cast off bring punishment 14 Fulness of Duty what it is 315 See Sin Enlargement E Eagle Why the Eagle was unclean under the Law 4 See Assyrian Dove Wicked men Effigies An Effigies of the last times 339 Eli Eli's example urged 384 Emptiness Emptines is unatural to a Vine and why 304 Encouragement Encouragements to fight 385 Encouragements for men in mean employments 450 Encouragements for poor souls in mean endeavors 465 Engagement We must take heed of Engagements in evil 28 England England another Canaan 159 England more unfit for mercie now than at the first and why 263 England smitten as Sodom 281 See Admonition and Crosness Enlargements How we should use our enlargements in duties 312 Estrangement The degrees of mans estrangement from God 111 Eternity see Life Exhortation Exhortation to young ones 214 Exhortation to the Godlie 56 Excellency see Soul Excrements see Devil Experience An Experience worth the tryal 316 See Heason F Faces see Painted Faithful Faithful men discouraged and how 280 False worship False worship must be cast off 13 It is just with God to let False worship alone till it come to the full 82 See Ruin Feast Why a day is called a Feast to God 172 Faith How to encrease Faith for pardon in holy duties 120 Fly When a man may fly 182 Forms see Hypocrits Forraign Forraign Leagues are dangerous 46 Followed Our own waies are not to be followed 64 Fear Gods fear drives out carnal confidence 333 Forefathers We are subject to imitate our Forefathers in evil 79 Fulness see Duty Funeral Funeral mournings are hateful to God 166 See Gain Fruitfulness see Vines Furious Furious men do the least service 329 G Gain Gain at Funerals makes some rejoyce whilst others mourn 169 German The speech of a German Divine at his death 454 God Gods power shewed 42 Gods justice over such as sow the wind 43 God takes it ill we should go to Nations for help 58 God should be our delight 211 Gods delight is in young ones 213 God is the Saints glory 223 Gods departing is the cause of wo and why 250 We should labor to do what we can for God though he seem to leave us 253 God manifests his displeasure in the places where men sin 272 God cannot endure wickedness in his house 300 See Church House Worship Mercy Preservation Depart Generation see Spirit Gentry Gentry admonished 208 Good works Good works are excellent and why 30 Gospel Gospel-Righteousness is a most excellent thing 451 Government The danger of setting up new Government 23 Goverment is a thing of great consequence 271 See Agreement Pains Governors Governors are subject to establish false worship 44 Grace Hypocrits seek Grace for Comfort but Saints seek Comfort for Grace 485 Gregory Gregories speech to Theodorus 89 H Happinss see Beleevers Heart We ought to search our hearts 292 Help Helps against Injustice 377 See God Hemlock Injustice compared to Hemlock 370 Hemlock stalks springing up in England 375 House It is good dwelling in Gods house 272 Humiliation The benefit of humiliation 308 How humiliation should be preached 308 Hypocrits When hypocrits are in distress they see their need of God 9 Hypocrites stand much upon formal waies 10 Hypocrites think to fare the better for their parents 11 I Idolaters Idolaters are prophane but covetous men are worse 24 Idolaters promise themselves safety in their Idols 26 Idolaters are laborious in their Idol worship 35 Idolaters sow in hope 36 Idolaters lay a ground for sucession 36 Idolaters observe their season ibid. Idolaters love outward prosperity 153 We ought to do as much for God as Idolaters do for their Images 324 Idolatry Idolatry drives men against principles of reason 31 Idolatry is an hereditary sin 30 Idolatry continues in succession 80 Idolatry depends much upon Ancestors 258 See Succession Jeroboam What Jeroboam's sinne was 19 Jews The Jews custom in time of danger 412 Ignorance The miseries attending Ignorance 18 Images see Altars Invention There ought to be no invention of Man in Gods Worship 77 Injustice Injustice is sometimes like to Justice 370 See Hemlock Help Justice see Reformation Joy Means how to regulate our joy 142 See Prosperity Josephus Josephus his lamentable story 414 Israel Israel's Prerogatives 48 See Nation K Keep Examin principles wel first and then keep to them 292 Keys Four keys in Gods hand only and what they be 263 Kings Caution in imitating the Jewes Kings 15 Kings were made by men 31 The burden Kings are under 65 See People Kingdom see States L Labor Every one bound to LABOR 434 Lady Work for Ladies 436 Land see Ruin Lapsed The evil of lapsed Ministers 48 Latimer The speech of Bishop Latimer before Queen ELIZABETH 278 Latimer's notable story 178 Law What the Law of God is 95 The Law of God is great and why 96 The Law of God moves to obedience 102 See Saints Leagues Leagues of peace may prove occasions of sorrow 138 Leagues must not be made with wicked men 161 Learned see Opinion Life Life is the seâ—d-time for eteruity 39 Liberty Liberty is exceeding dangerous in yong professors 309 London see Popery Love Love is not to be bought 55 Lord It is a great mercy to have time to seek the Lord 472 See Quick-sightedness Luther Luther called by the Papists the Trumpet of Rebellion and Sedition 2 Lumpish Sorrow for sin must not be lumpish 168 M Mass The abominableness of the Mass 33 Malignants Malignants may have great Victories 206 Meditation Meditations for such as are weak in the fields 156 Meditations for parents 260 288 Meditations for Rich men 322 Meditations at going to bed 336 Men Men of mean breeding shold take heed how they behave themselvs when they come into Authority 66 Mens writings how they help to understand the Scripture 88 Mercy All mercies must be improved for God 20 See Free Grace Misery see Ignorance Ministers Ministers must not be weary of their work 3 Ministers that count such things as are laid aside only inconvenient will take them up again 203 Ministers must gain the Peoples love 220 What Ministers should rejoyce in 394 Ministers are Plow men 471 See Lapsed Wind Rule Motives Motives to continue seeking God 482 Mothers Tender-hearted Mothers admonished 259 Mothers fond love sâ—ayes their children 288 N Nation No Nation but Israel forsook their Gods 〈◊〉 148 Our Nation to be helped not to be fled from 182 See God National No National Church now 75 Nobility Nobility admonished 208 O Officers see Church Opinion The Opinions of the Learned are no rule for Religion 86 Opression Our Opressions are not to be removed but renewed 282 Ordinances see Christian Oyl What the Oyl in sacrifices signified 162 P Pains Pains must be taken about Government 271 Some take more pains to perish than others do to be saved 488 Painted Faces The evil of Painted Faces 433 Particular Particular persons must suffer not resist 18 Pardon see Faith Parents Parents must not be a
give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts But rather according to most Interpreters I think this expression is rather an expression of Commiseration that is foreseeing the lamentable condition that the ten Tribes should be in ere long the Prophet pities their condition and would fain come in and pray for them and he begins Give them O Lord saith the prophet and then he makes a stop as if he should say but O Lord what shall I say for them Give them but Lord I know not what to ask for them I am at a stand when I consider what they are what the many mercies they have had already what warnings they have had how hardened they are in their sin and how thy word is gone forth but Lord give them shall I say Lord give them deliverance give them peace give them prosperity still Lord I dare not that I cannot ask all means have been used for to bring them unto thee and yet they stand out against the Lord thou knowest they are deer to me they are of my flesh and I should be glad that they might be saved but thy glory is dearer to me then they are and therefore for that I cannot pray and therefore the Prophet praies Give them seeing all this misery must befal them what shall the enemies be let out upon them shall they and their children be made a prey to the Murderer Lord rather let no more be born of them rather let those children that otherwise should have been born and might have lived in their own Land Lord God 〈◊〉 them not be born rather than come to live to so great misery so he doth not pray for a miscarrying womb and dry breasts absolutely but compartively From whence the Notes are First That mens sins make many times Gods Ministers and his Saints at a point that they know not what to say in prayer Truly though there hath bee a mighty Spirit of prayer through Gods mercy in the Kingdom yet considering that since God hath come to shew himself willing to deliver us and Christ hath been coming even upon his white Hors in peace to take the Kingdom to himself since that time such a spirit of Malignity hath appeared against Christ and his Saints as ever was in the Kingdom it puts many of the Ministers and Saints of God to a non-plus in their prayers and straightens their very hearts in the day of their fasting when they are to seek God that the Lord would give forth mercy The Lord knows that the condition we are in is more unfit for mercy than we were at the very first day Thus a Nation thus particular people may put the Servants of God to a stand in their prayers and straighten their hearts Oh! were it that people had gone on in the imbracing of Reformation as they seem'd to do at the first Oh! how enlarged would the herrts of the Saints have been in prayer Oh Lord give England mercy give England deliverance And then a second Note is this That the fruitfulness or the barrenness of the womb it is from God Give them give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts This is from God in Gen. 30. 2. when Rachel cried for children Give me children or else I die the text saith that Jacobs anger was kindled against Rachel and said Am I in Gods stead Paulus Phagius that learned man saith that the Hebrews have this speech that there are four keys that are in Gods hand that he gives not into the hand of any Angel 1. The Key of the Rain and that you have in Deut. 28. 12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the Heaven to give thee rain unto thy Land in his season 1. There 's the Key of Food in Ps 145. The eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing 3. There 's the Key of the Grave in Ezek. 37. 12. Behold Oh my people I will open your Graves and cause you to come up out of your Graves 4. And lastly The Key of the Womb and that is in Gen. 38. 22. These four Keys God keeps in his own hand and therefore Gods providence is to be observed in this and there ought to be a submission to his hand in it Thirdly Sin may bring such evil time upon a people as better those who live to such times had not been born or died before those times had come Give them a miscarrying womb and a dry breast if they should have children that should live to endure all the miseries of those times that are coming they had been better not to have been born or have died long before this time saith the Prophet We must take heed of wishing this upon every little affliction that doth befall us as it is the frowardness of many people even with God himself that if their children do but anger them to wish they had never been born or cold in the mouth many years ago I wish I had gone to your Grave Parents many times are ready to wish their children that they had never been born of them but this is frowardness against God himself and wickedness those that are so ready to wish their children had not been born they are the least sensible of the sin that doth cause the affliction upon which they do wish such a thing as that is Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts First There may be either such miserable slaughters as that Parents might even wish that they never had any Children Or Secondly They may live under such cruel tyranny for their souls and bodies Or thirdly They may be drawn from God by false Religion and so may be in a condition worse than if they had not been born Hence Parents to whom God denies children or takes them away they should quiet themselves in Gods dispose especially in such times as these are it may be God hath taken away your children to deliver them from greater evils as in the house of Jeroboam there was but one child that had any good in it and saith God That child shall die and gives the reason Because it had some good in it So that God takes away many that he hath the most love unto and lets others to live that he hath not so much love unto Yes some may say If I were sure that their souls were safe though God doth take them away if I were sure of their salvation then I would be content That 's true indeed If your children were saved what hurt is that to be taken away here and received to Heaven and there to live for ever with Christ not to sin or sorrow more but howsoever you may satisfie your selves in these three things First That they are under an indefinite promise though not an
tough and stought spirits and therefore he still strikes with sharp rebukes and severe threats Israel is an empty Vine The Church is often in Scripture compared to a Vine in Psal 80. 8. Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt thou hast cast out the Heathen and planted it And in that known place Isa 5. 1. Now will I sing unto my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his Vinyard The Church is compared to a Vine First There 's no plant hath a more unpromising outside than the Vine hath the outside of it how mean is it looks as if it were weathered rugged grisled weak and hollow the stalk of it and this is the Church the out-side of it is very unpromising little beauty and comliness as Christ himself had little beauty and excellency in his outside But yet secondly The Vine is the most fruitful plant that grows out of the earth Pliny that great Naturalist tells of very strange fruitfulness of some kind of Vines in his 14. Book and 4. Chapter he tells of ten Culei that 's his word that an Acre of Vines brought forth in a year which comes to a matter of eighteen hundred gallons nay in the 1. Chapter of his 14. Book he tells of one stock one single Vine that was planted by Livia the Empress that yeelded an hundred and eight gallons of good Wine yeerly The Vine is a very fruitful thing though unpromising in the out-side And what fruit indeed is there brought forth to God in the world but by his Churches and God expects much fruitfulness among his people how ever as you shall hear they are charged with being empty Thirdly No plant requires so great care as the Vine What a deal of do is there in dressing the Vine and underpropping of it and pruning of it looking to it continually and the Lord hath the greatest care of his people of his Church himself accounts it no dishonor to be the Husbandman as he is said to be in John 15. and in Isa 27. 3. you have a most admirable expression of Gods taking care of his Church as his Vine I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day I will keep it and I will water it and every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it again night and day And this is the Vinyard that he speaks of in the beginning of this Chapter and it was the Vinyard that brought out red Wine the best sort of Wine Those that bring forth the best sort of Wine shall have the best of Gods care and charge and protection over them Fourthly The Vine it is the most depending creature in the world it is not able to under-prop its self but must have props more than other Plants and therefore Nature hath given unto it strings by which it catches hold upon any thing next it And so the Church the Church is weak in its self and is the most depending thing in the world depends upon its props that God affords unto it you have an excellent place to set out that in Isa 27. 2 3. ver there the holy Ghost speaks of a Vinyard of red Wine and in the 4. verse Fury is not in me which shews that there should come a kind of great storm and tempest but he would not have his People to be discouraged Fury is not in me And then in the 5. verse Let him take hold of my strength that he may make peace with me and he shall make his peace with me Let him take hold of my strength that is speaking to his Church as a Vine in the time when my fury is abroad yet do you like the Vine which catches hold upon a pole and there under-props its self so let him take hold of my power let him act faith upon my power in time of storms and tempests and he shall make peace though he hath never so much trouble abroad in the world with others yet he may he shall have peace with me That 's the nature of the Vine to catch hold upon that which is next it and especially in time of storms when the strongest Oaks are rent in pieces yet the Vine catching hold upon the props it hath rests there Fifthly If it be not fruitful it is the most unprofitablest thing in the world I suppose you know that place in Ezek. 15. 2. What is the Vine-tree more than any tree or than a branch which is among the trees of the Forrest Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon Behold it shall be cast into the fire for fewel It is not meet for any work the Vine is meet for nothing not to make a pin if it be not fruitful And no people in the world are so unprofitable as Professors of Religion if they bring not forth the fruit of godliness and the world may be rid of them better than any people else if they bring not forth their fruit unto God And then further in the sixt place A Vine is the most spreading plant that is that spreads larger than other plants and fills a great deal of room with the spreading of the branches of it and so you have the Promise of the Church in Isa 27. 6. Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit And then lastly The Vine is the most tender soft plant and it is the Emblem of peace the sitting under our Vines it is to set forth Peace And so the People of God they should be of tender soft spirits not like the Bramble nor the Thorn full of pricks if we sit under Thorns and Brambles we may be prick'd with them but sitting under the Vine there is nothing but sweetness and delightfulness there Israel is a Vine yea but he is an empty Vine The word in the Original is a Participle an emptying Vine and yet the sense will come much to one an Empty Vine or an Emptying Vine that is Though there be much cost bestowed upon Ephraim so as he might be fruitful yet he makes himself empty This shews how he comes to be an empty Vine not because Gods mercy is scant to him but he makes himself so by his sin what juyce moisture he hath he doth empty it forth into other things and so is empty Israel was a Vine full of clusters refreshing God himself as you heard in the ninth Chapter that he was to the Lord as Grapes in the Wilderness as a Vine that did bring forth Grapes in the Wilderness that was so sweet to a weary and thirsty traveller Israel was once such a one yea but now he is come to be an empty Vine though he grows in the Vinyard of God and not in the Wilderness Empty and no mervail for as you have heard in the
then it were another matter but now considering they have enough in them to make them subjects of Gods wrath God may take advantage the rather because of thy sin and therefore take heed ane especially take heed to Gods Worship for we do not find in Scripture where any children are so threatned as the children of Idolaters are And then a further Note is this That the Judgments of God neer to us should awaken us we should think Why may it not be upon our selves This was a heavy Judgment of God upon some City neer and God would awaken them Oh! what have we heard hath been upon our Brethren in other parts and we have been sottish and not sensible of it because iâ— hath not just come upon our Gates the Lord expects when we hear of any dreadful evil upon others that we should tremble and fear before him And then one thing further note from hence As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel The word that is here Shalman it signifies the name of one that is peaceable one that is peaceable and yet he shall exercise his cruelty so as to dash the Mother upon her Children this is not one that bears cruelty in his name not a Tyger but a Shalman a peaceable man as his name carries it and yet thus cruel when he comes to have power Oh! men who have peace in their names and peace in their mouths and peace in 〈◊〉 yet when they come to have power often times are very cruel We were like to have found it so if our adversaries should have prevailed especially this Citie might have been made a Beth-arbel Mothers dashed upon their Children It 's true when the adversaries did prevail in any place they did not do so but it was not through any ingenuity or pity but out of fear but had they gotten the day then we might have expected even dashing of the Mother against the children VER 15. So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness SO shall Bethel What shall Bethel rise up against the rest of the ten Tribes and come and destroy Mother and Children together That 's not the meaning But Bethel shall do it that is Bethel is the Cause of this that dreadful slaughter that is like to be among you it shall come from Bethel Who would ever have thought that Oh my Brethren Miserable Judgments do many times arise from causes we 〈◊〉 think of that 's the Note from thence I say miserable Judgments do many times arise from causes we little think of From Bethel there should come this slaughter and dreadful blood-shed And as that Note more generally so more particularly this That from places of Idolatry comes the greatest evils to Kingdoms As 't is very observable on the contrary from the places of Gods Worship comes the greatest good so from places of Idolatry the greatest evil In Psal 76. 2 3. In Salem is his Tabernacle and his dwelling place iâ— Zion There brake he the Arrows of the Bâ—◠〈◊〉 Shield and the Sword and the Battel Did God break them there Was there a Fight in Zion and in Salem No that 's not the meaning but in Zion and Salem where Gods Tabernacle was those Servants of God that were worshiping of God in Jerusalem and in Zion and praying to God they got the Victory so we may say that such a place that was fasting and praying in the time of our battels there God brake the Arrow and the Bow in that place where they were praying and seeking God it was in Salem and Zion Where the true worship of God is from thence comes the good of a Kingdom And so in Isa 31. 9. Whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem The Lord is there threatning the Enemies of his people and he saith That his fire is in Zion and his furnace is in Jerusalem there God hath his furnace and from thence it shall go to destroy the adversaries And so on the contrary where Idolatry is set up and false worship maintained from thence comes evils and miseries upon us Because of your great wickedness The word is Because of the wickedness of your wickedness so the Hebrews express the suparlative degree by a genetive case the evil of the evil the wickedness of the wickedness From whence observe Other sins are great sins but this of false worship indeed is THE great sin that God is provoked against a people for Whence let us not make light account of the Worship of God for how little soever Gods Worship is in our eyes yet it is a great matter in Gods eyes and though you think that the sins against God in the matter of his Worship be but small yet God saith it is the great wickedness it is the wickedness of wickedness And great wickedness it may be call'd not only in respect of the nature of it but from many aggravations and long continuance in it notwithstanding all their means You may Note further from hence God takes notice not only of mens sins but of the aggravation of their sins Oh! let us do thus do not only look upon your sins and acknowledg your selves to be sinners but look upon the Aggravations of your sins Oh! this sin committed against so many Mercies so many Prayers and Resolutions and Vows and Covenants and so many Deliverances that I have had labor to lay the Aggravations of your sins upon your hearts and this is the way to humble your hearts before the Lord. Indeed the Saints of God they need not seek to excuse their sins be not afraid to lay the aggravations of sin upon your own hearts according to what great aggravations there may be Greaten your wickedness before the Lord do not so as ordinarily people do to extenuate your sins for if there be any extenuation that possibly can be Jesus Christ will find out that in his pleading Christ is your advocate who sits at the right hand of the Father and it is his work to plead your cause and therefore if there can be any thing to extenuate a sin he will do it you know that when he was here in this world when his Disciples did offend very much in that sleepiness of theirs that when Christ was to suffer they could not watch with him one hour that sin might have been aggravated with abundance of circumstances but saith Christ The flesh is weak but the spirit is willing he falls to extenuate and excuse Now that which Christ did there he wil be ready to do in Heaven for thou that art a Saint And then further According to greatness of sins so is the greatness of wrath great wickedness and great wrath they go together and therefore according to the greatness of sins should the greatness of our humiliation be For so it is said of Manasses That he humbled himself greatly and in Lament 1. 20. where the
JEREMIAH BVRROUGHES Gospell-Preacher To two of the greatest Congregations in England Viz. Stepney and Cripplegate London Aetatis Suae 45. Câ—â—ss sculpt Iune 1. 1646 AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations CONTINUED Upon the Eighth Ninth and Tenth Chapters of the PROPHESY OF HOSEA Being First delivered in several LECTURES at Michaels Cornhil LONDON By Jeremiah Burroughs Being the Sixth Book published by Thomas Goodwin William Greenhil Sydrach Simpson William Bridge John Yates Will. Adderly LONDON Printed by Peter Cole at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil near the Royal Exchange 1650. To the READER VVHAT We have by way of Preface set before the Edition of the Fourth Fifth Sixth and Seventh Chapters may sufficiently serve for a Premise to these Eighth Ninth and Tenth Chapters as holding forth the Use and Scope of the whol Prophesie and the Authors Intentions in his Comment theron So as We shall only need now to give LETTERS of CREDENCE before the World to the passing of These as the best and most authentick Notes that could any way be obtained both as the Extracts of the best Notes of Sermons taken from his Mouth and chiefly his own Writings which were more brief Exspect shortly the Eleventh Twelfth and Thirteenth Chapters from the same hand We commit Them and the Reader to the blessing of God Thomas Goodwyn Sydrach Simpson William Greenhil William Bridge John Yates Will. Adderly THE CONTENTS Hosea Chap. VIII VERSE I Observation 1 MInisters must not only be trumpeters of Mercy and Peace but also of Judgment Page 2 Obs 2 Ministers must not be weary of their work though little good come of it 3 Obs 3 The denunciation of threatning in the Name of God is a terrible sound ibid. Obs 4 Men flatter themselves when danger is at a distance 4 Obs 5 All the swiftness of an enemy is from God 5 Obs 6. God doth not presently cast away a Church though it be guilty of many sins ibid Obs 7. It is an high expression of the Priviledge of a Church That it is the house of the Lord. 6 Obs 8 Though we be Gods house yet enemies may come upon us 7 VERSE II. Opened 8 Obs 1 In affliction men see their need of God 9 Obs 2 The vilest wretches in time of distress will call for help of God ibid Obs 3. Acknowledgment of God in a formal way is that Hypocrites think will comend them to God 10 Obs 4 Degenerate children look for favor for their godly parents sakes 11 Obs 5 They will think to have the same mercies their fathers had ib. VERSE III. Obs 1 The true Worship of God is the Good thing by way of Excellencie 12 Obs 2 Gods Worship is repelled by carnal hearts ib. Obs 3 Though at first men only leave God yet at last they cast him off with abomination ib. Obs 4 When the good of Duty is cast off the evil of punishment will come in 14 VERSE IV. Expounded 15 Obs 1 We may do the thing God would have done and yet sin highly against God 17 Obs 2 To go about great businesses without consulting with God is sin 18 Obs 3 Alteration in Civil Government is a great matter ib. Obs 4 When we are about great businesses we must look at Gods ends ib. Obs 5 We can have no comfort of Gods mercies if we stay not Gods time 19 Obs 6 When we have a mercy promised we must take it by lawful means ib. Obs 7 When we have a mercy we must improve it for God 20 Obs 8 God knows how to make use of mens sins 22 Obs 9 God many times suffers sinners to prosper a long time ib. VERSE V. Obs 1 Though Idolaters promise themselves safety by their Idols yet they will leave them at last 26 Obs 2 Take heed of Engagements in what is evil 28 Obs 3 If by custom in evil we have no power to get out this will be no excuse ib. VERSE VI. Obs 1 None are so soâ—â—ish in wicked waies as Apostats 30 Obs 2 To he devisers of evil in Gods Worship is a great aggravation of sin ib. Obs 3 Men stick close to their own inventions in Gods Worship ib. Obs 4 There is no sin more hereditary then Idolatry ib. Obs 5 Idols must be broken in pieces 34 Obs 6 Whatsoever may be broken in pieces we may not make our God ib. Obs 7 Deifying a Creature makes way for the destruction of the Creature 35 VERSE VII Obs 1 Idolaters are willing to take pains for their false worship 35 Use Let us take pains for the the true Worship ib. Obs 2 Idolaters sow in hope 36 Obs 3 Idolaters lay a ground for succession ib. Obs 4 Idolaters observe their season ib. Obs 5 Many sow the wind 37 Who sow the wind 1 Some Students ib. 2 Idolaters ib. 3 Formalists 38 4 Vain glorious ib. 5 Carnal Polititians 39 6 Such as serve themselves of sin ib. Use 1. Comfort for the Church that al their enemies do but sow the wind 39 Use 2. Ministers must beware of sowing the wind 1 If they bring empty words 2 Their own fancies to the people 41 Obs 6 They that sow the wind it is just with God they should reap the whirlwind 42 Obs 7 Sometimes wicked actions may seem to prosper though the curse of God be upon them 44 Obs 8 To have our desires satisfied for a while and then destroyed is a great judgment 45 VERSE VIII Expounded 46 VERSE IX Expounded 50 Object Why doth God compare the ten Tribes to a wild Ass Answ 1. To shew their stubbornness 52 2 To shew their contemptibleness 53 Obj Why doth he say Alone Answ 1. To shew they would be under no Government 54 2 That they were fit for no society 55 Obs 1 Where we place our confidence there our love should be placed ib. Obs 2 Idolaters wil not stand upon terms if they may have their Idols any way 56 Obs 3 It is an evil thing to be drawn to false worship 57 VERSE X. Obs 1. It is a great evil when wicked men seem to prosper more than Gods people in outward estate 59 Obs 2 Many times when men think they provide most for their peace they provide most for their ruin 61 Obs 3 People many times run headily on in evil waies that will destroy them 62 Text opened in diverse Particulars 63 Obs 1. When sinners have brought trouble upon themselves then they complain much 66 Admonition to England ib. Obs 2. Taxes upon mens estates is but a little burden in respect of being brought under the power of the enemy 67 Obs 3 Taxes are but little burden in comparison to the carrying of our brethren into captivity 67 Obs 4 It is Gods mercy to bring lesser evils upon us thereby to prevent greater ib. Obs 5. The consideration of little burdens upon us should move us to turn to God 68 Obs 6. Gods judgments against wicked men are the beginings of further judgments ib. VERSE XI Opened 69 Object Why
is excellent ib. Use 1. To shew the happiness of Beleevers ib. Use 2. To shew what a judgment it is to be cast out of the Church of God ib. Obs 3 Those that make Leagues with wicked men it is just with God they should be enthral'd in their abominations 161 Obs 4 When men are inwardly unclean God cares not for their outward cleanness ib. Obs 5 A great sin it is for the Saints to joyn with the World in evil worship 161 VERSE IV. Obs 1 Those that abuse their joy to lust it is just with God to take it from them 163 Obs 2 This makes the affliction bitter when the joy in Gods service is gone ib. Obs 3 It is a sad thing when a creature would seek to God and yet God rejects him 170 VERSE V. Opened 173 The perplexity of the wicked in the Lords day 1 All comforts are gone 177 2 God Himself fights against them ib. 3 Conscience terrifies them ib. 4 They know not whither to go for help ib. 5 The thoughts of God are terrible to them ib. 6 These miseries are but the beginning of sorrows ib. The Saints know what to do in a day of calamity 1 Bless God that ever they knew him 178 2 Exercise Faith in the Word 179 3 Sanctifie the Name of God in his Judgments ib. 4 Ease their souls by Prayer ib. 5 See beyond present evils ib. VERSE VI. Obs 1 Carnal hearts have alwaies some shifting thoughts how to provide for themselves 180 Obs 2 Carnal hearts will rather make any thing their refuge in affliction than God 18◠Obs 3 It is a great affliction to be forced to leave ones own Country and never return 183 VERSE VII Obs 1 God hath his set time for execution of Judgment 187 Obs 2 The apprehension of present evil terrifies the soul 188 Obs 3 Wicked men will not know till they feel ib. Obs 4 The knowledge men have of God in time of affliction is a working knowledge 189 Obs 5 In time of affliction men cry out that those are fools that seduced them ib. Obs 6 It is no excuse for men to be led aside by their Ministers 190 VERS VIII Obs 1 Many vile things are hid under glorious titles 191 Obs 2 When the Truth is cleer it is dangerous to seek the Opinions of others 192 Obs 3 No cause so ill but will be maintained by some learned 193 Obs 4 It is a great grief to those that have interest in God to see those that maintain that which is evil to pretend as much for God as any ib. Obs 5 You must have ground from Scripture before you submit to any thing in the Worship of God 195 Obs 6. Those that have interest in God rejoyce when they see faithful Ministers keep close to God 199 VERSE IX Obs 1 When superstition hath gotten deep root in the heart it is hardly got out 202 Vse to England ib. Obs 2 We may find wors usage from those that profess Religion than from those which profess it not 207 Use Take heed how you carry your selves towards your Brethren ib. Obs 3 God may behold those filthy who carry fair shews in Religion ib. Obs 4 For men to stand out impudently in wickedness committed is abominable in the eyes of God 208 Obs 5 To joyn with others to do so is wors ib. Applied to some of the Gentry and Nobility of this Kingdom ib. Obs 6 Such as do so may prosper a while 209 Obs 7 At last they shall all perish ib. Obs 8 The sins of the forefathers is an aggravation of the childrens sins ib. VERSE X. Obs 1 We should lay to heart Gods love to our fathers and seek to continue it to our selves 211 Obs 2 The greatness of Gods love is not enough to engage carnal hearts 214 Obs 3 There is no evil so shameful but a carnal heart wil forsake the glorious God to cleave to it 216 Obs 4 So to leave God and cleave to wickedness is abominable ib. Obs 5 It is usual for people to be of the Religion those are of whom they love 219 VERSE XI Obs 1 Multitude of children is a glory to a people 221 1 By them they are multiplied ib. 2 What excellency is in their children they look upon it as their own ib. 3 They have hope of continuation from generation to generation by them ib. Use Bring up your children in the fear of God ib. Obs 2 Godliness brings blessings swiftly and wickedness drives them away as fast 245 VERSE XII Obs 1 Many think all is well when they have escaped some judgement 246 Obs 2 It is a judgment to be deprived of children ib. Obs 3 It is God in the Creature that upholds it 248 VERSE XIII Expounded 253 Obs 1 God may depart from men or kingdoms in their greatest prosperity 255 Use Take heed when you are in your prosperity ib. Obs 2. God never shews so much respect to any but if they forsake him wrath follows 256 Obs 3 The curs of God goes forward from the Parents to the children 257 Obs 4 For the curse to follow from the parents to the children is an heavy curse 259 VERSE XIIII Obs 1. Mens sins oftentimes make Gods Ministers at a stand what to say in prayer 263 Obs 2 The fruitfulness or barrenness of the womb is from God ib. VERSE XV. Obs 1 Above all sins the sin of Idolatry makes a people hated of God 169 Obs 2 To take occasion to sin from Gods mercy is a thing which God hates 269 Obs 3 'T is a hateful thing to cast off the Government that God would have men under 271 Obs 4 Some sins provoke God to hatred 272 Obs 5. Sometimes God manifests his displeasure in the places where we sin ib. Obs 6 God cannot endure wickedness in his own house ib. Obs 7 Men in Authority think it a dishonor to be perswaded to alter their minds 276 Obs 8 Engagements work deeply in men when they are engaged in their honors ib. Obs 9 According to peoples interests so they are 277 Obs 10 Princes though they should be used with reverence yet they should not be flattered ib. Obs 11 When Princes successively are wicked there is little hope of good to that people 278 VERSE XVI Obs 1 God will not alwaies forbear sinners 278 Obs 2. If God leave Governors to revolt the people will be smitten 282 Obs 3 Compulsion of Authority doth not excuse sin 283 Obs 4. Tbe apprehension of Gods hand in smiting should humble the hearts of sinners 284 Obs 5 God hath his time to dry up the roots of sinners 285 VERSE XVII Obs 1. Let all the world forsake God a faithful soul will not 290 Obs 2 It is no presumption for a few to chalenge interest in God when the generality do not 291 Use Let thou be offended at the 〈◊〉 of those that keep the faith ib. Obs 3 It is a dreadful thing for wicked men to be declared against by the godly
a slave â—â—l the while that he that brought him did imploy him in any thing that did stand with ingenuity he did it but when he bid him go and empty a vessel wherein is no pleasure no saith he I will not serve you now in such a thing and his Master being angry with him he gets up to the top of the house and falls down and breaks his neck rather than he would empty such a vessel And certainly there is nothing that is so beneath the excelleney of an Immortal soul as sin is for hereby though thou beest high in thine own thoughts thou comest to be a vessel for the very Devil to empty his excrements into and that 's lower than to be a Scavenger to go up and down to take the filth of the street in being imployed in the service of the Devil thou doest more debaâ—e thy self than if thou wert a Scavenger to carry dung and filth in a Dung-Cart but as if thou wert judged to such a kind of life and imployment that thou shouldest go from morning to night to carry away the filth in thy very hands and mouth Some men are vessels of mercy they are chosen vessels vessels of honor fitted for the Masters use and it is an infinite mercy of God to us when as we have deserved to be cast out as vessels wherein there is no pleasure that God should imploy any of us to be vessels of His Sanctuary that God should take us out of the common lump such vessels whereas others are vessels of wrath imployed only in base services that are beneath the excellency of an immortal Soul Yea Some there are who have been eminent in the Church heretofore who have been vessels fil'd with the Gifts of the holy Ghost I do not say Graces now they are vessels in which there is no pleasure many of the Saints heretofore have been refreshed by them from those Gifts of the holy Ghost that have been in them but now their Gifts are gone they are fit for no pleasure but for Pot or Pipe Now idle drones that are fit for nothing but to set in the Kiâ—â—â—in and it may be to scum the pot yea some of them fill'd with poyson vessels wherein neither God nor man can take pleasure yea and some very forward professors of Religion that once were as the pollished Saphirs and are now become more black than the coal turn'd Apostates they were as golden vessels in the House of God and now are become vessels wherein is no pleasure It was a speech that once Demosthenes had to the Athenians he desired them that they would not make an Urinal of a Wine pot for to imploy those men in base services that had been eminent even those men that God Himself hath heretofore made use of for great services in Church and Common-wealth the Lord hath left them to be vessels of no pleasure Oh! remember al you from whence you are fallen thy heart is now exercised upon such low things thy work it may be now is only to further the wicked designs and desperate malice of other men And doest thou think to be a vessel of glory to stand before the presence of the holy God and joyn with Saints and Angels in the eternal praises of His Name Oh! remember from whence thou art fallen and be not at quiet till the Lord hath been pleased to purge thee and make thee fit for thy Masters use and to become a vessel of honor in thy Masters house VER 9. For they are gone up to Assyria a wild Ass alone by himself Ephraim hath hired Lovers THE Lord by the Prophet proceeds on in his charge against the ten Tribes here They are gone up to Assyria for help They are gone up they look not up to the high God for their help but they are gone up to Assyria Assyria is higher in their eyes than the God of Heaven is How vile a thing is it to forsake confidence in God out of suspitious thoughts of him for so it was here they retained suspitious thoughts of God as if He would leave them in their extremity and out of those suspitious thoughts of him they forsake him and seek help else where they expect more good more faithfulness more love not only from the creature than from God but from the very Enemies of God than from God Himfelf yea and that people that professed Interest in God that would seem to bless themselves in this That God was their God even this People look'd to have more good and to find more faithfulness in the very enemies of God than in God Himself let the Heavens be astonished at this wickedness and yet this evil is in the hearts of the children of men A wild Ass alone by himself This creature the Scripture mentions in divers places for one of the most unruly and untamable and fierce creature in the world Such a creature as cannot be brought to be serviceable it wil not be brought to live with men no it cannot be brought to live long with other beasts no nor to keep company with their own kind so fierce and savage it is but runs up and down in the wilderness alone In Job 11. 12. we have mention of this creature For vain in an would be wise though man be born like a wild Asses Colt And in Job 39. 5. Who hath sent out the wild Ass free or who hath loosed the bands of the wild Ass And in Jer. 2. 24. to name no more A wild Ass used to the wilderness that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure in her occasion who can turn her away all they that seek her will not weary themselves in her month they shall find her In her occasion when he hath a mind unto the foemale she snuffeth up the wind as the Historians say of her they go up to Mountains and there they seek to have the sent of the foemale or the male so they snuff up the wind even for the sent of her And so the Naturalists that write the nature of this Creature Pliny in his eighth Book and fourty Chapter Those that are Scholers that desire to know more of the nature of this beast may find divers things there But now we are only to speak of it as the Scripture speaks of it here Why doth God compare Ephraim amd the ten Tribes to the wild Ass For two Reasons 1. To shew the extream stubbornness and fierceness of this people Wicked men that have forsaken God and are left to themselves do not only become like unto savage creatures but the very worst of all savage creatures they run up and down satisfying the lusts of their own hearts irresistably and bear down all before them they stamp and rage and are mad when at any time they are opposed in their wicked way this is the scope of the holy Ghost here thus Ephraim was when he was
will be the most grievous to an ingenuous spirit that possibly can be And there is a great deal of danger in them to grow more oppressing than other men that were born to greatness and their oppression wil be so intolerable as wil bring the greatest confusion that possibly can be if that be not well lookt to And therefore here when he would lessen the burden saith he you shall sorrow a little for tht burden of the King of Princes But what is it You shall sorrow a little They complained but saith God what do you complain of this this is but a little burden to that which you are like to have there 's another manner of burden a coming for you than this and from hence the Notes are these First When sinners have brought trouble upon themselves they will complain much exceedingly troubled but when they complain they are to consider that what they feel it is but a little to what 's coming after There are burdens upon you and you are complaining of these burdens as if so be that they were the greatest that ever were upon people Oh sinner consider of this when you are complaining of your burdens know that these burdens that are upon you may prove to be but very trifles in comparison of what 's like to come upon you afterwards for that 's the scope of the holy Ghost here They shall sorrow a little for this burden as if he should say There is other manner of sorrow coming after and so it did for afterwards the Assyrians carried them all away captives and the basest of all the people came even to set their feet upon them and therefore saith the holy Ghost This is but a little I speak to those that make not up their peace with God and do not upon those burdens that are upon them return to God As the mercies of God to his Saints that which now they have is but a little they may be said to rejoyce a little for the mercy that now they have And so the burdens upon the ungodly they are but a little but if they return not to God upon what they feel God hath greater burdens than those are that they so vex and fret under Secondly Taxes and Impositions upon mens estates are but a little burden in comparison of being brought under the power of the Enemy Though there be sore Taxes upon you as here there was fifty shekels of silver laid upon every man that was able but those Taxes are but little burdens in comparison of being given up to the power of the Enemy they would lay burdens indeed upon us burdens upon our Consciences all our Estates all our Lives all our Liberties whatsoever we are or have must be under their mercy now we are troubled but then their little finger will be more heavy than the loins that now we find to be upon us although we dare not say but some may find burdens very sore upon them for the present A third Note is this That as Taxes are a burden but a little in comparison so the carrying of our Brethren into captivity Though we enjoy our Estates our selves yet if God laies his hand upon any of our Brethren though in remote parts of the Kingdom Oh we should account this to be a burden As not only their Taxations was a burden but the carrying away of their Brethren that were beyond the River If there were no other sin among us it were just with God to bring the Enemy upon us and then we should find that there were other manner of burdens But there is another burden that we are not sensible enough of and that is the captivity of our Brethren in the remote parts of this Land Oh! how little sensible are we of it because we feel it not our selves The fourth Note from hence is this That it's Gods mercy when we are running on to our utter ruin not to suffer us to plung our selves irrecoverably into misery but to bring lesser evils upon us that by them we may come to bethink our selves and if it be possible to prevent greater You shall sorrow a little I will not undo you presently but return to me or else you are utterly undone but this is my Mercy I wil bring afflictions upon you by piece-meal and if you do not return to me then you shall be utterly lost for so this people were they were carried away captive and never returned to this very day Oh! doth God come to you in your family or person or estate Oh! let us consider of this And this is the last note from it The consideration of little burdens which is upon us to what might be should cause us to turn to God it should break our hearts and cause us to seek the face of God that we may prevent greater evils that otherwise will certainly come the Lord in his dealing towards us seems as if he were loth to lose us and that this Nation should perish Oh that this might work kindly upon our hearts to prevent greater evils that we might not be made a spectacle of the wrath of God to all the Nations that are round about us And yet further The words translated They shall sorrow a little are by some translated They have begun a little for the burden of the King of Princes And so in Deut. 2. 25. there is the word that comes from the same root That that they have felt it is but the beginning of what is like to come my wrath is let out upon them in some degree already and do not you see it how it is begun to burn upon them and that which was lately before your eyes by that you may come to beleeve my threatnings Gods judgments against wicked men are the beginnings of further judgments In Deut. 32. 42. I will make my Arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives from the beginning of revenge upon the enemy All this is but from the beginning of revenges when I come so terribly upon them it is but the beginning of revenges We are ready to think if there be miserable slaughters Surely God hath been revenged enough upon this people No all this may prove but the begining of revenges I may say so concerning our selves Though the Lord many times hath made the sword drunk with blood yet it may prove to be but the beginning of revenges truly we cannot say that from the time that these Judgments have been upon us that we have begun scarce to come in to turn to God yea thâ—â—â—ate of the Kingdom is far worse than it was at the beginning of this heavy stroke that is upon us In Matth. 24. 7 8. Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars and Nation should rise against Nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and
that we should add to the praise of God Men desires to ad more and more to the States of their Progenitors and so your Children they will add a little to the estates that you leave them and so men account it their ambition to raise their families My Brethren we should have an holy Ambition by practice of Religion more and more in every age as Jehu said in 2 King 10. 18. Ahab served Baal a little but Jehu shall serve him much So others as he said of false worship though in a fained way we should say of the true Worship of God we have served the Lord a little but we will serve him more we have more mercies than they had more light than they had if they served God a little we will serve him more And then Ephraim hath made many Altars to sin God still remembers the first and the chief Actors in sin Ephraim he speaks to the ten Tribes and yet only names Ephraim because the Governors were of that Tribe The chief in a family by whom the whol family is corrupted and the chief in a Town or Country God hath an eye upon them and though others escape they shall not Ephraim hath multiplied Altars to sin they intended not to sin it was not their intention when they made Altars that they might sin they thought they pleased God but God accounts it â—n and a provocation to him And from thence the Note is only this That whatsoever names we may give to things yet it may be God will give other names and titles to them we may say that it is devotion God will say it is superstition we may say it 's good intention but God may say it is presumption we may say it is prudence and wisdom but God may give it another name and say it is temporising 't is time-serving God doth use to give other names to things than we do in the Scripture they call their Images their delectable things God calls them detestable things No question if you would ask them why they built Altars they would say to the honor of God but saith God You built Altars to sin And then Altars shall be unto him to sin Shall be to him That 's thus Seeing they will have them they shall have them they shall have enough of them let them go on in their way let them multiply their sin When mens hearts are set upon false waies of worship it 's just with God to let them have their desires to the full They shall have their way that they do contend for they keep a great deal of stir for it and have it they must they refuse to see the light they are prejudiced against the way of Gods Worship let them have what they would have saith God they shall have Governors to establish what they would have by their Authority and they shall have their Teachers that shall defend by subtil Arguments those things to be lawful they multiply Altars to sin and they shall be to sin even to harden them and so the Seventy seem to take the meaning of these words by their translation of them whereas you have it They shall be to sin their Altars shall be to love their hearts are set upon them and they will have them and love them and they shall be hardened in them and this is the heavy judgment of God to give unto men their hearts desires in what is evil and as it shall be to them for sin so it shall be to them for their misery for the fruit of sin for so sin is taken very frequently in Scripture for the fruit of sin they will have them to sin and they shall find the fruit of sin by what they are so eagerly set upon them And thus much for the eleventh verse It follows VER 12. I have written to him the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing THIS Verse in the reading of it appears a greatness in the very sound of it and there is as much in it as the sound doth import and therefore though we pass over other things more briefly yet because there is very much of Gods mind in this and we should wrong the Scripture if we should pass over this too slightly I have written to him the great things of my Law This is made an aggravation of their sin they multiply Altars to sin and yet saith God I have written to them the great things of my Law they find no such things in my Law written to them this was against the very written Word of God and what that written Word of God against those many Altars was that you had the last day but in that from this connexion that these are made sins because they were against the written Word of God from thence the Note is That whatsoever is urged to us or practised by us in matters of Worship it must have Warrant out of the written Word of God It was sin Why because I have written to them saith he the great things of my Law and they counted it a strong thing though that which they did had a great deal of seeming devotion in it yet it was otherwise than that they found written in my Law This Question should be put to any that tender to us any way of Worship or Doctrine of Religion under any specious shew whatsoever Where is it written To the Law and to the Testimonie Isaiah 8. 20. If they speak not according to this Word it is because they have no light in them Oh they seem to be very judicious and wise but if they speak not according to this Word they have no light in them not only to the Law and Testimonies but to the written Law and Testimonies this must be the Standard at which all Doctrines and waies of Worship must be tried Many may put fair colours upon their waies that it is for Common Peace and a great deal of good may be done by it and the like But is it written Did I ever command it saith God Policy may say it's fit Reason may say it's comely and Experience may say it's useful But doth the written Law say it should be Nay it 's not enough to say That we cannot say it is forbidden But where is it written In matters of Worship this is a certain rule Saith Tertullian about the Crowning of the Soldier with Baies If it be said It is lawful because the Scripture doth not forbid it it may equally be retorted It is therefore not lawful because the Scripture doth not command it No matter what the thing be saith Luther in matters of Religion but who it is that bids it who it is that commands it we must look to that Never argue thus in any point of Religion I beseech you consider it is a point that hath been is and may yet
Oh! you must not rejoyce as other people you look upon a Drunkard that reels in the streets and hear a Swearer blaspheme the Name of God yea but that may not be so great an evil as the vanity of thy spirit And why The loosness of thy heart and those secret sins thou art guilty of because thou hast so covenanted and bound thy self to God the Drunkard was never made sensible of his sin and wrath of God upon his conscience but the wrath of God hath been upon thy conscience and thou hast engaged thy self to God if he would shew mercy Oh! thou would'st walk holily and strictly before him Now doest thou think that thy sins are as the sins of other people They never had such Soul-quickning Ordinances but go up and down to Taverns and Alehouses and never know what a powerful Sermon meant upon their hearts and had they such means as thou hast then it 's like it would be with them far better than now and the Name of God is not so much polluted by them as by thee thou that art a Professor of Religion the eyes of all men are upon thee and in thy sin thou doest not only disobey God but thou doest pollute the Name of God thou art a stumbling block unto others and the cause of the hardning of many hundreds in their sins and therfore thy sin certainly is worse than others This would be a great Point to shew how the sins of the Professors of Religion are worse than others and therefore it is not enough for you to say We are all sinners No we must not excuse our selves in this that others are guilty as well as we Oh! but consider what aggravations there is of thy sin more than there is of the sins of others It is a sign of a very carnal heart to think to go away thus it 's true I sin and others sin as well as I do yea but a true penitent heart wil not only consider that he is a sinner but what aggravations are there upon his sin more than upon the sins of others and so will lay it upon their hearts It 's true such and such sin but had they what I have had it would not be so with them my sin that hath broken through so many terrors of conscience and that God hath sought by such means to keep me from my sin it is a sign of the violence of my spirit indeed that hath broken through so much as I have done it is therefore an abominable thing to make our profession in holy Duties a Medium to make our sins less Doest thou think that this is a means to make thee escape that wrath Certainly this is a great aggravation of thy sins We have a generation of men among us that because they are Beleevers therefore they need no sorrow for their sin they must have only joy Now certainly thy being a Beleever may aggravate thy sin so much the more and may make it so much the more vile and may pierce thy heart so much the more for if thou beest a Beleever thou knowest what the pardon of thy sins cost therefore certainly Gods mercies towards thee are the aggravation of thy sins The truth is suppose our sins were not so great as the sins of some other people are yet it is not alwaies an argument that we may rejoyce as other people Why so you will say Thus Suppose our sins be but equal or less than the sins of other people yet it is more than we know whether God will pass by our sins so much as by the sins of others What if God out of his Prerogative damn thee for a little sin and save others that have committed great sins We have such examples in Scripture as in the example of Saul the thing that God cast away Saul for in its self it was not so much as that which David had been guilty of he had been guilty of groser sins than that which God cast away Saul for Saul might have said this is an offence but is this like Murder and Adultry What if it be not God will pardon David and cast away Saul Oh! do not you think to rejoice as other people do Why may not God do with his mercie as he pleases it is his own God may pardon one and damn thee eternally And therefore let no sinner please himself with what others do for he is not to do as others do Now it follows Thou hast loved a reward upon every corn-flour Israel saw the Nations have a great deal of plentie upon their Corn flours which they attributed to the serving of their Idol gods therefore Israel thought to comply with them out of the love to the plentie they had and since the time that she had complied with the Nations about her she prospered more she thought and this she loved by this she was exceeding hardned in her waies of Idolatry and blessed her self in them This is the scope God made many Promises for provision for Israel in his service but they made accompt to get more in following the waies of the Gentiles than in following Gods waies Like Harlots though they have liberal provision from their husbands yet they hoping to get more by others they love braverie and jolitie and they see that other Harlots they live more merrilie and go finer in cloaths and can be whol nights in chambering and wantonness and have good cheer and they love this and though they have allowance enough at home yet they leave their husbands and follow whoremasters Just thus it was with Israel though she might have Gods care over her and provision for her in the waies of his Worship yet she beholding the Gentiles living more bravely she would follow after them At first as you heard she hired Lovers her self but now she loves a reward upon everie Corn-flour now she expects greater advantage this indeed was the matter that put her on the loving a reward upon every corn-flour she might have many pretences Why she did not see but that she might do such and such things and they were not directly contrary to Gods Word but whatsoever she did pretend in the altering the way of Gods Worship yet this was the great matter that prevailed with her heart it was The loving a reward upon every corn flour And thus it is with very many that are superstitious come and speak to them of their waies they will have very many fair pretences they think that they have this and that warrant out of the Scripture for it but all the the while there is a pad in the straw there is their living and trading and estates and friends that they have an eye upon and it is that which byasses their hearts and spirits But divers things have been spoken to the same purpose of this that we met withal before only this one Note Idolaters do love their Corn and outward
of his children that were so eminent in office and were destroyed so with such a visible hand of God fire from Heaven when Moses was angry that the Priests had not eat of the sin offering saith Aaron If I had eaten of the sin offering to day should it have been accepted It would have been but as the bread of mourners I that have bin struck this day and am in such a dreadful condition Would God have regarded the sin offering God required joy in his services in Deut. 1â— 7. 18. verses and hence that profession was required in Deut. 26. 13 14. verses Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the Stranger to the Fatherless and to the Widdow according to all the Commandements which thou hast commanded me I have not transgressed thy Commandements neither have I forgotten them And then in the 14. vers I have not eaten thereof in my mourning c. They were to profess this to God That they had not eaten thereof in their mourning this was to shew that sacrifices offered with a sinking heart in sorrow is not pleasing to God God loves a cheerful giver We must not pine away in our iniquities sullenness and dumpishness even in sorrow for sin it sowres our spirits and services and makes them unacceptable to God I say a sullen dumpishness of spirit though it be in sorrow for sin it sowres our spirits and makes our services unacceptable to God There is a groaning and a sighing one to another or rather against one another that is condemn'd in Scripture in Jam. 5. 9. the words in your books are thus Grudge nor one against another but in the Original Sigh not or groan not one against another you shall have many that in company with others have a pensive dumpish spirit sighing and groaning and making their society to be burdensom to others Saith the holy Ghost do not sigh and groan one unto another there is a sullen dumpish sighing of spirit and dejection of soul that is as unpleasing to God as it is unto men it polutes the heart and pollutes duty But you will say Is all mourning forbidden that here the holy Ghost should say Their offerings should be as the bread of Mourners Christ saith blessed are the Mourners and the Sacrifice of God is a contrite heart It 's true an evangelical sorrow is accepted but that hath sweetness in it it is not bitter that 's not a dejected spirit it 's not a mourning that causes dejection or sullenness or straightness of spirit but that mourning doth enlarge the heart and makes it active for God hence in Ezra 9. 5. although we reade before that Ezra was astonished at the sin of the people yet saith he at the 5. verse I arose from my heaviness at the evening sacrifice when the time came that I should sacrifice unto God my heaviness did not hinder me in holy duties But how many are there that sink down in their heaviness and when God calls upon them for any duty they cannot arise they are so over-burdened with heavy spirits There they sink down in a sullen way and shall God accept of such a service as this is You may please your selves in it and think it is humiliation but there may be much pride in dejection there is none so proud a spirit as the Devil is and yet no spirit so dejected as the Devil is Lead we know it melts soonest but it consumes in the melting and many times there may be such a spirit that may be ready to sorrow upon any occasion and to melt but it 's such a melting as consumes the strength of it that it is unfit for any service that God calls for now such services as you in such a mourning way tender up to God are not accepted of him Remember this text Their offering shall be as the bread of mourning Gualter hath a Note from this God would not accept of the offering of Mourners they were unclean yet saith he there are many that seek to get their greatest gain from Funeral mournings and fall of enveighing against them that get gain that way as their Priests and Officers that use to tend upon Funerals for gain he calls them Vulturâ— and Crows that do flock to dead bodies and Sepulchers Dogs those are his words that seek to get advantage by Funerals And we know heretofore what abundance of advantage there was gotten by Funerals scarce could you bury a child under three or four pounds such kind of fees there were and made them even rejoyce when others did mourn and getting a great part of of their livelihood from the bread of Mourners And Theophylact hath another Note from this place The bread of Mourners That is those things offered to God gotten by oppression as thus suppose a man or woman gets an estate and gets it in an oppressing way it may be they are at home and merry but it may be the poor children or widdow is mourning for those morsels that thou art rejoycing in but it is the first Note that is the most according to the mind of the holy Ghost the mourning that hath respect to the funerals and so especially at the dejection of spirit in holy duties It follows The bread for their soul shall not come into the House of the Lord. The bread for their soul That is When they are seeking God even for their very lives By Bread is to be understood their oblations more generally not only Bread but their Oblations As Malac. 1. 7. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine Altar it 's taken generally for all kind of offerings upon Gods Altar So The bread for their souls that is those offerings that they did offer for their very lives Now from thence the Note is this That it 's a sad thing when a creature would seek to God for his very life yet then God rejects him and his offering too Before these people they did reject the voice of the Lord at the Temple and they kept others from going to the House of the Lord they thought sacrifices elsewhere would serve the turn as well but now they shall be far enough from bringing any sactifices to the House of the Lord though they should desire to do it for their very souls Thus many who in the time of their prosperity do neglect the Worship of God and slight it and think there is no great matter in it but afterwards when they see their very lives their souls lie at the mercy of God then they would fain seek God for their lives they see they are undone if God be not merciful to them yet then God rejects them their offerings then for their souls shall not come into the House of the Lord that is will not be accepted
I have gotten by the Word and by prayer and by the Ordinances can enable me to do that that you cannot do that 's something that when a man in times of Tribulation can carry himself above all so that men or devils are not able to put him in such a case as he cannot tell what to do It follows VER 6. For lo they are gone because of destruction But do you say to us What will we do in such a day Why we know well enough what to do we have a way to help us if all your threatnings should befall us yet we can have help why 't is not like that all this misery and disolation that you prophesie of it 's not like that it will come suddenly then surely we know what to do we will get to Egypt that 's not far off and if we cannot live here in our own Country we will go to Memphis that 's a brave City and there we may live well enough Many of us are Merchants and Memphis is as great a place for Mercandize as where we live and we will get thither Thus carnal hearts have alwaies some shifting thoughts and some plots in their heads thinking of waies to provide for themselves and indeed it 's this that takes off the hearts of men from humbling themselves before the Lord and making their peace with him because they think they may shift off Gods strokes thus and thus therefore they do not fall down with trembling hearts before the Lord and cry unto him Lord what wilt thou have us to do but they know what to do themselves and were it not for this that their hearts were thus taken off by shifts Oh! what humiliation would there be then before the Lord what subjecting to him what seeking of him Isa 57. 10. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way yet saidest thou not There is no hope thou hast found the life of thine hand therefore thou wast not grieved Thou thoughtest thou couldst tell what to do therefore thou wert not grieved When God doth intend mercy to men he takes them off from their vain hopes from all their shifting reasonings and then mercy is at hand When the hearts of men are brought to this to cry Men and Brethren what shall we do and as Jehoshaphat We know not what to do but our eyes are towards thee I say when mens hearts are taken off from all their shifts and they come to this pass As for any thing in our selves we know not what to do but only our eyes are towards thee then is mercy at hand and never till then And therefore all the time that you are reasoning thus in your own imaginations all that while you are far from mercy For lo they are gone to Egypt because of destruction The Prophet speaks here of a thing as if it were done already Although they were in Samaria and in the Cities of Israel yet saith the Prophet Lo they are gone to Aegypt the wrath of God was too hot for them in their own Country and away they are gone and got to Aegypt for a refuge Carnal hearts in straits will rather make any thing to be their refuge than God And my brethren just these for all the world have been I fear and it may be yet are the thoughts of many among us Why think they Ministers of God they threaten Judgments that God hath a controversie against us and we see now some tokens of Gods wrath upon us Well let the worst come that can we hope to shift some way or other we may get into Holland or Germany or France or New-England if the worst come that can I hope we may have time enough to get one way or other to make shift to live and these back-doors that their eyes are upon have made them less solicitous about and less helpful in the great things that God calls all with a loud voice to joyn together with al their strength that they may deliver their own Land from that heavie wrath that hangs over you Well notwithstanding mens thoughts are for shifting it will prove that all will be vain Saith God You think to shift to this place and the other you may be disappointed for Egypt shall gather you and Memphis shall bury you my wrath and sore displeasure shall pursue you thither It 's a vain thing for men to seek to fly from the presence of God But certainly in some cases a man may fly from danger As in regard of mens Relations and Stations they see that their work is done in one place and God by providence opens them a door to another though not out of distrust but if when God calls for further work here and there is no door opened by providence but what 's broken open by themselves out of a distrust and slavish fear only to provide for the flesh I say such may expect wrath to pursue them wheresoever they go their safest places may prove to be their graves Egypt shall gather them that is taken from the gathering of dead bodies Memphis shall bury them Memphis was a principal city in Egypt that now is known by the name of Grand Caer your Merchants and Marriners they know that City that here the holy Ghost speaks of by that name and then it was call'd Memphis upon the name as some think of one of the King of Egypts Daughters A City very famous in Egypt for the Pyramides and the Kings Sepulchres that were there and the City that stood very commodious for trafick because it stood upon the River Nilus and there was multitudes of streets I am loth to name you the number for indeed it is incredible only this thing is remarkable that generally all the streets had at each end of them two gates so that they might be lockt up as a Tower and it may be the holy Ghost may allude the rather to that in saying Memphis shall bury you because every place was shut up and it 's the same City that you reade of in the 19. of Isaih Now say they We will go to Memphis a brave place for trafick and a very commodious City a very safe City that hath all the streets like so many Towers and we will go and help our selves there Yea but Memphis shall bury you saith God From thence the Note is That it 's a great affliction to be forced to leave ones own Country and never to return again but to lay our bones in a strange Land The Lord hath sent many of his servants into other Countries to live among strangers some there are that have gone among strangers yet through Gods mercy they have not so gone but God hath given them libertie to return again and though their going hath been as you know much aspersed of late yet when more weighty work may give leave I make no question but you will be fully satisfied
place where I shewed so much mercy to them they think to justifie their superstitious worship but I 'le have them know that I hate this There I hated them saith God I abhor this that they think to be justified by So that the Notes are Above all sins the sin of Idolatry is that that God looks upon as the great wickedness for which he doth hate and abhor a people Because in that sin men think by their own waies of worship to make God amends for their wicked waies and present their own waies of worship to justifie themselves in all other kind of wickedness And again For men to abuse that wherein God shews mercy For them to take advantage or occasion by that to turn it into sin against God this is that which God hates For there was much mercy they met withal at Gilgal and they made Gods mercy an occasion to their wickedness To make that which should engage us to God to be an occasion of wickedness against God this is abominable in Gods eyes As you reade in the Law that you must not seath a Kid in his mothers milk that which is the milk to preserve the Kid that must not be a means for a second death to seath or boyl it in saith God that 's unnatural and but cruelty so for us to deal with God to take those things that should be a means to engage our hearts further to God to be occasion of further sinning against God that 's abominable there saith God I hated them Concerning Gilgal Their Idolatrous Priests told them as 't is propable that that place was a holy place and surely God that had appeared so to them there would accept of their services in that place rather than any other and so though God had after chose another place yet still they doted upon this place Gilgal and that which was so famous for Gods Worship became as infamous for superstition and wickedness Polanus upon the text compares that Town in Germany Wittenberg to this Gilgal Those places where the Lord hath been more gracious to people the Devil seeks to corrupt those places most of all as in Wittenberg was the beginning of Reformation by the means of Luther and now saith he the Devil hath made it the Theater of divers Heresies and still makes it more and more that very place which was a place of Gods mercy to the Country so here that place that was the greatest place of mercy is here the greatest place of wickedness the Devil envies it so much the more and all their wickedness is here All their wickedness That is the chief wickedness their Superstition and Idolatry is the chief and the great wickedness that provokes God against a people not only because of the presumption in it but because it 's an Inlet to all other kind of wickedness Hence observe 1. Where there is false worship in any place all manner of wickedness follows And people do most stick unto their superstitious waies more than to any thing and therefore that 's the chief wickedness yea and they think to satisfie God with those waies for their other sins All their wickedness is there A further Note from hence is That to sin in face of mercies where there are the Testimony of Gods abundant mercies that is very abominable to God That 's a great aggravation of sin to sin in the face of the testimonies of the mercies of God what where so much mercy yet here wicked and abominable Doth God fill thy family thy chamber thy closet thy bed thy shop with the Testimonies of his mercy Take heed how thou sinnest there where there are abundant Testimonies of Gods mercy to witness against thee and to aggravate thy sin But I find some Interpreters and that not one or two but many and that makes me speak of this Interpretation that refer this wickedness to the casting off the Government that God had appointed and the bringing in of a new Government at Gilgal was the place where they would have Saul to be their King and cast off the Government by Judges that God had appointed among them Gilgal was the place now this was the ground of all their other obstinate wickedness and God remembers this a long time after and saith All their wickedness is in Gilgal and there I hated them From hence the Note is this That it 's a hateful thing to cast off the Government that God would have us under it is hateful to God the Jews had both their Civil and Ecclesiastical Government by Divine Institution they were both mixt in one there And though now we have not our Civil Government by Divine Institution but it 's left to the Creation of man according as in prudence men in several Countries shall think best but Ecclesiastical Governmâ—â—t certainly is as much by Divine Institution now as ever it was and it must be so because it is spiritual and nothing can work in a spiritual way upon the inward man but that that is by Divine Institution therefore whatever the Government be I will not meddle with the particulars yet we must take heed how we cast off that which is appointed by God for that 's hateful there I hated them we had need therefore search and examin to find what that is and if we think it be not so cleer as their Government was to them we must take so much the more pains to examin and not think it long that there is so much time spent iâ— seeking to find out what the Government should be do not think it a light matter many people they think it but a circumstance and things that we need not trouble our selves so much about and why should there be so much time spent in searching it out Learn from hence to look upon it as a great matter as a matter upon which the welfare or the evil of a Kingdom doth much depend for so it was here saith God because they cast off the Government that I would have there I hated them Thus you may take in both the meanings both the Testimonies of Gods mercies in Gilgal at first and the place where they cast off my Government and would have another I hated them there saith God Again There I hated them There are some sins that provoke God to anger and some to grief but some to hatred and that 's dreadful when our sins shall provoke hatred the Lord hates the works of iniquity This is the great difference between the sins of the Saints and others the sins of the Saints may anger God may grieve God but the sin of others they provoke God to hatred I hated them Again There I hated them There Sometimes God manifests his hatred in the very places where men do sin against him As a mans spirit will rise if he comes to a place where he hath been wronged by any If
men those who fear God can say What shal a King what shall men what Devils do against us But other men in their straights what shall they do for us We are in a distressed condition and what shall they do for us But the People of God are never in such a distressed condition but they are able to say What shall Men or Devils be able to do against us for God is our Protector Again sixtly The more stoutness and sinfulness and creature-confidence there is in any the more do their hearts sink in desperation when they come to be crost in their hopes They were very stout and full of creature confidence before they were brought into misery and now what low sordid spirits have they now they sink in desperation There 's no men and women have their hearts sink in desperation more than those that in ruff of their pride are the most bold and presumptuous against God and his Servants Again What shall a King do to us Their hearts sink in regard of any hopes that they have from their King But yet you reade nothing of their hearts being set upon God and mourning and working towards God when they are taken from the creature they say not thus Now we see our vain confidence in our King and what hopes we had of preferment in him God hath crost us well we will go and seek to make the King of Heaven to be our portion No there 's no such thing comes from them as this A Carnal heart when it is knockt off of creature confidence and sinks in desperation in regard of the creature it doth not take advantage upon this To have the heart work after God so much the more but there it lies sullen sinking it hath no interest in God and cannot go to him to make up what it wants in the creature But it is otherwise with a gracious heart that acknowledges the hand of God hath taken off my confidence in the creature yea but I hope it is in mercy to my soul that my heart might have the more confidence in God and that God might have the more glory from me and therefore I hope that this taking off my heart from the creature will for ever unite my heart more to the Lord than ever heretofore it hath been Yea this is a gracious work indeed when the heart is taken off from creature confidence and brought neerer unto the Lord. And thus much for the third Verse It follows VER 4. They have spoken words THEY are convinced of their sin that they have not feared God they cry out of their misery what shall a King do to them But mark what follows this follows upon it they were not gain'd to God ever a whit the more But they have spoken Words swearing falsly in making a Covenant When they are taken off from their hopes one way see how they set upon another Luther upon those words saith it 's an Hebraism they have anxiously consulted It 's the way of the Hebrews so to express an anxious consultation and for that he quotes that place in Isa 8. 10. Take counsel together and it shall come to naught c. So then the meaning would be this They have spoken Words That is they get together and contrive one with another what they shall do in such a case as this how they may any way help themselves As we reade sometimes of the People of God in Malac. 3. 16. those that feared God met one with another and spake together so these wicked wretches that were thus disappointed of their hopes they met together and spake one to another some such kind of word as these Our Case is very sad Oh! who would have thought such things should have befallen us We are as much crost of our hopes as ever any men were we made account we should have over run them and they would have been but as bread unto us we should have made a prey upon them and all their estates would have been ours long before this time Oh but now those Prophets that told us that God was against us those Ministers that encouraged people in the Name of God and those people that were different from us now we see that their words are fulfilled and what they thought would come is now come upon us now it 's come to pass what such precise ones among us whose consciences would not submit to our waies the way of our King said surely they cannot but look upon us as a most wretched miserable forsaken people now we are like to lose our Houses Estates Honors and all those delightful things that we hoped to have had we shall lose all those things that we hoped might have made our lives to have been brave and prosperous and merry and jocund Oh! what shall we do in such a distressed state as this We had almost as good die as to endure such a miserable life as we are like to live to be at the mercy of such men whom we know scorn us and hate us Is there no way to help our selves cannot we get some or other to joyn with us cannot we call in no help from any strangers no matter what we yield to them in Thus they toss up and down and wrig up and down not knowing what in the world to do in their conference Or thus May we not yet possibly make up some peace though we be in this distressed coudition Whatsoever propositions they shall profer to us we will rather than fail yield to them all we may perhaps get some advantage hereafter â—r be in some means in a better case to revenge our selves than now we are If they will have us take the COVENANT nothing else will satisfie them we will do it and when we have taken it perhaps they may put some of us in places of trust and so we may privately work about our own ends that way and drive on our own designs that way better than in any hostile way and if together with their Covenant they will have Oaths we will take them too and if we cannot agree to their Oaths or Covenant hereafter we will say we were forced to it and therefore they do not bind us Some such kind of communication it 's like they had And could you hear the communication of our Adversaries when they get together in those straights that God hath brought them into it 's like you would hear some such kind of stuff as this is they spake these words one to another They have spoken Words According to others thus They spake words that is those speaking words hath reference to the times of the Prophets threatning or when they saw their danger eminent and not fully upon them so some carry it and I find the Chaldee Paraphrase hath it thus They spake violent words and then the sense is thus they rage and fret they speak
in the feminine gender the she Calves that is in a way of Contempt of them The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the Calves of BETH-AVEN Why the inhabitants of Samariah The Calves were not there Samaria was their chief City as London is to England so Samaria was the chief City to the ten Tribes And Samaria shall fear Samaria was a very strong City And when the Assyrians came and carried away the ten Tribes captive they took all the Country round about before they took Samaria it was with Samaria as with London in these sad times when there hath bin wars round about in England London hath bin safe for these three years together And so when there was wars in al Israel yet Samaria continued safe yea not only when some Towns but when every Town was taken Samaria was so strong as to be able to endure a siege for three years together thus you shall find in 2 King 17. 5. That the King of Assyria came and besieged Samaria three years yet this it was and yet the text saith The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the Calves of Beth-aven That is though they were a strong City yet when we heard that their gods were taken away yea when they did but hear that Bethel and Dan were in danger to have their gods taken away Oh! they were sensible of this though they were safe for their outward condition for the present and had strength enough to resist the Enemies yet they were afraid that is there was a solicitous fear in them about the Calves of Bethaven before they were taken and when they were taken their hearts were daunted and knew not what in the world to do So you see the meaning of the words from whence the Note is this First That in times of danger our hearts should be most solicitous about the Worship of God It was so in the time of their danger their hearts were especially solicitous about Bethel Oh! that was the place where they had the Worship of their Gods So are Idolaters solicitous in time of danger not so much because of their outward peace it is not said that they were afraid because the enemies would come and take their Corn or their Estates but Beth-aven where the Calves were they were afraid of that When there is any danger that should go next to our hearts The honor of God his Church his Ordinances Thus it was with old Eli in 1 Sam. 4. 13. the text saith That Eli sat upon a seat by the way side watching for his heart trembled for the Ark of God Why he had his sons in the Army his heart did not tremble for them and that if the enemies should prevail he was like to lose his estate and there would come woful misery upon the Land for the outward condition of it No but his heart trembled not for that but for the Ark of God I appeal to you what was that which your hearts trembled most for in the time of our greatest danger Was it for the Ark of God was it because of his Ordinances Oh! if they prevail they will trample the Ordinances of the Lord and the Saints of God under feet the true Worship of God and the Power of Godliness did your hearts tremble because of this Certainly if your hearts were right they would do so What shall Idolaters tremble because of their Calves and shall not we have our hearts tremble because of our God 1 King 8. 44. If thy People go out to battel against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them what should they do and look towards the City which thou hast chosen and towards the House that I have built for thy Name then hear thou in Heaven They when they are in prayer must look towards the City and the Temple for the Temple was a type of Christ so the City was a type of Gods Ordinances where the people went up to Worship Oh! that should be in our eyes the City where the Ordinances of God are when we go to War let that be in our eyes and let that make us fight valiantly and when we are praying to God let us not pray so much that we may be delivered from our Adversaries as that the Temple and the City of our God may be preserved Again further In that it is said the Inhabitants of Samaria should thus fear From thence the Note is That Cities that are strong and safe themselves should be sensible of the miseries of others Oh! God knows how far we have been wanting in this very thing If a stranger should have come out of another Country into London and walk about the streets could he have imagined that there were such Civil Wars in this â—and as there is such wonderful desolations as hath been made in other parts Oh! how little did we lay the afflictions of others to heart because they were at some distance from us Oh! the mercy of our God that hath not brought us into the same evils and miseries this one sin had been enough to have provok'd God against us because we were so little sensible of other Countries and Cities that were about us This wicked Samaria yet when they heard that Bethel and Dan and their other Cities when they heard what dangers they were in Oh! they were mightily affected with it Learn we from hence to be humbled for our want this way and if ever the Lord should yet try us further let us learn to be sensible of the miseries of others that are about us Lastly They are afraid because of their Calves When their Calves are gone all their Confidence is gone and then their hearts are over-whelmed with fear There is no staidness of heart in resting upon any thing but upon the living God They that stay themselves upon any thing else if any afflictions or dangers falls out their hearts are fill'd with fear presently When men have nothing to rest upon but their own inventions their own waies no mervail though they fear in times of danger They begin to bethink now that all is vanity to them that they rested upon yea the service of God that men in times of prosperity can rest upon and can satisfie their consciences withal yet in time of danger it will not do no inventions of men nor no external duties of Religion especially such as are mixt with superstition they will not uphold the heart in times of danger but the heart will be overwhelmed it 's only the confidence in the living God the union of our souls with Jesus Christ and enjoyment of communion with him in his own Ordinances that can comfort our souls in time of danger But it 's said of the Godly in Psal 112. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. His heart is established and he shall not be afraid It 's again repeated let evil tydings come what
these poor people should desire here should be dreadful enough to have the Mountains fall upon them and the Hils to cover them Oh! but 't is not so dreadful as Gods wrath take all the terrors in the world they are nothing to the wrath of the Almighty when that is apprehended sometimes the wrath of God lies more heavie upon a mans Conscience than a thousand Mountains And my brethren if it be so dreadful in outward judgments how dreadful is it like to be when it shal come to be fully powred out upon the wicked and ungodly In Revel 9. 6. They shall seek for death and shall not find it they shall desire to die and death shall flee from them saith the text Oh! when Gods wrath appears against the ungodly it will be dreadful especially when the full vials of it comes to be powred out And further To live in misery is worse than present dreadful death to live in a lingring way of misery is worse than present death even in this world I remember Suetonius tels of Tiberius Caesar that there was one that he had adjudged to death and he that was adjudged to die petitioned to him that he might have his dispatch He answers him thus Sir you and I are not friends yet you must not die you must be kept in misery It is worse than death many times to be kept in a lingring way of misery it is so even in regard of the miseries of this world Oh! how much worse than death is it then to be kept under the wrath of God to all eternity How fearful is it to live in misery for ever then and never to die Why it 's better certainly Sence would apprehend it better for a man to be dispacht presently than to live in lingring misery yet if we did know all it were better to live in the greatest misery in the world for a wicked man than to die the fairest death thou wert better to live as a Dog a Toad yea as a stock-log at the back of the fire if it were possible than to die if thou knewest all being a wicked man but however hereafter in Hell then it were better if it were possible to perish than to live so as thou hast yet then thou shalt not die though it would be the greatest happiness to thee if thou shouldest after a thousand yeers cry to God Oh Lord that Mountains might fall upon me The Lord would answer You and I are not friends yet and if after a thousand years more thou shouldest cry Oh Lord that I might be crush'd to pieces the Lord would answer you still You and I are not yet friends Saith Bernard Oh! I tremble to think of that that I should fall into the hands of living death and of dying life where men do not die that they might for ever die saith he they do die that they may for ever die they are alwaies dying but never die but are kept by the Almighty power of God on purpose that they might be fewel for his wrath and subjects for his revenging Justice to strike upon Oh! consider of this you that are so ready to desire death because you are in a lingering misery at any time Is a lingering misery so evil Then what will be the lingering evil of eternity Fifthly observe The wonderful misery of wicked men in their affliction they have no whither to go for help they have not God they have no refuge but to the mountains and hills and what 's their refuge there but that they may fall upon them Oh the difference between a Saint of God and a wicked man in times of affliction When in times of affliction thou if thou beest wicked shalt rage and be mad and know not whither to go and the uttermost help that thou canst think to have is from the Hills and Mountains to fall upon thee but then the Saints of God shall be able to look up to Heaven and Cry Heaven is open for us open to receive my soul Angels come and guide it and bear it in Oh Arms of Mercy Bowels of Mercy spread open your selves to imbrace me here 's a difference And is not this better than to cry to mountains to fall upon thee and hills to cover thee And yet such a difference in mens estates doth sin and godliness make And then the last is Oh the wonderful evil of despair what a dreadful thing is desperation It suggests nothing else the greatest benefit it doth suggest it is to be crush'd in pieces so the help that many have it is a halter to strangle them a knife to murder them the water to drown them Oh desperation is a dreadful thing Francis Spira feeling the dreadfulness of desperation Cries out Verily desperation is Hell its self Upon all this Luther concludes with this exhortation Oh let us stir up our selves to the fear of God let us fly Idolatry let us beautifie the Word by our holy lives and pray to Christ that we might escape such things as these are that God inflicts upon the contemners of his Word If you would not come into this wonderful despairing condition Oh learn to fall down before the Word fear God now that you may not despair you that contemn and slight and scorn the Word now this may prove to be your portion ere long that this desperate cry may be the greatest ease that your forsaken souls can have VER 9. O Israel thou hast sinned from the daies of Gibeah O ISRAEL I am speaking this to you it meerly concerns you you have sinned from the daies of Gibeah you think there is no great matter in your sin why there should be these dreadful threatnings that you should come to this desperate condition Why say the men of Isrrel what means the Prophet to be so terrible in his threatnings pray what 's our sin Yes you have sinned as in the daies of Gibeah From the daies of Gibeah so it is in your Books or it may be read Beyond the daies of Gibeah or more than in them as Ezek. 16. 52. From the daies of Gibeah From what time was that You may reade the story of Gibeah if you reade the 19. and 20. of Judges and their sin I shall not need to spend much time now in opening what Gibeah was or the sin of Gibeah was because that in the 9. Chapter of this Prophesie and the 9. Verse there I met with those words that they had corrupted themselves as in the daies of Gibeah But it is not only the 19. and 20. Chapters where we have the story of that horrible wickedness of the abusing of the Levites Concubine but likewise that that we have in the 18. touching their Idolatry that there was among the people there was Micahs Idol so that the Prophet hath reference to the 18 19 20. Chapters of the Book of Judges Now you have sinned as in the
the daies they slew fourty thousand now having the first day this did hearten them yea they had the day the second time and that made them stout in their way Success will make men stand it out in their wickedness God manie times gives success on purpose to harden the hearts of men that they may stand it out unto their ruin for so it proved to the Benjamites Be not troubled at the success of Adversaries God gives them success to harden their hearts to stand it out that they may be ruined at last Or if you take it for the men of Israel There they stood I find abundance of strange apprehensions of Interpreters and variety about this and it would cost one a great deal of time the opening of this Verse to compose but the several Interpretations that men have upon this Text but I 'le only give you what I think may be the scope of the holy Ghost or at least what may be fairly hinted from the words The men of Israel stood That is according to some when they saw in their battel at Gibeah they did not prevail at first they saw their brethren stood out stoutly and they lost so many thousand men upon this they were at a stand There they stood they knew not what in the world to do to think that so good a Cause and a work that they had warrant from God to do yet they should have such ill success there they stood Men had need be very well grounded in a good Cause when they meet with much difficulty I beleeve since this Cause that we have been about in England hath bin begun many through unbeleef and cowardize have bin at a stand they stood and knew not which way to go Lord is this the Cause of God is this the Truth of God what to have such ill success Many are lost in their spirits only by success Or thus There they stood that is Though they were at a stand and somewhat troubled yet they persisted in their work notwithstanding any difficulties they met withall they would not fly off but there they stood to it they were resolved whatever ill success they had to go on in the work that God had call'd them to The battel in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them When they did fight against the children of iniquity yet this battel did not overtake them to wit the Benjamites not the first day nor the second day but they were foil'd twice Though I know others do give other Interpretations of this word yet this seems to be more genuine But why doth the Prophet bring it in here The men of Israel to whom Hosea did prophesie might say You tell us that our sin is as in the daies of Gibeah yea but may we have the first day and the second day we hope we shall do well enough Nay saith the Prophet your sin is worse you may not think that your case is so good as the Benjamites the Battel did not overtake them but it shall overtake you and upon this ground the Prophet brings in this that the Battel did not overtake them granting that which they would object yet so as it should not make for them but to take away their hopes to escape And thus you have the meaning The Observations are First That the children of iniquity may escape once and again Though men be children of iniquity yet the Battel may not overtake them It 's as famous a story to take away the seeming success in an ill cause and disappointment in a good Cause as any I know in all the Book of God it did not overtake them at first Gods wrath follows many men in this world and yet for a long time overtakes them not but God calls it back Psal 78. 38. He being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath But at length Gods wrath overtakes men In Zach. 1. 6. Did not my words take hold upon your fathers I sent out my threatning words and you escaped a long time but at length my word catcht hold of them As the Dog that follows the Hare barking a great while but at length he overtakes it and ceases upon it and tears it So did not my Word take hold upon your forefathers Calvin he gives another Interpretation of these words and some other Notes upon it but I think that this is the main and Genuine scope of them VER 10. It is in my desire that I should chastise them IT is in my desire God speaks here as one that hath forborn a long time and now longs to satisfie himself Tremelius upon the place notes that the form of the word for chastising here it is unusual because saith he perhaps God would express some more than ordinary way of punishing them And Luther renders it Exceeding desirously will I chastise them It is in my will to chastise them Oh! blessed God do not we find in thy Word that the Works of thy Justice are said to be thy strange Works and that thou art not willing to grieve the children of men that mercy pleases thee but where do we ever find that Justice was so pleasing to thee It 's true though at first God seems to forbear the execution of Justice as a thing he hath no mind to yet if sin be continued in in a stubborn way now God desires it as a thing that there 's nothing more pleasing to him He is burdened with mens sins and desires to bring punishments upon them as a man under a great burden desires to be eased In Isa 1. Oh! I will ease me of mine Adversaries And in Ezek. 5. 13. you shall find there that God in threatning of wrath saith that he would do thus and thus and he would be comforted and in Prov. 1. he laughs at the destruction of wicked men it 's a thing that rejoyces him at the very heart And in the Revelations the wrath of God is call'd the wine of his wrath because he takes so much pleasure in the execution of it 1. Gods Justice is God himself as well as any other Attribute 2. God he doth delight to vindicate his honor therefore the word that is for Chastisement it signifies somtimes the vindication of a mans honor the honor of God is dear to him Your peace and comforts may be dear to you I but my honor is more dear to me 3. In Chastisements God fulfils his Word the Word of God would be slighted contemn'd else Now this pleases me therfore to chastise them to fulfil my Word upon them Oh! the fearful evil of sin that brings the creature into such a condition as Gods heart is delighted in every evil that sinful creatures suffer this must needs be a sad condition indeed
there you may see how these reformed and yet they suffered much difficulty Strange is the Counsels of God concerning men For the first That Judah is said to plow That is They shall endure a great deal of trouble in the reforming what is amiss among them From whence our Note is this That it is an honor for men to labor and go through difficulties for God while others are laboring for taking their ease Be not troubled that you see other people can take liberty to themselves to provide for their estates and comings in and to live bravely Doth God give you an heart in the mean time to be willing to go through hard work for God Envie not at them thou art in the better condition thou art plowing for God while they are providing for their own ease thou art doing God service and they are only providing for themselves Oh! thou art far the happier man the happier woman And then in the second place Take the plowing for the hard things they suffered for God aswel as the hard things they did for God Then the Note of Observation is this Let no men boast they live more at ease than others Others suffer more hardship than thou do not think that God loves thee more than others God loved Judah at this time more than Ephraim and yet Ephraim lived bravely and prevailed over Judah and Judah was brought under in such a manner as this Judah was Gods true Church and Israel did apostatize from God and yet one had more outward prosperity than the other Thus many times those upon whom Gods heart is more set they suffer hard afflictions And those that Gods heart is not so much upon they enjoy their prosperity Oh! I beseech you consider of this point for at this day how many of our Brethren in the Western parts Oh! the Plowers have plowed deep furrows upon their backs while we have been here as it were treading out the Corn let not us think that God loves us more than them they may be more dear to God than we Judah was far more dear to God than Israel and yet Israel must live jocundly and bravely Oh! consider of this you that are of greater rank all your life is treading out the Corn you see your poor neighbors endure much hardship Oh think not that you are higher in Gods thoughts than they they may be more dear to God than you and yet they may be put to difficulties and you may live bravely all your lives But that that may seem to weaken this Note is only this viz. They shall plow But the Hebrews do ordinarily make use of the Tenses the Future and the Preter promiscuously but if you put it to the Future that they shall plow hereafter they interpret it to signifie the Captivity of Judah that they shal be carried into Captivity and so be brought under by the Babylonians Yea but Jacob shall break his clods By Jacob we must understand the ten Tribes As if God should say here That Judah shall be put to some difficulties yet Jacob the ten Tribes must be put to more Judah shall be carried into Captivity yea but Jacob shall break the clods Though Judah shall plow yet the breaking the clods is worse than the plowing for that 's more servil For the Work-Master he is the chief he goes on in plowing but it is his Servant or Boy he may set to breake the clods after him So though Judah shall be brought to difficulties yet Jacob shal be put to more difficulties for the Captivity of Judah was great yet it was not so great as Jacobs Or others thus Judah shall plow and Jacob shall break her clods That is Judahs clods The expression we have here with the reference it hath to Judah seems to carry this with it That there shall be a time though now you that are the ten Tribes you are so delicate and proud above Judah Judah is lower than you and you despise them yet time shall come that you shall be glad to joyn with Judah and be as a servant to Judah to break her clods when God shall restore his people again Judah shall return from his captivity and shall be taking pains in the Service of God and it shall be well for you if you can but come and be as their servant Those that do forsake the true Worship of God though God may have mercy upon them afterwards to joyn them with his People yet it is well if they may come to be in the meanest condition among Gods People they should be willing to submit unto it those that have dishonored God and sham'd themselves in times of tryal to forsake the Truths of God it 's mercy that ever God will bring them to joyn with his Church again But if he doth bring them to joyn with his Church they should think it a great mercy and be willing to be in the meanest condition what must those men think to be Masters Lords that have forsaken God and his Truth and have been very false for their own ends to save themselves and states in time of tryal shall they think in times of Reformation to bear all before them Oh! it 's mercy if they may be but admitted to break the clods to joyn with those Servants of God that have been faithful and willing to serve him through difficulties It follows VER 12. Sow to your selves in Righteousness reap in Mercy THE holy Ghost still goes on in this Allegory of Husbandry continuing the metaphor that he had in the Threatning when he comes to exhortation In the midst of his threats he falls to exhorting Though the sins of a people be great and Judgments neer yet who knows what an exhortation may do who knows what an exhortation may do to the worst people in the world Oh! there were many things spoken concerning Israel that one would have thought it should have discouraged the Prophe to meddle with Exhortation But God would have him yet exhort one cannot tell what an Exhortation may do in the most desperate hardness of mens hearts and pride and stoutness of mens spirits therefore the Prophet exhorts them as if he should say Well if you would not plow if you would not come under the yoke and be put into the furrows as you were threatned before why then sow to your selves Oh! be willing to break up the fallow ground of your hearts and sow to your selves in Righteousness and so you shall reap in Mercy Sow in Righteousness and reap in Mercy I find some of the Antients they interpret this somewhat wildly Sow in Righteousness that is saith Hierom upon the place Sow in the Law in obedience to the Law and reap in the Grace of the Gospel that 's his Interpretation you shall sow in the works of the Law and reap in the Gospel This is far fetcht I find Luther
Scripture might have been fulfilled thus All thy Fortresses shall be spoiled that is though we have made Fortresses we might have heard first of this strong hold spoiled and the other strong hold in such a place spoiled this Castle taken and the other Castle taken and we might have been amazed with the news and have said How doth God fight against â—s that though we had such strong holds and men enough to man them yet for all that they might have been but as the first ripe figs that being shaken fall into the mouth of the eater How were our hearts dejected when we heard but of one strong hold being taken from us Bristol But I say through Gods mercy this Summer the Lord hath made this text good unto us all thy strong holds not all ours but all the Enemies How have they been spoiled generally Oh! the Lord hath appeared glorious this way and hath made this last Summer to be a continual miracle of mercy to us in this very thing All thy Fortresses shall be spoiled It follows As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel Hierom reades it As Salmana was destroyed by the house of him that vindicated Baal in the day of Battel And so all that follow the old Latin they refer this to the story that we have in Judges 8. and think it hath reference to that the story where Gideon slew Zalmunnah the Prince of Midian and so they make Arbel to signifie the same with Jerubbaal though more short And the holy Ghost doth seem to make that great Judgment of God upon Salmunna to be exemplary he makes use of it afterwards in Psalm 83. 11. Make all their Princes like Zeba and Zalmunna But now the letters in the Hebrew do differ here and we do not reade of Gidion though he did use very much severity upon Zeba and Zalmunna yet we do not reade that he dasht the mother upon the children But Luther thinks that it is meant of some notable act of cruelty upon some that was very neer to them but the particulars whereof we have not recorded in Scripture but only here mentioned some notable execution of Justice it was upon a City Beth-arbel not long before that God sets forth as an example of his most dreadful wrath that they might expect against themselves this Beth-arbel we find it not in the Canonical Scripture but in 1 Maccab. 9. 2. we find mention of such a place and afterwards it was very famous for the great overthrow that Alexander the Great gave to Darius so that it is as if the holy Ghost should say Did you not hear of that horrid savage slaughter that Shalman caused in Beth-arbel when the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children they had no pity of any sex or condition the tender hearted mother imbracing of her children she was dashed in pieces upon them such dreadful wrath of God your Bethel may expect for so he alludes to that Beth-arbel signifies the House of the insnaring god the god of Policie and Subtiltie it seems the people that call'd this City by this Name they had a god that they honored for the god of Subtilty that would ensnare all their enemies they thought and so they trusted in this god And upon that called the City Beth-arbel the house of the Insnaring god But now this would not do the more they sought by subtilty to undermine their Enemies the more were their Enemies enraged and therefore when they came upon them they spoiled them and dashed the Mother upon her own Children We might from this very word take notice of such a meditation as that That we should not think by our plots and policies to prevail if God be against us Do not think to put off God by plots and policies and to avoid dangers that way this people did so because they had a Beth-arbel a God of Policy they thought to prevail but their misery was so much the greater Mothers and Children were dashed in pieces one against another If you make Arbel your God Policy to be your God you may expect so much the more rage of God and of the Instruments of His wrath against you And let men take heed how they seek to deceive cozen other men for there is no such way to encourage one man against another as this is when a man sees that he is sought to be undermined by policies do not deal by that way with your friends acquaintance and neighbors you will encourage them so much the more But oh the fury and rage of War when God lets it out to dash Mother against Children We reade in Psal 137. concerning the children of Idolaters that when the Lord lets out his wrath upon the parents he will let it out upon the children too Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones It 's a very strange phrase And in Isa 13. 16. Their children shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes I remember Vrsine in his Comment upon that place of Isa he quotes this 137. Psal and he hath first this Note That though God doth thus execute his Wrath yet usually because it is so dreadful and there is so much savageness in the thing in mans eye therefore God doth use to do it by wicked men and we never read that he made use of his own Saints to execute that wrath And then he answers that doubt I but is it not said in the Psalm Blessed are those that dash their little ones against the stones it may seem that it is approved of Now that is his answer and Calvins and others that he doth not mean Blessed that is That they are blessed in their persons or eternal blessings of Mercy but it is a Prophetical wish that they might have success in the work that they might have the blessing of success in the work as an execution of Gods Wrath and Gods Justice though the Instruments did sin in it they did it to execute their savage cruelty yet the Prophet doth look upon the Justice of God in it and wishes success unto them in such a work as that is that the Justice of God may go on and have its course speaking in the way of a Prophetical spirit The sins of parents you may see many times comes upon little ones What hath the poor Infant done Oh! you tender-hearted mothers consider of this how far your sin may reflect upon your children If ever you should see bloody Soldiers to come in in a terrible way as sometimes you have had fears that way and dash you upon your children consider this is your sin that hath done it But you will say Shall the children suffer for the Fathers sin Do not we reade that God will visit the sins of Idolaters unto the third and fourth Generation Indeed were your children innocent had they no original sin
much The mouth of a thing is used for the proportion and measure of a thing you shall have it thus in Lev. 27. 16. the same Scripture that I quoted before for another purpose Thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof Now the word in the Hebrew is The estimation shall be to the mouth of the seed that is according to the proportion of the seed so shall the estimation be And so you have it in Exod. 16. 16. Gather every man according to what he shall eat It is the same here To the mouth of every man in a proportion according to what 's fit for every man You shall sow in Righteousness Thus Sow in Righteousness it 's a poor seed that we shall sow now God doth not say you shall reap in Righteousness but in Mercy from the mouth of Mercy You take out of the mouth of the sack and sow but your poor proportion that you sow when you come to reap if you be faithful you shall reap according to the proportion of Mercy what is fit for a merciful God to do what is sutable to the infiniteness of my Mercy so you shall reap not sutable to what you do and your proportion but look what is sutable to the infiniteness of my mercy that you shall reap It was so towards the Jews if their obedience was but external yet they should have mercy beyond their outward obedience but if it be applied to those that live in the times of the Gospel indeed that which comes from you being so mixt as it is is but poor yet you may expect to reap not according to what you do but according to what may manifest the infinite mercy of an infinite God every man that shall in the uprightness of his heart that is never so weak and is imployed in very poor and mean services yet if their hearts be upright they shall not reap according to the meanness of the work but look what glory and happiness is sutable for an infinite God in way of infinite Mercy to bestow that they shall have in the mouth of Mercy sutable to Mercy Thus you have the meaning of the word Now observe First As a man sows so shall he reap Though he shall reap more than he sows yet he shall reap in the same kind if he sows wickedness he shall not reap mercy but he that sows righteousness he shall reap mercy It is a mocking of God for men to think that though they sow wickedness yet they shall reap mercy therefore saith the Apostle in Gal. 6. 7. As a man sows so shall he reap God is not mocked if thou thinkest to reap mercy when thou sowest wickedness thou mockest God to his very face If a man should go and sow Tares and say I shall have a good crop of Wheat would not you think that man mad or he should think you a fool to tell you so and you beleeve him So for you to think that either God or man should beleeve that you should have mercy when you sow not righteousness I say it is to mock God and know God is not mocked for what a man sows that shall he also reap and they fruit shall be another manner of fruit Thou shalt rent that which shall be bound in bundels and thou bound together with it and cast into unquenchable fire But those that sow righteousness there 's never a seed of theirs shall be lost they shall be recompenc'd for all their pains labor sufferings for so saith the Lord Ps 126. 6. That those that sow in tears they shall reap in joy there shall be an assuring fruit to those that sow in Righteousness for Righteousnss it is the most pretious thing in the world if it be true Gospel Righteousness it is I say more worth one right act is more worth than Heaven and Earth God will not lose that seed it 's precious seed there is more of God in one righteous Act of a Godly man than there is in all the works of Creation and Providence except Angels and Saints than in all the whole frame of Creation The reason is this Because in all the Creation Gods Glory is there but passively God works there and it is passively and holds forth his glory But now when it comes to the Righteous Acts of the Saints there is an Active way of glorifying God there 's an act of Gods life There 's an Act of the very Image of God and the Life of God and the Divine Nature is there and therefore there is more of God in the working of Righteousness than in any thing else besides Oh! let the Saints get a price upon the actions of Righteousness though there be much evil mingled yet there 's a great deal of the glory of God in every Action If we were but grounded in this principle it would make us abound in the work of the Lord so in the morning and in the evening let not thy hand rest trust God with thy seed do not be deterred with this difficulty and the other He that observes the wind in Eccles 11. he shall not sow and he that regards the clouds he shall not reap Is it a duty that God requires of thee do not think Oh! but it 's windy weather and ill weather no but sow it Sow it in righteousness and commit it to God and thou shalt reap Oh! blessed are those who have sown much for God in their life time Oh! the glorious harvest that these shall have the very Angels shall help them to take in their Harvest at the great day and they need not take thought for Barns the very Heavens shall be their Barns and Oh the joy that there shall be in that Harvest and the Angels will help to sing the Harvest song that they shall sing that have been Sowers in Righteousness but the confusion of face which will be upon those that were not willing to endure difficulty in plowing and sowing The sluggard will not plow because it 's cold and therefore shall beg in Harvest and shall have nothing in Harvest he will be crying for mercy Lord mercy now But what fruits of Righteousness No fruits of Righteousness no Mercy Oh! Reap in Mercy that 's a very observable expression as we have in all the Book of God Not reap in Righteousness but reap in Mercie From whence our Note is That after all we do yet we have need of Mercy Let us be the most plentiful in sowing the seeds of Righteousness yet we are unprofitable servants after we have done all It is true An Act of Righteousnesse hath much in it Yea but it's Gods so much as there is in it it 's bad and after we have done all we had need come to God as beggars to cry for mercy those men that have liv'd the most holy lives that ever men did live in this world yet wo to them
if they have not mercy if they have not a Righteousness beyond their own If mercy comes not in to plead for them wo to Abraham Isaac and Jacob if mercy comes not in to plead for them if at the great day if they have nothing to tender up to God but their own righteousness they are certainly lost and undone for ever Al that we can do is infinitely unworthy of the Majesty of God Oh! the text that you have in 1 Chron. 29. 14. when the people did offer so much to God for the building of his Tabernacle Mark how David was affected with it Who am I saith David and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort for all things came of thee and of thine own have we given thee And when David in 1 Chron. 22. 14. when David had provided a thousand thousand Talents of silver and an hundred thousand talents of gold for the building of the Temple of God besides brass and iron without weight yet when all comes to all Out of my poverty have I offered this so Arias Montanus turns it In your books it is In my trouble have I done this but the same word that signifies trouble and affliction signifies poverty likewise and saith David after al this yet in my poverty have I done this whereas this was a mighty thing that was offered I remember Sir Walter Rawleghâ— it is in the 17. Chap. of his 2 d Part and 9 th Sect. he reckons up the sum of what David did there prepare for the Temple of the Lord he makes it more than any King in the world is worth he makes it to come to three thousand three hundred and thirty and three Cart-load of Silver allowing two thousand weight of Silver or six thousand pound sterling to every Cartload besides threescore and seventeen Millions of French Crowns and yet when he had done all Out of my poverty have I done this As if he should say Lord what is this in respect of thee who art the great God If thou wilt but accept of this I shall be infinitly bound to thee Oh my brethren let us learn for ever after all our duties not to be proud keep your hearts low and humble before God Hath God enabled thee to sow in Righteousness our hearts are puft up presently Oh no thou must keep thy heart still under Alas such is the proudness of our spirits if we be but enlarged a little in Prayer we are ready to be puft up presently Oh! what 's this to the service that a creature owes to the blessed and eternal God hadst thou spent all thy daies since thou hadst any understanding night and day in the work and service of God hadst thou been the greatest Instrument of Gods service that ever was in the world yet thou hast cause to lie down at Gods Mercy-seat and cry Mercy Lord Mercy for a poor wretched vile Creature after thou hast done al we are so unable to do any thing our selves It 's an expression of Luther The very Act of Thanksgiving is from God And therefore be humbled and cry Grace grace to al that hath been And let all Publick Instruments not take too much upon them but lie low And there 's a man that 's worth his weight in Gold that can be an Instrument of great and publick work and yet lie low before the Lord. Oh! did we but know God we would be so after our duties we would be low There 's a notable story I find concerning Cyprian when he came to suffer martyrdom and you will say that was a great service to lay down his life for God In his last prayer he had these two expressions which are remarkable in it The first expression was this Lord saith he I am prepared to powr forth the very sacrifice of my blood for thy Name sake yea Lord I am prepared here to suffer any torment whatsoever These two expressions he had You will say Now surely this man might stand upon his terms with God But he goes on But when thou doest lift up thy self to shake the Earth Lord saith he under what clift of the rock shall I hide my self to what mountain shall I speak even to fall upon me As if he should say Lord though I be here ready to give up my body to be massacred for thee to give up my blood to be an offering and to suffer any torment yet when I consider what a God I have to do withal if thou shouldest deal with me as I am in my self Oh! I must cry to the Rocks to cover me and the Hils to fall upon me Oh! this should teach us to keep our hearts low and humble after we have done the greatest work whatsoever I remember one of the Germane Devines when he was full of fears and doubts when he was to die say some to him You have been so imployed and have been so faithful why should you fear Oh! he gives this Answer The Judgements of man and the Judgments of God are different I am to go before the great and Al-seeing God though it 's true God would not have us daunted with any terrible apprehensions of him but yet he would have us be possest with reverence so as to be humbled when we think what a God it is we have to do withal you must reap in mercy Oh! this shall be the song of the Saints to all eternity Mercy Mercy Not unto us Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be the praise And then the other Note from that expression that we have there is That God will give abundantly above our works Oh! it 's a point that hath very much encouragement to poor troubled sinners that are low raise up thy faith it 's not what thy work is though it be low and mean and though there be many failings in thy work yet is there uprightness are they seeds of Righteousness that thou hast sown thou shalt reap according to what shall honor the mercy of an infinite God at last I remember Alexander when he was giving a gift to a poor man Oh! the poor man dar'd not receive it it was too great yea but saith he though that be too great for thee to receive yet it is not too great for me to give So I may say to poor souls when they hear of the glorious promises to poor people Oh! their hearts are ready to think this is too good news to be true it is too great a mercy for thee to receive as thou art in thy self but if God will give according to the proportion of his mercy it is not too great for him to give Now that 's the way that God will deal with those that are in Covenant with him that have all their fruit to come from the seed of righteousness Christ in the heart I say there the Lord will