with sweete wordes So there are at this time that love to preach Placentia and make Sermons as the Poet did his fables Populo ut placerent Sowing pillowes under the elbowes of the wicked The occasion is because they seeke great things for themselves therefore doe they studie to please men for they see that Zedekiah will be beleeved when Micajah will be sent to prison 1. King 22. and fed with the bread of affliction 1 rem 20.1.2 and Pashur will be a governour in the house of the Lord when the Prophet Ieremiah by his authoritie shall be put in the stockes 2 Tim. 4 3. For these are the times foretold by the Apostle wherein the itching eares of men cannot abide wholsome doctrine but They hate him that rebuketh in the gate Amos 5.10 and they abhorre him that speaketh uprightly as Achab hated Micajah because he prophecied evill that is he faithfully warned him of that judgement which afterward came upon him Wee are come to such an height of iniquitie as Israel was when shee could not indure the the rebukes of eyther Priest or Prophet Hoj. 4.4 Let none rebuke nor reprove another saith the Lord for this people are as they that rebuke the Priest And by the Prophet Isaiah They say unto the Seers see not Isai 39.10 and to the Prophets prophecie not unto us right things but speake flattering things unto us And Micah 2.11 If a man will say I will prophecie unto thee of Wine of strong drinke that is if hee will tell them pleasant tales hee shall even be the Prophet of this people But it behooveth us whom the Lord hath made watchmen over his Ierusalem if we will deliver our owne soules and be free from the bloud of all men to blow the Trumpet and give warning to the wicked Let us remember that caveat which the Lord gave unto Baruch Ierem. 45.4 Behold that which I have built will I destroy and that which I have planted will I plucke up even this whole land and seckest thou great things for thyselfe Seeke them not Iâ—b 32 22. And solet us say with Elihu I know not to give flattering titles unto man for in so doing my maker should take me away suddainely 1 King 22.14 Let us resolve with Micajah As the Lord liveth whatsoever the Lord saith unto me that will I speake Although Zedekiah doesmite mee on the cheeke and Amaziah informe against mee to Ieroboam and others diswade mee from prophecying at Bethel because it is the Kings Court yet for Sions sake I will not hold my peace but I will lift up my voyce like a Trumpet and shew the people their sinnes and forewarne them of Gods judgements crying Samaria shall be desolate and therefore O Israel returne unto the Lord. Againe if by Israel wee understand them of the land of Iudah then yee shall observe from hence That the corrections of other men should be our instructions the judgements of God upon others should waken us up and make us looke about us to see whether or not we be in the like danger If our neighbours house be on fire it is time to looke to our owne If Samaria become desolate then let that Israel which is in the land of Iudah take heede least as they have beene partaker with her in her sinnes so they doe also receive of her plagues Now I can tell you that Samaria is become desolate The wrath of God in a great measure hath seased upon our neighbor Nations that they may take up the same lamentation that Ieremie did The sword devoureth abroad Lament 1.20 and death is at home Even that famous Citie of London is now become a fearefull spectacle of Gods judgements God hath met with her in the Moneth of her affliction Men women and Children fall downe in the streeres smitten not with the sword of the Assirians that were sent against Samaria but by the sword of the destroying Angell that slew the Assirians in a word there is nothing but desolation in her streetes Rachel mourning for her children cannot be comforted O Lord. What have they deserved which wee have not Were they more vile and abominable then wee No Luke 13.4 Thinke not that those eighteene upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell and slew them were greater sinners then others I tell you nay but except yee amend your liues yee shall all likewise perish What I pray you are the sinnes for which it hath pleased God to enter into judgement with our neighbour Nation Is it the pride and prodigalitie of England Is it their drunkennesse and gluttonie Is it their luxurie and uncleannesse Is it their oathes and oppression Or finally Is it their contempt of Gods word and formall hypocrisie Looke upon your selves with unpartiall eyes and yee will finde that wee have justified our sister Samaria in all her abominations that the Lord may justly take up against us the same complaint he doth against Iudah Ierem. 3.8 Ierem. 3.8 When backesliding Israel committed adulterie and I had put her away and given her a Bill of divorce yet her treacherous sister Iudah feared not but went and played the harlot also What will follow hereupon but as is Isai 10.12 Shall I not Isal 10 1â— as I have done unto Samaria and her Idoles so doe to Ierusalem and her Idols But let the Kingdome of England rather be Iudah and this where wee live Samaria and so the application will suite better For yee know Iudah was the first and the mother kingdome so is England to us Samaria was farre more corrupt in Religion then Iudah having onely a shew of truth Ioseph antiq l. b. lib. 11. cap. 8. in Circumcision Temple Priest Books of Moses so is this Kingdome where we live The Samaritanes were a mixt people of Iewes and Gentiles so are wee heere 2 King 17.33 The Samaritanes had a mixt worship for in Samaria both the God of Israel and the Gods of the Nations were worshipped Ioseph antiq lib. 9. cap. ult and would to God it were not so heere Is there not in everie Towne Village and Corner of the Kingdome a mount Gerizim whereupon they bragge their Fathers to have worshipped Iohn 1 20 Is there not a succession of Priests sacrificing upon everie mountaine and under everie greene Tree and least thus succession should fayle for want of issue because they have no wives of their owne Is there not a continuall supply every day from Rome And finally Are there not many Relickes of Saints and holy Wels of more worth if yee will beleeve them then Iacobs Well in Samaria Iohn 4 12. Ioseph antiq lib 11 cap â— Besides Samaria was a receptacle for all fugitive persons who were not suffered to live at Ierusalem for strange wives or for other crimes for which cause their Temple was called Templum transgressorum And what better is this of ours Doe not all sort
first wee must returne from our sinnes This is expressed Isai 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way in and the unrighteous his owne imaginations and returne unto the Lord. Let the wicked forsake his wayes there is Terminus à quo This turning from sinne is called Mortification and it contaynes five things First a sense and sorrow for sinne Secondly a hatred and detestation of sinne Thirdly a purpose in minde to leave sinne Fourthly an inclination in will to doe the same Fiftly an indeavour in life and conversation to forsake sinne altogether This must hee doe that will returne unto the Lord First hee must bee cast downe with a deepe sight and sense of his sinne Psalm 38.18 saying with David I agnize my sinne Psal 119.128 and am sorry for mine iniquite He must hate and abhorre sinne as the greatest evill in the world saying with the same Prophet Doe I not hate everie evill vvay He must resolve with himselfe never to commit any sinne This must bee also the desire of his heart and the indeavour of his whole life Otherwise hee cannot returne unto the Lord for God will not take a wicked man by the hand nor have fellowship with the throne of iniquitie Againe To whom must wee turne To the Lord according to that Ierem. 4.1 O Israel if thou returne returne unto me saith the Lord not to any other not to my Angels not to my Saints not to my Martyres not to my Mother but to my owne selfe In the 7. Chap vers 16. this people is accused that They did returne but not to the most high They had some beginning of repentance but it fayled by the way and brought them not so farre as home to the Lord. They were like a deceitfull bow for after all their aymes and offers of turning to the Lord they started back and returned not to the Lord but to their Idols they returned to their sinnes as a Dogge to his vomite It is not enough then to cease from sinne but withall wee must turne unto the Lord that is wee must turne our hearts upward to heaven setting our affections on things that are above wee must fixe our eye upon God and make towards him with the foote walking in the way of his Commandements that all men may see that wee are not of this world but that our conversation is in heaven This turning to the Lord is called a rising to newnesse of life and it hath three parts First a resolution in the minde Secondly a lust in the will Thirdly an indeavour in life and conversation to obey God Iosh 24.15 Psal 119.106 Every man ought to resolve as Ioshua I and myne house will serve the Lord. And as David I have sworne and I will performe it Aeh 13 1â— Act 11 2â— that I will keepe thy righteous judgements This must bee his desire also as it was Pauls hee desired to live honestly Hereunto Barnabas exhorted the Antiochians that with their heart they would cleave unto the Lord. And finally hereunto must wee indeavour our selves throughout the whole course of our life So did the blessed Apostle Act. 24.16 Psal 119.6 Herein I indeavour my selfe to have alway a cleare conscience towards God and towards Men. And David I have a respect to all thy commandements Whosoever hath these is turned from sinne unto the Lord. The manner how wee must returne Ioel 2.12 is expressed by the Prophet Ioel. Turne unto me with all your heart and with fasting weeping and mourning Whence yee may observe foure properties of our conversion First wee must turne with the heart therefore our conversion must be voluntarie there is a reformation which is not voluntarie but rather against the will when a man turnes not from sinne but sinne turnes from him because eyther hee cannot practise it for want of strength or dare not for feare of punishment Such a man may seeme to turne from sinne but it is not with his heart Wee must turne with the heart even so willingly that it be our chiefe delight to use all meanes for to set forward this worke for nothing is done well but that which is done with the will Secondly wee must turne not onely with our heart but with all our heart therefore our conversion must be sincere for as in Scripture the Phrases of a double heart 1 Chron. 12.33 a devided heart Hos 10.2 A heart and a heart Psal 12. a are used to signifie hypocrisie So this phrase With all the heart doth signifie sinceritie Then wee must turne unto the Lord with all our heart that is to say sincerly and not for shew onely wee must draw neere unto God not onely with the lips Psalm 51.6 but with the heart also for Hee loveth trueth in the inward affections In this sense it is said of David that hee followed God with all his heart 1. King 14.8 And of Iosiah that Hee turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soule and with all his might 2. King 23.25 And of the people in the time of King Asa that the oath which they made before the Lord was With all their heart 2. Chron. 15.15 But Ierem. 3.10 The Lord accuseth his people for want of this sinceritie Her rebellious sister Iudah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart but faynedly Thirdly wee must turne with all our heart therefore our conversion must be a thorow change of the whole man of the whole life though it be imperfect in degrees yet it must be perfect in regard of parts Wee must not halt betweene God and Baal Wee cannot serve both God and Mammon God will not be content with a part of the heart he will eyther have all or none It is said of Iehu that he did not walke in the Law of the Lord with his whole heart for why Albeit hee obeyed God in some things cutting off the house of Achab Yet hee departed not from the sinne of Ieroboam 2. King 10.31 And so there be many that give but the halfe turne like to Agrippa who was not altogether but almost perswaded to become a Christian. Some turning their wordes not their deeds as our verball professors And others againe turning from many sinnes and yet with Herod remaine unturned from one speciall beloved sinne These be but false turnings our conversion must bee a thorow change wee must turne with all our hearts Finally wee must turne not onely with all our hearts but also with fasting weeping and mourning therefore our conversion must not be inward onely but it must bee expressed outwardly in these things wherein consists the practise of humiliation namely fasting c. And that especially in the time of any great affliction such as this was when the Prophet Ioel had foretold the people of the comming of the Chaldeans Esther when shee heard of the intended destruction of the Iewes appointed a fast Esth. 4 10. Nehem. 1.4 2. Chrâ—n 20 3 2. Sam.
of malectors flie hither as unto a Citie of refuge who dare not live at home some for strange wives some for bloud some for thest and the best for debt Ioseph antiq lib â— cap vii making this land a verie denne of theeves Lastly Iosephus reports that the Samaritanes whensoever the Iewes were in prosperitie would be accounted Iewes but when the Iewes were oppressed by their enemies then they did disclaime all affinitie with Iewes as having their progenie from Assiria and joyned with their enemies and Is it not to be feared that we have such fayned friends among us that now professe themselves subjects to our Kings Majestie none better nor more desirous of the peace of the Kingdome who yet if the Assirians should come against us would prove our most dangerous enemies If the Pope have their hearts the Spaniard will have their service In all these respects may this Kingdome be called Samaria Well then Hath God begun to visit Iudah What shall become of Samaria 1 Pet 4 â—â— and if judgement begin at Gods owne house What shall the end bee of them which obey not the Gospell If this bee done to the greene Tree What shall become of the drie wood If God spare not the naturall branches How will he spare us who are but wilde Olives Remember what God faith to the Iewes who sojourned in the land of Egypt when Nebuchadnezzar had subdued Iudah because they were not affected with the evill that was to come upon their mother nation Ierem. Chap. 44. Vers 3 Yee have seene all the evill that I have brought upon Ierusalem and upon all the Cities of Iudah how they are desolate because of their wickednesse yet they namely that remaine in the land of Egipt are not humbled unto this day 10 neyther have they feared therefore thus saith the Lord of heastes 11 I will set my face against you and I will visit them that dvvell in the land of Egipt as I have visited Ierusalem 13 by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence Now our case is just as theirs was Wee sojourne here in a land of darkenesse like Egipt and wee have seene what evill the Lord hath brought upon our mother nation because of their sinnes yet are not wee humbled unto this day neyther have wee feared What remayneth then But that God visit us as hee hath done them Therefore learne from the correction of your neighbours to returne unto the Lord in time and make your peace with God The punishments of the Iewes are our ensamples saith the Apostle to the intent that Wee should not lust after evill things 1 Cor 10 6 as they also lusted The judgements of God upon our neighbours should be unto us as those arrowes whereby Ionathan forewarned David of the Kings displeasure he shot not at him but over and beyond him yet David understood thereby that the King was angrie and made hast to be gone so may wee perceive by these darts that come from heaven and fall not upon us but neere unto us that Gods wrath is kindled against us and therefore wee shall doe well to get up as David did and make hast to flie from the face of an angrie God hiding our selves in the holes of that rocke CHRIST IESVS who is a propitiation for our sinnes Proverb 22,3 Salomon saith A prudent man seeth the plague and hideth himselfe He seeth it in the Oracles of the Prophets in the sinnes of the people especially when it is begun upon others and he hideth himselfe that is he prevents it by repentance hee makes his peace with God he hides himselfe under the mantle of Christs righteousnesse hee gets the dore-postes of his heart to be sprinkled with the bloud of that immaculate Lambe that so hee may bee safe from the hand of a destroying Angell in the day of the fiercenesse of Gods wrath God graunt unto us all this wisedome to foresee the plague and hide our selves for behold I give you warning Samaria is become desolate therefore let Israel returne From the people exhorted I come to the dutie required which is to returne unto the Lord. This phrase Returne is a Metaphor drawen from travellers who having lost their way must come backe againe and returne into the right way Beloved wee all are or should be travellers to heaven where out home is but we have strayed out of the way and gone a quite contrarie course wee are prodigall children that have departed from our fathers house and gone into a farre countrie wee are lost sheepe that have straied from the fold Isal 53.6 All we like sheepe have gone astray vvee have turned every one to his one way Wee have strayed out of Gods pastures into Sathans inclosures therefore wee must turne backe againe and set our faces towards God upon whom wee have turned out backes The word is not simply to turne from one thing to another but to returne namely to that which wee was before implying three things First that once they were with the Lord. Secondly that they had gone away from him Thirdly that they must come home to him againe This is true of all men Wee were once with God for being created after his image wee had fellowship with God and God with us But wee did fall away from God and became his enemies for sinne turnes and averts a mans soule from God according to that of the Prophet Your iniquities have separated betweene you and your God Isai 5â— 2 and your sinnes have hid his face from you And now unlesse wee would perish it behooveth us to returne againe to him But in a speciall manner this agreeth to the people of Israel They were Gods people not onely by creation but by particular adoption The Lord did chuse them above all the people of the earth to set his love upon them they were a holy people a royall Nation a chosen generation to the Lord their God hee dealt not so with everie Nation as with them for he gave his Lawes unto Iacob and his testimonies to Israel To them were committed the Oracles of God to them did appertaine the adoption and the glorie and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the promises of them were the Fathers and of them concerning the flesh CHRIST came Yet such was their ungratitude that they did kicke up their heeles against the Lord their Master and Maker they went away from him a whoring after their owne inventions They committed Idolatrie upon everie mountaine and under everie greene Tree Ierem. 3.6 Ierem. 2.13 In a word they forsooke the Lord the fountaine of living waters and digged unto themselves Cisterns that could hold no water And now here God by his judgements doth call them to returne againe unto him O Israel returne Heere before I proceede any further observe with mee That humiliation goeth alwayes before grace the sense and apprehension of our owne