hand Thus this Sword in whose hand soever still it is Gods Sword The Sword of the Lord A truth which I might make good if need were upon these two Swords the Forraigne Sword and the Civill or Domesticke Sword Ecce duo gladij Loe here are two Swords as the Disciples once said to our Saviour Luk. 22. 38. The Forraigne Sword the Sword of a Forraigne Enemy The Civill or Homebred Sword of the two the sharper being like the Sword of Goliah which cut off his owne head the Sword of a Civill warre Each of these the Sword of the Lord For the former the Text is expresse O thou Sword of the Lord saith the Prophet speaking of the Sword of a Forreigne Enemy And it is no lesse true of the latter It is that which the Story tells us of the Midianites who being amazed by Gideons frightfull stratagem they fell foule one upon another not without a divine over-ruling providence The Lord saith the Text set every mans Sword against his fellow Judg. 7. 22. The Sword whether Forraigne or Civill still it is the Sword of the Lord And well may it be so called it is both of his choosing and of his using 1. Of his Choosing his appointing So are generally all Rods Heare the Rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6. v. 9. God doth not leave it unto men to chuse their owne Rods True it is once he did it and but once that I remember David having provoked God by numbring of the people the Lord sends him his choice of three Rods a hard choyce Famine Sword Pestilence J offer thee three things saith the Lord choose thou one of them that I may doe it unto thee 2 Sam. 24. 12. But this is not ordinary Ordinarily God himselfe makes choyce of the Rod the judgement wherewith he striketh And choosing it he cals for it So he doth for mercies before they come J will call for the Corne Ezek. 36. 29. And the like hee doth for iudgements this amongst the rest the Sword it never cometh before he calls for it Lo I will call for a Sword upon all the inhabitants of the Earth saith the Lord of Hoastes Jer. 25. 29. It is he that calleth for the Forraigne Sword In that day the Lord shall hisse for the Fly that is at the uttermost part of the floods of Aegypt and for the Bee that is in the Land of Ashur saith the Prophet speaking of the Egiptians and Assyrians which God intended to bring against his people Is 7 18. And it is he which calleth for the Civill or Homebred Sword I will call for a Sword against him saith the Lord speaking of Gog and Magog the principall enemies of the Church and every mans Sword shall be against his Brother Ezek. 38. 21. The Sword whether Forraigne or Civill it is a Rod of Gods choosing and in that respect may well be called his Sword 2. As of his Choosing so of his Vsing as of his calling so of his sending which he doth not without a Charge so you have it in the Text The Lord hath given it a Charge against Ashkelon c. wherin the Prophet gives a Reason why he calleth this Sword The Sword of the Lord because the Lord had given it a Charge So he doth where-ever the Sword cometh he giveth it a Charge a Commission not only a Permission but a Commission and that under Seale It is that which Job saith of all Afflictions and Judgements Job 33. 16. The Lord openeth the Eares of men even by their corâ—ections which hee had sealed i. e. determined so the Geneva both reades and interprets that place God never sends a judgement but he sealeth it giving it a Charge a Commission and that as it were under Seale So he doth by the Sword which never cometh without a Commission a Charge and that from God who chargeth and ordereth it 1. Whither it shall goe 2. How farre it shall advance 3. How long it shall stay 4. And lastly What execution it shall do In all which respects it may be well called The Sword of the Lord 1. It hath a Charge from God whither it shall goe to what place to what Kingdome what part of that Kingdome so much we may reade in the Text The Lord saith the Prophet had given the Sword a charge against Palestina the land of the Philistines and that not only against the Country in generall but against some particular places in it The Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the Sea coasts Ashkelon one particular City of the Philistines an inland City paulò remotior as Calvin notes upon it a little more remote from the Sea Coasts viz. Tyre and Sidon of which the Prophet speaketh v 4. Maritine Townes bordering upon the Sea Now the Sword had a Commission against each of these Not only a generall but a particular Charge so hath it where ever it commeth a Charge not onely to goe to such a Country but such a part of that Country A charge given it by God 2. As a Charge whither it shall goe so How farre it shall advance Whether it shall goe to one part of the Land or through it so much we may picke out of that threatning Ezek. 14. 17. If I bring a Sword upon that Land saith the Lord and say Sword goe through the Land This Sword how well backed soever it can advance no further then it hath a charge a command to doe and so farre it shall goe This also we may reade in the Text The Sword of the Lord had a charge against Ashkelon and against the Sea coasts it should not only touch the skirts of the Kingdom but the inland part also 3. How long it shall stay where it cometh whether it shall be only Transiens gladius a transient Sword passing through the Land or else Permanent staying and abiding making it the Seat of a warre So much againe we may learne from the Text where the Prophet treating and Parlying with the Sword about a Cessation How long will it be ere thou cease c. In the next verse he corrects and answers himselfe How can it cease seeing the Lord hath given it a charge a Charge viz. how long it shall continue and abide wasting and spoyling in that Land 4. What Execution it shall doe This also the Sword hath in charge from God whether it shall sip and taste of blood or els be bathed and made drunke with blood Expresse and
is that which Eliphaz in Job saith of all affliction all trouble It cometh not forth of the Dust neither doth it spring out of the ground Job 5. 6. Apply we it to this great Affliction this great Trouble The Sword cometh not out of the dust neither doth it spring out of the ground Certainely the Originall of it is from Heaven However in the hand of Man yet it is the Sword of the Lord And is it so And doe we so apprehend and beleeve it to be Oh then stand we in awe and tremble before this Sword The Lyon hath roared who will not feare saith the Prophet Amos Amos 3. 8. The Lord God the Lord of Hoastes hath drawne his Sword who shall not tremble at it The Sword of the Lord And what a Sword is his Why a fore and great and strong Sword so you have it described Isa. 27. 1. And being so who or what shall oppose this Sword How shall it be diverted how shall it be stayed quieted This it is which the Prophet here chiefly drives at in the Text where as I told you he seemes to Parlie with the Sword which was coming against the Philistims treating with it about a cessation O thou Sword of the Lord how long will it be ere thou be quiet Put up thy selfe into thy scabbard c Here give me leave to returne a little to the Text interweaving Explication with Application that the one may be as the Woofe the other as the Warpe This the Prophet speaketh not in his own person out of any commiseration or speciall affection that he bare towards this people being enemies to God and his people but rather as Mr. Calvin noteth upon it personating the Philistines themselves who when they saw the Sword coming towards them or busie amongst them they would then begin to use his words mulcere blanditijs to flatter it using all carnall politick wayes and meanes of Treaties and Pacifications seeking and indeavouring either the diverting or quieting of it But the Prophet tells them all their attempts and indeavours in this case should be bootlesse This Sword being the Sword of the Lord and having a charge from him it would not be bribed it would not be perswaded nor yet opposed or by any meanes taken off or quieted till it had done the Execution for which it was sent How can it be quiet seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon c. There hath he appointed it Appointed it In this word Calvin findeth a speciall emphasis and therefore renders it not precepit ei but Contestatus est ei Not only hee commanded or appointed the Sword unto that service but he bound it to it by a kind of solemne Contestation laying a solemne Charge upon it binding it as it were by a Militarie Oath or before witnesse as the word Tegnatha may seeme properly to signifie viz. to goe thither and not to returne or be quiet till it had done the worke for which it was sent untill it had over-runne and utterly overthrowne that whole Kingdome And O who knowes whether the Lord hath given such a Charge to this Sword of his which is now come amongst us The Sword it selfe that is unsheathed and drawne I but the Charge the Commission which it bringeth with it that is as yet in part sealed The Lambs Booke in the Revelation it was sealed with six seales Rev. 6. which were not to be opened all together but one after another some of them not yet opened Wee may say the like of this Commission which the Sword hath brought with it God hath sealed it with divers seales some whereof are opened already in those sad effects and consequences which it hath already produced but who knowes what is yet behind How farre the Sword hath already gone and what it hath done we see or heare of but how farre it may yet goe how long it shall continue amongst us what execution it shall doe who can tell Certainely the Charge which God hath given it it will observe and who shall say unto it bee quiet how shall it be opposed how shall it be stayed Alas in this case all carnall wayes and meanes whether Power or Policie will be to little to no purpose If God have given the Sword a charge against Ashkelon it is not all their Land forces their Rampires and fortifications that shall keepe it from entring If he hath given it a charge against the Sea-coasts it is not all their Navall strength their wooden-walles their Sea Forces shall be able to keepe it off If hee hath given it a charge to goe through a Land it is not an Armie of Anakims or Zanzummims suppose every one a Goliath that shall be able to stop the course of it This I speake not to dishearten or discourage any in these times of common danger from using any lawfull wayes and meanes for the securing of themselves or the places where they live from forraigne or home-bred outrages This we may doe this we ought to doe But withall know we that when we have done what we can doe yet if the Sword come backed with this charge if the Lord have given it a charge against a place suppose this place as it will not be bribed so neither will it be opposed or hindered from doing that service that execution for which it is sent In the feare of God then let us no longer delude or flatter our selves suffer not vaine thoughts to lodge within us beare not our selves upon any possible or probable hopes or carnall confidences whatever Think not to say the Sword is yet a farre off in the remote parts of the Kingdome Alas we see or heare what progresse it hath already made how like lightning it hath runne from one corner of the Land to the other how it hath visited parts as distant from the first breaking of it forth as those wherein we at the present are And who knoweth whether God hath given it a Commission to goe through the Land If so be we assured it will find a time to visit us also If the Sword come to Ashkelon it can soone visit the Sea coast Feede not our selves with possibilities Nor yet with the supposall of any speciall security in the place where we are Alas were it never so populous never so strong by nature and art never so well fortified yet if the Sword have a charge against it all will be nothing The Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon saith the Text Ashkelon one of the chiefe Cities of the Philistines if not the Metropolis the head City yet one of the chiefe an Imperiall City the seate of their Kings where they were wont to keepe their ordinary residence So much wee may collect from that of the Prophet Amos Amos 1. 8. where the Lord threatning vengeance against divers Cities in that Kingdome amongst other he tells them that he would Cut off him that held the Scepter from Ashkelon There