REFORMATION AND DESOLATION OR A Sermon tending to the Discovery of the Symptomes of a People to whom God will by no meanes be reconciled Preached to the Honourable House of Commons at their late solemne Fast Decemb. 22. 1641. By Stephen Marshall B. D. Minister of Finchingfield in ESSEX Published by order of that House Zeph. 2. 1 2. Gather your selves together yea gather together O Nation not desired before the decree bring forth LONDON Printed for SAMUEL GELLIBRAND at the Brasen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard 1642. To the Honourable House of Commons now assembled in Parliament IT pleased this Honourable Assembly to require my service in preaching at the late solemne and religious afflicting your soules before the Lord to which not only my duty but experience of your former acceptance of my endeavours made me yeeld a ready obedience But although I knew your goodnesse would beare with that weaknesse which would be discovered in speaking to so grave and judicious an auditory yet could I not expect to receive so large a testimony not only of your acceptation but thanks as I and my Colleague have done much lesse that you should so expresly send to have them published because now what blame shall be cast upon my insufficiency in handling and prosecuting such a subject must in some sort reflect upon your selves For my selfe I answer all objections against my sending them abroad with this that they are yours and it is fit for me to yeeld unto your disposing of them For the maine lesson handled the Lord grant that our seeking him while he may be found may prevent us from being a further proofe of it to other Nations and succeeding generations And to this end the same Lord guide and blesse unto us and reward into your owne bosomes and your posterities all the many long and unwearied labours which you have undergone and still continue in for the glory of his name the reformation of his Church the honour of his Majesty the peace and prosperity of the whole Realme This is so generally desired and sought for at Gods hands that I hope the God who heareth prayers will not leave the happinesse imperfect which he seemes to have prepared by your meanes nor deprive us of the good which you are working To his wisedome protection mercy and grace he leaves you who is your daily Remembrancer at the Throne of Grace STEPHEN MARSHALL A SERMON PREACHED at the late Fast before the COMMONS House of PARLIAMENT 2 KINGS 23. 26. Read also Vers. 25. And like unto him that is King Iosiah there was no King before him hat turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soule and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses neither afterwards arose any like unto him Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withall THis King Iosiah Right Honourable and beloved may most truly bee counted not onely one of the Worthies of the world but also one of the worlds wonders There is hardly any thing recorded of him but what is wonderfull his very birth was wonderfull he being prophesied of by name about three hundred and fifty yeares before hee was borne And therein fore-promised to doe those great thinges which he effected against Idolaters and the reliques of Idolatry And it was as wonderfull to thinke in what a desperate condition and time of the Church he was borne in the darkest midnight of apostasie when the ten Tribes were carried away captive and Iudah and Benjamin onely left and they as farre as the eye of man could see wholly and generally fallen from the Lord their God to all manner of Idols and Idolatries when the very Temple of God was made a denne of Idols nay his Altar the onely Altar of Israel destroied to make roome for Altars erected to Idols When the true Church had hardly any visible being upon the face of the earth yea I am perswaded that in the darkest times of Antichristianity the true Church of Christ was never more invisible then it was about that time when Iosiah was borne And it was another wonder that in such a strong faction as Idolatry then had that any could possibly so prevaile in the Court as to give such education to the young Prince Nor is it lesse wonderfull that by that time he was but sixteen years old hee stood out a perfect godly man undertaking the cause of God and the reformation of Religion and that with such a perfect heart to make the most compleat and absolute reformation of the Church that ever was wrought by any mortall man since God had a Church on earth But the successe of his labours seems to me the most wonderfull of all the rest whether you looke upon the successe it had with the people or the successe it had with God The successe with the people was this that although at Iosiahs first appearing as a right Orient and illustrious Starre in a darke night there was hardly any visible worship or worshipper to bee found yet hee carried all before him like a torrent and walked like a man of fire as his name signifies the fire of the Lord and brought the whole Nation so about that there was scarce ever such a Covenant made as hee procured and that not by a prevailing party but the universality of his Kingdome joined with him in it and continued in it and held close to it all the time that Iosiah lived in the world This was the successe that hee found among the people But now the successe that all this found with God is yet more wonderfull and this my Text will tell you of viz. That not withstanding such a rare man was thus wonderfully stirred up thus miraculously carried on with such a perfect heart with such an unanimous consent of his people to set upon the worke of reforming Religion and did it so as never mortall man did the like before nor any arose afterward like unto him yet notwithstanding all this the Lord turned not away from the fiercenesse of his great wrath c. And so now you see my Text is a description of the altogether hopelesse and helplesse condition of the Church of the Jewes though there was a Physitian risen up who had found out the most pretious balme that ever was and faithfully applyied it yet the hurt of Gods people could receive no cure but they must die for it And this may be reduced to these two heads First you have their miserable and forlorne estate in these words Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath which was kindlcd against Iudah Secondly you have the cause of all this what it was that made God irreconciliably and inexorably set against them in these words Because of all the provocations wherewith Manasses
God magnified Iosiah though his work came to nothing Now let us consider them in themselves where I shall not need before so grave and intelligent Assembly to waste the time in analysing or giving the grammaticall interpretation of so plaine and easie a Text I shall only take up three doctrinall observations which you will see to lie clearly in the words and handle them as the Lord shall please to enable me and the time permit whereof the first is That Gods wrath is a most fearfull and dreadfull thing when it is once throughly kindled The second and maine doctrine is That the sins of a Church and people may come to that height and Gods wrath may be kindled to that heat notwithstanding their reformation God will inexorably goe on to a desolation Notwithstanding all that Iosiah did the Lord turned not from his fierce wrath The third is this being done for Manassehs provocations I observe That the sins of one generation may be the ground and cause of the destruction and ruine of the succeeding generation The abominations that Manasses committed and commanded in his time were the cause why God was unappeasably bent to the destruction of the generation that lived after him I begin with the first That the wrath of God when it is greatly kindled is extreame fierce or it is a most dreadfull thing to bee under Gods wrath when it is once kindled Mark how the words here are eg'd how wonderfully emphaticall how dreadfully expressed God turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled David saith if his wrath be kindled but a little blessed are they that trust in him implying their misery that be under it but when there is the fiercenesse of his great wrath they are miserable indeed who are under that In clearing of this I shall first briefly discusse two or three questions and then endeavour as the Lord shall help me to set it home to you in an application What the wrath of God is what is the wrath of God of which the Scripture speaks so often and such dreadfull things In men we use to say that anger or wrath is perturbatio concitati animi the perturbation of a troubled spirit but in God it is tranquilla constitutio justi supplicii a calme and quiet appointment of just punishment Plainly wrath or anger in God is never attributed to him in regard of any troublesome passion or affection but only in respect of the effect I say that wrath or anger is attributed to God not secundùm perturbationis affectum but secundùm ultionis effectum In a word then Gods wrath is nothing but his revenging justice which justice of God as it simply burnes against sinne the Scripture calls his anger when it doth more fiercely excandescere or sparkle out it is called his wrath the same justice when it pronounceth sentence is called his judgement when it is brought into execution it is called his vengeance so that wrath anger judgement and vengeance in God are all one Gods wrath is his revenging justice and when I say his wrath when greatly kindled is exceeding fierce I meane it is a dreadfull horrid and fearefull thing to fall under the dint of Gods revenging justice How may the fiercenesse of Gods wrath appeare I answer briefly it is impossible for any tongue to set it forth Moses tells us no man knowes the power of Gods wrath God is not easily provoked hee is slow to wrath his wrath is as a great Bell long raising but when it is once up makes such a dreadfull sound as no tongue can expresse Many a poore soule feeles a great deale of it whole Nations have laine under it but never was any creature able to say what the power of Gods fierce wrath is But if you will give your reverent attention one quarter of an houre I shall God willing out of the holy Scriptures open something which may in some degree make you conceive how fearfull the wrath of God is when it is once kindled And doe not think that I shall speak of what concerns strangers and not your selves for I greatly feare that before we part it will be too evident that this fierce wrath is kindled against some of our owne soules who are here present Indeed your calling and meeting this day for humiliation fasting and prayer seemes to tell all the world that you beleeve that Gods wrath is kindled and therefore being kindled it is fit you should know what kinde of flame it is First Consider by what dreadfull comparisons the holy Ghost useth to set out the fiercenesse of Gods wrath As the roaring 〈◊〉 a Lyon the Lyon hath roared who will not tremble the Lord hath uttered his voice who will not fear To a terrible earth-quake that makes the foundation of the hills to quake and tremble But most usually it is set out by devouring fire the most terrible of all the creatures which Gods hand hath made and mark what kind of fire it is Sometimes it is compared to a shower of fire God raines downe upon the wicked fire and brimstone and horrible tempest raining downe of snares and fire and brimstone is a horrible tempest indeed If any mortall man had stood with Abraham and seene the Lord raining downe flakes of fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrha hee would have thought it an horrible tempest Yea it is compared to a lake or river of fire Esai 30. ult. The breath of the Lord speaking of Tophet like a river of fire and brimstone kindles it Imagine the anger of the Lord thus set out as if from Gods nostrils and out of his mouth should come huge lakes or floods of fire and brimstone streaming out upon the people with whom hee is angry What dreadfull things are these Yet further Gods wrath is set out to bee such a fire as is altogether irresistible so that the poore creatures on whom it falls cannot possibly stand before it and therefore usually when God is said to arise in wrath and fury the people that bee the vessels of this wrath are said to bee wax and straw and stubble dry leaves and rotten hedges and what are these to stand before huge stormes and floods lakes of fire and brimstone And as it is irresistible so it is intolerable which is usually set out by weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth And lastly Such a fire when once throughly kindled can never be quenched There bee two expressions among many others in the Scripture which bee very dreadfull to this purpose The one is Deuter. 32. 26. Where the Lord saith that a fire is kindled in his anger and mark what a fire it is it shall burne to the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her encrease and set on fire the foundations of the Mountaines Such a fire as when once kindled burnes up Mountaines earth and world and all
Gods wrath to all eternity Porters will try their burthens upon their shoulders before they engage themselves to carry it doe thou so It is reported of Master Bilney when he thought he should be burnt he would put his finger into the candle to see how he could endure burning doe thou often so goe often alone and say here is a sinne marvellous pleasant such a sinne gaines me thus much every yeere but there is wrath to come And therefore as Elihu said to Iob Because there is wrath beware lest he take thee away with his stroak a great ransome cannot deliver thee hee will not esteeme thy riches no not gold nor all the forces of strength Fourthly and lastly there is one use peculiar to you that be our Noble Senators the Lords and Commons gathered in Parliament wee know your care is for our good but this I humbly propound to you you will never doe us good if Gods wrath bee not taken away from us were you so many Gamaliels so many Hemans so many Solomons so many Angels gathered together and all of one heart to study Englands good you can doe England no good if Gods wrath which is kindled against it be not pacified And therefore let your great study bee both to finde out what hath kindled Gods wrath against us and what may remove it from us of which I shall bee able to give you further knowledge in the next and maine lesson to which now I passe viz. That the sins of a people may come to that passe and Gods wrath may bee kindled to that heigth that notwithstanding their reformation God will goe on to a desolation In handling whereof I shall the Lord helping mee discusse these three things First I shall open the thing in Thesi clear the conclusion and see if I can make you understand it Secondly enquire in hypothesi whether it concerne us or not whether our Nation Church or State may bee thought to be in any danger of it And thirdly I shall endeavour to make some uses which may bee fitting for such an Assembly as this is For clearing the conclusion I shall endeavour these three things First I will demonstrate the truth of it Secondly I will enquire whether the signes of it may be known and how farre they may be known Whether the Lord hath left any foot-steps or rules for us to prognosticate by and so to judge when a people is come to that passe And if so then Thirdly what those tokens are And I shall endeavour to speak plainly and freely of them all For the truth of it were there no other Instance to be found in any other story but this in my Text it were sufficient to prove that such a thing may bee That which hath been already may bee so againe Iosiah we see wrought such a Reformation that the whole Kingdome did all his dayes follow the Lord and notwith standing all this God turned not from his fierce wrath but went on to destroy them The Lord threatens else-where that he would doe it Zeph. 2. 1 2. Gather your selves together before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you As if he should have said The decree is not yet come forth but if once it bring forth it will be too late for you to seek for mercy There be other examples though not so full as this sufficient to prove this truth As Nineveh for one The Lord sent the Prophet Ionah to preach repentance or destruction to them and you know it is said The King laid aside his Crown and called them all to repentance and repent they did and God saw their works and for a while forbore that City and yet the judgement of most Interpreters is that within fourty years after the City was destroyed even in the same age wherein the Reformation was made That Instance of the Iewes is most remarkable in our Saviour Christs time Iohn Baptist came before him and turned the hearts of the parents to the children and the children to the parents made ready a people prepared for the Lord there went out to him Ierusalem and all Iudea and all the region about Iordan and were baptized of him confessing their sins And Christ had so many followers that the Scribes and Pharisees said all the world went after him that is the body of their Nation And the Apostles converted so many that they said to Paul that there were many myriads many ten thousands of Iewes that beleeve who are all zealous yet notwithstanding in that very age wherein the Gospel wrought thus effectually among them the wrath of God came upon that Nation to the utmost and scattered them over all the world It is likewise recorded of the Romane Empire which for a matter of sixe or seven hundred yeares had been a dreadfull enemy to the Kingdome of the Lord first against the Church of the â—ewes and afterwards against the Christians while it was unconverted in Constantines time the Empire turned to Christianity and in the very first age of the Empires Christianity came the destruction and dissolution of it So that there is a truth in it that Gods wrath may be so far kindled that he will accept of no attonement but will inexorably proceed to desolation The second Question is Whether this may be known whether we may possibly find out any direction whereby to iudge of Gods purpose of thus comming against a people Answ. And for that I confesse a great many men especially such as are not willing to have any dangerous truth preached to them doe thinke that all preaching and study in such points as these is of no more certainty than the iudgement of judiciall Astrology Tell them of wrath to come or desolation of Churches or destruction of Common-wealths they look on such as shall tell them of these things as upon a company of ignorant people who will be of their Authors faith or esteem them as proud men who would be thought to have more acquaintance with Gods secrets than their neighbours and therefore they must adventure upon such high points or at best conceive them to be sullen discontented melancholick people who look on every thing with black spectacles but in the meane time themselves will never be perswaded that any can give them rules of directions to judge in this kind But you are wise and if you please to take two or three places of Scripture into your serious thoughts you will conclude quickly that this is a point may be known The one is Ierem. 8. 7. where the Lord blames the stupidity of the people that whereas the Stork in the heavens knowes her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the times of their comming but his people would not know the judgements of the Lord arguing them to bee more filly and simply than the very
birds and fowles who could observe what seasons were fit or unfit for their staying or removing in such or such a Countrey and Gods people remained ignorant of the seasons of Gods approaching judgements Another place you shall find Hos. 7. 9. where the Lord saith of Ephraim that is the ten Tribs gray haires are scattered here and there upon him yet hee knowes it not The meaning plainly is this That as gray hairs are remembrances and plain tokens of declining old age comming upon men so there were symptomes and tokens of Ephraims ruine comming upon him and yet he would take no notice of it Our blessed Saviour also in Mat. 16. v. 1 2 3. tells his hearers that they could make Almanacks for weather and discerne the face of the skie and yet could not discerne the signes of the times implying that Prognostications might also bee made if men would study the right way whereby they might know what God intends to doe with a people So then there is one step gained that something may be known of Gods approaching judgements But that I may not deliver any thing but what you shall have a sull suffrage for I adde in the next place and confesse that because all seasons are in Gods hands and all people under his absolute prerogative so that if hee pleaseth hee may destroy a Nation for one sinne and againe if hee pleaseth hee can exercise so much mercy that no sinnes of a people can set any bounds or limits thereunto nothing but his owne holy will setting limits to his patience long-suffering and mercy and because also God doth alwayes beare such a tender regard to his owne children that where-ever they live hee doth often for their sakes as it were reverse his sentence of desolation In regard of these things and some others which might bee suggested I thinke I may say no mortall man can possibly determine when the precise time of this or that Nations utter ruine is certainly come What Christ said of the day of Judgement may fitly bee applyed here the very day and houre of the last Judgement no man knowes but only the Father and the Sonne to whom it is revealed from the Father and that also since his Resurrection but yet there bee signes whereby wee may know the approaching of that day So wee may say of this though wee cannot know the very time of a Nations desolation yet wee may know when the ruine of it comes neere at hand And what learned men say of them who have studied for the Philosophers stone though they could never finde out the Elixar yet in their search after it they have found out many excellent things admirably usefull for mankinde so in this search if wee cannot determine that such a Nation will infallibly bee ruined yet wee may certainly finde such things as thereby to learne what to feare what to expect what to pray against what to strive after c. And so consequently the handling of this question may bee exceedingly usefull to such an Assembly as I am now called to speak to in the name of God This then is a second step that wee may know such things as may make us feare desolation and consequently labour to prevent it or prepare for it Thirdly the maine question is to enquire what are the Tokens the gray haires the flourishing of the Almond tree whereby wee may guesse at mans going to his long home I answer Politicians and some Divines will tell you of the fatall period of Kingdoms that they have their youth their strength and after a time their declination and shew by abundance of experience that States seldome continue above five or six hundred years without some fatall change But we must goe by a surer rule than this It is not length of time which makes God weary of shewing mercy but what Solomon saith of Kings for the transgressions of a land many are the Princes thereof so for the transgressions of a land and the transgressions only many are the ruines thereof Now there is one rule which God hath alwayes proceeded by in the dissolution of Churches and Kingdoms ever since the beginning of the world and that is this That whensoever the sins of any Church Nation City Family or Person you may take it as large or as narrow as you will are come to a full measure then God infallibly brings ruine upon them This is the rule which I shall make plaine to you God hath set severall vessels to limit the sinnes of all Nations beyond which they shall not goe as once God said to the waves of the Sea hitherto thou shalt goe but here thy proud waves shall be staied so God hath said of the sinnes of Nations Families Persons thus farre I will forbeare thee but farther thy wickednesse shall not exceed then comes thy end Take foure or five cleare evidences for it in the Scripture First that speech of God to Abraham I will give thy posterity all this land but not yet because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full though they were Amorites God would beare with them till their iniquities were come to the full and then he would spare them no longer Another is Zachary 5. verse 6. The prophet in a vision saw an Ephah a thing like a bushell and moreover the Lord told him this is the resemblance of the Ephah throughout all the earth as if God should have said this is not only proper to this people but this rule I go by throughout the whole world and what was that the Ephah is brought out and into the Ephah is cast a Woman this woman sate and filled the Ephah then one brings a talent of lead for a cover to it and that stops the mouth of it and shuts the woman in then come two women with the wind in their wings and they take up the Ephah and carry it between heaven and earth and place it in the land of Shinar or Babylon there to build it an house and to set it upon its own base Now what is the meaning of all this there is one word in the vision which is a key to open this lock viz. this is wickednesse the meaning whereof is That the Lord had brought the Jewes from the captivity of Babylon where they had beene seventy yeeres as soone as they came home though they turned not to idolatry yet they proved stark naught God sets them their Ephah puts their iniquity into a vessell and doth as it were say Goe on till yee have filled the Ephah but as soone as that is full I will clap a talent of lead in the mouth of it I will take a course yee shall sinne no longer in this land but will scatter you into Mesopotamia into the land of Shinar and there be as wicked as yee will So you see when the measure is full then vengeance comes Take another instance in the first of Iames verse 15. When
lust hath conceived it brings forth sinne and sinne when it is finished brings forth death which is of the same interpretation with the former and shewes us sins progresse in the rising reigning and ruine First a man hath lust a wicked corrupt heart that hee brings into the world every man comes into the world with a heart full of lust now this lust brings forth iniquity God leaves people to goe on in wickednesse if they be not such as he means to save and when their sinne is perfected it brings forth death when it comes to the full fourty weeks and hath gone the full time then comes destruction Take yet two instances more both in the fourteenth of the Revelation verse 14 c. in the Parables of the vintage and of the harvest when they were ripe then ruine comes Till then God useth to beare with people smaller judgements often come before sinne is ripe and are removed againe but when once the measure is full then God saith as in Nahum chap. 1. verse 6. He will make an utier end affliction shall not rise up the second time hee will so doe it at once that they shall not need to feare a second Now if by the way you desire to know why God defers so long and rather cuts not off wicked men sooner I answer it should suffice us that it is his will to do it but further he doth it partly that they may be for exercise to his people to purge and humble them as Ashur was his rod to whip his people before the rod was burnt And partly to declare his long-suffering and patience thereby to leave them without excuse if they prove incorrigible Thirdly this is for salvation to some who in the meane time are to be gathered in and this I take it the Apostle meanes 2 Pet. 3. 9. when he saith the Lord defers his comming to judgement because the Nation of the Jews is first to be gathered in So that as the Angel staid till Lot was plucked out of Sodom so God hath some brands to snatch out of the fire for whose sakes he defers the execution of vengeance against them whose sins call for it For these causes and it may be others not known to us but secret to himselfe doth God deferre the full execution of his wrath till sinne be ripe But how may wee judge when the sins of a people grow to the full I answer and but briefly because I would not be burthensome to an attentive auditory the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak in the best to finde out sinnes fulnesse foure things must come into consideration First what kindes of sinnes they are which are land-destroying sinnes Secondly the quantity of these sinnes Thirdly the aggravation of them Fourthly which is the upshot of all the incorrigiblenesse of them First the kinds of them I meane thus there was never any Church or Nation without sinne but all sinnes are not Church-wasting sinnes nor Land-destroying sins but there are sins which are called abominations such as make a land spue out the inhabitants such as make God drive them out And they are some against the first Table some against the second Table Against the first Table first the sin of Idolatry Evermore as Idols come in God goes out When there was an Image of jealousie set up God goes farre from his Sanctuary God likes no such neighbours When Ephraim offended in Baal he dies for it when the meane man bowes himself and the great man humbles himselfe to stockes and stones God will spare them no longer When the glory due to Jehovah is communicated to dumbe Idols this God will bear at no peoples hand And the reason is plaine this is as the marriage bed to God this provokes his jealousie which is his rage then he will accept of no ransome This therefore is the abomination that makes all desolation Secondly the sins of prophaning contemning scorning and persecuting of Gods holy things his holy day his holy servants I joyne all these sinnes together because they come all from the same roote that is malignancy against God God himselfe is prophaned sleighted contemned in all these Thou hast despised my holy things and prophaned my Sabbaths therefore thou hast caused thy day to draw neere God therefore would make Moab as Sodom and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah because they reviled his people but there is one proofe may serve in stead of an hundred 2 Chron. 36. The Lord did a long time beare with them but when once they came to that passe they polluted his House despised his Word mooked his messengers misused his Prophets his wrath grew hot against them till there was no remedy God could thē beare them no longer but utterly would destroy them And it is our Country-man Venerable Bedes observation that when the old Britains grew to that height of sinne as to cast odium in religionis professores tanquam in adversaries God presently sent in the Saxons who destroyed them all There are also some sinnes against the second Table which greatly helpe to fill the measure of a peoples iniquity As first such sinnes as are destructive to humane society cruelty bloud oppression deceit these were the sinnes which brought the flood upon the world of the ungodly These are the sins which the King of Nineveh saw would ruine him and his Kingdome Secondly the sensuall lusts of drunkennesse and whoredome I joine these sinnes together because they are usually joined in Scripture and seldome severed in mens practice And you shall cleerly in the search of the Scripture finde them to be among the abominations which helpe to fill up the measure of a peoples sin and prepares them for judgement I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel saith God speaking of the sinnes which made God hew them downe there is the whoredome of Ephraim whoredome and wine and new mine take away their heart This was one of the things that made God have controversie with the land to make it mourne and to take them all away I have not time to prosecute these things you shall easily finde that these are gray haires in any Nation where ever they are found Secondly the quantity of these sinnes is very considerable when they are universall no Nation ever was without them but when once they come to spread as a Gangrene over the whole body then the measure quickly growes full When all flesh had corrupted their wayes then the flood came rushing in When from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot the whole body was full of wounds and bruses and putrified sores then it was to no purpose for God to strike them any more with any hope of healing You shall finde in the 24. of Ezekiel 〈◊〉 notable description of Jerusalems condition when Nebuchadnezzar came to destroy them the Prophet compares
when such men have God Conscience their office the lawes all on their side and yet dare not appeare against Idolatry prophanenesse violence sensuality as it showes the men to be of a base spirit so it argues the sins of that place to be of great strength even fit for judgment Thus it was in the 22. of Ezekiel verse 30. when all such were growne corrupt I sought for a mā among them that is some Phinehas to stand in the gap to make up the hedge some zealous Ministers to stand up and mediate with God for them and testifie in their ministery against them but I found none and therefore I powred out my indignation upon them Thirdly in case any Magistrates or Ministers doe appeare on Gods part as Iosiah Ieremiah and others did in these forlorne times yet they prove too weake stakes they are able to doe nothing the inundation of wickednesse beares them downe and runs over their heads In a word when some Magistrates take part with sinne others afraid of it and the remainder who are faithfull can prevaile nothing this Rampire is likewise overthrowne 4. There is but one more which when it is likewise cast downe destruction is at the very doore and that is Gods lesser judgements God sometimes keepes petty-sessions to prevent great Assizes inferior executions to prevent utter desolations which when they prevaile not it is a certaine token of extreame wrath Sometimes God afflicts neighbour Nations destroying their Cities that the rest might receive Instruction and their dwelling not be cut off As Judges will hang up a thiefe upon a Gibbet to keepe others from the gallowes I have overthrown some of you saith God as Sodom I have smitten you with blasting and mildew I have sent among you the pestilence yet yee have not turned to me why should ye be smitten any more You shall see this notably expressed in the 24. of Ezekiel Where God compares Ierusalem to a pot and all the Inhabitants to flesh boyling in the pot but all the boyling would not ferch out their scum no threatnings no visitations no inferiour Judgements could prevaile with them but still their scumme their blood their filthinesse and lewdnesse abode in them marke then in the 13. v. what doome God gives of them because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged I have tryed all means to doe thee good and thou wilt not bee reformed thou shalt never be purged from thy filthines any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee I the Lord have spoken it and I will doe it And that example in the sixth of Ieremy is most remarkable where God useth such a parable as this the bellowes are burnt the lead is melted in the fire the founder workes in vaine for the wicked are not taken away reprobate silver shau men call them for the Lord hath rejected them God here compares himselfe to a Silver-smith who takes a piece of oare and tryes all his art to divide betwixt the drosse and the metall but cannot doe it and at last throwes it away with indignation saith it is base stuffe on which hee will never bestow any more labour So God seems to say my Ministers have spent their lungs dryed up their throats all my other judgements have been tryed but the wicked are not taken away they are all base drosse I will bestow no more paines upon them And now you understand what the gray hairs of a State or people are and when a people are ripe for destruction when the time is come that God will passe them no more you shall not need to enquire by what meanes he will doe it he hath all in his owne hands he hath famine and pestilence and sword wilde beasts and fire and earthquakes if none of all these doe it hee hath flies and lice and grashoppers rats and mice enough to destroy the strongest Kingdome in the world in a moment if hee but whistle hisse or call for them Objection It is true may some say if people goe on in their wickednesse and prove Incorrigible no marvaile though God proceed thus against them but that it should be the case of a people who set upon Reformation this is strange And how wil this stand with the doctrine preached in the forenoon that whē a natiō repents God wil repent c Answer In such an assembly as this a short answere if true will satisfie First God never promised that the sincere Reformation of a few should prevent the judgement of a multitude if Gods time of Execution be come Noah Daniel and Iob shall deliver neither son nor daughter who are not turned home to God Secondly I answere that though the Nation joyned in the Reformation it was not in sincerity if it had been sound the doctrine in the morning would have carried it away and I must have had another Interpretation of my Text It is true Iosiah carried it by his authoritie but the peoples hearts were not right And Ieremy saith no lesse when I removed Samaria out of my sight her treacherous sister Iudah turned not to mee Yes might the people say wee did turne to thee under good King Iosiah but it was but fainedly saith the Prophet and it appeares to be so for as soone as ever Iosiah was dead they made a universall Apostacie from the Lord and so their Reformation was but like that of the Nation of the Iews in Christs time which our Lord compares to the uncleane spirit going out for a while and returning againe with seven Devils worse then himselfe As if England by the help of this noble Parliament who lay the cause of God to heart should joine in a reformation though against the haire it would come to nothing in the end And so I have in some measure cleered this doctrine in Thesi how far the approaching ruine of a Nation may be knowne and what the signes of it are The second followes and that is Whether this concerne us And what answer would you have me give you I could willingly answer in this as Daniel did Nebuchadnezzar when he was to interpret a dreame to the King which in the true exposition foretold Nebuchadnezzars fall It is said Daniel stood still for an hour and his thoughts troubled him and in the end speakes out My Lord the dreame be to them that hate thee and the interpretation of it to thine enemies So say I Oh let the parallell of this be some other people Oh that it might not fit England but doth it fit it Right honourable and beloved your great wisdomes your diligent inspection your ample intelligence your faithfulnesse and sincerity makes you better able to judge then my meannesse can attaine unto who am none of the wisest observers of the time but I must speake and what I speake I shall speake freely and humbly I would I could speake sorrowfully I know I speake
to wise men who can well judge what I say First I hope verily we are not yet come to that passe that God should say of us I will passe by England no more blessed bee God wee have a gracious King many Noble Peeres many excellent Commons who have already done great things for God I need not repeat them all the Kingdome knowes them to their comfort Yea and blessed be God the same gracious Soveraigne and Honourable Assembly of Parliament doe yet enquire what is further to be done what wrath is kindled and how it may bee quenched and have called the whole Kingdome to afflict themselves before God that his great wrath might bee turned away from us And as yet wee have a sprinkling of Phinehazzes worthy Magistrates who in their severall Countries and Counties dare appeare in Gods cause against sinne and the boldest sinners And wee have also a good sprinkling of faithfull Ministers who stand on the Watch towre and blow the Trumpet and give the people warning And for ever blessed be the Lord which is not the least pledge of our hopes for the lengthning out of our tranquility we have many ten thousand Saints in England who not onely abstaine from the abomination of the times but mourne for them and give God no rest night nor day untill hee bow the heavens and come downe and set up for himselfe a glorious Throne amongst us And unto these God hath made many promises of sparing the land for their sakes and that their posterities after them shall be blessed But as I hope this so the Lord will bee a witnesse with me that I feare whether all these persons and their graces doe beare a just proportion to the meanes and mercies which God hath given to England or to that huge Inundation of finne wherewith England is over-run at this day And here had I a tongue to speake and you and I hearts and eyes to powre out teares and sorrow wee might make this place a Bochim a place of weepers For what kinde of these sins doe not overflow us You will say at first not Idolatry but I tell you neither were the Germanes carried away with Idolatry when their desolations broke in upon them nor the Iewes before their last destruction The measure of our Iniquity may possibly be full though this sin come not in but God knowes and you know that we have not onely abundance of Idolatrous Papists who are proud insolent and daring but abundance of Popish Idolatrous spirits superstitiously addicted willing to embrace any thing that goes that way onely they will not have it goe under the name of Popery And for the other sinnes of contempt of Gods holy Ordinances his day his servants and all his wayes oppression cruelty defrauding of brethren the sensuall sinnes of uncleannesse especially that of drunkennesse Goe but to the places of greatest resorts Market-Townes populous Cities and Fayres c. and your hearts would tremble to thinke how our Land is overspread with these Oh Beloved the generality of the people of England is extreamly wicked and which argues our case to bee most miserable it seemes to beare downe and to break over all our Bankes multitudes sinning with a whores forehead proclaiming their sinnes as Sodom And the vox populi is that many of the Nobles Magistrates Knights and Gentlemen and persons of great Quality are arrand Traytors and Rebells against God taking part with wicked men and wicked causes against the Truth Patrons of Ale-houses and disorders checking inferiour Officers who discover any zeal for God against an ill cause That in many of their families not to mention Religion there is not so much as a face of Civility Many others of them who seem to wish well dare not draw out the sword which God hath given them and some few others borne downe in their places with the torrent of wickednesse And as for our Ministers how many sad complaints and petitions hath this Honourable Assembly received against many hundreds of them multitudes of them rotten and unsound in their doctrine and so vitious and corrupt in their lives that they fulfill that which Archbishop Abbot said in his Lectures upon Ionah professing that his heart bled within him to thinke of the miserable condition of the precious soules of many people who had such Ministers as Iohannes Aventinuus speakes of who if they were not in the Ministery would not bee thought fit hog-heards to keepe swine Besides thousands of others who God knowes want either will or skill to doe the Lords worke faithfully And the residue who have endeavoured to give the people warnning and to teach them the good way of the Lord have been a long time both downe and opposed as the troublers of our Israel Sure I am what ever our Ministers are or doe the sins of the land are too strong for them and our people remaine unsubdued to Jesus Christ Yea which is yet worse the very judgements of God have wrought little upon us all the long and heavy pressures of the Neighbour Churches his rods upon our selves terrible and wasting pestilences and famine his blasting all our enterprises his scaring us with rumors of warres and bloud prevaile nothing wee still grow worse and worse Indeed if any sin grow out of fashion as cloathes doe then wee leave it otherwise wee goe on boldly and impudently let God threaten or doe what he will And all these evils are aggravated by being committed against greater meanes and mercies than any nation under Heaven enjoyes this day besides our selves And which is yet sadder oh that I were mistakē upon condition I were tyed to a recantation our dealing this last year is more injurious against God than heretofore The Lord hath gathered such an Assembly of Noble Peeres and Commons who have done such great things that many of us began to hope our Pilgrimage through this wildernesse had beene almost ended and that England would now turne to the Lord and become a people zealous of good workes But verily so far as I can understand the body of the Nation makes little other use of all the mercies of this last yeare but to abuse all the liberties procured both for Church and Common wealth to greater and bolder sinning against God and now also which yet speakes more sadly the Lord God beginnes to appeare against us not onely in permitting many unexpected blocks and rubbs huge trees cast in the way of our Worthies that they cannot march on in their strength and so the much expected Reformation stickes long in the birth but God hath drawne out and fourbished the sword and made it begin to drinke blood in the Neighbour Nation which when it once begins to drinke seldome is put up againe till it bee drunke with blood this God hath suffered to bee drawne out upon our deare brethren in Ireland upon our owne flesh and blood and that by a
that the Lords wrath was kindled he presently sends to Hulda the Prophetesse to enquire what was to be done that they might quench it esteeming all other busines unseasonable and fruitless while that fire was burning And here I shall only in a few words commend to you the example and practice of this brave King whom this Text so magnifies 1. He mourns and cals all the people to mourn with him and that through Gods mercy you have done 2. He goes out in that way whereof you heard more in the forenoon breaking down all the Images and relicks of Idolatry the Lord set it close to your hearts that you may leave nothing which is contrary to Gods pure worship 3. He executed the justice and vengeance of God upon the Instruments of the kingdoms ruine the idolatrous Priests digging the very bones of some of them out of their graves the same Lord direct you that in your great wisedomes you may be as the Angels of God to discern what is to be done with them who have been the troublers of our peace the greatest kindlers of Gods wrath against us spare whom ye may spare with Gods good will but remember it is foolish pity that destroyes a City let not the men escape whom God appoints out to punishment 4. He resolves to reform Religion and the worship God and to set it up and maintain it according to the word and to that end he cals together the Priests and Prophets the Elders of Iudah and Ierusalem with them enters into a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments c. O that the Lord would put it into the heart of you all to do the same you know what you have bin often petitioned for the God of all wisdom direct you in due time to proceed in this cause and if in your wisdomes you shall find it fitting that a grave Synod of Divines should be called to inform your consciences what is to be done I beseech you follow the direction of Gods word in it Fifthly And then foâ— the manner Hee did all according to Gods law he consulted not with flesh and blood enquired not into terms oâ— policy how far the state would bear it or how far the people would concur without grumbling but did according to 〈◊〉 which God had appointed in his word And lastly he did it with zeal and fervency he laid not out his strength in his own cause then use diversions and diminutions in Gods cause but there was his strength laid out where he knew Gods iealousie lay The Lord make you such Iosiahs such zealous men what Anakims or Gyants would you prove you might with Briareus the Gyant with 100 hands of whom the Poets feign take thunder-bolts out of the hand of God and so save you selvs your families and the Nation Go on ye Worthies of t 〈…〉 Lord and thus deliver us If there be any healing any deliverance you shall be our Saviours if there be none you may with Iosiah get the iudgment respited for your life time le 〈…〉 the worst come the glory of the Lord shall not only be yo 〈…〉 reward but your rereward your safety you shall deliver yo 〈…〉 soules and your children after you shall be blessed Do th 〈…〉 and the Lord God be with you FINIS Introduction 1 King 1â— Introduction 2 Chr 33. 2 Chro. 34. 3. 2 Chr. 2 4 31. 32. 33 The scope of the Text and parts of it Observation from the connexion Deut. 29. 5. Josh. 23. 4. 5. King 53. 4 In two branches 1. Branch The endeavours of rare instruments may come to nothing 2. King 18 19. Jer. 15. 10. Jer. 20. 9. See to this purpose Matth. 23. 34. 37. Act. 7. 52. Heb 11. 37. 38. Second Branch Yet themselves highly magnified and rewarded by God Esay 49. 2. 3. 1. Thes. 2. 7 Application to the Parliament Doct. 1. Doct. 2. Doct. 3. First Doctrine from the Text that the wrath of God is exceeding fierce Psal. 2. Explain it Quest 1. What the wrath of God is Answ. The fiercenesse of Gods wrath Quest 2. Answ. Psal. 9â— 11 The fiercenesse of it illustrated from divers comparisons Amos 3. 4. Psal. 18. 7. 8. Psal. 〈◊〉 11. Gen. 1â— 24. 2 By the effects of it Zach. 13. 7. Luk 22. 41 3. From the cause of its Quest 3. Who are the objects of this wrath of God Answ. Deut. 4. 21. 2 Sam. 11. 27. Psa. 89 3â— Col. 3. 6. Applicâ—â— To praise God for deliverance from it 2 Not to covie the prosperity of such as are under it Psal. 73. 3. Ier 12. 1. 3 To help forward our repentance In humiliation for sin which hath kindled it Ier. 13 1â— How this may bee done Ezek. 12. 27. Neh. 5. 1â— Rarò antecedentem scelestum descruit pede poena claudo Horace 2 For Reformation Meditation of wrath how it may promote it Esay 33. 14. Iob 36. 18. 4. To the Parliament o make it their great care to pacific it Doct. 2 In reformation God may goe on to desolation God may go on to desolation Proved by Scripture 2 Chro. 34. Ionah 3. Act. 21 2â— Notwithstanding Reformation That this may be known And how far it may be known Psa. 106 23 Mat. 24. 36 And how it may be known Prov. 28. Fulnesse of sin the evidence of it Gen. 15. 16. Why God defers till sin be full Esay 10. Rom. 2. 4 5. How the fulnesse of a Peoples sin may be known What sins are desolating sins Idolatry Levit. 18. 28 Deut. 9 5. Ezek 8. Ezek. 43. 8. Hos. 13. Esay 2. 9. Prophanesse and contempt of Gods Ordinances day 〈◊〉 Ezek. 22. 4. 8. Zeph. 28. 9. 10. Sins destructive to humane society Gen. 6. 11. Jon. 3. 8. Ezek. 22. 3. 4. 6. 9. 12. Hos 12 7. Hos. 4. 2. Sensuall lusts of drunkennesse and uncleannesse Hos. 6. 10. Hos. 4. 2. 11. Esay 28. 1. 3. ver. 7. 8. The generality of these sins Gen. 6. 12. Esay 1. 5 6. Vers. 1 2 3 4. Vers. 15. c. Yet to be understood with a caution The aggravation of these sins Dan. 9. 12. This is the very argument of the whole Chapter of the second of Ieremy See also Mic. 1. 5. Psal. 41 9. 2. Sam. 16. 17. Incorrigiblenesse of these sins when they are too strong for Conscience and shame Prov. 2. 14. Es. 3 9. For prayers examples counsells of the godly Iob 22. ult. Esay 57. 1. Gen. 19. 18. Gen. 33. Ier. 14 11. For Magistrates and Ministers which comes to passe either When they take part with it Ier. 4. 5. Hos. 9. 7 Ezek. 22. 15. c. Ordare not oppose it See also Ier. 5. 1. Or doing their duty cannot yet prevaile against it And for the judgements of God Zeph. 3. 6 7. Ames 4. V. 29 30. What kind of Reformation may meet with desolation Ier. 18. 7. 8. Ezek 4. Ier. 3. 20. Matt. 22. 43. 44 45. Whether this may be thought to bee our own case Dan. 4 19. It is hoped that we are not yet in that condition And why Yet feared that we are very neare it because all these sinnes are found amongst us And that in great measure which prevailes over Magistrates Ministers And the very judgements and mercies of God And God begins to appeare against us and wherein Application to our selves First to beleeve that we are in danger 1 King 22. Which we are loth to doe 1 Thes. 5. 3. Prov. 22. 3. Ion. 3. 5. But till we doe it our danger encreases And wee shal never use the rightmeans for saâ—â—â— 2 Kings 22. Vse To prevent it First by mourning for it Num. 12 14 Amos 3. v 9 c. By p 〈…〉 onall 〈…〉 formation 2. Sam 20. 20. What the Parliament should do for our safety Following Iosiahs example 1. In mourning because of Gods wrath 2 Kin. 2â— 11 c. 2 Rooting out idolatry c. 3 Inexecution of Gods vengeance upon his enemies 1 Kin. 20. 42 4. Insetting up and maintaining Gods true Religion and Worship 2 Kin 23. 1 2 c. Exactly according to the Word And that with all their strength Encouragement thereunto Obad. 21. Esay 58. 8.
had provoked him though hee were dead betweene thirty and forty yeares before Iosiah ended his dayes yet his provocations were the cause that God would never bee reconciled to his people though hee was reconciled to Manasses person before hee dyed I purpose not any exact or large handling of this Text nor is it possible to bee done in one Sermon I shall onely cull out such things as are most intended by the holy Ghost and most sutable to the occasion of our meeting And first let us in a few words consider it in relation to the former Verse and secondly as it lyes in it selfe As it stands in relation to the former description made of Iosiah and the high praises which God there bestowes upon him I thence observe That when God raises up any excellent instruments to appear in his cause they are most graciously accepted with him though their endeavours should come to nothing There shall be glory and honour and immortality and eternall life to themselves though there be indignation and wrath tribulation anguish and woe upon the people whom they would willingly doe good unto This you see plainly in this Text Ioshiah sets up a building which was instantly throwne downe sticke and stone yet never man received better wages and greater reward than hee did God hath raised up many instruments to doe him service who have had admirable successe in their way Moses brought Gods people out of the bondage of Egypt carried them through a desolate wastefull howling wildernesse and that miraculously for forty yeares together Ioshua gave them the possession of the promised land and left them in it in peace David subdued all their enemies about them untill they were all put under the soles of their feet leaving them neither adversary nor evill occurrent Solomon built Gods Temple and established the Church in the purity of Gods Worship and Ordinances and the Common-wealth with admirable peace and prosperity yet not any of these more magnified by the Lord than Iosiah whose work came to nothing This is my first observation and it hath these two branches first it implies that the endevours of rare Instruments may come to nothing that men may bee stirred up with admirable spirits to attempt great things for God and yet their work miscarry Secondly that though their work come to nothing yet themselves shall be highly magnified with the Lord I could easily give abundant testimonies and instances of such whom God hath raised up with extraordinary spirits men that wee might think had been fit to carry the world before them who have effected little or nothing Elias for one a man as it were made of fire who at one time called a Parliament of the King and all the Heads of Israel together convinced them of their halting between God and Baal and wrought so at the present that all the people cryed out the Lord is God and seemed to have their hearts brought back again to the Lord their God and likewise that eight hundred Idolatrous Priests and false Prophets were put to the sword yet the very next day he was faine to run away to save his life undertaking a journey of forty dayes to keepe himselfe from the fury of Iezabel Ieremy was another rare man one of the most zealous Instruments that ever God employed insomuch that he said of himselfe that he was a man of contention to all the earth and Gods word was in him like fire in his bones which hee could not keep in yet this man in his almost forty years preaching could neither prevaile with King nor Princes Prophets Priests nor people all grew worse and worse and himselfe in the end was carried away by a rebellions company into that accursed land of Egypt and there died And it hath beene often observed that the Lord hath seene it fit for reasons best knowne to himselfe to let abundance of the Worthies whom he hath employed even so far as men could judge to perish in the worke he hath set them about But secondly what ever their successe hath beene amongst men they have been never a whit lesse regarded or rewarded by the Lord for this the Scripture is plaine Esay 49. 5. There the Prophet in Christs name and in his owne name and in the name of all Gods instruments concludes That though they spend their strength for nought and in vaine yet surely their worke is with the Lord and though the people be not gathered yet they shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and their God will bee their strength And Paul saith 2 Cor. 2. 15. We are a sweet savour to God in them that perish as well as in them that are saved And there is plaine reason for it because sincere endeavours to doe Gods service is our whole worke but the successe of these endeavours is Gods worke Now the Lord hath tied himselfe in his covenant to reward every man according to his owne worke and not according to the worke of another God never required at the hands of any Minister to save soules or at the hand of any Magistrate to preserve a Nation of any husbandman to produce a crop out of the ground c. this belongs only to himselfe he only requires at their hands to be his servants to obey his will wherein if they be faithfull they shall not misse of their reward God compares Kings and Princes and other of his servants to nursing fathers and nursing mothers Now you that are persons of quality if you put forth a childe to nurse and can have perfect information that the nurse loves attends suckles your childe and performes all the duties belonging to a nursing mother this nurse I say is by you esteemed and rewarded whether the childe live or die yea it may be the more when the childe dies because you see her afflicted in losing your childe which she would gladly have enjoyed I doe but name this you are wise to apply it to your selves you Right honourable and beloved are employed in great services God hath raised you up to attempt glorious things for his name for the purging of his house and the establishing of this great people in the peace of the Gospel how farre God will use any of you I cannot tell and how farre this unworthy Nation will acknowledge your indefatigable paines I cannot tell as yet you have the prayers and blessings of all sorts of people high and low rich and poore that wish well to Sion But however goe on yee Worthies of the Lord with sincere hearts to doe what God requires at your hands and whether this Nation be gathered or not you shall be glorious in the eyes of God and the Lord will be your strength Iosiah you see had the greatest commendation of all others notwithstanding the Lord turned not from his fierce wrath and this is all I have to say from the connexion of the words that