Christ's Tears FOR JERUSALEMS UNBELIEF AND RUINE NOW Humbly recommended to England's Consideration in this her day of Tryal and Danger By 〈◊〉 Reverend and Learned Divine Mr. THEOPHILUS GALE LONDON Printed for M. Widdowes at the Green Dragon in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1679. Preface IT is the Supreme Wisdome Interest and Perfection of Man who is an intelligent Being to understand adhere unto his last End and whatever means conduce thereto This is stiled Luke 19. 42. To know the things that belong unto our peace And the supreme end of our Great Lord in espousing Human Nature was to acquaint Sinners with the things that belong to their peace and bring them into an immediate Capacitie for the Fruition of them Is it not then the highest piece of Folie and Madnesse for rational Creatures to shut their Eyes and Hearts against that which is their supreme Happinesse Is there so much Beautie in the Deformitie of Sin So much Pleasure in the Chains and Fetters of Satan So much Libertie in the Vassalage and Bondage of Lusts So much Content in the embraces of an heart-distracting World So much peace and ease in the stings and troubles of a tormented Conscience So much life in the death of Sin and Hel torments as to make a rational soul amorous of and in love with them If not how comes it to passe that men mind not more the things that belong unto their peace Was it ever known that any but mad men would take delight to see their own heart-bloud gush out Would any but blind fools spurne at food the most delicious satisfying food when offered to their famished souls May we not count such bewitched Sots who plot and contrive by al means possible to ruine themselves And yet Lo is not this the Case of al such who wil not know and embrace the things that belong unto their peace when offered to them Alas What a world of such mad and blind fools are there Yea how many great Professors yea how many Churches fal under this black brand of Folie and Madnesse Was not this Jerusalem's sin and folie for which she has paid so dear for 1600 years And has Jerusalem been alone in this sin Has not England also dranke very deep of this venimous intoxicating Cup And what may we expect but Jerusalem's prodigious Ruines unlesse we al make haste to know and embrace the things that belong unto our peace before they are hid from our eyes The designe therefore of this ensuing Discourse is to awaken and provoke secure Unbelievers and slumbering Professors deeply to consider and chearfully to embrace Evangelic offers of Life and Grace before it be too late And our First Book is wholly spent in the explication of our Lords doleful Lamentation Luke 19 41. over Jerusalems Sins and Ruines Wherein we have endeavored to explicate What were Jerusalem's Church-wasting Sins and Ruines which our Lord here laments in order to a Conviction of and Lamentation over our own Sins and approching Ruines if not prevented by a timous Repentance and closing with the things of our peace And because Jerusalem's main Sin was Infidelitie this therefore is the chief subject of what follows Book 2. Wherein we have endeavored to explicate the black and prodigious Nature of Vnbelief in the several parts thereof and that in opposition to Faith whereof it is a Privation Wherein we have also opened the Nature and main essential Ingredients of Faith which indeed comprehends the chief vitals of Christianitie and therefore requires our most diligent Attention and curious Inquisition The next great and commun Head to be explicated is the Causes of Infidelitie which wil open to us what a great Mysterie of Iniquitie lies at the Root of Unbelief Hence we are to procede to its Aggravations which wil discover to us the monstrous Magnitude of this sin And thence follows the severe Punishment and Vengeance which the righteous God inflicteth for this Sin of Infidelitie These things wil if Providence favor and assist our desires be the subject of several Discourses Only that I might not at present wholly frustrate the Readers expectations I have in the Corollaries and Uses of the Second Book given some Hints and Intimations of the chief Particulars which I intend to discourse of under the following Heads As for the Forme of the Discourse I thinke I may with Sinceritie say I have endeavored to suit it to my Mater I would hate sinful Affectation of Words or Things merely to please itching curious spirits as much as Hel. Yet if any words occur that may give lustre and efficace to the Truths discoursed of I cannot thinke myself obliged to reject them because not so vulgar as other words lesse proper are Only if thou meet with any word beyond thy capacitie to apprehend remember that the following word usually explains the same A TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK I. Christ's Lamentation over Jerusalem CHAP. I. An Explication of Luke 19. 41. Pag. 1 THe Contexture of the words Pag. 2. And when he was come near 3. He beheld the Citie 4 5. And wept over it 6 7 8. Chap. 2. The most solemne Profession without Sinceritie wil not satisfie Christ 9 13. Chap. 3. Previous and General Observations 13. Chap. 4. Church-sins bring Church-ruines 17. Evil of doing brings the evil of suffering 18. Sin in itself the worst evil 19. Chap. 5. A numeration of Jerusalem 's sins 22. 1. Vnbelief a Church-ruinating Sin Ibid. 2. Carnal Presumtion 24. 3. Spiritual Pride 27. 4. Carnal Securitie 29-31 5. Carnal Confidence 32. 6. Earthly-mindednes Pag. 33. 7. Vnfruitfulnesse 34. 8. Persecution of the Prophets 35. 9. Want of Reformation 36. 10. Impenitence 37. 11. Apostasie 38. Chap. 6. Divine wrath the effective Cause of Jerusalem 's Ruines 40. The effects of Divine wrath on Jerusalem 43. 1. Temporal jugements Ibid. 2. Spiritual jugements 45 46. Chap. 7. 1. The Qualities of Christs tears 47. 1. They are Divine Ibid. 2. Rational 3. Free 4. Sincere 48 49. 5. Spiritual 6. Generous 7. Humble 49-51 8. Pathetic 9. Sympathetic 52 53. 10. Seasonable 11. Public 54. 2. The efficaces of Christ's Tears 55. 1. Prophetic 2. Instructive 3. Exhortative ib. 4. Threatning 5. Intercessorie 56. 6. Influential 7. Exemplary 57 58. Chap. 8. The Motives of Christs Tears 59. 1. As a Father 2. As an Husband ibid. 60. 3. As her Lord. 4. As a Minister 61 62. 5. Christs natural relation to Jerusalem 64. Chap. 9. Doctrinal Corollaries ibid. 1. Christs Affections relative ibid. 2. Christs Affections most pure 65. 3. Christs real Wil to save sinners ibid. 4. The Aggravations of such as refuse Christ 67 5. Mans Ruine from himself 68. Use 1. Advice to studie Englands Sins 69. Use 2. Mourne over Englands Sins and Miseries 71. Use 3. Caution against Church-sins Pag. 74. BOOK II. Wherein the Nature of Infidelitie consists Chap. 1. The Explication of Luke 19. 42. 76. Chap. 2. Eighteen general Observations drawn from Luke 19. 42. 86-98 Chap. 3. What
her transgressions drew them on her This was that which most deeply wounded and pierced the heart of this holy man So v. 8. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned therefore she is removed as an unclean loathsome thing al that honored her despise her because they have seen her nakednes i. e her lewdnes and abominations yea she sigheth and turneth backward v. 9. Her filthines is in her skirts c. The like v. 14 18. and Chap. 2. 14. Thus our blessed Lord here in his Lamentation the first thing he has in his eye and that which did most deeply pierce and wound his heart was Jerusalems sin He saw her to be a cage of al unclean birds a sink of al manner of abominations which would unavoidably involve her in ruine this makes his heart to bleed and his eyes to gush forth with salt tears over her And this is the genuine Character of a true Christian heart to mourne more for the Evil of doing than for the evil of suffering and for the latter only as the fruit and effect of the former A Cain or Judas can lament and groan under the strokes of the rod but a Peter or a Christian mournes under the offense that procured those strokes without dout an hard-hearted Jew could not but lament to see Jerusalem sacked and the Temple in flames about his ears ay but 't was the Christian only that mourned kindly for the sins of Jerusalem which were the fuel of those prodigious flames of Divine wrath To lament over the Ruines of a renowned Citie or Church is facile because natural to an ingenuous affectionate spirit but to bleed over and bewail those sins which were the cause of those Ruines none can in any mesure of evangelic sinceritie performe but Christ and such as are animated and influenced by his Spirit But we procede to particulars to explicate what those Church-Sins are which exposed Jerusalem and so by a paritie of reason wil expose any other professing Citie or People to Church-ruines and therefore ought to be mater of Lamentation CHAP. V. A particular enumeration of Jerusalems Sins which were the moral causes of her Ruine and so a chief mater of our Lords Lamentation 1. THe first great Church-sin which our blessed Lord here laments as the moral cause of Jerusalem's Church-ruine is her Vnbelief or Rejection of the things that did belong unto her peace This indeed is a prodigious Church-wasting Sin that which ever cost Israel very dear even from her infant-state Israel had signal tokens of Christs conduct care and providence in the Wildernes yet what passions of discontent what disingenuous murmurs what fits of Unbelief doth she ever and anon on the least approche of danger fal into How doth her spirit sink and despond under the least difficultie This is evident from Num. 13. 30 33. and 14. 1 14 c. For which al that generation save Caleb and Josua who were of another spirit perished in the Wildernes Thus also before their Babylonian Captivitie the great Sin the Israelites were guiltie of and that which opened the dore to al their following Miserie was their Vnbelief or contemt of Gods word So Isa â—â— 8. Now go write it before them in a Table and note it in a Book that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever v. 9. That this is a Rebellious people ying Children that wil not hear the Law of the Lord. Now wherein lay this their Rebellion Why chiefly in their Unbelief or despising of Gods word as v. 12. Because ye despise this word and trust in oppression c. Here lies their main sin and what follows v. 13. Therefore this iniquitie shal be as a breach ready to fal swelling out in an high wal whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant i. e. exceding exceding suddenly for these two Synonymous Adverbs joined together are very emphatic and argue that this their ruine should be extreme sudden as also great Great Unbelief brings great and swift ruine to the most glorious Churches if Repentance follow not When Christ comes with Offers and Acts of Grace towards his Church then for her to despise his word turne her back on al his gracious offers Yea trample on them this exposeth the most flourishing Churches to sudden and inevitable Destruction This God threatens Israel withal in her first Church-constitution Lev. 26. 14 15 16 c. this also we find threatned and executed on her in her last Church-destruction Mat. 23. 37 38. This therefore is the first and as we may phrase it the original sin of Jerusalem which our blessed Lord here bewails as the womb of al her miserie Oh! what a world of miserie hath Unbelief brought on many flourishing Churches When a professing people reject the Gospel of Christ is it not just with Christ to reject them What a Hel of plagues both spiritual and temporal doth a despised Gospel bring on Professors how oft doth Christ cut off his own covenant-people from promissed and expected mercies for their unbelief what sore jugements doth unbelief expose men unto Whence sprang that deluge of confusion and Barbarisme which drowned the Easterne Churches but from their contemt of the Gospel Yea had not the floud of Antichristianisme which has so long overwhelmed these Westerne Churches its rise from this envenimed spring of Unbelief this is evident from 2 Thes 2. 10. Because they received not the love of the truth c. And 't was a prophetic persuasion of a great divine That God would shortly take away peace from the whole World for despising the peace of the Gospel This Conclusion we no way dout but to make good That al the great plagues and jugements of God upon the professing World or Churches have been for the contemt of his Word by unbelief For albeit other sins have had their share yet this of Unbelief has been the main spring of al Church-ruines But this wil be the subject of our following discourse 2. Another prodigious Church-wasting sin which Jerusalem was notoriously guilty of is groundlesse Presumtions and self-flatterie Self-flatterie wherever it is predominant brings self-ruine A mere forme of godlines without the power is a grosse delusion which carries millions of souls to destruction in a golden dream A fond presumtion of being a true Church or member of Christ is the greatest delusion This was ever the great sin of Jerusalem in her declining state and that which exposed her to great ruines calamities Thus before the Babylonian Captivitie Jer. 7. 4. Trust ye not in lying words saying the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these As if Jerusalem had said Alas why doest thou threaten us with Captivitie and ruine Have we not the Temple of God amongst us And are we not upon this account his federate people his darlings and chosen ones Is not the Shekinah or presence of the Divine Majestie seated amongst
desirable in the eyes of men Was it ever known that the Leper was amorous of his Scabs or the Begger in love with his Rags or the Prisoner with his Fetters or the wounded Person with his bleeding Wounds How then comes it to passe that the Christian world is so much amorous of and delighted in Infidelitie which is the worst leprosie povertie deformitie and miserie that the Soul partakes of Yea how comes it to passe that Believers themselves have such reliques and remains of Unbelief in them and that in such days as these are wherein Evangelic Light Love and Grace so much abound Hath not our blessed Lord taken al the courses and means that may be to cure men of their Infidelitie As to the encouragements and motives to believe doth he not shew himself as kind as kind may be Has he not given al manner of warrants yea commands for men to believe Doth not the Covenant of Grace give as good law-right as may be for al that wil to come and embrace the good things that belong to their peace Are not the offers of the Covenant general free abundant and most affectionate Is not Christ more willing to save than sinners are to be saved As to means what can God do more than he has in saying Here is my Son my Spirit my Gospel and al the good things of My peace take al and welcome And are not the termes on which al these good things are offered most easie to any that is but really willing to be happy Yea are not the means vouchsafed by God to cure our Infidelitie in these lightsome days much greater than in former days whence then is it that men continue in their Infidelitie and that with so much delight Has Christ condescended so low in the offers of his Grace and do sinners still persist in their rejecting or not improving such rich and gracious offers Oh! What mater of sad contemplation and Lamentation is here How ought every eye to weep apart and every heart to bleed apart for personal domestic Ecclesiastic and National Infidelitie Alas how true too true is that prediction of our Omniscient Lord touching these last days Luke 18. 8. Neverthelesse when the Son of Man cometh shal he find faith on the earth Who knows how near this coming of the Son of Man may be May we not conjecture that some great coming of the Son of Man cannot be far off because faith is so much departed from the earth Was there ever since the coming of our Lord in the flesh more light and yet more Atheisme in the world Is not the disbelief of the main Articles of our faith the only faith and belief that is to be found among some Are not al the great fundamentals and vitals of faith struck at by some who would count it an high affront to be judged Unbelievers Yea to come nearer home have we not cause to fear that many who passe for shining Believers wil one day appear to be rotten-hearted Unbelievers Yea to leave others to their supreme Judge have we not al cause to lay our hands on our hearts and condemne our selves of much Infidelitie If thou art not sensible of much Unbelief indwelling in thee is it not a sad Symtome that thou hast nothing or at best but very little of true Faith in thy heart May we not safely say That he never truely mourned for any sin who never mourned for Infidelitie which is at the end of every Sin Oh! what lamentable ruines has Unbelief brought on many flourishing Churches And may we expect to be exemted from the like strokes of Divine justice unlesse we lament and mourn over our Unbelief which deserves the same Take these Motives to provoke thine heart to a deep Lamentation and Humiliation for thine own and other mens unbelief 1 Unbelief is as has been said the greatest Sin and therefore ought to worke in us the greatest sense and humiliation 2 If thine heart be not deeply humbled for thine Unbelief thou wilt soon be overcome by it 3 The more thy soul is melted under the sense of Unbelief the more evangelic and spiritual it is What better marque is there of a spiritual yea of a believing heart than a deep sense of and humiliation for Unbelief It is a great proof of our Faith yea of an eminence in Faith to mourne greatly under Unbelief 4 A little unbelief in Believers is much worse than much unbelief in others because Believers have greater Obligations Encouragements Assistances and Means to believe 5 Not to be humbled for the Unbelief of others whether Churches or State is to partake with them in their sin and so to expose our selves to their approching jugements at least temporal 3. This lays a deep and essential obligation on al to examine accurately how far they fal under the Guilt and Power of Infidelitie If the Nature of Unbelief be such as hath been described then surely it concernes al to examine how far it prevails in them Doth not the great Ressemblance that there is between saving Faith and commun oblige al to trie of what stampe and make their faith is Alas how much commun Assent is there which passeth for saving What a great verisimilitude or likenesse is there between the notional Assent of Unbelievers and real Assent of true Believers Do not many knowing Professors seem to receive the Word of God as the Word of God who yet indeed receive it only as the word of men Have not many contemplative Professors sublime and raised Apprehensions of spiritual Mysteries and yet al the while their assent to them is but carnal and natural Do not some seem deeply convinced of and confirmed in evangelic reports who yet yield but a legal staggering assent thereto Doth not the vigor and strength of many mens assent arise from some transient worke of the Spirit of Bondage rather than from a deep apprehension and valuation of Evangelic objects which they assent unto Again how easy is it for men to be mistasten in their Consent to the good things of their peace Do not many seem very forward in electing of Christ who yet retain secret reserves for some beloved Idol Are not too many from the force of legal convictions compelled to close with Christ who yet secretly hate him at heart How many adhere to Christ in Profession and yet adhere to the world or lust in Affection Are there not many who seem to recumb and lean on Christ for life but yet really recumb and lean upon self Oh! what a world of convinced sinners take up with a spurious or commun faith instead of saving How dreadfully do millions of Unbelievers delude themselves with a sick dream and shadow of commun faith Alas what an easie mater is it for Professors in these knowing times to mistake commun faith for saving to deceive themselves and and others with a forme or picture of faith and yet to remain under the real power of Unbelief