bee called thy sonne It was not his penury and misery which now lay heavy upon him that grieved him so much as the sinne against his Father and therefore he goes over it again saying Father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight Luke 15.18.21 St. Paul speaking of true Repentance Luk. 15.18.21 which ever hath sorrow for its companion 2 Cor. 7.9 in the tenth verse hee comes to speak of worldly sorrow and it is possible for a Cain 2 Cor. 7.9 10. an Esau a Saul to be sorry after a worldly manner which kind of sorrow is poenitentia poenitenda a repentance to be repented of but there is a godly sorrow never to be sorrowed for I deny not but shame and feare may make way for this as the needle makes way for the thread but yet at last Gods child comes to this that he grieves above all for that he hath grieved God and if there were no hell he would not willingly sin against God any more his heart-breaking is that he hath so much abused his bounty who hath been his best friend Let us above all things labour to mourn for sinning against God no doubt an unsound heart may sorrow for sin thus did Judas I am perswaded he was so sorry that he had betrayed his Mr. that if he had had all the world he would have given it to undoe what he had done and so I may sorrow for my sins but yet if I finde in my selfe such a disposition to the same sins that if occasion were offered and men saw me not and that I were sure to escape Gods judgements then I would commit them againe this is the Spirit of bondage and not the Spirit of adoption but on the contrary if I finde that I grieve above all things for offending God this is not so much a feare to burne with the devill as to displease my God and this is a true filiall feare But I tender weak consciences and therefore I will endeavour to give them satisfaction Objection O say they we feare to sin but it is for feare of shame and hell to whom I answer Solution this is not to be disliked altogether for when I am prone to sin I wish that the consideration of hell may deter me from sinning and to such a soule I say God may work in it a hatred to sin when as he discovers it not Secondly such a soule must labour to grieve and abstaine from and for sin because it displeaseth God But saith the poore soule how shall I attain to this First by earnest and constant prayer to God Secondly by considering the nature of sin which is a filthy thing and very displeasing to God a childe that loves his Father will forbeare to doe what may displease him and I make no doubt but God will so work in his children that they shall abstaine from sin and weep for it not onely for feare of hell but because thereby his holy Majesty is dishonoured Thirdly I would have such to consider the mercies of God which he hath bestowed upon themselves and this land which if they doe they will grieve and be severe against themselves for neglecting so great expressions of bounty such a one wil say What hath God made me hath he redeemed me hath he spared me hitherto and shall I displease him I could not subsist one hour without him therefore let me mourn and grieve for offending so good a God and so gracious a Father Sermon VIII EZRA 10. The latter part of the second Verse and forwards Yet now there is hope in Israch concerning this thing Now therefore let us make a Covenant with our God WEE descend now to another fruit of Ezra his humiliation Shecaniah confesseth the sinne of the people which was of the first magnitude to wit their joyning themselves in marriage with Heathens yet hee despaires not of forgivenesse from God but saith Yet there is hope in Israel concerning this thing From whence I ground this Observation The greatnesse of a sin if there be repentance Doctr. is no impediment to the forgivenesse of it So saith Shecaniah here though wee have committed a great trespasse against our God by taking heathenish women to be our wives yet there is hope in Israel even concerning this I will take some paines in proving this point because it may be of speciall use for tender consciences Reason 1 First it may appeare to be true by the charge that God gives men to repent Isa 1.16 as in Isaiah 1.16 Wash you make you cleane put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes cease to doe evill So Jerem. Jer. 3.12 3.12 Returne thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you The like wee see in the new Testament Matth. Matth. 3.2 3.2 Repent yee for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand Acts 17.30 So in Acts 17.30 God now commandeth all men every where to repent Now I reason thus if God commands that men should repent of their sinnes then surely there is pardon to be obtained upon repentance for the foulest sins but God commands the greatest sinners to repent therefore upon their repentance they shall be pardoned Nay we shall finde in Scripture that the Lord threatens to plague those that repent not and saith Tertullian God would never threaten the man that repents not if hee meant not to pardon him upon his repentance Nay to adde more weight to that reason we may observe the incouragements which God affords sinners thereby to move them to repent which are so many arguments to assure them that there is pardon for the greatest sinnes as that in Isaiah 1.18 Isa 2.13 Though your sinnes be as-Scarlet they shall he as white as Snow The word there for Scarlet in the original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the Latin is iterare a thing twice dipt The Lords meaning is this though your sinnes be of a deep dye and tincture yet my mercy shall expunge them if yee repent Mi◠7.19 and in Micah 7.9 it is said He will cast all their sinnes into the depths of the sea Now yee know the sea is of that vastnesse that it will swallow up not onely Mole-hills but the greatest mountaines and so it is with the mercy of God it is so infinite and bottomlesse that it shall pardon the grossest sinners if they repent Reason 2 The second Reason is drawne from the examples of those great sinners on whom God hath shewed mercy our first Parents committed a most grievous sinne by which they overthrew all their posterity and though some wanton wits question their salvation yet we say God had mercy on them Aaron committed a notorious sinne against God in making a golden Calse for the Israelites to worship when their comming out of Egypt was not above a moneth old and when his brother Moses was gone up into the Mount to
receive the Law of God for them it was a sinne of a horrid representation yet for that he found mercy and forgivenesse They were foule sinnes in which David was ingaged and sometimes they put him shrewdly to it causing him to complain and say They were a burthen too heavie for him yet God be thanked he had remission of them A fouler sinner cannot be imagined than Manasseh was who was an Idolater a shedder of innocent bloud in great abundance one that made his sonne passe through the fire and dealt with familiar spirits yet there was hope in Israel for him for upon his repentance hee was received to mercy Look upon Matthew and Zaccheus they were Publicans and Publicans in those dayes were notorious sinners for in the Gospell yee shall finde Publicans and sinners rankt together yet two maine ones of these were converted Shall I tell you of Peter who denyed nay forswore his Lord and Master yet hee obtained mercy Or shall I tell you of the woman which was a sinner in the City out of whom was cast seven devills yet Christ had mercy upon her and forgave her Shall I tell you of Paul who with his owne tongue confesseth that he was a persecuter a blasphemer nay the chief of sinners yet he obtained mercy pardon And when God would extend mercy to such a finner as hee what doth he but proclaime to the world that none should despaire Againe shall I tell you of the incestuous Corinthian who was a notable sinner yet upon his repentance hee was absolved Or shall I tell you of the Corinthians themselves of whom some had been Idolaters Adulterers Covetous Drunkards yet they were washed sanctified and justified when they had truely repented Let us therefore be perswaded and assured that every sinne is remissible if we can but repent Reason 3 The third Reason is drawne from the attributes of God First from his power there is no sinne whatsoever but hee can forgive it therefore the Prophet Micah saith Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee Miâ—â— 7.18 that pardoneth iniquity hee is not as man who can pardon a few offences but hee can pardon all sinnes as well the great as the small Secondly wee may reason from the justice of God saith the beloved Disciple 1 Joh. 1.9 1. John 1.9 If we confesse our sinnes hee is faith full and just to forgive us our sinnes and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Thirdly we may reason from the mercy of God that bottomlesse Ocean which can never be exhausted and drawne dry O the depth the breadth the length the height of the mercy of God! the depth of it is such as it cannot be imagined for it is infinite and such is the breadth of it that it reacheth over all the earth and for the length of it it is of a large extension for it is everlasting Psal 117.2 Psal 117.2 and for the height of it it is of such an altitude that it reacheth above the clouds Psal 108.4 Again Psal 108.4 if ye speak of the greatest gift that ever God bestowed on the world it was this he gave his Sonne Jesus Christ to die for sinners and when our Saviour came into the World he did converse with sinners at which though the Scribes and Pharisees snuffed saying He was a companion of Publicans and sinners yet we must know that hee no more contracted pollution from them then the Sunne doth when it shines on a stinking dunghill and yet some of those went into heaven before those learned Rabbies And for the death of our Blessed Lord which was the end of his comming the efficacy of it was such that it was not onely of force to forgive pence but talents and it is the unanimous consent of all the holy Fathers that no sinne is unpardonable if men doe but repent Tertullian saith hee that threatens sinne grants pardon to men upon their repentance and saith Cyprian It is impossible that the whole burnt offering of a contrite spirit should be repelled and Saint Bernard saith The plaister is bigger then the soare and where sin abounded grace hath much more abounded Enough then hath been said for the proof of the point I will onely answer one Objection and so I will come to apply it Will some man say Objection Is the greatnesse of the sin no impediment to the forgivenesse of it What say ye then to the sinne against the holy Ghost those that commit that are never like to obtaine pardon I answer Solution this is no impeachment to the truth which I have delivered for I said and say again If men doe repent though their sins were never so grear they shall be pardoned but the sin against the holy Ghost admits of no repentance therefore if ever thou didst sigh for sinne that was not the sinne against the holy Ghost for such as are guilty of chat transgression are without all sorrow remorse and that sin is not irremissible because God cannot pardon it but because that wicked man cannot performe the condition which God requires of him and that is Repentance as it is with a Patient who spits in the Physicians face and throwes away all good potions prescribed him for his recovery of such a one we say hee is incurable so we say of the sinne against the holy Spirit he that commits it because hee despights the Spirit of God and because hee repells grace being offered him therefore he becomes so obdurated in sinne that hee cannot repent So that notwithstanding this Objection the truth of the point remaines unshaken that the greatnesse of a sinne if there be repentance is no impediment to the remission of it Vse 1 It meets with the old and false position of the Novatian Hereticks who said That men falling into sinne after conversion there was no place for their repentance Cyprian calls the author of that Heresy the enemy of Gods Mercy and the slayer of repentance but they held not constant to this for afterwards they said There was no place for Repentance to him that sinned after Baptisme and not long after they came to mollifie this also saying That a man might repent of small sinnes after Baptisme but if hee fell into great transgressions then there was a falling away utterly but the Fathers of the Church did all fight against these affirming That although men committed great sinnes after Conversion yet Repentance was ut tabula post naufragium as a planck to carry men to land after they had suffered shipwrack Will yee heare some of their arguments First they bring that place in Hebr. 6.4 Hebr. 6.4 where it is said It is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift if they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance This place hath much troubled the learned and for resolving it some have said impossible impossible is no more than difficile hard or difficult others say
though Dagon have been thrown down yet is hee not set up againe So for uncleannesse is it not to be found shall I say in the skirts nay in the more noble parts of the City and I wish it were a slander to say there were profest brothell houses both without and within the wals of London and for pride if ever it rid in triumph in any generation then now it is how neare doth the toe of the Citizen come to the heele of the Gentleman This smoak containes not it selfe in palaces but gets into meane habitations the back and the belly two daughters of the horse-leech cry Give give and the men of the times are so indulgent to them that they will deny them nothing insomuch that by this meanes many brave Estates are brought to nothing Fourthly for blasphemy who can with patience passe along and heare the volleys of oathes which are sent out against heaven daily nay so common is this sinne that children can no sooner speak but they can swear and blaspheme And for murther you have scarse a bill comes out but some or other are slaine nay sometimes bloud toucheth bloud and for oppression what complayning is there in our Streets against such as grinde the face of the poore and for prophanation of Gods ordinances I grieve to declare how frequent this is men are grown so prophane that they will excommunicate themselves from the Congregation and save the Minister a labour and for those that doe come hither the greatest number of them stand but for ciphers for dum corpus in choro animus in foro while their bodies be in the Church their minds are in the Market-place Now seeing these sinnes are found among us may not the Lord say justly of us as he said of the Jewes Ierem 5.29 Ierem. 5.29 Shall I not visite for these things shall not my soule be avenged on such a Nation as this hee may say I will no longer suffer their iniquity to out-brave me but I will up and make them smoak I will root them from under heaven as I did the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah Lastly in Ezra his practise wee may see a true forme of confession he confesses their great trespasse teaching us thereby that as wee must confesse all sinne in grosse so especially our maine and master sinne that Saul which is higher by the head then the rest of his brethren wee want not examples of this in Scripture David confesses his murder Paul his persecution and Daniel confesses the great sinne of his people A great many confesse their sinnes but they doe it as Nebuchadnezzar told his dreame he tells his wisemen that hee had a dreame but never tells them what it was So these men say they are sinners but they will not confesse their grosse transgressions Wilt thou deale otherwise with God Almighty then with thy Physitian when he comes to thee in thy sicknesse thou wilt conceale nothing from him but tell him how it is with thee in every particular and yet when thou commest to confesse thy sinnes to thy God thou concealest those capitall sinnes which have most offended him Well let my counsell be acceptable to thee get thee up to the beame of thine own conscience and judge thy selfe and in judging thy selfe doe not think it enough to censure thy selfe for thy lesser sinnes but especialiy judge thy selfe for thy great offences if thou doe not God will judge thee mince not then thy sins by labouring to extenuate them but confesse them ingenuously for the more severe thou art against thy selfe the more mercifull shalt thou finde God unto thee Sermon II. EZRA 9. the latter part of Verse 13. Seeing that thou our God hast punished us lesse then our iniquities deserve and hast given us such deliverance as this WEe come now to the second amplification of Gods mercy Ezra had said that God had dealt mercifully with them how proves hee the mercy of God hee proves it thus because that when hee punished them it was lesse then they deserved thou our God hast punished us lesse then our iniquities deserve Here is one word joyned with punishing which I would have you take notice of he saith thou our God hast punished us Herein he is a pattern to us when at any time wee come to confesse our sinnes before God Our God intimates a strong relation and affection certainly when hee saith thus be knew there was hope of Gods being reconciled to them againe giving us thereby to understand what is required of men in the confession of sinne a man must not only as David water his couch with his teares Psal 6.6 Matth. 26.75 Psal 6.6 nor with Peter goe out and weep bitterly Matth. 26.75 nor with the woman which was a sinner in the City wash Christs feet with our teares Luke 7.38 Luk. 7.38 nor secondly must hee only with a great deale of selfe shame confesse his sinne as did Ezra in this chapter and the poore Publican Luk. 18.13 Thirdly nor must hee only confesse his sinnes with anger Luke 18.13 Ioh 42.6 Hosea 14.8 as did Ioh 42. chapter 6. v. and Ephraim in Hosea 14 8. But lastly he must confesse them with faith and confidence that is so to aggravate his sinnes before God as not to let goe his hold in God Wee see the Church taking this course in Hosea 6.1 Come Hosea 6.1 let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heale us hee hath smitten and hee will bind us up Mark they had a confidence in Gods mercy though they knew their sinnes were foule and criminall So Daniel confesseth and aggravateth the sinnes of the people yet he lets not goe his hold but saith To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses though wee have rebelled against him Dan. 9.9 Dan. 9.9 The like we see in the Prodigall hee had gone into a farre Countrey and there wasted his substance with riotous living afterwards being pincht with want and comming to himselfe hee saith I will arise and goe to my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to bee called thy Sonne Luk. 15.13.17.18 Luk. 15.13.17.18 Though hee knew hee had grievously offended God yet hee will make use of that name Father and not let goe the staffe of his confidence and to say the truth God doth make known to us in his word that hee is our Father intimating thereby the duration of his affection a husband may cease to be a husband by reason of a lewd wife which is divorced from him and a master may cease to bee a master for want of a servant but a father can never cease to be a father though his child be never so wicked and contumacious because hee is full of bowels and compassion Therefore when a man comes to confesse his sinnes before God he must not confesse them with assurance to die as Achan did but
hee must confesse them with hope to obtaine mercy and pardon and if yee look into sacred Writ you shall finde that when Gods children have come to confesse their sinnes they have still done it with hope of forgivenesse therefore sometimes they urge him by his Covenant Nehem. 9.32 sometimes for his mercy sake Nehem. 9.32 Psal 6.4 Psal 25.11 Psal 6.4 and sometimes for his name sake Psal 25.11 as if they had said O Lord wee know wee for our sinnes deserve not to be heard yet Lord finde matter in thy selfe of being mercifull unto us and for thy goodnesse sake reject us not the depths of whose misery call for the depths of thy mercy Let the consideration of this Vse teach us to take out this needfull lesson some there be that confesse their sinnes but it is with despaire thus did Cain and Iudas and of Francis Spira we read that being neare unto death he could not be perswaded of Gods mercies but died despairing But for our selves let us confesse our sinnes with hope that God will pardon us and with the servants of Benhadad let us addresse our selves to him and say we have heard that thou who art the King of Israel art a mercifull King let us never despaire but still come in hope of mercy though wee know that God hath just cause to damne us because the sharp grapes of our sinnes have sowred his countenance with indignation Let us not for all that cast away the staffe of our confidence but look up to heaven and say with Iob Though thou killest me yet will I trust in thee thou our God hast punished us Doth he call him their God and yet doth he punish them hee seemes to impropriate God unto them and yet he saith he punished them by the conjunction of these together I lay down this as a firme conclusion God may love and yet punish I will make it plaine unto you sometimes God punishes unwillingly Lam. 3.33 He doth not punish willingly Lamen 3.33 nor grieve the children of men And when hee is forced to punish Isa 1.24 it is with Ah and alasse Isa 1.24 Secondly it appeares thus because he desires to bee stopt in his way of punishing yee see on what faire tearmes he would have been taken off from punishing Sodom and Gomorrah if there had beene but ten righteous persons in those Cities hee would have spared them for tens sake Gen. 18.32 nay Gen. 18.32 Ezek. 22.30 in Ezek. 22.30 the Lord saith if he could but have found one man to stand in the gap before him for the land he would not destroy it and in Ierem. 5.1 he saith Ierem. 5.1 Runn to and fro thorow the streets of Ierusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if yee can find a man if there be any that executeth judgement or that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it God would have beene glad if one could have been found to avert his indignation Nay when he finds no such intercessours then he tells men before-hand what he will doe that by their repentance they may keep him out of the way of his justice Amos 4.12 Amos 4.12 Therefore thus will I doe unto thee O Israel and because I will do thus unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel it is the saying of Seneca and it is a true one a man that professeth hatred to another is thereby prevented of doing him the mischiefe hee intended Hence it was that Absolom forbore to speak either good or bad to his brother Ammon for three yeares together for feare he should suspect some mischiefe towards him and when God tells men plainly before-hand what hee will doe unto them it is a cleare demonstration that be desires to be stopt in the way of his fury Thirdly this shewes it because that when his hand of punishment is upon them it shall be removed if they repent This we finde often made good to Israel on their performance of the condition and it is a signe we have not repented under Gods hand if wee have not found it true in our own experience Lastly it appeares to be true by this he punishes men because he loves them this is plain Prov. 3.12 Revel 3.19 Prov. 3.12 cited in Rev. 3.19 whom the Lord loveth he correcteth He sees punishment as necessary for his children as meat and when hee layes it on it shall not be so much penall as medicinall therefore there must needs bee love in it Vse 1 I desire from my soule that people would bee perswaded of this I confesse it is durus sermo a hard saying and men will hardly be drawn to believe it especially when the affliction is smart How often did Iob think God his enemy when his hand was heavie upon him I knew it was in his paroxysme and hot bloud for in his coole bloud he retracts whatsoever he had said before the like we see in the Jewes because God did not presently settle them in the Land of Canaan therefore they say because the Lord hated us hee hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us Deut. 1.27 Deut. 1.27 And as a man is apt of himselfe to think so so the World and the Devill are prone to suggest such thoughts unto him the World saith as Moses supposeth the Enemies of God would say if hee should destroy his people Deut 9.28 Deut. 9.28 the Lord layes this affliction upon thee because he hates thee and the friends of Iob were conceitd that God punisht him because he hated him and his wife doubtlesse thought no other therefore shee bids him curse God and die The Devill also is busie at this when hee seeth Gods hand heavie upon a man What saith hee is this the God yee serve that thus layes load upon you assure your selves he would never punish you in this manner if he loved you this is but a draught of that cup the dregs whereof yee shall suck out in Hell thus hee layes an assault to our soules to hinder our eternall good wronging Gods mercy like a lyar as hee hath been from the beginning Why should we think it strange that God should love and punish see it in Ioseph the time was when hee took his brethren to be spies and felons all this while Ioseph offered violence to his own heart cruciat amat hee torments them and loves them for when he handled them most roughly hee could not forbeare but he must goe out and weep shall hee doe all this and yet love his brethren and may not God much more punish his children and yet at the same time love them So in David all men knew that he loved his Absolom well but yet when he turns Rebell he must take up armes against him yet at the same time hee bids his men intreat the young man Absolom kindly now can man punish
under a great judgement and wee hope thou our God dost not think it small but bee it what it will wee are sure thou art just in inflicting it upon us and because contraries doe best appeare when they are brought together yee shall see how contrary the wicked be to the godly in this Cain cryes out that his punishment is greater then he could beare hee complaines not of his sinne but of his punishment as if God punished him more then hee deserved and Saul takes it ill that Samuel should charge him with disobedience though it were grosse and palpable and yee shall finde in Scripture that God exposes his actions to scanning Ierem. 5.19 Ierem. 10.16 that it may appeare to all the world how just he is In Ierem. 5.19 and in Chap. 10.16 the wicked are not ashamed to question God why hee punished them as if hee had done it without cause Ezek. 18.25 So in Ezek. 18.25 They say the Lords wayes were not equall as if he had punished the children for their Fathers sinnes when as the same sinnes were found in the children Mal. 3.8 So in Mal. 3.8 when God challengeth and plagueth them for their transgressions they reply What have wee done As if God punished them without desert and this humour of turning againe will not leave the wicked at the last day for when Christ shall say unto them on his left hand depart yee cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his angels for I was an hungred and yee gave mee no meat I was thirsty and yee gave me no drink then shall they answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst Vse 1 This lets us see how the world failes in this particular when God layes his hand on men how apt are they to dispute with God and say why doth hee deale thus and thus with us and by this meanes they are so farre from mitigating that they encrease his hand upon them Nay there bee those presumptuous ones that in argumentation will aske why God elected some and reprobated others but take heed of this is it not enough to knock at the doore but wee must break it open Who art thou O man that repliest to thy Maker Vse 2 Secondly let us alwayes bee perswaded of the justice of God in all his proceedings for though wee see not the reason why hee doth this or that yet there is good reason for it Voluntas Dei secreta sit nunquam injusta the cause why God punisheth may bee hid but it is never unjust Therefore when thy tumultuous flesh shall say with Rebeckah Why am I thus know that it is for thy excesse thy Sabbath-breaking thy hypocrisie thy lewd conversation Therefore change thy note and say with the Church Mich. 7.9 Mich. 7.9 I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him I know it is a hard thing to suppresse the tumultuous thoughts which arise in men in times of trouble but these must bee laboured agaist with all our power for no man gets by contending with his Maker but multiplies his stroaks Wee proceed now to the reason which hee gives for justifying God for wee remaine yet escaped as it is this day As if hee had said thy goodnesse is demonstrate hee that runnes may read it thou hast been abundantly more mercifull to us then to thousands of our brethren who perished in the captivity for lo we remain even to this day That which I collect from hence is this In generall judgements which God brings upon the World there is still some escaping When God sent the Deluge upon the world Noah and his Family perished not in the fiery shower which God rained on Sodom and Gomorrah Lot and his Daughters perished not nay a whole City to wit Zoar is spared at Lots entreaty When Pharaoh commanded all the male children of the Iewes to bee drowned Moses was preserved and when Iericho was destroyed Rahab and her Family were spared and when for Davids pride seventy thousand were consumed by the Pestilence many thousands in Israel escaped and when the last great Plague was among us thousands and ten thousands had their life for a prey What is the ground of this Reason 1 First all Gods wayes are interveined with mercy Reason 2 Secondly God still spares some to bring them to repentance that they may turn out of the crooked into the straight path Vse 1 Let me advise them that have tasted of Gods mercy in this way never to forget it and for this let me stirre up my own soule to prayse God with you when my next neighbour was smitten dead why was not I smitten also it was only Gods mercy when some in the same house with us were infected and died of the plague why were wee spared it was of Gods meere mercy and it ought to bee marvellous in our eyes Vse 2 Secondly let us bee farre from censuring any that dyed in the last visitation as if they were greater sinners then others farre bee it from us to bee of this wicked humour for many a good soule went to Heaven then and many a Cham was spared Wee are bound to praise him for our selves for why did hee spare us was it not that wee should bee better Gods sparing men is either to harden them or to amend them therefore except wee repent wee shall likewise perish The reason which hee gives on their part is that though God had spared them yet they were before him in their trespasses as if hee had said O Lord thou hast to the full performed thy counterpart with us but wee are yet in our sinnes for wee are as bad or worse then wee were before Here take notice of thus much What a fearefull judgement it is not to profit by afflictions It is that for which God finds great fault with his people in Deut. 29.2.3.4 his hand had been heavie upon their Enemies in their sight and view Deut 29.2.3 4. yet they were never the better So in lsa 1.5 there the Lord saith to Israel Isa 1.5 why should yee bee stricken any more yee will revolt more and more Ierem. 12.13 The like also we see in Ierem. 12.13 They were sick and had no profit This was the sinne of Cain hee was stigmatised for a wretch yet hee was as wicked as hee was before It was also the sinne of Pharaoh Ahab and Ahaz they were all the worse for comming under the rod and are therefore branded by the spirit of God to all posterity There is a great deale of difference between Gods afflicting the godly and the wicked Isa 27.7 as may appeare Isa 27.7 Hath hee smitten them as hee smote those that smote him What is the reason the godly profit by affliction but the wicked are the worse for being afflicted Every thing works together for the best to Gods people but every thing turnes into sinne to the wicked according
newes to Israel no sooner is hee come to Hierusalem but he is welcommed with a sad relation there is a complaint made to him that the Princes Priests Levites and people had mingled themselves with the people of the land doing according to their abominations Ezra hearing this knowes no other way to appease Gods wrath but by pouring out his soule to him in prayer and if yee look into the sacred Scripture yee shall finde that this hath ever beene the practise of Gods people in time of affliction they have still betaken themselves to prayer The commandement of God is for it Psal 50.15 Call upon mee in the day of trouble Psal 50.15 Iam. 5.13 So in Iames 5.13 Is any among you afflicted let him pray And as God commanded it so his children have practised it in almost all the pages of holy Writ yee shall finde the Saints of God exercising prayer this was the weapon that Iacob took up when hee expected nothing but hostility from his brother Esau the Text saith Hee prayed to the Lord to deliver him from the hand of Esau his brother Gen. 32.11 This also was that which Moses took up Gen 32.11 when that Pharaoh and his Host were at the heels of Israel and the red Sea before them he betook himselfe to God by prayer Exod 14.15 Exod. 14.15 And this was the weapon which hee used when Israel conquered Amalek Exod. 17.11 12. Exod. 17.11 12. How often doe wee finde David practised in this duty as few of the Saints had more crosses so none oftner in prayer then hee This is that which the three Children make use of in the fiery Oven Daniel in the Lyons Den and Ionah in the Whales belly instances hereof are so obvious in the Scripture that I spare to name any more and from proving the point I come to answer some Objections which are made against that which I have said and they bee these First Objection say some being in affliction God knowes our desires and wants before wee ask what need wee then pray to him I answer to this with Saint Ierome Solution we pray not to God to acquaint him with what hee knowes not but that wee may the more incline him to mercy as that Father saith well non narratores sed oratores sumus wee come not to informe him of what hee is ignorant but we are humble suters that hee may be facilitated unto mercy O but say they Objection God hath determined how it shall bee and let mee poure out never so many prayers it is impossible for mee either to hasten or fore-slow his pace The Answer to this Solution shall bee that of Daniel he knew by reading the Prophecy of Ieremiah how long the captivity of Babylon should last yet hee addresses himselfe to God by prayer Dan. 9.19 The Prophet knew Dan â— 19 that as God had ordained the end so also the meanes and amongst those prayer is the chiefe But thirdly they reply and say Why should we pray Objection are wee not commanded to be patient in tribulation I answer Solution these two bee not incompatible as for instance David was as patient a man as ever lived as we may see 2 Sam. 15.26 where he saith 2 Sam 15.26 If the Lord have no delight in mee behold here am I let him doe to me as seemeth good unto him and yet David was frequent in prayer to God the like wee see in our blessed Lord and Saviour who is an example without exception all the world knowes that hee was patient to the death yet hee prayed Father if it be thy will let this cup passe from mee it is true a man must bee patient when Gods hand is upon him and not have so much as the least rising thought against God but yet hee may at the same time without offence implore God to have mercy upon him Vse 1 If it bee thus it meets with those that wave this course who being in affliction seek not to God Ahaziah goes to the god of Ekron and Saul to the Witch at Endor and a company among us in time of trouble seek to Negromancers and Wizards which is no other then to cast out the Devill by Belzebub to such I say as the Prophet Elijah said to the Messengers of Ahaziah is it because there is no God in Israel that yee goe to enquire of Baalzebub the God of Ekron cannot God help yee but you must goe to such as these This is the highest degree of irreligion even meere Atheisme Secondly it meets with others who are sullen and pettish when Gods hand is upon them they are so sensible of the stroak that it drives all piety out of them they had rather sullenly die then seriously pray unto God for ease and release but let these know and bee assured that God will either bend or break them Vse 2 In the second place whensoever the hand of God is upon us let us in the first place addresse our selves to God by prayer and to this end remember these things First pray sensibly be sensible of what thou suffâ—rest God loves not that men should bee as so many Stoicks insensible of what they suffer nay hee hates indolence Ierem. 5.3 and finds fault with them for it in Ierem. 5.3 Because they grieved not though hee had stricken them Secondly a man must pray as feelingly so fervently saith Iames the prayer of a righteous man availes much if it bee feâ—vent Iam. 5.15 Moses his prayer is called a cry Iam. 5 15. Exod 14.15 Gen. 32.24 Hosca 12.4 Exod. 14.15 and Iacob is said to wrastle with God Genes 32.24 which was by prayer and supplication as is evident in Hosea 12.4 and Saint Paul desires some to whom hee wrote to strive with him by prayer to God Augustine saith this was the reason why the Egyptian Monkes made short prayers lest they should lose their fervency by praying long And here under this will come in intention in prayer which is when a man minds what hee prayes and though Bellarmine say that a vertuall intention is enough without an actuall yet Gregory and I ask him or any such this question why seeks he to bee heard of God when hee heares not himselfe when a man doth perfunctorily slubber over his prayers how should hee look for a comfortable return of his petitions the bullet can flie no further then the quantity of powder wherewith the piece was charged can carry it and it is impossible our prayers should reach heaven unlesse fervency goe along with them Thirdly we must pray faithfully that is believing wee shall receive what wee implore God for if it bee according to his will Iam. 1.5.6.7 saith S. Iames Iam. 1.5.6.7 If any of you lack wisedome let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like