to prayer God hears prayers with revenge Gives the things prayed for but out of a peculiar displeasure No wonder then that men be the worse for them take but the instance of Vzziah 2 Chron. 26. he fought many battles and the Lord helped him mightily you will say God intended good to this man sure No all this was in displeasure he mightily helped him till he was strong and then his heart was lifted up to his own destruction My Brethren God doth as much rain snairs on men in mercy as in any other of his dispensations whatsoever and therefore look to it it is a dangerous thing for a people to receive mercy if they do not improve it I shall now speak a few words of Application there are but two uses that I would make of it First of examination Look back upon all the mercies that you have received from God temporal and spiritual mercies privative positive mercies Indeed it is your duty the expression is in Psal 68.26 Bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel Not only for late mercies received but look to the Fountain from whence all mercies did first flow Remember the Lord from Shittim to Gilgal Micah 6.5 it is from the first beginning of mercy to the latter end of them ask but the question now of your own hearts look to your own personal mercies every one in private family mercies and the publick mercies that God hath afforded the Nation and tell me are you the better or the worse for them have you brought forth fruit answerable to the mercy or hath not the Lord cause to say Do you thus requite the Lord oh foolish people and unwise what are the evil fruits that mercies are in danger to bring forth by which people are made the worse and see whether or no a great many of these be not to be found amongst us and if they be you may say the thing is a mercy yet notwithstanding you have little reason to take comfort in it certainly it can never be a mercy to thee nothing is a mercy to you but that which you are the better for There are six things that are the ordinary waies by which men do appear to be the worse for mercy And pray let us see whether all these be not to be found amongst us this is a day wherein you should lay your selves naked before God First the ordinary abuse of mercy is forgetfulness of God Deut. 4.14 When thou hast eaten and art full and dwellest in houses that thou buildest not and enjoyest wells that thou diggedst not then take heed least thou forget the Lord thy God And indeed this is the first and the most natural fruit of a heart fatted with mercy for so it is said here they waxed fat and kickt they lightly esteemed the rock of their salvation the mercies of God make men dis-regard God Now I pray consider if the mercies that raise thee up cast God down in thy soul examine I pray hath respect to God risen by his mercie look to it each particular foul and judge your selves faithfully I am afraid I may speak it with a great deal of bitterness respect to God hath not risen by his mercies to this Nation Nay rather lay aside all things for the things of God we have nothing to do with them Certainly this is an evil thing and is an argument that men grow the worse for mercy Secondly when they are settled upon them and satisfied with them Let them but keep this mercy it will be well with them Let us enjoy this all is well See how the people are brought in it is a strange speech Ier. 2.31 We are Lords say they we will come no more to thee God set them in a good and a prosperous condition now we will own God no more we will raign alone have we seen so much need of God in a mercy or do we ever come in to God but when some present trouble is upon us if any great eminent danger be over us then a fast otherwise if not for a year together it is no matter as much as to say we are satisfied with mercies and have enough of them We are Lords and will come no more at thee Thirdly when men grow refractory unto duty and oppose the things of godliness with a higher hand that is another way by which men grow worse for mercies An untamed heifer unaccustomed to the yoak that is the expression when you shall find such a disposition in you to reject God deride his Ordinances oppose the Ministers corrupt his Scriptures or at least endeavour to make them void by mystical allegorical interpretations and thereby make them a sound of words and no more when men dare proceed to this pass and have a great deal to say for themselves and against duty confidently this is an evil fruit of mercy Fourthly when a people do begin to dote upon their own beauty God sets them in a good condition and they begin to rest in it that evil was the fruit of their mercy Ezek. 16.15 Thou wast comely through my comeliness that I put upon thee But thou didst trust in thine own beauty this is another evil fruit of mercy men grow more self-confident of their own wisdom and their own strength and trust in their beauty a great Argument that men grow much the worse for mercy Fifthly when men ascribe mercy to themselves and would take the glory from God Hab. 1.16 Sacrifice to their own net and say this is great Babel that I have built my wisdom saith one and my power saith another this or that arm of flesh hath got the victory the hearts of men run out to second causes to poor instruments this is an argument that men grow the worse for mercies when they cannot call to mind any former thing wherein the Lord hath been pleased to use them but with great Elevation of Spirit And it must not be spoken of but with the greatest advancement of the instrument that can be And Lastly when men imploy all to their own use when all mens mercies do but serve their lusts one man saith we have obtained this mercy therefore I will be rich now I must sit at the stern saith another the management of all the negotiations of the State is in my hands as much as to say God hath given all these mercies to serve me remember that place in Isa 29.1 It is a Scripture I confess you should have much before your eyes Wo to Ariel to Ariel the City where David dwelt why is Jerusalem called Ariel you have it rendred in the margent the Lyon of God that City and that people which had been as a Lyon to conquer all the neighbouring Nations that none were able to stand before them yet when they abused all these barely to serve themselves the Lord hath a woe for them have these been the fruits that mercies have brought forth amongst us the Grapes of Sodom
have not we reason now as to bewail our wants so to weep over our mercies all this day long and to consider how much we are the worse for those mercies wherein the Lord hath been merciful to you There is a second use of Caution and admonition do you take heed seeing it is so dangerous a thing that the same thing be not justly said of you and charged on you as was here upon Jesurun that they were the worse for their mercies the mercies they received did but ripen their sins and hasten their ruine take heed you bring forth fruits worthy of the mercy you receive as Christ saith bring forth fruits worthy of repentance you may remember it is said of Solomon Cant. 8.11 he had a Vine-yard in Baal-hamon and Solomon let it out but he expected to have the incomes of his Vine-yard the Lord deals so with men whatever the mercies are you do receive the Lord expects returns for them and that your mercies should make you thrive and grow more in grace and more in obedience that you should be the better for them But what are the natural fruits that the mercies of God should bring forth that I may know when they are fruits that grow upon mercy naturally not from sin occasionally that I may say I am the better for mercy I shall name to you six particulars and pray lay them to heart First the proper fruit of mercy is an humble acknowledgment of our own unworthyness when the soul is made more humble under the apprehension of its own unworthiness that is a mercy indeed the Lord directs to this in Deut. 26.5 they were to come to bring their first fruits to God when they came to Canaan they were to come to God and say A Syrian ready to perish was my Father and the Lord brought us out of the Land of Egypt they acknowledge their own unworthiness of mercy when a soul can say as Iacob doth I am less then the least of all thy mercies Secondly the proper fruit of mercy by which a man may be said to be the better for it is when they ascribe all mercy to God when they say VVe have wrought no deliverance in the earth neither have the inhabitants of the earth formed it it is not my bow nor my sword that hath saved me but as David Psal 18.2 VVhen God had delivered him from all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul Now what doth David say The Lord is my strength and my rock he is become my salvation God is all in all he looks on no instruments no second causes Thirdly when mercies do bring a mans sins to remembrance the soul stoops under the apprehension of mercy what will God shew mercy to me one so rebellious and disobedient as I and then the soul reads over the guilt of his sin with new remorse is this thy Voice thy act O Lord whom I have so much provoked that the Lord might have cast me off so long ago It was so with them in Ezek. 16. ult when God shews the greatest mercy that ever he will give them when he will give them sisters for daughters and exalt her to be the mother Church of the earth then they shall remember their waies and their doings and shall be confounded and put their mouthes in the dust and never lift up their faces any more when I am pacified towards them I might have expected that God should have destroyed me rather and sent me to hell as well as to captivity but will the Lord yet shew mercy the soul is in bitterness for this Fourthly when mercies lay upon the men the stronger obligations and a man makes this use of it looks upon himself as more firmly bound to God that is the use they make of mercy in Ezra 9.13 after we have received such a deliverance as this should we rebel as if they should have said if this mercy do not make up the banck against disobedience nothing in the world will do it this makes a man as David to cleave to God with full purpose of heart and to say this God is my God is my God for ever Fifthly when the soul studies what he shall return to God for all his mercies you know that God not only expects returns but proportionable returns And I desire you would take notice of it 2 Chron. 32.26 But Hezekiah rendred not according to the benefit done unto him But can our returns be answerable to our receipts there is a double way to make reckonings even you can never return so much in the thing but in the will and so much the more as the hand of God is large in mercy so much the more thy heart should be enlarged in returns and let me offer this to your thoughts in every affliction it is observed God hath some one special end though the Lord hath many ends do meet in every action for therein his wisdom appeareth But yet notwithstanding some special thing the Lord aims at in every affliction and therefore Iob goes to God and saith Lord shew me wherefore thou contendest with me there is some especial thing that the Lord aims at that he would have his people to endeavour to find out and so it is in every mercy though the Lord have many ends in it yet some special end the Lord aims at in every Mercy which you should consult with God about go to the Lord Jesus as your Priest and desire direction from him enquire what special duties the Lord aims at in this mercy For you can no more thrive under mercy then you concurr with God in his ends set those three ends together Mich. 6.8 and now oh man what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God But it is good for you to spend some time to enquire what is the peculiar thing the Lord aims at in every affliction and in every mercy that is the way to thrive under and to be the better for mercy Lastly that soul is the better for mercy when it loves God the more for it Psal 18.1 a great mercy David had received deliverance from all his enemies Oh I will love the Lord saith he that is the first thing he doth not say I will love the mercy and I will rejoyce in the mercy No I told you it was Austins observation Austin It is an adulterous love the love of an harlot to love the gift above the giver Let this be an evidence of your love that you so delight in the mercy as you delight in the goodness of the God of the mercy and that you keep your selves in the way of mercy ever after why is one particular mercy so sweet the Scripture speaks of Gods drawing out of loving kindness how shall the soul obtain it keep your selves in the way of mercy then thou shalt be sure to be kept in the way of loving kindness continually there
and never consider what will be required for all this as it is a great Iudgement to sow much and to bring in little so you are the most miserable men alive to have received much and returned so little The same is also true of Ordinances you that receive much Manna from heaven is rained upon you every day consider what your returns are the ground that drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it and bears briars and thorns is nigh to cursing surely you that keep daies of Thanksgiving now and do not live thankfully do not return to God accordingly you will have a time when you shall curse the day of your mercies and wish that the light of it had never dawn'd upon you But what is the thing that shall be required it shall not be in the thing but in the fruit the mercy indeed God bestows upon us but he expects the fruit from us and that he will surely require of us and more particularly he will require these four things First with what hearts did you receive this mercy did you receive it with a heart set upon the mercy it self or else was your heart carried out towards the God of the mercy Hannah received mercy in a son I but saith she My heart rejoyceth in the Lord 1 Sam. 2.1 Can any of you say it is not the thing we rejoyce at so much as the presence of God and the appearances of God and the return of prayers and without this the mercy would have no sweetness in it how were our hearts carried towards God in the receiving of it how are they drawn out in the remembrance of it Ordinances are nothing without the enjoyment of God in them even heaven is nothing without the enjoyment of God there and therefore mercies are nothing of themselves any further then the soul savours God in the mercies as he said Give me mercies O Lord but give me thy self in them give deliverances but give me thy self in them To love the gift more then the giver it is an adulterous affection the Lord hates it Zach. 11.5 Blessed be the Lord for I am rich and so many may say I wish there were none such amongst you that say blessed be the Lord for I am preserved we are delivered and say that in an hypocritical and formal way men may bless God whose spirits are not at all drawn out to God and to rejoyce in a mercy from God and not in the God of the mercy is to rejoyce in a thing of nought creatures without God are vanity and mercies without God are a lye so it is with the soul that is filled with the blessing but not with the Lord and as the heart should be filled with the love of God so also it should be filled with the fear of God Hos 3.5 They shall fear the Lord and his goodness There are no dispensations of God more aweful to a gracious heart then the discoveries of goodness how shall I be ever able to answer this goodness of God sayes a gracious heart as the neere◠the Lord comes to any in waies of grace the more the fear of God is exalted in their souls I am undone because my eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts so the more God draws neer unto a man or a people in the wayes of mercy how dreadful is it to the soul it rejoyceth with trembling but men usually being delivered from the fear of their enemies they are deprived of the fear of their Redeemer it s a sad Judgement when mercy hardens mens hearts from the fear of God This is all that the Lord requires Deut. 10.12 What doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God c. Surely the Lord that looks with what heart we receive our punishments and therefore he requires that men should accept the punishment he doth also look with what hearts men do accept their mercies their deliverances and in our services that we perform to God we should eye with what hearts God receives them Mal. 2.13 That he receives it not with good will at their hands We should also be sure that God looks into our hearts to see how we accept his mercies mea non placent nisi mecum tua non satiant domine nisi tecum Bernard Secondly how they are remembred by us They remembred not his hand nor the day that he delivered them from their enemies was the charge upon them Psal 78.42 They soon forgot his works nihil citius senescit there is nothing that obtains in our hearts an act of oblivion sooner then mercies but they kept a yearly remembrance of it there was an Ordinance for the remembrance of it made to that purpose in their generation but it was not with affection and with like it was but a formal thing Now that is in Scripture said not to be known which is not known with an affecting knowledge and so that is said not to be remembred which is not remembred with an answerable affection and impression of spirit the Lord looks what impression Ordinances leave upon us and what impression mercies also leave upon us and how the heart is moulded and fashioned by the one and by the other the Apostle saies in Heb. 2.1 That we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have learnt lest we should let them slip c. the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as we are to do so in the Ordinances that we partake in so also we had need of the same mercies that we receive and to remember the affections that were stirred up in us when we did partake of them so it is on the other also and if that be not done the truths we hear are forgotten and so are the mercies also if our memories prove leaking vessels charta bibula let the mercies be what they will that the Lord writes upon us yet they run abroad in us and come to nothing that they cannot afterward be read by us there is a demy-appearance of mercies as spiritual appearances of comfort if there be barely the remembrance of them that it was so but be no affections stirr'd up in it the soul is not cheared by it so it is in the remembrance of mercies also only a dull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and no more in regard of our own attainments we should forget that which is behind but in regard of the Lords mercies we should never so press towards that which is before that that which is behind should be forgotten and the least mercies should be regarded with most life They shall say no more the Lord lives that brought his people out of Egypt but the Lord lives that brought his people out of the North Countrey c. Jer. 23.7,8 Those mercies which were then called crowning mercies I should think so too if I could see the crown set upon the head of Christ in them the King exalted in his glory c.
others derive it from another word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifies dux gregis Forelius the first of the flock the first of the heard one that goes forth as the Leader of the flock and so they make it to be a term of Dignity given unto them that they were those whom the Lord honoured above all the Nations of the earth they were the head of all people But Thirdly it is derived from a word that signifies to see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dirigit vel intendet oculos to intend and fasten ones eye Now of all people they were the seeing people and Ierusalem is therefore called the Valley of Vision they saw the mind of God so as no people in the world did like unto them they were the seeing people the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Beloved people then if you take in all these it will not be amiss they were the people that had the right discovery of the way of God they were a people that God honoured and advanced above all people and a people that knew more of the mind of God and saw more of the works of God then all the Nations of the world besides Secondly for the transgression here charged upon Iesurun this seeing people It is they waxed fat and kicked I shall speak a little distinctly to them They waxed fat there is in Scripture fatness spoken of in a good sense the fatness of Gods house spoken of Psalm 36.9 and my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness Psal 63.5 Est quaedam saturitas pinguis sapientiae sapientia ista animae quae carent macrescunt there is in wisdom and in the things of God abundant satisfaction saith Austin Austin a fatness and a soul without this wisdom is lean so then this is not the fatness here spoken of for that would never produce the other that is Kicking against the Lord Fatness here hath a double signification it is two things First it signified those that had abundance of outward things and their hearts wholly set upon them and so rich men that have a great deal of the good things of this life are said to be fat Psal 22.29 they that be fat upon earth have eaten c. and so in Isa 5.17 the wast places of the fat ones shall strangely eat It is meant of the great and rich men of the world therefore they that have abundance of outward things are said to be fat in Scripture But that is not all but you must put the other branch to it Whose hearts are set upon them and satisfied with them these are said to wax fat When they have much and their souls are satisfied with that much in Psal 17.10 they are inclosed in their own fat abundance of these outward things hem in their spirits and incompass them about called nourishing of a mans heart in Iames 5.12 not only taking the creatures to nourish their bodies but their hearts being satisfied in these things they are said to nourish their hearts It was a dishonour to the Grecians that they were hair-nourishing Grecians it is not so great a shame to be a hair-nourishing Grecian as it is to be a heart-nourishing Christian that is the first thing Secondly there is another thing in fatness and that notes to be dull dead senseless stupid all this doth fatness intimate in Isa 6.10 Go make the heart of this people fat that seeing they may see and not perceive It notes that a man is become dull dead senseless so then Ieshurun waxed fat that is they had many outward things and rested satisfied in them and in reference to the Ordinances of God and the Judgements of God and the fear of them they were a dead senseless dull people they were a fat people Secondly they kickt as well fed beasts you know use to do for from thence the Metaphor is taken and herein there are two things also First it notes they were untamed their untamed disposition they did refuse subjection to the Lord they kickt against his yoke and so you shall find that mercies do make men rebellious that is one danger the Lord saith of Pharaoh For this cause have I made thee to stand I have made thee to stand I have raised thee up you read it the meaning is this the same God that cut off so many thousands in Egypt he could have taken off Pharaoh in the beginning what is the reason he did not that by these mercies Pharaoh might become the greater enemy to God that he may say I know not the Lord Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice so you shall find in Jeremiah 5.5 I will get me to the great men but they altogether had broken the yoak and burst the bands they were the worst and the most refractory against all the commands of God of every sort of men whatever and commonly great men have seldom much of this life but in this manner they kick as if there were a greater liberty allowed them then other men It notes their rebellious disposition suitable to that Hos 10.11 Israel loves to tread out the Corn loves to thresh why because the mouth of the Oxe was not then to be muzzled so much of Religion as carries a present advantage with it so much of Religion and the waies of godliness they love but they do not love to plough saith God I will pass over her fair neck they were grown great and by this means they were grown tender and could not submit now saith God I will cause the yoak to pass over thy fair neck But there is another thing in it It not only notes disobedience but disobedience with contempt with presumption and so you shall find in 1 Sam. 2.29 the Lord saith of the sons of Ely VVherefore kick ye at my sacrifices It was to offer the greatest contempt and scorn to him that could be they kickt at the Lords services this was their sin abundance of mercies they received from God but their hearts were satisfied with the mercies and this made them grow senseless before God being thus fat they kickt they were rebellious and disobedient against God and manifested it with the highest kind of presumption that could be this Jesurun waxed fat and kickt There is but one general Doctrine that I have made choice to speak something to you of at this time Doctrine That a people dearest unto God that have had the greatest discoveries of God among them are in great danger to be made the worse by the mercies which they receive here is Iesurun Gods people and a seeing people that had the greatest discoveries from God and yet they are a great deal the worse for the mercy that they enjoy it is a point of great concernment in the prosecution of it Give me leave to speak to two things First prove it to you that even the best men are in danger to become the worse for mercies
reformation God will honour and bless it unto us also But if it be such a fast as the Lord hath chosen and in which he delights it must be a day for a man to afflict his soul for that is the duty of a fast Isa 58.5 I know the Hebrews do put soul for person and the humiliation should reach to the whole man but yet so as that which is the main in the man do not pass unhumbled nor un-affected rend your hearts and not your garments it is the soul hath the great hand in the sin it is the soul that is the sole and the arch-rebel against the Law now only to humble the body is but Mountebank-like to lay salve to the weapon but not to the wound And it is inforced Lev. 23.29 that soul that is not afflicted that day shall be cut off from amongst the people c. And there is nothing that will afflict the soul like to sin it being of all evils the greatest when it is felt and by the lively coming of the Commandment it revives and the man dies answerable unto the reformation such must be the humiliation now there is a double reformation that we do profess to endeavour personal and National there can be no expectation of the latter without the former therefore both must be laid to heart and that chiefly in your own particulars by you whom the Lord we hope will use in this great work he that will be a vessel of honour for the Masters use must be purged and when Ioshuah was to negotiate a publick reformation and to administer a publick service his filthy garments must be taken away and he cloathed with change of rayment Zach. 3.4 there are no mens sins that are of such dangerous consequence as yours and your personal sins have an influence upon your publick imployments and services and the sins of such a man do send up a prohibition and will blast the wisdom of his head and the labour of his hands and their personal sins are a great ground and cause of National sins Ita nati estis ut bona vel mala vestra ad Rempublicam pertineant Tacit. Tacit. In omnibus peccantibus pecco Prosper it is a sad saying of Prosper if ever you would have National Iudgements removed and mercies to be conferred you must be affected with National sins first for as an ungodly man cannot love his brother because he doth not love himself Non diligit proximum quia non diligit seipsum and so he can never be affected with other mens sins his eyes cannot gush out Rivers of tears because men do not keep the Law of God c. because he is not affected with his own for sin is filthiness and therefore it is the more loathsom to a man the neerer he is to it therefore my work at this day shall be to set your own sins before you that you may pluck out the beam that is in your eye first and ye shall be able to see clearly to pluck out the beams that are in the eyes of the Nation and to affect your hearts with your own personal guilt and neglects if the Lord be pleased to make me instrumental this day that it be unto you a day of atonement I shall look upon it as a great mercy and a great step unto our National deliverances and protections and as for more publick mis-carriages and the other parts of the work of this day I hope God will be with the spirits of those his servants that afterward are to carry on the work of this day Here we have the Churches condition set forth to us which shall be the same for the first 6000. years which being ended according to the Jewish accompt postea sabbatum the time of Satans seduction is at an end for Poperie but the time of his persecution is not the witnesses are not yet slain c. but there will come a time when in this respect Satan also shall be bound In fine sexti millessimi anni malitia omnis aboleatur e terra Lactant. Lactant. de divin Imper. p. 576. It is black as the Tents of Kedar but yet comely as the Curtains of Solomon there is a very great comliness under the Churches blackness with which in her suffering she supported her self Here we have also the causes of the Churches blackness which is the Sun in general it was not natural and blackness that grew out of her self but from the Churches adversaries the Sun hath lookt upon me persecution hath scorcht me but yet it was not only from enemies without though it is true as the Lilly amongst thorns so is my love amongst the daughters tot hostes quot extranci Tertul. but it is from those of the same family the Churches enemies are those of her own house my mothers children matris filios non patris vocat men born in the same Church and claiming the same interest in the Church with the true members qui maxime conjuncti videbantur qui sese Ecclesiae nomine venditant Mercer Mercer Hostes Ecclesiae intestini authoritate sua ad ipsius perniciem abutentes Beza Beza They were angry with me the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies iram vehementem excandesentiam bitter fierce anger anger exasperated and kindled as a flame the same word is used Isa 41.11 All they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and the men of thy strife shall perish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Septuagint they strive with me or they fought against me the bitterest indignation against the Church and the bitterst opposition is from those within it self her mothers children the ground of the greatest persecution of the Church is laid in the composition and constitution of the Church and therefore the flourishing and prosperous condition of the Church in the latter daies is upon this gronnd Isa 54.12,13 When the foundations are laid with Saphir the windows made of Agates and the gates of Carbuncles de hominibus non de doctrina Calvin Calvin Then great shall be the peace of the Church in right cousness shalt thou be established and thou shalt be far from oppression c. To constitute Churches of a mixed multitude as it laies the matter of all Church corruption so it laies the foundation of the bitterest Church persecution Now how did they vent their displeasure it was by putting them upon difficult and distracting imployments for I do not understand that of Churches becaus the Church is in Scripture commonly called a Vine-yard the Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel Isa 5. and the Lord brought a Vine out of Egypt and planted it c. neither did these mothers children take so much care of Churches but they laid all the care of the Churches upon them and they took none at all both the care of Church and Common-wealth was laid upon them and by this means they were distracted and
do not enjoy the same light they do not see the days of the son of man Kings and righteous men have desired to see the days that you see and have not seen them and to hear the things that you hear yet have not heard them Plus uno die vident pueri quam per totius vitae tempora philosophi Gerhard in his Chronology speaks of Infoelix seculum exhaustum hominibus ingenio doctrina claris Gerhard there are dark times and there are times also when the light of the Moon is as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun sevenfold Esay 30.26 One age hath much and another age hath little Secondly They have not the same deliverances for three hundred years she travelled under cruel persecution under the power of the Red Dragon but at last the Church brought forth a man-childe who was exalted upon the throne of God as the fruit of all their travels all their prayers and as the price of all their blood principem à quo libertatem exemplum fidei mundus accepit Sulpic. There is a time when the Lord doth lift up the rod of the oppressour and there is a time when he doth break their yoke from off the neck there is a time when the enemies do plough upon the backs of the people and make long their furrows and there is a time also when God doth cut their harness and they are able to plough no longer there is a time when God gives his people to be troden down as 〈…〉 in the streets and there is a time when no stranger shall any more pass over it there shall be no more a grieving thorn or a pricking bryer there shall be none to hurt or destroy in my holy Mountain c. there is a time when God doth bend Judab for him and when he doth raise the worm Jacob to thresh the Mountains c and the Lord delivers the land out of the mouths of the Enemies c. Doctrine 3. Whether men have received little or much it is all in reference to an account there is a time when the King will take an account of his servants for he will come to reckon with them Mat. 18.23 There is not a talent that the Lord bestows but it is in reference to this account all mercies received must surely be counted for every one of us must give an account of himself unto God and there are not only personal but there are national accounts he that is Judge of all the world he is the Judge of all Nations Isa 5.3 Iudge I pray you between me and my vineyard he that refers unto men to judge he will be the Judge himself also and he will surely judge them with righteous judgement For First All their mercies are recorded by him they may forget them but he records them what is a great part of the Scriptures but the records of God Chronicles of his several mercies and deliverances that he hath bestowed upon his people in succeeding ages Micah 6.5 Remember from Shittim to Gilgal it was the place of their Transgression when they committed abominations with the daughters of Moab and sacrificed unto Baal Peor did eat the offering of the dead and Gilgal was the first place that they set their foot upon in the Land of Canaan when the Lord rolled away from them the reproach of Egypt from whence it had its name and in the very places the Lord wrote in their names the memorials of his mercies that the very names of the places might be a witness of his mercies to them in memoriam and in testimonium Jehovah jireth Gilgal Berachah c. as you record your victories by the names of Dunbar and the name of Worcester c. the 78. Psalm is nothing else but the Lords records in which he hath written the memorial of that continued Tract of mercies which he gave unto them and the Lord wrote the memory of their mercies in the months Exod. 12.2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months the Lord changed the beginning of their years in the remembrance of his mercy Ver. 14. This day shall be unto you for a memorial How should the third of September be for a memorial unto you c. though the Canon of the Scripture be consigned and the Lord will write this story by an infallible spirit no more to remain upon records amongst men yet they are all of them recorded before him as the Law is written in the hearts of the people of God not with paper and Ink but by the spirit of the living God so doth the Lord record his mercies which he doth multiply upon his people not with pen and Ink but by the spirit of the living God in the heart of God for ever as it s said of the sins of men Deut. 31.34 Is it not laid up in store with me and sealed up amongst my Treasures they are laid up amongst the treasures of God so God hath treasures of mercy also as well as of sins by him c. Secondly they are numbered by him as the Miracles of Christ in the daies of his flesh were numbered as it s said this was the first Miracle that he did and this was the second Miracle that Jesus did after he came out of Judea into Galilee So also the Miracles that Christ did work in glory are all numbered as the Lord numbers the several degrees of his enemies downfal in seven Seales seven Trumpets and seven Vials so he doth number also the several degrees of his peoples deliverances and 2 Numb 14.22 he doth number their sins answerable unto the number of his mercies they have seen my Miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness and they have provoked and tempted me now these ten times it is true that the mercies God bestows on us are a multitude of mercies and it is as easie for us to number the stars as it is to count them all but though we cannot do it yet God can do it and he doth it who can tell the number of the stars and call them all by their names Psal 71.15 David saith that he would shew forth the salvations of God all the day long for I know not the number of them c. and we must consider God hath his set number of mercies for a people if they abuse them and walk unworthy of them he will not shew mercy for ever he will not draw forth his loving kindness from generation to generation Cessat descensus si in perpetuum ascensus cessat as Belishazers Kingdom was numbered the Lord wrote a memorial for him so he will write a memorial upon some mercies as the number of sins is finished as Antichrist hath his Numbers the number of the beast is the number of a man c. and mercies may have their number also even your mercies the Lord may say Now your prosperity is numbered your deliverances victories are numbered I will
Thirdly how they have been improved and what hath been returned unto God for them What shall I return unto the Lord c. Hezekiah returned not according to all that God did for him Let me put some questions to you to what ends you think God hath wrought deliverance for you First was it that the Truths of God might be corrupted In Ierusalem there shall be deliverance and holiness and is the first step to holiness the subversion of Truth it remains as a brand upon their Tayls for ever Rev. 9.7,10 Their faces were as the faces of men and they were locusts they conquered wheresoever they came but they had a sting in their tails they corrupted Religion wheresoever they came and is the way to holiness to corrupt truth that cuts up holiness by the root shall it be said this is the Army that conquered all enemies but generally poysoned the people whom they conquered and shall it be said in this age men asserted the liberties of men but corrupted the truths of God shall we contend for every thing but truth and this is a Truth there are fundamentals in Religion let scorners say what are fundamentals let me say how long halt you between two opinions c. Secondly were you delivered that your brethren might be oppressed that some few men might share Nations between them I looked for Iudgement and behold a cry I and its a cry that will enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabboth every man is for gain from his quarter and no man abates of his own private interest whatever he can stretch forth his hand unto he takes let the people be opprest yea authority over-awed rather then we be retrenched we groan under the peoples oppressions and yet we are the greatest oppressors let all opposition be removed that so none but we may oppress Thirdly to trample the Ministery under your feet and to remove that standing Ordinance to pluck the stars out of the right hand of Christ but yet they will be preserved notwithstanding all opposition and take the Jesuites counsel Contzen begin with them first that there may be none able to maintain any thing in the Religion which we oppose error cui patrocinium deerit sine pugnâ concidet Fourthly was it that the Ordinances of God might be by every one prophaned and to turn liberty unto Libertinism a free liberty to make Arminians Socinians c. and all manner of abominations and they must not be restrained no nor discountenanced though the Apostle will not allow a man to shew that common humanity to them that he would do to a Heathen Receive them not into your house because they bring not this truth is there nothing men have to dally with but the truths of Christ is there nothing to be turned into wantonness but the grace of God it is the word of his grace were we delivered to commit all these abominations c. I beseech you nay charge you to beware of these things else first your mercies will be witnesses against you and let me tell you then the witness of mercies and of conscience there are not any more dreadful but him who hath said I will be a swift witness c. Secondly your deliverance is then not in mercy but in wrath mens pleasures may become plagues and their liberty their destruction Thirdly if you forsake God then your deliverances will be your ruine Josh 24.20 if you depart from him after he hath done you good he will turn and do you hurt but consider the Lord doth make glorious promises to his people Jerusalem shall be a quiet habitation c. and the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad Rivers Esa 33.21 Rivers first for fruitfulness Deut. 10.7 a fruitful land a land of Rivers c. Secondly defence Amos 3.8 Whose rampant was the Sea and whose wall was from the Sea Thirdly for plenty Esa 23.3 The harvest of the River is her revenue and this is a Mart of Nations c. And whereas Siloah was a little River what they wanted in the creature should be supplyed in God he would be a place of broad Rivers to them But Rivers may give access to enemies as well as do good to the inhabitants there were but two sorts of ships some for burthens and some for war but no galley with oars or ships for war should pass but the supplies from God shall be without any inconvenience they shall receive good from God without evil c. Fourthly consider how mercies shall be avenged there is no provocations like unto them of sons and daughters because there are none that are so much against mercy and those mercies that are not returned in thankfulness and obedience wil surely be required in punishment in rewards the Lord doth not return unto men according to their services but he doth reward men in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mercy Hos 10.12 but punishments shall be answerable to abused mercy and that either here or hereafter there is no people so highly the people of his curse as those that have been the people of his mercies and those to whom he hath shewn most love you have I known of all the Nations of the earth c. therefore you will I punish Amos 3.3 and its mercy and light that will be the great aggravations of mens sins hereafter the Lord doth come to ask fruit here in waies of grace but he will exact hereafter in waies of Justice for he will not lose any of his mercies but if he hath them not returned here in way of thankfulness he will hereafter in a way of torment as mens mercies have been so shall their torments be the greater vessels of mercy men have been in this life the greater and the larger vessels of wrath they shall be in the life to come for mercy here doth but inlarge the heart for wrath hereafter The upright Heart AND Its DARLING Sin PSALM 18.23 I was also upright before him and kept my self from mine iniquity DAvid now being grown old his enemies being subdued the promise that God made to him fulfilled and the Kingdom settled upon his head and he was not only delivered from the danger of the hand of Saul but also from the fear of the house of Saul he cannot let the remembrance of such a mercy pass without a song of praises though for particular deliverances he made particular songs before that God might have praise is his end in bestowing mercy and it should be our end in desiring mercy and they are our greatest assurance of enjoying of mercies when Gods enlarging of his hand is also a means of enlarging of our hearts for he doth expect no other sacrifice but the calves of our lips Here are four or five things that David here takes notice of First he sets forth the greatness of the danger that he was in the sorrows of death compassed me round about c. Secondly the glory of the
the Church Phil. 3.19 it was because their God was their belly and they minded earthly things So that if there be a Diotrephes that loves preferment he must and will have both the Dictates and Inventions of men as well as their persons in admiration for advantage sake Fourthly Cowardize Gal. 6.12 they found out a middle way to mix the bondage of the Law with the liberty of the Gospel that they might not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ but that they might be well thought of on both sides Ieroboham set up Idolatry in Bethel and an old Prophet of the Lord dwelt there yet such was his Cowardize that it seems he had nothing to say against it but that the Lord must send a Prophet from Judah to reprove him 1 King 13. and the truth is had not the Ministers been in many ages a generation of spiritual cowards they had never had so many inventions imposed upon them as they have had Secondly there are also many causes in the people but I will only insist upon this one because they receive not the Doctrine of the Gospel in the purity nor the worship of God in the love of it and therefore the Lord in Justice gives them up unto an efficacy of deceit 2 Thes 2.10,11 They are ready to receive any Doctrine without trying the spirits and to yield unto any command willingly walk after the Commandment Hos 5.11 they are for the most part a lump fit to receive any leaven the Prophets prophecy falsly c. and the people love to have it so Ier. 5. ult for a pompous Religion that consists much in outward shews and that which abounds most in bodily exercise is a thing that is generally well-pleasing unto men Amos 4.5 and usually when men forsake the rule then they look more at what will please them then what will please God this liketh you O house of Israel and this was all they looked at therein Secondly when God turns unto a people in mercy and they return unto him he will free them from all this superstition or idolatrous mixtures Zeph. 3.9 I will restore unto them a pure language which place being compared with that Isa 19.18 They shall all speak the language of Canaan Language there notes consensum cum populo Dei in fide cultu restoring a pure language may signifie purity both in Doctrine and Worship they shall speak no more partly the language of Canaan and partly of Ashdod as in times past but the pure language of Canaan in Judgement I will make them one Nation upon the Mountains of Israel and they shall defile themselves no more with their Idols and their detestable things and from all your Idols I will cleanse you Ezek. 37.2,3 And I will give unto them one heart and one way that they shall fear me for ever Ier. 32.39 Now the reason why the Lord will take away these mixtures when he returns are these First because usually these are the greatest and the most provoking sins of a Nation Hos 9.15 all their wickedness is in Gilgal this was antiently the place of worship 1 Sam. 15.12 and there they did now worship God according to their own devices the Prophet tels them where they did think to please God it was the greatest transgression that they did commit for so I conceive the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be taken pro summo in all their thefts adulteries drunkenness c. they did not all of them provoke the Lord so much as that they did worship him according to their own inventions in Gilgal Deo serviendum est non ex arbitrio sed ex imperio There is nothing to be done but by rule Gal. 6.16 now where the creature shall take so much upon himself as to set his wisdom above the wisdom of God and set his threshold beside the threshold of the Lord Ezek. 43.8 it is a provoking sin that the Lord cannot endure Secondly because this is a special cause why God departs from any people now the Lord will never return in mercy unless the cause be taken away that provoked him to depart Ezek. 8.7 every humane invention imposed as necessary to the service of God is an Image of jealousie and the aim of it is to provoke the Lord to go far from his Sanctuary it is finis operis though not operantis Thirdly because of all Judgements upon a people this is the greatest and therefore when the Lord returns unto them in mercy he must take away these Psal 81.12 I gave them up to walk in their own counsels it is spoken as of the greatest Judgement could befall them and so it is for a man to be a rule to himself for he that is his own rule must needs be his own end and he that is his own end must needs be his own God and therefore it is a speech of the greatest displeasure he hath made unto himself Altars to sin therefore Altars shall be unto him to sin Hos 8.11 Fourthly when God doth return unto a people in mercy he doth intend to delight in them and rejoyce over them to do them good and that he can never do in any service that they perform until worship be purged from humane mixtures Mal 3.3,4 When he hath sat in his Church as a refiner and hath purged his worship then shall the sacrifices of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the daies of old then but not till then Use Let this teach every one of us a double duty First hate all idolatrous and superstitious mixtures in Gods worship whatsoever Secondly beware of them First hate them as being the thing that causeth the Lord to go far from his Sanctuary to be unto his people as a wayfaring man that tarries but for a night groan under them as burdens that so the Lord may return unto his people in mercy and restâ—… unto his Church a pure language that they may no longer halt between two opinions no more swear by God and by Malcome but that he may restore to us one heart and one way To move your hatred against it consider First of all kinds of sin this is most defiling thou defiledst thy self with thy Idols Ezek. 22.4 Now what is defilement or filthiness it is saith Aquinas Carentia nitoris quem ex gratia habemus indeed all sin stains and blemisheth the beauty of the soul but this sin above others And if we observe the Scripture we shall see that they have been men of most corrupt spirits and the most profligated consciences that have been most set upon humane inventions in the things of God take the Pharisees for an instance and indeed it is Just with God that they that will find out waies of worship for God to be unto themselves means of sanctification that those should prove in just Judgement a means of desolation Secondly it is most inflaming they have inflamed themselves with their Idols under every
worse A man would think if any thing would make men the better mercies would It s true had men ingenuous natures as grace brings But there are four great reasons why it is a dangerous thing for a person or people to enjoy mercy and not be the worse for mercy First is from the corruption that is in the heart of man It is true the mercy of God is not a cause why men grow the worse for it infuses no malignant disposition into the soul of man But the mercy of God is an occasion though it be not the cause as it is said of the Law of God Rom. 7.11 Sin took occasion by the Law the Commandment gave no occasion But sin took occasion the command forbids sin but sin took occasion to act more violently against the command the more the Dam is made up against the water the more it swells corrupt nature takes occasion from the Law Christ is put for the rising and fall of many in Israel and so is the mercy of God it is not properly the cause but that which sin takes occasion from Now we are to put a great difference between things as they are in themselves and the effects that flow from them the nature of the cause and the effects that are not proper from it as a cause but as they look to the substance there are two things in the torments of hell somewhat that is essential somewhat but accidental somewhat essential upon what object soever it lights he is sure to undergo it But there is somewhat accidental the wrath of God in the soul is essential to the torments of hell So that the Lord Jesus Christ undergoing what was due to sinners the essential part he underwent when it pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to shame But somewhat is not essential but may be separated as it is from such a subject as despair and the like and you are in this to distinguish between what is the proper fruit of mercy and what is but occasional matter coming to such a subject and taking hold of that and so affliction it is no cause of sin no more then mercy is But yet affliction is many times an occasion of sin It is said of Ahab the more he was afflicted he sinned yet more that is the first reason because the corrupt heart of man takes occasion to sin from mercy Secondly from the general curse that by reason of sin is come upon all the creatures and all Gods providential dispensations you know that antient curse Gen. 3.19 Cursed be the ground for thy sake It notes the ground as referring to a mans use and all the dispensations of God towards the creature there is a double curse come upon the creature in reference to you First as it is decaying and so it is a vexing creature for this fills the creature with vanity and that vanity fills the soul with vexation But the great curse lies in this it is a polluting and defiling thing now as it is a means to defile the soul of man yet notwithstanding this is the curse therefore to the unclean all things are unclean that is all the providences of God to that man are means to increase that mans uncleanness and that I think is the meaning of that place 1 Iohn 2.16 Whatever is in the world is lust c. why is there nothing in the world but lusting then the meaning is there is such a Curse come upon all the creatures towards man so far as a man is of the world so far they are objects of lusts to him and draw out his lusts to improve them and therefore Job saith of himself in Iob 31.26 If I beheld the Sun when it shined and my heart hath been secretly enticed there is an enticing goes along with it what is the reason of it because there is a general curse come upon all the creatures and all the dispensations of God through the creatures that all these shall be means to insnare and defile the man Thirdly from the especial malice of the Devil against mercy It is true he is an enemy to all the creatures and he would destroy them all as creatures out of his enmity to God as he did the Gadarens herd of Swine But in a more especial manner the Devil is an enemy to the mercy of God more then to any other creature of God Why because the Devils sin is direct enmity and malice and revenge God looks for most glory from his mercy and therefore of all other things the Devil hath the greatest envy to that that God may be dishonoured by them take the first mercy of the Lords dealing with Adam the Lord made him to be the Monarch of the whole world But there was one mercy that the Lord vouchsafed him above all the rest should be the glory of the man It was a far greater glory to have the woman subject unto him then to have all the rest of the world Now upon this mercy the Devil sets his malice and he received her a rib but the Devil made her a snare Satans great aim is that he may abuse Gods mercy if God give a man great parts and gifts above all other men the Devil desires to abuse those parts as Austin saith of Licinius a young man of great gifts Cupit abs te ornari Diabolus Austin the Devil desired he might be credited by him great mercies and great abilities are the special stocks that above all others the Devil desires to graft upon No fruit so bitter to God as the abuse of mercy and therefore look to your selves for it is the Devils great design to abuse your mercies Fourthly there are some mercies that God hath given to persons and people out of a particular displeasure you heard of the general curse that came upon all the creatures before But now I say there are some mercies that God gives out of peculiar displeasure and they prove a more peculiar curse I conceive that will appear plain to you in Zach. 5.3 there is a curse goeth forth the general curse went out ever since the fall It shall enter into the house and consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof and so if you observe Mal. 3.2 I will saith the Lord Curse your blessings I gave you blessings and notwithstanding these blessings there shall be a peculiar curse you have it more fully cleared to you in Eccles 5.13 riches reserved for the owners hurt one hath riches great mercies they are so Wisdom is good with an inheritance But many a man God gives riches to out of a peculiar displeasure and they are reserved to him for his hurt No wonder these men grow the worse for mercies because it is out of a peculiar displeasure that the Lord gives them as Austin saith of Gods hearing prayers Austin he hears wicked mens prayers and gives them things they ask though not properly as an answer
shall be a tract of mercies to thee take heed therefore that your mercies do make you the better for otherwise mercies wronged are the most dangerous things that are medled withal But how shall I know that I know that I am the better for mercies Pray observe these four rules and I have done First thy mercies will never make thee the better unless they be mercies that proceed from a Covenant-right and interest What is that the great promise of the Covenant is I will be thy God that is all that is in God thou hast an interest in then there is infinite mercy in God that mercy is my mercy the God of my mercy and the God of my strength this labour to be sure of what mercy soever thou receivest let it flow from a Covenant-interest that thou hast closed with the Lord and chooses him for thy God no mercy will do thee good else Secondly when a man as he receives all from God doth direct all to God that he that is the first cause is made the last end when the soul saith of him are all things therefore to him are all things I desire to have no benefit from that which God hath no glory from when a man doth so it is an argument that the mercy doth his soul good Thirdly consider this is the mercy that doth you good when it makes thy soul prosperous I would not have you judge of mercies by any thing but with relation to your souls as God gave Gaius a great estate the host of the whole Church in Iohn 3.2 I wish thou maiest prosper as thy soul prospers if God hath given thee a large estate great employments or great dignity amongst men is thy soul the better then thou art the better but never till then take the instance of Iehosaphat 2 Chron. 17.5,6 he had silver and gold in abundance and his heart was lifted up in the way of Gods Commandments how should I know when God gives me riches in mercy why his soul was lifted up and therefore he had them in mercy Lastly wherein your prayers to God are drawn forth more for a sanctified use of the mercy then for the mercy it self this is certain it is said of ungodly men that by the prayers of Gods people their mercies are turned into snares in Psal 69.22 let their table be made their snare and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap so their prayers are drawn out that all the mercies that they receive may cause them to thrive and prosper that every thing may work for good together for good as the Lord hath promised to those that love him And so much now for the point which is of continual use to you and therefore I beseech you consider of what hath been spoken March 3. 1652. Vnruly Thoughts quieted BY Divine Consolations At Pauls June 9. 1653. PSALM 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul THE Psalm in the Hebrew is without a Title and therefore I can say nothing either of the Author or the Occasion but the Septuagint adds a title and Jerom from them Psalmus David quarta sabbati Ierom. upon which Austin and Ierom have their several conjectures which will be to little purpose to humble you withal only from the contents thereof Musculus and Calvin both do observe that the Psalmist doth here speak de persecutionibus domesticis some that proved great persecutors at home and they do referr it unto Saul and unto his government it is true they had many enemies round about them all the neighbour Nations the bordering Nations they were their evil neighbours the Holy-Ghost calls them so in Ier. 12.14 but yet it seems they had more cruel inmates within worse then all the neighbours without a home-born slaverie amongst all upon earth is the greatest misery home-born Oppression among all upon earth is the greatest tyrannie yet notwithstanding so it seems it was for that is the humor of some men as if they were only ad dominium and all others admancipium nati they born to rule all other men born to serve and such was Sauls party Cush the Ethiopian Psal 7.1 Jews by profession but Gentiles in Religion this misery grew so great upon David that he chose rather a voluntary exile then to subject himself unto the cruelty of those or that hypocritical faction which bare rule in his own Nation as Salv. l. 5. de grat p. 6. such was the oppression in that time of the Roman Governors ut-unum Romanorum erat omnium votum liceat iis vitam agere cum Barbaris This seems to be the great subject of the Psalm In the words that I have read to you there are two things to be considered First Davids affliction if he were the Author of the Psalm and that arose from a multitude of perplexing thoughts within him And Secondly here is Davids Consolation too in the midst of this affliction thy comforts delight my soul amara vulnera sed suavia medicamenta Austin so Austin saith From these two Branches there are two Observations that I have made choice of to speak something to you at present The first is this That in evil times the misery of the Saints of God is more from thoughts within then troubles without Secondly That God provideth Consolations in and answerable unto the afflictions of his people which shall have a power to revive and delight their souls Doctrine first To begin with the first of them In evil times the misery of the Saints of God is more from thoughts within then from troubles without There are three things in the opening of this truth that I shall endeavour briefly to demonstrate to you First That the best men they are not freed while they live here from unruly un-subdued thoughts Secondly That in times of trouble these thoughts come in by multitudes a mans thoughts are never so tumultuous as in troublesom times And then Lastly That the great part of afflictions doth lie more in these tumultuous and unruly thoughts within then in all a mans troubles and afflictions without winds without do not cause an earth-quake but wind within 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the first even the best men while they live here they are not freed from unruly and unquiet thoughts Thoughts they are the immediate issues of principles the buds and the blossoms of the principles that are in a mans heart and so long as godly men live here they will have corrupt principles in them so long will these principles bud and blossom into unruly and inordinate thoughts while a man is in an unregenerate estate all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are evil and only evil Gen. 6.5 because he hath nothing but a principle of sinning in him when he is regenerate yet so long as a corrupt principle remains in him so long there will arise in him unruly unsubdued thoughts it is very true
Oh Samaria hath cast thee off c. and the Eastern part of the Empire Rev. 9.20 It was their Idolatry in worship that did it Fourthly it will bring vengeance upon the Nations as well as on the Churches Hos 8.7 They have sown wind and reapt the whirl-wind Ezek. 10.2 fire from the Altar and scattered over the City it burns the hottest 2. Chron. 7.20 I will pluck you up by the roots out of the Land saies God Thirdly keep close to the word in point of practise also personal holiness the Lord requires of them that would prosper in their way and have God with them in their Government 1 Sam. 12.24,25 they had set up a new Government and the Lord had answered their desires I but he saith fear the Lord and serve him in truth and with all your hearts and consider how great things the Lord hath done for you but if you shall still do wickedly c. there the wickedness of a people indulged by the Magistrate will bring a Judgement upon the Government 1 King 14.5,7 if thou shalt walk before me as David thy Father walked in integrity of heart then c. Here you see the Apostacy of the Governors will bring a Judgement upon the Nation nay though it be but a personal Apostacy hear and fear and tremble you that are the Rulers of the Nation Secondly this is the way to get you honour in the hearts of men when you reform your lives purifie your hearts and your houses as well as your hearts there is a double image that the Magistrate must gain authority by an Image in you as men as well as upon you as Magistrates the Elders were crowned and also cloathed with white garments Rev. 4.9 Thirdly not keeping close to the word in point of practice is the way to provoke God to lay you aside and not to delight in you he loves vessels fitted for the Masters use when you are faithful to God in waies of holiness as well as unto the Nation in waies of Justice Isa 8.2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record Uriah the Priest c. A man may be faithful in discharging some trust put upon him by men but yet be unfaithful to God in waies of holiness Contah was a despised broken Idol a vessel in whom God had no pleasure one that God will set himself to disgrace God will pour out contempt upon Princes and all ungodly Magistrates and if you also walk unholily there will be a shame poured upon all your glory they must be called and faithful and chosen that God will delight to use Consider the Judgement upon Shebna he and all his lumber was cast down Isa 22.16,17,18 if men in authority be vain-glorious and self-seeking though they have made many men their creatures and raised parties to strengthen their interest God will sweep away all such rubbish Fourthly this will be a testimony to you if you walk holily and faithfully that you are called to the imployment in mercy and not in wrath if the graces of the condition God hath placed you in be exercised indeed a man may exercise parts and gifts but â—…at doth not make a man acceptable in the sight of God if the imployment a man is in do draw out and improve his corruption certainly it was in wrath not in mercy that he was placed in it therefore Remember your first love 2 Chron. 17.3,5,6 walk in your first waies that yee may have an interest in God to attain mercy from him for your selves and for the people Oh how powerful would the prayers of gracious Magistrates be and how able are they as Moses was to stand in the gap and to turn away wrath they are the shields of the earth Psal 47.9 and they are to be scuta Deo hominibus to keep off Judgements from breaking in upon the people from God as well as violences one from another and can a man do that can he think to turn off wrath from a Nation who doth expect Judgement upon himself daily and is in continuall danger of it And if there be any amongst you that are unsound-hearted under all your shews the Lord will discover you for Iob 34.30 He will not have the hypocrite raign lest the people be ensnared the word signifies a man that walks in a cloud or hath an artificial covering that men may not see and observe his steps God hates such men in authority and for his peoples sake he will not have them raign therefore let me exhort you to be sincere and truly holy in your own persons many of you have been judged so to be continue in it manifest it let it appear that you are better by authority not worse you are called Gods upon earth Oh how unworthy the name of a God will such be A drunken God an unclean covetous God c. Oh let such things be not so much as named amongst you but with abhorrency as becomes Saints see to whom the promise of protection is made and of exaltation also Isa 33.15 he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the gain of oppression that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil he shall dwell on high and the place of his defence shall be the munitions of Rocks bread shall be given him and his waters shall be sure c. I le add but a few considerations a little to quicken you to this duty I le but name them Consider first the mercies that you have received Deut. 8.10 a people purchased with mercy redeemed with a mighty hand saved yea with great salvation Secondly the opportunities you have had Prov. 17.16 opportunity is a price talentum maximum there is a time when the Angels stir the waters and if you miss an opportunitie of doing good God may never honour you with one again Thirdly remember the promises that you have made in the daies of your distress c. What have you held forth to the Nation nay to all the world with hands lifted up to the most high and vowed the endeavour of a reformation and it is a snare after vows to make enquiry the delay of a vow was visited upon Iacob twentie years after c. Fourthly consider the expectation of the Nations all the eyes of the Saints all the world over are upon you and they look what you will do God hath made your cause leading let not your example hinder them that follow you in the way that you have gone c. Fifthly it will be a mighty testimony of your uprightness that your heart is for God and that you are set against evil things persons c. Psal 139.21,22 David appeals to God in it Oh that many of you could do so as he said amicum amo in Deo inimicum propter deum they are your corruptions that are snares both to you and the Nation Sixthly what account
deliverance and that was as an answer unto prayer Thirdly the fruit of it and to be unfruitful under mercies is the greatest barrenness for they drop fatness and not only the fruit of the lips words in labris nata but it must be from inward and hearty affections e sulco pectoris God expects special fruit under mercies or under crosses and if he comes to find fruit upon a figg-tree dunged he will be much displeased if he find none Now the fruit of the mercy is threefold First the love of God is enlarged and inflamed the more mercy a gracious heart receives the more abundant he is in love to God for our love to God is but by reflexion we love God because he loved us first and the more the soul tasts of Gods love in a mercy the more it doth draw forth in him love to God again much was forgiven her therefore she loved much so much is given to a Saint by God therefore he loves God much Secondly his confidence in God is enlarged the Lord is my rock and my fortress my deliverer and when I call upon him I shall be saved from mine enemies the Lord is the God of salvations and to him belong the issues from death and this God I have an interest in he is mine by Covenant and he is by my experience all this to me Thirdly he is by this quickned and encouraged unto prayer therefore I will call upon the Lord and I will pray to him in all dangers and my cry shall come before him it shall enter into his ears c. The proper fruit of mercy indeed is the inflaming of a mans love to God and the strengthening of a mans faith and his encouragement and the inlarging of a mans heart in prayer Fourthly he sets down the grounds of all these mercies First Gods free-grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was Gods good pleasure and from this fountain do issue all Gods mercies to the Saints as Christ resolves it Mat. 11.25 Even so Father for so was thy good pleasure nay the greatest blessings that ever were bestowed upon a creature and the highest advancement that the creature was capable of the union of the humane nature with the God-head to be ex nullo merito sed gratis Secondly in the person to whom the mercy is bestowed for as God stands in a peculiar Covenant-relation to his people so he hath a peculiar providence over them Job 29.4 The secret of the Lord is upon their Tabernacle and according to their integrity the Lord will appear for them and own them in trouble God is with his people at all times but he is nearest to them in the worst times And here there was first Justitia causae the Lord hath undertaken the cause of the oppressed and the relief of the innocent Now they charged me with treacherie with a design to kill the King and to take the Kingdom as a man that raised sedition and civil wars in the Nation the Lord knows in this my integrity according to the uprightness of my heart and the cleanness of my hands hath he recompenced me Secondly Justitia personae a legal righteousness there cannot be so there is none righteous no not one but there is that which in Gods account goes for righteousness evangelical and that is sincerity and truth in the inward parts God delights in the works of his own spirit and in rewarding the graces that he himself hath wrought in a man Qui tribuit ut benefacerem secundum puritatem factorum retribuit mihi August Aust in loc Now he shews wherein this sincerity doth appear in these three things First I have not departed from God wickedly that is with a purpose and resolution of heart to continue in a way of sinning and that is the property of sincerity a man indeed may be over-taken and surprized by a temptation but it is not with a resolution to forsake God and to cleave unto the sin or rest in it he will not sleep in it spare it or favour it that is to do wickedly against God to have a double heart and a double eye to look upon two objects partly at God and partly at sin so to keep God as to keep some sin also as it is with all false hearted men in the world they look not upon god alone let them pretend to Religion never so much yet they look not unto God alone but upon something else together with God as Herod he regarded John but regarded his Herodias more and the young man in the Gospel comes to Christ yet he looks after his estate and Iudas followed Christ yet looks after the bag this is to depart wickedly from the Lord. Secondly all his Iudgements were before me a sincere and an upright heart hath a respect to all the Commandments as it s said of David Acts 13.22 A man after Gods own heart he must fulfil all his wills not only easie duty but difficult duty not only those that are in fashion but those that are out of fashion and are discountenanced amongst men in the least as well as in the greatest for the whole Law is written in the heart and his obedience thereunto is universal Rom. 6.17 And the more of Gods authority there is in the Law the deeper impression it hath upon the spirit Thirdly I was also upright before him and I kept me from mine iniquity A sincere heart hath the most serious resolutions the most unfeigned detestations and therefore the greatest and the most diligent watchings against his own iniquity that sin to which his nature is most prone and wherein he is most apt and hath commonly been to be ensnared In the words are two things First Davids profession of his sincerity Secondly his testification of it First I was upright 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perfect there is a two-fold perfection First a legal perfection which is a perfect conformity in nature and in life to the Law of God such as was in Adam in the state of his innocency and this the Papists contend to be attainable even in this life but here Who can say my heart is clean or I am purged from my sin therefore surely this was not the perfection David here speaks of for his failings were known and confessed by himself and remain upon record known and read of all men Secondly there is an evangelical perfection a perfection according to the tenour of the second Covenant and this is two-fold First in a mans Justification and so a man is perfefectly justified that is in Christ for we are made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.22 So we are said to be compleat in Christ and by his blood to have no more conscience of sin So the Church is said to be all fair and to have no spot in her and so by one offering the Lord hath for ever perfected them that be sanctified Heb. 10.14 Secondly a perfection of Sanctification and this
it p. 422 Holiness the perfection of it consists in three things p. 425 Hope is conversant about things to come See p. 152. follows p. 163 I Iacob put for all the Tribes p. 165 Idols take heed of them p. 483 Jehu's service p. 289 Jehu's heart not right with God p. 291 Jehue's censure p. 293 Jealousie of God hath a double fruit p. 703 Jesurun the word opened p. 518 519 Iesurun waxed fat p. 520 Iews National conversion p. 274 Iews God hath not cast them off p. 268 Iews shall be ingrafted again ibid. Iews shall be converted by sight p. 277 Iews calling the manner of it p. 280 Iews calling the time of it p. 281 Iews when converted what shall be amongst them p. 282 Iews conversion the grounds for it See p. 283. follows p. 288 Iews conversion the use of it See p. 282. follows p. 288 Iews objections concerning them answered See p. 278. follows g. 288 Iews sacrifices of two sorts p. 358 Inheritance of the Saints See 145 follows p. 163 Iniquity our own how to keep from it p. 159 Iniquity a mans own what is it p. 744 Iniquity our own what is it for a man to keep himself from it p. 746 Interest in Christ rules to know it p. 348 Ioy in Scripture is twofold p. 65 Iudgements what they are upon men unfruitful under Ordinances p. 11 Iudgement hath a set time See Nation Judgement determined in the time of it is set forth by divers expressions p. 544 Iudgement the means that did formerly prevail in the time of it doth not now prevail p. 455 Iudgements their manner how executed in an ordinary way p. 13 Iudgements none like spiritual p. 15 Iudgements of God are an evidence of reprobation and an earnest of condemnation p. 17 18 Iudgements upon Babylon p. 82 Iudgements the use of them p. 235 Iudgements signs fore-going p. 458 Iudgements beginning a token that the time of Judgement dravvs near p. 361 K Keep close to God in evil times 〈◊〉 good p. â—… Keep thy heart upon what gâ—ouâ—… p. â—… To Keep a mans self from their iniquities that attend high places p. 605 Keep thine own house rules for it p. 607 Keep thine own Vineyard Considerations to quicken p. 614 Keep close to the word Considerations unto it p. 634 Keepers of the Vineyard have a more peculiar charge of their own Vineyard p. 598 Keepers of other Vineyards many times neglect their own p. 609 Kickt notes two things p. 521 Kingdom providential p. 658 Kingdom of God committed to the Mediator is two fold ibid. Kingdom of Christ in this world is made up of two parts p. 686 Knowledge God will reckon with men for it p. 706 L Law See Christ Loss of godly men is to be considered p. 221 Loss of righteous men is to be laid to heart p. 227 Love electing aimes at a twofold end p. 141 Love of Christ to the Saints is twofold p. 157 Lusts some acts are more then others p. 158 M Madness hath in it two things p. 481 Magistrate made choice of by the people p. 114 Magistrates why called the Corner-stone p. 392 Magistrates good are as a Corner-stone to a Common-wealth p. 397 Magistrates business is to uphold a Common-wealth ibid. Magistrates how said to be the Corner-stone p. 399 Magistrates care and duty to rule well ibid. Magistrates bear a double Image p. 405 602 Magistrates hands must be first in union p. 409 Magistrates what manner of men they must be that are fit for this work p. 416 Magistrates in their Government are to have respect to the word p. 623 Magistrates opposing truth never prosper p. 627 Man natural if considered as fallen hath reason to be awakened p. 354 Man natural awakened is to seek the change of his Covenant p. 347 352 Mark of the Beast is twofold p. 474 Marish and mirie places what is meant p. 9 Marish places and men unfruitful under Ordinances resembled ibid. Marriage hath a double end p. 21 Members duties towards their Pastors p. 105 Members have a threefold power p. 119 Members are not to intrench upon the officers power p. 120 Mercy National hath six things observable p. 64 Mercy for Gods people See People Mercy in it every godly man is to look at two things p. 514 Mercy discovers six waies by which men are the worse p. 532 Mercy the fruit of it p. 535 It is threefold p. 736 Mercy the grounds of it p. 737 Mercies are of two sorts p. 523 Mercies the reason why they make men the worse p. 527 Mercies the use of them p. 531 Mercies how to know they make men the better p. 538 Mercies are sweet in the receipt but sad in the account p. 724 Mercies for receiving them what is the thing that will be required p. 727 Ministers how its possible to reconcile them p. 413 Ministers have a threefold reference p. 443 Ministers are servants of the Nation p. 444 Ministers are Prophets of the Nation p. 446 Ministers and people the causes of mixture in all ages p. 475 Mixtures in Religion what they should teach us p. 480 Mixtures humane are of three sorts p. 485 Mixitures the means God uses to take them away and the motives to believe it p. 489 Motto for a Christian p. 603 a souldier p. 665 Mould two things in it p. 291 Mysterie what it is p. 268 N Nayl shall come forth out of him p. 393 Nayl hath in it a twofold Analogy ibid. Name one p. 469 Nation that is sinful hath a set time of Judgement appointed unto it p. 449 O Obedience in some sense as necessary to salvation as faith p. 47 Obligation of God to man is twofold p. 339 Officers duty p. 111 Officers and offices appointed by Christ ibid. Officers appointed by the Holy-Ghost ibid. Wherein he doth two things p. 111 Officers set by the Apostles according to Christs Institution p. 115 Officers set up by the Evangelists according to the Apostles appointment ibid. Officers accepted of by the Churches ibid. Officers appointed for several ends p. 116 Officers the glory of a Church ibid. Officers have an office p. 118 Officers power threefold p. 119 Officers if they had not power what would follow ibid. Officers are the Churches servants p. 120 Officers have the management of the Churches affairs p. 121 Officers must account for the souls of their people p. 125 Officers will give a different account at the last day p. 128 Officers in a Church what manner of men they ought to be p. 130 Officers chosen without gifts will prove miserable to the Church p. 132 Oppression what it is p. 394 Ordinances of worship shall continue till the worlds end p. 7 Ordinances all manner shall be in Gods City p. 8 Ordinances that have men unfruitful under them resembled to Marish places p. 9. â—ee their Judgement in p. 11. Ordinances the purest have some given up under them to perpetual Barrenness p. 12 Ordinances must be pure p. 155 Ordinances