Notwithstanding Notwithstanding the great Sin that Adam and Eve committed in the fall yet saies the Lord The seed of the woman shal break the Serpents head Thus in the Types of Christ There were Three great Types of him in the Wildernesse the Manna the Brasen-Serpent and the Rock but though all these were Types yet the Rock especially and therefore in the 1 Cor. 10. saies the Apostle And that Rock was Christ He had said before They did all eate the same spiritual meat yet he doth not say And that meat was Christ or that Manna was Christ but having said They all drank of the same spirituall Rock he addeth And that Rock was Christ Why but because the Rock and Water was a speciall Type of Christ Now if we look into the History we shal find that the waters of the Rock whereby Israel were saved from death was given with a Notwithstanding They murmured and sinned much through Unbelief yet the Lord struck the Rock and waters came forth like honey yea and the Apostle tels us that the Rock followed them they did not follow the Rock but the Rock went after them And when Christ himself came into the world ye may read in the third of Luke what a pack of wicked men were then in Judea that were in Office Pontius Pilate Herod Annas and Caiaphas yet then even then did Christ come notwithstanding all the malice of those Tyrants and times And if ye look into the 57 of Esay ye may read a clear proof of all this verse the 17 For the iniquity of his covetousnesse was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart What then I have seen his waies at the 18. Verse I will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners All this is spoken of a people as well as of a particular person Here 's mercy here 's love here 's Pardon with a Notwithstanding So that God doth sometimes save his people with a Notwithstanding all their Sins That is the first Reason Doct. 2 Secondly if God should not show mercy to his people with a Notwithstanding How should the glory of his Mercy appear If a Physician should onely cure a man that hath the Head-ach or Tooth-ach one that hath taken Cold or some small disease it would not argue any great skil and excellency in the Physician But when a man is nigh unto death hath one foot in the grave or is in the eye of reason past all recovery if then the Physiciam cure him it argues much the skil and excellency of that Physician So now if God should onely cure and save a People that were lesse evil and wicked or that were good indeed where should the Excellency of mercy appear but when a People shall be drawing on lying bed-rid as it were and the Lord out of his free love for his own Names sake shall raise and cure such an unworthy People this sets out the glory of his Mercy Read therefore and consider what is said in Psal 87.3 Glorious things are spoken of thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gloriosa dicta in te Ar. Mont. but rather according to the Hebrew In thee O thou City of God What are those glorious things Verse the 4. I wil make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me Rahab signifies Pride and Insolency for Aegypt dealt Proudly and Insolently with the people of God Babylon also opprest them sorely and held them in captivity yet saies the Lord I wil make mention of Aegypt and Babylon to them that know me Yea Philistia and Tyre and Aethiopia men and people that were very wicked shal be found with the Saints the Lord wil take speciall notice of them Vers 4. 5. as of those in Zion What then Then glorious things shall be spoken In thee Mercy is never Glorious but when it is Rich It is never Rich but when it is free and the more free it is and works with a Notwithstanding the more glorious it is Now God who is the God of Glory wil have his Mercy which is his Glory made Glorious and therefore though the Sin of a People be exceeding great and very hainous yet he wil sometimes save them for his owne Names sake with a Notwithstanding all their Sins Application If God doth sometimes save a people with a Notwithstanding all their Sin Then it 's possible I see nothing in the Word contrary to it but that England Scotland Ireland may yet be saved with an outward Salvation Notwithstanding all our fears notwithstanding all our Sins The Lord saved Israel brought them out of Aegypt through the Red sea Notwithstanding all their Rebellion The Lord saved Lot out of Sodome Notwithstanding he saw what he would do with his two daughters afterward The Lord saved Israel out of Babylon Notwithstanding that they were loath to depart and were grown exceeding vile and very wicked there The Jews were a people that were under the Law indeed they were saved by the same Covenant of Grace that we are and by Jesus Christ as we are yet were under the Law for God dealt with them in a more Legall way and manner then he doth deale by us And did the Lords grace and free love so strive upon them as to save them with a Notwithstanding and shall not his grace and love now strive upon his Gospel-People to save and deliver them with a Notwithstanding Were they under the Law and yet saved by Grace Did the Lord save the Mosaicall Israel for his own Names sake with a Notwithstanding and shal he not save Christian Israel in a way of free-love with a Notwithstanding also Surely the Lord is as full of grace now in the times of the New Testament as ever he was in the times of the Old Testament Object But we are a People that have been much defiled with the Superstitions of the former times and the Idolatry thereof Answ And was not Israel so in the land of Aegypt read Ezek. 20. Object Oh! but since the Lord hath been pleased to come among us and make a tender and offer of Reformation we have been unwilling to it Answ True but were not Israel unwilling to go out of the land of Aegypt Object But we are not onely Unwilling but we have risen up against and murmured and chidden with those that would have been our Reformers Answ And did not Israel chide with Moses Object Oh! but we have sinned worse then they for we have sinned greatly in the face of all those glorious mercies which God hath shewed of late among us Answ And I pray consider it Was it not thus with Israel 'T is said in the Verse precedent They rebelled at the Sea even at the Red Sea Or as in the Hebrew even In the Red Sea when the waters stood like walls on both sides of them when they saw those walls of waters
that never people saw before and saw the Power the infinite Power of God leading them through on dry land Then did they Rebel At the Sea Even In the Sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vulg Lat. in mare Hieron in mâ—ri rubrâ— â—ranâ— in grandi praesenti incuitabili discrimine constituti nam Aegyptii a tergo monitbus impediebantur ne vel ad dextram vel ad senistram declinare mari vero ne progredi possent occludebantur hisce augustiis inclusi murmurabant rebellabam ubi potissimum divinae bâ—nitatis memoria vigere debet Muscul in Nas and yet for all this the Lord saved them he saved them with a Notwithstanding all this And I say shal the Lord put forth so much of grace upon a People that were undeâ— the Law and not put forth much more of his grace upon those that are under the Gospel O England England I cannot write thee lost or forsaken thou maiest yet be saved I speak of Outward Salvation thou maiest yet be saved Notwithstanding all thy Fears and all thy Sins Yea the Lord hath saved us he hath saved us with a Notwithstanding as great and large a Notwithstanding as ever People and Nation were saved with Witnesse the Mercy and Deliverance of this day When the Powder-Treason was on foot what a dark night of security had trodden upon the glory of our English day Then did our strength lie fast asleep in the lap of Delilah What Pride Oppression Court-uncleannesse Supersttions and Persecutions of the Saints then under the name of Puritans Neverthelesse he saâ—ed us and our Fathers And now of late What Bitternesse of spirit among Professors What Divisions Oppressions instead of Justice What new-fangled Prides What unwillingnesse to be Reformed Time was heretofore when we did call for Truth and cried aloud for Truth Oh! that we might know the Truth But now we deale by Truth as the Fryar said the people did by their Holy-water Ye call and cry said he for Holy-water but when the Sexton sprinkles it ye turn away your faces and it falls on your backs So the times were heretofore that we called and cried out for Truth Truth it is now come unto you we would sprinkle it upon you but ye turn away your faces from it and it falls on your backs And is there not as much Swearing Drunkennesse Profanenesse stil as before I read of a street in Rome called Vicus Sobrius the Sober street because there was never an Ale-house to be found in it And upon this account I think there wil be never a sober street in England or very rare As for the precious Ordinances of Jesus Christ never so sleighted and rejected as now Neverthelesse the Lord hath saved us yea he hath saved us with a great Salvation I may say Miraculous Salvation oh if ever people were saved in a way of free love and with a Notwithstanding thus are we saved here in England Quest But suppose it be so That the Lord hath saved us with a Notwithstanding for his owne Names sake out of his mercy and free love What is our Duty that doth flow from hence Duty 1 First if the Lord doth save us with a Notwithstanding for his owne Names sake out of meere grace Then what mighty ingagements are upon us all to become gracious to repent of and turne from our former sins nothwithstanding which he hath saved us An ungracious heart may possibly mourn for Sin that it may be pardon'd but an ingenuous gracious heart wil mourn for sin because it is pardoned Yea and the more he apprehends that his Sin is pardoned the more he will and doth mourn for it We read of David that he had sinned greatly and he lay long therein without testimony of repentance at the last he breaks out into a Penitential Psalm the 51. Psal and there he melts and breaks all to pieces in Repentance When was that Psalm made the Title tels us A Psalm of David when Nathan the Prophet came unto him that is after Nathan the Prophet had come And what did Nathan say to him but thy Sin is forgiven thee whereupon he did melt into that Repentance So now when a person doth truly consider how many Notwithstandings the Lord doth carry his Conversion through then he doth melt indeed if there be ingenuity in him Oh! saies he I was a poor Ignorant man a Drunkard a Swearer an Opposer and a Jearer at goodnesse and good men yet the Lord saved me shewed mercy to me Notwithstanding all this and therefore what infinite cause have I to be humbled for Sin committed here he breaks and melts And if ye look into the 9. of Ezra ye shal find that nothing did so melt and break his heart as this That the people sinned against the free love of God ver 6. O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God For now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in his holy place ver 10. And now O our God what shal we say after this for we have forsaken thy commandements ver 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespasse seeing that thou our God hast punished us lesse then our iniquities deserve and hast given us such deliverance as this Should we again break thy commandements and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations O Lord our God thou art righteous for we remain yet escaped behold we are before thee in our trespasses for we cannot stand before thee because of this So say I Hath the Lord shewed mercy to us with a Notwithstanding all our Sins and shall we sin against him Notwithstanding all his Mercies how shall we stand before him because of this Surely the latter end will be sad and smart Ye read of the children of Israel's unbelief and that therefore they fell and died in the Wildernesse They had sinned greatly in Unbelief on the other side the water before they came through the Red sea but God pardoned that but when the Lord had brought them through the Red sea and they had seen God saving them with a Notwithstanding and then fell into that unbelief they died for it Their unbelief on this side the water was at a dearer rate then on the other And so it will be with us Many and great were our sins which we committed before the Lord saved us and if yet we will go on and will not repent of them now they will cost us dear The Lord hath saved us with a Notwithstanding Oh! what a mighty ingagement is this upon us all to leave those sins Notwithstanding which the Lord hath saved us This is our first duty Duty 2 Secondly if the Lord hath saved us with a Notwithstanding out of free love Then let us all walk
it but Hel it selfe Speak O Sun whether in all thy travels from one end of the heavens to the other thou hast ever beheld such a practice as this yet this designe this black cruell hellish designe hath this Jesuiticall Religion brought forth as it is this day But I say no more ye know what the Northern Gentleman said I cannot dispute but I have two Arguments against the Papists that can never be answered Equivocation and the Powder-Treason and this may all you say that cannot dispute Who would not prejudice his own heart his Childrens his Servants hearts against this Religion oh for ever take heed of tampering with this Religion I feare the hand of the Jesuite is too much among us at this day but O England O Parliament for ever remember the Fift of November The snare is broken and we are delivered Duty 3 And so I come to the third Duty which upon the account of Gods gracious and powerfull deliverance we are to return unto God namely To praise him and speak well of his Name The Lord hath saved us and made his mighty power known in the midst of us O be thankfull unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy indures for ever We read in Psal 126. that when the Lord turned the captivity of Zion it is said The Church was like unto those that are restored to health The words run thus When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like unto them that dream But the words should rather be translated We (n) ×—×œ× Incolumis sanus sanatus reviluit convaluit sic Ps 126. fuimus ×›×—×œ×ž×™× sicut convalescentes Targum sicut aegroti qui sanati sunt ut captivitas morbo sanationi liberatio comparetur Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sicut consolati Alii sicut somniantes ex significatione secunda Shind p. 582. fuimus sicut convalescentes veram esse hanc Prophetiam res postca gesta testatur quoniam similes ex aegritudine convalescentibus fuerunt redeuntes ex captivitate Babyloniae paulatim enim auctae sunt vires eorum Cajetan in Psal 125. are like unto those that are restored to health The Hebrew word signifies to recover or to be restored to health And so the same word is translated in the 38. of Esay when Hezekiah recovered he made a Psalme of Praise and said O Lord by these things men live and in all things is the life of my spirit so wilt thou recover me and make me to live 'T is the same word that is used here Thus Cajetan Shindler and others would have it translated here and it suits best with the following words Then were our mouths filled with laughter and our tongues with praise When a man is in a good dream his mouth is not filled with laughter nor his tongue with praise If a man be in a bad dream his mouth is not filled with laughter nor his tongue with praise but when a man is restored to health after a great sicknesse it is so And therefore saies the Psalmist When the Lord turned our captivity c. Now if you look into Scripture you will find that the word captivity is used for any violence that is done by others upon Gods people So it is said of Job when he prayed for his friends He was never from his own house in all his affliction how then in captivity he was under violence for the present put into the hands of Satan and so in captivity When Gods people are under violence then in Scripture phrase they are said to be in captivity Ye have also been under the violence of men in Queen Maries daies under the violence of Papists In later daies under the violence of Prelates And now of late the Parliament under the violence of the Rout. And the godly of the City under violence too But the Lord having freed you from this violence he hath turned your captivity even as the waters of the South and therefore why should not all we be as those that are restored to health again When a man is restored to health then he praises the Lord and rejoices in all his goodnesse yea he will praise the Lord for lesse strength and health then before for that which he did not praise God before Wherefore now then though we doe not keep this day as an Holy-day Let our mouths be filled with laughter and our tongues with praises O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy indures for ever He hath scattered the proud in the imaginations of their hearts for his mercy indures for ever He hath saved us with a Notwithstanding for his mercy indures for ever He hath not only delivered us from one Powder-Treason but from many in these late years for his mercy indures for ever Oh! you Right Honourable the House of Peers Praise ye the Lord for he is good for his mercy indures for ever And you most Honourable the House of Commons Praise ye the Lord for he is good for his mercy indures for ever And let all the houshold of the faithful praise the Lord for he is good for his mercy indures for ever O give thanks unto the God of Gods for his mercy indures for ever We sinned God saved us We sinned greatly he hath saved us with a great salvation with a Neverthelesse Neverthelesse he hath saved us for his own Names sake that he might make his mighty power known Now then Let us all praise the Lord and call upon his Name FINIS
ENGLAND SAVED VVITH A NOTWITHSTANDING REPRESENTED In a SERMON to the Honourable House of COMMONS assembled in Parliament Novemb. 5. 1647. The Day of Thanks-giving for Deliverance from the Powder-Plot BY William Bridge sometimes Fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge now Preacher of Gods word at Yarmouth Published by Order of that House LONDON Printed for R. Dawlman and are to be sold at the signe of the Crowne and Bible at Dowgate neere Canning-street 1648. Die Sabbathi 6. Novemb. 1647. ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament That Mr. Allen doe give the thanks of this House to Mr. Bridge for the great pains he took in the Sermon he Preached yesterday the 5. of November before the House at Margarets Westminster and that he be desired to print his Sermon and to have the like priviledge in printing thereof as others inlike cases usually have H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com. I Appoint Robert Dawlman to print this Sermon and no man else WILLIAM BRIDGE TO The Honourable House of COMMONS ASSEMBLED In PARLIAMENT IN what frosts and snows your hand hath cleaved to your plough is not unknown to this Kingdome Magistratus labor major rusticano Luther unthankfulnesse may say you have done little for us but the truth cannot (a) Gubernaâ—io est divina quaedam virtus ideoque vocat Deus magistratus omnes Deos non propter creationem sed propter administrationem quae solius Dei est qui igitur in regimine est est quasi Deus incarnatus Luther in Gen. The Lord hath said ye are Gods Still therefore be pleased to act unweariedly and unchangeably God doth save us with a Notwithstanding our reluctancy so should the Magistrate God is a Father of the fatherless and an help to the oppressed gathereth the outcasts careth for those whom none careth for and doth sometimes carve for them first who doe sit lowest So should Magistrates be and doe and therefore the Lord having said concerning Magistrates that they are Gods Psal 82.1 he addeth in v. 3. 4. deliver ye the poor and needy c. The Magistrate should not alwaies stay till the crying complaints of the poor be brought to him but should sometimes seek and inquire after them (b) Clamor afflictorum pertinet ad eos qui in Magistratu sunt etiamsi ad ipsos non clametur nam non dicit liberabit egenum ad se clamentem sed clamentem afflictum cui non est adjutor hoc est cui nihil est in rebus afflictis patrocinii Muscul in Psal The cry of the afflicted belongs to the Magistrate though they cry not to him Musculus therefore observes well that the Psal doth not say of the Magistrate He shall deliver the poor and needy when he cryeth unto him but when he cryeth Psal 72.12 God is a God of love mercy and grace he is called love it selfe not justice though he be so but God is love so should the Magistrate be full of love bowels and tender compassions unto the people therefore he is called (c) ×ב ab ×בה â—elle quasi volens bene suis 〈…〉 dictus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 41. aliqui ducuna a ברכ benedixit genua flexit clamabam enim autem cum genua fleâ—te sic Abâ—â— Efra alii dividunt verbum in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R Solomon quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in lingua Aramaea est Rex Naâ— Joseph fuit pater Regis sed voâ— Ebraica 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat tener mollis quia princeps tener mollis pater est Mayer philolog Sacr. par prima p. 116. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 levavit â—leuavit sublevavit portavit Father tender Father and Nasi not only because he is lift up above the people but because he doth lift up or ease their burthen and doth portare populum in gremio suo Now most worthy Patriots ye have conquered this Kingdome with your sword conquer us once more with your love in providing for the poor desolate and in healing our sad divisions with a fatherly hand and you are compleat Saviours and Fathers to this bleeding Kingdome Pacem nos poscimus but not such a peace as Augustine speaks ut mimici submittant sed ut amici jungant I had thought to have been date veniam verbo disobedient to your command of printing this Sermon but being perswaded that it may in some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto love both towards God and man I chose rather to disobey mine own inclinations then your order Now the Lord himself make you the repairers of our breaches and the restorers of paths to dwell in which is and must be the prayer of Your servant in the Gospel of Christ WILLIAM BRIDGE A SERMON PREACHED Before the Honourable House OF COMMONS Novemb. 5. 1647. Psal 106. v. 8. Neverthelesse he saved them for his Names sake that he might make his mighty power to be known THis Psalm is a Psalm of Thanksgiving as the first and last Verses declare Now because a man is most fit to praise God when he is most sensible of his own sin and unworthinesse the Psalmist doth throughout this Psalm lay Israel's sin and Gods mercy together Verse the seventh Our fathers saies he understood not the wonders in Aegypt They saw them with their Eyes but they did not understand them with their Heart they did not apprehend the Design and Scope and End of God in those wonders And therefore they remembred not saies the Text thy mercies for a man Remembers no more then he Understands But it may be these Mercies were very few and so their Sin in forgetfulnesse the lesse Nay not so for Verse the seventh They remembred not the multitude of thy mercies But it may be this was their infirmity or weaknesse and so they were the rather to be born with all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed rebellaverunt a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non dicit et obedientes vel haesitantes aut tergiversantes sed rebelles fuerunt rebellio est qua per contumaciam contumeliam adversatur subditus majori suo sic Israelitae non simpliciter detrectabant obsequi sed addebant murmura obloquia contumelias adversus Deum Moy sen Muscul in Psal Not so but they rebelled against him So Montanus reads it better But it may be this sin was committed whilst they were in Aegypt among the Aegyptians being put on by them Not so neither but when they were come out of Egypt and only had to deal with God and saw his glorious power at the Red sea then they rebelled against him at the sea even at the Red sea What then did not the Lord destroy them No saies the Text Notwithstanding all their ignorance unthankfulnesse and their rebellion he saved them for his names sake He saved them that is with an outward salvation For his Names sake the name of God is that whereby he is made known unto us
sanctae Ecclesiae aliarum rerion ab Domine dixi hoc velim ita sieri hoc eventu sed Deus pro sus contrarium faciebat ab eo quod petiveram ibi tum cogitabam atqui meum confilium non est alicuum a gloria Dei sed plurimum facit ad sanctificandum nomen ejus sed risit haud dubic dominus hanc sapientiam dixit age vero novi te esse prudentem cruditum sed mihi nunquam hic mos fuit ut aut Petrus aut Divus Martinus aut alius me doceret non sum Deus passivus sed activus Selamus Deum se abscondere sub specie possimi Diaboli ideo ut discamus bonitatem misericordiam potentiam Dei non posse comprehendi speculando sed experiendo Deus suos humiliat ut exaltet occidit ut vivificet confiendit ut glorificet subjicit ut extollat Nam sic Deus sapientiam nostram mortificat ut homo agrestis mirabilem symphoniam tot votum in orgaâ—is aut Cythara non intelligit propterea quod totius harmoniae rationem ignorat sic nos arbitramur temere omnia fieri diabolum vigilare Deum dormire c. Luther in Gen. Luther If we would see more of God in his works we must understand his waies as distinct from ours Nam ego saith he I often endevoured to prescribe God his way which he should walk in O Lord said I this I would have thus done in this order and with this event but God did the contrary unto what I desired then did I think but my counsell was for Gods glory and did make to the sanctifying of his name sed risit dominus the Lord laughed at my wisdome saying I know thou art a wise man and learned but it is not my manner to do or work or govern as Peter Mar Luther or any other shall teach for I am not a passive but an active God sciamus ergò we must know therefore that God doth sometimes hide himself that we may learn that his goodnesse mercy power is not to be attained by speculation but experience The way to see him in his work is to understand his method in working which nothing can attain unto but faith all men have not faith few that do live by faith Sometimes men are so discontented with what is evill amongst us that for anguish of their souls they cannot see what is good some crum goes awry and so they lose the whole meale of mercy But would you have a true prospect of the great things God hath done for us then let us all go and run unto Jesus Christ to open the mystery and parable of his works he is the Lord that is now at work And as when he lived without a parable spake he nothing so now without a parable works he nothing his works are all parabolicall as his words were We read that when John in Revel 5. met with a sealed Book that had seven seals which neither he nor any could open he fell down and wept but one came to him and told him The Lyon of the Tribe of Judah is worthy to open the book and so he was fully quieted praising the Lord. Now there is a great Folio-book of Providence that is before you indeed it is sealed with many seales but if opened you will find that it is written in every Page Free grace Free love Salvation with a Notwithstanding Would you open this book away then to Jesus Christ and as the Disciples said so do you also Lord tell us the meaning of this Parable tell us the meaning of this Dispensation oh tell us the meaning of this thy Providence Christ is very ready to teach you as a School-master morning by morning teacheth his scholars so Christ Esay 50. 4. And all the worst he will say to you as to Peter What I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know Quest But suppose we have seen the Lord already the finger hand arme and Almighty power of God for we must all needs acknowledge that the Lord hath done great things for us that we have seen the Marks and Characters of his Almighty power imprinted upon all our Deliverances upon the Deliverance of this day and upon all those Salvations which this age hath brought forth But then what is our work and what returns are we to make unto God again Answ Discovery of Power calls for Feare it must be the song of these latter times Revel 15. Great and wonderfull are thy works O Lord God Almighty Just and true are thy waies who shall not feare thee and worship thy Name Duty 1 But if God hath done Great things for us then are we to do some Great thing for God again God never did any Great thing for his Servants but they did Great things for him So David Paul Zacheus and many others And because Hezekiah did not make answerable Returne of praise though he did praise the Lord for his deliverance God was displeased with him and it cost him deare Now God hath done Great things for us and made known his infinite power in a way of free love to us what Great thing shall we do for God Yea what Great thing shall we not do for God Let us fix here a little First it is in these working busie times a Great thing to sit still and be contented to be without work to be laid by and to be used no more God hath his times for men he uses one to day and another to morrow If a man be used in one service once he thinks he must be used in all things and alwaies and when God laies him by and takes another then like the Elder brother in the parable he murmures and envies at the Yonger brother that is called home to Gods worke It 's an hard thing for one that hath been used to be contented to be used no more oh that Magistrates Ministers Men of service could but be willing to be used no more and to be laid aside if God will have it so A man is never more fit for service then when he is willing to be used no more in service Again Simplicity and Plainnesse in Gods work is a great matter in these Designing times those come nearest to God that are the most simple and without foulds and doubles for Divine nature is simplicity it self A Great thing it is now to do Gods work quickly and with dispatch to shew Mercy readily and to doe Justice speedily without delay There may be and is as much of Gods power seen in the lesser Creatures as in the Pismire Worme and the like as in the Great bodies of the Sun and Moon because though the Pismire be little yet there is life in that and none in the Sun or Moon Now when Justice is executed speedily and Mercy dispensed quickly there is life in it Let Beer or Wine stand a while or till the morning and though it were never so good when