I hear and receive from him Well done Good and Faithful Servant enter thou into thy Masters Joy or I know you not depart from me thou worker of Iniquity Go away thou Accursed Creature into Everlasting Punishment Prepared for the Devil and his Angels God hates nothing that he hath made as it is his Creature till afterwards he sees Sin and Evil in them Hereupon a Multitude of thoughts doth arise in the Soul whither my sin be Pardoned and taken away or not And why dost thou not Pardon my Transgression and take away mine Iniquity for now shall I sleep in the dust Job 7. 21. If the Soul had but once assurance that God would do this for her then she could with as little fear and concern commit her Body to sleep in the Dust and then her self could also without Terrour step forth upon the dark Mountains as now we do without fear yea willingly go to Bed to take our ordinary common sleep each Night in a Bed of Damask Violet or Roses or as any one ever lay down with Sweetness and Joy in the Marriage-Bed of his most Dearly Beloved For as a Young Man Marrieth a Virgin so shall thy Sons Mâ—â—y thee And as the Bridegroom Rejoyceth over a Bride 〈◊〉 shall thy God Rejoyce over thee Isa 62. 5. For then it 〈◊〉 upon Death which is the loosening and dissolution of other 〈◊〉 that the Souls of the Righteous are Married and United â—â—to God They are gathered up unto the Father of Spirits and stand in his Presence and near and next unto yea they are one with him as Husband and Wife make one Flesh in whose Presence is fulness of Joy and at whose Right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore But let no Stranger meddle with this joy let not those who are Aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel and not in Covenant with God ever think to receive or to come in for to share and partake of these Good and Comfortable things For as before observ'd there is no commending of our Spirits when we come to dye into the Hands of God without having been Redeemed by him from Sin and Guilt from the vain Conversation and Corruption that is in the World from Satan and his Temptations So it is here in Micah 6. 6 7 8. Take them all together there is no Agreement or Peace to be made with the Lord no not with those Great Many and Near Offers and Overtures there mentioned without following that which is good and obeying the Requirings of the Lord in doing justly and loving Mercy and walking Humbly with thy God throughout thy past and foregoing Life There is no other way under Heaven to get the sin of our Soul pardoned or taken away or to make Atonement or Expectation for it but to come into Covenant with God and not to break it again but to observe it according to what is written Nâ—t according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the Day that I took them by the Hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which Covenant they brake although I was an Husband unto them saith the Lord. This confirms the Truth of what was before spoken But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel After those Days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward Parts and write it in their Hearts and will be their God and they shall be my People And they shall teach no more every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Brother saying know ye the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest saith the Lord for I will forgive their Iniquity and will remember their Sin no more Jer. 34. 31 32 33 34. From all this considered together for a Covenant must be taken all together as it lies in the whole and not by Peace-meals it appears that the only way for God to forgive our Iniquity and remember our Sin no more is to be in covenant with God to take him for our God Wherein is supposed that he is to be our Ruler and Governour and we his People which implies Subjection and Obedience to have his Law in our inward Parts and written in our Hearts For what end and purpose is that Namely for us to observe keep and do it So that the ready and compendious way there is none besides it to obtain Forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance amongst them that are Sanctified is by Repentance for the past and Obedience for the future There is no other way under Heaven given unto Men whereby they must be saved To this do all the Scriptures both Law and Prophets Christ and Apostles give witness If the God of Truth hath Redeemed us and Delivered us from the Hand of our Enemies it is that we might serve him without Fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life All this Doctrine is pertinent and direct to our Text for it was this which gave Hezekiah that comfort and rejoycing that did spring up even through his Weeping and Tears when the Message of Death was brought unto him that before that he had walked before God in Truth and with a Perfect Heart and had done that which was good in his Sight For there is no Dying in the Lord without having Lived unto the Lord There is no dying the Death of the Righteous without having lived the Life of the Righteous It may seem a strange thing but only it shews forth the exceeding Delusion and Subtilty of Satan that one may speak many of the Truths of God and yet not be saved by them himself that one may Preach unto others and yet Himself be a Cast-away and Prophesie in Christ's Name and yet at the last Day be rejected and disowned by Christ So Balaam could and did really wish and desire to die the Death of the Righteous And when he afterwards saith Behold I have received Commandment to Blesâ— and he hath Blessed and I cannot reverse it Numb 23. 20. Hereupon his own Reason for the like Reasoning and Truth runs throughout all the things of God might have told and acquainted him that it is impossible to dye the Death of the Righteous without having lived the Life of the Righteous for of necessity such an one must have been Righteous before which doth respect some yea and the most considerable part of his foregoing Life for otherwise such an one could not properly and truly be said to be Righteous inasmuch as the Denomination is taken from the greater Part. And seeing that the Order Decree and Purpose of God stands on this wiâ—e The Righteous hath hope in his Death Prov. 14. 32. Such must have been Righteous before their Death for otherwise the Spirit which always speaks properly and truly would not have called them Righteous None else have Hope in their Death Not all the Ministers and People on the Earth can ever reverse alter or change this
and Seriousness of Spirit For then indeed it is a weighty and near affecting thing that the Soul is going about when she is a going away into Life Eternal or into Everlasting Punishment when she hath but one Cast or Throw which is to make the Final and Everlasting Decision for Endless Happiness or Misery We see by Poor Malefactors when they come to receive the due reward of their deeds what a crying and howling will they make at the Place of Execution and this they do not so much for the Pains which they shall undergo In being cut off hastily and violently from this Land of the living but out of a fearful Expectation of yet greater misery to come But Hezekiahs weeping sore or great weeping was not for this Reason for his Life was True Perfect and Good So that after him none was like unto him among all the Kings of Judah And God that cannot lie hath now under the Gospel promised Eternal Life to the patient continuance in well doing Rom. 2. 7. But probably Hezekiah did not know of this as the Saints and Servants of God of latter Ages do And then like one who is turned and dispossessed out of a Cottage may at first take it in Indignation and Vexation when He then knows not that it is in order to be removed into a Pallace or â—â—ner House as He afterwards finds it So Hezekiah then not knowing that if He should be taken out of his Earthly Pallace that He should be received up into Heaven the City of the Great King which would be much better He might probably think it Irksome and a Loss to be taken from the other That Hezekiah was partly Ignorant of thus much appears from his own Words in the following Part of this Chapter For the Grave cannot Praise thee Death cannot Celebrate thee They that go down to the Pit cannot Hope for thy Truth This last He spake as one under that Dispensation from the Mount Sinah which gendreth Bondage Gal. 4. 24. And so this his Distrust and Ignorance did Gender Tears and Weeping in him But by your leave Good Hezekiah we under the Gospel can contradict the latter part of your saying for from thence we do believe yea we know and are assured that they which go down to the Pit can and do Hope for Gods Truth And Notwithstanding it is Written in the Old Testament For in Death there is no Remembrance of thee Yet now Christ hath abolished Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel we can truly contradict that saying also for in Death there 〈◊〉 most Remembrance of God For the Remembraneâ— which we have of God in this life is much less and as 〈◊〉 Remembrance in Comparison of what Remembrance of God we shall have in and after our several Deaths Anâ— we now can give a Plain and Satisfactory Answer in thâ— Affirmative altho' by its being asked so short it seems to imply a strong Negation for we know that God will shew wonders to the Dead as that will be a wonderfuâ—â— thing indeed to fullfil in a litteral sense in the last Day what is Written in Ezek. 37. 6 7 8 9 10. And thâ— Dead will Arise and Praise God Psal 88. 10. And ouâ— flesh also shall rest in Hope for it shall be raised up anâ— rendred intire flesh again Notwithstanding it will foâ— some time be left in the Grave and see Corruption as thâ— Holy one of God did not when Jesus Christ shalâ— change our vile Body that it may be Fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to his working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto himself Here is to be observed that Good and Godly Mind oâ— Hezekiah and of David for these did weep and werâ— grieved at Death because they thought that thereby theâ— should be hindred from Praising of God and telling 〈◊〉 his Truth and Wonderful Works They thought theâ— should be deprived of his Worship and from having anâ— Sense and Remembrance of him Which as to be wiâ—â— God is the greatest Happiness of Man especially to the Soul that seeketh and serveth him who loveth and delighteth in him and chooseth the things that please hâ—â— So to be without God in the World or to be turned inâ—â— nothing after Death in Respect of God this is thâ— greatest misery of Man especially if it be considereâ— what an Unexpressible Benefit Comfort and Satisfactioâ—â—t is to be with God Herein the Godly and Graciouâ— Soul is quite opposite and perfectly contrary unto thâ— Ungodly and Graceless Person for the first cannot beaâ— or away with the thoughts of being without God botâ— in this Life and in the Life to come Nothing less wiâ—â— suffice that Soul then to be with God for ever and to have God for her Portion for ever But the Ungodly and Graceless Person as He is An alien from the common wealth of Israel and without God in the World For he makes it his own wretched and willful choice to be so And herein tho' He was made in Honour capable to know God to serve him and enjoy him hereafter yet by not understanding and doing thereafter He doth become like the Beasts that Perish So such an one would desire with all his heart to be without God in the other World also for He fears and apprehends and expects no Good from him but Evil For in the other World He will be either the God of Mercy or the Lord to whom Vengeance belongeth He will be so one of these two ways unto all the Reasonable Inhabitants of the Earth And who would not fear him in this World shall feel him in the next Those who in this Life did despise and would not accept of his Goodness shall partake and be sensible of his severity in the next It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God Every Sinner or Ungodly Person is a Fool as may be demonstrated particularly And as it is Written The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God Even so they that are corrupt and have done abominable works the Sinner and Ungodly the Hypocrite do indeed wish and desire that there was no God for they would not have God Reign over them But that same wish and desire of theirs is as Vain and Impossible as it is yet further provoking and makes their sin yet exceeding more sinful in the sight of him with whom we have to do What strange Imaginations do sinners conceive in their minds that they may not receive in themselves a Recompence meet for their Evil deeds which yet are all to no purpose avail or behoof as any other ways to possibly avoid the Wrath and Indignation of God against them They had better agree with their Adversary quickly whilst they are yet in the way Or let him take hold of my strength that He may make Peace with me and He shall make Peace with me Isa 27. 5. As the Apostle Paul could
further improved This is the Sum and Height of Wisdom if we would do those things whilst living which we shall wish we had done when we come to die Now if with these two sayings we take in also the Knowledge of God considering our Subjection and Duty to him that is Invisible as also with the Grace and Truth that came by Jesus Christ In that Revelation which God made unto mankind by and through him which speak of things that must shortly come to pass which pertain to the Kingdom of God and also to us Men both as to what we are now and what we shall be Let there be but the full assurance of Faith concerning these things and what kind of thoughts will then naturally and necessarily spring up in the Soul just as that is Gasping and she is departing from the Body even quite contrary unto and vastly different from what we had whilst in the midst of Life Health Strength and Vigour For then we were if not wholly and only yet chiefly and Principally taken up with and busied about Worldly and Visible things But do but throughly conceive thy self to be once a dying then the Mind will be upon thè Invisible Things of the other World whereinto the Soul is just going If you do but hold out a Bag of Money or even necessary and wholesome Food to a man when he just Lies at the Point of Death If he hath any Thoughts or Apprehensions at all they are quite of another and different Kind than what he had formerly concerning the same For however he did formerly seek after them both yet now he hath no Appetite or Desire after the one nor stomach after the other But there doth arise an Antipathy and Loathing of them both or rather a Knowledge that now his breath is going forth there is no help in them for they cannot hold it in beyond the Appointed Time and now the Time yea the Set-Time is come they cannot continue Being much less can they give an Happy Being Their Silver and their Gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Wrath of the Lord They shall not satisfy their Souls nor fill their Bowels because it is the stumbling block of their Iniquity Ezek. 7. 19. The same doth now appear as to all our past foregoing Life whether it be Twenty Thirty or Forty Years so it will be as to those who shall arrive at Threescore and Ten or Fourscore or Ninety Years It is all but as yesterday when it is past and as a Watch in the Night Psal 90. 4. Nay it is not all than so much as a quarter of an Hour or one minute that is to come We spend our Years as a Tale that is told For it seems all one then And so it being evident that the World is then passed away and all the things thereof as to us of consequence as we know and find this we must have but little Regard Thought or Desire after them Like as when one is Riding Post and at full Speed upon the Road how little doth he mind such a single Tree or Little Bush that stands by the way-side for perhaps we just see it as we pass by but we soon forget and not think upon it Even so we are passing through this world Vpon the Souls Dissolution or flight from the Body the Lightning which moves from East to VVest in the Twinkling of an Eye is not quicker in its motion as appears by the Quickness of Thought now and by sight the Principal Sense and Operation of our Soul And when she is Launching out into her Eternal State All the things of this World about which we have been busied and employed so long will not seem so much or not much more then a little single mark or token that stands alone by it self upon a long Road. As we are gathering up our feet in the Bed in order to yield up the Ghost How will the Spirit within gather up it self and make towards the Father of Spirits What would she then give to have Peace towards God or a God reconciled and in favour with her and for an assurance that now she is to be dislodged from this Tabernacle of Clay she may be received into Abrahams Bosom or that she might say truly Into thy hands I commit my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Psal 31. 5. It is not said Thou hast made me but thou hast redeemed me From which again it appears they being added by way of necessary and consequent Reason thereof that there is no commending our Spirits into the Hands of God when we come to dye and to give up the Ghost without God hath first redeemed us by his truth From what are we to be redeemed Even from that vain Conversation and Corruption that is in the World through Lust and from that sin and guilt which is in our Nature He doth all things in his own order We must first be Redeemed by God before we can commend our Spirits into the Hands of God Now whilst we are in the midst of life and according as the Course of this world stands at this Day People would reproach such an one to be Melancholy Mad and Whimsical if they did hear any one crying out and Expostulating with the Invisible God in such a Great Earnestness and Anguish of Spirit from the very real sence and bottom of his Soul as he doth in Micah 6. 7. Will the Lord be pleased with Thousands of Rams or with Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl Shall I give my first Born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul God indeed hath given his first Born for the Sins of Mankind when Messiah wâ—s cut off but not for himself Dan. 9. 26. God knows the danger of sin and what wrath is annexed to sin Unpardoned Or if an Attonement and Reconciliation and Agreement be not made for it But People here in the flesh do not throughly know and lay this to heart And therefore it is that we do not see or hear of any one so very much concerned and affected for Sin whither it be Pardoned or whither the Guilt and Evil deserving thereof still remains in them whilst they be in the midst of Life Health Youth and Vigour But verily verily I tell ye before-hand that when we come to lie in extremis and at the very point of Death if our sences and understanding which is a Great Mercy of God is preserved intire sound and perfect to the last then this will be the greatest thought and searching of Heart Seeing that I and my Naked Soul must now appear before God stript utterly off from this flesh and spoiled and bereaved from all the things of this World which heretofore did stupefie and harden against him or they did hinder and intercept the sight of his Invisible Majesty Is this God now or will He be at Peace or angry with me Shall
hear me Preach the Word Tho' Peradventure thâ— would lift up and exalt and please that Worldly Corrupt Nature which I confess and speak to my shame 〈◊〉 yet too much in me Some do Account themselves 〈◊〉 ry much because perhaps they are beloved of or Popular amongst their Neighbours another for his Honour another for his Courage and Might and becauâ—â— by such an one The Lord hath given Deliverance froâ— the Syrians or for his having wrought Great Aâ—chievâ— ments Another perhaps is lifted up in Soul because 〈◊〉 the Gifts that are given him and the word of wisdom 〈◊〉 committed unto him which is the most Valuable 〈◊〉 all the Priviledges of Mankind but here it is alleviated again with this consideration that where are Great Gifts there must be Great Accounts Another is Delighted and Transported within himself because he hath a Wife and Children to his Mind or because he hath some other Worldly Blessing And so one is lifted up for one thing another for another if we did run throughout the several Particulars among the Children of Men. But all these and such like are but light and small things in Comparison of the great things of Eternity and the exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory As God said unto Solomon Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thy self long Life neither hast asked Riches for thy self neither hast asked the Life of thine Enemies but hast asked for thy self Vnderstanding to discern Judgment Behold I have done according to thy Words Lo I have given thee a Wise and Understanding heart So that there was none like thee before thee neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee And I have also given that which thou hast not asked both Riches and Honour so that there shall not be any among the Kings like unto thee all thy Days And if thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my Statutes aâ—d my Commandments as thy Father David did walk then I will lengtâ—â—n thy Days 1 Kings 3. 11 12 13 14. And as it is written For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Mat. 6. 33. From all this put together it is my inward and very thought As I behold and observe how Men differ from one another and one Prides himself in this thing another in that whereas none should be Proud for any thing which he hath but be humble and thankful for each distinguishing blessing or mercy received As it is Written But to the Saints that are in the Earth and to the excellent Mark that word excellent in whom is all my delight And as there is one Glory of the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory So each Man or Woman doth excell or differ from one another in Glory or real worth according â—s they know and understand and have more of the Mind of God All your excellency is of me saith the Lord and derived from him And as long as we walk and breath a little longer on this Earth The more any one is in favour with God and hath more of his will and secret The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Herein only one Man excelleth another or differeth from and exceedeth such an one in real worth That Courtier who can soonest obtain a favour from his King or Prince he is the best Courtier So amongst the vast Number of we Fellow Creatures on Earth altho' there is no difference between the Flesh of a Saint or of a Sinner for our flesh is as their flesh and our Children as their Children and we are all near the same both Godly and Ungodly as to the same outward Frame and Composure But that is the best Man or Woman who hath most interest now in the Court of Heaven who even whilst here on Earth is soonest heard by the Great King for this is an Earnest and Assurance before-hand that he shall one day stand in his Presence Who is an Israelite indeed a true Son of Jacob Hath Power with God Yea he had Power over the Angel and Prevailed Hosea 13. 3 4. As a Prince hast thou Power with God and with Men and hast Prevailed Gen. 32. 28. Who like another Lot hath that Interest and Prevalency with God that himself saith I cannot do any thing till thou come thither Gen. 19. 22 Altho' it were to be in the Destruction and Punishment of the wicked yet God could not do it till he came out from amongst them And so he speaks on that wise to his Servant Moses Let me alone that is Do not Pray or Interceed for them that I may consume this People in a moment Or like another Elias who was a Man subject to like Passions as we are And he Prayed earnestly that it mighâ— not Rain and it Rained not on the Earth by the space of Three Years and Six Months And He prayed again and the Heaven gave Rain and the Earth brought forth her Fruit James 5. 17 19. Who is here brought in as aâ— Example that the effectual â—ervent Prayer of a Righteous Man availeth much Who when God heareth not sinners but if any be a Worshipper of God and doth his Will him he heareth hath this Testimony that he is a VVorshipper of God and doth his VVill because that God heareth his Prayer If I regard Iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me But verily God hath heard me he hath attended to the Voice of my Prayer Psal 66. 18 19. By which it follows of Consequence that the Psalmist did not regard Iniquity in his heart For God to be nigh unto us in all things that we call upon him for and to hear our Prayer is the greatest of all Wordly Blessings and Mercies put together either long Life Riches or what we would have in this World for if God hears our Prayer then we shall have what we would have in the next world which is much better and more enduring Go and say to Hezekiah thus saith the Lord the God of David thy Father This and the foregoing Verses are a kind of Dialogue between the Great God and his Creature Hezekiah which Dialogue or Conference God manages by his Prophet Isaiah That God should hearken unto the Voice of a Man Joshua 10. 4. Seems wonderful if we have but those just and raised thoughts of the God-head in Comparison of whom in Greatness or Bigness the vast Fabrick of the whole World is but as a Dust of the Ballance and the true Knowledge of our selves But yet the Lord who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in Earth is pleased to keep a care over and a Communication with his Creatures The whole Scripture is but a Declaration in order of what hath passed and been
transacted between God and Mankind in the several Persons there instanced in The whole and sum of which may be conceived to be this their Creation at first their Preservation throughout this World and what things are in order to their salvation in the next World The first Part hereof is signified by that kind of speech so often used Thus saith the Lord that formed thee or the Lord thy Maker And here the same Lord who turneth Man to Destruction saith again Return ye Children of Men For after that he had in the foregoing Verses whereof ye have already heard it Discoursed abundantly Sent a message of Death in our next word he sends a Reprieve from this Sentence or a lengthening of his Temporal Life Fifteen Years longer Whereby is shewn forth that as himself is the Lord and Author of Life who first gave it So he can cut it off and Determine it whensoever he will or lengthen and continue it out to what Space or Duration he thinks fit as also this adding of Fifteen Years is a Type and Signification of that adding of Life for evermore unto that which is now as a vapour and continueth not but as soon as this shall end that will immediately begin and never end as may appear yet more clearly from thâ— sequel and drift of our Discourse hereon The God of David thy Father As our Saviour Jesuâ— Christ proves the Resurrection of the Dead I am thâ— God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living So he is fitly stiled the God of David thy Father For he that is his Soul was then also living unto oâ— in Respect of God and thereupon a Promise of further Continuance of Life is Properly Grounded and madâ— unto one of his Grand Children even Hezekiah Aâ— God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my People 2. Cor. 6. 16. Here is a Limitation and Annexing to these Words of his Covenant I will be their God He is never said to be the God of Saul Ahab or 〈◊〉 such as were Wicked Disobedient and Ungodly buâ— the God of the Patriarchs and of David who weâ—â— all his Servants and did walk before him as Obedieâ—â— Children At first he is the God of all Created Beingâ— He calleth them all by Names But afterwards as 〈◊〉 beholds Sin and Evil he Disowns and casts off that Title Depart from me ye that Work Iniquity The Use whereof may be this to each and every one of uâ— Namely to be sure to get within the Covenant Aâ— Thomas said to Jesus Christ My Lord and my God 〈◊〉 if we can say Truly as to the Great God who made the World My Lord and my God For if it is so we shall be both Partakers of his Blessedness and also of his Holiness Hereby also may be seen and perceived the Great Blessing advantage and Priviledge of being descended from Godly Parents or Ancestors For as to this the Gracious Word of promise speaketh on this Wise And shewing Mercy unto Thousands of them that Love me and keep my Commandments And without all doubt it fared the better with Hezekiah here for the Godliness of David his Grand-Father or more Properly his Forefather for there were more than three Generations or Descents between David and Hezekiah We read Several Times in the Books of Kings and Chronicles that a Blessing was entailed on his Posterity for Davids sake and where some of his Children or rather descendants did not walk in Gods Covenant nor keep his Statutes nevertheless God would not cut them off quite nor destroy them utterly Because of the Loving Kindness and Mercy which he still retained unto David their Forefather as there are Sundry Expressions to this purpose in the Scripture Besides that there was somewhat in Hezekiah himself which God liked and was well pleased withall Yet he liked him so much the better and was more pleased with him because of David his Father As appears here by stiling himself the God of David his Father When he acquaints Hezekiah of hearing his Prayer and that he would do such a Good Thing for him There is not a Word in Scripture but what is Observable and somewhat may be gathered and drawn from thence of the Mind of God Hereby may be seen that God had a kindness and Favour unto the House and Family of David as indeed he had to that and to the Family and House of Abraham and of Jacob or Israel There are more Good Things said throughout the Book of the Lord of them than of all the Families of the Earth besides But therefore chiefly it was because of what was aforesaid to Abraham In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed and of this Mans seed and so of Jacob and of Davids seed To shew which the Genealogy of him is so Particularly reckoned up in the first Chapter of Mathew according to the Flesh God would raise up his Son Jesus Christ And therefore this Diversity may be now observed under the Gospel that unless when it is Quoted out of the Old Testament he is never called the God of Abraham or of Isaac and Jacob nor yet the God of David but there he is stiled and Named the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according as so Paul calls him by the Spirit As our Saviour Jesus Christ argues to the Jews If ye were the Children of Abraham ye would do the Works of Abraham so here in like manner it may be Reasoned that if the Lord was the God of David thy Father so he would be the God of Hezekiah also one of his Posteriâ—y Provided always and as long as he did the works of David his Fore-father And as God did preserve David from many Perils and Dangers so the same God would preserve Hezekiah also from the Danger of Pining Sickness and give him as it were a new Life and Health springing from out of it as the day doth succeed the Darkness of Night Where God saith a Thing he doth always perform the same which accordingly he did make Good and fulfil unto the same Hezekiah as appears by the History thereof as it stands recorded in Several Places of the Bible I have heard thy Prayer I have seen thy Tears As concerning Gods hearing our Prayes the sum of that matter is That God will be Sanctified by all them that draw near unto him The Worshipper is not to Regard Iniquity in his Heart but to call upon the Lord with his whole heart and then the Lord will hear our Prayer and be found by us Be ye clean that bear the Vessels of the Lord Isa 52. 11. And so it is requisite to be cleaned from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit in order that our Prayers may ascend up and be accepted with and Granted by the most high God Therefore it was because that