TIMES LAMENTATION: or An exposition on the prophet JOEL, in sundry Sermons or Meditations. jerem. 13. 17. But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride, and my eyes shall weep and drop down tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive. Bernard. sentent. The whole race of mankind may lament these three things; their birth full of uncleanness, their life pressed with wickedness, and their death in woeful danger. AT LONDON, Printed by Edm. Bollifant, for George Potter. 1599 TO THE RIGHT Honourable Sir Charles Blunt, Lord Mountioy, Knight of the most noble order of the Garter, etc. all earthly and heavenly felicity. RIght Honourable Lord, Time is the measure of all things, and therefore to show the misertes thereof is the fittest novelty for our days. To consider the ancient or first time of the world, which God created and approved to be good, Gen. 1. 4, 5. where of one speaketh thus, Flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant, Flavaque de viridi stillabant illice mella; And this was called the golden age of the world, wherein were rivers of milk and nectar, and the rocks dropped down honey; where in was no destroying sword, or pining sickness, or burning hatred, or wearisome labour to molest or disquiet the life of man: would make us either to wonder like fools, or to weep like wise men. But time is changed, it was golden, it was good; it is wooden, it is evil: short was that time; for it continued not many (or as some think) not any days, for sin followed the creation; therefore time may well clad herself in mourning weed, and say with jacob, Few and evil are her days. Zimri was a king, yet it lasted but seven days, and then he burned himself alive; so time was glorious but seven days, and then he burned himself alive; so time was glorious but seven days, and then it fell into flames of woe, that every child of time may weep with jerusalem, Lament. 4. 16. and say, The crown of our head is fallen, woe now unto us that we have sinned. If I may be so bold with your Lordship to stand a little on the miseries of the world, and to pick out here and there a consideration or an example from ancient history, whereunto your Lordship as unto all other good learning have devoted yourself; I know that you will easily say with that princely-wisest- Solomon, that all is but vanity and vexation of spirit, and much commend the sorrows and tears of Heraclitus, who never laughed; and of Serapion, who ever weeped; the one for the world, the other for Cassianus. his sins. If now your Honour ask me of the state of the world, or the whole life of man living in the world, what opinion I ever hold concerning the same, I must answer you, that it is the house of mourning, and not one cometh thither, but in all the parts of his life and profession he may truly say, Quisquis non causas mill doloris habet; that he was borne in sorrow, and liveth in sorrow, and dieth in grief, and is buried in lamentation, though afterward he live in glory; for ante mortem nemo beatus. The world consisteth of two sorts of men, of good men and evil: good men do ever sorrow, for the world is their hell; and evil men should ever sorrow, because God is their enemy: the one for the affliction which they feel, the other for the judgement which they fear; yea verily weeping seemeth so natural in our sinful state, that joy constraineth men to weep. For so we read of joseph when he saw his brethren, and met with his father; and of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, when the seventy interpreters had joseph. de antiq. lib. 12. finished the Bible, and delivered it to him, he wept for joy abundantly. If we turn our eyes to pity the estate of the distressed, although ourselves have not tasted of adversity; yet this pity if it be true pity, will enforce us to grief. When Xerxes had his Herod. lib. 7. infinite huge army in the field before him, and took a view thereof, he could not refrain from weeping to see the misery of mankind. When Scipio had set Carthage on fire, and saw the Sabel. Enn. lib. 9 Enn. 5. flames there of soaring up to the clouds, although he was their enemy, yet the tears trickled down his cheeks to behold their ruin. When Titus besieged jerusalem, and saw every joseph. lib. 7. cap. 24. day the infinite number of dead bodies thrown over the walls into the ditches, which famished in the city, whereby he knew their surpassing calamity, whereof himself was the cause; yet in compassion of their estate, he could not behold them but with watery eyes. To go yet farther in the affections, if men be angry they will easily mourn, as Christ did over jerusalem: and thus you may behold, how joy, and love, and hatred, and pity, and anger, and desire do call men to mourning. Mourning and lamentation are so needful, that God hath made every creature fit for the same. The heavens have their clouds, the earth hath his rivers and fountains, the beasts have their roar and howl, and the hard marble stones send forth their fountain tears. Again, if we look into the causes, as we have looked into the affections, we shall perceive that the same causes have caused much mourning, which pretended much rejoicing. Some will think that men having fine wits, and having attained great knowledge being good Politicians, the world will never frown on them, & time shall never lament them: but you know it is far otherwise; for one saith too truly, that the best clerks have the worst fortunes. For Socrates died in prison; another by swallowing Stobaeus ser. 96 of a raw fish; Aeschilus' was brained with a tile; Sophocles perished with a bunch of grapes; the dogs tore Euripides in pieces; Homer was famished, Aristotle drowned, and Glaucus an excellent Physician was put to death by Alexander (and as Plutarch saith) was crucified: would not this make a man to mourn to see such rare wits have such hard haps, and may not Time well lament her unworthiness, because she may not nurse such children? Surely the Prophets have for the most part tasted of this cup, and violence hath brought them to their latter end. But peradventure although the world do frown upon scholars, yet it laugheth upon other, for kings and soldiers live in the world without all want. But they are much deceived; Saul was a king, yet he slew himself; Caesar was a king, but he was slain in the Senate; Valens was an Emperor, yet flying to a shepherd's Fulg. lib. 1. 2. cottage was burned therein; Vigellius lost his eyes; Claudius Herminianus was eaten with worms, as Herod was; Cypr. adverse. Demetr. Severus for very grief did poison himself, as Annibal did: and one said well; if the people knew but the least part of a Prince's cares, they would think the cloth of state worse than a russet coat. And for soldiers or men most excellent in arms, they are destinated to labour while they conquer and get fame, and to mourn being discountenaunced ready for death. Therefore war, said Augustine, Malis videtur voluptas, bonis necessitas. Aug. de Civit. lib. 7. cap. 11. Sab. lib. 4. Ennead. 6. Pompey had three several triumphs into Rome, yet what was his end? Sylla and Marius what notable things did they, and whom did they not overcome? yet they became private, and came home by weeping cross. All the lives of Greeks' and Romans in Plutarch will testify the hard hap of martial men, and who is he that can abstain from tears, to hear or read of that noble and Christian Belisarius, who after thirty years service to his Lord and Emperor, had both his eyes put out for his reward? Yet rich men if they be private, or have but a little authority, may be thought to lead the best lives, and not to be lamented: Surely most of all, for of them it is said most truly, Quaerere ut absumant, absumpta requirere certant, Atque ipsae vitijs sunt alimenta vices. Crassus' a rich Roman for his wealth was beheaded by Surenas. Plutarch. Both. lib. 8. Beda doth often show and lament the riches, riot, expense, security, & ease of the Britons, declaring that all these things did but fat them up against the day of slaughter. He was not far amiss that said, that Princes must be used as fire; for it is not safe to be near it, nor yet good to be too far from it. And I would that all rich men would ever remember that fearful saying of our Saviour, How hardly shall a man that hath riches enter into the kingdom of heaven: It is easier for a gable to go through the eye of a needle, etc. The reign of Solomon was a most peaceable time, and so happy as never was in Israel; yet the people had many insufferable burdens, so that without discontents none can live. Aristides was hated for his justice, Antonius surnamed Philosophus an Emperor, because he would draw all things to the exact rule of learning, was accused to execute tyranny under pretence of Philosophy; and no marvel, for Christ was called a deceiver though he wrought miracles: thus are good endeavours crossed. To go yet farther and to look into the life of man, the same thing which doth make it commendable, doth make it lamentable: Beauty is a great grace to men or women; yet Absalon, Vasthi, King Assuerus his Queen, Bethsabe, Lucrece, Cleopatra, and many other, as the wife of Constantine whom he burned, have been undone by these things whereby God advanced them. Children are like Olive-plants, whose fruits make their parents faces cheerful: yet it is too true Vide, patriproles luctus usque quo crete: foolish children are Eurip. heaviness to their parents. Plutarch telleth us that one Iphis saw at one time buried his two sons and a daughter. jacob was Plut. de amore much troubled with his sons, and so was Samuel and David, and many other: so that as their mothers weep in their birth; so their fathers weep in their bringing up. But the sorrow that parents endure by their children is lamentably set forth in this example. One Bochna a woman having two sons, leaving the greater in her house, took the lesser in her hand to a river side Duditius de cometis. near her dwelling, and sitting by the water she heard her elder son to cry: she hastened into her house leaving the young one behind her, and coming in, she found that her son had thrust a knife into himself and lay on the earth drawing his last breath: the tender mother seeing the bleeding child, pulled out the knife and the child died, which she must needs behold with a heart ready to break for sorrow: and having laid it forth, went to fetch in the child which she had left by the river side to comfort herself in him; but when she came, she found the waters had carried him away and drowned him: oh, than she tore herself, never ceasing her violent outcries, till she had made an end of her own life. These with a thousand other examples and considerations to mitigate the love of life, and to increase repentance, I could easily produce to show the ruins of time, as a reason of this my labour: Which in most humble manner I offer unto your Lordship, as the conscience of your former honourable favour towards me doth bind me eternally to study by all means possible to signify my thankfulness unto your Honour, the mean of my preferment; being desirous that all good men into whose hands these my poor labours shall come, should account themselves beholding unto your Lordship, for that your favour gave encouragement and means unto me for the better penning and publishing hereof. Wherefore, my humble suit is, that your Honour would vouchsafe the patronage hereof, being assured that more learned than myself will accept my good will, and good men will help me with their prayers to God; unto whose sweet aeternal favour I commend your Honour: that you may live long, to the benefit of your country, the advancement of your Honour, the comfort of learning, and above all, to his glory, who shall glorify you in the heavens. And thus craving pardon for my boldness, I humbly take my leave remaining Your Lordship's most bounden, EDW. TOPSELL. Time's Lamentation. THis mournful Prophet joel sent from The time of this prophesy the Lord unto the jews only, at that time when Hoseah prophesied unto the ten tribes (as it is thought) giveth that whole nation of the people, most lamentable signs of sorrowful plagues, and imminent dangers hanging over their heads. For the condition of this people began to be like the estate of a desperate sick man, whose health being wasted by continual diseases, the Physicians surcease to administer medicines, and leave him to be lamented by his friends, that their watery eyes and sorrowful souls, may either speedily work the recovery of his health, or else religiously adorn his carcase for the grave: Even so the prophet beginneth where nature faileth, that whereas the sins of this people could not be purged by plenty, nor the sores of their souls be cured by mercy, he cometh forth like a mourner with sad gestures and doleful speeches, either to turn them from their evils, or else to lament them to their funerals. His words be few because his tears be many, and his Sermons short because they tell of sorrows. This is therefore my purpose so far forth to expound The scope of this labour. this prophesy, as is requisite for the present times: for seeing there is too pleasant an harmony in the sins of judah and England, it shall not be amiss to follow the example of the Spirit of God, either to mar the music by these mournful ditties, or else to bring these instruments oft evil out oftune, that the strings of their sins may be untwisted by the tears of their souls. The prophet by his own example teacheth, and by his continual Sermons exhorteth the people to lament their dangers that now were hanging over their country. The Spirit of God delivereth this message in these two parts. The first concerneth the nation of the jews God The division of this prophesy. his dear people, in the two first chapters: and the other part concerneth their deadly enemies, which is delivered in the third chapter. That part which concerneth the jews, containeth most fearful and forcible reasons to move their rebellious hearts: as first a particular rehearsal of those judgements that now were coming, which is in the first chapter and unto the eighteenth verse of the second. Secondly, most sweet promises of large liberality, if yet (though sentence of destruction were pronounced) they would receive the pardon: before the judgements is set the style of the prophet, or the inscription of the whole book contained in the three first verses; wherein he describeth the sum of the prophesy, by calling it the word of the Lord: First by showing the ministering cause thereof, namely, The word of the Lord which came to joel the son of Pethuel; verse the first. Secondly, the subject or persons whom it concerned in the two next verses, by most excellent exhortations first of hearing, where he noteth the persons, namely, the elders and all the inhabitants of the land; and then the thing itself, whether they ever heard of the like, in the second verse: Hear ye this O elder, and hearken ye all inhabitants of the land, whether such a thing hath been in your days, or yet in the days of your fathers, etc. The other exhortation is to persuade them not to silence the prophesy, but to tell and declare it first to their children present. Secondly, that they show likewise the same to other ages following, which the prophet expresseth in these words, in the third verse, saying, Tell you your children of it, and let your children show to their children, and their children to another generation. Thus much for the division, now to the words and exposition. joel. verse 1. The word of the Lord which came to joel the Cap. 1. vers. 1. son of Pethuel. These words of the prophet are thus much in effect, This self same prophesy which hereafter followeth is the very word of God, which he himself sent to the people by the ministery of joel the son of Pethuel, where we observe these doctrines following. First, that the sermons The prophet's sermons are the Lords own words. of the prophets are the sermons of the Lord himself: for so saith this scripture, that joels' prophesy is the word of God. In Nehemiah the ninth chapter, and the thirtieth verse, in that sweet confession which the Levites made unto God in the behalf of that whole people, thus they say, Thou didst forbear them many years, and protestedst among them by thy spirit even by the hands of their prophets, but they would not hear: Even thus they confess their rebellion after they had been well whipped with seventy years captivity, they had taken forth this lesson, that those despised sermons which once they spurned with their shoes, and trod upon with their feet, were now manifestly declared to be the very word of God. Wherein no doubt they show and testify unto us, that the truth of scriptures in the mouths of Preachers, will then be acknowledged, when men have been well nurtured in the school of adversity, in so much that even these words which now are but like the dreams of frantic men, will then become as dear unto us as the oracles of heaven. Oh how stubborn is the conceit of our hard hearts, which will not be taught till they smart, nor yet be instructed till they be corrected. Shall the servant say he hath no master, except every day he punish his faults? or the son deny his own father, because in lenity and fatherly pity he beareth with his lewdness? Yet our miserable times are such wherein men think preaching to be vain, except in persecution; and reading to be needless, except in calamity; and prayer to be frivolous, except in their sickness. But bid these wretches to the banquet of afflictions, wherein they may be thoroughly scourged with temporal miseries, as the proud persons to shame, the Atheists to death, the swearer to the slaughter, the drunkard to famine, the gentleman to poverty, and the thief to the halter: then they will cry as loud as hungry lions, that the scriptures which they neglected, the prophets whom they reviled, the sermons which they contemned, and the words of preachers which they disobeyed, are the acts of parliament made by God himself; like these jews, which now were humble after they had been in Babylon. In the second Epistle of Peter, cap. 1. verse. 21. the holy Ghost also witnesseth, that Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost. What is that but plainly to aver, that not the preachers but the spirit that speaketh in the preachers. This also is confirmed by weighty and special arguments or reasons drawn from the very word itself. First in Numbers the two and twentieth chapter and eighteenth verse, where Balaam telleth Reason 1. the servants of Balaack that if he would give him his house full of gold, he cannot go beyond the word of the Lord to do more or less. If then such sorcerers and diabolical persons in the cause of God, can speak nothing but what he suggesteth, much more the prophets and heavenly preachers can utter nothing but what the holy Ghost inspireth. Again the prophets and true ministers of God for the words sake only 2 adventure their states and hazard their lives. 1. Kings. cap. 22. verse. 14. 27. which they would not nor could not except upon sure ground of heavenly warrant: Who would (except desperate mad men) undo themselves and suffer most intolerable torments for rebuking of sin; unless they were carried by an overruling power, even as jonah to Niniveth, or Micheah to Ahab, to eat the bread ofsorrow, and drink the cup of death, that when they might joyfully solace themselves among their friends, or quetly rest in their poor habitations, they are sorrowfully vexed by their cruel enemies, having the stinking prison for their easeless harbour. I grant that heathen men have for vain devices endured many torments, & Popish jesuits neglecting their own lives, & their prince's mercy, have & do daily embrace the gallows, but their sufferings are for matters clean contrary to the word of truth: and therefore with Tertullian it may better be said to be desperate presumption, than Christian persecution, and the devils soldiers rather than the Lords martyrs. Wherein let us with tears of brine lament our human misery, that thus casteth itself away from worldly comfort and heavenly joys, upon bare and weak grounds of uncertain serving of God. How strong are the delusions of subtle Satan, which hath bewitched the minds of men so far, that they have also offered their young children and tender babes through violent flames for the devils sacrifice: could not their weeping eyes and crying tears, procure no pity in their hard hearted parents: No, no, where superstition sitteth judge, neither nature nor reason may dare to plead the cause. This is the devils cunning to bewitch his members, (imitating the true servants of God) to endure death. Augustine said well, Mendacium ex veritate & superstitio religionem imitatur. Lies come of truth, and superstition taketh Religion for a pattern: yet for all this lies are not truth, superstition is not religion, nor the torments which desperate men for evil causes endure, shall ever make good men's sufferings to be less regarded. The sheep must not leave off her skin because sometimes the wolf cometh in her likeness, nor we must less esteem the martyrs pains, because the devils soldiers likewise die for his sake: by these two reasons it is evident that the prophet's sermons are the Lords sermons. Now let us make some godly uses of this doctrine. The first general exhortation which we make Use 1. hereof is that sentence of the Apostle. 1. Thess. 5. 20. Despise not prophesying. That is, now it hath been clearly proved that the prophet's speeches are the oracles of God, be not so beastly as swine, to tread those precious pearls of divine wisdom in the filthy dregs and stinking mire of your vain displeasures: It being apparent that God his ministers speak no more without his spirit then the conduit runneth without his fountains springs, those disgracing words which many use of the spiritual exercises, some at their table, others in their closets, many at the taverns, and most in their houses, are nothing else but mere revilings and spiteful railings against the spirit of God. Sometimes the preachers want eloquence to smooth the itching ears of gallant persons; sometimes they want learning to feed the curious minds of vain religion babblers; sometimes they want wealth to maintain their countenance with outward bravery; and sometime they want manners to make them companions to the gentle sort. And every one of these think his sermons and labours in God his church to be nothing worth where he spieth but one want, which his vain conceit desired. I like not this sermon saith one because he wanted words: it was a silly piece of work saith another, because it was not bombasted with the sayings of Fathers, and he seldom or never confuted the papists: another saith that the preacher was but a poor beggarly fellow, and therefore it is no matter what he say, none of the great men would have said so much: and others said, he hath more learning than wit, more zeal than behaviour, and his confident words are impudent speeches, unto all these I say, Despise not prophesying. See you not how the devil driveth you to condemn all for want of one, and to a general neglect, for a particular desire: shall the spirit of God be blamed because every man's humour is not satisfied? God forbidden that such iniquity should lodge among the professors of religion: that those sermons which displease some should be despised of so many: there is no pearl which all men will praise, there is no garden so pleasant but some will dislike it, nor any house so commodious but some will dispraise it: shall we cast away pearls, plough up gardens, and race down houses, because all men are not pleased? No verily, no more shall prophesying, preaching, praying, and exhorting be rejected, although every man's idle disposition be not answered. Oh miserable and lamentable days wherein men come to the congregation like buyers to a fair, and they all cry it is nought it is nought, though the lords wares be freely sold, yet who will buy them at his hands? The more plentifully they are offered, the more scornfully they are rejected: for look upon those places where the ministery hath been of longest standing, and greatest practice, where pastors according to the Lords own heart are planted, where the voice of the word soundeth at least every Sabbaoth day: I say, look there even as narrowly as Ezechiel looked over jerusalem, and you shall find them more ignorant in knowledge, more lewd in living, more obstinate in words, and more disobedient in deeds, than other people are. Even thus the devil laboureth painfully, where the Lord speaketh abundantly, that he may maliciously condemn, where the Lord would mercifully save; insomuch that the Lord may say to the congregations of England, as he once said to the assembly of Israel. jerem. 6. vers. 10 Unto whom shall I speak and admonish? that they may hear: behold their ears are uncircumcised they cannot hearken, behold the word of the Lord is unto them as a reproach. And where the word of the Lord can have no being, the wrath of the Lord will take up the lodging: therefore we may say as the prophet speaketh. Abak. 1. 5. Behold ye despisers and wonder and vanish away, for I work a work in your days, a work which you will not believe though a man declare it. Consider this ye scornful hearers among us, that God shall punish your contempt with infidelity; and although miracles should be wrought to convert you, yet they shall not profit you, even the miracles of Egypt, till ye be utterly consumed, you which with less devotion serve the Lord then your pleasures, with less diligence follow the Church than the tavern, with more delight exercise vanity then religion; with more labour occupy your trades of life, than the words of life; even you I mean are the despisers of heavenly pearls for earthly trash, which never are pleased with the servants of Christ. It is your condemnation that sleepeth not, whose conscience can pretend no excuse at the day of all days, that either ye wanted preachers, or leisure, or ability, or time, or means, to believe those heavenly oracles. Behold this ye despisers, and repent, show your sorrow by your amendment, and redeem the time by diligence hereafter. If the Lord utter his voice the earth is moved, and the mountains tremble, Psal. 29. Move therefore your hearts, you rebellious sort, from the world to god, from ignorance to knowledge, and from disobedience to faith: stir up your resty bodies and idle limbs, and go from strength to strength, till you come to the Lords mountain: let not fear of sickness, dread of poverty, love of pleasures, desire of profit, draw you from heaven, but draw near unto God, and he will draw near unto you: The gates of heaven are open, enter you therein. Secondly another use we may add hereunto, Use 2. is that exhortation of the Apostle. 1. Cor. 14. 1. Above all other gifts desire prophesy: what was more admirable, then healing of sick persons? or more commendable, then to speak strange tongues? or more glorious, then to work miracles? or more necessary, then to discern spirits? yet above all these saith Paul, rather desire prophesy. Neither is it marvel that so great an honour is bestowed on so noble a gift, because the Prophet's speeches are the Lords sermons. Then my beloved as for the merchandise of gold, men endure the longest traffic, the sharpest pains, and greatest charges, even so for the obtaining of prophesy (whether it be to preach or hear preachers) sustain (my bowels in the Lord jesus) the roughest ways, the longest studies, the weariest journeys, the coldest days, the hottest threats, and dearest cost, for even for these shall you receive many thousand times more comforts in this world, and joys in the world to come. But oh my dearly beloved in the Lord, I may complain of the neglect of preaching and prophesying as jeremy did of jerusalem Lament. 1. How doth that city remain solitary that was full of people, she is as a widow: she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces is made tributary. Even so weep you chaste doves of the Lord, and you solitary pelicans professors of the truth, take you up this Lamentation and say, how do those lofty cities which are builded on the Lord's hill (the ministers of the word) remain desolate? for there is none that come unto them, to buy their heavenly wares, preaching of the vulgar and greatest sort is counted mere babbling, the glorious gifts of the spirit, are as little as dreamers fits, and many peradventure in some one man have some delight, like to a strange muse wrought in a male contented mind, by a consort of Music, but what sins will they forsake at his request? Surely as many as did Herod at the preaching of john Baptist; nay rather farewell friendship then welcome repentance, though they like such a preacher well, yet they love their pleasures better. Hereby may we of the ministery try our own friends and manifest the Lords followers, if we meekly reprove their follies, which will bear us in hand they love and like us well. As for example, if they be of the gentle sort, tell them of their vain expenses; if of the meaner, tell them of their carnal minds; if of the poorest, tell them of their ignorance; if the bravest, show them of their pride; if the learnedst, declare to them their vain glory, and finally if the noblest, bid them beware of despising the Gospel; if they will abide these blows and turn you the other cheek also, then account him for a David, or else reject him for a Herod. Oh how is the world altered from following preaching, and prophesy! in the purest age of the church, their greatest glory was in the ministry; since that time even in our own memory, how would the people of the country flock to follow preaching, but now even in our days (my beloved) we ourselves have lived to see the preachers mocked, as Elishah was; the same people which once would seem to care for nothing save Christ, the more are the preachers the fewer are the hearers: Even the Sabaothes of the Lord are polluted with all manner of villainies, and vanities, as boldly as if the Gospel's sound had never been showed among us. Even the princess of all professions, I mean Divinity, & the Queen of all sciences the preaching of the word, is become the vilest in show, the poorest in practice, the meanest in request, and the greatest in slavery. The word of the Lord that came to loel the son of Pethuell. That is to say, which he sent or spoke unto joel the son of Pethuell. In old time God spoke divers and many ways saith the Scripture. Heb. 1. 1. to our fathers by the Prophets, & them I find principally to be these first, by vision as to Solomon 2. Chro. 1. 7. secondly by dreams as Moses saith. Deut. 1. 2. 6. and so he spoke to joseph Mat. 1. 20. Thirdly by plain face to face as he did to Moses. Fourthly by Angels Act. 8. 26. and lastly by secret instinct or motion of the spirit Luke 2. 27. and in this manner it is most likely the prophet joel received this prophesy. Out of this we observe this doctrine, that if God send not his word among us we ourselves even the greatest among us could or would not apprehend it. For this cause the Scripture calleth it the If God did not send his word, none would ask for it. word that came to joel: meaning that then it came unto him, when he thought least of such strange events & terrible judgements, which he had given him in commission to denounce to his country men. And the truth hereof may appear by many testimonies of the word of God. In that sinful estate wherein all Israel stood in the time of Esay the prophet, the Lord cried out Esay 6. 8. Whom shall I send unto them? as if there were none that would offer themselves to this business. And in the prophesy of jeremy, the Lord many times complaineth, that he himself intended this business early and late, morning and evening, to send his prophets unto them for their conversion. In other places where he bewaileth the destruction of his people he assigneth this for the cause, The Prophets ran, but I sent them not, neither did they teach my ordinances. So that if there be any forwardness in the preachers and ministers that way, to go on their message before they receive their errand, it rather destroyeth than saveth, curseth then blesseth, scattereth then gathereth, the flock of God together. Indeed when the Lord sendeth any he giveth them before hand the knowledge of his word, so that they only which are apt and willing to teach, are to be accounted the Lords ministers and no others. Even as the Lord gave either more talents or fewer to every one of his servants, and we read not any called his servant but he which had a talon at the least: even so in the ministery, where is not some sufficiency to discharge that function, I can never say he was of the Lords sending. Therefore we must know that the great store of godly preachers and ministers of the word that abound in our days in most corners of our country (I would to God I could say in all) were not either for desire of living, or glorious estimation, or any worldly cause advanced to the church's service: but the Lord who hath endued their minds with knowledge, their hearts with courage, their tongues with utterance, and themselves with his spirit and word, even he, above, hath chosen them to be soldiers in his wars, against Satan's kingdom, and by the voice of his word like canon shot, to batter down the castles of darkness. The reasons hereof are manifest: first because that Reas. 1. man's nature, in itself abhorreth nothing more than God his services. Exo. 3. 11. 12, 13. when Moses was called by the Lord to carry his name before Pharaoh, and the children of Israel, how many delays did he make, and how many shifts did he invent, to exempt himself from this heavenly message: sometime he wanted tongue, sometime strength, and sometime authority; now one while he feared the king, another while the people; and although the Lord wrought miracles for him, yet would he gladly avoid it. Secondly it is apparent, that when the people were in 2 greatest extremity and most of all felt the heavy hand of the wrath of God, there was no calamity that touched them so nearly or pressed them so deadly as this, to think they had no Prophets left, to inquire of the word of the Lord. For as a ship in the midst of the sea tossed too and fro amongst ten thousand waves, being full of passengers, without either pilot or mariner, is in extreme hazard of drowning, because they have none to sound the bottoms, for to throw forth their anchor, to stay them in the storms, or when the calm cometh, they have not one among them to direct them to the shore: even so when the floods of troubles shall threaten the overthrow of any particular church or nation, they having no preachers or prophets among them, who should persuade them to patience, during their adversity, and to cast out the anchor of their hope during their danger, or having escaped those fiery and fearful troubles, yet who but the ministers of God, shall instruct them in righteousness, and direct them to heaven? In the reign of josiah, although his days were happy, through peace, and his subjects joyful through a good king and religious nobles: yet this was the glory of his kingdom, that there was one Huldah a Prophetess, the wife of Shallum, that told him his own prosperity, because his heart melted at the voice of God his word; and also that there is one Helkijah a priest, 2. Kings. 22. that gave him the law of his God: so are we happy through long enjoyed peace being shadowed under the wings of a merciful Prince, and religious Magistrates, yet this is the glory of our nation that many Prophets and Preachers have offered unto us the very word of God, the which if it were wanting, all were worth nothing, therefore if God build not, who can rear? If he send not, who can prosper? If he speak not, who can prophesy? and if he diminish the number of his servants, the preachers, we may complain in our miseries as the jews did, There is not one Prophet more left, and yet remain comfortless. The uses which we will briefly make here of are these. First the same which our Saviour Christ teacheth us upon this doctrine. Mat. 9 28. Pray (saith he) the Lord of the Use 1. vineyard that he would thrust forth labourers into his harvest. There is no more Christian exercise or necessary practice, then with unfeigned souls to desire at the hands of him, who ruleth all with his hand, that in times of ignorance and neglect of heavenly worship when the corn is ripe and fit to be gathered into the Lord's barn, that he would have pity upon his wandering, sheep, and care of his planted corn even the work of his own hands, and not suffer them to be cast away for want of instruction. Oh, how would it and doth it grieve a christian soul to consider, that the image of God himself should be lost which shineth so beautifully in every one of mankind: pray therefore my beloved in the Lord, for hereby only shall you perform a work acceptable to God, because you are humbled, beneficial to the church, because you ask for her labourers, comfortable to yourselves, because you tender your brethren's souls, and joyful to the very angels for the conversion of sinners. The ruler of the temple Mat. 9 18. having but his daughter sick and diseased, yet came to our Saviour and entreated him for her health, which he performed and she recovered. Let us therefore in pity of many thousand sons and daughters of the world come to the courts of the Lords house, within the closerts of our own souls and desire with feeling and earnest prayers, the Lord jesus that he would show, and shine forth his truth, by his word in the mouths of many more ministers of peace to convert many more sinners unto righteousness, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, of mothers to their daughters, of princes to their subjects, and of the nations to their God. There is not any one point that proveth more substantially to a man's soul that he loveth Christ unfeignedly, than this, the practice of it to pray for the increase of heavenly pastors: Even as in the world nothing is so commendable as the works of mercy, as to feed the famished, to clothe the naked, to deliver the imprisoned, and to acquit him that is wrongfully condemned; so in the church of God there is no grace like to the gift of the ministery, the starved are fed by them with the bread of life, the naked are clothed by them with the garments of a Saviour, they which lie fast bound in the very dungeons of hell and the prisons of darkness are delivered by them, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and even they which were condemned to temporal miseries and eternal calamities are acquitted, discharged, and released by their message. Let us all therefore say unto the Lord: Lord increase the number of painful preachers. And if 2 we ought to pray for them, how damnable is their estate that pray upon them: if it be the highest service of God to promote them, than is it the highest service of the devil to persecute them. If they be blessed where the word is preached and believed, then are they accursed where it is not heard nor received. If Christ blamed his disciples that would have had him to blame them that cast devils out in his name, then are they to be blamed which will upon every light and easy occasion labour to the uttermost to stop the mouths of God's servants, to discourage the people from hearing, the old men from instructing, the young men from studying, the children from learning, the women from ask, & the servants from obeying the word of God. Therefore if we have any care of the Lords service, any compassion of them that are tyrannously oppressed, any conscience of the souls of men, then pray for the peace, and number of the preachers. For as when the teeth are fallen out of the mouth, the life is hardly nourished, and quickly turned: Even so when the ministers which are the teeth of the church, to grind the word unto them, are removed; then followeth the grave and sepulchre of the Lords family. To joel the son of Pethuell: herein is no hardness, and every one may easily perceive the meaning hereof, for the prophet nameth himself and also declareth his parentage, and it is very like that his father was a man of good estimation, that the Prophet thus barely without any further addition prefixeth his name to this prophesy. We observe out of this description of the ministering cause of this prophecy: this doctrine, that God preferreth the service of men before the service of angels in the building of Men preferred before angels in the preaching of the word. the church, he rather chooseth and appointeth that his heavenly & immaculate word, should be manifested by earthly and sinful men then by celestial & holy angels Act. 1. 8. The Lord jesus maketh this his ordinance that his disciples shall witness the redemption in jerusalem, judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. Even the same Lord which not long before told them that he had the angels at command, now rather useth the help and ministery of men. Men would think it a strange proceeding that he which is cracked in credit, and as it were one proved perjured, should come afterwards in a trial of death and life, whereas they which are never detected of the like enormities shall be excluded. But God his thoughts are not like to men's thoughts, nor his ways as men's ways, the weakest things of God are stronger than the strongest of men, and he chooseth the despised castaways to confound the mighty; he looketh on a beggar and regardeth not a prince; the angels lie in the chains of darkness when men are advanced to their places in heaven. Even this doctrine you may read in the 1. Cor. 4. 9 where the Apostle teacheth that we are appointed unto the ministery as men are condemned to death, that we might be made a gazing stock to the world and to angels and to men: showing unto us that the very angels are beholders of the labours of the ministery, being present by the appointment of God at the assemblies of his saints, that they might be witnesses of our labours unto God, as we are of Christ's sufferings unto the world. The reasons of this doctrine may be easily gathered out of the word of God, whereof this Reas. 1. may be one, that as our redemption was to be wrought only in the nature of man not of angels, no more was the preaching of the said redemption to be declared by angels or any other creature save only man. This reason the apostle seemeth to use, 2. Cor. 5. 18. when he saith, All things are of God which hath reconciled us unto himself by jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministery of reconciliation: where he maketh our reconciliation made by the man jesus Christ to be the ground or beginning, or commission of the ministery, for without Christ, and without reconciliation there is no ministery. And this serveth most highly to commend unto us the dignity of the ministery of the Gospel, which is as it were the trumpet of peace and pardon unto the godly to sound unto them those victories which they have obtained against the kingdoms of darkness, and unto Christ to proclaim his royal majesty over all the kingdoms of the world, insomuch as those which labour against the preaching of the Gospel, as all the Romish Religion-bond-slaves do, they bid war unto the king of glory, and as our saviour told Paul, Act. 9 They kick against the prick, and procure their own pains: Then it is manifest that Christ is no where more exalted than where he is daily and continually preached, so is he no where more denied then where his word is silenced, his ministers banished, his members afflicted, and all good exercises idly and carelessly frequented: Then let us that are the ministers and professors of the Gospel gather this comfort to ourselves, that we are the souls and persons which have glorified his majesty in this world, by telling and teaching, hearing and studying the praises of him who is blessed and praised for evermore, Amen. Secondly another reason of 2 this doctrine, why the Lord hath committed the dispensation of his word rather to men then to angels or any other creature is this: because none can be so nearly touched with the feeling of human infirmities as men can be; who knoweth a man's heart saving a man? If they preach, they speak by experience; if they exhort, they do it as if they were exhorted. And this was one cause wherefore Christ became man, that he might taste of our infirmities. Heb. 4. 15. For my beloved, when a man seethe his own flesh weeping, will he not weep also? if he see his own flesh afflicted, will not he be compassionate toward that? if a man should see a father preaching to his son, a brother to his brother, a husband to his wife, or one kinsman to another, would not this move him more to see his dearest friend spending this labour upon him, then if a stranger whose face he never saw should persuade him? Yes verily: even so the Lord to move us more earnestly to the obedience of his son, hath made choice of such dispensers of his mysteries, as we know to be men like ourselves, feeling our pains, desiring our pleasures, wishing our welfare, lamenting our losses, and abhorring our sins: to this intent that when we see them speak unto us in the name of God, we should thus presently reason with ourselves. This is a man like myself, I am addicted naturally to fulfil my lusts, to enlarge my profits, to revenge my malice, to care for no pleasure but pastime, to fear no displeasure but the worlds; but these men (although men) have denied their lusts, and are become contemptible to the world; they speak the word of God boldly, and fear no man's person, they bring themselves to poverty, their names to ignominy, their lives to shame, and their friends to hate them. What should be the cause of all this? either they have no wit, or we have no zeal, they are not blessed, or we are ungodly: Reason thus with yourselves: then will it come to your minds that surely for your sakes, even for the people's sakes are the ministers made fools, that they might be wise; the preachers poor, that they might be rich; and the prophets despised, that the flock might be honourable. 1. Cor. 5. 10. Therefore my beloved when you see us earnest in rebuking of sin, or exhorting to righteousness, that then we speak with feeling of those dangers that threaten destruction to all, coming unto you as the Syrians came to the king of Israel with the halters about their necks to move him to pity them: or rather we come unto you as the prophet came to Ahab, 1. King. 20. 35. willingly offering our sides to be gored, and our bodies to be wounded, that our blood may be your sorrow, by the sight of our wounds you may come to the feeling of your sins, by the pains we take in this world you may consider what are the plagues of the world to come. Surely if we make but a calf to cry in the field, all the beasts come roaring & running unto it to secure it: how much more ought men of better understanding than beasts, hearing their own kindred and friends crying unto them the vengeance of God, with all speed to run to the preachers to know the cause of their complaint, and cry with the jailer, Men and brethren what shall I do to be saved? Be not so rude as beasts, be not worse than bullocks. The uses which naturally arise out of this Use 1. doctrine are these: first we ought not less to esteem of the ministers of the word being sinful men, then if they were more honourable creatures. The Apostle Paul, Gal. 4. 14. expresseth the sincere affection which the people ought to bear towards their pastors, when he witnesseth that they received him as an angel of God, testifying unto them their great fall, which once thought every word of his mouth to be a divine oracle, and that his person was more than a man; but now the world was turned with them, they being bewitched with the false Apostles, for at once they had forsaken their faith towards God, and their reverence toward the preacher. The devil is subtle, and knoweth very well that so long as the ministers credit reigneth, his kingdom decreaseth; and therefore where he cannot at the first overthrow the doctrine, there he laboureth to bring the prophet into disgrace. But hearken (my beloved) I beseech you a while, and shut your ears against the devils accusations. If you will ever live under the wings of the Gospel, you must ever love the feet of God his ministers: so long as these Galathians bore this mind towards their Apostle, their faith was glorious, their church was famous, their lives were godly, and their ends were happy: but when they accounted the lords messenger but as a man, when they thought him worthy no more than a common person; although they would once have plucked out their eyes to have done him good, then followed and fell upon them, like hailstones upon the Canaanites, heresies, to disquiet them; divisions to molest them; ignorance to condemn them; and the wrath of God to consume them. Look to it my beloved, the contempt of preachers, of ministers, and servants of the Lord hath already wrought many strange effects among us. Those reverend fathers of our church, which have brought us out of Babylon, as Moses and Aaron brought the Israelites out of Egypt, whereof some have sealed up our safety with their own blood; others have wasted their health and wealth in defence of our religion, state, and profession; and many yet living holding great places in the Church of England, having only for the Gospel and the Lords jerusalem, endured many strange conflicts and unknown troubles: these I say, even by the railing libels of counterfeit and unknown Christians, have been laid open to the view offoes and friends, both by truths and untruths, if it were possible to the utter ruin of learning, extreme sorrow of many good men, and everlasting disgrace of the ministery: As Origen was wont to say, Sicut omne bonum ab ecclesia provenit, sic omne malum ab ecclesia egreditur; As all goodness cometh from the church, so all evil cometh from the church: so I fear that the Lord may say to the ministery, as to Israel, O Israel, thy destruction is of thyself, but in me is thy salvation. The ministery hath been lamentably divided, and for this cause even by base persons, they have been and are scornfully reviled; we ourselves have wrought our discredit, but the Lord is our comfort. The ignorance of many silly and dumb fellows disgraceth the learned, the pride of many lofty preachers discrediteth the humble, the covetousness of many encroaching parsons overthroweth the liberal minded; and finally the negligence of many noble and excellent men in their charges, giveth a deadly discouragement to the painful. But yet these are the faults of the persons, not of the places, and a personal action dieth with the person: therefore my beloved prey unto the Lord for discerning spirits, that you may live by the line of the word, and not by the lines of many: although we should forsake the Lord by our falls, yet do not you cast away yourselves by our example. Maintain the name and credit of every one, whose ministery the Lord useth in governing and instructing his Church; stand not upon titles, for they which labour well are worthy of double honour: regard not garments, for justine Martyr preached Christ in the attire of a heathen philosopher: look not too much upon their faults, for even amongst the Apostles there wanted not divisions: esteem them as the ministers of God, which watch when you sleep, labour when you rest, fast when you feast, and pray for the salvation of your souls when you are sporting in pleasures. Your souls then lie open to the devil when you are grown in dislike of your pastors: for if the man displeaseth, we cannot like of the doctrine. If our countrymen the Lords flock can once again join with the preachers and promoters of the Gospel, then shall Atheism be banished, Popery ashamed, hypocrisy discovered, divisions ended, and truth shall flourish out of our nation. Secondly, another use we may profitably make hereof, which is this, that exhortation of the Apostle Philip. 2. 29. 2 speaking of Epaphroditus, a faithful minister of God, whom he sendeth unto them, Receive him (saith he) therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and make much of such: we must open our houses and churches with rejoicing spirits, when we see the ambassadors of peace coming unto us, and account most preciously of them who travel with the Lords message for our good. We read that the Shunamite to entertain Elishah built him a chamber, that when he came that way he might visit their family: how much more joyful aught we to be to entertain the messengers of better things than Elishah brought. It was a great commendation of the jewish women that followed our Saviour up and down, that they ministered unto him: but most lamentable it is, that in our days the ministers and preachers have almost as slender entertainment, as Christ himself had among the Samaritans. Their houses be too great, their livings be too large, their revenues (say some clawback's) will suffice a good knight, or a worshipful gentleman: and why may not a good minister be allowed as well as a good magistrate? or a man of learning dwell in as fair a house as a lawyer? Indeed our houses in your conceit are too great for us, and in our hearts we thank God that they are too little for you; we see many ministries and parsonages defaced but none built, many gathered but none sowed: we are received very joyfully of great numbers, where they hope to have any gains by us, and their purpose being obtained, than they bid a fig for the parson. Oh, this is the sin of many gentlemen, that they will never or seldom allow the fourth part of that, which of duty they own unto us; but will wage the customs at the law, to give nothing to the Lord. Who seethe not that these men would have offered if they had lived among the jews, surely I think burnt offerings and peace offerings should have discontinued, and the Lord must have thought him beholding unto them, if they gave him one for a thousand. And for our ministery and preaching, I dare say it was not less regarded (except persecution) one hundred year a go then now it is. If gentlemen or noble men receive their tithes, the people are well contented; but if the preachers take them, it grieveth them deadly: belike because they go to the right owners. And thus the world make much of us, our livings are diminished, our labours are neglected, our presence despised. They account their parishes the happiest, where is no preaching ministery, no controlling of sinners, no fight with the devil, no conscience of religion. O miserable times! O miserable manners! they had rather go with music to the gallows, then with mourning to a sermon: they choose rather to go singing to hell, then weeping to heaven: cursed are they which speak evil of the way of righteousness, and say to the prophets depart from us. The Lord shall come with speed to render vengeance to them that receive him not. The second Sermon. Verse. 2. Hear this ye elders. IN these words the Prophet declareth the second part of the description of this book, namely, the subject thereof, that is, the persons whom it concerneth: and the words are thus much in effect, You that are the elders and governors of the people, hear the word of the Lord, and all you which are the inhabitants of the land of judea, the Lords inheritance hearken you also hereunto, and tell me whether you ever heard the like in your days, or in the days of your fathers which went before you. Out The ministers must call on the people to hear. of these words observe these doctrines following; first that the prophets and ministers of God must call upon the people to hear the word: for you see in the entry of this prophesy, the prophet crieth to the people to give audience to his sermons. And indeed this is a most necessary observation to be kept as an entrance, to call the people's minds at the beginning, and as a remembrance to stir them up in the midst, and a conclusion to admonish them in the end. For this cause also the prophet Isa. cap. 1. verse. 2. thinking that if men would not give an ear to his sermons, yet he would not want audience, calleth in this sort. Hear O ye heavens, hearken O earth: showing that if men will be so deaf at the cry of the Lords ministers, as not to lend them their ears to their preaching; yet the heavens and the earth shall tremble at their word giving obedience to their heavenly voices, the dumb creatures shall condemn such intolerable rebellion. In the book of the Apostles Act. cap. 13. ver. 16. We may read when Paul and Barnabas came to Antiochia, being entreated on the Saboth day to give some words of exhortation to the people, Paul standing up and beckoning with his hand called unto them saying, Men and brethren hearken. The people in most places are busied in vain speculations, when the peacher is most diligent in opening the word of truth, some are drowsy when their hearts should be waking to hear what God will say concerning them, others are scraping in the churches with their feet superstitiously conceited, when they hear but the name of (jesus) mentioned; and yet they will swear by him and make no bones at all: again, others are weary thinking every minute an hour till the preacher be out of the pulpit, and many show the whole congregation their backs by departing out of the church: All these let the preachers call with the voice of Trumpets, Hear the word of the Lord, put away your vanities, rouse up your drowsiness, take pleasure in godliness, stay your disquietness, and continue your presence in the Lords assemblies: know you not that the stones you tread on, the heavens you gaze on, the earth you walk on, and the words that we preach unto you, shall all come against you like witnesses and tell the Lord your disobedience, therefore we often say in our sermons, Hear this men and brethren. The reasons of this doctrine may evidently be gathered Reason 1. out of the word of God, and the first is the practice of the Lord himself, Psal. 81. 8. beside many other places in the scripture where the Lord calleth upon the people before he declare his mind unto them, for audience and attention saying. Hear O my people and I will speak, hearken O Israel and I will testify unto thee. What shall it avail if we bring the tongues of angels into the congregations, & none or few will lend us their ears? Although I easily grant our persuasions enter as deeply into the walls of the churches as into the ears & hearts of most of our hearers, even in this we are like these Israelites, that if the Lord himself should come at one time (as here he did) & cry, Hear O my people of England: yet it is much to be feared that at another time he might come and cry unto us: Oh, that my people of England would have heard me, as to them he doth in the latter end of the Psalm. Secondly, another reason of this doctrine is this, because by hearing cometh faith, Rom. 10. 2 17. Faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God: so that if the hearing of the preachers beget faith in the hearers, who shall more fitly or may more conveniently cry unto them in their sermon time to hear this point of faith diligently, to mark this doctrine carefully, to lay up this lesson advisedly, and remember this exhortation continually, than the preachers themselves which are the midwives of their faith. Oh, how wonderfully doth this doctrine condemn this faithless age wherein we live; for if faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of God, whence have they their faith that come so seldom to our sermons? Doth not this argue forcibly that their faith is as little as their hearing, & therefore salvation is as little as their faith. How will they answer this argument now before men and afterward before the son of God, that they which hear not believe not, they which believe not are condemned already, and they which are in such damnable estate, it is not their revenues of thousands, their palaces and houses of glory, the garments of bravery, their provision of delicates, their gentle friends, their soft beds, their hungry hounds, their ravening hawks, their pampered horses, and their retinues of servants, that can fray the devil from taking away their souls. Is not this pity that such glorious gentlemen should be cast away, for not hearing a silly preachers sermons, being otherwise learned in the tongues, skilful in the arts, excellent in the laws, eloquent in speeches, valorous in war, and comely in stature? Surely I believe Paul was deceived when he said, Faith came by hearing and hearing by the word of God. What an impudent blasphemy were this, to say that Ladies and gentlewomen, on whose faces the sun is not good enough to look, whose legs must not walk on the ground, but either keep aloft in their bowers, or take the air in their coaches, whose hands must touch nothing but either chains of pearl, cloth of gold embroidered, and fine needle wrought garments; that these beautiful stars (I say) should come down from their niceness and learn faith at the mouth of preachers? Yet farther, must our gallant youths and proper serving then, whose heads are hanged with hair, as if they would fright away both Christ and his ministers from the place where they stand, come from the taverns, from gaming— houses, from the play— houses, from the Ale— houses, from the whore— houses, and from all their disports, to be rattled up for their follies by preaching, & forsake their fashions of the world to be new fashioned in their minds, that in stead of infidelity (wherewith the most of that crew are infected) they may have faith engrafted in them by hearing the Gospel, lest as they consume their purses, they condemn their souls, neither can rob for more souls as they do for more purses? Then will you say beloved, you have ploughed in vain upon the rock: but better let vanity be vanity then preaching be vanity, better let gamesters be deceived then Apostles be falsified, and better let Lords and Ladies, Gentlewomen and servingmen, and all the rout which be contrary minded to this doctrine, perish and departed from their pleasures, then that the son of God, the church of God and the ministers of God should departed from the truth. It is no blasphemy to say with Paul, It pleased God through preaching to save them that believe: Therefore no preaching, no salvation: or with john, He that heareth us not, is not of God: Therefore they which stop their ears when they should hear the preachers, shall hear against their wills, Go ye cursed into the fire of hell. Now let us come and see what particular uses the holy Ghost maketh of this doctrine in other places of Scripture. And let that general exhortation of our Saviour Matth. 13. 9 be the first, when he saith; He that hath an Use 1. ear to hear let him hear. And this is as if our Lord had said: the Gospel of salvation is of such weight that it concerneth all the people of the world: by the preaching thereof, the grey headed, the young men, the tender women, and the little children may and must receive some profit; old men must be prepared to the grave, young must be strengthened to fight with their pleasures, women must be governed like the daughters of righteousness, and children instructed in the work of redemption. The king must hear as David did: the noble man must hear as Obadiah did: the gentleman must hear as Sergius Paulus did: the lady must hear as Esther did: the yeoman must hear as Elisha his host did: the labourer must hear as Apollo's did: the women must hear as Marie did: and the little children must hear as they did, which when they saw Christ cried; Osanna in the highest. For every one that hath an ear to hear must lend the same to the word of God. The Gospel of Christ is not like other professions, that when they have most followers, one marreth another's trade; but when all men (if it were possible) shall be joined to the Lord in the profession of the truth, then is the glory thereof greater than the brightness of the sun. Therefore my beloved, rouse up your heavy and hanging down senses, and consider with yourselves, that if the Lord hath given you your eyes to see withal, your hands to work withal, your tongues to speak withal, your feet to walk withal, then think also that he hath given you your ears to hear his word withal. And if they which have ears to hear must hear, what, shall they not forfeit their ears for not hearing? Truly if the forging and counterfeiting of a noble man's seal, or of a piece of evidence, be by the laws of man most worthily deemed to be punished with cutting off their ears, because it bringeth harm to a common wealth: then also it may easily follow that in like case they deserve the losing of their ears which will not lend them to the Lords preacher. This I speak not to make any civil constitution, but comparing sin with sin, I would gladly manifest the great evil that hangeth on their necks, which have their elbows as ready to hear as their ears. Most lamentable it is to consider that if they were all deaf, that will not hear our sermons, what a deaf world would this quickly prove. O my beloved brethren! know you not that hearing is the sense of obedience, and therefore you cannot justify yourselves to obey, unless you testify that you will hear God his ministers: If he were accursed that layeth a stumbling block before the blind, then are they also accursed which stop their ears against the Lord's ordinance. Was it not a heinous thing to remove but a land— mark which our elders planted, and therefore much more heinous is it to remove hearing God his word from our ears which the Lord himself hath planted. Come therefore my beloved, and as you would be called Christians, so fulfil the mind of Christ; for as the vine branch is good for nothing, but to bear grapes: even so the ears of man are but cumbrances into us in most matters except in hearing the word of God: in the world they are too long, in the Lord they are too little, therefore for amending of our follies, let us apply our ears to hear while we can hear, lest it be too late when we would. Secondly, we make another use thereof, that seeing the ministers of God must call upon 2 the people to hear the word, it is also requisite to show you the true way for the saving hearing of the Lords truth: for in one and the same manner of preaching there is not one and the same manner of hearing, therefore the holy Ghost speaketh by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews cap. 4. ver. 2. Unto us was the Gospel preached as also unto them, but the word that they heard profited them not, because it was not mixed with faith in those that heard it: where we may learn if men and women hear the word of God with such diligence as the dearest servants of the Lord do, yet are they many times never the better, and he giveth the reason thereof, because they do not mingle it with faith. There are some seeds so small and of that nature, that when the gardener will sow them he must first take up a great deal of earth, and crushing it very small doth mingle it with his seed, and then casteth it into the earth and it prospereth exceedingly: even so (dearly beloved) if you mingle not the pure earth of a sound faith with the seed of the lords word, you shall never receive any profit by our preaching. And this is the very cause that the Gospel groweth not, men's hearts tremble not, and their lives amend not, because they bring minds full of infidelity unto the congregations. The close Papist saith to himself, I will hear this preacher, but I will believe nothing that he uttereth contrary to my first received superstition: the proud man saith to himself, all the sermons in the world shall never humble me: the covetous man he saith, for all their preaching and telling me that I shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven, yet I will not believe them if Christ himself say so: the ruffians will not forsake their vanities for any instruction: the common people say we preach but for our livings, and God forbidden that all should be true which the scripture and preachers tell us: go forward I beseech you in all other sins, and you shall find but a very small number that say, I believed and therefore I heard. The medicine to purge out all these corruptions is a true faith, the which if either you leave at home, or lose it by the way, the labour is all lost that you take therein. Oh how lamentable and damnable a sin is infidelity! when the judgements of God are not believed and the mercies of God are abused. But this grieveth all godly hearts to the quick, that even in our days and times there should be such, that as a godly father saith, are armed with the name of good christians, & yet fight against the faith of true believers. Look upon it in time, lest as death followeth sickness through want of physic, so the death of your souls follow their sickness through want of faith. Believe, saith Christ, and all things are possible; the dead have been raised by faith, the sick have been relieved by faith, the mountains may be removed by faith, and the devil himself is drove away by faith: therefore bring faith with you unto the hearing of the sermons, the scriptures are the Lords words, and they are set to sale by the preaching of the ministers, themselves being his factors, faith must buy them as money doth, or be exchanged for them as one thing is for another; for there is no crediting upon words, no obligations upon days, that can get them from us, but present payment of a lively faith. Therefore if any will know how to hear the Gospel with profit, and to enjoy it with comfort, let him bring faith with him, that the word delivered may be sealed for truth, and sins being reproved may be received for truth, and suffer no starting holes of infidelity to carry our souls from the rock of God his truth, into the sea of heathenish security, or endless adversity. O ye elders. That is, you governors of the people, whom the Lord hath honoured with long life, and the world The greatest men should be the greatest professors. with great authority. And from hence we note this doctrine, that the most honourable must most of all give ear to the word of God, whether that honour be in the Church as the ministers, or in the common wealth as the magistrates, or in the family as the father thereof, or in the wars as the general thereof; all these being exalted above other, have also a charge above other, that every one walk worthy of his profession, which is only by studying and hearing the word of the Lord. The Lord so commandeth Deut. 17. 19 That the king himself shall cause to be wrote a book for him of the law, that he keep it with him and read therein all the days of his life. Those which have the greatest charge must use the greatest labour to discharge their places, as none could be judges in Israel till the Lord had given them of the spirit of Moses; so none can sincerely execute their duty that the world may be satisfied, the Lord may be glorified, and their own souls comforted, unless they receive of the spirit of God, and by the ministery of the word is the spirit delivered. Gal. 3. 2. Hearken therefore you rulers of the lords people, that which excelleth all glory, being richer than all wealth, and wiser than all learning, even the spirit of God may be received when the word of God is delivered: Oh how are they deceived that think the ministery a base profession, not meet for any, but for the poor to live by, for the lame, & disfigured, for younger brothers, for bankrupt, for servingmen, for blunt-headed-schollers, and such as can be good in nothing. How are they also deceived that think it not an exercise fit for noble men and persons of estate, knights, and gentlemen, and such great ones which have the world at their wills, and the country at their pleasures: shall these say they, make themselves drudges to the Gospel? scholars to the preachers? and go on pilgrimage to a public sermon? Yea all these must resign their crowns of majesty, their gowns of nobility, their swords of chivalry, and their estimation of gentry, unto the voice of the blessed spirit of God, speaking in the scriptures and preaching in his ministers. And if these must bend their knees, we must bow our bodies to the earth, and put our neck under the yoke of Christ jesus, that he may lift up our head & lives to the participation of glory. The Lord that bindeth kings in chains, and nobles in fetters of Iron, and maketh the mountains to cleave in sunder at his roaring, willeth and commandeth us from heaven to hear his son: and it shall so come to pass that the soul shall be cut off from the Lords people, that hath not kissed the prince of glory, and cometh not to offer obedience and service to his royal Lord, who is able to cast him body and soul into fire everlasting. Let us therefore study to enter into the courts where the Gospel of Christ soundeth and reigneth, lest we fall away from grace and glory after the evil example of those long ago condemned infidels and reprobated apostates, which gave their ears to falsehood, their tongues to blasphemy, their lives to vanity, their bodies to luxury, and their souls to everlasting misery. Let not the grey hairs of old men, the great wealth of rich men, the worship of Magistrates, nor the honour of government, draw away our hearts from the hearing of this message, which being hid from us, maketh us cursed castaways, but being declared unto us, regenerateth us to the hope of eternal happiness. The reasons of this doctrine are also easily Reason 1. gathered out of the word of God. First the same which Samuel useth in his first book cap. 12. ver. 14. at the anointing or crowning of their new king Saul to persuade them, and their king to the diligent hearing of the word and reverent fear of God, he useth this as a reason, That then they shall be the people of the Lord God. As if Samuel had said unto them, you know that this is the glory of our nation, that we alone are the selected band and chosen soldiers to fight the Lords battles; and this is an honour against all the world beside, that they serving Idols and worshipping devils, we serve the Lord of hosts: if therefore you will indeed be the Lord's people, you must in truth hear the Lords word: what could be said more forcibly to move a rebellious nation to a quiet submission? And this being the badge and livery of the Church of God, we may be bold to say openly and defend confidently, that they which hear not the Gospel as now it is preached in our English nation, are none of the true followers of his heavenly majesty: Even all whether they be the archenimies of Christ the Papists, or the new sectary of Recusants, the Brownists, or the vain religion babblers, the neuter or the privy haters of the preachers, the carnal and time serving professors, these shall go to the place from whence they came, & there to be tormented world without end. It is not cold and idle hearing that maketh us the people of God, but a sincere and diligent frequenting the place where his person dwelleth. We must not be contented to be the Lords retainers, but we must sue to be made his household servants. The Apostle Peter in his first epistle cap. 2. ver. 5. calleth us all that profess the Lord jesus, a spiritual priesthood: now this was the office in old time of a priest every day to appear at the altar, and their very lodging was in the Temple; therefore must we come often to the Lords house and desire to dwell in his tabernacle, that we may evermore hear and speak his word. The second reason 2 of this doctrine is taken from the continual course of the judgements of God: All Egypt was plagued because they heard not the word of God, even their king lost his eldest son, and afterward he himself for the same folly was drowned and swallowed up of the sea. The noble man which would not believe and hearken to the voice of the prophet, when he told him of the great and sudden cheapness of corn, answered him that it was impossible, except the windows of heaven should be opened; but he saw it accomplished, and for his infidelity was trodden to death by the people. Read the whole book of God, and you shall every where plainly perceive, that for disobedience to God his word, and contempt of his messengers, Kings have been deposed, and Queens have been punished; Lords, Ladies, Magistrates and subjects, old men and children, have tasted of the deadly cup of the Lords heavy wrath. Lay up this in your hearts (my bowels in the Lord) happy are they which avoid danger by the falls of other men. Oh that the tears of our countrymen couldewash away the guilt of this sin; for our score is grown so great by our long continued credit, that we have made no conscience to pay the Lord his own: and we have urgent cause to consider, and also to fear, lest the Lord sue the extremity of the law upon us, and never spare till we have paid the uttermost farthing, and felt the full weight of his hand, and spent every drop of blood in soul and body for the notorious contempt of his most glorious Gospel. There is no sacrifice to be compared to the hearing of the Lords word, and therefore the neglect thereof in whomsoever, is most fearful, most deadly, most damnable. The uses which offer themselves unto us Use 1. out of this doctrine are these; first that the ancient and great men must suffer the words of the Lords ministers patiently, and for this cause the Apostle willeth us, Tit. 2. 2. To exhort the elders to soberness and faith. There be two things which should shine as bright in age and authority, as the eyes do in the heads of strong young men, that see and be seen of others, and yet see not themselves; even so ought sobriety and faith to offer themselves unto the view of all persons, where the grey hairs appear like the buds of an almond tree, whereby the aged may see and correct the follies of youth, and young men may see their example to be drawn in love with their lives; but they themselves ought not to be proud for that honour which the Lord hath bestowed upon them. Oh how unhappy is that time when old men and great men are as wanton as children, and as faithless as those which never knew God? Woe be to that land whose Prince is a child, saith Solomon. Meaning that the whole country is distressed where the governors thereof have as little stay as children, or as little faith as children. In our days if the Lords ministers which keep the souls of our countrymen, shall in meekness admonish old men; they tell them they are but boys to themselves, and they knew what religion was before they were borne, not knowing their antiquity cannot prejudice the spirit of the Lord, or not considering what our saviour said to the labourers in the vineyard; They which were first shall be last, and they which were last shall be first. Others think, that if they bear an office in the common wealth, no man may dare to counsel them in the Lord; they themselves think they are injured, and their friends think they are disgraced, if the word of exhortation pass upon them: shall I, say they, being a gentleman well descended, well instructed, of so many hundred pounds revenues, be in as much slavery to this preaching as the poor artificer? But unto these we may answer, that if their natures or offices exempt them from sermons, they also exempt them from salvation: For it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. What is a a Principes cum ad limen delubri veniunt, proinde sunt atque privati. King better than a farmer? a noble man better than an artificer? a gentleman better than a ploughman? and a magistrate better than a subject, without true religion and obedience to the gospel? Surely nothing, for now whether had you rather be poor jacob bowing to the earth alone, or rich Esau attended with four hundred men; whether had you rather be Pharaoh or Moses; jeroboam or the prophet; Ziakijah or jeremy; the rich man or Lazarus; Pilate or Christ; Herod or john Baptist; the Apostles or the high Priests; stagger not hereat, but show your consciences whether of these you would be, you cannot be both, therefore choose one. The way to heaven is narrow, and we being clothed with our own conceits can never enter in, there is too little room for both: we cannot bear the yoke of Christ and the world at one time, the least of both requireth a whole man. Therefore you my beloved fathers, bear with the voice of us your yoongers, for when we exhort you, it is not done in our name, but in his who is the ancient of days, elder than the oldest, wiser than the wisest, stronger than the strongest, and younger than the youngest, who is every day borne in his members. It is not us, but him that you hear, who knoweth your hearts, seethe your lives, and shall condemn your incredulity. The Lord told the rebellious Israelites when they refused Moses and Aaron, that it was not against them but him, that they had murmured and refused; so it is not our youth, it is not our frailty, it is not our weakness that you blame, for if we were not ministers, you would love us the better for it: but it is against the Lord that you strive. Oh stay your tongues before they go too far; God which dasheth in pieces young infants, careth not for your grey hairs, your sword avail not against him, neither can your revenues redeem your souls. Secondly, we may make this 2 one use of this. That forsomuch as the Elders and Magistrates must above others use the hearing of the word of God, what is their estate which are negligent in this action and the estate of their government, the estate of their families, and estate of their children? Surely most dangerous above others, for as when they perform this they are noted through a whole country, and thereby they grow famous; so the neglect hereof is spread far, and thereby they grow infamous. For this cause hath the holy Ghost left us in his word sundry examples, where light and graceless fathers have brought their lewd and godless children with themselves to destruction: Look on Elie 1. Sam. 3. 12. and Saul and Haman, Esth. 8. 13. who was the destruction of the fathers but themselves, and who was the destruction of the children but the fathers. If Helie had hearkened to God, and corrected his sons, the Ark had not been taken, the Philistines had not prevailed, his sons had not been killed, and he had saved his own neck from breaking. Oh consider this, I beseech you my reverend and grey headed fathers, your age shall not discharge you: this man wanted but two years of an hundred year old, he was priest and judge of Israel, yet when he forgot himself he forgot the Lord also; then had he no pity of his years, no mercy on his children, and no compassion of his own life. Samuel told Saul that there was no sacrifice like to the hearing of the word of God; then if you will offer the best sacrifice, hear the word of God. The Lord you see which made the ears, requireth but the ears again: why should you bring your children into the curse out of the covenant? why should you drive the Lord to reject you, as he did Saul, because you hear not his word? Are you the fathers of our bodies? be also I beseech you, the fathers of our faith, the authors of our profession, and the ensamples of our obedience As Esau cried to Isaac bless me my father, so we cry unto you to bless our country, to bless your own posterity, and to bless the lives of them whose souls you have in your hands. Let the elders among us know for a certainty, that if they hear us not, though we be young that speak unto them, yet we will use them as the woman did the wicked judge, overcome them by importunity. And let every man know his duty, even to pray that their fathers, and masters, and magistrates, and governors, may be as willing to grace the Gospel with their presence, as they are to defend it by their policy: surely we can hardly embrace that, which we see the chief commanders to neglect. But yet I beseech you for your own souls, and for our lives, for the children borne and unborn, and for the general comfort of our whole country, fulfil that heavenly voice Matt. 17. 4. Hear the heavenly son of God. The third Sermon. hearken ye all inhabitants of the land, whether such a thing hath been in your days, or yet in the days of your fathers. ALl the inhabitants: By these words we observe this None must live in the Church, unless they outwardly be subject to the Gospel. doctrine; that there must not any live in the church of God, but such as do and will at the least outwardly humble themselves to the ministery of the word: the church of God is the company of selected saints, chosen before all worlds to the worship of God; and if they be chosen from the contemners, as good wheat is from the chaff, then must they not endure the hazarding of their souls by harbouring the children of disobedience. We may read in Nehem. 8. 2. that when he brought forth the law of God, Ezra read it before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could understand it. And in the next verse he addeth, that he read it in the streets, and all the people hearkened to the book of the law. As in the common wealth there is a law which every one undergoeth, unless they be weary of life, so in the church of God this is a law, Let him that hath ears to hear hear, except he will be banished from the land of the righteous, and cut off from the body of Christ: Surely as the Apostle said, Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel. So must all the ministers of the Lord every day sound aloud to their people, woe be unto you if you hear not the Gospel. The reasons of this doctrine Reason 1. may thus be gathered out of the word of truth. First that which Moses hath recorded Gen. 17. 14. where the Lord will not have any to be of Abraham's family, but they which would be circumcised; and if any would not receive this wound (as our Saviour calleth it) in the flesh, the Lord commanded him to be cut off from his people: Now we know that the church is the family of Abraham, who was made the father of all the faithful, that they being made partakers of his belief, should also be partakers of his obedience. There is not a prince or a noble man, or a learned man, or a rich man, or a preacher, or any base person among the common people, but he may challenge this privilege, if he believe in the Lord of glory, that he is the son of promise as Isaac was, and therefore the son of Abraham as Isaac was. All are not the children of promise that hear and are borne under the preaching of the Gospel; but there are Ismaelites also which have outwardly the badge of a true son, though they be but bastard Christians: yet old Abraham ready for the grave must be circumcised before he die, and young Ishmael if he will ever be blessed of God must be circumcised, although he were heir apparent to the land of Canaan (for as yet Abraham had no other son) and the shepherds, the neatherdes, the servingmen, and every kitchin-boy receive the sign, or else be banished from their master's tents: Even so must the hoar headed father, the green headed young man, the wanton youth, the simple ploughman, the gallant ruffian, and the poor turnspit, be present and obedient to the voice of the minister. Many I grant of the better sort, think their duty discharged, if in their own persons they learn to know the Lord, and for their families they let them do as they list: but you must remember that this was the commendation that Abraham received of God, That he would teach his children after him, Genes. 18. 17. and therefore if you will be Abraham's sons, teach that to your families which you have learned yourselves. Oh how lamentable is it to see & consider of a great number, that set as good faces on the Gospel as the best, when on the Lords own day some send their servants many miles journey, & suffer silly persons to wait in their kitchens, (I mean continually) as if there were none that had any souls but those that are called the rulers of families. We may say of them as Bernard said of the church committed to careless clergy men, O miserandam sponsam talibus creditam paranimphis: O miserable souls lead by such bridegrooms which keep them for to serve the lusts of their own bellies, & have no care to marry them to the Lord. Take you heed you that have the wealth of the world, & search and rake in the sinks of your houses, in the stables of your horses, in the staules of your oxen, and in the hearts of your servants, that you may bring souls into the kingdom of heaven: a pearl taken out of the dung is as good as that which is hoarded up in a prince's treasury; and a simple soul saved from the walking of horses, or turning of spits, is as glorious to the Lord as he that ruleth in the throne. Another reason for the çonfirmation of this doctrine our saviour 2 giveth, john. 10. 26, 27. There are none that hear not Christ which believe in Christ; and there are none the sheep of Christ, but those that hear the voice of Christ: meaning that at that time when he was living in the world, and preaching to the jews they could not be his flock, that came not at the call of the Gospel: and when he should be dead and taken from the earth, they should not be reckoned for the lambs of his church, which flocked not to the cries and sermons of the preachers. So that in one word he setteth us down thus much, that they are none of the Lords which are not hearers of his word: Therefore one said well; Ecclesiae non iungitur qui ab evangelio separatur: He which is separated through ignorance or idleness from the Gospel, is also through infidelity parted from the church: for they which hear not Christ are none of his. The weight of this reason must be put into the balance of every one's heart, and let him reason thus with himself; My poor servant, my drudge, my simple slave, my maid, my cook, and every one of my family, they know nothing of the Gospel, but some voices that there is a Saviour, and a Christ, that they must come once in a year, or peradventure once in seven year, and receive the Lords Supper, and never know or think more of it: they are diligent to me, they work when I play, they run when I ride, they watch when I sleep, they far hard when I feast, and they find me all things, keeping nothing to themselves, only indeed through my business they come not at the church except very seldom; they know little more than infants, they have been baptised when they were young, they may follow any religion, or rather superstition; their obedience is so little to the Scriptures, yea they hardly can tell me whether there be any Scripture, whether the holy Ghost had any hand therein or no: if I will let them play on the Sundays according to their pleasures, the pope's profession, the Turkish religion, the Infidels practise and all heretics opinions may be sected in them. But what shall become of their souls? Surely it grieveth us that such diligent and faithful servants should after a miserable and slavish life, have a merciless and a cursed death: Yet Christ's words are general; they are none of his that hear not his voice and follow not his call. O consider this you wealthy and poor people of this land, think on the miserable condition of these your own flesh, and fly from that terrible danger which threateneth your soul's horror, all, (yea) every mother's child must be present when the word is preached, because this trieth us whether we be ashamed of Christ or no. When David was absent from Saules court, the king presently miss him, and asked after him, for his place was void: In like manner, if we be absent from the assemblies of the faithful, the king of heaven and earth, seethe our rooms be empty, and calleth for our presence. Let this therefore persuade us, that we cease not hearing the lords word, and following his heavenly call, least of sheep we become goats wanton and wild; and so when the general appearing shall be, the Lord separate the goats from the sheep, and send them to everlasting perdition. The uses which may arise from this doctrine are these: first, that sharp sentence of our Saviour, Vser Mark. 10. 14. Suffer little children to come to me and forbidden them not: for unto such belong the kingdom of heaven: The well minded people desiring the blessing of Christ to rest upon them, their posterity brought their little babes to be touched by our saviours hand; the which thing was reproved and forbidden by the disciples, and therefore they were rebuked and reprehended by Christ. There is none though they be as young as babes, as simple as children, as weak as women, as base as servants, or as bond as apprentices, but if at the ordinary times of preaching, I mean the Sabbaoth, they will travel to the Lords house and there spend their time, they must not be restrained, they must not be forbidden. I am not ignorant of the vain and wicked authority which some challenge to have over their families, thinking that their duties are discharged, although their servants be wandering from the Lord about their idle business; and servants think themselves satisfied because their masters who have rule over their bodies, command them thereunto: And thus men cross one line of their reckoning, and leave a whole sheet behind; and race out the condition, letting the obligation stand; they heap up one sin upon another, and while they mend one breach in a christian life, they make two more. For by this means it cometh to pass, that masters think it lawful to busy their servants, whom they hire for their money at all times when any small occasion offereth itself, sending them on messages, in keeping them at home to wait on themselves; and in saving an hour or two, or three, to work in the week days, they make bold with the Lord, and give them leave on the Sabbaoth days to visit their friends. Do we not think that the ministers of God may have their actions of maintenance against such careless masters, which bear out their servants and themselves contrary to the law of God, whereby their own hearts are hardened, their neighbours offended, the glorious work of the minister despised, the heavenly voice of the Gospel neglected, and themselves with their servants in danger both body and soul to be damned? May we not call for the law (if not of man yet of God) to turn away these evils from us? But Oh lamentable manners in this latter end of the world, which regardeth as little the voice of Christ, as wise men do the noise of young children. Again sometime the servants are of godly disposition, and would willingly use the liberty of Christians, to go as the Israelites did and sacrifice to the Lord; but then cometh one or other, and many times their parents and governors of their own mother wit forbiddiding them to use it, increasing as Pharaoh did the measure of their works, and forbidding them to come near unto Christ, as these disciples did these young children: yet know I beseech you that that master that forbiddeth is in more bondage than he which is forbidden, and he were better be an humble servant, than such a proud and presumptuous master; and if he receive not the kingdom of God as his servant, he shall never enter therein. If he labour not for the meat which never perisheth; if he run not for the price which never endeth; if he study not for the knowledge which always lasteth, and if he obtain not that faith which cometh by hearing of the word preached, but also keepeth other from entering, whether they be his servants, or his sons, or his daughters, or his wife, or his friends, or himself, the sentence is long ago denounced, that he is the least in the kingdom of God. It is an heinous offence to draw away a man, though it be but a servant from obeying the warrant of a magistrate, and much more if he wish him to withdraw his allegiance: in like case is your estate which by your own security, drive other men to forsake God, leading the blind upon the stumbling blocks, making them believe that the fire cannot burn, and though they pierce their bodies with swords, yet they shall not hurt them. Secondly, another use hereof shall be that saying 2 of the Lord himself, Psal. 95. 7. 8. To day if you hear his voice harden not your hearts. The neglect of the word proceedeth of the hardness of our hearts, and therefore the Lord biddeth us not to harden our hearts if we will hear his word. What a world of hard hearts are now a days, if they be all hard hearts which will not be present at the ministery of the Gospel. The sea is but a soft and slender substance, yet it bringeth forth many hard stones: even so the weak nature of man engendereth many hard hearts. This is most strange to see the tenderest place to be the hardest, even the heart which will die if it be but pricked with a needle: but as the heart doth help all places of a diseased body, and itself it cannot help; so when this festering sore of old corrupted consciences, and ignorant dispositions invadeth the minds of men, a thousand to one, but they give him mortal wounds, for than cannot the mind help itself: Therefore above all evils beware of hard hearts, the ground being hard will not let the purest seed grow in it, and the heart being hard will not suffer the immortal seed of the Lords word to grow therein: it choketh all pity, and condemneth all piety. Come therefore to hear the word of God, but bring melting hearts thereunto, otherwise you shall still remain the enemies of the truth, for he that gathereth not with it scattereth abroad. The priests and scribes and Pharisees were present at the most of our saviours sermons, yet they reaped no benefit thereby, because their hearts were not touched in the presence of God: no more shall many thousands be comforted by the preachers voices, because their hearts are in their barns, when they should be in the Churches, and their eyes are shut, when they should behold the ministers. Many imagine that they preach best which can move the people to tears, and their hearts to be pricked whose eyes fall a weeping; yet this is not always an infallible token of a good pastor or an humble soul: the hard marble stones do sometimes sweat out tears abundantly, and yet they are never the softer; even so may many weep and howl for their sins, & be pricked with the word of God bursting out in lamentation, and yet remain reprobates still. But let us break up the fallow ground of our hearts, let us keep them in continual moisture, that whensoever the word shall be cast into them, it may grow effectually. It is a fearful thing to receive the graces of God in vain, which they do that without all reverence and carefulness, come unadvisedly without former preparation to the hearing of the word of God: that which is rashly heard is quickly forgotten; and that which is unreverently received, is presently despised, but of this matter we have already spoken. Fourthly, when he biddeth them to ask their fathers, he thereby willeth us to call to our minds those things which have been done long ago, the noble and wonderful works of God are not so slenderly to be regarded, that we think on no more than we see, and consider nothing but that which we feel. But what the Lord doth, it standeth God his works must be perpetually remembered. for ever, and therefore is to be recorded in all generations, read the 104. 5. 6. Psalms throughout, where the holy Ghost gathereth together the sum or rehearsal of the Lords benefits, and chargeth oftentimes that we should teach them to our children, and that we think upon them to do them for evermore. The reasons of this Reason 1. doctrine may be these: First because as the Apostle saith, Rom. 15. 4. Whatsoever is written in foretime is written for our learning, that we through patience may have hope: God of his eternal goodness and wisdom hath so provided, that the principal and excellent works of his justice are by himself recorded for times succeeding, and so plainly engraven, that as he speaketh by the prophet Abacuch, He which runneth may read them, and these (saith the Apostle) are written for our instruction. It is a world to see how men forget the works and word of God: they make no account of Adam's curse, because it was in the beginning; and small reckoning of the flood, because it was in the old world; and they little esteem jerusalems' destruction, because it was, say they, before our time: and thus they wash away all fear of judgements and love of God. So that if we warn them of wantonness, by the example of the old world, we are not so lascivious, say they: if we exhort them to holiness, by the example of Abraham, Moses, David, Zacharias, and the Apostles, than they tell us, their examples pertain not unto them, for then there was more faith stirring in the world then now there is; and lay what we can unto them, yet they have one way or other to escape: And all because they think that the Lords works are like to musicans labour, which causeth men to dance so long as they hear it and no longer, or an almanac that lasteth but a year; so they think that the ancient works and former actions of the Almighty have no farther use, but for the present time wherein they were performed: But if they think so, they will in the end gain nothing by the bargain. It was an old work of God to make the beasts subject to man, and should they not be so now? it was an ancient work of God to make the rainbow in the cloud, that the world might never be destroyed as it was, have we no benefit by this wonder? Christ our Saviour died long before we were borne, and doth it not pertain unto us? then have we made a wrong match, if all these be not true; but they are all certain and evermore to be remembered. Therefore our wantonness, our wickedness, our idleness, our infidelity, our beastliness, and our security, if they be not amended by the examples of the scriptures, they shall be condemned by the ensamples of the scriptures. You ancient fathers, which have lived long, seen much, and heard the wonders in old time, meditate them in your minds, and deliver them to your posterity: even as you would have us to continue your names because you are our fathers, so do you remember the works of God, for he is the father to us all. Secondly, another reason of this doctrine 2 is this, because the rehearsal of these works of God, done before our time either unwritten or especially recorded in the word, do terrify our proud hearts when we hear them declared unto us. The church of Corinth being happy by the Apostles preaching, grew insolent in divisions, lose in opinions, and intolerable in manners: the Apostle to remedy this 1. Cor. 10. 5, 6, 7, 8. verse. bringeth in the tragedy of the Israelites destruction, showing them how for the like offences thousands and ten thousands perished in displeasure, to terrify and humble them by these wonderful works of God, that they might know howsoever they were not yet executed, yet they were as guilty of condemnation as those that were destroyed. David saith of himself Psal. 119. 120. that the hearing of the lords judgement wrought fear in his soul, and trembling in his body: And therefore we may many times read and hear the story of wars, wherein as in a glass we may behold the miseries of our lives, to see princes massacred, noble men murdered, & the common people butchered, like bullocks in a slaughter house. Let us often rehearse the story of famines and robberies, wherein we may see the uncertainty of our wealth, to see our houses burned, our barns emptied, our estates impoverished, our lives famished, our children left breathless, and our wives left comfortless. Let us often meditate on the diseases of our bodies, to mitigate our pleasures, to see how some have died suddenly, other have lived so long in sickness that their friends forsook them, their physicians gave them over, and the stinking savours of their own bodies have taken away their lives. Let Traitors think on Achitophel, rebels on Absalon, proud persons on Haman, corrupt judges on Samuel sons, idle ministers on Eli, wicked magistrates on Shebna, fornicators on Zimry, covetous persons on Achan, disobedient persons on jonah, profaners of the Sabbath on the stick gatherer, swearers on the Egyptian Israelite, and despisers of the gospel ministry, sacraments, and all true religion, on Simon Magus; and the Lord grant that their punishment may be our amendment. The uses which arise from this doctrine are these first, seeing that we must Use 1. often call to remembrance the old wonders in times before passed declared to the world, then let us as often meditate on our own particular lives which we have spent & lead in our former days, as the scripture exhorteth Heb. 10. 32. Call to your remembrance the days that are passed. Let us look throughout all the years of our life and make as diligent a search, as the woman in the Gospel did for her money, and begin at our birth and first being in the world, in infancy behold our weakness, and God his kindness; in youth look on our wantonness, & the Lords bountifulness; in ripe age view our wickedness, and the Lords long suffering; and in old age mark our unthankfulness, and the Lords pardon. Call to remembrance the days that are passed: in infancy we could not serve God, in youth we cared not for God, in ripe years we did not fear him, in our old age we did not know him: in our infancy we were more helpless than all creatures, in youth we were more graceless than beasts, in our middle age more foolish than godly, and in old age more desperate then reform: in infancy we ever cried; in youth we ever feared; in our middle age we lived in care; and our old age spent in sorrow: in our infancy our wants which we could not express made us miserable; in our youth the rod scourged us; in our ripe age the world disquieted us; and in our old age the grave which we could not avoid tormented us: would not these considerations offer long discourses to tame our wildness, to reform our profaneness, and to overcome our unruliness? might I not hereby take occasion like a divine philosopher to paint out the misery of mankind, to cause all men's eyes to bewail infants in their cradles, boys in their schools, young men in their pleasures, and old men to their graves? might not I here stir up your affections, to show you the unhappy condition of a bare natural life, babes to be brained; children to be cursed; young men to fall by the sword; women to be ravished; and old men to be without all honour and pity murdered? surely in these we are of all men most miserable. But now seeing I have searched the register and records of nature, let me also show you how you shall look on the courtrolles of grace, and begin with that saying of the Apostle, Ephes. 2. 11. Wherefore remember that you were in times past Gentiles in the flesh, and called uncircumcision, that you were without Christ, aliens from Israel, strangers from the promise, without hope and without God in this world: Hear you may search for your several estates, and admit you have all natural benefits attendant, when you are young, pleasure; when you are youthful, riches; when you are strong, quietness; and wisdom, when you are old; what are these to a condemned soul? Take a thief appointed to the gallows, and before he go to execution let the king call him son, let him be appareled with silk, let him have a chain on his neck, bracelets on his arms, bring him into your treasury of abundance of gold and silver, bid him take his fill: carry him to most delicate fare, and bid him eat cheerfully, and strike up most pleasant music, bid him be merry, but tell him anon he must be hanged; how joyful would his heart be at all this pleasure, when he knoweth presently after his chain shall be changed into a halter, his garments to a winding sheet, his carcase to worms meat, his throne into a gallows, his servants into executioners, and his money taken all from him before he can spend a penny: even so are the best of us all by nature condemned, and we find no comfort in our parentage, or pleasure in our wealth, or profit in our clothing, or benefit in our meat, or joy in our bodies so long as we know that after a little while all these shall be forgotten, and we in destruction. Now remember what you are without grace that is by nature: wrath is our father, heathens are our brethren, or rather devils, uncircumcision is our garment; that is a piece of raw cloth unfulled, which openeth itself to every wind and storm: Christ the Saviour is our enemy, and we persecute him and crucify him: the Saints of God we regard not; the promises of God we know not, our hope is vanity, and our God is iniquity. Call to your remembrance the hours, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years of your life; think evermore on that mercy and that power that in the ruff of all this iniquity forbeareth, forewarneth, and forgiveth you. Think thus with yourselves, I was a hellhound, I was a heathen, the tiger is better than my parentage, and the serpent than my education; I was naked without grace, and not able to buy it: the Lord that sold it was my enemy, and I durst not ask upon credit. How many enormities have I run into against my God, which the Lord foreseeing hath forgiven; the curse of my nature he hath removed; the evil of my conversation he hath remitted; the emptiness of my soul, he hath replenished; and the sentence of my condemnation hath he recalled. Thus hath the Lord dealt with my life, when I was sinful, he was merciful; when I blasphemed, he blessed; when I made war against him, he made peace with me; he took my blows on both cheeks; he gave me his coat and his cloak; and to conclude, when I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, his rod and his staff was my comfort: therefore now will I give my life for his; my body for his garment; my blood for his blows; my soul for his sake; and my whole person, wealth, honour, dignity, labour and leisure for his salvation. secondly, 2 another use we may make of recording time past, and the several works of God with his particular judgements, is the same which the prophet David maketh, Psalm. 8. which is this, after the rehearsal of the glorious works of God, he compareth man with them, and saith; Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Even so when we see and hear of the great works of God upon others, lay them to yourselves by particular application to your souls, and reckon them up in order for your furtherance. Little Canaan told his father of his grandfathers drunkenness and nakedness, and he was accursed and all his posterity: But I have in my youth done many thousand greater sins, & yet the Lord doth still bless me; was the Lord too rigorous against him, or too partial with me, that he all his life long wore such a badge, as also disgraceth all his progeny; but he layeth not to my charge the follies of my youth? Moses and Aaron, because they once disinherited the hand of God they were never suffered to enter into Canaan: but I not once only, but many hundred times have disinherited his promise, denied his word, and forsaken his truth; why do I live so long in the land of promise? when more righteous than myself could not set their foot therein. Ananias and Saphira kept back but a part of their own to serve them in adversity, and denying the same, were suddenly slain by the Lord: but I have kept back not mine, but the Lords, from the Lord, and have lied not once to the holy Ghost but many times; and yet I live, my credit not impeached, my profession is not blamed, my life is not shortened, and my days are not ended. Oh, behold the severity of God towards these that fell, but the mercy of God towards me that standeth: And thus may we say of nations and whole people, why was Egypt destroyed, and Israel saved? why were the Canaanites cast out, and the Israelites planted in? why was Edom made tributary to jacob? Babylon to Persia? Persia to Graecia? Ireland to England? Surely, surely, we might have been the slaves, and they the Lords; we the bondmen, and they the freemen. Evil wars might have been in our days, as it was in our fathers, and that which was greatest popery or heresy, or hethenisme might have been professed in these our times as it was long ago. Think therefore my beloved, how many bonds of obedience the Lord hath bound us in: and consider what had been our hap, if we had been those children that were ripped out of their mother's bellies; if we had been those young men that perished in battle; if we had been those women that eat their babes to save their lives: and finally, how much more are we bound unto God that we were not Infidels, Pagans, & Papists, haeretikes, Atheists, or any other kind of cursed men. Let us also say with the prophet, Psal. 147. vlt. With every nation hath he not dealt thus. Let therefore evermore the word of God be in our mouths, the praises of God be in our hearts, the Gospel in our lives, and by how much more we have tasted of the Lords goodness above other, so much more let him taste of our thankfulness above other. The fourth Sermon. And tell you your children of it, and let your children show to their children, and their children to another generation. NOw the prophet having bid them to inquire of their forefathers, also willeth them to tell this wonder to them that shall come after, namely, to their children, with this commandment also, that they in time to come being made parents should likewise declare this unto their posterity. Where first of all the prophet giveth us this doctrine, that it is the duty of fathers, that if any notable and worthy work of God happen in their days, to show the same unto their children, for the words are, tell your children, etc. Even this doth the Lord warn the Israelites, Exod. 13. 14. to show the wonders in Egypt unto We must tell our children what God hath done in our days. their posterity, and peculiarly at the eating of the passover. For in truth, this care and conscience of godly parents is the very conduit pipe or king's highway whereby all religion, all fear of God, and the uniform profession of the truth is preserved. By this means came Moses to be a fit and able writer of the Scriptures, although he handle matters done two thousand years before he saw the world, he had no records nor writings to help him, but that truth which descended as it were by propagation from father to son unto his days, which began to be corrupt, the holy Ghost approved, and Moses recorded. Therefore the learned have observed that in seven generations it came to Moses: Adam, say they, taught the History of the creation and fall of man with other things to Methusaleth; Methusaleth told them to Sem; Sem showed them to jacob; jacob to Kohath; Kohath to Amram; and Amram to Moses. And in this sort was this noble story of Genesis with visions, places, and persons delivered from hand to hand, from father to son, and from one generation to another, that the words and works of God might be everlastingly remembered. This showeth how by the carefulness of parents the pure knowledge of God was maintained, and the true worship of God continued: Then every father of a family was a magistrate to punish; a prophet to instruct; a prince to govern his own household: Then was there no writing, but much religion; few books, but many faithful hearts; all studied in unity to preserve unfeigned verity. But in Moses time the church grew to a nation, and therefore although as Jerome saith it were, Maior numero, yet it was Minor virtute, the number of professors grew to be greater, yet the zeal and power of godliness grew to be lesser: And therefore now was it to be put in writing, or else all had been clean forgotten; for the hearts of men began to be deceitful, and the words of God could not safely lodge in the breasts of all, and therefore could not easily and effectually be conveyed from one to another. The Lord first of all wrote his law, than grew the church to another government, more general than before, wherein the priests did publicly care for the service of God, and souls of the people, and every father and master privately for himself and his family: and evermore this is to be remembered, that the children prayed to the God of their Fathers, meaning the same God whom their Fathers taught them to serve. And this beloved, putteth us in mind what manner of men fathers and masters ought to be, even such as are able to commend the true worship of God unto others: for since the worship of God became public and general, the private neglect of this duty in the governors of families, hath wrought the poison of all mankind, and the undoing of all religion. For now the common sort think that they must not pray but in a church; that they are not bound to teach others, but the whole charge dependeth on the minister; that the preachers and not the people must learn the word: and finally it maketh no matter for their faith and manners, if their pastors and teachers have the knowledge of the Gospel. Oh lamentable men! Oh lamentable manners! which only is to be imputed unto this neglect of parent's duty. By this only gentilism and heathenism grow: for if Noah's sons had taught that to their children which they learned of their father, the world had not been wearied with many devilish Idolatries: if David's children had served that God which David taught them, their throne had continued as long as heaven and earth endured: neither had so many women been husbandless, so many children been motherless, so many old men been helpless, and so many of all sorts, and degrees been utterly destitute of all worldly ease and heavenly bliss; the decay of their faith wrought the destruction of their blood: If Christians had taught that religion to their children, which they received without all corruption from Christ and his Apostles, so many countries had not been conquered, so many cities had not been laid even with the earth, so many famous churches had not been buried in oblivion, popery had not so much prevailed, Mahomet had not so long prospered, wicked ceremonies had not reigned in the place of holy truth, and where now is the synagogue of Satan, there had been the Temple of our Saviour. And I fear me beloved, lest this parent's fault bring forth once again the children's folly, and then oh then, will the devils banner advance itself against Christ's standard, and so that when the Lord shall come he shall find no faith on the earth. Look to this you fathers of our bodies, and let not the blood of our souls cry vengeance against the parents of our lives: teach us what you have learned, & charge us on your blessing, and God his blessing as we will answer before the judge of men and angels, to save the souls of our children by the precepts of your doctrine. The reasons of this doctrine Reason 1. may be these, first because as David witnesseth that the works of God are great and aught to be sought out of all that love them: So that this is an argument of unfeigned affection and true love to the works of God, when with diligence we observe them, and with conscience we declare them: and also it is an assurance of sincere piety and reverence towards God, when as the same prophet speaketh, all the day long we meditate on his judgements and speak his praises. This love of men to the works of God is then proved and approved when they teach them to those whose lives are in their hands; and also it is the plainest token of true love to your children, when you keep no part of the counsel of God from them, which you know yourselves. For the Lords doings are of that majesty and authority, that by them tender hearts are nourished, wavering hearts confirmed, and stubborn minds are persuaded. Your kindest friends will be more kind unto you, when you show them the kindness of the Lord; and your deadly foes will be more afraid of you when they shall see and hear the works of God in your mouth, and the word of God in your hands. Therefore my beloved in the Lord jesus, seeing we have no more plainer way to know the Lord then by his works, then have we also no surer token that we love the Lord, then when we love his doings: Let us seek them in the cradles of our childhood, and the beds of our old age, making as much of the Lords judgements, as we do of our children, whom we desire to leave behind us to the end of the world; even so let us leave the Lords works in remembrance for evermore. Secondly, another reason of this doctrine is declared by Solomon, Eccles. 3. 14. That what God doth it standeth for ever, that men might fear 2 before him. The works of God are affected, not as the ground is ploughed which serveth one for one season, but as the earth was established which standeth for ever. The Lord in every age accomplisheth many wonderful things, and different the one from the other, that men might fear him for his judgements, and honour him for his power: And therefore being not willing at all times to make trial and show of his omnipotency, he willeth us to remember the things that are done, unless we would have him once again open the fountains of waters, that the whole world might be destroyed, or once again rain fire and brimstone from heaven to confound us as he did the Sodomites, or once again bring a universal darkness over our land as he did over the land of judea: or else once again suffer our fathers to be burned, our goods to be ravened, our wives to be shamed, and ourselves to be murdered for his sake, as some have been before us. Therefore by how much more easy it is for our hearts to consider those things, then for our eyes to behold them: so much more careful let us be to instruct others by word of mouth, lest we ourselves & our posterity feel in full measure that heavy hand of his wrath: & then Oh then lamentable is our case, when we shall not fear God as a father, but dread him as a judge, we cannot pray unto him as a Saviour, but behave ourselves like bondslaves in his presence: When it shall be said, you have had no pleasure in his works, therefore I will have no delight in your souls. The uses which arisefrom this doctrine are these; first, the same which Moses once did after he had brought Israel out of Egypt, and afterward Use 1, the whole company of Martyrs are said to make, Apoc. 15. 3 Great are thy works (say they) O Lord almighty, just & right are thy ways O king of Saints. That is with the consideration of God his mighty power join also the confession of his ever blessed justice. You O fathers of our times, teach us this doctrine by your several observations during all the life of your pilgrimage, that you may say the Lord is just in all his ways, & holy in all his works. Even this fruit reap & take of this florishng tree, that you also may be able to tell us, in this we found the Lord to be merciful, & in that work we received a due trial of his justice. And freely my beloved in this point of doctrine I might profitably spend many words, to show & teach you with what manner recital of his doings, the Lord is pleased: it is no more available for us to confess that huge armies of soldiers were discomfited by the Lord, except we also know and acknowledge the end, wherefore the Lord did the same, then in old time it was for Pharaoh to sigh under the burden of God his works being therewith oppressed, and not considering the due end of the same: his hand doth not warn us, nor his power amend us, when either we see or hear it without holy consideration of the end of the judgement. And this self same use must we make, when we hear or read of the wonders of ancient time, that we can say, behold the punishment of sin, the reward of godliness, the power of the almighty, and the justice of the everliving God. In the scriptures the holy Ghost in every history showeth this use, although not in plain words, yet in easy manner to be observed: That Cain was cursed being the heir apparent of all the world, and notwithstanding his large birthright he should be a vagabond on the earth, was not this a great wonder? But why came this to pass? First because he was lose in the service of God, and afterward murdered his innocent brother: mark you then the falls of many princes, such as be recorded in scripture, and out of scripture, and you shall see for their unsufferable wickedness and intolerable tyranny they were destroyed. That Samson killed himself and so many thousand Philistines; was not this a wonderful work of God? But why was this effected? I grant that by this he was a figúre of Christ, which by his own death overcame his enemies: but the Philistines might learn hereby, that the Lord will be revenged for the wrongs done to his saints. In like manner read and run over the volumes of T. Livius, the writings of Tacitus, the books of Arrianus, the histories of Italy, France, Germany, England, and all Chronicles, wherein any worthy or memorable thing may be noted: yea the very fables of Poets, and you shall therein observe the variable punishment of sin for the several transgressions of princes and people. And if we may come nearer to our own times, consider how much blood hath been spilled in France and the lowe-Countries, we cannot only say it was the Lords doings, & it is marvelous in our eyes; but we may say this came to pass for the cruelty of the one, if not for the drunkenness of the other. But why should I travel over the seas for strange things? when our own country yieldeth more worthy works of God than all christendom beside. What is more wonderful that so great a people, so noble personages, so large dominions, and so many foreign nations should be governed, preserved, & defended by one woman Prince? Let me now ask you O Elders, was there ever the like in your days, or in the days of your fathers before you? Was there ever such peace in this land since it was a land? till we flocked to the preaching of the Gospel at the call of one glorious and godly Prince; ask your fathers of this, and tell us if ever there were the like. Was there ever so huge a navy so easily dispersed as the Spanish fleet was? coming with purpose to invade us, and yet never could set foot on our land, till they were brought prisoners, and yet with smaller forces they have made France to bleed, and Flanders to ache. Was there ever so many wicked attempts confounded, so many treasons revealed, so many wicked persons executed, and so many good men preserved, as hath been in her majesties happy reign? Ask your fathers if ever they knew the like, and we will tell our children, and they shall tell their children, and their children shall show another generation, that our times were happy, our lives were blessed, our professions were godly, and our country was glorious, witnessed and proved by thus many works of God. Our Prince reigneth, our people obeyeth, our forces are increased, our enemies are confounded, our afflictions are ended, our peace is continued, our religion is magnified, our land is fruitful, our laws are equal, our quarrel is lawful, and therefore hearken all ages what the Lord hath done for England. Secondly, another use we must observe in the narration of the 2 Lords judgements is this which David maketh, Psal. 119. 46. I will declare thy judgements before kings and will not be ashamed. That is, the deeds and words of the almighty must work so powerfully in the preachers thereof, that no rebukes, no scorns, no mocks, nor any shame be taken for the utterance of them. We live in a contrary time to David's affection, for many are so modest in any good actions, that all godly companions and holy exercises do shame their estates, and abase their callings; but in evil enterprises they are as immodest as brute beasts, thinking it no scorn nor disparagement to them, to brag of their blasphemies, to tell of their whooredoms, to sport themselves with their drunkenness, and to play with the devil himself. And this is too too common in our times, wherein gentlemen and rich men are ashamed to have so much as a bible in their houses, or at any time to show a good and friendly face to a preacher of the word, or to minister any occasion to talk of religion, lest say they, we be accounted fools: yea they make fools of them in the world, that follow not every fashion of apparel, use not every invention of idleness, and conform not themselves to the manners of the most, although they be most wicked. This ravening and greedy appetite to sin, must also kindle the fire of our zeal, that the wicked be not more desperate in their sins, than the godly be resolute in their holiness. Let us never be ashamed of the power of God, although in advancing there of we detract somewhat from the noble enterprises of men. Let us give unto the instruments that which is theirs, and unto God that which is his: let us not glory in our shame, but be ashamed of our sins, and with the three children at Babylon against princes and potentates, even with the hazard of our lives witness the power of God, that they may be ashamed of their doings. Another doctrine which we may observe out of these words, wherein the fathers are so severally commanded to show their children the works Be careful what we commit to posterity. of God, is this: That we must evermore be careful what we commit to posterity, if the credit of men must be regarded what they utter one to another, & one of another while they are living together, when as the truth may be proved, and the lie may be convinced; much more must they be careful what they deliver to posterity, as it were in their last testament lying on their deathbed, that so the lives which they have lead, may be commended for their fidelity, or the souls which they have expired must be condemned for their iniquity. Of this matter there is a famous history in Ios. 22. 10, 11, 12. verses, and so forth to the end of the chapter: when as Israel was planted in Canaan, having long before by Moses received a commandment that they should make no altars nor assemblies of worship in all their land, but where the Lord gave them commandment so to do: The Rubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh being seated on this side jordan in the land of Sihon and Og; contrary to this commandment as it seemed, builded an altar joshua being yet alive. This good man with all the Ancients of Israel, fearing this mischief, & doubting if they put up this contempt, all religion would soon be forgotten, & in short time in another age, the sacred deity would be idolatrously denied: first they determined a war against them, but after better consultation they sent Phinehas & ten princes of Israel in embassage unto them, to know the cause why they built that altar: they answered that they built this altar for a pattern of that other which was in Shiloh, lest in time to come all that generation being dead, their children should be denied to be of the Lords flock, and therefore to have no portion nor part in Israel: and therefore was this altar not built for sacrifice, nor for burnt offerings, but should be a witness to their posterity, that although they were possessed of the land beyond jordan; yet they were of Israel's seed, & God his inheritance. Which answer satisfied the messengers, & being declared to their brethren, pacified Israel. Hear may you see on both sides, an honourable care for the children unborn: Israel would not permit another sacrificing altar, lest posterity should be drawn from God, and Reuben would yet make an altar, lest their children should be rejected out of the lords covenant. Israel adventured his labour to save his progeny, and Reuben offered his life to save his posterity. Would God our Israel were as jealous of their children, and that our brethren were as careful of their profession; then should not so many precedents of evil like jeroboams sins, and Balaams' counsel be suffered to stand, and offered to other ages: Then should not houses of sin be erected, as theatres of playhouses, which gain more persons to the devil than the churches can souls to the Lord: Then should it not be said, That the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge: Then should the arguments of Papists and other idolaters be easily answered, when they object as Laban did, that they worship their father's Gods, and follow the follies of their predecessors. The longer a sickness groweth, it waxeth more incurable: and the longer our wickedness standeth, and the farther we suffer our vices to stretch, they wax the more unrecoverable, insomuch as in other ages they will swear by idols, violate Sabbaoths, rend in sunder religion, make no conscience of heresy, and embrace atheism, by law and arguments, because we have sported our lives in this manner of vanities. But remember as Balaams' curse was renewed upon him fourteen hundred years after he was dead; because other followed his sin: so shall our bodies & souls be condemned to more intolerable torments, because the looseness of our lives will breed the loss of them that come hereafter. And this doctrine hath good reason to establish the same out of the word of God; first, because there is Reason 1. No impiety but it will find some followers. not any monument so lascivious, or opinion so wicked, or work so abominable, but some, if not many will embrace the same: the which thing, the Apostle Peter in his second Epistle, second chapter, first and second verses declareth unto us. Whereby we may observe the dangerous condition of men, which will submit themselves unto every kind of devilish slavery rather than to godliness: we read in the Scriptures that so soon as Core and his company inurmured, that three hundred families followed his ill example: We read of an Egyptian in the Acts of the Apostles, and one Theudas, who by their rebellion drew great multitudes to final perdition: We have learned by ecclesiastical stories that the impiety of Simon Magus, who would be worshipped as God, had ten thousands of favourites: that the apostasy of julian drew infinite companies to hell: and for popery which is a corruption of all religion, what nation in this west end of the world received not the same? even as once all the eastern countries were generally infected with Arrianisme, and after they were reclaimed from that, they embraced the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches. But Peter saith, the damnation of such persons sleepeth not, but was prepared long ago, as we may see by those lamentable examples of the eastern churches, which for the most part are either subject to the barbarous Turk, or else the slaves of some heathen prince or other, where remain not so much as the stones of their temples, much less the remembrance of any religion: and the Lord grant that the like judgement fall not upon the west. Another reason of this doctrine may be this, that if there have been any fault in the fathers, it may be amended in 2 the children, and this the word of God maketh Psalm. 78. 8. 9 it is most dangerous to corrupt the posterity, for it is like to the poison put into meat before men shall eat thereof; we must always study to leave the worship of God purer to them which succeed us than we found it. And therefore we must greatly regard, if we have at any time gone awry from the mark, that we charge our children to beware thereof: for as their sins are accounted our sins because we reclaimed them not; so their righteousness shall be accounted ours, if we advertise them thereof. If this be the commendation of all human arts and worldly trades, that each one leaveth more skill, and greater perfection behind him then at the beginning he found: why should it not then so fall out in heavenly works, that every father for his son; every pastor for his people; every captain for his country; and every doctor for religion, should leave more than was before? Surely how great an abomination is it to see all worldly things grow better and better; but all spiritual things to wax worse and worse, that we should be better Philosophers since Plato; better Physicians since Galen; better husbandmen since Virgil; and better Poets since Homer: but religion and sanctification being wrote by God himself, and all the Prophets and Disciples of Christ: yet is it in worse estate than it was in the beginning: It should be as gold which is more fined by coming through many furnaces, but it is like (not of itself) to the river Nilus, which the farther it floweth, the more dirt and draff it draweth with it; so every man patcheth and peeceth the worship of God, that fathers leave it worser than they found it. The uses which arise from this doctrine, as they are found in the word of God are these; first seeing we Use 1. must be so careful what we commend to our posterity; first that we leave not any practice or precedent behind us which we have not learned of the Lord, Deut. 24. 8, 9 If in the leprosy men ought to be so careful where they were assured of apparent danger, that not in any thing they must forget the Lords ordinance, or add any more to his commandment, upon pain of so heavy displeasure of his highness; then must all the world be careful also to frame their actions according to the word, which doing, they shall not deceive, nor be deceived. And first of all we must beware of false and foolish prophecies, which being but the dreams of many brainsick persons, have bewitched the hearts of men that heard them, and seduced the lives of some that received them: and we may read both in the book of God, and out of the Scripture, that princes and countries have been destroyed thereby. Many of the learneder sort are much affected with the prophecies of the Sibyl's, Methodius and others; many of the popish sort are continually contemplatours of the oracles of Bridget, and other papistical and monastical dreams; but above all the simple and vulgar people imagine that there is no Scripture like to Merlin's prophesy. If I should stand in the specialties to show you when, where, and wherein the unstable & new fangled minds have been deceived, I should rather feed the curious then fill the righteous. This shall be sufficient to admonish us, that we neither presume to make our names famous by this means by giving errors, nor yet be so base minded as to embrace and receive the same for truth, whosoever he be that uttereth it: because Peter telleth us, 2. Pet. 2. 1. That there shall be false prophets in the church, whom we must beware, lest we fall with them into the same perdition. Others there are also which regard neither prophesy nor religion, or any other spiritual exercise, either feigned or unfeigned, but give their whole lives and travail to an unsatiable desire of gain, to gather lands and lordships by right or wrong, and to leave great store of wealth to their posterity: let these men be also warned if they would be warned, that they commit not the gain of ungodliness, the wages of unrighteousness, and the lords portion for their inheritance. For surely as our Saviour speaketh Matth. 15. 13. Every plant not planted by his father shall be pulled up again. Their houses shall be ruinous, their posterity infamous, their possessions troublesome, and strangers shall inherit their labours. But in our days also there is another wicked and wretched precedent for posterity to be lamented, that so many in this golden age of Christ's Gospel are tickled with vain conceits, accounting their glory if they can prove the founders of new sects, whereby religion is defamed; or pen some idle toys for histrionical players, whereby many good souls are endangered. There are few or no Italian follies, Spanish inventions, or French-faynedwanton-volumes, but in our days for the times succeeding they are taught to speak English, I think for this purpose, that now whiles religion ruleth, it might be troubled by them, and when christianity is removed, by their means iniquity may be enthronized. I have read many of them, and considered of them too long, & I must freely confess that they be the voices forerunning and preparing a way for Atheism, idolatry, heathenism, or any kind of impiety: And therefore all good Christians should do with them as the Ephesians did Acts 19 19 with their books; for I protest unto you either you must forsake God or them. Secondly, we must make one use more of this doctrine, which is this: Seeing we must be careful for posterity that 2 we suffer nothing to pass from us or by us to them, that savoureth of iniquity: let us also living in these times like to the days of Christ, follow the example of Christ, which is to pray for them which shall come after, Luc. 22. 31, 32. where he telleth his disciples that he hath prayed for them, that although sathan should have them in his fan to winnow them as a man cleaneth wheat, yet should not they fail: so likewise john 17. Christ prayeth for all them which should believe in his name to the worlds end. Now my beloved brethren, if you consider the causes why Christ did not only procure the welfare of his children while he was living, but also prayed for their sincerity when he should be dead, you shall also find that we have all as great cause to pray for our children, as than our Saviour had for his disciples. One was because as we heard that they lay open to the malice of the devil, who would try his uttermost, either to make them deny him, or to die for him: So my dear brethren, the malice of sathan is as hot against us, as ever it was against them: if he could he would turn our country into seas, our people into devils, our meat into serpents, our drink into poison, our profession into Atheism, our pleasure into hell: And will he think you, be more favourable to our posterity? No, no, assure yourselves if he may or might work his will, he would make them as poor as beggars, as miserable as job in adversity, and as desperate as judas, to make their own hands to be their own murderers: he would feed the dogs with their blood, the birds with their flesh, the ravens with their bowels, the infidels with their lands, the Atheists with their houses, and damnation with their souls: pray therefore with tears and zeal that the groans of your heart may preserve the fruits of your bodies. Another cause why Christ prayed for the disciples, and the posterity of the Church to the worlds end was this, joh. 17. 21. that there might be a unity betwixt God and Christ and his members, and considering this unity the unbelieving world might be reclaimed. Would not this unity do well also betwixt us and our posterity, that there might be like father like son, like mother like daughter; Christians by regeneration and Christians by generation, that our religion might abide with our names and our inheritance, and that we might be joined in the affinity of souls, as we are in consanguinity of bodies. But oh wretched men or wicked sathan, the oak feedeth oaks, the vine vines, the olive olives, the beasts engender their kinds, and the fishes multiply their like, only righteous men breed unrighteous imps, and their fruit is not pleasant till they be graffed. Why should not good men have good sons as good seeds bring good corn? the question is easily answered, though with sorrow considered. Religion goeth not by propagation but by adoption; they beget such children as themselves were begotten, that is, the sons of wrath, for whom we must pray without ceasing, weep without comfort, and watch without weariness, that they may be made the sons of righteousness. The fifth Sermon. Verse. 4. That which is left of the palmer worm hath the grasshopper eaten, and the residue of the grasshopper hath the canker worm eaten, and the residue of the canker worm hath the caterpillar eaten. NOw we have by the merciful assistance of divine grace finished the preface of this prophesy, let us also with the same power enter upon the prophesy itself. We showed you at the beginning that from this fourth verse unto the twelfth of the second chapter, is uttered by the prophet those judgements, which are threatened by the Lord. In declaring whereof he observeth this order: First in this fourth verse he showeth the instrumental cause or beginners of their misery, under God; and afterward by exhortations and sundry amplifications he describeth before their eyes, the force of these hurtful creatures, bred and brought forth only for the destruction of these jewish people. The instrumental causes are named to be these four, the Palmerworm, the Grasshopper, the canker-worm, and the Caterpillar; small creatures coming with great force to invade this country. And this is that which made the Prophet so cry and call to the people for audience and attention, that so wonderful a matter should be effected: not only as Esay saith, that a woman should compass a man; but that a flock of little worms should overthrow a whole nation: and these beasts should come successively the one after the other, that whosoever escaped the first, should be taken by the last; and that which was not touched by the former, might be consumed by the latter. And it may seem that the foundation of their overthrow was wrought by a famine: for we must not imagine that at the first, these beasts set upon men; but began with their fruits, with their corn, their vines, their trees, and their store, to cast down those castles of confidence which they had raised up in the abundance of their belly-cheer. In like manner if it were lawful for me to compare us with them, and to weigh the event of our times by that which we fear, and not by that which we feel, might not all godly minds justly doubt, that whereas there is and hath been so great an harmony in the transgressions of both people, and such a consent in both our calamities, that they are both begun with famine, the continuance and the end should also resemble theirs. I prophesy not what shall be, but what may be: I cannot say certainly, that as their land was wasted, their stores consumed; their corn accursed, and their richest men impoverished: so shall ours be: or that as they had their sacrifices stayed, their temple emptied, their law removed, their chief glory, the outward worship of God utterly forsaken; so shall ours be: or that as they were at one instant time lamenting their losses, weeping for their miseries, and shedding abundance of tears to see their own bodies famished, their own children perished, and the gravest persons among them to be pitifully tormented, having their houses filled with cries of people, their streets swarming with dead corpses, and their fields and woods ringing with roaring and bellowing of beasts; so shall ours be, no not so, but so may ours be, & the Lord grant that this as we feel be not the beginning of sorrows: for verily I persuade myself, that our country which hath received great heaps of benefits as the jews had, and hath rewarded with great heaps of sins as the jews did, shall also (if not shortly) be finally overthrown with great plenty of judgements, as the jews were. But now let us return to the words, and herein look for some doctrines which may edify us and admonish us, for of the other matter we shall have fit occasion to speak hereafter. Then here we have the prophet after his cry, making his proclamation in the name of the highest king of heaven and earth, telling them and us that there should come an infinite number of palmer-wormes to devour their fruits; and that which they touched not should the Grasshopper devour; and that which the grasshopper left, should the canker-worm poison; and that which the canker-worm poisoned not, should the Caterpillar consume, that by a quaternion of successive spoilers, they might be made to feel that which they were not willing to hear. But some will say, this was a small matter for the prophet to preach on, thinketh he that we have no other business then to hear a tale of Grasshoppers and Cankerworms, which leap in every meadow and hang on every leaf; or doth he imagine that we are such weak hearted soldiers, and faint hearted persons, that we should be terrified with a muster of fraybugs, and little worms of an inch long: indeed these are matters to fray children, and not old men; and therefore he must either tell us of weightier matters, or else silence his tongue from such trifles? And yet if any think thus in these days as they were never more ready to take exception against the preachers, I might answer them, that they are not trifles which the Lord hath treasured in his word, neither are they recorded only to fear children, but also to terrify, yea, and condemn old men. We must not weigh them in the balance of natural reason, but lay them to a sound spiritual judgement, and we shall find them more heavy than mountains, which we deemed lighter than feathers. The ways of God are not like the ways of men, First of all we must know, and remember unto you that these four kind of beasts had every one his year to work the hurt that the Lord had assigned him to do, wherein they multiplied exceedingly, and prevailed mightily; in so much as no industry of man could countervail their forces. By this we observe that there is a special A special judgement to increase hurtful beasts. judgement of God when hurtful creatures are increased: If either the flies or the worms, or any small beasts arise above their usual number; them know for a certain that these little beasts are infallible tokens of the Lords wrath, Psal. 105. 34. The Psalmist describing unto us the wonderful workers of God which he wrought for his church, saith, He spoke & there came Grasshoppers and Caterpillars innumerable: so likewise the Prophets jeremy and Ezechiell among the grand and invincible plagues of God, reckon this for one, the growing or multiplying of noisome beasts. For the Lord which is infinitely wise, is able infinite ways to manifest that divine power of his majesty, whereby once he created all things of nothing, and every day showeth us our sins by changing his good creatures into hurtful destroyers, making the earth to pine us, the heavens to burn us, the air to benumb us, and the silly beasts to annoy us. The Reason 1. reasons of this doctrine are these, First because the Lord by these means doth not only admonish us all of our transgressions, but especially punisheth us for our singular rebellion, Exod. 10. 4. 5. Among all these plagues which were wrought in Egypt to punish hard hearted Pharaoh and the blind minded Egyptians, the Lord in great number sendeth grasshoppers, that prince and people might be brought to destruction. And surely if the Lord have so many means to revenge the cause of his Saints, that he maketh bruit beasts the executioners of his wrath; then let us learn never to molest any in whom any graces of God appear; for than shall we bring an heavy house of wrath upon our heads. Another reason of this doctrine is, 2 because that he sometimes sendeth and multiplieth plentifully his good wholesome creatures to the destruction of them that receive them: and if the good creatures of God be sent that he may more freely take vengeance by them upon our iniquities; much more when the noisome hurtful beasts are increased doth he power out his wrath and execute his anger. We may read Numb. 11. 31, 33. that the Lord brought abundance of quails upon the tents of Israel, but withal, he sent leanness into their soul, and his wrath came upon them while the meat was in their mouths, that the lusts of their minds cost them the blood of their bodies; and although they seemed to have a great blessing, yet it turned to a heavy curse: In like manner they are not always the happiest persons which have all things at their wish; nor yet is it always a good thing to be advanced to the highest rooms as Haman was; to eat of the daintiest meat as the rich man did; to be clothed with the softest raiment as the courtiers are; to have the poor bowing to our persons; the world wondering at our wealth; and the voices of all men to commend our works: For notwithstanding all these, the soul may be poor, naked, comfortless, and despised in the eyes of the Lord; and what shall it profit us to win the whole world, and lose our own souls? Let not poverty dismay us, for that was on Christ; let not riches advance us, for they were on Herod; let not adversity trouble us, for good men profess it; and let not prosperity rejoice us, for evil men enjoy it. Now let us make some uses of this doctrine, which may either strengthen our faith, or amend our lives: Therefore first of all the Lord showing how many judgements he had powered upon the Israelites, Amos, 4. 9 telleth them the use of all, which was, that they should be converted unto his majesty: so that as David saith, He maketh his angels his ministers: in like manner Amos might say, Use 1. He maketh the beasts of the earth to preach repentance unto men. For it is most requisite that when men become beasts in their lives, drowning all reason within them, than should beasts like themselves in reason (though not in body) come unto them to reprove their folly; whose blows should break their hearts, that would not turn them at the preaching of men. Now than the whole course of nature and natural things do remember us, and help us to worship the Lord: for if they be subject to us, and serve to our uses, they tell us that we must be subject to God, & serve in his vineyard; if they rebel against us & annoy us with their presence, they preach repentance to our lives, & conversion to our souls: whither then shall we go from the presence of the Lord? If we bury our sins in the earth, as the wicked servant did his talon, yet we must bring them forth again to receive our condemnation; if we keep them in secret, yet the birds of the air shall reveal them; if we neglect them and not regard them, the lions of the wood shall requite them; if we dissemble them, the Lord himself in flaming fire shall disclose them; and if we continue in them, the little worms, the seely grasshoppers, and the simple creeping creatures shall revenge them. But we in our days have not much tasted of this fourth plague, which is the multiplying hurtful beasts; I mean our land hath not been given to the locusts, and our labours have not been spoiled by the caterpillars; yet we are more troubled with more hurtful beasts, I say in the similitude of men, such beasts as wander not in the fields, but lodge in our houses, being more unreasonable than the palmer-wormes, and more unresistible than all the herds of cankerworms. The godly may cry out with David, the fat bulls of Bashan did roar upon me, and with the Apostle, that they fight with beasts in the likeness of men; and yet David neither feared the bulls, nor the Apostle fought with beasts indeed. But such beasts as have all reason against reason, and no reason to any religion, are swarming almost in every corner of England: we may as easily persuade the ox to eat no grass, the birds to eat no corn, the lions to seek no prey, & the lamb to refuse the pap of his dame, as reclaim this kind of beasts from their evil kind of sins. Deaf adders they are, they will not hear, witty and politic foxes, they will not be taken; vipers without feeling the sorrows of others; wanton kine ever kicking against the poor; stately lions ravening whatsoever liketh them; greedy bears biting all that come nigh them; sleepy dogs profiting no body, and what shall I say more? They deprived themselves of all kind of humanity; therefore let these great beasts move us seeing we have no fear of little beasts. These sleep in our bosoms, eat at our tables, gather up our profits, and consume God his benefits: Let these I say make us innocent, watchful, wary, diligent, obedient, meek, gracious, and zealous in religion, that either our lives may convert them, or their beastliness amend us. Another use of this doctrine 2 is this, that as God can use and also doth these his creatures to be revenged on his adversaries; so also he will and can do the same to the benefit of his chosen. He used the ravens to feed Eliah, 1. King. 17. 6. and we know that all these noisome creatures which devoured and destroyed the cattle & people of Egypt, neither devoured or destroyed man or beast among the Israelites. The viper a hurtful beast, yet it could not harm Paul, Act. 28. 5. when it hung upon his hand: What shall we now say my dear brethren, to commend the large liberality of our God, to convince the intolerable ingratitude of our souls? The angels wait on us above to keep the heavens from overwhelming us, the creatures attend on us beneath, to make the earth to yield us maintenance: oh how shall they want any thing that lead a godly life, yet who doth depend on the lords promise, or who doth make conscience of the Lords liberality? We are like to the jews which Nebuzaradan left in jerusalem with the Samaritans, seeing the serpents destroying the Samaritans, sparing them yet still, they continued in their idolatry: so although we see and hear our neighbours, our countrymen, or any other nation to be wasted and we preserved; to be famished, we sustained; to be weakened, and we strengthened; to be punished, when we go scotfree; yet still we serve our pleasures, we blaspheme the Gospel, we profane the Sabbaoth, and we dishonour the almighty: although he hath not dealt with any nation as he hath dealt with us; yet we care not for his creatures, we love not his truth, we forsake not our sins, we embrace not his fear, & we have no resolution for our own salvation: the Lord for his mercy turn our hearts. Another doctrine we may observe out of this verse, which is this, that every light and Every little beast can overcome the welfare of man. little creature can trouble & overcome the welfare ofmen: Why did not the Lord rain down fire from heaven to consume their field of corn, or to burn up their fruitful gardens; or why did he not send his angels immediately from heaven to weed out the wicked from the land, and so to have made an end at the very first of these jewish calamities? This he might have done, although he did it not; but rather sendeth creeping worms to overthrow a great nation, which is to man's reason as if one spark of fire were sent to burn up the whole sea. We read Act. 12. 23. that Herod by his flatterers was magnified to be a God, the which thing pleased the wretch too well, for shortly after it cost him blood and life, to show himself and his favourites that he was but a man: for it was said that he was eaten and devoured of worms. O worthy example of so worthy impiety, which wearing the crown but of an earthly kingdom, would also be advanced to an heavenly regiment: therefore he received the greater condemnation. Where were his Physicians, could not they purge away the evil which did eat up the king's heart? where were his servants which would do all things for him, and now could not they deliver him from little worms? nay what did this new made God if he were but a god of flies, could not he comfort and cure himself? No, no, the dart was too deep, the wound was too great, and the disease too desperate: but he in the midst of these his torments having his heart eaten, and the worms crawling out of his body, with intolerable anguish cried out, * Ecce me, inquit, qui vobis Deus videor, nanc finem vivendi facere cogor necessariò. Behold your Godwhich is enforced to die: Let all proud persons be warned by the example of Herod; especially great men, who think themselves if not better, yet equal to the son of God, the king of heaven and earth; lest they be punished after the example of Herod. The flies did trouble and terribly molest the whole land of Egypt: think always the Lord can easily turn our meat into worms; our drink into flies; our blood into louse; our garments into serpents; and our joyful friends into spoiling beasts. We are not so high, but there is one above us; we are not so low, but there are some beneath us; we are not so wise, but the Lord is within us; neither are we so noble, but his highness can confound us. And this doctrine Reason 1. hath good reasons, beside lamentable experience, whereon it may be grounded, the weakest things of God are far stronger than the strongest of man. 1. Cor. 1. 25. 27. and by the weak things of this world will he confound the strong: the which although it be spoken in another sense than it is here alleged, yet doth it serve also to this purpose, to show unto us that the Lord will for his glory overcome by the weaker forces. And it is most true that a little beast with his wrath is as forcible to destroy us as a mighty serpent; and the fall of a feather upon our heads, although they were guarded with a helmet of proof, yet should it through his indignation be as heavy as a mill— stone to dash out the brains of the proudest. He which made these things is not tied to his own works, but when he will he can alter light into darkness, turn the land into the sea, the mountains into valleys, and make iron to swim when lighter matters shall sink. Now good men must ever be mightily comforted with the consideration of this heavenly power: this made the men of Babylon to offer their blood to the fiery flaming furnace: this made the worthy Gideon with a few persons to adventure the overthrow of many thousands: this encouraged Elisha, being besieged with an huge army of Syrians: and therefore this must force us to die, in persecution to fight for the lords truth, to pray where we see no help, to profess his name though we lose the sweetest pleasures of this life. The uses which offer themselves unto our consideration are these: first, that it teach us to think most humbly and Use 1. most basely of ourselves, as David that noble king that ever was did, Psal. 22. 6. I am a worm (saith he) and no man, even the offscouring of men: Seeing the basest creatures of the world are able so easily to destroy us, what can be better sign of our humility, then as David doth, to call ourselves by their names? Abraham talking with God called himself dust and ashes, such as lie under foot to be trodden upon by every one; and David giveth himself a name which none hath done before him, and very few after him, by taking on him the title of a silly creeping worm engendered of the dirt, fed only with earth, and the lowest of all kind of beasts: would God the spirit of mildness could drive away the spirit of stateliness, which reigneth in those which are many thousand degrees inferior to David. Let them imagine through the wrath of God that the hairs of their head were turned to living creatures, which were an easy thing with God, and yet would it not make them humble: how if the entrails and bowels of their body were changed into worms, as Herod's was, should not this neither? Oh, yes; but seldom times will you say, are these things wrought: I grant it so indeed, but much seldomer are men amended by hearing of them in other, or feeling them in themselves. Tarry not to convert I beseech you, till these wonders be wrought again: tempt not the Lord of heaven and earth, with deferring the day of repentance. For be you assured, that contemning the riches of his grace, and abusing the patience of his long suffering, while his word and Gospel is preached, and not believed; he will verify that prophesy upon you, that was long ago pronounced, Revel. 19 17. upon the enemies of Christ's Gospel: Come ye fowls of the heaven to the great supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and captains, and mighty men, of horses and riders, offree and bond, of small and great: Oh then will it be too late to cast away pleasures, to curse your delays, to embrace the Gospel, and to cry peace when the sword of God is dipped in blood. Another use hereof may be this, that seeing 2 the greatest and strongest creatures were by nature and creation subject to man: now not only they but also all other both great and small through our transgressions, are become either our enemies, or else our conquerors. This must teach us how odious and abominable a thing is sin and wickedness in the presence of the eternal God, and his unreasonable creatures: it was forbidden by God, it was condemned by angels, it is revenged by beasts, and punished by devils: it drove Adam from paradise, it kept Moses from Canaan, it destroyed the inhabitants of jerusalem, and hath excluded infinite thousands from the kingdom of heaven. It was committed by the blood of souls, it was redeemed by the life of Christ, it was reproved by the death of martyrs, and yet it is maintained by the practice of multitudes: Oh whose heart is not divided to see such a monster more made of than all good things, which was hatched by the devil, and fed by the life of souls, and yet reigneth that it may win millions of souls to condemnation. Shall reasonable men rescue it, when unreasonable beasts fight against it? every creature in his kind cries vengeance against it. It made the angels damnable, it made the world abominable, it maketh the beasts corruptible, and it maketh men miserable: Miserable I say by birth, for they are borne in it; miserable by life, for they are vexed with it: and most miserable by death, for they are cursed with it. We have already heard that the sins of Egypt were punished and revenged by louse, and the sins of Herod were requited by worms, and unto these add the sin of the prophet that reproved jeroboam, 1. Reg. 13. 24. which was rewarded by a lion; Thus doth the earth cry woe unto it, for it cursed her; thus doth the heavens hate it, for it destroyeth her children; thus doth the stars fight against it, because it dazzleth their light; and thus do wild beasts war against it, because it increaseth their groans. Oh, then let not us men bring up that monster, & hatch up the coccatrices eggs, which so soon as it is delivered and conceived, it giveth our lives mortal wounds. If wicked Herod in slaying the children of Bethleem, thinking thereby to slay Christ, did not refrain his cruelty from his own household, but also put his own sons to death, lest they should afterward trouble him for his kingdom: how much more ought we (not to imitate his cruelty, but his policy) to bridle our natures, to chain our affections, to subdue our lusts, to conquer our desires, and to forsake our pleasures, that we might bathe the sword of God his law in the blood of our own sins; seeing if it live we must die, and if it die we shall live. It cometh unto us with the Siren's song, it embraceth us friendly as joab did Abner, but while it saluteth us with one hand, it stabbeth us with the other. It promiseth us fair as jael did to Sisera, and it giveth us milk in steed of water; it serveth us in plate, it clotheth us in purple, it lodgeth us in ease, but in the end it slayeth our souls, as she did Sisera: it maketh much of us as the high priests did of judas, it maketh us gentlemen of rascals, it maketh us rich men of beggars, it maketh us companions of princes, it delivereth us when others are endangered, but in the end it toeth the halter to our necks, and maketh speed for our execution: it serveth us as the harlot did the young man, Proverb. 7. it kisseth us, it flattereth us, it pleaseth us, and it promiseth us all sugared joys, but yet it draweth us as the ox is drawn to the slaughter: it biddeth us take our ease, follow pastimes, avoid preaching, love not the prophets, come not at the churches, and forget all manner of godliness; but in the end it serveth us as a noble man doth his old spaniel, commending some to the gallows, some to the prisons, some to noisome sickness, some to poverty, some to slavery, some to madness, some to untimely death, and some to unmerciful hell. Therefore hear and follow Salomons counsel, Prou. 7. 24. Hear O my children, let not your hearts decline to her ways and walk not in her paths, for she causeth many to fall down wounded, and strong men are slain by her; her house is the way unto the grave which goeth down to the chambers of death. The sixth Sermon. Verse. 5. Awake O ye drunkards, and weep and howl O ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it shall be pulled from your mouth. NOw we are to handle the exhortations of the prophet made and grounded on the premised calamity. The which exhortations for our more orderly and formal proceeding, I will thus divide: some of them concern the miserable overthrow of their country by famine, whereunto they are prepared by the prophet's sermons, and these are in this first chapter, and to the twelfth verse of the second chapter: the other generally stir them up unto repentance, from the twelfth to the eighteenth. The first of these, whereby the inhabitants of the land are admonished & prepared for the judgement, is either for the people as in ver. 5. 8. 11. or for the clergy or ministery, as in the 13. of the first chapter, & the first of the second chapter. That part which is directed to the people, is by special names & notes of persons described, which are of two sorts, either for their manners, as drunkards, ver. 5. or for their occupation or trade of life, as husbandmen, ver. 11. And also these exhortations have their several reasons to move the people withal, as in this we have in hand he moveth the drunkards, either to awake or to lament, ver. 5. 8. Upon these causes, the first concern themselves, unto the ninth; and from the ninth to the eleventh, they concern the Lord. That which moveth them for themselves, is first of all their penury and want, ver. 5. their pleasures and plenty should be pulled from their mouths. Secondly, in regard of the means how this should be effected, which he describeth metaphorically, by comparing the little beasts to a mighty nation, ver. 6. whose power is there also described, & in the 7. ver. the work which he should work, that the vines and fig trees, the most pleasant, profitable and necessary plants of their country should be utterly subverted. And this we will by the merciful assistance of God his holy spirit first of all handle. First of all the prophet calleth upon those drunkards to awake, for we know that much drinking bringeth much sleeping; and therefore before the prophet could speak unto this kind of persons, he calleth upon them to awake from their wine, and to rouse up themselves from the soft bed of their easy, or rather beastly sins. And out of this we may behold how sweet is the sin of drunkenness, even as sweet as sleep is to the weary body. Again, here we may note how dangerous is the sin of drunkenness, that reigning in the bodies of men, their minds cannot be instructed, their follies cannot be reproved, and their lives cannot be amended: for they are always sleepy and drowsy, so that nothing can enter into their hearts, so long as the love of drink reigneth in their mouths, and many other ways I could urge this similitude or metaphor of the prophet, but I omit them because they are well and worthily declared by other. This therefore will I observe out of this word Awake, that if men be not If the preachers awake us not, we shall sleep till we be destroyed. reclaimed by the preaching of God his word, they shall suddenly be destroyed by the coming of his judgements. Awake, saith the prophet, as if in other words he had declared his meaning, you sinners, you gluttons, you drunkards, you unmerciful men, which are taking most delightful pleasure in your several iniquities. You are lulled a sleep by them, but lift up your eyes with speed if you be not speedily removed ere every you think thereof, you shall be suddenly confounded. The prophet David, Psal. 58. 5. 7. 8 telleth us, that those which will not be rebuked by the prophets are like to the deaf adder, which will not be cast out by the charmer: and therefore he plainly telleth them that they should consume as the Ice doth, and that they should melt away as a snail in her own shell, that they should be overthrown as quickly as a fire of small thorns, that they should be like the untimely fruit of a woman, and that they should as speedily perish as an arrow flieth out of a bow: this self same wisdom threatens to her disobedient and incredulous children, Pro. 1. 27. that seeing she had called, but none had answered; therefore their fear should come like sudden desolation, and their destruction like a whirl wind. There is not any thing among us but serveth for some use, and the want thereof is noisome unto us; the day for labour, the night for rest, the winter for ploughing, the summer for reaping, and so the word of God is sent to awake us before judgement, lest judgement should destroy us. The old world would not be awaked by Noah, and therefore they were drowned: the Sodomites would not be awaked by Lot, and therefore they were burned: the Israelites would not be awaked by jeremy, and therefore they were captivated: the jews would not be awaked by Christ, and therefore they were destroyed: the Corinthians would not be awaked by Paul, therefore they were spoiled by the heathen: the inhabitants of Constantinople would not be awaked by Chrysostome, and then the Barbarous Turk devoured them: and our countrymen of England will not be awaked by the preachers, therefore famine, wars, plagues, and sicknesses are seized upon us to overthrow us. Oh if ever we will, let us now look upon it: there is not one among us, but will cry against an open and notorious witch, burn her, burn her, she were not worthy to live, but against the open rebels against the word of God, which as Samuel told Saul, is equal or as damnable before God and all good men, as is witchcraft; yet we say nothing thereunto, yea rather as Augustine saith most heavenly: He is accounted a public enemy, who is displeased with these kind of conjurations, and him do the multitude turn out of audience, displace out of reverence, and (if they durst) destroy him from among the living. Oh my dear brethren, what will be the end of these mischiefs, God his majesty is already reviled, Christ his son is already denied, the devil their enemy is already embraced, the Gospel our salvation is already despised, the church of God our most dear mother is already weakened, the preachers of truth our most painful watchmen are already defaced, and will not the judgements of God come also speedily to take vengeance upon so manifold contempts, and so abominable rebellions; yet let us at least receive this for truth, that if yet we be not awakened, we shortly shall be confounded. The reasons of this doctrine are manifest, Reason 1. First because as Solomon saith, that the prosperity of fools shall slay them: that is even the meat which wicked men eat, the clothes that cover them, the friends that flatter them, the professions that every them; and the pleasures that rejoice them, shall turn God his word from them, and them from everlasting comfort. Oh lamentable misery, or miserable folly! that we should all of us be so bewitched with our wealth, which is a most merciful and liberal blessing of God, that we should be all rather paired then amended thereby; such is the state of them that be rich to themselves and not to God. Let us then take heed to the most certain word of God, to be instructed by it; to the most holy voice of preachers, to be reclaimed by them; and to the most terrible judgements of God whensoever they be uttered, that we be not condemned by them: for if we embrace and believe not the former, we shall be embraced and corrected by the latter. Secondly, another reason hereof doth David give, Psal. 73. 27. That all those which withdraw themselves from 2 God shall perish, and those which have not the word of God have not God, neither any comfortable feeling of his presence, but rather a fearful looking for of vengeance. Oh how terrible and dangerous is the condition of all papistical and carnal Recusants, which do willingly absent themselves from our assemblies! what do they else but withdraw themselves from the Lord, and work out their own condemnation? and therefore heavy is their case, which as Esay saith, 5. 24. As the fire devoureth the stubble, and the chaff is consumed of the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their bud shall rise up like dust, because they have cast off the law of the Lord of hosts, and contemned the word of the holy one of Israel. But for us which have already given up our names to the Lord, let us with David Psal. 73. 28. draw near unto our God, that our zeal in preaching, our labour in hearing, our feeling in praying, and our joy in all manner of reverence to the holy Gospel of Christ, may ever arise higher and higher, to the intent that we also may declare his works unto other, rather than in lamentable rebellion be made examples of his feveritie. But now let us come and see the uses of this doctrine, as they are left in the holy word of God; and this may be one, that seeing only in the word of God is the Use 1. foreknowledge of hurt, and the continuance of our peace: oh, then let us beware of whatsoever that shall endeavour, or any way be able to pull us away from the same. Our Saviour himself having preached a long and sweet fermon unto his Disciples to arm them against troubles, and to forewarn them against corruptions, shutteth it up with this exhortation, Luk 21. 34. Let not your hearts be overcome with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day should come upon you at unawares: whereby the whole church of God are likewise taught, that the devil should mightily labour by these instruments of drunkenness and worldly care, to bury the word of God, and to blot out if it were possible the very names of the elect from the book of God: and when were these days if now they be not? Shall we look upon the families of all our land, the very special and distinct persons therein, we shall find very few that are not infected with one of these poisons: Drunkenness hath banished all religion; invaded the houses of court and country; and already made the heavens to weep, the earth to fast, the beasts to pine, the poor to famish, the enemies of God to rejoice, the saints of Christ to be sorrowful, and the souls of many to be utterly destroyed. The cares of this life have also so far prevailed, that hell may seem to be enlarged; and the devil with golden apples hath raised up contention in all kingdoms, and by this means gained infinite possessions. Some have all their minds on wars, thinking it long till they be at the spoils of their enemy: do these men either think upon the word of God, which is, or the day of God which shall be? No, no, the cares of this life have overcome their hearts: some are too noble, some are too base; some are too rich, some are too poor; some are too learned, and some are too ignorant: thus by one way or other many are overthrown. But yet let us not be hindered from preaching, or discouraged from hearing, let us not want the means to obtain life eternal, and much more let us not refuse the same being offered. If the Ninivites had not repent when jonah preached, within forty days had Niniveh been destroyed: oh happy Niniveh, that thus was warned by the preaching of one: yea rather blessed be our God that would not suffer a city to perish, before he had called them by his prophet. But how blessed are we that have had many prophets and preachers, and yet have not repent in sackcloth and ashes: yea although the world be hardened with preaching, and say, where is the promise of his coming? where is the destruction that you have prophesied? where are the desolations that so many preachers have threatened? Yet take heed, although the cock crow at midnight, yea many times before the day, will you say therefore it will never be light: so although we have a great while ago, and yet continue to cry and call on you to awake before danger come, be assured it will come as the morning star after the nightly darkness. Oh, then let us arise; put on your clothes, travail to the lords house, and hearken every one what he will inform us to amend us, or instruct us to forewarn us. Another use hereof we 2 may make for the conversion of them that are yet hardened in their sins: then the prophet hath taught us, that our whole conversion and safety dependeth on the word of God in the mouths of the ministers, and we have learned to watch over our lives, that none steal away the same from us. But yet we have nothing to say to them that are no drunkards, no covetous misers, no open and profane persons, nor yet despisers of the ministery and means of reconciliation: but rather loving unto them, and yet for all this make no conscience to know God out of his word, or to doubt of many main points of salvation, or to disport themselves in vain and unseemly mirth, and such like, even unto them I say with Paul, 1. Cor. 15. 34. Awake to live righteously and sin not. You have lived indeed as Herod that honoured john Baptist; as Pilate that thought Christ a good man; as the jews that followed him from town to town; but what change hath there been of your lives since you knew these things: if there be none, as there can be none as yet; then let Paul and joel cry unto you, Awake to live righteously. I may say unto these men as Christ said to the Lawyer, that they are not far from the kingdom of God, they are asleep, but not heavily asleep; and they may say of themselves as Agrippa said of himself, that they are almost persuaded to be Christians, but not altogether. Yet one thing more wanteth my beloved, not the selling of your houses, nor the distribution of your goods, nor the relief of the poor, nor the chastening of your bodies; but the banishing of your vain pleasures, the overruling of your affections, the crucifying of your lusts, the putting from you your ignorance, your pastimes, your oaths, your tabling, your dicing, your gaming, and all your cost and time that is evil spent. You have indeed made a good beginning, but also I wish you to make a good ending; you have cast the devil out of the hall of your hearts, oh cast him out also from the parlour; you have thrust his head out of your minds, suffer not therefore his feet to remain within you. Is it as sweet as sleep unto you to do as ye do, beware lest it be as bitter as gall unto you to receive as you have done; therefore awake my brethren, and cast off the coverlets of your evil, forsake the sheets of iniquity, and leap out of the soft bed of self-pleasing delights: put on the garments of righteousness, embrace the cross of christianity, and break the neck of all your pleasures, as Samson did of his enemies. The Lord biddeth us awake to judgement, the Gospel biddeth us awake to righteousness; the church biddeth us awake to soberness; the preachers bid us awake to holiness; the creatures bid us awake to obedience; the earth biddeth us awake to fruitfulness; and the heavens from an high bid us to awake either to salvation, or else sleep to condemnation: shall we have more need yet to be awaked? Oh no, let us arise quickly as the church doth, Cant. 3. 2. and seek that we may find grace, pray that we may obtain faith, and knock at the gates of mercy that they may be opened, lest if we slumber any longer we be utterly excluded. Another observation out of this verse may be this, that seeing the prophet doth especially and by name call upon the drunkards, which are beastly men, or men like beasts, advertising them in the first place above others, to look to the main chance as the proverb is, he doth thereby teach us, that those Such as are our sins, such shall be our wants. which above others misspend the good creatures of God, shall also above others be tormented with their want; drunkards are consumers of corn, neglecters of time, prodigal in their purses, fools in their heads, disclosers of secrets, and devourers of god his benefits; therefore the prophet telleth them, they shall lament in misery, and perish in adversity. We know that the first folly that ever was wrought by mankind, was wrought by a woman: and therefore women sithence are evermore accursed more than men, their bodies weaker, their stomachs tenderer, their pains greater; their lives more slavish, and their minds more servile. Who was more merry than Naball at his drunken feasts; and yet who died more miserable than Nabal? Who were more lascivious than Sodom, and who was more accursed than Sodom; who lived more deliciously than the Giants of the old world, & yet who perished more generally and decayed more suddenly? who were more gorgeous than the women of jerusalem, Esay 3. 17. 24. 25. which lavished out their wealth in bravery, and beautified their bodies in pride, but in adversity who were more punished than they, their secrets were opened, their beauty withered, their bodies uncovered, their garments torn, their heads bald, their feet bare, and sackcloth in steed of satin? Most miserable are the abusers of meat or drink, garments and health, riches and friendship; for unto whom much is given, of them shall much be required. If the Lord should suffer of his blessed justice, this dearth and famine to continue, they which have had greatest plenty, being always filled and clothed with the best, would be more cruelly vexed then the poorer people, who have been taught by long experience, to content their hungry stomachs with pinching, and scanty morsels. So that herein you shall find a most comfortable benefit of abstinence from meat, and temperance in meat; they teach us to abound, and they teach us to want, they preserve us in health, and prepare us against adversity. Hearken unto this you belly gods that worship your tables, and pray to your kitchens: and do you also that sit all the day at taverns and alehouses, lend your ears to this lesson, that your wicked custom and company draw not your lives into most fearful extremity: Consider before hand what were your misery if the streams were dried up, the cellars were emptied, and the corn fields desolate wildernesses, that you could not be satisfied abroad, nor yet contented within; what relief could you find to pacify your greedy appetite? would you then be contented when you have no other remedy? that is not thanks worthy: will you pray for your flesh pots as the Israelites did? that were to work out speedily your own condemnation: will you then turn to the Lord and confess your gluttony? but such conversions are seldom unfeigned; will you patiently endure intolerable famine? oh but that you are not able, but will rather eat of the flesh of your own bodies, and drink of the loathsomeness of your own waters: Therefore either now spare your riot that you may be prepared to want; or else fill up your bodies with all manner of luxury, that you may be confounded with all manner of penury. The reasons of this doctrine may Reason 1. be these: first, because this kind of men shall want their God and chiefest felicity, when the drunkards want their pots, the gluttons their belly cheer, the proud men their bravery, and the idle persons their ease, Phil. 3. 19 Some persons there are that are so far besotted with their lives, that they make as the Apostle saith, Their God to be their belly; and in another place he telleth us what shall be the estate of these days wherein we live, That men shall be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Oh wretched time that hatched such monsters, or rather wretched men bewitched with such pleasures! what will some say, the Apostle never heard, nor any other preacher can ever prove, that ever a man was so foolish as to make his belly his god, or so faithless as to say he loved his pleasures above his God. Indeed I grant at the common law we can hardly prove it, but in the spiritual law we can easily show it: we weigh not the word but the practice of men, and if you find a man (for every one must search himself) that hath bestowed more on his belly than he can afford to the church, and poor members of God, that robbeth and spoileth the church livings that he may entertain noble guests, and keep a liberal house; or that raketh by extortion and unlawful means from his poor tenants, that he may brave it out in London, and exceed voluptuously at home, in the mean season not regarding religion, nor obeying the admonition of a good conscience, nor the Gospel of God, I say such a man hath his belly for his god, whatsoever outward profession he make to the contrary. Again, if men do not spend more time in pleasures then in praying, preaching, and hearing God his word, but omit the time thereunto appointed, and admit other vanities into the place thereof, which almost all the young men of England do, I say also that these men love their pleasures more than God. Then hearken to your doom you despisers, and be ashamed or else confounded, that the earth which is not yours but the lords earth, should bear up such rebels from the pit of hell. See we not the preachers of God his word, how our congregations are lessened, how our sermons are mocked, how our doctrine is derided, and how our exhortations (nay not ours but the Lords) are scoffingly refused. See we not gentlemen and their families at their ease, when they should be labouring in the Lord's vineyard; Lawyers in their studies, when they should be in the churches; merchants in their counting houses, when they are wanting at sermons; ruffians at taverns, young men at dancing schools, husbandmen at drinking feasts, though heaven and earth cry against it. And the fear of a mortal man prevaileth more than the love of the immortal God: and yet for all this men will say they love God above all, and their neighbours as themselves, when they do not, nor can do any of them both. Then doth it necessarily follow, that if you want these things, you want your God; and therefore they shall leave you in most miserable adversity. Another reason of this 2 doctrine is, that which David giveth Psal. 17. 14. They have no portion, but in this life; they can have no comfort of the graces of the Lords children, so that when they are perplexed and weaned from these things, they are more vexed than other men. This is the just judgement of God, that where men have most of all set their heart, there above others they should receive their hurt. Now my dear brethren, take up a taste of this food which I have prepared for your souls, and lust not after the wild do, when the tame kid may serve your turn. Use I beseech you, these plain and easy doctrines, to show us the misery of our times wherein we live, and of their lives among whom we live: We are altogether set on eating and drinking, as if our souls delighted in wine, or should be saved by meat; we regard not the want which the poor endure, we think not on the hand which is ready to strike us, and we fear not the calamity which doth already compass us. Make not your belly your God, and take not your portion in this life only: know you that a good Christian cannot come to heaven, but by often fasting and continual watchfulness: and see you not how little this was practised, till the dearth came and put us in mind hereof; now then let us redeem the time that we have evil spent, and spare that meat for the poor, which we may save for ourselves. We have long lived by bread, but now let us live by the word of God, let us I beseech you, cast off our carnal desires, and take no rest in our own houses with Vrijah, till the Lord's people be in quietness: let this prevail with us, that look how much comfort we take in abusing these, so much discomfort shall we find by forsaking them. The uses which offer themselves out of this doctrine are these: first, that the confidence which the wicked raise up to Use 1. themselves in the things of this life, shall be their utter overthrow, Isai. 20 5, 6. that whereas Egypt and Ethiopia were the comfort of Israel, contrary to the express commandment of God, the Lord threateneth to captivate these nations, and to destroy the people in their own expectation, that both the comfort and comforters should be at once confounded. Even so doth he in like manner in these days, where men lean more on the weak staff of meat and drink, then on the strong rock of God his word, he breaketh the staff in pieces, and maketh the flitters to pierce through our own hearts. This is the reward of belly-gods, that their joys are removed, their hope is decayed, their consolation confoundeth them, and the want of those things wherein they most delighted, shall procure them most easeless pain, because they most corrupted them. The rich glutton which exceeded in delicious fare, and in all abundance of wines and pleasant drinks, was tormented without all pity for want of water. The prodigal son, who lavished out riotously his father's legacy, like our English spendthriftes at tables, at drinking, at whoring, at gaming, in bravery of apparel, horses, hounds and delicates: was constrained for his office to be a swineherd, for his meat to want that which his beasts were fed with, for his bravery to be basely and beggarly arrayed, and his whole felicity was turned into most lamentable, yet due deserved misery. hearken therefore unto me my brethren, and hear me when I tell you the issues of your pleasures: If you be aged, think what were your sorrow, that if those riches, which in youth you laboured for with your hands, to comfort you withal when you should be old, should be suddenly taken from you, then may you say, my younger years I consumed in vanity, and elder days must perish in poverty. If you be young men, consider with your own hearts, that if the liberty you took should be abridged, the pastimes you played should cause you so many stripes, and your youthful days should be turned into languishing infirmities: would not this amaze you to feel it, and discomfort you to consider it? Yes, yes, my beloved, when your riches are the coals, your desires are the fire, your pleasures are the bellows, and your own lives are the irons to be burned in this miserable misery. I delighted, shall one say, in hunting, and now the beasts devour me: I delighted in dancing, but now my wonted mirth is turned into hellish yelling: I delighted in drinking, but my cups are empty, and the natural heat of my stomach devoureth my body like a fire; I delighted in stealing, but now doth the world rob me of my life, & the devil of my soul: I delighted in whoring, but alas my diseases are become loathsome to God and man: I delighted in slandering and hurting other, but my lies are recompensed with my own life: I was a swearer, but the Lords wounds which I blasphemed have witnessed my death: I was a conjuror, the devil hath me: I desired large fields, but now have I lost mine own. And thus shall all sinners come to their ends, as Esau which loving hunting, by his love lost his blessing. Another use arising 2 from the same doctrine shall be this, that seeing we which be most abusers of the Lords benefits, shall by their want be most of all punished: let us before this time of adversity come, humble our souls and amend our sins, as the prophet calleth upon Babylon many years before she was destroyed, Isa. 47. 1. 23. Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin, daughter Babel, sit on the ground; for there is no throne O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. So my beloved, come you down now while you hear me calling unto you, and while this wrath is but coming upon you: you have every one advanced a throne for your sins to sit on, but pull it down, or else it shall defile your souls. Yet there is time, turn you from your evils, you drunkards to soberness, you wantoness to modesty, you swearers to pity, you idle ones to diligence, you rich men to humility, you gentlemen to religion, you women to righteousness, you young men to learning, you old men to praying, and you poor men to patience: turn turn I say before this adversity, that either your change may change the Lords meaning, or use may ease the rigour of your punishment. Come down I beseech you, take up your cross and follow jesus Christ: let temperance rule you, let religion persuade you, let your Saviour win you, let his ministers warn you, let the earth speak unto you, and be ye all converted, or else continue in your delights, and cease not to offend God which hateth your lives, or the church which wisheth your wealth, or the poor which pray for your peace, or the earth which threateneth want, or the devil that gapeth for your souls. howl ally drinkers of wine: Now the prophet telleth these drunkards when they were awaked what they should do, not go to their feasts again, or to the vomits again, or to the taverns, or to the alehouses, or to their mirth: but he biddeth them go to the house of mourning. Weep saith the prophet and howl: that is, as if he had said, lay away your pleasures, and banish all evil companions; drink up your tears as wine, and eat your sorrows as bread: for a sudden calamity is come upon you; the meat that is in your hand shall not come into your belly, and your mouths shall be weaned from sucking and swilling in of strong drink. From hence when the prophet biddeth them to weep, I might note unto you the nature, or rather an inseparable companion of true repentance, which is a mournful heart and a weeping countenance, which doth not only sorrow for the fault, but as it were wash away the sins of the soul: for the tears which we weep in this life do show our uncleanness, which if they were able they would cleanse away. Tears are said to be the blood of the soul, because they proceed of a wounded and sorrowful spirit; and therefore let not desperate ruffians and carnal persons, think that the sighs, and groans, and wishes of their hard hearts, can go for payment in the Lord's presence, or that the bare misliking and leaving of their old sins, is true repentance: for as the wound cannot be healed, but the party shall be pained; so the life cannot be amended, except tears or true sorrow be expressed. But I will come nearer to my purpose, for I cannot stand on every word; and therefore I will only note that which is fittest and of greatest necessity. The seventh Sermon. IN the next place he biddeth them to howl, which is an action properly belonging to wolves, and is metaphorically applied unto these drunkards, for they are both devourers; the one of lambs, the other of corn; both are beasts, the one in nature, the other in likeness: and seeing they have rejoiced like beasts; now also he biddeth them to lament like beasts. And therefore seeing I seldom find this word howl, but it is applied unto beasts or wicked men: I therefore note hereby that the ungodly coming ungodly men very beasts in adversity. into adversity are like to the brutish and unreasonable creatures. They sorrow without hope, they weep without comfort, they howl without prayer, and they have their wits and their ease taken away at once; if they be merry, it is for their wealth; if they be heavy, it is for their want: So that then we may say justly of them, as Paul said of some Ephesians, they are beasts in the likeness of men: the prophet David telleth us, Psal. 49. 20. That man being in honour continueth not, but becometh like beasts that perish. The wicked being in honour are inconstantly seated, that serveth for their glory: but they are like the beasts that perish, that showeth their misery: in prosperity, they are uncertain; in their adversity, they are unhappy: when they are lifted up, they will be more than men; but when they are thrust down, they are found equal to beasts. The prophet Isay, cap. 16. ver. 7. prophesying the destruction of Moab, because of their pride, arrogancy, indignation, and lies, telleth them as this joel doth, that Moab shall howl unto Moab: and every one shall howl: for the foundation of Kirhareseth shall ye morn, and yet they shall be stricken. Will a man spare a wolf although he cry bitterly? No, no, for he knoweth he will raven again: so God will not spare the wicked, although they howl mournfully, for he knoweth they will sin again. Look upon this you desperate wicked persons and wretched bondslaves of Satan, here may you see what you will do when the Lords hand is upon you, will you then turn unto him when he is turned from you? or will you then remember him when your own memory is removed? think you then to have power to pray, or any hearts to hope in Christ, when your reason and heart is taken from you? think upon it (I beseech you) before hand, for else you undo your own souls, insomuch as when the water floods of trouble come upon you as the just vengeance for your lives, than you be filled with easeless yelling, beastly howling, unmerciful suffering, intolerable complaining, and no manner of relieving; then shall you find that they which refuse knowledge & instruction and correction in mercy, shall feel the same in judgement; and you shall wish that you had endured any torment to be released of your present desperation. The reasons here of are plain: first because Reason 1. they cannot understand judgement, Prou. 28. 5. If they be crossed in their affairs and cast down in their lives, they know not that then they are arraigned before the judgement seat of God, which maketh them as far without all natural reason, as they were before without all spiritual religion. David said of them that the lords judgements are far above the sight of the wicked, and therefore saith he do they defy all their enemies: alas seely souls, they think that other men's harms do not warn them, and that the Lord will never call them to account for their follies. They imagine if they please themselves they displease not God, and think if the hardest fall upon them that ever can come, yet their estate is better than other men's. But my beloved, save your souls (I beseech you) out of Satan's claws: he draweth you on with deceitful persuasions, telling you that in adversity you shall be like other men; in the mean season your eyes are blinded that you cannot see how heavy the judgements of God lie upon you, purposing to take you at advantage in extremity; that in sickness he will make you raging; in famine he will bring you to blasphemy; in wars he will make your desperation, & that which is worst of all, in death he will bring you to endless condemnation. Therefore think (I beseech you) with yourselves, and rejoice not like beasts, and then shall you mourn like beasts: learn the course and causes of the lords judgements that you may never feel the want of a peaceable and bold conscience. Another reason is this, because this is only the prerogative 2 of the lords children in adversity, to keep their souls by patience, Luk. 21. 19 Rom. 5. 3. and therefore the Lord will not give his children's meat unto dogs, nor yet cast such a pearl before such swine: Where there is a dissimilitude of joy, there is also a dissimilitude of sorrow; but betwixt the good and bad there is no likeness of their mirth, and therefore there shall be no likeness of their woe: they are proud when we are poor; they are many when we are few; they are merry when we are sorry; they are glorious when we seem comfortless, and therefore when we are relecued they are distressed. God is our comfort, but it is their comfort if there were no God: the devil is our enemy, but their father; hell is our bondslave, but their hangman. We rejoice as if we rejoiced not, but they rejoice as if they were borne for nothing else: we sorrow as if we wept not; but they have their eyes weeping in life, their hearts weeping in death, and their souls weeping in hell. Think now my beloved, that this is our time of lamentation, and this is our lamentation of time, to see men weeping that should rejoice, men rejoicing that should lament: Woe be unto them, for they have their consolation. Therefore if once the world turn with the wicked, then shall happiness be like ise, their pleasure like a summer dew, their friends shall forsake them, their fear shall possess them, and their misery shall overcome them. Seeing therefore this is the case of the wicked, that know not nor fear not God, hence ariseth this most assured and fearful, and yet comfortable use to be known: that such as is Use 1. the life of the wicked, such shall be their end, Amo▪ 4. 1, 2, 3. The prophet in the said place calling upon the heads and rich men of Israel by the name of the kine of Bashan, that fed in the mountain of Samaria, telleth them that the Lord hath sworn, that seeing they behaved themselves like beasts, he would also use them like beasts: for the thorns should stifle them, and their posterity should be taken with fishhooks, and they should go out of the gaps and breaches forward like kine, and they shall be cast headlong out of the palaces. And these kind of beasts are the oppressors of the poor, the devourers of meat and drink, the neglecters and despisers of the Lords worship, and such as profane the lords sacrifices with their own inventions, verse. 1. 4. 5. Consider now if ever there were more beasts in Israel then are in England. O lamentable world, wilt thou ever proceed to provoke the lords wrath, to oppress thy own flesh, to spill the life of thy own brother, and to shed the blood of thy own soul: dost thou not yet know that if thou delight in cursing, thou shalt receive cursing, and because thou lovest not blessing, it shall be far from thee? Yea I will add this also, thinkest thou not that thy cruel life shall have a cruel death? and thy merciless heart shall receive a merciless plague? doth not the scripture say, That the same measure shall be heaped on thee that thou didst power upon other? Hast thou lead all thy life in swearing, and dost thou think thou shalt die with blessing? hast thou walked wanton, passed the time pleasantly, pampered up thy own body delicately, consumed thy strength lecherously, wasted thy wealth prodigally, despised the ministery wickedly, frequented evil company joyfully, used all manner of gaming greedily, and wilt thou hope for all this to die the death of the righteous, and to make a blessed latter end? Then is it not true (which is most true) that such as men sow such shall they reap; and if their life be the season, their death is the harvest. Oh that I could persuade you to live well, as you persuade yourselves to die well; then should your times be happy, your lives be godly, and all our ends be blessed. Therefore on the other side, we that are in league with the Lord of glory, how happy is our case, seeing as we live, so shall we die; our wearied bodies shall rest in his kingdom, our sorrowful souls shall be refreshed in his kingdom, our wounds shall be healed in heaven, our tears shall be wiped from our eyes, our lives shall be disburdened of slanders: and to conclude, seeing we being alive are buried with Christ by our profession, we shall also at our death be raised up with Christ to his everlasting possession. Secondly, 2 another use which doth arise from this point is this, that seeing the wicked are so beastly in their sorrows, and so desperate in their afflictions, that sometimes wickedness is rewarded in this life, though not always; for their comfortless estate, is the just punishment of their reckless behaviour. We have manifold examples hereof in the sacred word of God: who was more cruel than Adonibezek, who cut off the thumbs and toes of seventy kings, and afterward by the Lord's commandment he was so served himself? judg. 1. 6, 7. Who was more proud than Nabuchadnezzar? yet in this life was his understanding taken from him, and he driven to eat his meat with brute beasts. Tzedechias, which burned the book of God, was taken by his enemies, had his children slain before his face, and afterward had his own eyes put out, and died at Babylon. Herod that wicked wretch was eaten of worms, Ananias and Saphira were slain by the Lord himself, with a great many of like terrible judgements of God, of which you may read both in the scriptures, and in the writings of other. There are a viperous brood among us, which are not ashamed openly to profess, that they care not so much for the pains in another life, if they may escape the plagues of this life that is present, and notwithstanding they fear the punishment of their sins should be executed on them in this life to their open shame, and in the life to come to their utter destruction; yet they will never be amended by Gospel or iudgemen: t let such persons think what shall be their danger, if they continue in this wicked opinion and wretched life. For assuredly as David once said, so will we ever say, that the same which the wicked feareth shall come upon them: why shouldest thou be more ashamed to be punished before a few of thy friends in this life, then to be laid open to the full unto all the world at the latter day? Learn therefore to purge thy hands and heart from sins wherein thou dwellest, and when they shall be burned thou shalt be saved: think that thou art not better than those which are already named, and therefore thou mayst be hanged with; Absalon, be stoned with Achan, be cursed with Canaan, be brained with Abimelech, be eaten with dogs as jezabel was, be slain with the sword as Adoniah was, and finally fall from the top of honour to the bottom of ignominy, as Haman did. Because of the new wine. This is the cause why he biddeth the drunkards and drinkers to awake, because they should lose that which they best loved: your new wine that is so sweet to your mouths, wherein you dwell day and night, shall be taken from you. And in this the prophet noteth unto us the whole corruption of carnal and wicked men, that if they be joyful, or if they be sorrowful, it is only for the things of this life present: when Wicked men only merry and sorry for worldly things. their barns and storehouses are filled, their fields clad with cattle, their names exalted with worldly honour, than they strike up the joyfulest music to their hearts that they can invent: but when their wealth decreaseth, or sickness taketh them, or the famine vexeth them, or the rumours of bloody and deadly war disquieteth them, then are they heavy, then only are they sorrowful, Reu. 18. 9, 10, 11. Luc. 17. 27. Hose. 7. 14. They account it a special madness to mourn for the affliction of joseph, that is, to weep for their own sins, for the persecution of the Lords flock, for the decrease of the faithful, and contempt of the Gospel: also they think it a mere folly, for men to rejoice at the hearing of a sermon, or the reproving of sin, or the planting of a preaching minister, and the removing of a cipher, or the establishing of religion. But let them know it is a thing accursed, to rejoice for vanity, and not for godliness; to weep more for the loss of a father, or the want of bread, or the feeling of sickness, then for the famine of God his word, or the death of a faithful man. The reasons for confirmation hereof may be Reason 1. these, because only in these temporal and worldly things they place the rest of their souls, Luc. 15. 19 The rich man having new builded his barns, reaped his corn, and filled his storehouses, biddeth his soul to take her ease, for he had store enough for many years: we marvel then that the loss of these things goeth so near them, when with them they lose the very health of their souls. What shall we say to the greedy cormorants, which to gather wealth as this man did, reposing therein the hope of their health, while unlawfully they would save their souls, unrighteously they condemn them: Oh, let them also beware, which being the outward professors of the Gospel, yet never make an end to encroach more living. I cannot say they, hope to be saved by them; but I may be bold to say, that they much distain the glory of God, while they advance their names they endanger their souls. Secondly, another reason is, because the love of these carnal 2 commodities banisheth away the love of God, 1. joh. 2. 16. How shall men which have denied God, and are become idolaters, as all worldly men are, Ephes. 5. 5. care for any religion, or rejoice for any goodness, yea rather lament it; or how shall they lament any evil, but rather rejoice in it; because they are void of all goodness themselves? A godly father said of them in this sort, that they account that evil, which doth not make them evil, as famines, sickness, and other calamities; but for swearing, drunkenness, whoredom, and other vices they call them not evils. They are not ashamed while they praise good things, themselves to be evil: and they think it a greater disgrace, to have a ragged town, a thatched house, an unhandsome leg, or a poor estate, then to have an ill life. This said he long ago, and now with tears I may say it again, that men in our times, through the want of religion, which through abundance they have loathed, and rebellion they have vomited up: fear no God, but the enemy: love no knowledge, but their law evidence; and they care for no health, but bodily medicines: and thus they weep when they should rejoice, and rejoice when they should weep. The uses which arise from this doctrine are these: First, that these carnal minds, and men shall never Use 1. be eased in their carnal sorrows, or comforted in their worldly comforts. Therefore james said, cap. 4. 2, 3. Ye lust and have not, ye envy and have indignation, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, and get nothing be cause you ask not: you ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you might consume it on your lusts. Wherein the heavenly Apostle hath set out to the full the nature of all worldly wishers, & carnal criers, wherein these things I beseech you to observe most diligently: First, that this is the nature of wicked men in their prayers being in distress, that they envy and have indignation even at God himself, thinking that he doth them great injury thus to disquiet their ease, and to trouble them with want: Oh fearful condition of wicked men, that their very prayers are nothing else but murmuring against the Almighty. Secondly, he noteth the very cause why the wicked crave any thing at the hand of their creator, that (saith he) they might bestow it on their lusts. And surely I am much afraid that the feigned prayers of a great number in this time of dearth and famine, have had the like inward motion; which is the cause that the Lord regardeth not our prayers, and removeth not his judgements. Think not therefore that ever your cries for corn, for bread, for meat, for plenty, for cheapness, and for comfort shall take any effect: although you fill the air with your outcries, or the earth with your tears, until your carnal minds be banished; your envying spirits be humbled; your unjust and unlawful suits be silenced: yea until you have more regard to your souls then to your bodies; to the Gospel, then to the corn fields; and to the glory of God, above wife or children, life or salvation. Another use belonging to this doctrine, our Saviour giveth Mat. 6. 31. 32. Take no thought, saith he, 2 what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or wherewithal you shall be clothed; for after these things seek the Gentiles, & your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of those things: but seek you first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be ministered unto you. Here may we learn the medicine for our sickness, the supply of our want, & the comfort of our distress, who shall bid us mourn because we have no meat? Indeed it is to be lamented; yet Christ saith, take no thought for it; thou art a poor man; so was he: thou hast a family; so had he: thou livest by thy labour; so did he: thou livest in times of scarcity, so did he. Then he speaketh by experience, sorrow not for thy want, he was the son of God, so art thou: it was his meat to do his father's will; so let it be thine: Say not as the woman did to Eliah, we will eat this and then die; but rather we will endure this and then die. The Gospel is my meat, the son of God is my clothing, and the kingdom of heaven is my inheritance: shall I lust after other meat, or desire a woollen garment, and wish for a worldly inheritance? No, no, heaven is all things, there is for me and my children: Christ is all things▪ he will clothe me and my children: and the Gospel is all things, it shall feed me and my family: my soul shall eat my body, my body shall not devour my soul. Thus let us comfort the poor members of Christ that want, and encourage one another, in distress against distrust: let us weep with them that weep, and mourn with them that mourn, that we may rejoice with them that shall rejoice in the kingdom of heaven. For it shall be pulled from your mouth. Having awaked these persons by calling, and troubled them with mourning, lest they should esteem the matter lightly, that their sin could be washed away with tears; he telleth them plainly that the wine shall be pulled from their mouth: and this he doth in my judgement to drive them to a deeper conscience of their sins, and consideration of the lords wrath. So that he may seem thus to say unto them, it is already decreed, that your evil shall not be turned away, therefore lament your calamity. And from hence we may note, that all the feigned repentance, & uncomfortable cries No mercy procured by feigned and worldly sorrow. of the wicked shall never turn away the wrath of God from them. So doth the holy Ghost declare, Heb. 12. 17. Gen. 27. 38. when Esau with abundance of weeping cried out for the blessing, yet he could not obtain it. Wherein there appeareth their endless misery, that their tears shall be no more accepted of God, then are the cries of a beast in the hand of a butcher. The Lord knoweth that they are not humbled for his sake, but for their own; and were it not more for the fear of their own misery, then of his judgements, they would never take his name in their mouths, except to blaspheme him. The Lord can and will show himself froward with them that are froward, Psal. 18. and have as deaf ears at their cries as ever they had at our sermons: he will be as merciless unto them, as ever they were to their brethren: no children which seem innocent, no women which seem penitent, no old men which seem religious, no young men which seem glorious, nor any blood which seemeth precious, shall remove their pains, and reverse his sentence. And this doth the holy Ghost always persuade unto the wicked, because he telleth them in other places, as Prou. 15. 8. Mich. 6. 7. That their sacrifices are abomination unto him; Reason 1. and if they would give him the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls, yet will he not be merciful unto them. What did the Lord in outward show better accept then sacrifice, and what could outwardly show greater obedience then with Abraham to offer up their own children: yet it being done of a wicked man or woman, all were worth nothing? Secondly, the Lord hath appointed 2. a time wherein he would have our conversion performed, which being passed, there can be no redemption, Psalm. 95. 7. Cant. 5. 6. To day if you will hear his voice, then harden not your hearts: the fruitless tree in the Gospel had a time wherein it should bear fruit, which being omitted, without all mercy is hewed down. Therefore have you also a time, in the which if you be converted, then shall your death be dear in the sight of the Lord: but if you neglect this time, your blood shall be vile in his presence. But when will you say is this time, and how shall we know it? Surely, if a man in his last testament give a legacy of money to his son or servant, and name not the time of the payment, the law doth adjudge it to be due at the death of the testator: so the Lord having set no time in his testament when thou shalt repent, either in young or in old age, in the day or in the night; he thereby teacheth us that every day, yea every minute is appointed for our repentance, till we have repent: therefore how much we live without conversion, so much we lose; and every day calleth upon us to fulfil our father's testament, except we be bastards. Seeing now that the case of wicked men is so pitiles at the Lords hand, let us see what exhortations we may gather from hence for our instruction: and first of all let us take that which our Saviour hath left, Luk. 13. 24. V se 1. Strive saith he, to enter in at the strait gate, for the time shall come that many shall strive and not be able to enter. Labour (I beseech you) for Religion; for the knowledge of the Gospel; for obedience to the ministery, that your prosperity may be continued; and your adversity may be relieved? What a shame is it for men of wealth & worth, to be shut out of a noble man's gates? or rather what a shame is it that the tears and suit of a son being in prison or beggarly, shall not move his own parents to clemency? so shall it be with you when you shall have mercy shut against you, because you cared not for the blood of Christ; and you shall have your own father by creation not once acknowledge you to be children, or pity your calamity, because you disobeyed him: therefore now strive, that then you may enter; now obey, that then you may be received; now humble yourselves, that then you may be lift up; & let this provoke you like an iron grate unto the embracing of the fear of God. Presume not on the Lord's mercy, despair not of your own estates, say not it is too soon, for that is impiety, yea, the hour now is: think not it is too late, for that is blasphemy, but if now thou canst enter, now also thou shalt be received. Another use hereof doth the Lord himself make, Esay 17 13. That even the same 2 things wherein we trusted being in prosperity, shall (if they can) deliver us up when we are in adversity: when thou criest saith the Lord, the things that thou hast gathered together shall deliver thee, but the wind shall take them away; vanity shall pull them away; but he that trusteth in me shall inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. The Lord mocketh and derideth at the wicked men, as if he should say unto them in this sort: you old men, you have gathered many fables; you young men, you have hoarded many pastimes; you women, you have laid up many trifles; you rich men have encroached many purchases; you noble men have increased your worldly honour: now call to these your gods in sickness, in famine, in war, in poverty, in misery, in death; but I will blow them from you, they cannot help you: you shall only know, that they which have relied on my blessing, believed in my promise, delighted in my truth, they only shall have the earth for their possession, and the heavens for their inheritance. How foolish are men that seek not for these things before hand, that know not that in their wealth they choose for their life which they must abide and cannot avoid when they are in distress, either godliness which procureth their worldly ignominy, and their heavenly glory, or else wickedness and unlawful riches, that causeth their worldly majesty, but their everlasting misery. The eight Sermon. Verse. 6. For a nation cometh upon my land, mighty and without number: whose teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaws of a great lion. NOw the Prophet cometh to his metaphorical allusions, whereby sometimes he moveth the people, sometimes he describeth the persons, which are the workers of this calamity, as in this verse. where he resembleth the beasts to a nation, as he doth the Pismires and coneys, Prou. 30. 25. 26. Then he showeth for the terror of the people how they are armed to destroy, even as lions with their greedy jaws and sharp teeth, which tear in sunder whomsoever they meet: neither shall they only execute this malice upon men, but they shall take vengeance on the vines and fig trees, stripping off the bark, breaking down the branches, and devour the fruit and the body together. From hence we may No resisting of the Lords judgement. first of all note, seeing he maketh these beasts infinite in number, mighty in power, and a nation for policy and unity, that it is in vain to resist the judgements of God seem they never so small: What could be more base then to threaten the jews, which had so many cities, so many castles, so many corn fields, so many storehouses, and so many inhabitants to be destroyed by a few grasshoppers and caterpillars, which a man may tread on the ground; or physic or natural means may drive away: yet we see in this place the spirit of God so dealeth and armeth them with sufficient power to dismay and devour all things. Shall we now say that any judgement of God is small and of no reckoning, when he can make the unarmed worms to weary the harnished soldiers? No verily, for he hath set his judgements, some in the heavens, some in the earth, some in the air, and some in the waters, that every where we might be driven from rebellion, and drawn from disobedience. We may see in the heavens sometimes darkness, who can remedy it? we may feel in the earth barrenness, who can redress it? we may smell in the air loathsomeness, who can purge it? and a little billow of the waters can overwhelm us, who then can save us? For this cause Solomon Prou. 27. 12. called him a fool, that running against judgement destroyed himself. Oh saith he, in sickness why should I repent, I hope the physician can remedy this, and so delaieth till it be too late. If he be poor, then saith he, I will take of other men's goods, and they shall maintain me, and considereth not that the gallows are at hand: Nay that which is worse, they see the judgements of God against idle teachers, unfruitful hearers, unclean livers, and intolerable blasphemers, and yet they cannot hide themselves from it. Oh my dear brethren, we have many judgements in our land, and how do men resist them? the husbandman by ploughing, the gentlemen by fining, the rich men by gaining, and almost every one by ungodly flattering: therefore I beseech you, let us no longer be hardened, for we do strive against the stream, and bid war against the almighty; if there be any means to escape them, it is by yielding, or else assuredly we shall never be eased. Let us then set our hearts at rest, and never wage battle against the Everlasting: Reason 1. for he as we may read job. 34. 20. and 29. 37. can easily without all might destroy the strongest, catch the wisest, overturn the swiftest, and confound the noblest: why do we then take a contrary course, as Balaam did, which the Lord hath not hitherto blessed? It is not in our labour to relieve us, or in the earth to redress us; it is not in our repentance or submission, but principally in the mercy of God to deliver us. Then I beseech and entreat by your morning and evening prayer, that our hearts may be ploughed, and then shall our barns and garners be filled. Again, why should we delay to work our own reconciliation, 2 who is able to abide the angry countenance of the Lord? for the Psalmist saith, If his wrath be kindled but a little, then blessed are they that trust in him. Oh, how infinite is his mercy towards us, which have so long felt his judgements, and yet hath not his wrath been kindled. I may fear, and all that have any souls may fear, that all this time the coals of our transgressions are in gathering together, and shortly will the Lord's wrath set them on fire, and then who shall not be burned? This is evident that we resist the judgements of God, because we seek not a truce with him: And therefore look shortly to be served as the jews were, to have our flies turned into lions, our worms into beasts, our friends into foes, and these small evils which already we have, shall be grown unsufferable. The Use 1. uses which arise from hence, is first the same that Elihu jobs friend maketh, job. 37. 24. when he had reckoned up the wonderful judgements and works of God, he thus concludeth, Let men therefore fear before him, for he regardeth none that are wise in their own conceits: Wherein he teacheth us, that although the Lord worketh strangely in the world, and yet forbeareth to destroy us, it is because that thereby we should learn to fear him: for in the fear of God is all religion, and assurance of salvation. David saith, it is the beginning of wisdom: Peter telleth us, it is the continuance of our adoption: and Paul saith, it is the end of our profession, when he biddeth us to finish up our salvation with fear and trembling. Then my beloved, let us fear God, for so the word of God exhorteth, and the Lord commandeth, and the world and course of nature teacheth, Fear him not as a judge, for than thou shalt be condemned; fear him not as a servant, for than thou shalt be punished; but fear him as a father, and then thou shalt be delivered. But some wax desperate, through feeling of the Lords judgements, and others are hardened, because they have seen others taken, and themselves escaped: and in our times although we have so many causes to fear him (oh fearful times wherein is so little fear?) we may fear this one thing, lest as it falleth out with a sick man a little before his end, he hath a lightning of his pains, so that he feeleth himself void of pangs, and then presently dieth: so now having so little fear after so long fear, we be suddenly destroyed. But some will say, if we knew that the Lord had sent it, and not appointed any means to redress, than we would rest contented, and in the mean time we cannot choose but labour to be eased by some way or other. I grant if the Lord should sound from heaven unto you, or send an angel to reprove your rebellion, than it is like you would give over; but why are you not contented to know this by his word, that it is the punishing of your sins, and till you do away your sins, he will not do away his judgements. Well said Elihu, job. 33. 13, 14. Why dost thou strive against God, for he doth not give account of all his matters: for God speaketh once or twice, and man seethe it not, than he openeth the ears of men by their corrections which he had sealed, that he might turn them from their evil, hide their pride, and keep their soul from the pit. So long therefore as we are not admonished by once or twice, we regard not till we be chastened, and then like wretches murmur at our pains, envy at our sufferings, and rebel at his judgements: we open that which he would cover, that is our pride, and we destroy that he would save, that is our souls; then shall his weakest instruments work our greatest calamity. To make my vine waste, and to pill off the bark of my fig Vers. 7. tree, to make it bare, and to cast it down, that the branches thereof be made white. Now the Prophet telleth them where this nation should conquer, that is, among the vines and fig trees, which were very common in judea, being the sustentation of the poor, and the delight of the wealthy: and these should all be broken, all be barren, and all be withered and left fruitless. From hence we may observe this doctrine, that the fruits of the earth are destroyed for Fruits fail for man's sin. the sin of man: what had these vines offended, that they should be wasted? or what had the fig trees sinned, that they should be broken down? Surely nothing, but the men that used, or rather abused them, were the only cause that the juice was dried, and their sweetness denied them. For this cause said the spirit of God by David, Psal. 107 34. A fruitful land maketh he barren for the sins of them that dwell therein. This is a judgement worth the noting, that we might know how to amend our land when it cannot yield her increase, which is to compass it with our sorrowful hearts, and water it with the tears of our eyes: And this may serve for evidence in our times, against them that think all is in good order, and there needeth no farther reformation. Yes verily, the earth itself crieth out for a reformation, for she may say as Naomi said to her friends, I went out full, but I returned empty: or as jacob said to his sons, You have rob me of my children: it is we that have enclosed great fruit in a little storehouse, for our sins have blasted it, and the earth is made barren. The reasons of this doctrine are these: because there is nothing Reason 1. that will so move us as want will, and therefore we are punished with that which goeth nearest unto us. Nehem. 5. 3. 4. The want of corn made the people to sell away their houses, and their lands, yea their own children they sold to buy them bread: what would have made them thus servile but famine, or what would have grieved them so far as this? And this self-same complaint have many among us taken up, being ready if any would give them any money, to sell their own children. May not this admonish us, that our land aboundeth with iniquity, that is thus filled with the misery of the poor? yes verily, and if it be not speedily prevented, the richest and wealthiest shall feel it as well as the basest. The proverb is almost verified in famine, which was wont to be in war, that the great men make the wars, and the poor men bear the blows: so the rich men's sins have made the dearth, but the poor men lives abide the death. Another reason hereof may be this, because by this means the best and the greatest 2 come into misery as well as the smallest, not so soon I grant, but in continuance of time it is effected. jere. 14. 3. The noblest send their servants for water, but alas they return empty, and cover their masters heads with shame. Therefore let us learn what shall be the pinching estate of the poor, when the noblest men thus wring; and how are the servants plagued, when the masters are thus famished. Look upon it my dear brethren, for not one of you shall escape it, if this calamity continue: your jewels shall be worth nothing, your pearl shall perish with you, your money which you have gotten by oppressing the poor, shall rather afflict you then comfort you. You have as it were in sport began to make a dearth, and it maketh you laugh inwardly, to see the coin come so fast into your coffers: beware lest the Lord turn it into good earnest, and laugh as heartily at you, to see the souls go out of your bodies. The uses which we must make of this doctrine are these: the first is the same which the prophet exhorteth Use 1. unto, Hag. 1. 5. That every one of us consider our ways, since the continuance of this famine came upon us. Consider you rich men whether you have not scored up many sins, that might cause this misery: consider O ye poorer sort, whether you have not added many unthankfulnesses, that thus are revenged with want. Consider O you drunkards and belly— gods, whether your appetites have not brought this scarcity, and your fullness this emptiness: think with yourselves OH young men, if it be not likely that your costly pleasures and chargeable pastimes have cried for a penury on the earth, and a dear reckoning on the Lords benefits. If you find these things, then begin a new consideration, and think with yourselves, whether the earth cry not for vengeance, and the Lords ministers for repentance. Take up a lamentation, and say with ourselves, O Lord, it is we and our father's house that have caused thy heavy hand to be powered upon us; for our sakes have many poor men laboured, many women sorrowed, and many children perished; we have their blood upon us, and thou mayst justly require it at our hands: but pardon thou our sins, increase thou our repentance, remove thou thy judgements, and multiply the fruits of the earth: So shall you not satisfy the injuries done, but the expectation of your brethren, and the cry of the poor that are yet living. For assuredly, if you help not to bear this burden in your bodies, you shall wear it in your souls: and if you fast not with us in this life, you shall famish without us in the life to come. Consider (I beseech you) your ways, avoid that enemy, that by your often sinning would destroy both body and soul. Oh our dearth may be perpetual, our grief is immortal, your pains shall be eternal, your liberality but temporal, your want (if any want) but external; but your and our joys shall be continual: therefore consider how long we have sinned, how little we have amended, how much we have transgressed, and how soon we may be confounded. amend every man one, then shall families be saved; amend families, and then shall villages be blessed; amend villages, then shall cities be cleansed; amend cities, then shall countries be sanctified; amend countries, and then shall the whole world be converted, For the world consisteth of countries, countries of cities, cities of villages, villages of families, families of several persons: therefore if several persons will amend, than all the world shall be amended. Another z use which we may make hereof shall be this, to imitate the example of the godly jews, Ezr. 10. 9 that is, that we weep and tremble for the rains and unseasonable showers, which have brought upon us this lamentable and miserable dearth: for our wet and watery weeping times, are most like unto them. They were in danger of the enemy, who watched but the opportunity to overrun them: so may we also fear that our enemies, which are many within us, and mighty without us in other countries, by these times of opportunity shall likewise adventure to overcome us. They were in danger to have their rains continued, and their dearth increased; and so also are we: for as yet we have noted and found the waters, sometimes at the banks, sometimes over the shores, sometimes in the plain fields, and sometimes beating down the goodly planted corn, turning the wheat into dirt, and making dung of that which should be bread. Therefore lament (I beseech you) and tremble every soul among us, in our houses talking, in our streets walking, in our congregations praying, and in our meats eating and drinking. Let us make our hearts sorrowful, our tears plentiful, our lives pitiful, that the Lord may be merciful. Let us weep, that the heavens may rejoice; let us plough our hearts, that our fields may be fruitful; let us cast away our sins, that we may carry in our stores; let us weed our lives, that we may reap our corn: finally, in us it lieth to recover our plenty, therefore pray with David, Psal. 144. 12, 13. that our oxen may be strong, our sheep may increase thousands, our children may be godly, our garners may be filled, our streets may be joyful, and our whole nation may be thankful. The ninth Sermon. Verse. 8. Mourn like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth. THis is the second exhortation, wherein the prophet teacheth them by a familiar example how they ought to weep, even as a virgin lately married, or contracted mourneth for her husband, who dieth before they have filled their hearts with love; so the words are an exhortation, grounded on a similitude of mourning in sackcloth for the dead; for so it appeareth was the ancient custom of lamentation. From this similitude we may observe We must as earnestly affect heavenly things, as earthly. first in this allegory this doctrine, that our affections in heavenly things must be as passionate, and at the least be as earnest, as they are in earthly things. For thus the prophet calleth unto them, mourn now as bitterly, and humble your souls as unfeignedly as a young woman doth for the death of her first love. This our Saviour proveth, Luk. 16. to vers. 13. in the parable of the false and unjust steward, how he dischargeth his office and provideth for hereafter, willing us to be so wise in the heavenly matters, as we are in the earthly. So that hast thou road long journeys for thy profit? then thou must do the like for the Lord: hast thou spent liberally on thy wife, children, hawks, hounds, and other vanities? then thou must do the like for the Lord: hast thou watched many nights at cards, dice, dancing, and dalliance? thou must do as much in prayer: hast thou fasted many hours for physic? thou must do as much for devotion: hast thou wept bitterly and wouldst not be comforted for many days and nights together, for thy wife, thy children, thy parents, thy brothers or any other? thou must do as much for thy sins, or else as thou hast lost thy friends; so shalt thou lose thy soul: and to conclude, thou must as zealously thirst after the blood of Christ, as ever thou lustedst after thy meat and drink for thy body, or as a chased heart for the water, or else thou canst hardly be saved. The reasons of this doctrine may easily be rendered, although in truth it needeth no reason First, if we be not as earnest in heavenly, as we are in earthly Reason 1. things; then may we be well said to be those cursed wretches, which were prophesied of long ago, 2. Tim. 3. 4. Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. What canst thou or darest thousay, O wicked man, that thou lovest God above all, and thy neighbour as thyself, (for this say the ignorant sort is as much as all the preachers in the world can tell them) when thou wilt do more for thy earthly master, and go farther for thy whore, and deal more liberally amongst drunkards, and labour more painfully for a worldly trade, and human art or science, than thou wilt for God, for the gospel, for the poor, and for religion: so thou mayst persuade thyself, but never any wise man will believe thee. Secondly, if we give not as much zeal to our souls, as we do greediness to our bodies; then as Paul saith Rom. 7. 5. we are still in the flesh, and the motions 2 of sin shall bring forth fruit unto death. Now if you account no disgrace to have your flesh for your God, your motions of sin for your profession, and the condemnation of your souls for your reward; then go on still and fill up your measure to the brim: and dare the Lord to his face, not caring for his majesty. No my beloved, I will not suffer you to go this way to heaven, as God would not suffer the Israelites to go the easiest way into Canaan, but you must go another way farther about and safer for your passage. Although you would raze your names out of the book of life, as Moses would (though not for zeal, but for pleasure) yet you must not be suffered: but rather say with Peter, 1. Pet. 4. 23. Hence forward as much time as we shall live in the flesh, let us live after the will of God, and not after the lusts of men: for it is sufficient for us that we have spent the time passed of our lives, walking in the lusts of the Gentiles, in wantonness, drunkenness, lusts, gluttony, drink, and abominable idolatries. From hence we first learn that which Paul hath taught us, Rom. 6. 19 Use 1. that as we have given our members to be the servants of sin unto unrighteousness: so now we must give them to be the servants of holiness unto righteousness. Now let us stir up all the parts of our souls and bodies unto Christian conversion; our feet must run in it, our hands must work in it, our eyes must see in it, our ears must hear it, our taste must delight in it, our affections must meditate in it, our hearts must conceive it, our memories must remember it, & our whole man must be spent in it: we must walk soberly, we must work righteously, we must behold chastely, we must hear diligently, we must savour it pleasantly, we must think on it holily, we must receive it reverently, and we must remember it perpetually. Give up your members (I beseech you) unto righteousness: Was thy mouth made for eating and drinking, and not to speak the Lords praise? was thy heart made for the world, and thy wit to make good and thrifty bargains, or rather for the embracing of heavenly Christ? were thy hands made to play at tables, to write well, & to fight for the defence of the body, and not to work good works against the world to come? were thy feet created to dance a fine galliard, or leap a long jump, or run a long race, and not rather to walk to sermons, to carry thee to prisons, & to bear thee to the chambers of sick persons? thou art much deceived if thou think not thus. Therefore now study with thyself how many parts the Lord hath given thee above many other, (not only creatures) but men also; for some are blind, lame, deaf, dumb, weak, sick, lunatic, foolish, and many other ways crossed; but thou shalt find with thyself that thou hast all which they want, therefore above them, yea above thyself, use all thy parts in one service of God or other, whereby his name may get glory and thy soul salvation. Another thing we may learn from hence, that now our affections be set on heavenly things, Col. 1, 2. and the 2 rather because Christ our Saviour is there, whom we daily look for to appear for our deliverance. Indeed such is our bodily estate, that we can never watch over all our parts, neither is it necessary or requisite that we should bestow altogether so much time in praying, and hearing, and travailing to godly assemblies, as we do in the worldly business, and the natural works of this life, such as is eating, sleeping, and such like, yea it is impossible for us so to do: But our affections must be raised up continually to heaven in all our actions of the world, that whether we eat or drink, laugh or weep, watch or sleep, work or rest, we may still be the Lords: therefore have we need to choose out some part of our time, every day to be employed in this heavenly business, and not to be omitted for friend or foe, sickness or health, idleness or business, sleep or work, wherein we may daily show and continue our souls, in the lords presence. Religion is the food of the soul, therefore we need not be always eating, the scriptures are the testament of our father, therefore we need not always be looking in them, but use them for our assurance. By prayer we talk with God as with a friend; but if we always confer with a friend, and never cease, we shall be tedious to ourselves, and odious to our friends: and yet we must often eat, and often read, and often pray, that we may increase our knowledge, remember our duties, and continue in friendship and favour with the Lord of heaven. Another thing which we may observe in these words is this, that it is lawful and not contrary to the rule of truth to make a moderate lamentation of the dead, as the apostle saith, 1. Cor. 15. Phil. 2. 29. For I think it an unnatural Lamentation for the dead not unlawful. and Stoical affection not to be at all inooved, or not to show any outward sorrow for those whom we loved being alive. The reasons thereof may be these; first, because many times they be taken away for our hurt that be alive, Reason 1. Esay 57 12. therefore in lamenting their loss we bewail our own lives. Secondly, the Lord showeth it to be a 2. great curse, not to be lamented being dead, jerem. 22. 18, 19 And therefore if it be a blessing added to a good and religious life, I think it necessary that we be not unnatural to kindred, unkind to friends, and unfriendly to neighbours, to have our eyes dry, or at the least our hearts merry at their departure. I might add that death is a punishment of sin, even in the most righteous, and therefore it deserveth some lamentation, unless we will rejoice in our own execution. But this matter needeth not the blotting of much matter to uphold it; I would God there were not many thousands more unnatural and unlawful abuses among us then this is, although this be too much. We must learn therefore, although it be lawful for us to lament, yet to remember the exhortation of the Apostle 1. Thess. 4. 14. That we mourn not as men without hope; Use 1. that is, that we abuse not a lawful thing by making it unlawful, as if we ourselves had our hope buried with the dead, and therefore despair altogether of any other such benefits from God. Again, let us also remember that 2 which Christ saith to the women, Luk. 23. 28. That we weep not so much for them that be going or gone out of the world, as we do for our own sinful lives. And if we look well to this matter, we shall find we have a great many friends dead, whom let us lament that our pitiful tears may raise them up to a righteous life. The meat offering Vers. 9 and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord, the priests the Lords ministers mourn. Now the Prophet goeth to show more reasons to induce these people to a general mourning: first, because the worship of God is violated by reason of the famine, and their brethren the lords ministers are in mourning: yea, the earth itself mourneth, for both corn and oil and wine have failed. And therefore first of all in the coherence of this reason with the former exhortation, that they should mourn because the meat offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of God; that is, the ordinary worship of God is abated and abolished: the prophet doth thereby teach us, that he cannot be a true and unfeigned godly man; nay he is not worthy to live in the lords flock He cannot fear God that sorroweth not when religion faileth. that sorroweth not the neglect of the lords service, whether it be by famines, wars, or sickness, or idleness, although the last deserveth rather to be punished then to be lamented. We may read this practice of or in the Israelites, 1. Sam. 7. 2. When they wanted the ark of God without which they could not sacrifice, they lamented it grievously, for it was absent from them twenty years: And this is the thing which will try whether there be any spark of grace within us, to behold those times when Religion goeth backward, declining as the sun doth toward the evening: What heart of flint will not then shed abundance of tears? when there is no food for the soul, nor instruction for the mind, to see the churches emptied, the pulpits defaced, the faithful scattered, and all exercises and meetings for religion utterly abolished. Look on it my dear brethren I beseech you, we may sorrow as Nehemiah did, because men do willingly suffer the lords building to decay: even in our time may we see the congregations thin with hearers, and true devotion cold with professors: in many places preaching is put out, and prattling entereth in the room thereof. O how weary are the people of preaching, in all places they are hardly gathered to the churches; being present they are as hardly kept in their places; but when they are gone they vomit up again whatsoever they have heard: We may say of them with Augustine, Comeliness is covered, shame is opened; evil getteth many beholders, but goodness hath very hardly any hearers. The reasons of this doctrine are these, because in that time the Lord showeth himself to be an enemy, Reason 1. Lamen. 2. 5, 8. And who is he that will not sorrow, knowing that the Lord is his enemy; would he ever fall out so far with his own people, as to suffer his own glory to be darkened? were it not because he hath kindled his wrath against them: even as a Lord in this world taketh from his servant his office, his cognisance, and in the end turneth him out of his doors because he hath displeased him; so dealeth the Lord with us when he maketh men cold in his service, and weary of his Gospel. O my beloved, now I fear, is the Lord an enemy unto us when he suffereth such abuses, and abusers of his goodness to live among us. Popery beginneth again to grow joyfully out of the earth in the lords fields; Atheism privily stretcheth his self as the ivy doth about the Oak: the ministery groweth careless, the people waxeth wanton; the rich men are idle; and the poor men are ignorant of the Lords service: Are not these sufficient tokens that the Lord beginneth to be an enemy unto England? O mourn therefore as a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. See we not how the world winneth upon the possessions of the church, if we have a unity, then bringeth he in security; if there be divisions, then broacheth he many blasphemous heresies; if we agree among ourselves, he maketh the world to hate us; if we please the world, our own brethren suspect us; if we have great gifts, then are we envied; if we have but small gifts, then are we despised; and thus with nothing are all men pleased, & the Lords business is still deferred. Surely this will make the Lord fall out with us, & be our enemy, for every one thinketh that his own dislike is reason enough to be absent from the Lords presence: And if there be any that love the Lord jesus, let them before hand sorrow that his second coming shall find no faith on the earth. Let us therefore cast down ourselves as the Apostle wisheth us, jam. 4. 9 Endure afflictions, Use 1. and weep, and sorrow; let your laughter be turned into heaviness, and your joy into mourning; now is the time as jeremy said, that we give glory to the Lord before he bring darkness, or ever our feet stumble in the dark mountains. Let us behold as in a watch tower this enemy of the church marching near at hand ready to fight against our salvation, to poison our faith, to abolish the Scriptures, to silence the preachers, to distract the people, and to root up again that foundation which the Lord hath builded. This let both princes and people, clergy and temporalty lament with all speed, and without all ceasing: that the bane of Religion is already received, and the foundation of darkness is already laid, the workmen of iniquity are building upon it: we cannot hinder, but we will pray against it; we cannot root it up, but we will set the fire of the Lords word to burn it; we cannot deface it, yet we will lament it. Mourn O ye elders, that your posterity shall be thus endangered, that in your days you have seen the Lord a friend, and an enemy to us, that you have suffered the decay of that which all the world can never build, that you have so laboured to build your own houses and names, and have rooted up the walls of the church. Weep O young men for yourselves, and for your souls: for your lives shall smart for your pleasures; and I am afraid that the blood of your hearts must cleanse the wickedness of your times. Cry out O children, that you are deputed to have but the reversions of the truth, which your elders devoured, and leave you nothing but pay those debts which they own for their iniquities. The meat offering; All the offerings which were sacrificed in the old law did betoken Christ to be sacrificed for us, unto the which there was to be added as the Lord commanded, Numb. 15. 4, 5, 6. a meat offering of fine meal and oil, and a drink offering of wine, without which there was no offering, no sacrifice,: so that in this place when he saith the meat offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of God, he meaneth by one part the whole worship of God to be intermitted. Fron whence God will punish sin although he take away his own worship. we may note this, that God hath so great regard to punish sin, that rather than it shall escape scot free, he will discontinue his own worship. More plainly men know that so long as they keep the worship of God and the pure outward profession of true religion, no great nor general change of state or judgement of God shall overturn them; therefore the Lord will take away his word, his worship, his truth from among them, which are the charets of Israel, and the guard of the church, that he may more freely take vengeance of our sins. Thus may we read he dealt with Israel. Psal. 78. 60. Lam. 2. 16. Now consider I beseech you, what refuge can we have against the Lord, or what shield to cover our sins: why? you will say the Lords mercy; but how if mercy have been offered, and be refused? and so the date thereof for our good be expired. Yet you will say his mercy endureth for ever: but I may answer you that he so little regardeth mercy to men, and service to himself at sometimes, that he taketh away all sign of his favour, all tokens of his presence, all comfort of his word, and commodity by his worship, and so let us fear in England, lest we be so served, and rather ruled: and lest the time come that we may say, here stood a church, there was the Gospel preached, once we might safely profess the word of God, but now we are excluded. The reasons of this may be these: first, because the people Reason 1. so long as they say, the temple of the Lord, the Gospel of the Lord, so long they are obstinate in their sins, and wilful in all manner of wickedness, jere. 7. 4, 3. And for this cause to take away their shroud, that they might cast away their vain confidence, the Lord spareth not his own worship, to show unto us, that he also will not spare our lives. This might be urged to the uttermost for these our times, wherein there are few that will cry, the temple or the Gospel, but amongst those few which urge the bare name of religion and reformation, how many are there that live riotously, and walk licentiously, pitifully tronbling the world with their lusts, and the church of God with their works: but let us beware lest both they and others cannot say the temple, but that we had religion in England. Secondly, another reason may be this, because 2 we take not the true course and lawful way, to keep the worship of God among us. Rom. 9 32. The jews (saith the Apostle) have stumbled, and lost the law of righteousness, because they sought it not by faith: so when the Gospel shall be offered, as to the jews, being not rightly received it is again withdrawn, that they may say it was once among us. I fear me my beloved, that we have resisted the law of righteousness this way, as much or worse than the jews, for we have entreaties of peace, every one speaketh and writeth what he pleaseth, whereby some are stumbled, many are hindered, and others are discouraged; and what remaineth but that all should be utterly turned out of the way. Now let us come to some use of this doctrine: will the Lord so punish us to take away his word, his worship, Use 1. and his Gospel from among us? Verily some will say, that is our desire; we shall follow our pleasures more freely, delight in our sins more sweetly, and save much money which we impart to religion. Stay a little, I pray you, how if a famine come and remove it, as here it was? or how if the sword come and drive it from you, as it hath in other places? think you then to be so well eased of the Gospel, when you shall go from a sweet church to a stinking prison, and in steed of a preachers reproof, you shall endure an executioners rod. Nay but take this with you, whensoever the lords worship is intermitted, your lives shall not last; and if they do, you shall wish rather to die. jerem. 6. 21. I will saith the Lord, lay stumbling blocks before you, the father and the son shall fall, the neighbour and the friend shall perish. Here is the calamity which cometh by the removing of the lords worship: it costeth much blood, it bringeth much woe, it curseth many souls, it shaketh the world, darkeneth the sun, it troubleth the waters, it maketh God merciless, it maketh men helpless, it maketh the church comfortless: the present times smart for it, the next age weary for it, but the last days shall answer for it: the living shall be troubled, the dead shall be defiled, and they which are unborn shall repent it; and to conclude, if ever we live to see the lords word and worship taken from us, we shall have a hell of the world, a wilderness of the church, cruelty in steed of courtesy, beastliness in steed of humanity, and all impiety in steed of christianity. From the house of God. That is, from the public place appointed for the worship of God. What then, might some say? if we cannot in the church, than we will in our houses, and we can serve God as heartily in our parlours, as we can in the temples: yet for all this (if it could be so) the prophet complaineth that it is so, I mean that the Lords house is unfrequented. From hence note this, A great judgement to see the public use of religion violated. that it is a grievous judgement of God, when the place dedicated to his service is not used thereto, but lieth either waste, or else otherwise applied. If men come not to the churches, as the Lord appointed, being in prosperity, it calleth for vengeance; but in adversity it betokeneth a judgement. Psal. 74. 8. Revel. 2. 5. The Lord threateneth the church of Ephesus, to take away the candlestick from them, whereby he showeth the last and greatest plague that can come upon a city, which is the laying waste their congregations. The which thing I would to God I could drive into their hearts, which make as much account of the churches as they do of the taverns, and are as diligent to come unto them, as the thieves to the prisons. Alas my brethren, what harm have you received by following the Lords courts, and assemblies of the saints? that your presence forsaketh them; your souls forsweareth them, and your lives are more strangers therein then David was at Achis, or the Pope now in England: is it a judgement to come and not to find them, and not a plague neither to come nor to find them? Think you not being gentlemen and wealthy men, whose devotion will not abide a shower of rain, that if you miss but a child of your own in your house, that you could endure it, and not be sorrowful? how then shall the Lord endure your obstinate and rebellious absence? seeing he loveth it more dearly than a woman doth her son, and therefore tendereth our presence most fatherly: Beware lest it be said of you, they went out from us, because they were not of us, and they that gather not with us scatter abroad. The reasons Reason 1. of this doctrine may be these: because then the name of the Lord is forgotten, Deut. 32. 18. It cannot be, but out of sight out of mind, as the common proverb goeth, and therefore when the churches are not frequented, and there is no public remembrance of the Lords works, the lords name must needs be forgotten. We have (I grant) some profit by our private assemblies, our families; but if once the public places be neglected, then farewell all religion. prayest thou in thy family, do so in the church; instruct thou thy family, bring them also to the preachers: hast thou a little church in thy household? join them also to the great church in the congregation, that there they may learn the wonderful works of God: for when preachers are banished, churches are emptied, congregations razed, hearing despised, the places dedicated to the Lords worship violate, keep what order thou canst in thy family, yet will religion & christianity be soon forgotten. Another reason of this doctrine may be this, because when these public 2 meetings & places be barred up, then there appeareth no church of God, Deut. 12. 5. 1. King 8. 29. What a calamity is it to see the sun darkened, the earth covered with water, and the moon with clouds? So is it when the face of the church cannot be seen in the congregation, whereby men may learn how odious is their sin which keep away themselves, and their servants from public praying and preaching: What do they else but obscure, and put out the very church of God: they disgrace their own mother, and forsake their fellow members, by putting out themselves from our meetings? How shall we account them of the church which come not to the church, or rather how shall we say that they are God his children, when they darken the spouse of Christ, and give occasion to the common enemy of salvation to rejoice against the godly, and advance his banners above our castles. The uses which Use 1. we must make of this doctrine are these: First, seeing it is a most grievous plague of God to have the churches void of his service, then let us run and flock with all diligence, unto the congregation of the saints, the meetings of the godly, Isa. 2. 2, 3. This is the most assured token of the church of God, when the people come together to hear the word: and this is a comfortable argument to a man's own soul, that in this life he was joined to the church militant; and therefore they shall be of the church triumphant. Oh how can they look ever to come into the heavens, which in this life never come into the temples, nor outwardly obey the Gospel! Therefore if ever you will come into joy, and enter into everlasting pleasures, ascend up to the house of God, there dwelleth the Lord, you may see him; there soundeth his word, you may hear it; there is given the spirit, you may receive it; there are gathered the godly, you may be with them; and there beginneth salvation, you may obtain it. If you be high, stoop down to it; if you be base, arise up to it; if you be rich, ride to it; if you be strong, walk to it; if you be lame, be carried to it; if you be blind, be lead to it; if you be sick, long to be in it; and if you be old, even there desire to die. Run (I beseech you) with speed, go with joy, labour with pleasure, and desire with zeal to be joined to your Saviour. They which forsake it, God will forsake them; they which despise it, God will despise them; they which embrace it, God will receive them. Let not any thing (I beseech you) keep you from the churches, seeing you would have nothing keep you from heaven. Live with the church, pray with the church, suffer with the church, and die with the church. As all the angels appear before God in heaven; so must all the saints appear before him in earth: they which are miss, are excluded; they which are present, shall be blessed. Another use which we must make of this 2 doctrine, may be this, that it shall be good for us, not only to visit the church; but to continue in the assemblies with all diligence. Everlasting is the commendation of Anna, Luk. 2. 37. which continued in the temple serving God day and night: and so we read Act. 20. 7. that the church continued hearing of Paul till midnight. It is a thing most strange to see men, not only negligent to come to the church; but also being present, they are impudent to departed out of the church: and who are these, but those which come seldom there; for by reason thereof they have least taste of spiritual hunger, and so are soon weary of spiritual food. Abide therefore in the congregation, for there is always something behind worth the learning; & when all is done, yet tarry for the blessing, as the people did for Zacharie, Luk. 1. 21. Come (I say) with a continued diligence, and omit not one time, especially unto that church whereof thou art a member, whensoever prayer or preaching calleth for thee. Be assured of this, the oftener thou comest, the more thou delightest: and the more thou art absent, the less shall be thy comfort. If thou wouldst say with David, O Lord, how sweet is thy word unto my mouth; thou must also first sing with him, all the day long is my study therein. If woe belong to the Pastor that preacheth not the word, than also damnation belongeth to the people that hear not the word. By use thou shalt think a day too little for a sermon, and a year too little for a prayer. By continuance thy hard heart will be softened, and thy wicked life converted. A woman married to a stranger by familiar and daily conversation, groweth into great love, where was great dislike: so shall thy soul being married to our assemblies which it abhorreth, in time to come delight in them most cheerfully, which it loathed most wickedly. The priests the Lords ministers mourn. The better to persuade the people to lamentation, he bringeth in the ministers to moan them; showing that their pastors and spiritual fathers were already in tears, for this calamity; and therefore also they must follow them. By this we may note, that the ministers are always the first that come into danger. If there be afflictions, they are The ministers are the first in any danger. first apprehended; if there be famines, they are first oppressed; and if there be wars, they are most spitefully handled. There were seven thousand good men in Israel: but the prophets they were slain, and Eliah being left above all other, was most of all endangered, 1. King 19 10. 11. There were many faithful souls in jewrie, at Christ's passion; but him alone and his Apostles did the jews persecute & crucify. So that hereby we may appear to be of all men most miserable. The world doth much envy our honour, our living, and our estimation, and our names; insomuch as there is not any which hath not been, either enriched by our demesnes, or converted by our sermons: but they hold us in exceeding hatred. Well in this we will say with jeremy, This is our portion and we will bear it. By this than let them know which are entered into our calling, or purpose to put on a preachers gown, that his life must be full of danger; his danger full of cruelty, and he always the foremost in any trouble: I will (said the Lord) make you to be hated of all men for my name's sake. wouldst thou be a minister of the Gospel, thou desirest a worthy work: Know then, if thou live in peace, thou shalt be envied; if in war, thou shalt be derided; if thou be rich, the world will murmur at thee; but if thou be poor, than it will tread upon thee: Thinkest thou to live easily, thou deceivest thyself; thinkest thou to live in men's favour, thou deceivest thy soul: hopest thou for maintenance, beware of flattery; lookest thou for friendship, thou shalt receive enmity. Thou must be a servant to servants, thou must be a slave to base minds, and an open mark for wicked tongues. Thy own shall be withholden; thy doctrine upbraided; and thy life, live thou never so warily shall be indited. Wilt thou please men, thou shalt displease God; wilt thou please God, thou must displease men; if thou speak, thou shalt be controlled; if thou be silent, thou must be reproached; if the world laugh on thee, the Lord will laugh at thee; if it frown, than thou art first in danger. The reasons why this should be so, are these: first, because in them the Lord doth punish the whole people, Zech. Reason 1. 13. 7. I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: If the pastors be good, they are troubled for their people; if they be evil, they are troubled for themselves. A good man was wont to say, that of all creatures a good minister was the best, and a bad minister the worst: Therefore they are sometime troubled for the people's cause, yea sometime by the people, as Christ died for the people, and yet was put to death by the people: And the cause is good, for if the pastor let any people perish, their souls must be required at his hand; so if a good pastor be molested of a bad people, not his word but his blood shall be revenged on them. So then we are not always sued for our own debts, & imprisoned for our own obligations, but being pledges & hostages, or rather sureties for other, for their cause, that is, for our people's cause are we tormented. Again, how fearful are those places to be considered, where it may be said as it was of Rachel's children: that preachers and good pastors were and are not: you shall have some gentleman or ruffian, or carnal companion, rejoicing that he was the means to send their priest packing, and to deprive their pastor of his living: So did Rabsakeh brag of his cruelty, as these wicked and damnable wretches of their impiety: they have brought the blood of the lords prophets upon their own heads, and the head of their neighbours, and let them assure themselves it will be revenged. Another reason of this doctrine may be this, because if there be any perplexity, God doth want his honour, and then the ministers are filled with danger. If 2 men be sick, for us they send, whereby contagion we are infected; if men be imprisoned they come not at us; if they be soldiers they serve the camp and not the Lord; so that as Augustine said, they cannot be the overthrowers of a city, except first they overthrow all civility: So that when the Lord is abridged of his right, we must not accounted it strange to be abridged of our liberty; we are not better than our fathers, yea then our Saviour, who being best of all was taken before his disciples, as we must be before our flock. The uses which come from this doctrine are these; first that we think not that they alone which bear the Use 1. place of God before his people, to inform them in the way of godliness shall live in this danger, or that those people are most miserable which endure most adversities: but as the prophet speaketh jer. 25. 29. If God plague the city or person by whom his name is called upon, how shall other men think to go free? nay, rather than that should be so, his sword (saith the prophet) shall destroy all the inhabitants of the earth. Think not that your estate who are gentlemen or rich men, or secular men, or peradventure carnal men for all this, is better than the spiritual man's calling; if it go not well with us, how can it ever long continue well with you? no verily; no more than when the captain wanteth his pay, the soldiers are well satisfied. Look upon the whole course of the world, & you shall find them to be most wretched that are most secure; & most damnable that live in smallest danger. Most wicked julianistes scoff at the ministery because they are contemned of the greater sort, and they say, they must lay load on the clergy, because they teach other men to be patiented: but if this were a good reason, than might servants set their masters to labour because they exhort them to diligence. How unjust is it that we which are borne to misery for the people's sake, & for the lords sake, should have our misery to be increased as it were by our own children whom we have fostered in the church? Go on you scoffers and most accursed Atheists, when we are in sorrow, ye live in joy; when we are reviled, you are regarded; when we are impoverished, you are enriched; and therefore when we are in danger, you shall be in damnation. Another use which we must make hereof is this, that we must not avoid the ministery because it is full of danger, no more than men avoid the sea 2 because it is full of rocks; or else abandon husbandry because it is full of labour. The crown of a good minister is inestimable, as Paul showeth 2. Timoth. 4. 8. From hence forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the just judge will give unto me: If men will wear and win this crown, they must first fight that good fight which the Apostle speaketh of in the former verses. So that now let us reason our case in this manner; we are of all men most miserable, our bodies are weak, our studies are tedious, our labours are grievous, our lives are odious, our welfare is dangerous, and before all we go to the wall: Who would be a minister to endure all these? Nobles will scorn him, the gentry will abase him, rich men will envy him, and the poor must speak against them: he must eat their leavings, he must wear that they refuse, he must abide that which they offer, and he must mourn when they are joyful. Oh be not discouraged, but come into the Lord's harvest speedily, thy health shall be increased, thy pains shall be well paid, thy poverty shall be enriched, and thy reproachful ignominy shall be turned into crowns of glory: thy tears shall be sweeter than wine, thy want shall be more tolerable than wealth, thy labour shall be more easy than pleasure, and thy death shall be more acceptable than life: fear not to take upon thee a ministers calling, evil words are but wind, evil men are but chaff, evil wealth is but rust, evil joy is but sin, and another calling is but base. Christ triumpheth in thee, 2. Cor. 2. 14. thou shalt rejoice in thy flock, 1. Thess. 2. 19 and the world shall be subdued by thy word, jerem. 1. 19, 20. the acts of God shall be in our mouth, and a two edged sword in our hands, to pronounce sentence against kings, and judgement against angels. The tenth Sermon. Verse. 10. The field is wasted: the land mourneth: for the corn is destroyed: the new wine is dried up, and the oil is decayed. NOw the prophet showeth the cause of that doctrine in the former verse, why the worship of God was laid waste, because the field is wasted, and the land mourneth that it is barren; the corn, wine, and oil are all destroyed. The which thing being so, out of this verse we first of all note, that God giveth us these fruits of the earth to worship his majesty therewithal, Psal. 67. 6, 7. So that God giveth fruits of the earth for his worship. men must turn themselves, and look upon all the creatures of God, which will tell them to their face they must serve God the better for them: what groweth in thy field which singeth not this song, the natural herb, the planted corn, grass growing, food for cattle, and all other things teach us more earnestly to serve the Lord. And for this cause ought we only to possess them, for assuredly if men do covet after much land and many fields, and plant much corn and many fruits, only that themselves may have much to serve them being alive, and leave much for their children being dead, they are those that the Lord threateneth a woe unto by the prophet. They have not these things for the Lord, but these things have seized on their hearts for the devil: use therefore thy wealth not to live in pleasure, but in religion; not in pride, but in godliness; not in honour of men, but in the cross of Christ. And as an old man hath his staff to stay him from falling, because he is weak: so do thou possess those to put thee in mind of the maker: Because thou art forgetful, let thine inheritance remember thee of heaven; let thy purchase remember thee of regeneration; let thy fruits remember thee of thy life; let thy harvest remember thee of thy death; let thy store remember thy soul, and let all remember thy poor brother. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because the most profane and wicked Reason 1. idolaters, jere. 4. 17, 18, 19 think that the only cause of multiplying the fruits of the earth, is for the worship of God; and therefore who but Atheists can deny the same unto him, for he only it is that maketh them to grow, and blesseth all our stores: and therefore most unthankful wretches are we, if for all we should render him none again. And this is much to be feared, that the little regard which is had hereof in our land, is the only cause why our former years have brought forth no greater plenty: for if we generally regard the multitude, we shall find that those which have the greatest fields, the largest barns, the widest patrimonies, and most store of riches, have and do make most bold with the Lord, and come least into his presence. Another reason of this doctrine may be this: because these benefits are the promised blessings to them 2 that love him, Deut. 28. 1, 2, 3. which ought evermore to put us in mind of our love to God, that we might love him more and more, and so receive of him more and more abundantly: let us I beseech you, consider our estate, and not fall away from our first love; for seeing we have had in former times greater plenty than now we have, let us know for certainty, that our store is less, because our love is less. When the Gospel came first among us, how joyfully did we follow it, and how diligently hear it, in so much as the preachers being but few, we would have given them our own eyes (if it had been possible) to do them good; but now we are as weary of them as the Israelites were of Moses, when they would have stoned him: and therefore then were we filled with love, and with plenty; but now we are emptied of godly care, and plagued with mortal want. The uses which arise from the consideration Use 1. of this point are these: first, that we desire of the Lord to have pity and care for our land which is wasted, and to cast his eyes to our poor and penurious time offamine and dearth. Deut. 11. 12. For alas our misery groweth so great and incurable every day more & more, that we have great cause to fear least his long suffering turn into wrath, and our pinching famine into death. Who hath been cast down thoroughly not for a day, but for a year in this occasion? surely few or none, and therefore is the Lord as a stranger among us, and as one that tarrieth but for a night. O my dear brethren, let us at the length yet learn the true and right way to remedy our evil, and to increase again the fruits of the earth; how have our pastures been drowned, our meadows overflowed, our corn blasted, and our tilled land made barren, insomuch as we may see, or might not long since have seen, how the hills and mountains wept forth whole streams of water for their barrenness: Let us follow their example, and be ruled by their line to do the like for it, as it hath done for us. It is not we see in the planter or in the waterer, but in the Lord that giveth increase of him; let us entreat this blessing that his hand may be stayed in time before all be left destitute, and the face of our country like the land of Sodom; let us labour in prayer as we have done in tillage; let us bestow as much cost in supplication to pacify our glorious God, as we have done in husbandry to amend our barren land: if he say but the word, all shall be remedied. Oh, let us power forth words, and lives, and hearts, and souls, that this may be removed. Another use hereof: seeing these creatures, as great crops of corn, large fields, and other 2 things, must only serve us that we may serve God, then how fearful a thing is it to abuse any of these, whereby both the worship and workmanship of God are defaced, therefore the holy Ghost admonisheth Rom. 14. 20. that we destroy not the work of God for meats sake. Some surfeit in their abundance to their death, other disfigure the good shape of their bodies through pride and vanity, such as are young gallants and gentlewomen, and the more they have received, the more they have abused; some in their ease and idleness are grown like tons in compass, being unfit for labour, unprofitable to any goodness, and unworthy of any blessings. The labouring man's estate is much to be commended, though it be poor yet it is happy: he is an image of Adam created to work, he is an image of God created in righteousness, and the image of Christ created for calamity, his health is maintained by labour, his body is refreshed with rest, his mind is renewed with religion, and his life is studious of the lords worship: his hungry morsels make him more thankful to God than the great delicates of the rich; his bare bread and water or small drink give him more healthy nourishment, than the fowls and dainties of the other; his life is wearied with labour, his mind is prepared for God, and his soul is ready for rest: Let us all live in this travail that we may die in this manner, let us keep under our bodies and lusts, as we refrain a young colt, and let more bridles of abstinency and sincerity curb shorter all our pleasure and vanity. Another doctrine which we may gather out of this verse, may be this, that seeing the creatures of God We cannot perfectly without sin serve God in this life. do call upon us to worship him, and therefore they be helpers unto us therein, we gather that our worship of God in this life cannot possibly be absolute and perfect: that we should be always like affected and observe time, place, order and zeal in our religion; for here we see that the worship of God was violated, because the fruits of the earth ceased; our knowledge is obscured by natural ignorance, our time is omitted through sorrow, sickness, care, and worldly business; our hearts are hindered through fear, love, joy, pleasure, vanity, and temptation, and a thousand other ways shall we find that all we can do in the lords service is but in part as Paul proveth, 1. Cor. 13. 9, 10. How wicked are the brags of them that boast of their uprightness, whereby they serve the Lord, thinking that there is nothing but of themselves they be able to perform it. But we must know that the greatest doctor, the learnedest preacher, and the painfullest hearer cannot comprehend, or teach, or learn whatsoever is requisite to our salvation, no not the whole church of God together: so that if you look upon all that is to be done of a faithful man, you shall find many unwilling and inevitable slips and falls in the purest obedience of all men. The church of God hath felt and complained of this misery in all ages: that she could neither do as she would, nor perform what she ought to the lords obedience. For if we be rich and never so godly, than wealth hindereth us; if we be poor, want oppresseth us; if we be magistrates, government doth let us; & if we be servants, worldly obedience doth stay us. So that as it cannot be, but that in the purest corn there will grow some weeds, so in our holiest worship of God, there will appear some wants: David could not worship when he was at Gath, and the saints of God although they have willing minds, want power and means to accomplish their desire. And therefore let us not brag, but confess as our Saviour saith in the Gospel: when we have preached our whole life long, & prayed with never so entire affection, and laboured with never so great diligence in the kingdom, that we are unprofitable servants, having left more things behind which we ought to have done. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because that we should never leave of labour Reason 1. more, and to increase farther and farther so long as we live in this world, as the Apostle said of himself, Phil. 3. 13. The which lesson I would to God were oftener learned, and better followed in our days, wherein men think if they have done a little service on the Sabbaoth day, they hold themselves contented for the whole week following; and having gotten a little knowledge of the common profession, they are satisfied and travail for no more. Oh how strange is it that men are never satisfied, and have their fill of any thing, save only of religion, the which presently cloyeth them, because they think it is no part of their duty to bestow their daily labour in some part of godliness. I know this doctrine will please them well; that no man can worship God perfectly, and therefore they will worship him sparingly and coldly: But they must know that there is not any man, which hath his perfect health, and yet he liveth and moveth and groweth in stature; so there is not any man's religion absolute, yet it must strive & labour for perfection, as a sick man doth for health. Another reason of this doctrine is this, that considering 2 our imperfection, through the sin of our natures, we should more earnestly desire to be with Christ, Philip. 1. 23. for he that is weary and cannot go as he would, yet he hath this in his wish, to desire the perfection of the worship of God. Whereby we may note that there is not any thing that may move us to love the being in the world, the world itself will hate thee, if thou be a Christian why shouldest thou desire to live therein? thou canst not know the majesty of God, thou shalt not feel the love of Christ, and thou canst not enjoy the end of the faith. If thou wouldst have the wish of David, to live and to declare the works of God, yet it shall be better to die that thou mayest live in the glory of God. In this life thou art sometimes sick, careful, heavy, hated, oppressed, envied, and hast but a little comfort of God, because thou canst not profess him but a little, therefore desire the other, where friends and joys, and health, and love, and peace, and comfort shall be everlasting, and they worship most absolute without sin or ceasing. The uses which arise of this doctrine are these: Use 1. first, that although we can never be absolute in this life in God his worship, but we shall have as many lets as we have hours, yet let us not cease to lament them, and to desire their absence: when David had been long absent from the place of the Lords service, he cried out, saying: How long shall I dwell with Mesech, and be constrained to abide in the tents of Kedar? why might not David think that it was not his fault but his enemies rage, that did constrain him to that neglect, because he was banished from his people? Indeed it is apparent, he knew it well enough, yet lest he should be contented with his misery, he calleth to God for a remedy: so although we dwell in sin, and live in a thousand wants of bodies and souls, because they cannot be removed in this life, yet let us not rest contented herewith, but lament this mischief: that we must so do, and desire a speedy release. Art thou lodged in thy chamber through sickness, or banished from the company of the faithful through persecution, or kept away by imprisonment, or hindered by hard parents or masters, or molested through pinching poverty? all which thou canst not avoid, yet that the Lord may know, and that thy soul may live, desire to be eased of this burden. Think not that thou shalt be excused, if thou canst not come and worship as thou oughtest, but will the thing thou canst not perform, and think it long till thy bondage be at liberty, thy want be supplied, and thy soul removed from thy body, that thou mayst see God, and love him, and live with him, and praise him for ever and ever. Art thou a Christian, and hast thou not greater cause to wish for heaven, than David had for jerusalem? and if you have, then pray with as great zeal, that thy will may be turned into action, thy lets into helps, thy wants into supplies, thy soul into piety, and all thy worship into sincerity. Another 2 use may be this, that men do not any thing the less esteem of the worship of God, because they have heard that it is but temporal. O this were accursed that a sick man should be less regarded because he is sick, and not rather be the more attended! shall a son despise his own father because he is poor? this were iniquity; and so is it a greater abomination, that men should less serve the Lord, because the greatest measure is imperfect. Although David might not build the temple, yet he provided wherewithal to do it: and so although thou canst not love God as thou wouldst, and as thou oughtest; yet love him as thou canst, and as far as thou art able: be not discouraged, because thou art not able to go through with religion; for if thou have any religion, know thou that the least things of God are greater than the greatest of the world; and the weakest things of God are stronger than the strongest of men. Honour them that have the gifts of God in them, although they be imperfect; for who despiseth a crazed piece of gold? or who throweth out of doors a broken silver pot? and therefore who but a mad man would lightly regard the small graces of God in men? But alas, it is the misery of our time, wherein religion is measured by wealth, and devotion by outward shows, and the gifts of the spirit by worldly professions; so that if men live never so uprightly, and yet be poor; or teach never so diligently, and yet be not famous; and pray never so fervently, and yet be not a flatterer; or writ never so excellently, and yet reprove sin: he is no more accounted than a base and common professor. Men will not study religion, because they say the doctors can never know all things, and therefore they will know nothing: but if none should study physic, but he that would cure all diseases; sickness would quickly overthrow us: and if men follow not religion, because they cannot know every mystery, the devil will speedily overcome their souls. Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen: howl O ye vine dressers, for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field Vers. 11. is perished. Now he cometh to the particular persons that dresseth the earth, and the fruits thereof, bidding them to be ashamed to see their cunning fail, their labour lost, their price received in vain, because all was destroyed whereabout they were employed. From hence we may The ministers must exhort all men. note, that seeing the prophet calleth to these husbandmen, it is our duty that are of the ministery to speak the word and rebuke sin, and exhort every kind of profession unto religion: The princes, the nobles, the rich, the poor, the husbandmen, the artificers, and the servingmen, and the gentlemen must all be exhorted, and rebuked by the voice of a preacher. And this was the most singular comfort that Paul received by his labour, Acts 20. 31. That they all could bear him witness, that he had not ceased day nor night, to admonish every man of life eternal: wherein we see that the pains of a minister are infinite, that must not fear any man's person, nor spare any man's profession, nor love any man's sins, nor be silent at any man's injuries, nor be controlled for any just offence by him rebuked. Look I say, to the labours of watchmen in the lords house, he warneth them by chiding saith Aug. he instructeth them by preaching, he prepareth them by admonition, he hath a calling from God to warrant him, from the word to enconrage him, from the spirit to inflame him, and from his conscience to comfort him. He must rebuke the rage of great men, the folly of old men, the vanity of young men, the deceit of craft's men, the trade of husbandmen, the idleness of servingmen, the wantonness of women, and the sins of all men, that by wounding them with the word of God, both they and he might escape the judgement of God. The reasons of this doctrine may be these, First because Reason 1. as Paul saith in the forenamed place, ver. 26. 27. that by this means they are free from the blood of all men: And we know that the blood of a poor husbandman, will stain as much as the blood of the greatest prince in the world. But evermore when I have occasion to talk of the blood of men which is committed to the preachers, and shall be again required at our hands: me thinks that the blood and life, and hearts and souls should tremble hereat: the minister for his charge, the people for their danger. The captain doth answer for the body of a man, the factor for his master's wealth, the scholar for his learning, the man for his service, and the noble man for his prince's affairs: but the minister must answer for the people's sins. Again, what is the danger to keep thy soul? is it not committed to a man? hath it not all the devils in hell to lay siege unto it? and yet will not men come to their pastors to have their souls fed being hungry; nor yet cured being sick; nor yet salved, being wounded; nor yet defended, being besieged; nor yet to be saved, although they be like to be damned. Another reason of this is because our commission must stretch itself as far as Christ's redemption, who is an advocate for all men, that is, for all sorts of men: and therefore it is most requisite that we speak to all kinds of men, that so they may come to the knowledge of redemption. wouldst thou then be exempted from coming to sermons? then thou must also be exempted from coming to salvation. Is it hard unto thee and intolerable, that the word of God shall restrain thy pleasures? then shall it be harder for thee to have the blood of Christ to anoint thy soul from hell. Would not all men come to the kingdom of heaven? then will I open unto them the gate of the Lord, and tell you that obedience to the ministery is the way, and the righteous will enter therein. The uses which come of this doctrine are these: First, seeing that all men Use 1. must receive the word of the minister, that the ministers flatter not the people, and conceal not the judgements of God from their sins, Prou. 24. 24. 25. The Lord promised pleasure to them that rebuked the sin of the wicked, and the blessing of goodness shall be upon them. What is the hope of the Lords workman, we have already declared. But now let me exhort and be exhorted unto this necessary doctrine: I know that since the world grew to a multitude, and the church to a monarchy, the great men have ever envied the rebukers of sin, I mean the ministery, because they lived in greater sins themselves: and this is the cause why reproofs are so hardly endured; that although we speak but generally against a particular sin, yet some or other who is gauled with the conscience thereof, will accuse us for aiming at him, and peradventure threaten us mortal hatred: this was not so in the primitive church, 1. Cor. 14. 24. 25. but rather men obeyed gladly, than threatened maliciously; but so it is in our church, and therefore are the ministry afraid in many places to preach the word, lest they should offend. But hearken my dear brethren, fear them not, for it shall come on us that the Lord threatened jeremy: If we spare his word, he will confound us in their presence. What is there in them that we should fear? they are but men in nature, so are we; they are many in number, so are we; they have the world, we have the word: they touch but our names or our bodies, our souls are the Lords: they cannot accuse us justly of sin, but themselves; they cannot work their will, but the Lords will; their wrath is nothing to the lords wrath; shall we silence the word, because they love it not? Beloved, have not men's persons in admiration: the word of God is not bound though we be imprisoned; that cannot be hurt, though we be blamed; our souls cannot be touched, though our bodies be martyred. Let us wish with Luther that God would make us worthy to die for his word. Another use of this doctrine, is that the people 2 of all sorts must hear the word of the minister: let them take heed that they bear the rebukes of sin for the lord Hos. 4. 4. complaineth of the desperate estate of the people; for he said, they rebuked the prophet. This is the sin of England, for there are among us that will teach wise men, and themselves being fools; they will control learned men, themselves being ignorant; they will sohoole preachers, yet they cannot hear; they will rule magistrates, themselves being subjects; and they will seem to do all things, being able to do nothing. But this is the point worthy to be stood upon, they will reprove the minister of the Gospel: If they suspect us, they condemn us; if there be but an uncertain rumour, they make it a certain slander; so that our life, our livings, our doctrine, our calling, and all our preaching is contemned by them: Our life to be idle, our livings to be too great, our doctrine to be suspicious, our calling to be burdensome, and our preaching to be only for a worldly respect. Oh incurable, undurable mischief! why do men at once set Christ to school, teach God to be wise, refuse the Gospel's government, and choose the tyranny of sin? Why do they rebuke us? and yet think they do well: if the rod of magistrates light on us for our sins, let us abide it; but to let every drunkard and ruffian, and servingman, and every base companion to crow against the Gospel and our calling, let us never abide. They hate us because they love sin; they love liberty, because they abhor discipline; they regard not the ministry, because they regard not God; and therefore look for a present and speedy calamity: for since that base fellows became ministers, base fellows have regarded none: so that now we may preach out our hearts, and pray out our souls, and weep out our eyes; yet we shall receive nothing but scoffs and scorns, rebuke and scander, for our labour. Weep and howl: having bidden them to be ashamed, now he biddeth them to be sorrowful: for well he knew that their hope and health was lost when their corn and fruits were destroyed, wherein they trusted more than in God. And from The outward worship of God doth good unto all. hence we may observe, that if the worship of God be once decayed, there is not any so desperately wicked or dissolute, but he shall smart for them; we may say, Esay 9 10, 11, 12. That the wicked make great brags, if they were deprived of preaching the word: they say they would turn bricks into hewn stone, and timber into Cedar trees: but the Lord telleth them that their enemies shall beset them, and he will cut off both honourable and tail. So is the course of his judgement, that when he hath taken away his worship, which is a helmet of proof to keep his wrath from us, than he sendeth greatest calamity, when we think we shall live in greatest security. The filthy Sodomites thought that they were well when Lot was gone from among them, but there followed presently fire and brimstone from heaven. By this our gallants may perceive, that if the Gospel be in the wrath of God translated from our country, their bravery and pride, and wealth, and prosperity shall be overturned into perpetual misery. They think it a burden intolerable to live under the check hereof: but let them know that the little finger of human tyranny, shall be heavier on them then the loins and body of all christianity. Oh, how do men deceive themselves with sweet promises of great and incredible ease, which they shall reap by the abasing of the ministery, by the decay of good men, and the abandoning of all goodness, when they shall have liberty to commit any kind of sin. O miserable wretches (saith one) to whom it is lawful to do wickedly! surely you shall come out of a little brook and run headlong into the main sea. The reason of this doctrine is Reason 1. this, because the wicked should know that all goodness which they receive, is for the Gospels and godly men's sake, Prou. 11. 11. there is not any thing in the world which the godly have not a title unto, insomuch as all the wicked men are but usurpers of the goods and lands, and wealth and dignities they enjoy, so long as a godly man is living. The world is a body, religion is the soul thereof, which being removed is dead and fit for nothing. The world is a building, and the worship is the pillar & posts thereof, which being removed it must needs fall, as the house wherein Samson slew the Philistines: So that it is most plain, that when our knowledge is turned to ignorance, and the preachers of the word of God cease to speak in the name of God, and when the Gospel is banished from our land, and there be a free liberty to do what they list: then I say will the heavens threaten destruction, the minds of men shall be made blind, their understanding shall be taken from them, and they shall live as other people do without God his word, to be slaves to their enemies, drudges to their labours, beasts in their lives, enemies to God, haters of good things, and devils by their death. The uses which cometh from this doctrine, is first of all, that we labour with speed to amend Use 1. those things which are amiss among us: for else that judgement which the Lord once threatened to the Ephesian church, Revel. 2. 5. shall take hold, namely, that the Lord will take away his candlestick from us: if the light be gone, we shall live in darkness; if the word be gone, we shall live in blindness; if God his worship be taken from us, we shall die in misery. This only is the meat, which if we want will consume us: it is a sword, and if it be not in our hands it will wound us; it is a sceptre, which if the king of heaven hold not forth, we shall be condemned: Fear the want of the Lords worship, for if it go from us, than he will departed; if he depart, than our prosperity will cease, and there shall not be a man alive which will not desire to die. Consider I beseech you, if you have enjoyed great possessions, & goodly lands, fair houses, & many friends, delicate lives, and many children; but in one night thy adversary stealeth away thy evidence whereby thou holdest thy land, and then thou art turned out of possession, thy lands are taken from thee, thy friends forsake thee, thy children cry on thee, and thou be constrained either to hard labour or unlawful beggary; how wouldst thou take it, but wish for a thousand deaths to be delivered from this shame: So shall it be with thee in the Gospel, which is the evidence of thy peace, thy health, thy lands, thy joy, and the kingdom of heaven; the which being taken from thee, thou canst never enjoy any of these: then thou shalt weep without comfort, sorrow without hope, live without joy, die without peace, and be damned without mercy. Oh, whose heart is not cleaved asunder to think upon the danger of his soul? Love the Gospel, that it may tarry with us; believe it, that we may live in it; receive it, that we may rejoice in it; profess it, that we may die in it, profess I say, for his own sake and for nothing else: let thy eyes see it, thy ear hear it, thy tongue speak it, thy heart regard it, thy feet walk in it, that thy hand may work in it thy own salvation. Let us amend that which is amiss, and repent least all be taken from us, lest our enemies rejoice in our houses, lest our women lament in the streets, our children cry in the fields, our old men lie in the graves, and all men die in desperation. Let us therefore to avoid all this mischief receive that exhortation, 1. Thess. 2. 12. that every one that now liveth in our English dominion, in the days of our most peaceable Solomon: Walk worthy of this vocation whereunto they are called. If the Lord should require any great thing of us, ought we not to do it, seeing we own unto him our own selves, much more ought we to walk like christians, seeing we profess christianity. Walk we must, and not stand still as the idle do, we must be worthy of our places, and not only fill the room as an image doth at a feast, as our carnal Gospelers do: and called we must be, and not refuse to come, as the greatest part in our age doth. The Gospel is the sun, let us look on it; it is the wedding garment, let us wear it; it is the day, let us work in it; it is the salt of the world, let us taste it; it is the way to salvation, let us travail in it; it is the life of all things, let us live in it. Oh therefore you which are called, refuse not to come; you which are living, lengthen your days: you which can see, behold the miseries of your joy; and you which have legs to walk withal, bodies to live withal; space to return; time to repent; leisure to practise; souls to save, or any grace of God within you; walk worthy of salvation. You must not walk as other do, for Christ is our pattern: you must not walk as the most do, for the flock of God is little; you must not walk as you have done, for you must be new creatures: Walk in knowledge, for that will make you wise; walk in faith, for that will make you zealous; walk in love, that will make you Christians; walk in cleanness, that will make you saints; and walk in patience, for that will give you the Lords kingdom. Be shod with preparation of the Gospel of peace, and let your strength be increased to go on, from step to step, from virtue to virtue, from tear to tear, from trouble to trouble, from day to day, and from the death of this life, to the life of this death, for the Lords praise in his truth to our joy in his kingdom. The eleventh Sermon. Verse. 12. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree is decayed: the pomegranate tree, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: surely the joy is withered away from the sons of men. THe prophet oftentimes, as we may see, telleth them one thing, the destruction and overthrow of the fruits of their land, in the same words: and therefore groundeth still the same exhortation, bidding them weep and howl, mourn and lament, as if either he took pleasure to sing such mournful songs, or else to show unto them that the sorrows of their hearts must recover the plenty of the land. And in dwelling thus long in the Lords judgements, and their repentance, he teacheth us how necessary a thing it is to stand long on a good text, and never to be weary of a good matter, although it be bitter to the taste of our hearts. It is a common thing in the word of God to repeat one thing often; and therefore Paul desireth of the Corinthians, that it should not be grievous to hear the same things often: for we are of this nature, that many things we understand not, many things we remember not, sometimes we give that to a natural cause, which belongeth to a divine judgement, and most times we little regard the heavenly oracles; for all these often repetitions are most necessary. And let us with often repetition, join some show of earnest affection, as Paul doth Phil. 3. 18. where he saith, of those things I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, etc. Many words, and many repetitions without notes of singular passion, are or at least may seem to be frivolous; and therefore let this be the exercise of religious minds, when they are driven to use again those admonitions which they once used, that their words show their meaning, their iterations testify their earnestness, and signs of grief and sorrow express their affection: thus this prophet hath told his mind by word, and urged the matter by repetition, and confirmed the thing by outward tokens. In this 12. verse he bringeth in all other things which groweth on the earth, when he nameth all the trees of the field, and more especially the apple tree, the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree: whereby he noteth, that not only those creatures which were good for nourishment were taken away, that the people should have no refuge in worldly confidence; but also that the outward ornaments of the earth, as the ground-growinggrasse, the tall springing-trees, which served for comfort only were destroyed. Whereby in general we observe: that there is not any thing so glorious or so comfortable, which the Lord hath created in the world, but for the sin of man he will destroy the same, as the prophet showeth at No creature but for same it shall be destroyed. large, Zeph. 1. 13, 17. If the earth were all gold, and the grass were all pearl, and the trees were all silver, the fields were full of corn; yet would not the Lord spare any for all this. Oh my dear brethren, it is not the growing corn, nor the springing grass, nor the goodly trees, nor the stately towers, nor the walled cities, nor the pleasant apples, or the beautiful abundance of the world, that can stay the wrath of God from falling on us; the horse saveth not in battle, the armour defendeth not in fight, and riches cannot redeem a soul: God which made all is not moved with any thing save only with righteousness and obedience, and to take vengeance of our disobedience he overturneth and overthroweth all. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because he setteth more by his Reason 1. word then by all the works of his hands, Matt. 24. 35. the works of God can but show him, but the word of God teacheth us to come to him: and therefore seeing he careth for our salvation more than for the preservation of any of his creatures, he will not spare them because they show his glory, or give us nourishment, but all things shall be confounded for the sin of man. Another reason is, because for sin he spared not the angels, 2. Pet. 2. 4. and therefore 2 he will not spare the lesser creatures: for the angels are the most glorious creatures of the world, who sinning against God in the beginning, were cast down from heaven into eternal torments. Oh this should much terrify us, which are lower than the angels, viler than the creatures, and more worthy of death than all the works of God are of corruption: that all the world for our sin and sake should be every day in danger of destruction. And seeing the angels being in heaven, found no place of mercy but present banishment and everlasting fire, how should we come into heaven with our sins, or think to escape on the earth? seeing the Lord is as powerful and wrathful beneath among men, as he is above among angels. The uses which arise from this doctrine are these: first, as we might hereby Use 1. gather an excellent argument to enforce the ireful wrath of God: so may we also learn by this, how miserable is the estate of worldy men, which trust in the things of this life, which shall be all destroyed. Deut. 28. 52, 63. What do men that satisfy their lusts, that gather their wealth, that enlarge their dominions, and other worldly things, as building of fair houses, leaving monuments of their names to posterity? but heap up a great deal of dry wood for the wrath of God to consume them. Take them from their desire, you take them from their god; pull them from their profits, and you pull them from heaven: but the wealth which they have gained should serve their turns, and their posterities in this life, and afterward be consumed. This were but a tolerable estate, and to be endured: but alas the rust of that which they hoardward, the cry of that they misgayned, the riot of that which they have wickedly consumed shall torment their lives in another world. Why dost thou worship thy goods in loving them more than God, because thou thinkest on them more than on him? and why dost thou travail for this world and the things thereof, with so insatiable and greedy desire? for if thou gain them, thou gainest more burdens to thy life, and more woe to thy soul; if thou have them, thou canst not long keep them; for death will part them and thee in sunder, or vengeance will take them out of thy hands. Oh tell me I beseech you, which care for your parts and portions in this life, what benefit have you by loving them? nothing but fear to lose them: what profit cometh by enjoying them? nothing but labour to keep them: what hurt is there by wanting them? nothing but a poor life and a peaceable death: the love of these is the loss of heaven, and the lack of these is the love of God. Another use 2 which every one even the wicked must make hereof, is the same which the Lord exhorteth the Edomites unto, Esay 21. 14. Seeing their vines, and fruits, and corn, and all other things shall come to an end, and be taken away with the wrath of God: therefore let every one that hath them, give them to the thirsty for drink, to the hungry for meat, to the naked for cloth, and to the poor for maintenance. Oh, consider what is our duty, while as yet there is a little corn, and comfort to our land; and deal with it as one would deal with his own body, for anon it shall be taken by violence: therefore now bestow for devotion, if we tarry but a little, vengeance will take them and us: therefore let charity dispend them, what what are they but earth? if we deliver not them, to earth shall they come again: Now they have force to secure our lives, and if we spend them not well, anon they will have power to subvert and condemn our souls. How is joy withered from the sons of men: Now he complaineth what this want hath wrought, when he saith; that joy is withered away as mown grass doth from his greenness; so this from the sons of men, that is, the people of the land: For we cannot be ignorant that of all times of the year, there was most sweet singing and pleasant sporting at the time of harvest, as we read Esay 9 5. because that than were the fruits reaped, and comfort received of men; but when these were destroyed, their vines had no grapes, their trees had no apples, and their fields had no corn: then I say was their mirth laid aside into most solitary and sorrowful mourning. By these words Worldly sorrow a fearful thing. note that the want of worldly comfort, and the feeling of worldly and carnal sorrow is a great and fearful judgement of God, Deut. 28. 63. If men see no joy in their children, or comfort in their possessions, or profit by their labour, but in all these they are made more heavy and solitary; and the Lord taketh from them a cheerful countenance; nay, if the fruits of the earth be destroyed, (as here they were) so that there be none, even than I say, although there be none occasion of joy but all of sorrow to be tormented with grief, because we have not to supply our lives, is fearful in the sight of God. We cannot (I grant) but sorrow, when we have none occasion ofioy: but yet we ought to make our grief a godly sorrow, and the fear of famine to be the fear of condemnation: for this should we weep, that howsoever these things go with us in this life, the other may be certain in the life to come. The reasons of this doctrine are these; First, because it causeth death. 2. Cor. 7. 7. 10. Worldly sorrow causeth death: Reason 1. for as the fire wasteth the wood, and the sun consumeth the frost, so doth carnal care eat up the life of man. Sometimes these sorrowful worldlings are raging with envy, sometimes overcome with malice, and many times at their wits end through covetousness: so that the beautiful wax pale therewith, the lusty and strong man is weakened, they which were pleasant are heavy, and they which seemed godly are made wicked. This worldly sorrow made Achitophel that wise man to hang himself; and Saul that strong man to kill himself; and Zimrie that wicked king to burn himself: for the Lord suffered many to fall into it, that they might despair of his mercy, and be excluded from his kingdom. Oh therefore, whosoever will show any care of his own soul, or any account of Christ's wounds, let him meddle little in worldly business: keep in the bounds of thy vocation, and range not into much dealing, and many trades and occupations, for thou dost but thrust thy soul into danger: and a thousand to one but thou wilt repent in tears & blood, thy overreaching policy. Another reason of this doctrine 2 is, because it is a dear, and not the least blessing of God, to rejoice in thy possessions, be they small or great, Eccle. 5. 8. and therefore, it is not the least curse of God to be troubled and tormoiled therewith. What beast being in a good pasture doth not rejoice in it; or what bird having but a twig to sit on, doth not sing in the sunny mornings of the spring? and wilt thou being a man or woman be worse than bird or beast? not to rejoice in the blessings of God towards thee. Augustine telleth of one Paulinus, that when he had lost all his goods, he was so far from being sorrowful, that this was his prayer, O Lord thou knowest where all my goods are treasured: Take not then to heart every worldly cross; art thou a husbandman, and hast lost thy corn? art thou a merchant, and hast suffered shipwreck? art thou a travailer, and hast been spoiled by robbers? art thou a widow, and hast lost both husband and wealth? yet take not sorrow to thy heart, sleep from thy eyes, peace from thy life, beauty from thy face, nor comfort from thy soul. From hence we learn to make many profitable uses, whereof this may be one, that seeing Ves 1. worldly and carnal sorrow is such a woeful judgement of God, therefore most miserable is the estate of worldly wicked men: if they pray in it they cannot be heard, Esay 16. 12. If they will embrace the Gospel, the world will not let them, and therefore this sorrow doth torment them, Luk. 18. 23. Oh, where will they now become? Good men being sorrowful are comforted by prayer, Lamen. 5. but evil men although they use the same words, and lift up their voices and weep, and would tear their hearts out of their breasts, and give as much to God for joy, as the devil would have given Christ for worship; yet their worm shall ever gnaw them, and joy shall never come at them: though they change their minds as Laban did jacobs' wages, to increase his flock; yet shall they still decrease, and not prevail as Laban's did; if they think as the Syrians did, that the hills be not for them, and therefore they will descend into the valleys, there even there also shall they be destroyed. Consider this I beseech you, who in this world mind nothing but joy, and fear nothing but sorrow, and think that your fear shall come upon you. Do you imagine that your wealth shall continue your mirth? no, no, said Solomon, that is but vanity and vexation of spirit: or do you suppose that your hearts are Stoical, made of stones, and therefore nothing shall dismay you, but you will take all things without grief? oh consider that God shall bring this judgement upon you for other sins: there is no counsel against the almighty. What will you now do? and where can you hide yourselves, that God may not find you? cannot he which made a hard rock a running stream, strike also your hard hearts, and make your lives and eyes as full of tears and sorrows, as the wilderness flows full of water? Yes, yes, with no labour shall he, and will he plague your lives, increase your pangs, multiply your sorrows, cast down your comforts: and therefore cast away your evil conditions. Another use may be this, that we take no thought or vexing care for the things of this life. Luc. 12. 23, 34. Our Saviour Christ which was the richest that ever was, became the poorest that ever could be; and therefore giveth this counsel, that we take not thought for food or raiment: who should take care if the poor take not care? and yet our Saviour a poor man, biddeth both poor and rich, not to vex themselves for these earthly commodities. Rely therefore upon the word of our Saviour, I am sure thou wilt trust him, when he said, I came to save sinners: and thou wilt believe him when he said, he was the son of God; therefore do not distrust him in his promise, but take no thought for thy life, especially such a care as should be a hindrance unto thee in thy spiritual duties. Why dost thou labour when thou shouldest pray? why dost thou travel when thou shouldest hear? why dost thou weary thy body, when thou shouldest rest thy soul in the sweet arms and wounds of a merciful Saviour? If God do but breath on thy labour, it consumeth it; if he curse the work of thy hands it vanisheth; and when it is gone, where is thy labour and travel, and work and joy, and comfort and hope, but all in the fire. Follow therefore thy labour with godliness, and follow godliness with labour, join these two together, as Simeon and judah joined to drive the Canaanites out of the land, judg. 1. 7, 8. and so shall not Canaan but heaven be thy sure resting road and ever abiding inheritance. Let not rich men lay up too much, and buy and sell all for gains: why you have learned a mean in religion, and will you never learn a mean in riches? oh that your riches were godliness, and godliness your riches, that your labour which is now but lost, might be bestowed on that food and wealth, and land and life which never shall end. Another doctrine which ariseth out of these words, when he saith that joy is parted or withered from the sons of men is this, whereby he giveth them to understand, that those which will not humble themselves, shall be humbled whether they will or no. The nature of man If we humble not our wills, God will humble them against our will. being plentifully stored with all manner of benefits, never thinketh of a day of vengeance, but imagineth that his peaceable estate shall be for ever: therefore the Lord willing to show us our vain hope, and transitory fading pleasures, taketh away from us those comforts which we were wont to receive by the use of his blessings, and changeth our merry days into sorrowful destinies. We have a notable example hereof in Dan. 5. 3, 6, 22, 23. Belshazzar that proud Babylonian king, cared not for the miserable captivity wherein he detained the people of Israel, there was no conscience of his sin, no pity on his prisoners, no fear of the lords majesty, no thought of true humility, but all to maintain the pride of a prince; and therefore hearken what befell him. At that time when he was at his banquet, in the midst of his ruff with all earthly delights, the hand of God appeared, and wrote on the wall the sentence of his deprivation; and this was because he had not humbled himself before in the time of his prosperity; and then followed a fearful heart, a sorrowful soul, an unquiet mind, and a miserable end: Even so if we cast not down ourselves before adversity come, trouble shall come and cast down us. hearken unto this you rich men and women, in this world; say not to yourselves, that you will be merry while you may; but rather be sorry while you may be joyful: now fast while you have abundance; now pray while you are in health; now weep while God may be entreated; and now afflict your souls while your comfort remaineth: for surely if you continue in your pleasant possessions and worldly disports, will you nill you the Lord will humble you. And were you not better to weep for your sins in your prosperity, then to weep in adversity for the loss of children, of goods, or health, or houses, or wives, or husbands, or friends, or liberty, or food, or raiment, or death, and not be comforted: remember what the prophet here saith, that joy shall be withered from you in the days of worldly adversity. The reasons of this doctrine may be these: Reason 1. first, because they are not moved at the troubles of others, Amos. 6. 6. If men look to themselves they shall see that their estate is never so secure, but that there is left unto them one just cause or other to lament bitterly; yet if they find none in themselves, let them look on other, and mourn for the affliction of joseph: The church of God is never freed from inward and outward troubles, and therefore ever hath occasion of inward or outward lamentation. Now seeing that we should mourn with them that mourn, let us weep with the saints of God that suffer (although we suffer not,) that being made partakers of their afflictions, we may also be made partakers of their glory. It is a token of an unmerciful heart, that doth not look on the cry of a beast, and help an unreasonable creature from his oppressor: how much more unmerciful are wicked men, which will not be moved at the lamentable tears of godly men? He that stoppeth his ear at the cry of the poor, shall cry himself and not be heard: In like manner those which will not be humbled for their own sins & dangers belonging to them, nor for the pitiful oppression of good and godly men, they shall come into unavoidable mischiefs, because they were not moved in prosperity: for the righteous (saith Solomon) shall come out of trouble; but the wicked shall come in his stead. Another reason is because men which 2 have fat and hard hearts, do not only live in their pride; but also desire to draw other into misery, Psal. 137. 2. 8. The Edomites that rejoiced, and increased the calamity of the people of God, are destinated to eternal and most assured adversities: wherein we may see that if men do not win themselves to the church, they join themselves to the enemies: if they take not part with the repentant, they take part with the unrepentant: For if we be not possessed with goodness, of necessity we must be professed in evil. Oh therefore seeing we cannot walk in any mean betwixt faith and infidelity, religion and Atheism; let us speedily resort to the band and army of jesus Christ: for if he find us not among his soldiers, he will take us for his enemies, although we fight not against him; and if we join not with the army of God, the devil will take us up for to be of the company of accursed creatures. The uses which arise from this doctrine are these, first let us judge ourselves, that we Use 1. be not judged of the Lord, 1. Cor. 11. 31. If our estate be so miserable that we cannot avoid judgement; yet the Lord hath showed us a mean to mitigate our extremity: if we be but our own judges. Abigaijl by condemning her husband's hardness, pacified David's wrath, and saved her whole family from the sword of vengeance: And the Syrians by putting halters on their necks, & coming willingly to the king of Israel, saved all their lives. Oh with whom have we to do, with meek king David, or with merciful Ahab? No, no, but with the father of us all, who is king of heaven and earth, whose love toward us is more tender than the love of a mother, and more sure than the faith of a friend, and more kind than the band of the married. Let us therefore be Abigaijles, by offering our lives and our wealth, accusing ourselves and our natures unto the Lord of hosts: and then will he bless us as David blessed Abigail, yea and marry us to his own self. Arise out of your resting places, and go with full store to appease the wrath of God: if you stay till he come unto you, what shall be your end? Oh what shall be your destruction? Now accuse your birth (though it be noble) as stained with sin, accuse your life (though it be christian) as defiled with the devil, accuse your words (though they be humble) as savouring of evil, and condemn your works (though they have been charitable) as desiring death eternal. judge yourselves worthy of all shame, because of pride; account yourselves worthy of all sorrow, because of mirth: esteem yourselves less than all creatures, because of death; and profess yourselves worse than all men, because of sin. Say of your nature that it is Satan's bondslave: say of your beauty, that it is the glass of iniquity: say of your strength, that it is the power to evil: say of your youth, that it is the time of sorrow: say of your wealth, they are the provokers of licentiousness; and say of the world, it is the bed of danger. What shall I say more unto you? Was not Christ made accursed for us? that we might know that we are cursed for ourselves. Then think how your eyes are cursed beholding vanity; your ears are cursed, hearing falsehood; your tongues are cursed, speaking lies; your legs are cursed, running to evil; your arms cursed, touching pleasures; your children cursed, borne in sin: yea think all accursed, that your souls be not cursed in another world. Another use of this doctrine may 2 serve to reprove their security, that think it is lawful for them to be merry while they may, and never to enter into the house of mourning, till their mirth and joy departeth from them; and from hence it cometh, that they put far away from them the day of wrath. Amo. 6. 3. Children are suffered to be wanton because their years are tender: youth is permitted to be licentious, because their age is lusty: rich men are moved with vanity, because it is their portion: poor men accustomed with folly, because they live in want; and old men drowned in one kind of superstition or other, because they are near their graves. Oh would not this grieve the heart of man, to see so many, so great, so aged, so wealthy, so tender to abhor all mortification, and the sorrowful way to life; but to embrace all condemnation, and the joyful high way to hell fire. Know you not that ease slayeth the foolish, and the resty ox is prepared for the slaughter? why then do you thirst still for more pleasure, and hunger after more vanity? Man must not live by bread only, which maketh him full fed, and through fat; but by the word of God which maketh him many times to fast, being sweeter than his meat, and many times to be lean, being safer than his health. Who is he that accounteth not abstinence a God preservative for health, and labour an earnest procurer of a good life: even so there is none, but must think that it is most necessary for health, and most wholesome for life many times; yea, (if it can be) most times to cast away joy, to put away pastime, to departed from mirth, to stop thy ears from music, and thy heart from laughter, giving over foolish and unlawful jesting, merry and pleasant friends and companions, and so enter into a deep consideration of thy sins, and dangers and troubles, and life and death, that it may work an exceeding lamentation for all thy sins. Remember Moses, which forsook the court of all Pharaohs disports, to live among his poor brethren, which daily laboured in making brick, gathering staw, and bearing many a heavy burden: and so if we should be exercised in a voluntary and willing submission unto tears and weeping, sorrows and lamenting crosses, and enduring afflictions; we shall kill the hearts of many sins, and stop the breath of many evils, and avoid the danger of many troubles. Better it is, saith Peter, to suffer for well doings, then for evil: now when in the fear of God we chastise ourselves, we suffer for well doing; but if we tarry till famine, or war, or sickness, or poverty, or age, or death, than we suffer for our sins; as a thief, or murderer for his robbing and killing. The twelfth Sermon. Verse. 13. Gird yourselves and lament, ye priests: howl ye ministers of the altar, etc. THe exhortations to the people being finished, the prophet goeth on to the priests and giveth them a special direction, how to behave themselves in this time of dearth and famine. And this part as hath been already declared, is contained in this chap. and in the second wherein he putteth them in mind of their duties, which may be reduced to these general heads, & particular members. First, he exhorteth them to a farther humiliation, & giveth reason for the same, vers. 13. as that they should be girded with sackcloth unto lamentation: Secondly, that they should be all night long in sorrowing for the same, afterward in this chapter he biddeth them sanctify a fast, verse. 14. and in the second chapter, verse. 1. he biddeth them show the people their woeful danger. For the fast he telleth them how it should be solemnized, namely with all the people in the house of God: Secondly, with prayer, and the form or example to pray by, is described, verse. 15. and so to the end of the chapter. First, when he calleth unto the priests to be farther humbled, whom already he had said to be mourning and lamenting for this matter, verse. 9 he thereby giveth us to understand, that there are none so forward in any good action, but they have need of a farther None so for ward in religion, but they may be exhorted farther. provocation, and may receive good instruction, to proceed in their godly enterprise. For this cause the Apostle, 2. Peter 1. 12. telleth the faithful in his time, that he would never be negligent to put them in mind of their duty, although they had knowledge and were confirmed in the truth. The which thing may reprove many in our days, which will not abide any wholesome word of exhortation: especially there are in the ministery, those which having rare gifts and great learning, and therefore despise both men and means, which shall any way put them in mind of their duty; thinking it a disgrace to their persons if any of the inferior sort shall note unto them their slips and infirmities. But Peter had more modesty which easily yielded to the reproof of Paul. Would God that men were as much ashamed to commit evil or omit goodness, as they are to be blamed for any default: and it were to be wished that they would as hardly abide the temptation of their enemy the devil; as they will the reprehension of their most christian friends. Again, we have many which have a little show of religion, and an unprofitable form of serving God, the which think all knowledge is lapped in their brains, and all holiness practised in their lives; and therefore they despise sermons and preachers, reading and hearing, conversion and repentance, and will say flatly they have enough already, and therefore will receive no more. Against those let the exhortation of this Prophet, and the example of these priests prevail; that they may both either shame them for their folly, or reclaim them for their stubbornness. The reasons of this doctrine are these, First Reason 1. because it is a true token, that we are the Lords when we are exhorted to farther righteousness, joh. 15. 3. so that on the other side it is a fearful sign that we are none of his, when we stop our ears and harden our hearts, against the exhortations of the godly ministers: wherefore let them which with Peter and john would have heaven to be on the earth, and make a dwelling for their faith on a worldly mount, instead of heavenvly Zion: let them I say, know that as the desire of the apostles could not be performed in this life so in this life although they have climbed up never so great hills of knowledge, and secret hidden mysteries, and have seen the graces of God as plainly, as they saw Elias and Moses: yet must they come down again, and labour to go further before they come to heaven. But me thinks the earnest consideration of this point, should make us all more earnestly to thirst after our spiritual gain of godliness, and never to give over till all our vices are removed, all our uncleanness purged, and all our wickedness forgotten. Do we not see how the earth after one shower of rain, thirsteth for another? and so following every year; even so exhortations and reprehensions are like showers of rain, to make our hearts to bear fruit: the which we should desire for the love of more holiness, as the earth desireth for the increase of more fruitfulness. Another reason 2 is, because it is a notable assurance unto a man's soul when he beareth exhortation, & increaseth in knowledge, that he hath tasted of the goodness and grace of God, 1. Pet. 2. 3. A young child tasting his mother's milk, groweth thereby: a sick man tasting his physicians potion, is strengthened thereby, and desireth more physic, and more meat; and therefore if we can desire to be more righteous, more holy, more faithful, more zealous, and more careful of good things: we may be assured that our souls are in good and perfect health. But alas how many fail herein which taste, but find no relish in the graces of God, and suffer the most wholesome food of their souls to perish in their stomachs: they had rather eat the grass of their own gathering, than the meat of the Lords providing. Stolen bread is sweet unto them, that is, that which is forbidden them they delight in; but that which is commanded and allowed them, they cannot away with: they love better to live in one forbidden sin, then to live in a thousand commanded and authorized virtues. From this doctrine we may make these uses, First seeing there is none so holy and so good in this world, but he hath need of more holiness and goodness: than it followeth that it is a most Use 1. wretched thing to go backward, and to cease from being righteous; for this cause the blessed servant of God exhorted, Revel. 22, 11. Let him which is righteous be righteous still; show therefore if thou have ever obtained any mercy of God in the knowledge of the Gospel, retain the same for evermore. If ever thou hadst any dislike of profaneness, any hatred of evil, any conscience of goodness, and any desire of mortification; that thou didst ever abhor vain sports, foolish words, wicked works, unprofitable members, godless companions, and truthless superstitions, continue so minded for evermore: but as thou hast been just, so abide righteous. The sheep once black or white, never changeth colour; the vessel once seasoned, never looseth sweetness; and the soul once sanctified, never forsaketh holiness. Be not unsavoury salt, be not unsteadfast wind, be not a foolish builder, and be not a cursed backeslider. Call not the truth once beloved, into question, but fight for it as for life: receive not the filthiness once banished, but fly from it as from death. Love not that sin which once thou hatedst, lest all other sins become suitors for thy soul. Go out of vanity and ignorance, and hypocrisy, and security, as Lot went out of Sodom, and never look so much as back upon them. Destroy utterly the city and dwelling of Satan in thy soul, as joshua destroyed jerico, and curse them that build it again: follow all the examples of all the godly; Paul once converted, never revoked; Peter once strengthened, never more halted; Onesimus once reconciled to his master, never ran from him any more. And so seeing thou canst say I have heard sermons, I have loved prayer, I have harboured the saints, I have hated dancing, tabling, carding, usuring, swearing, lying, stealing, and all other abominations: oh wallow not again in that filthy mire but continue righteous to the end. Alas, alas, as the eyes of man cannot weep enough, for the backesliders; so the tongue of man cannot speak enough of their accursed apostasy: some fall to poverty, some to security, some to vanity, some to open impiety, some into heresy, some into schism, some into the world, some into the flesh, and all of these into hell: and thus they go away as Gedeons' soldiers which were at the first 21000. but in the end they were but 300. Might Rahel weep because Herod killed her children, and may not the church weep because the devil killeth her children? Well, woe be to him for his malice, and woe be to them for their backsliding. Secondly, seeing we all 2 need encouragement unto good things, let us not only be exhorted but assured, that the presence of God shall assist us. When Zerubabel and jehoshua were stirred by the prophet to finish the temple of God, the Lord promised his presence to assist them, Hag. 2. 5. and his spirit to remain with them: Now mark who are exhorted, but the prince or chief governor, and the priest or chief bishop, and all the people of the land: let us not therefore fear to enter into a farther reformation of ourselves, and doubt nothing but the Lord shall finish our buildings. We are not Babel and the builders thereof, what need we fear confusion? we are not Saul, what need we despair of victory? we are not Achitophel, we will not distrust our counsel: we are not judas, why should we undo ourselves for our sins? If we have deferred our repentance and amendment, and ran away from God as jonah did, yet being called again, let us go boldly to the Niniveh of our own souls, and preach the fearful curse of God against sin. The Lord came to Abraham in the plain of Mamre sitting in his tent, and there promised him a son: why should we not be persuaded, that when we are in meditating on any goodness, and loving any righteousness, and adventuring any holy business, but the Lord will come unto us and promise us life eternal. Therefore my dear brethren and sisters, adventure far for the religion of your souls, and know that he shall go with you to help you to your wish: fear not any power, for he is omnipotent; nor any enemy, for he is your shield; nor any subtlety, for he is your wisdom; nor any want, for he is your sufficiency; nor any constancy, for he never changeth; nor any death, for he is your life. Believe that you cannot conceive, understand that you cannot see, bear that burden which he giveth you, abide that sorrow that he sendeth you, and practise that gospel which he hath taught you. Pray for repentance, and faith, and knowledge, and zeal, and obedience, and holiness, and life eternal: for the Lord is in thine own soul, and fear not, he will give it thee. Gird yourselves. Again out of these words, wherein the prophet biddeth the priests to be girded to lamentation, that is, to be thoroughly prepared, and to put on sackcloth, that is, all outward and inward testimony of sorrow, and to lie all night before the Lord, that is, to endure any pain and labour to be reconciled to God. Out of the which I might note as many doctrines as words: as first that upon good counsel and godly meditation, men must come to lament their miseries before God; not rashly nor ravingly, nor furiously, but with a godly preparation. Again, that the ministers in any common danger must more earnestly be humbled then any other. Again, seeing he calleth for such sorrow and such continuance thereof, he thereby noteth, that if God be once angry, we must use all means that can be found to appease him, though it cost our sweetest health, and our dearest blood. But I will specially All must be thoroughly humbled in a common prayer for a common misery. observe this doctrine, that all both minister and people when they come to entreat for the removing of the Lord hand, must be sure that they be thoroughly humbled, Nehem. 1. 4. their cause must be well pondered and weighed, their minds must be well prepared and persuaded, their lives must be most zealously reform, and their continuance in their humiliation must be most instantly and inviolably observed. I have observed a great defect in the humiliation of many in the time of our late calamities of famine, and war, and plague, when we were cast down before the Lord. For men would come to these exercises, from taverns and alehouses, from shops & other business, no otherwise prepared then at another common time: again, the notes of their pride in apparel, and all bravery & fond expenses they brought with them, and came more like players than mourners into the Lord's house; and also they were quickly weary, for some would never tarry till the end: and other if they once came, they never came more. And surely these were too evident signs, that we were not thoroughly humbled; and therefore no marvel though the plague prevailed on so many, and the famine hath continued so long. Oh that therefore this exhortation of the prophet might work a new and often remembrance of unfeigned humility before the Lord, when we ever meet again about the like occasion: and this I would have practised both in private and public humiliation. The reasons that may move us unto this duty to be thoroughly humbled, are these: first, because the Lord Reason 1. will not look on our adversity, without this perfect and absolute contrition. Isa. 58. 3. for he then especially looketh to the inward disposition of every soul, to see who they be which tremble at his word and judgements; and they which then will not nor cannot, there is little hope of grace and goodness in them. The heathen king of Niniveh and all his subjects had that conscience, when the Lord sounded their destruction by the prophet jonah; Ahab mourned when he heard the words of Elijah the prophet; and when God speaketh to the Assyrians and Moabites, he biddeth them come down into the dust and ashes to lament their miseries. Alas why do I rehearse either precepts or examples to move men unto this which they would not do, for if their own lives and blood, and souls will not provoke them hereunto, other men's ways will not persuade them: yet let them thus consider, that it will grieve them more to lose this their counterfeit humility, as the jews do in the forenamed place, when they shall say, we fasted, we prayed, we traveled, and we desired to justify our souls; and yet their fast shall be as vanity, their prayer abomination, and their coming into the Lord's presence, like his which had no wedding garment, and therefore was he, and so shall they be cast into utter darkness. Another reason is this, because that those judgements which call for this humiliation, must teach us righteousness, 2 Esa. 26. 9 and so we increase in righteousness, as we exceed in humility; and for this cause we must know, that the more religion a man hath, the more humble he is, and the more he saith he increaseth in goodness, the more he must study to show it outwardly. As for those which think they serve God well enough, when they neither pray with their tongues, nor bend with their knees, nor uncover their heads, nor move out of their houses, I leave them to their fancies, & let every beast & bird of the air confute their fancies: for the Lord which hath assigned every member his office, will have every one to execute it himself. The uses which offer themselves by the Use 1. consideration of this point, are these, seeing we must be thoroughly humbled, therefore let us avoid all manner of idleness in this worship of God, jam. 2. 19 when we are once persuaded of this point, we shall not only lend an ear to this business, but think all time too little that we spend not herein. The poor saints of God in that forenamed place, cry in the night watches, as these priests which lay all night in lamentation: and so when the fear of the Lords wrath and the conscience of our own dangers do once meet together, then there is not any thing that will be so acceptable to us as prayer. This fear will drive from us our sleep, as the winds drive away the clouds, the sick man will sit up, the old man will hold up his hands, the weak man will stand for his life, the woman will weep without ceasing, and every one so touched will avoid all worldly actions; then will, or rather than must the rich man forsake his counting house, the farmer leave his plough, the servant avoid his rest, the labourer neglect his meat, and the drowsy person hold up his eyes. All the Apostles slept till the high priests servants came to take our Saviour, but then they awaked & fled for their lives; but why did they not wake before in prayer, that then they might have slept without danger? oh let us therefore come both great & small, to appear in the Lord's presence with all diligence: let not any long journey, any lack of provision, any love of ease, any loss of health make us idle. Rise early to prayer, watch late to lament, sleep little, that thou mayst spend the more time to gain thy soul's health. In the day we labour for our bodies, in the night let us labour for our souls. My soul (saith David) thinketh on thee in the night watches: and so let our souls think on the Lord, when other think on their rest and their pleasure. Another use which cometh by this consideration is this, that 2 seeing we must be thoroughly humbled, or not at all, let us take for our example the pattern of them that mourn for the dead, as the prophet exhorteth, jerem. 6. 26. How many are the tears of them which lose their loving husbands, their tender children, and their loyal friends; jacob for fear of this said before hand, it would make his hoar head go down into the grave. But so slight is the mourning of many among us, that they neither wet their cheeks for their sins, nor yet would willingly departed with this life, for the enjoying of the life to come. Surely this is worthy to be noted in them which earnestly lament the dead, that they desire to be with them; so let us desire to be free of this fear of death and sin, with the death of our sins and lives: let us so bitterly bewail our time, as we may be most willing to change our life, for no other cause then to cease from sin. The Israelites bewailed Moses thirty days together, and let us with great and long continuance, mourn not for Moses who is in heaven, but for ourselves who would be in heaven. When Naomy bid her daughter's Ruth and Orpah go back into Moab, they wept at her words: if they were so unwilling to live in Moab, and to departed with Naomi; why are not we as unwilling to live in this world, and to departed with Christ, seeing he is our head, and we his members; we must go to him, and he may not come to us? let us therefore by his example endure many sorrows and great dangers, that we may be more willing to leave this life. The thief enclosed in the prison ceaseth from stealing; and when we are closed in jail of many griefs, and clogged with the irons of many crosses, then let us know that we cease from many external and internal abominations. Ye ministers of my God. In this that he calleth the priests which served at the altar, the ministers of God: he thereby giveth Ministers are only the Lords servants. us to understand whose possession are the ministers, namely and only the Lords, Num. 3. 12. The Lord challengeth the tribe of Levi to himself, to be his peculiar and royal priesthood: and the Apostle willeth the Corinthians that they should so think of him, as of the minister of God, and disposer of the secrets of his kingdom: and therefore writing to the Galathians, he telleth them he is not by man, nor by the will of man, but of God. Once in steed of the appointed ministery were the first borne of every family, and they sacrificed and none else; but they altered, and it came to one tribe, and they also were abrogated; and so it came to men approved in the church, who are deemed the special portion of the Lord in this world. And surely if the servants of Solomon, were blessed that heard his wisdom, and waited in his court, they are much more blessed which wait in the Lord's house, and hear and see the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It is therefore a most fearful thing to advance any unto this to be the Lords servant, who is not worthy to sit in the chair of Moses; and there is no reason why they should minister in the church which are not worthy to be the porters of the door. Surely the profaneness of many in these places is so great and so damnable, that besides the injuries done to Christ, many run headlong into hell, through the evil example of their pastors. The Lords servants follow their master in holiness, and not the world in lewdness; they look to the souls, but these wait for the fleeces; they preach upon conscience, these do it for fashion; they preach only the truth, but these bring the fire of poetry, philosophy, and such like to the altar of God: to conclude, they be the helpers unto faith, but these quench their own gifts, and keep other from pure knowledge. The Reason 1. reasons are these, because the whole life of the minister must be only exercised in spiritual & heavenly matters, Act. 6. 2. 4. The apostles would consent to nothing which was not consonant to their ministery, or that might any ways hinder the same: And for this cause the Lord hath so provided, that they should be exempted from all worldly business, and receive their maintenance from other, not only for themselves, but for their children and families. The which thing considered would advertise a number of us, that we which war should not entangle ourselves with the things of this life; we should never give over our service, for that is nothing else but to forsake God; we must never cause our sins to make us be thrust out of the ministery, for that will exclude us from heaven: we must never be idle and unprofitable servants in our ministery, for that will work our curse; and we must never be weary of our places, for that will weaken and lessen our gifts. But alas once there might come no razor on the ministers heads, but now adays heads and beards and all are pulled: if we should not now look to our own maintenance, we might soon want sustenance, and our children are easily suffered to beg, though their parents have well deserved of the Church of God. Another reason is, because none may offer them any violence, 2 but the Lord accounteth it his own, Exod. 16. 8. and he saith by the prophet David, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. How desperate is the case of all men, who are daily by words and deeds reviling the ministers of the gospel, and think themselves happy if they can give a priest a deadly blow by their envenomed tongue. Truly I will say our own sins were the cause of all this; yet if the kiss of judas was so mortally punished, these men's (not kisses, but wounds, not with lips but with tongues and hands) shall never escape unrewarded: for as by their tongues they have killed us, so the Lord with his tongue shall condemn them. From hence let us of the ministery learn our duty, which Use 1. is, seeing we are the Lords own servants, let us labour to present every man perfect in jesus Christ, Col. 1. 28. there is no servant, but he desireth not only to do much work, but that he may present it fair and beautiful to his master's view: this is our labour to bring many souls and saints to the Lord of glory. Abraham sending his servant to fetch a wife for Isaac his son, he brought him godly and beautiful Rebecah: we are the lords servants, and we are sent to fetch a wife for jesus Christ the son of God; oh let us be as faithful unto God the father, and to jesus Christ, as that servant was to Abraham and Isaac; let us do our message with diligence, let us execute our charge with prayer, let us give them the golden bracelets of God his truth, and let us with all speed and haste return again to him that sent us. When jacobs' sons went into Egypt, judah promised him to bring Benjamin again, if he would let him go, or else he should slay his own two sons; and so if we bring not again to the Lord his beloved children, he will slay our bodies and souls for ever and ever, for at our hands will he require them. Come on therefore my dear and holy anointed brethren, we have the leading of God his children, we have the keeping of Christ's Queen, we have the tillage of the Lords corn, we have the use of the Lords treasure, & we have the price of our saviours blood: if we lose his children, he will slay ours; if we defile his wife, he will curse us; if we neglect his husbandry, he will spoil ours; if we waste his treasure, he will sell us to perpetual bondage; and if we spill our saviours blood, he shall condemn our blood, body, and soul. Oh therefore let us be instant in preaching, holy in living, earnest in prayer, zealous in exhortation, & careful in admonition; instructing the children, correcting the youth, and comforting the aged: that as jacob returned with many more souls out of Syria into Canaan, than he brought; so may we come with many souls out of this world into the world to come. Another use shall be for the people, that considering we 2 be the Lords own servants, and therefore open and shut the privy chamber door which leadeth unto him, and to us is committed the building of the church: then as the Apostle exhorteth you Ephes. 4. 11, 14. that ye give heed to them whom the Lord sendeth you for spiritual guides: direct not your prayers to Angels and saints in heaven, for they have not the keeping of the lords works; but the ministers which be alive are the privy counsellors to the lords majesty, whom if you will not believe, neither can you believe, though an angel come from heaven unto you. And therefore as all the people were wont to wait for the coming out of the priest, that he might bless them; so do you all evermore, wait for the blessing, and mercy, and grace, and counsel, and love of God to come from them to you. As the Lord turneth the blood of a woman into milk for the nourishment of her child, so doth he turn our words, and gifts, and knowledge, and learning, and study, and life to be the nourishment of you his church. Come to us for comfort and instruction, and edification, and salvation; you are the lords household, we are his stewards, come to us for your meat of soul, and wages of life. When Adam came again to God he received the promise of life; when the creatures came to Noah's ark, he kept them from the flood; when the Egyptians came to joseph, he saved them from famine; and when the people came to hear Christ preach, he relieved their fainting: Come you likewise to the ministery, they will give you the promises, open unto you the kingdom, deliver you the corn, and satisfy your souls most plentifully, that you shall never faint till you come to the everlasting abiding place. Except the priests had stood in the river of Iorden, the children of Israel could never have passed over: even so we stand in the troubles of this world, to keep them from you, else you should never come into Canaan: Oh therefore come while we stand and bear the lords ark, or else the waters of heresy and Atheism will come again: and then farewell your hope, your health, and your salvation. The xiii. Sermon. Verse. 14. Sanctify a fast: call a solemn assembly: gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. THat is, call and prepare a fast, to the which some may say; that they might well enough fast, seeing their meat & corn was already withered, and they had more need to seek to save their lives, then to go to fast & to endanger themselves farther. Unto which I answer, that the forenamed calamity was but prophetically foretold: & therefore as yet there was not such want, but only it should be if they repent not. He biddeth them prepare a fast, that is, a general humiliation for all the people, wherein should be nothing but mourning and abstinence, and this kind of fast is a great and good part of the worship of God. Esay 58. 13. Therefore from hence we observe that God taketh occasion by threatening of his wrath against us, to move us to worship him more earnestly, so we may see judg. 20. 26, 27. when the Israelites God by threatening wrath moveth us to his worship. in a good cause, had been overcome of the Beniamites, and lost the lives of many brave men, it moved them again to go to humble themselves before the Lord, with fasting and bitter weeping, and lamentation. And surely this seemeth to be the continual course of the Lords doing in the church, that as the ground is ploughed that it might yield more fruit: so the church is afflicted that it may give him more worship. We are for the most part like the disciples which knew not how to fast, or to afflict themselves till Christ was taken from them, and then they fasted, Mark. 2. 20. So when we are either generally molested, or particularly endangered; how do we cleave to the churches, and turn over the bibles, and run over the word? but in times of more ease we are more idle, and take liberty of sinning, when we feel the greatest liberality of our Saviour. If we have no other cause to rejoice in our poverty, and sickness, and infamy, and danger, and hunger, and famme, and all our tribulation, than this that we are by them better fitted for the lords service; yet let this make us clap our hearts and hands that we may any way glorify our creator. And as the Israelites were as willing to fight with the Canaanites, as to possess their land: so let us be as willing to fight with many troubles, as to possess many pleasures. The reasons of Reason 1. this doctrine are these, because such kind of miseries lamented by such kind of worship, doth turn away our captivity, and appease the lords wrath, Lament. 2. 14. and therefore we may take great comfort in the forewarning of our miseries, seeing we may be prepared thereby against all danger to avoid all wrath; if the Lord did not by the ministery of his word humble us, we should ever be subject to mortal confusion, and immortal condemnation. But so he ordereth all things in his church, that as the overflowing Nilus maketh the earth more fertile; so the floods of troubles going over the bodies and lives of his members, maketh them more peaceable: once the disease purged, the body is well quieted, and once the pride of our sin and natures scoured and rubbed away, the soul is more strengthened. Another reason is because 2 that the Lord will have that thing work the good of his church, which worketh the desperation of infidels, for wicked men in their troubles are at their wit's end, as we may see Mich. 4. 5. so was it in Cain and Edom, and the Egyptians, and Saul, and Herod, which all perished through affliction. The nature of the wicked is like iron which will never swim though it be never so little, except it be nailed to some wood or other substance: so the wicked being banished from the godly they fall down and stick fast in an unresistible mire of afflictions: so that we may see, as the cross of Christ was the life of the church, but the death of the devil; so are many other crosses the life of the Lords dear children, but the death of his despiteful enemies. The uses which come from this Use 1. doctrine are these: First, seeing we are by our affections stirred up to serve the Lord, let us keep our souls in continual chastisement, that we may continually be mindful of the lords service, 1. Peter 4. 7. Those which lie in garrisons although they seldom fight, yet every day they discipline and train their soldiers; so although we seldom lie under great danger of exceeding slaughter, yet let us continue our souls in correction and obedience. If David had always used this, he had not so easily forgotten himself, and brought Vrijah to death, and himself into filthy adultery: Even so the want of this private chastisement, and continual afflicting of our souls for our sins maketh us wanton in wealth, proud in prosperity, presumptuous in health, and often subject to satans temptations. Afflictions may rightly be compared to a hedge, which hath thorns on both sides, so that that which is within cannot come out, and that which is without cannot come in: in like manner when our lives are hedged with troubles, the good things which are in our souls cannot go out of us, and the evil things which are without us cannot come into us. Weep often for thy sins that thou mayest always be sorrowful, pray often for thy amendment, that thou mayest still be penitent. Think many times on thy later end, that thou mayest never be arrogant, so shalt thou save thyself from many evils, and gain thy conscience great peace, and procure thy soul everlasting blessedness: for if this life be contrary to the life to come, than it followeth that as there shall be never ceasing joy, for the ceasing of sin; so here aught to be a never ending sorrow for the continuance of sin. Another use which cometh of this doctrine is, seeing our evils make us more fit to serve God, then is it a miserable thing to be made more unfit to serve him through tribulations, when men's hearts die in them for fear of the lords hand, as Nabals did when he feared David's coming: or when men grow desperate seeking unlawful means to be rid of their miseries, as the jews did, Esay 30. 16. and therefore the Lord threateneth them that they shall fly as they determined, and they shall ride on horses as they appointed, but their enemies should ride faster to overtake and overthrow them. I have observed the constitution of many men, and I found them like the seafaring mariners, whose life is a continual death; and yet they are more open contemners, and more obstinate enemies to all manner of goodness then are other men: and so those whose estate is poorest, whose lives are most slavish, having the prisons for their dwellings, and continually destitute of meat and all kind of necessaries, none more wicked than these, or more careless of any good thing. But to let those pass, there are many that have escaped dangerous sickness, pining famine, the fearful hand of war and cruel death, which seemed before their eyes unavoidable; and yet remain desperately wicked still, and run to their own vomit and wallow in their loathsome mire of sin; these are they which are at a league with death and covenant with hell, they hope to escape as well as other, and while they be in the world why should they not live merrily, although they go to hell for it afterward. Seeing they are so careless of their own welfare, who should take care for them; and seeing the fearful hand of God will not win them, the labour of us his ministers shall never persuade them. Out of this vers. I might observe unto you that the pastors are not to proclaim fastings without singular warrant either from God himself, or else from them that ought to direct them herein. Again, I might observe that the people must come at the voice or call of their spiritual fathers, and pastors; also that public fasting aught to be done in the public congregation, for that time being. But we will proceed to the next words, where the prophet telleth them what they should do now when they were assembled together in the fast, that is, they must cry on the Lord, meaning they should humble themselves by prayer. And from hence observe that fasting is nothing Fasting nothing worth without prayer. worth without prayer, Esay 58. 3. Luke 18. 11. The common people do imagine that when they cease from eating, and punish their bodies with a days abstinence, that they do unto God high service. Indeed it is lawful for the preservation of their health so to do, but for a divine service or work of religion, they must not account it. But this custom sprang up from the persuasion of popery, which do not only account this kind of abstinence a meritorious work; but also if men eat not flesh, although they abound in all other delicates, with great store of dainty wines and strong drink; yet do they observe a divine fast to the Lord, although they never make any conscience of prayer, and do not so much as bless their meat and drink they receive. Therefore let all good Christians be careful to avoid in their fasts, ignorance and superstition, and let them either join prayer with their fasting, or else never reckon it for a work of religion. The reasons of this doctrine are these: First, because God doth not except us for meat, 1. Cor. 8. 8. that is, with the Reason 1. Lord if we eat or eat not, we have neither the more or less, and therefore bare abstinence is not any part of religion. But if the ordinary taking of our meats and drink must be sanctified by prayer, which is a mere civil thing, then much more the not receiving either of meat and drink for a religious cause must be consecrated by prayer. One said well, that those which place any part of God his service in their meat, they do very near make their belly their God: Yet though meat and drink doth not make us either the better or the worse to God ward; yet we must remember that hereby is not given us any liberty to live in gluttony or drunkenness, no more then to starve and pine up our souls voluntarily, but he meaneth in the moderate use or neglect hereof. Another reason is, 2 because God never commanded any such fast, nor allowed it, as we may see in all the course of the Scriptures: where evermore there was joined with fasting public and most earnest prayer and lamentation, why then should we use that in the lords service which he never spoke of; and why should we frame that of ourselves, which he reprobateth? truly every plant which he hath not planted, shall be pulled up by the roots, and therefore in vain should we worship him, following the traditions of men: live in the obedience of the Gospel, for that shall bring us to life; and whatsoever we do more we either perform for curiosity, to find fault with that which is done; or else for vanity to search into that which is forbidden. From hence let us learn to lead most christian lives which Use 1. is to serve the Lord with fastings and prayers, after the example of the ancient godly beloved saints of God, as Anna, Luk. 2. 37. and the Apostle Paul, 2. Cor. 11. 27 both men and women have lived in this kind of abstinence, and religious service of God. But alas we have among us thousands which would think they received great injury, if they be not accounted as good christians as Paul and Anna, which never in all their life did so much as fast and pray one whole day together in their private houses. I cannot tell what nimbleness and joyfulness, they find in themselves to the service of God: but I am sure that there have been, and now are others of another judgement, which without this exercise of prayer and fasting, grow many times heavy and so dull in the practice of their profession, that they think that the spirit of God is departed from them. And when they have renewed this exercise, they find themselves again more ripe and sharp and ready in any kind of goodness. Alas, what practise of repentance is there in them, that are strangers in this action? it is a simple sorrow for sin, that taketh not away one days stomach from meat, and causeth not the soul to hunger more after reconciliation, then after a worldly recreation. Therefore fast often and pray much, so shalt thou be like the godly, never be weary of this practice, except thou be weary of christianity: and as thy sins increase, so let thy mortification be enlarged, that thou mayst make more castles in thy soul to defend thee, than the devil doth engines to annoy thee. Another use is, that we absent not ourselves from those solemn and appointed kind of fasts, 1. 2 Sam. 7. 6. all Israel came to observe this before the Lord in Mizpeh, and so continued till Samuel sent them home again. If ever it be needful that the congregation should be great, than it is most requisite to be enlarged, when occasion of lamentation is offered: that as many men's voices made the Lord to spare the Ninivites; so many may cause him to reverse his judgements from us. For truly as in war against an enemy having muaded our country, we are in general to lift up our hands against him to drive him from us: so ought we being endangered by the hand of God to put on every one his complete armour of righteousness, that every man's heart and voice may be lifted up to stay his heavy hand from us. How do men neglect this thing which think it in vain to serve God, and therefore though they know other men to be most busy in lamenting for their calamities; yet they forsake not their taverns, their shops, their counting houses, their husbandries, their marriages, and other their paltries: when as the sword is as near them as their garments, yet they dread not the same: and so as before they neglected the graces of God; so now they abuse the long suffering of God, making their latter end worse than their beginning, like the old world which would not believe, though they saw Noah enter into the ark, and so the flood came and destroyed them all: and so shall it do with those except God enlarge his mercies and they cast away their stubbornness. Alas, alas, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and it cometh Vers. 15. as a destruction from the Almighty. Now are we come to the prayer, which by the merciful assistance of God his heavenly spirit we will most briefly and effectually handle: First therefore, the method which the holy prophet useth, is to be observed; wherein he lamenteth generally, vers 15. and then particularly the means or causes of their destruction. In this verse he generally toucheth all the calamity, when he calleth it the day of the Lord, the dread and conscience whereof maketh him most yearnefully and pitifully to cry out, Alas, alas. Where first of all cometh to our consideration this doctrine, that good men do sorrow and Good men mourn before judgement cometh. mourn for the Lords judgement before it cometh: as this Prophet which sayeth the cause of his tears to be this, because the day of the Lord is at hand: so we may read did Elishah, 2. King 8. 10. when Hazael came unto him and he had anointed him king of Syria, it is said that he wept; and Hazael asked him why he wept: to whom he answered, because it grieved him to think what he should do to Israel; for he should set their strong cities on fire, and slay their young men with the sword, and dash their infants against the stones, and rend in pieces their women with child. Was not this a sufficient medicine to look on, and to make a heart of brass to burst forth into many tears? For I think none considering such a destruction in his country, but he will weep for it bitterly. It is enough many think, to sigh when they be sore, and then to weep when they be in pain; and why should they torment themselves before they feel the misery? Yea rather why dost thou reason thus against thy God? Think on the days of misery that are coming, and do as these prophets, break forth into abundance of lamentation: to think how our towers shall be plough lands; our treasures shall be in other men's coffers; our coastly buildings be razed in an instant; our rivers shall run with blood; our children shall be the pray of soldiers, and our wives be most cruelly murdered. Oh that men before these days could lament for the same; yea although their eyes should never see it, yet let them weep for them that shall feel it. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because they Reason 1. reap this profit by the forewarning of God, jere. 4. 18 19 if God of his great goodness open the destruction of any people or city to any of his well-beloved sons; they are presently astonished men and swallowed up in many sorrows: but wicked men although they be never so often admonished, yet they remain wicked and obstinate still. Oh what a blessing is a soft and believing heart, which doth not only receive the words of God for truth, but is presently affected as if they felt the judgements! When Elijah had told Ahab of God his vengeance against him; then Ahab wept and fasted, and the Lord spared him his time: so I doubt not but there be many which having heard the trump of God his judgement in the mouths of the Lords preachers, they have wept bitterly, and I think the Lord will spare us for their time: but take heed lest the godly be diminished, and no man consider it, lest our destruction be the more sudden; and lift up more voices of weep at the voices of preachers, that more time may be granted us to be freed from vengeance. Another reason is, because good men although they be assured of themselves; 2 yet it grieveth them to think how the wicked shall be destroyed, Luke 19 41. Our Saviour there weary for jerusalem, which should be laid even with the ground. A good man is ever merciful even to the most vile and wretchedst creatures in the world; and therefore it goeth to their hearts to hear and see, consider and think upon, how heaps and multitudes of men shall go to confusion. Some would think that it is no reason to sorrow for other men, but rather let other men sorrow for themselves. But Samuel, whose tears and prayers came many times before the Lord for Saul, will answer them, and instruct them to be careful for other men's salvation: as joab appointed his army, that if he were too weak, Abishai should help him; and if Abishai were too weak, joab would help him: so must we labour to help one another which seem weak, although we know some shall go to wrack. The uses that Use 1. offer themselves to our consideration out of this doctrine are these: First, seeing that it is the part of a good man to sorrow at the foreknowledge of any calamity, let us receive that exhortation of the Lord, jer. 6. 8. that we be instructed when the Lord threateneth us, or else as he there saith; His soul shall departed from us & leave us desolate as a land that none inhabiteth. And I would to God my country men of England would learn this instruction at the mouth of God, that whereas there is none of grave or green years but they have had many tokens, and heard many thunderbolts of wrath drawn from the never uncertain word of God, and from the extraordinary course of manifold judgements which we have felt these late years, that now we being invited to this mourning feast, we all come, & not one stay behind. Oh therefore receive this instruction, before the lords soul go away from our nation: I bid you not leave of your callings, nor cast away your garments, nor put away your wealth, nor forsake your life; but cast away vain mirth, idle talk, wicked hope, & wretched behaviour: leave your sins to the devil from whence they came; & give thy soul to the Lord from whence it came. Elisha did but require of Naaman to go into the river seven times & he should be clean, which his servants told him was but a small thing: so we require you but to wash your souls with the water of your eyes, and you shall be as free from death as Naaman was from the leprosy. But why should I need to instruct you, are you not minded like jeremy, that of himself desired rivers of tears to weep for his people: so be you not backward, but of your own accord, so that you may please the lord, desire that you were all tears to lament thoroughly the miseries of the world. Oh lament with speed & tarry not, or else it will be too late when you shall see before your eyes the little infants quartered; the aged persons mangled; the cruel heathens advanced; the poor christians dying; the air thundering; the earth quaking under you; and the clouds raining down fire and vengeance. Another use is this, that we be so minded 2 at the hearing of the lords judgements, as if they were presently to be executed: It was a great fault in the Israelites, that whensoever the prophet spoke any thing to them, they presently thought and said; this shall not be yet, it will be a good while before it come to pass, and we need not care, for we may be dead and gone out of the way ere this be fulfilled, Ezech. 12. 27. 28. but the Lord rebuketh that folly, and biddeth the prophet tell them that it shall be shortly performed. And so the like rage possesseth the heads and brains of many in our days, which although they know that it is true that is told them of a destruction; yet every one thinketh it shall not be this year, nor in our Queen's days, nor so long as the Gospel remaineth, and therefore they will possess all their vanity, rather than be humbled. But this ought not to beso; yea rather hasten out of this security as Lot out of Sodom, and the Israelites out of Egypt: that thou mayest escape it whensoever it cometh. It is better with the wise virgins to be ready an hour or two, or three too soon, then with the foolish to tarry a quarter of an hour too late. Therefore admit the danger be not as yet, yet because we are now warned, let us now be prepared: shall we not make as great account of the Lords loving mercy, as of our own health? yes, yes, my beloved, and therefore let us arise to lamentation, because the Lord calleth for it, although there were no danger following after. But we are like the disciples which could not watch but sleep, even then when Christ was in most danger, although our Saviour did many times awake them, till at length the enemy came upon them, and they were all driven to forsake Christ: so I pray God our like security be not with the like danger awakened; for I fear if the merciful voice of a Saviour will not move us, the terrible cry, and sword of enemies will amaze us. As a destruction: In these words is the general cause of the lamentation described, because the Lord's wrath is kindled to make a destruction: Wherein there is to be noted, that nothing doth so much fear and terrify good men, as the anger of God, Deuter. 9 17, 18. When Moses perceived that God was angry, he fell Nothing feareth good men so much as the wrath of God. down flat on his face and besought God, neither eating nor drinking for forty days and nights together: was not their fear great that made this good man to adventure his life by so long fasting, and his soul by desiring to be razed out of the book of life? yes verily, for the anger of the Lord moved him more, then if he had seen all the world on fire about his ears. But carnal Gospelers and careless Atheists, as they think it a far more less matter to please God then to please man: so they deem it a less matter to have God angry with them, than the prince or some great rich men that may hinder their worldly estimation. Alas, alas, if Saul were fearful to a thousand, David was to ten thousand; and if worldly men may a little terrify the flesh, the God of the world may infinitely plague the spirit. Therefore put on this affection, that we may know what to think of the wrath of God: if the anger of a prince be the messenger of death, much more is the wrath of God the herald of condemnation. When Assuerus was angry, presently Hamans' face was covered, and he carried to execution; would not Haman give all his possessions to have retained the favour of the king: so likewise, adventure any thing rather than to stir up the coals of the lords wrath, by which thou thyself and all thy neighbours shall be burned without mercy. Oh therefore study to know how to avoid his displeasure, and to retain his loving countenance, and let not the love of any sin so bewitch thee, that thou procure his vengeance in working thy desire. The reasons of this doctrine are these: Reason 1. First, because none can be an intercessor or a friend to God being angry. 1. Sam. 2. 25. that is, there is not any mortal man that can do any such a pleasure as to stay the Lords wrath from falling on him, or that may be able to stand in the gap of the lords wrath. The which consideration might most effectually admonish all our presumptuous companions, which think that the Lord is pinned to their sleeves; imagining him to be such a child as might be lost with an apple and won with a trifle again: but they shall find it a far more heavy matter, when no offers of gold, no entreaties offriends, no tears of grief; no nor yet the fruit or blood of their bodies shall pacify or recompense him for their sins. This aught to make us account highly of the mediation & intercession of Christ, and not to tread under our feet his glorious blood shedding, after we be once reconciled. Another reason is, because it is a most fearful thing to fall into the hands of 2 the living God, Heb. 10. 31. such a fearful thing as passeth all understanding, and therefore who but mad men will run too far into this danger. Although David chose rather to fall into the hands of God than men, because he was well assured, the judgement was but a fatherly correction, and not a revenging punishment; yet we must know that he knew that it would be but a corporal or bodily death: but we are not assured of half so much, yea happy were we if the wrath of God did but reach to our bodies, and that he would be satisfied for our sins; if we lost our children, and wealth, and friends, and health, and life; or that if we could endure all worldly tortures to bring us to death, therewith he would be contented: but it is yet a more fearful thing, when we are subject to all these; and more also to lead an endless and easeless life, in the ever burning and never dying flames of hell. The uses which we must make of this doctrine are these: first, that we Use 1. learn to fear none of them that kill the body, but only him that is able to cast both body and soul into the fire of hell, Mat. 10. 28. But I know every one will subscribe unto me, and say that they fear him above all, when as this fear is such a weak damp, that it putteth not forth any sins; and it holdeth as much godliness in their hearts, as a sieve will hold water in the open air. Moses was afraid of a serpent, and it made him run away: what fear is this that possesseth our gospelers minds, that will not cause them to be as much afraid of the sting of sin, as Moses was of the sting of the serpent? joseph said, for the fear of God he could not commit folly with his lady: and if the fear of God had any rooting in your hearts, you could not lead such licentious lives as you do. The Israelites were afraid to sacrifice a sheep in Egypt, because it was abomination to the Egyptians: but you are not afraid to offer your filthy, deadly, and abominable lusts to the Lord, although they be abomination to his majesty; yea although there be an unmeasurable judgement hanging over your heads. Therefore fear the Lord that must rule you, and the judge that must try you, and the saviour that must keep you; or else you shall feel the deadly pain that shall torment you. The poor woman that came before Solomon, would rather departed with her child to her neighbour, then suffer it to be divided in sunder: but how much more dear it is to have your souls cut in sunder, & fear you not this? Therefore with all speed look unto the Lord as humbly as petitioners; pray unto him, as mournfully as prisoners; tremble at him, as fearfully as the hill of Sinai; fall down before him, as low as Daniel; melt at his anger, as the wax before the sun. Another use is, that we always keep our confidence in the Lord, for if his wrath be but a little kindled, then are they blessed that put their trust in him, Psal. 2. 11. Balaam feared God, yet because his faith and confidence was not in the Lord, he was slain among the other enemies of God: therefore let me now take occasion to exhort all your hearts to a sure confidence in the Lord, because his wrath shall never touch those which put their trust in him. It is said, Psal. 99 4. that Moses and Aaron and Samuel put their trust in God, and he delivered them. This was such a trust as was exercised with all Christian virtues, the which you must join with them, or else you cannot enjoy it: Forsake yourselves, embrace the Lord, love not the world, and desire Christ's kingdom, and then you trust in the Lord; confirm your hearts with patience, beautify your minds with knowledge, reform your affections by repentance, and amend your lives by the whole Gospel of God; and then shall the Lord say you have trusted in him. Oh then blessed shall you be, for although the world be drowned, you shall be saved; although the city be burned, you shall be delivered; although the people be captivated, you shall be enlarged; and although the earth be cursed, yet you shall be blessed. If sickness wear thy body, and anguish vex thy soul, and trouble oppress thy life, and losses catch away thy goods, and enemies spoil thy children, and death do end thy days: yet shall not the wrath of God consume thy joys. What wouldst thou have more? if God hate thee not, he loveth thee; if he love thee, he will keep thee; if he keep thee, danger shall not oppress thee; if thou be not oppressed, than art thou blessed; and if thou be blessed, be sure thou shalt be saved. The xiv. Sermon. Verse. 16. And joy and gladness is cut off from the house of our God. COncerning the former words of this verse we have spoken in the verse before: and now to the next following, where the prophet telleth them, or rather the Lord, that now men could take no delight, nor joy in the outward service of his majesty: which was a most lamentable thing when one should come into the house of God, where was wont to be most sweet melody in the hearts and voices of men, like unto another paradise: now he should find it full of tears, and cries, and yelling, and sorrows, and every one ashamed to show his face for grief, this doth the prophet offer to the consideration of God. Whereby we will note this, that the service of God must be performed with joy and delight, Deut. 16. 11. I mean the ordinary service and worship of God: But in The service of God to be performed with joy. our days we may almost complain as this prophet doth, that joy is parted from the house of our God, men come almost as willingly to the churches, as some go to execution, and tarry as joyfully before the preacher to hear the sermon, as other do before the judge to hear the sentence. When we are at our prayer, they are at their books; when we are at our preaching, they are at their sleep; when we are at our psalms, they are in the taverns. Marvel you not to see the joy of these men in the worship of God, unto whom the church is a jail, the minister is a keeper, the Lord is a judge, themselves are the prisoners, and their zeals are as joyful to them as little ease: yet for all this we will rejoice in the Lord our God, and account one day spent in his courts better than a thousand spent else where. And as David rejoiced to see other men go, so will we rejoice when our number is increased, when our voices are advanced, and our Lord jesus magnified. The Reason 1. reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because this joy in the service of God is a token of the presence of God his spirit in the hearts of men, Rom. 14. 17. so on the other side when men are lumpish and heavy in this worship and heavenly business, it is a token they like not the matter, but are hindered and blinded by the spirit of malice. Shall we then say that they are all given to the devil, who have not been baptized into the Lord's spirit, and possessed with a delight in the lords service? then must we say that all hard hearted misers, wicked minded ruffians, fickle brained younglings, and wind-wavering women, which had rather be playing with their loves, or their children, or else be disporting in bravery and wantonness, or be mumbling a few Paternosters of old angels, or new stuffed barns, then yield their ears, their heart, their soul, their mind, and their whole man to the Lords most needful and blessed business: oh wretched men thus possessed by those that rather ought to be possessed by them! Another reason is, because this delight in this work is the very end and 2 fruit of the gospel. 1. john. 1. 4. My brethren (saith john) I writ unto you that your joy may be full: that is, that you may rejoice in all things, as in meat, for there is the Lords hand; in apparel, for there is his providence; in health, for there is his goodness; in sickness, for there is his mercy; in your houses, for they are his tabernacles; and in his church, for there is his service. A pagan, a heathen, an infidel, a jew, a papist, or any other enemy of Christ, can come to our assemblies, and with a mind ready to vomit up whatsoever they hear, attend to their grief, what is there done, as many among us do, and yet be never the better: therefore be you better than these, and let your righteousnesses exceed theirs, or else you shall never rejoice in his everlasting kingdom. The uses which come of this doctrine are these: first, that whatsoever we do in Use 1. the Lord's house, let us do it cheerfully, & of an upright and peaceable mind, that we say of ourselves, as David, and Christ of them, Psal. 69. 9 The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: so of zeal let us do every thing that we do; for as reason must measure all matters in human and worldly affairs, so must zeal season all things in spiritual and divine matters. Zeal is like the love of jacob to Rahel; it thinketh no frost too cold, nor any rain too dangerous, nor any snow too great, nor any heat so vehement, nor any sun so parching, but he endureth it for the love of a woman. What, shall jacob love a fair face, better than a Christian loves a glorious Saviour? oh no, no, but let our love be dearer than the love of a woman: and let us all say, and that all with Marie the mother of Christ, My soul rejoiceth in God my Saviour. But oh where and of whom shall I complain, that have not been eaten up with zeal, no nor bitten therewith, or that which is less, it hath not licked their souls, nor kissed their lives: that is, they have neither been jealous nor zealous for the Lord of hosts sake? for themselves, they care not what God is; for other, they care not what their souls be; and for all, they care not what hell shall be; they are not earnestly righteous, nor obstinately wicked, but openly indifferent, and that is no body in religion: they mourn not when other sorrow; they rejoice not when other laugh; they stir not when other are moved, and they feel not when other are afflicted. How zealous I beseech you, are they, when they have been cold in the heat of the day, and never sweat one drop in the work of Christ, or wept one tear in the cause of Christ. Another use is this, that seeing we must be 2 careful to worship God with joy, let us then pray for the peace of the church, whereby there may be no mourning within our palaces, Psal. 122. 6. I grant our sacrifices to God are as acceptable when our rejoicing is banished in any common adversity, when we humble ourselves by prayer and fasting, as when in times of greater prosperity and security, we are lifted up with thanksgiving; yet this is better for the church, and equal to the Lord. Therefore let us most carefully commend jerusalems' peace, and every member thereof to the Lords tuition: pray for it with an earnest desire (I say) to obtain, and an unwearied labour till thou hast achieved. To abate but David's thirst, three of his men adventured their lives, being but only to satisfy the king's mind: who was David, but a member of the church? and therefore if they would do so much for one, let us do more for all the church together, that her thirst may be satisfied, and her ease be procured. Oh therefore how happy is our age wherein we live! for the church hath peace abundantly, and our basest things are become very honourable: the blood which other have shed for the same, do we enjoy, and they by filthy prisons have purchased for us, most pleasant houses: O England, be not weary of thy well doing, lest the Lord be weary of thee; be not unthankful for thy peace, lest the bond there of be struck in sunder; be not proud of thy benefits, lest thou be stripped of thy ornaments; be not secure in thy glory, lest thou be stirred up to greater labour: but pray, the father with the son, the mother with the daughter, the lord with the servant, the mistress with the maid, the master with the family, the rich with the poor, and men with women and little children, peace be within our walls, and prosperity within our dwellings. The seed is rotten under the clods: the garners are destroyed: the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered. It seemeth Vers. 17. that these men being somewhat touched with want one ●eere, yet they comforted up themselves with their husbandry and tillage, thinking the next year would make amends for all: like as we have seen in our land these times of dearth, for men have year by year sowed and ploughed, losing both seed and crop notwithstanding all their labour, as these husbandmen here do, thinking that whether God will or not, they will make things cheaper and plenty again, but all is in vain: For if they sow, it rotteth in the ground, if they keep, the houses fall upon it; if they eat, they spend their store; and if they spend, then will shortly their lives be ended. By these words we may observe, that it is in vain by any natural means to No natural means to resist the Lords power. seek to do away the Lords hand. Hag. 1. 6. The people of Israel being in some perplexity, they sowed, and eared, and planted, and laboured to be relieved, but alas the prophet telleth them, that he wasted their seed, he bloweth on their store, and the labourer putteth his wages into a broken bag. What, had he no pity on the poor labouring man, that worketh for a groat or six pence a day? but he must consume that also, yea verily: for the Lord must be served as well by the poor country man as the rich citizen: and therefore curseth as well the get of the one, as the gains of the other. But what shall I say unto you, shall I bid you not till the earth, or not sow your corn? no verily, but blow up your hearts, and cast in the seed of regeneration; and then blow up your land, and cast in your seed of sustentation. How shall the corn grow in your fields, when virtue will not grow in your souls? Therefore labour not in vain, it is not in all our ploughing or planting, or sowing, or reaping, or working, to help ourselves, but in the Lords blessings: who will then bless the earth, when we have washed away the curse of our souls by repentance; for nature cannot help no more than Balaam could curse. The reasons of this doctrine are Reason 1. these: because nature itself, as a creature of God is subject to the curse of God, as we may see in all the story of Egypt, and also Isay 28. 22. where the Lord threateneth to bring a consumption upon the whole earth; meaning the whole course of nature: that he can as easily curse them as it were by sickness, as men are undone by consumption. And verily I think, when I look into the specials, I see as David saith; All things come to an end, but the law of God is exceeding large: The heavens wax old, the earth groweth barren, the gold is but dust; the pearls come to nothing; and all creatures saith Paul are subject to vanity. What is then the study of nature, but the study of vanity? Yea how vainly are their days spent which are always in the belly of Philosophy and Poetry, and humanity, not thinking divinity to be worthy of their fine wits, which they say is the refuge of fools? but if their study be vain, then are their wits vain: and therefore of them it may be said; in seeking to become wise they are made fools, Rom. 1. Another reason is, because 2 there is no other way to life, but conversion to the Lord, Hos. 5. 15. Hear is the remedy for our lands, to make the earth furitfull; not in dunging and compassing it, but if we can turn ourselves to God, then let us cast from us our pleasant sins to rot in the earth, and water our new sowed corn with tears of our eyes: Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God even our God shall give us his blessing. Balaams' ass would not go for all his beating, till Balaam had spoken with God and promised more obedience: even so the earth will not be fruitful for all our cutting of it, and mending it, and poking it, until we be returned unto the Lord, and confess our follies, and promise a new life. Oh, let husbandmen hear this, and learn to live hereafter; or else their worship is like to the sacrifice of Cain, which the Lord refused. The uses which we must make of this doctrine are these; First, that we put no trust or confidence in any earthly or worldly things: for seeing these cannot deliver us from any little judgement, then let us learn to trust in the Lord's power, Esay 31. 1. It is but folly to trust in kings, for they are but men; it is but sin to trust in castles, for they are but earth and stones; it is but madness to trust in multitudes, for they are but flesh; and it is but idolatry to trust in wealth, for it is but vanity: therefore it must needs be best to trust in the Lord. Art thou afflicted, pray unto him; art thou distressed, run unto him; art thou in danger, look unto him; and art thou a living soul, let him be thy strength and thy defender? The heavens cannot bend to help, the earth cannot rise to secure thee; the waters cannot flow to receive, and the clouds cannot fall to cover thee. But here is thy help, the Lord can bow the heavens and come to thee, & exalt the earth to rescue thee; open the way for the waters to save thee, and let the clouds come down to take thee into heaven, as once he did Christ, and at the latter day shall do all his elect. Oh therefore cast not away the hope of your calling, thy christian profession, thy holy religion, and thy hope of salvation, for prince or magistrate, friend or father, heaven or earth, man or angel; much less be not terrified by any enemies which come with fire and sword to work thy desolation: Crave not their help, trust not in their strength, fear not their rage, and distrust not thy God: but in war let him fight for thee; in sickness let him heal thee; in famine let him feed thee; and in death he shall receive thee; for it is better to trust in God, then to put confidence in princes. Another use is this, seeing we cannot avoid any of the 2 lords judgements by nature or natural means, than it also followeth that we cannot escape out of that great judgement of condemnation by any natural virtue or worldly means: but we must all by nature remain the children of wrath, Ephes. 2. 3. Whereby we must take occasion to lament not only the weakness, but also the filthiness of our nature; which bringeth into the world that evil which it cannot avoid. Oh how much are we bound to our blessed Saviour that hath delivered us from the wrath to come! I might also out of this verse note unto you, that God his wrath shall not only extend to the lives of men, or those things which concern their necessary maintenance in this world, but also to every part of their possessions as this prophet speaketh, even their barns and houses, as we may see Esay. 6. 11. Luke 21. 4. 5. And good reason, for as worldly men for their own pleasures do pull down many times both houses & barns, as we may see of the worldly man in the Gospel, Luke 12. so may the Lord for his pleasure do the like. Again, these things do make us to be proud, even our buildings and aedifices, as we may see in Nabuchadnezzar, and also jehoijakim, jerem. 21. 16. And therefore let us know that the Lord in his just judgement will cast down all these as he saith, Amos 3. 14. 15. And if he left not one stone upon another where the temple stood; much less will he suffer houses of extortion & oppression, and gaming, and whoring, and other filthiness to have any place to stand in. Again, seeing we may here see what are our worldly buildings; let us learn to lay up our treasures in heaven, which shall never be destroyed, and lay a good foundation against the world to come. How did the beasts mourn? the herds of cattle pine away, because they have no pastures, and the flocks of sheep are destroyed. Vers. 18. Now he cometh to the most pitiful out cry of other creatures, for as the corn could not grow, no more could the grass, and one misery doth not commonly come alone; and if we well look unto this matter, we shall find great matter lie hid here in. For it cannot be that beasts should be faulty or sinful before the Lord, why then (although guiltless) are they thus tormented? & why did not the people make a hand with them, to eat them? and so to save their lives that ways. Wnto which I answer, that the people would not kill all their tame beasts, because some they must keep for store, other for their labour, and many for offering; which although it now ceased, by reason of the want of corn, yet they hoped would shortly come to pass again as appeareth by their tillage. As for the other, the beasts are punished for man's cause which is the doctrine of this verse, 1. Sam. 15. 3. Zep. 1. 3. even for our sakes are they pined, and fatted, beaten and bruised, because of the sins which we have committed: All the The beasts punished for our sakes. men in the world could not bear their own plague; but the innocent and harmless beasts must help out with the matter. The consideration of this may show unto us, the very original of the rebellion of some beasts. For there was not always eminitie betwixt man serpents, and lions and bears, and wolves and tigers, and such like; for at the first they were all subject: but now in revenge of their miseries which for our sakes they endure, they kill and spoil, and tear us in pieces where ever they meet us; yea the bear as we know will especially aim at the woman with child, that they may rend the young babe out of the mother's womb, and so slay it before it be able to hurt: and I would God we could use the same wisdom in the slaughter of our sins to cut them off while they be young. The reasons of this doctrine are these, because Reason 1. they are subject to vanity, Rom. 8. 20. under hope for the deliverance: for the which they all have a certain voice in their kind known to the Lord, whereby they desire a final restitution. And verily if this be a reason why they should desire a deliverance, because some of them shall remain immortal: it ought much more to stir up the minds of christians, because (not some) but all of them shall for ever live with God: And surely if the children of the bride chamber desire the marriage day; much more ought the bridegroom and bride themselves. Again, seeing beasts lament their vanity because of corruption: how much more worse than beasts are wicked and profane men, which will not lament their iniquity, because of condemnation: and also how vilely are some bewitched by the craft of the devil which forget, and call into question another life, when as the very bruit beasts by nature acknowledge the same. Another reason is, because this doth most 2 notably aggravate the sin of man, and might humble them thoroughly for the same, jos. 6. 17. 21. for would not I pray you, this strike any man to the heart, to hear all the beasts of the field together, as the bulls bellowing, the oxen lowing, the calves bleating, the lions roaring, the wolves howling, the dogs barking, the horses neighing, the Ass' braying, the bears crying, and so all other in their kind and out of kind, calling in the ears of God for vengeance against man? This will surely amaze the strongest, and dismay the mightiest; and therefore it will drive men to weigh their sins diligently: for God knowing that our deafness would be so great, that the voice of man should not be heard, hath made every beast and bird, yea the very thunder to awake us. The uses which come of this doctrine are these, Use 1. first, that we fall into a particular cause why this mutiny of creatures and outcries of all beasts should be sent, which the prophet teacheth us, Hose. 4. 2. 3. to be swearing, and lying, and stealing, and killing, and whoring, and such like: for which things, he saith, shall come a general mourning of man and beasts. Surely we have as great cause to fear this hellish yelling, and confusion, as ever had any nation in the world: for swearing is counted bravery; lying, policy; stealing, honest shifting; killing, manhood and valour; and whoring a pleasant pastime. And thus blood toucheth blood: for the poor have mourned at home and abroad, by famine and war; and the rich shall follow after, when all the confusion shall follow them. Again, let us learn to pity the poor creatures of God, which for our sakes are 2 thus endangered, living under tedious labour, and dying under the cruel butcher, jon. 4. 11. The Lord spared them and Niniveh for their sakes. Mercy is a thing much loved of the Lord: and surely we are to use it, not only towards our beasts in their labour, that we tyre not them too much; but also in their meat that we feed them sufficiently: for in this place we see they will complain. Yea moreover let us not be too unmerciful in their slaughter, and kill not for wantonness, the old and young. And also I cannot see how it should be lawful to set them together by the ears, as bears, and bulls, and dogs, and such like, seeing they rend one another for our sins: and therefore none can make sport of their fight, but they also make sport of sinning. Again out of this verse, where the cattle are said to mourn, we may note that famine is the greatest punishment of sin in this life; for other calamities they feel not and care not for: and for this do the godly so confess Lam. 4. 9 that better is the estate of them that die by the Famine the greatest punishment. Reason 1. sword, then of those that perish by famine: and they give reasons thereof. First because all other punishments are not so tedious, but they are dispatched in an instant: only famine is like hell, where every part is pained, a man being always dying and yet never dead. Again by famine God 2 striketh and taketh away the fruits of the earth, which he doth not in other things although men and cattle perish; yet who rageth against other creatures? The uses which we Use 1. might make of this if we would stand in it, are these: First that we learn how near we are to a famine, for the Lord threateneth Ezch. 4. 16. that he will bring a famine, and make them eat their bread by weight, and drink their water by measure, and do both in grief: and surely this is the very case of the poor, for they have day by day had an ounce or two, or three of bread, and men remain unmerciful. Again, let us at the very beginning of our dearth turn unto the Lord, or else the Lord shall withhold 2 all things from us, Amos. 4. 6. Let him not complain of us as he did of that people; that notwithstanding many judgements, yet they would not turn unto him: for if famine be so extreme, that men and beasts and all creatures perish thereat; oh turn thy soul unto the Lord thy God, for why should we work the death of men, the destruction of beasts and the desolation of all the fruits of the earth? The xv. Sermon. Verse. 19 O Lord to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt up all the trees of the fields. NOw the Prophet cometh to his particular complaint and prayer grounded upon good reasons and calling upon the name of God: for in the former verse we heard only a complaint without mention of the Lords name, and now seeing he bringeth in a prayer also: we must note that we ever add prayers to our complaints, Ios. 7. 7, 8, 9 Mich. 7. 6, 7. art thou grieved for the Ad de prayer to our complaints. sins of other men, or for the miseries of the world, and dost break forth into words for the same? Then turn thy complaint into prayer, or else it is but a murmuring against God, as we may see in Moses and Aaron: for it is by prayer we make our sorrowful hearts known to God, and can enter into the Lords privy chamber. This duty also we may see neglected in our time, for men were never more apt to complain of the hardness of the time; of the wickedness of the world; of the want of corn; of the fear of war; of the power of the rich; and of the prosperity of the proud: but they are but words, for they turn not themselves to prayer, to show God of the matter as they ought to do. Know therefore my dear brethren, that God hath left us in this world, as he left jobs servants, for still one of them came to tell his master what had happened: so we must often use to pray and to complain on ourselves, and on other men: for if we confess our sins God is faithful, that he will pardon them; but if we judge not ourselves, we shall be judged of God. The reasons Reason 1. of this doctrine are these: first, because God forgetteth not the complaints of the poor, Psal. 9 11. 12. meaning of them that pray unto him, otherwise he remembreth no more the poor man's envy, than the rich man's quarrel; therefore let this stir us up, to make our complaint in prayer, as we read Ezechiah did, Isa. 37. when Rabsakeh had blasphemed on the name of God. Oh that men were as ready to pray as they be to complain, for they can easily multiply many words to accuse other men, and they might as easily find words and matter to complain unto God: for as an inferior subject must always sue to his prince by petition, so must we always make known all our desires unto God by supplication. Again, when men do only complain of this or that want without 2 prayer, they tempt God, as we may see Num. 11. 4. Therefore if we will obtain any thing at the Lords hand to our good, let us ask by prayer: for although we murmur for rain and drought, and peace and wealth, and such like, and God give it to us as he gave the Israelites quails; yet we were better want it, for it shall in the end turn to our discomfort, as theirs did. Let us from hence learn to ask of God without murmuring or grudging at our own Use 1. estate, or the Lord's hand, Hos. 7. 14, 15. for the Lord will complain as fast on us, as we complain to him. Hast thou any suit to the Lord, that thou wouldst obtain of him? say not, oh that I had such a thing; or thus, thou O God, mayst give me such a benefit; or thus, surely if God do not hear me, I would I had never been borne; or thus, if God be able let him do this for me: for all this is but tempting and mocking of the lords power and mercy: But go to the Lord with all humility, cast down thy knees and heart, tell him of thy unworthiness, and accuse thyself thoroughly; remember him of his promises in the gospel, for that must be the foundation of prayer; then open thy wants, and desire such a remedy as God himself shall like of; and lastly, praise him for all thy former benefits, and then if thou want thy will, it shall be most good for thee: if thou obtain thy will, thank him heartily again; and use it for the lords glory. Another use is this, that if 2 complainers without praying be odious in the Lord's sight, although the cause be indifferent, then much more are those that never pray but for unlawful and filthy things, that they might bestow them on their lusts, as the Apostle saith, jam. 4. 2, 3. They desire health of body, to wallow in vanity; they crave many children, to hoard up evil gotten goods, and to rob the poor; they pray for riches, that they may reign over other men at their pleasure, and live in sin without controlment; they ask for marriages to abuse them in lust, and finally they pollute all things that come in their hands or hearts: in their outward profession they do but serve the time, and therefore their inward constitution cannot be very holy. I am persuaded that a great sort would be ashamed, to let men hear those things that they continually and immodestly desire in the presence of God. Ask therefore but with wisdom, enjoy thine own with thanksgiving; praise God for all things, and think thyself happy whether thou live or die. Again, I might also note out of this verse, how afflictions and sorrows do teach men to pray most servantly, as we may see in Abimelech, Gen. 21. 17. and in David, Psal. 119. 67. and the reason is, first, because then men begin to feel their sins, 1. Sam. 7. 6. for in truth our consciences are all so guilty, that if we have but our finger ache, we presently conceive it was for some notable sin or other. And for the truth of this we may find it in many wicked rebels justified; which will then most lamentably bewail their sins, when indeed they feel the heavy hand of God upon them, and be either in trouble of life, or in danger of death: but this is with them but momentany, and like a summer dew; but with the godly it is perpetual, for they being once spurred, will travel the better all the day following. Again, as our afflictions are increased, so are our sorrows, for the heart seemeth to be pierced with them, Lam. 1. 22. let us therefore in our afflictions not only pray for ourselves in our own persons, but also entreat of other to pray for us, as we see the Israelites did, 1. Sam. 7. 8. for if we be once persuaded of the benefit of prayer, we will never cease to stir up ourselves and others thereunto: we shall be minded as Paul was, that would have the whole church of Thessalonica to pray for him, 2. Thes. 5. 2. for prayer will make men more greedy than gold will. Again, let us think that afflictions shall not only make the humble and gentle minded man to yield, but also the most stubborn and strongest in the world. Boast not yourselves against the least affliction that can be, for as the soft rain will lay along the rankest corn, so slender troubles will bring to the earth the most obstinate sinners. O Lord, to thee will I cry. When the prophet saith, that he will cry unto God, he noteth unto us, that in prayer we must use the most earnest and ardent affection that may be; for crying is the voice of children or young creatures, whereby all All our affections must be pitifully affected in prayer. men are moved to pity them. Therefore when we come into the Lord's presence, we are to stir and move affections to the uttermost, not with childlike behaviour, but with childlike sincerity and feeling, as we may see in the godly, Lam. 1. 20. where they desire God to behold them, because they be troubled, their bowels are swelled, and their heart is turned upside down, meaning that they were so passionate, that their inward parts were wonderfully moved. And this condemneth the cold affection of thousands in our days, which have as much feeling in their prayer, as they have in their dreams, and know as well how to remove a mountain, as how to move the Lords mind toward them, so cold are their thoughts, so weak are their desires, so wild are their words, and so many be their wants in prayer, that I think verily when they have prayed, they find themselves as much fit for the lords service, as a stone is for building being rubbed over with a little oil: I warrant you their hearts are not turned upside down, yea I would their lives were turned, but I fear they will first be overturned. They will make more suit in better words for a dinner, they being hungry, then for the Lords spirit, or any other means for salvation. Their voices in prayer are like unborn children, cry they cannot, much less speak any thing, no not so much as to say Amen when others have prayed before them. The reasons of Reason 1. this doctrine are these: because he careth not for mean and weak words, but for strong and fearful passions, Isa. 29. 13. for the Lord being highly to be feared, will especially be then feared ardently, when men speak unto him by prayer. Moses fell on his face when he prayed to him, and so did Elijah, for it is unpossible but a man of flesh and blood should tremble when he thinketh on God, much more when he prayeth to God; for than doth the spirit help a man more to see into the secret of his majesty then at other times. Yet fearful is it to see how men in our days think to carry away the matter with words, persuading themselves that their bare presence and outward dwelling among the church, where now and then they hear God spoken of, and hear a few prayers in the public place, although their hearts honour not the one, nor confess the other; yet are they as good religious men as any in the world: but let them know that they be as good Christians as the Samaritans were right Israelites. Another reason is, because that an acceptable sacrifice to God is a broken and contrite heart, Psal. 51. 17. and therefore when we offer to the Lord our prayers, let us be sure that our hearts be broken asunder, for as there was no beast sacrificed but his body and shoulders were parted; so no man can be offered to God but his heart must be divided in sunder, that is, he must be most passionately affected at the Lords house, and most lamentably tormented for his own sins, & most pitifully opened for the Lords mercy, & most earnestly desire the building up again of the same. The uses which we must make of this thing are these; First, Use 1. let us not judge evil or rashly of them that are moved earnestly, and labour effectually in prayer, 1. Sam. 1. 14. 16. When Annah prayed before the Lord, because her lips went and not her voice, Eli told her she was drunk: but she answered, no, for she was a woman of a bitter soul. In like manner, the power and working of the spirit in the prayer of many, through their continuance, words and gestures, is most wickedly mocked, and most shamefully blasphemed of the malicious sort, who are able to say as much in their prayers as the old massepriestes could when they wanted their own books. And for this cause without the spirit of God they speak evil of the things of the spirit, terming our earnestness in prayer to be raving, our zeal to be folly, our continuance to be a heap of idle desires, our tears to be hypocrisy, our sweat to be chafing, and our forwardness and willingness thereunto to be pride and ambition, with a number the like, as I have heard, which are now opened in the stages, where all good gestures are most wickedly derided. Well, well, Eli was not so rash nor profane, but blessed Annah when she had told him her mind, and yet for all that he ended his life with the breach of his neck. How can it be but the Lord shall more mercileslie bring these to confusion? we may ask this kind of monsters as Esay did some in his days: upon whom have you jested, and against whom have you opened your mouths? surclie against him that made both tongue and mouth, and shall try it out. As there are many gifts in the spirit of God; so are there many ways to express the power of them, and as every one hath his gift, so hath he his gesture to open and unfold the same. Another use of this doctrine is for our singular 2 comfort, that seeing according to our feeling in prayer, so is the Lord affected toward us: when we are bitter he maketh us sweet; when we are heavy he maketh us joyful; when we are cast down, he raiseth us up; and when we are most destitute and desperate, he cometh with all speed as a mother to her child when it crieth loudest. What are our sorrows but many voices to cry unto God, and as a godly martyr having received many wounds in his body whereby the blood issued forth abundantly, thanked his tormentors because he had as many mouths more to praise his God, as he had wounds in his flesh: much more occasion have we to thank our Saviour, that by sending so many sorrows into our hearts, hath provided for us many friends to entreat his mercy for us. Therefore fear not my dear brethren and sisters for any adversity, as when the battle is hottest, the victory is nearest; so when your miseries are greatest, your deliverance is at hand. Of this we have often spoken before, and so also of the other part of the verse following where the prophet yieldeth the reason of his prayer, because the green pastures were devoured, and the greattrees were burned up: teaching us that which before we touched, that when famine cometh, there is nothing free from the same, but it feeleth the smart if it have any life at all. And again, the unmercifulness of it is noted when he compareth it to fire and flame; the fire burneth low, that is the grass of the earth, and the flame reacheth high even to the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up: and the fire hath devoured the pastures of Verse. 20. the wilderness. Now once again the prophet rehearseth the cry and lamentation of the beasts, where I might note, that seeing the beasts cry unto God and to none else: how much worse are those then beasts which either never cry, or else cry to other then God. But this is worthy our consideration, that he saith, the beasts cry unto him: noting unto us that God regardeth the very cry and voice of dumb and brutish creatures, and therefore the Scripture saith Psalm. 104. 27. That God openeth his hand and giveth them meat in due season: And surely as God is most wonderful in all his works, so is he most humble and gentle to all his creatures, not disdaining with his own hand to feed the basest swine or beast in the world. But how unlike are they to God which do not hear the voice of (dumb beasts) no not of speaking souls, and living men; and if they do, yet their hands must not come near them, but either they must take it up on the ground, or God heareth the voice of beasts. Reason 1. else receive of their abridgers, I mean their servants. The reasons of this doctrine are these; First, because God hath created them, Gen. 2. 2. And for this cause before that ever he made beasts, he made all the grass and herbs of the field to be ready for them, so kind and constant is their nature, that they never forget their creator; but we shall find more men than are beasts that have long ago lost all their knowledge and grace, and image of God, calling into question whether there be a god or not. Oh cursed creatures, oh fearful times, that bringeth forth some men like men, and some men like beasts, and some men like monsters: which are in bodies men, in manners beasts, and in minds worse than any creatures, yea than devils, for they acknowledge and fear God. Another reason is, because men should have a taste of the excellency of the 2 lords mercy which saveth both man and beast. Psal. 36. 6. 7. As for man's sake they were subject to vanity; so for man's sake they are received into tuition again, the one was done for his sin, the other was for his instruction, that as the heinousness of his sin did bring more into danger beside himself, whereby he might despair: so the greatness of the Lords mercy might bring more into favour again beside himself, whereby he might be comforted. And thus we may see how for our sakes is the rod of vengeance, and the staff of mercy: for our example some are killed, some are burned, some are hewed, and some are damned: and for us again, we may see the angels are maintained, the world is lengthened, many good men have been preserved, and many bruit beasts are continually maintained. The uses which Use 1. come from hence are these, First that we fall not into any despair of God his goodness toward us, either for our souls or bodies, Mat. 6. 25, 26. where our Saviour biddeth us to look to the lilies and to the young ravens, for whom the Lord taketh care: and verily every hair on a good man's head, is more worth than all the beasts of the world; therefore let us persuade ourselves, that seeing God heareth their cry, he will not deny our prayer: and seeing he looketh on their mourning, he will not despise our tears: and seeing he regardeth their life, he will not cast away our souls: he that commandeth us to be merciful unto them, hath also bound himself to be merciful unto us: therefore let us be assured that we are more worth than the beasts in the ark, or all the creatures in the world. But alas why do I tell men of their worth? for they know it too well, or of the Lords mercy, for they are too proud of it? Surely because as Bathsheba teacheth Solomon, Prou. 31. 4, 5. not to be given to excess, or to be won with vanity because he was a king, that is a worthy man in the world: so I would teach men by telling them their worth to avoid from their filthy abominations. What shall gold do in the dirt, or pearl in a swine's trough, or money in a madman's pu●se, or authority in the hand of fools? oh 〈…〉 that we have all under us, and yet be 〈…〉 honour is it to us to be more worth than all creatures, to have the Lord for our creator, and his mercies when we entreat them, if in the mean season we be not godly? then shall the best become worst, and at the latter end, we shall wish we had been worst of all. In the next words he telleth us how the rivers of waters are dried, and how the little country cottages wherein poor men & cattle were fostered, were burnt up; both very wonderful (that the one) I mean the waters should lose their spring, which seem to have an everlasting assurance of perpetuity: But alas what can be perpetual when God altereth; what can continue when he dissolveth it? surely nothing, for he bendeth the heavens, melteth the earth, emptieth the sea; & therefore may easily dry up the little land-brookes. Therefore as on the earth is the safest going, because it is lowest; so in poverty is the best estate, because it hath nothing. Once there were no rivers, and so sometimes are not, and one day shall cease to be again; so once men had nothing, now in their richest estate they have but little, and one day they must forego all. But when he saith that the little cottages are burned up, we may note, that there is not any thing so small or so vile, but the hand of God will find it out, Amos. 9 Poor men think because they be poor, that God neither regardeth their well doing, nor thinketh on their evil: but they must be of another mind; for as fire burneth up all that standeth against it, so doth the wrath of God meet with all that is against his law. God is in the city, and in the wood, and in the village, and in the cornfield, and in the wilderness, and on the sea: he noteth thy doings in thy palace, and in thy house, and in thy barn, and in thy labour, and in thy cottage, and in thy ship; even as Christ saw Nathaniel when he was under the figtree. Surely the buildings of stone are too high to stand long, the buildings of wood are too weak; for the little low tabernacle with cords tied together shall come to an end. And thus we see that fire shall be the end of all: as it was the end of Sodom, so was it of Zeboijm; and as of them, so was it of the poor shepherd's tents; and as of these tents, so shall it be of heaven and earth. Thus much for this first chapter. The xuj. Sermon. Chap. 2. V 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion, and shout in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord is come, for it is at hand. IT hath been showed, that the beginning of this chapter unto the end of the 11. verse, was the continuance of the former judgements spoken of in the first chapter: so that this verse belongeth to the charge of the ministers and people, wherein the ministers are first exhorted to sound the trumpet; and secondly the people are bid to tremble, because the day of the Lords wrath is at hand. Concerning this blowing of the trumpet, we may read the right use and first institution thereof, Numb. 10. First it was The use of the trumpets in old time. used for assembling the congregation; secondly, for the removing of the camp; and lastly, when they went forth to war, because the people might be had in remembrance before God. Although it be hard to show whether in this discourse following the prophet meaneth the coming of the beasts before named, or the coming of the Assyrians their enemies; yet the matter is not so necessary, as that we should spend much time therein, nor so difficult, but it may be decided: and therefore I think that here is only meant the coming of the noisome beasts, because the description following is set forth by similitudes taken from war, and not by flat and evident propositions; the which course the Lord doth take in other places, when he noteth an invasion, as in jerem. 50. In this place we must first of all handle the blowing of the trumpet, which was the priests office; and the cause thereof was, to put them in mind of a danger; for the people were now assembled, and had need to be terrified to the uttermost to make them humble, as we may see the effect, Amos. 3. 6. for the trumpet might be heard far and near, as an alarm among us. Wherefore we may gather I The ministers must show all dangers. from hence, that it is the ministers duty to show the people of the lords wrath, and the danger which they are subject unto for the same, Ezech. 33. 2, 3, 4. if they sound not the trumpet, the people cannot be prepared, and then shall they endure a double condemnation: they bear the Lords ark, when they stand, all must stand; and when they go, all must go: and if they sound the trumpet, and tell the dangers, only the disobedient come to destruction. And thus we may see how the hardest burdens and most dangerous, are laid on the ministers backs, for if they preach men will not believe them, and then they are persecuted: if they preach not, God will forsake them, and then they are damned: being also subject to all those dangers which themselves do threaten, the which thing might discourage men from that holy function; but that the Lord commandeth us and enforceth us thereunto. And I would God that all the crosses and dangers which wait like pages or rather like jailer's upon the ministers office, could be sufficient to deny a passage or entrance unto the unlearned and vain headed persons, whereby for ever they might be excluded from our callings: but of this matter sufficient hath been said already. The reasons are these; First, because God openeth to them either ordinarily or extraordinarily his purpose Reason 1. which he will do in his church: for there hath not been any great calamity in the world, but the Lord giveth knowledge thereof before it cometh, so that his preachers might be believed, and destruction avoided. Secondly, they are the mouth of God to the church, and of the church to God, Matth. 18. 20. and therefore what they sound, God soundeth; what they bind, God bindeth; and what they discharge, God setteth at liberty: yet so, as their actions must be guided by the Scriptures, if they will have God to confirm them. The uses which we are Use 1. to make of this doctrine are these; First, that we do not only teach the judgements; but join with our doctrine an outward testimony of their fear, and a practice, that may serve as a pattern for the people to repent by: Ministers must move affections. so the Lord teacheth Ezech. 21. 6. 7. where the prophet is commanded to mourn bitterly, as a man that mourneth for the pain of the rains. And the cause followeth, that when the people should ask him, he might tell them that he mourned, because every heart should melt, and every mind should faint, and every hand should be weak, and every knee should fall away like water: and what heart of stone or desperate mind could see his tears, and hear his words, and yet refrain from weeping? It hath been already showed that the example of the pastor is the best way to persuade the people, and we know by lamentable experience, that where the preacher liveth ill, his life doth more hurt, than his preaching doth good. Therefore my dear brethren, when we have cause to threaten any judgement of God, let us so temper our bodies as if we felt it within us, as jeremy did, when he cried out, My belly, my belly; as if the calamity had already seized upon us. Let us preach earnestly; let us live zealously; and let our words and tears be heard in the pulpit, and our prayers and fear in private communication; and full often let us urge and constrain our affections, that by many passions as it were by many water drops, the hardest heart of stone may be pierced through. But it grieveth our heart that many preachers in many places, when they have taught most singularly on the Sabbaoth day, so soon as the door is shut, some go to tabling, some to carding, some to shooting, some to bowling, and some to banqueting; which maketh the people think, they did but mock them in the pulpit. Another use which cometh by this doctrine is this, that Use 2. when we have so preached, and so lived, then may we assure our souls of most excellent comfort, as the Apostle doth Act. 18. 6. say, now are we free from the blood of all men; so that a good conscience is the reward of a good preacher, which is a greater benefit than any Bishopric or preferment of the world, when a man may rejoice of his labours. So that let every preacher keep this joy, and defile not his conscience: for the conscience of a learned man once stained and corrupted, seldom or never is quieted again. Look upon Eli his conscience, and upon the prophet which came to jeroboam, who was slain by a lion; and upon jonah when he was cast into the sea; and upon judas the most wretch that ever was borne, when he had betrayed innocent blood. I could bring many examples out of other writers, if I should not be tedious: but of my own knowledge I speak, that I have seen some in the ministery endued with rare gifts, and excellent learning, using great diligence in their places; yet being given over through natural infirmity, their days have been very few and very bitter: therefore maintain thy conscience with loss of life and living; for it is an easier matter to bear all the reproaches of the world, than one of thy own heart: for it will turn the sword of God in thy own hand, and cause it to wound thyself; neither shalt thou be able to avoid it. I grant that men of other callings have no such dangerous slips: therefore look to thy soul, for the devil in dazzling thy light darkeneth all thy people, and by making thy own conscience to accuse thee, he will make good men to forsake thee, the world to wonder at thee, & the spirit of God to departed from thee. Zion my holy mountain. Zion was the hill whereupon the temple was builded; for the which cause it is called the Holy mountain of God, because thither came all the tribes to do service and sacrifice to the Lord: & therefore sometime it signifieth the church of God and all the members thereof, as Psal. 51. By these words I might note, that although the ministers have a private and a public charge to warn the people: yet they must have a more special regard to the public place, Col. 4. 16. Isa. 66. 6. The reasons are, First, because Christ is always present in the congregation, Reasons. The public ministery to be regarded principally Mat. 18. 20. and therefore if they have any love to their Saviour, there they must hear and see him. Again in the public ministery of the word is given the holy Ghost, Gal. 3. 2. so that if men would have the pledge of their eternal inheritance, thither they must resort where he is freely offered without money: yea, let them come from strength to strength, that is, be thy strength little or much, use the same to come to the church of God, there is no more dispensation for weakness then for health; and therefore if thou wilt show thy obedience and thy zeal to salvation, then come when thy health and strength is most endangered, for than will it be like the poor widows mite, most acceptable to God. If thou be a gentleman? use the help of thy horses and men: if a woman? take the help of thy husband: if thou be poor? crave thy neighbour's hand, as he did which was sick of the palsy, Mat. 9 2. If thou be a servant? take so much the less pleasure, to hear a sermon; for in so doing thou shalt please the Lord, and not disprofit thy master. Again despise not the voice of him that speaketh, Heb. 12. 25. for God which speaketh in us is a consuming fire: there was never angel that spoke, but the contempt of his words was severely punished; and Zacharie because he did a little doubt of the angels message, lost his tongue till his child was circumcised. The ministers of God are called angels, Revel. 2. 1. and therefore if thou believe them not, then fear the loss of thy ears, or thy tongue, or thy hands, or thy heart: but if thou contemn them and dally with them wanton or despitefully: oh, fear the loss of body and soul for ever and ever! but of these things we have often times before spoken. Again, if the voice of a trumpet could awake the jews and turn them to the Lord, how is it that men, and voices, and Christ, and Gospel cannot awake the men of our times? the trumpet was blown very seldom, but the word is every day and every where preached, and yet are not men prepared. Nay verily, a trumpet in the streets shall have more followers than a sermon in the temples, and as Michab saith, cap. 2. 11. new wine and strong drink do make men rise early, and go late to bed that they may be filled therewith: but yet the wine of the Lords truth cannot prevail; and therefore the wine of his wrath must make them drunken unto death. But in this that he biddeth the inhabitants to tremble at the sound of a trumpet, we are taught, that we must stand before the Lord with fear and trembling, jer. 6. 10. Ezr. 10. 9, but in our days How we must behave ourselves in churches. men quake in the congregation, as steeples in the sea: they are ready to laugh at that which should make them sorrow, and to loath that which they should long after. He is now accounted a milksop that will weep when he heareth sin reproved, and a very coward that feareth any evil, yea though it be eternal condemnation. It is fearful to consider, that the presence of God shaketh the whole world and the power of his word maketh the deserts to tremble, and yet silly men (and in comparison of those, like corns of sand) will not shake nor tremble, nor fear for any of all these. And above all, this mischief is to be considered, that the longer we live in the world, the less fear of God, or terror of judgement increaseth: old men grow careless through age: young men grow dissolute through pleasure: children wax wanton through evil education: and almost all men wax worse and worse. What is the church more regarded, than an alehouse? or a preacher more esteemed than an idol? or a saint more honoured than a devil? or religion more loved than Atheisine? or the kingdom of heaven more longed after, than an earthly inheritance? No, no, truth yieldeth to falsehood, charity to envy, quietness to contention, sobriety to intemperancy, law to unrighteousness, faith to policy, and christianity to infidelity. help O you saints of the Lord to lament this mischief, although we cannot amend it. Put to your tears and your prayers, that they may sound before God, seeing GOD cannot any longer be heard among men. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because God Reason 1. dwelleth in them that tremble at his word, Isa. 66. 2. And again, this fear and trembling is a most manifest sign 2 of the power of the word, Heb. 4. 12. so that where this trembling is wanting, there can be no true devotion, whatsoever diligence be used, because the word cannot have any free passage in our souls: For as a child careth not for his master whom he feareth not, so a man careth not for the gospel when he trembleth not: Yea on the other side, we rebel against the wisdom of God, and spurn his word with our feet, when we suffer it not to go through our hearts. We read that Og and Sihon two great kings, would not suffer the people of Israel to go through their countries; the which discourtesy cost them their lives, their land and their subjects, and all because they would not grant a pathway: even so, if we let not the word of God pierce clean through us, and quietly with courtesy give it entertainment in our hearts, he will take them by force, and give us to be a miserable spoil to devils. If judas had had any grace, when he heard our Saviour curse that man that should betray him, he would never have gone farther, but let his action fall: but he did as our hearers do, hear his own condemnation, and not believe it; and therefore they shall do as he did, repent when it is too late, giving their lives in stead of their ears, and their blood in stead of obedience: and yet alas, alas, all will not serve their turn. The uses hereof are these: first, seeing Use 1. we must fear and tremble at the ministery of the word, than it followeth, that we shall be comforted thereby, for it is written, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted: and thus the Lord assureth his people, Isa. 66. 5. that for their fear he would give them safety, and for their trembling he would give them joy, and their enemies should be ashamed at it. Therefore if you would feel the sweet taste of the word of God, and receive the joyful news of your salvation, then learn to tremble at the hearing thereof, and you shall like of it better, love it dearer, hear it oftener, and lean to it more safer than ever you did. Again, seeing we must hear the word of God with fear and trembling, let us also make an end of our salvation 2 with fear and trembling, Philip. 2. 12. that is, fear not only in the church, or when thou art near unto danger, but all thy life long, until thou have made an end of thy salvation. For so long as thou fearest, so long thou art in safety; but when the world shall say peace, peace, and there be no fear of judgement, then shall come their destruction: for as when he in the gospel promised to himself greatest safety in his riches, that night did they fetch away his soul; so when we say we have done, it is finished, I have sorrowed long enough, I have endured the cross of Christ thus many years, and therefore now I will take my pleasure; then shall our danger be nearest, and our woe be greatest: therefore let us never cease fearing till we be in heaven, as the shipmen never cease watching till they be in harbour. Oh, here is a Christians trial, if other men vex him, let him bear it; if he be free from other men, let him chastise himself: Fear the Lord, lest he be thy judge; fear thy Saviour, lest he prove thy enemy; fear thy sins, lest they overmatch thee; and tremble at the word of God, lest it condemn thee. A day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and of Vers. 2. blackness, as the morning spread upon the mountains, so is there a great people and a mighty: there was none like it from the beginning, neither shall be any more after it unto the years of many generations. A day of darkness. Now the prophet proceedeth to describe the great wrath of God in the fury of these small beasts, which he doth first by consideration of the quality of the day or time when they should come: and secondly by the manner of their coming, taken from many resemblances and similitudes. For the time he describeth it after the usual manner of the scriptures, which setteth forth a sorrowful day of judgement, by darkness, clouds, and mists: secondly, he showeth the cause hereofto be the great and mighty people, meaning the locusts and the residue; for he calleth them a people, as Solomon calleth the ants and the coneys, Prou. 30. 25. and he saith they shall obscure the light as the morning darkness, because their company should be so many, as we may read they did in Egypt, Exo. 10. 15. And therefore he saith there was not the like from the beginning, meaning for a long season, nor yet should be again to many generations following. So that he telleth them that this was a fearful time, when all the heavens should be covered with clouds, & the earth be darkened with an innumerable swarm of noisome beasts. Concerning the multiplying of these beasts, we have spoken in the former chapter. First, when he showeth them that the day of their trouble should be cloudy, gloomy, and full of darkness: we may learn that these Clouds and darkness admonish us of judgement. things do put us in mind of the great wrath of God, Psalm. 18. 11. For in truth thus the Lord will have it, that we should be feared from the heavens above us, and from the earth beneath us. It is reported for a great wonder, that we in England seldom have any days wherein we see not many clouds; whereas in other countries they see not any clouds for many months together. Let us therefore make this advantage of our country's situation, that on the day time when we behold the clouds, we think upon the great judgement of God, whereby from the clouds he once reigned down a great flood that destroyed the world; and how one day in a cloud Christ shall come to judge both quick and dead: Again, by night let us meditate on the light of heaven, that we may escape that utter darkness where shall be nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth. The reasons of this doctrine Reason 1. are these; First, because this want of light was the first punishment that God inflicted on the jews for the death of Christ, Matth. 27. 45. the which thing made them much afraid: for they had darkness instead of light, to show them that Christ which should have been their light, was now made darkness unto them, from whom they could receive no sight to walk to heaven. And surely if this outward and carnal darkness be so terrible especially in the day time, than what is the inward and spiritual darkness in the minds of men, whereby they are deprived of all light of God, all partaking of the spirit, and all the hope of the world to come? Oh would God this their perplexity could provoke their hard and unbelieving hearts to forsake their damnable security: this their darkness is so gross, that other men feel it, yet they are so blinded that they cannot see it. Let us therefore my dear brethrens know, that God will leave none without excuse, but either the word or the world shall tell them their duties: and let us learn to praise the Lord for covering the heavens with clouds, Psalm. 147. 8. that by this means not only watereth the earth, and maketh it fruitful; but also admonisheth the minds of his children of a continual preparation to judgement. But in our times all these are nothing regarded, for signs & tokens, & remembrances of righteousness; yea, some know not so much as the use of the rainbow in the clouds: nevertheless in the right use of God his creatures consisteth one great part of religion; so that this is the best kind of Astrology or prophesy to be made of the stars, that they may direct us to a holy life, and prepare us for a blessed end. Moreover, by this that the Prophet saith, The like hath not been seen, nor shall not 2 be in many generations, We may observe that God doth very seldom change the course of nature, and turn light into darkness; for nature being a rare work of God, he seldom Nature seldom changed. Reason 1. useth his omnipotency to alter and change the same since the foundations of the world were laid. The reasons are these; First, in regard of the Lords own promise, Genesis 8. 21. For after the flood, he determineth never to drown the world again, and therefore he gave the rainbow to be a pledge thereof; and also that the continual course of nature should remain for ever: Now the Lord is faithful and will remember his promise, or else we know that the world might many times since have been destroyed, for there hath been more sin since the flood then ever was before: Since the flood have sprung idolatry, the poison of the world, and many other abominations, not known of in the first age, as wars, and sodometry, and such other like; yet for his promise sake he forbeareth destruction. Another reason may be the same that David useth, Psalm. 119. 90. 91. That the continuance 2 of the earth and all things created do witness the perpetuity of his word. Therefore let us by considering of this same know of a certainty, that rather than any jot or title of the lords word should be brought to nothing, not only the earth and all the course of nature shall be altered, but also the heavens so high and so immutable be utterly changed and pass away as nothing: then also will not God spare his workmanship in the body of man, but to verify and justify his word, he will bring many to condemnation. Let us not now think to escape the better or the longer, because nature shall continue, for without changing of nature can God easily bring us to destruction, as he could without breach of promise destroy all the jews; and of the stones of the street make new children for Abraham: He can destroy as well in light as in darkness, as well in drought as in waters; as well by meat, as by poison; as well by our own hands, as by the mouths of lions & tigers. All the earth was not parted when Corah was punished; all the world was not afflicted when Samaria was famished: but the Lord will here and there pick out the men that transgress his law, as he found out Achan and the posterity of Saul committing the guilty to death, and reserving the guiltless for life. Again, let us fear how we endanger ourselves to God, for in his wrath he forgetteth 2 that we be his work, and will cast us off, although we were as near unto him as the signet on his right hand: Say not thou hast been a professor, or a preacher, or a hearer, or a martyr, or a miracle-worker, through the power of God, for notwithstanding this he will say unto thee, I know thee not, if thou be not converted. He casteth much gold into the sea; he bringeth great kings into slavery; he taketh away plenty from whole countries, and dasheth in pieces many young infants: therefore think not thou, but he will be revenged on thee for thy presumption. Yea to punish the jews, he destroyed his own temple; and therefore he widow spare neither house, nor building, nor nation, nor person, but in his wrath he will bring all to confusion. The xvij. Sermon. Verse. 3. A fire devoureth before him, and behind him a flame burneth up: the land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behind him as a desolate wilderness, so that nothing shall escape him. IN this verse is contained the first similitude, whereby the force of these beasts are described, comparing their biting of the fruits to a fire: for after an herb hath been bitten with a locust, it will look black like a coal. Again, he compareth the land before he touched it, to the garden of Eden, meaning the fruitfullest place in the world: but after the beasts had overrun it, it was like the most barren and forsaken wilderness. Concerning the comparison of fire it hath been spoken already, and it noteth the unmercifulness of the destroyer. But in this that he saith, before him the land is as Eden, and behind him a wilderness: we may observe, that there is not any 1 land so fruitful, so fertile, and so pleasant, but it is subject to the curse of God and to barrenness. Gen. 3. 17. It is apparent in all the creatures of the world, what the sin of man hath wrought, how it destroyed themselves, corrupted their souls, annoyed the beasts, defiled the air, and brought the earth which was all good, and no part there of but very fruitful, into brambles, and briars, and thistles, and thorns, and weakness and barrenness, to be tilled without ease, kept with all labour, and reaped with little profit. And as we see in the best ground, so we may know it is in the best man, that he is also subject to vanity, curse, and destruction, when the Lord shall in judgement weigh their disposition. And thus may every husbandman that tilleth the earth, and every other man that treadeth thereon, behold every day with his bodily eyes, how sin is punished: and let us fear, that as the unfruitful land is not only cursed, but near unto burning; so their souls more unfruitful, are not only cursed, but near unto condemnation. The reasons hereof are manifest: first, because the Lord in cursing the land destroyeth the sinners, Isa. 15. 9, Reason 1. Again, he will destroy the fruits of the earth, because men do break his covenant: for when men do break 2 bargain with God, the Lord will make the earth to deceive man; and look what authority man hath over the earth, to blow, to cut, to drown, to harrow, to dress, and to burn it; so hath the Lord over man, to kill, to vex, to trouble, to save, and to condemn him at his pleasure. Therefore look as the earth doth lose her fruitfulness, so shall thy soul her blessedness: and when thou seest thy good land become barren, beware lest thy life be already made wicked: and know that the Lord setteth as little by a wicked man, although a man, as thou dost by a barren field, although it be a piece of land. Wherefore let Use 1. us make that use that God teacheth Adam, Gen. 3. 9 that seeing the earth is become unfruitful, in the sweat of our faces let us get our living, that is, as every man's sin is a cause why the earth is cursed, and so become barren; so let every man's hand be a means whereby her fruit may be increased, that she and we may be both blessed. They are not worthy of land, that labour not to amend it, and to make it fruitful: for we may see that it is one part of our obedience since the fall of Adam, to labour in the earth for our living. It is a fault in many men which keep the earth in barrenness, and only suck out the sweet from that land which is good by nature; but we must know, as God tilleth every man's heart to bring it to goodness: so ought man to try every kind of ground, to bring it to fruitfulness, like that good gardener in the gospel, which two or three years together digged about his unfruitful tree. Again, seeing the earth is cursed for our sakes, let us lament the barrenness thereof, Isa. 16. 9 for in so doing 2 we sorrow most justly for the punishment of our own sins. The beholding of him is like the sight of horses, and like the horsemen, so shall they run. In this next place he compareth Vers. 4. them to horses, because in battle they are most fierce as we may see, job 39 20. Again, he compareth them to horses for speed, because as these are most swift in running, so are the other most speedy in executing the lords wrath, Aba. 1. 8. Again, the horse is most terrible in battle, Reu. 9 7. and so shall these be. Hereby we may observe that A guilty conscience feareth punishment. the only sight of punishment before it be felt doth wonderfully perplex a guilty conscience, Reu. 1. 7. where it is said, that when the world shall behold Christ coming to judgement, all the kindreds of the earth shall wail before him. The reasons are; First, because it is the reward Reason 1. of obstinacy, jerem. 15. 8. A guilty conscience quaketh at the wagging of a leaf, and every little danger doth amaze him. Again, it is a most wicked thing to rejoice at the 2 hurt of other men, either in word or thought, Ezec. 26. 2. Therefore although we find ourselves clear, yet we cannot choose but sorrow when it approacheth to other. Therefore let us observe the times & to kensof evil, Matt. Use 1. 24. 33. that we may always live in mourning, but especially knowing ourfeare, we may then sorrow most when danger is nearest, that so we may be ready to end our sins by repentance, and to go to heaven by affiictions. Again, when we see wicked men taken away and going 2 to destruction, let us fear the searching justice of God, Psalm 52. 6. and say, Behold the man that would not believe the Gospel, nor be joined to our congregation, nor forsake his pleasures, but persecute good men, and flatter evil men, and therefore now hath he received his recompense. Oh, let the death of so many traitors, so many thieves and murderers, so many swearers and drunkards, teach us to fear as a little bird flying from the sparrowhauke; and rather let us cover ourselves in weeds and grass, or in some thin and open tabernacle then to take the air of the sun or sin, and to abide in the carved and walled cities of the multitude. Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountains, so Vers. 5. shall they leap: like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, and as a mighty people prepared to the battle. Now he proceedeth to other similitudes, wherein I will be short because they all touch one thing, and the general is already delivered. In this verse he compareth the voice of their coming to the noise of chariots in the mountains, which keep a mighty rattling in time of war; for chariots were used for great men going to war, as we may see in the history of Sisera, Ahab, and jehu. Again, he saith, They are like the flame that devoureth the stubble: which maketh a kind of sudden, hollow, and fearful noise. Again, like a people prepared for war, which come with all kind of warlike instruments, and woeful acclamations, the which I leave to every man's several consideration: whereby they may note how the Lord can clothe his smallest and basest creatures, with infinite power and terror, to discomfort every people in the world: Oh, how much more are the angels of wrath terrible, seeing the worms of the earth are so fearful! wherefore let us not only fear the invasion of Spaniards or other enemies, nor yet serpents, lions, wolves, or wild dogs: but also the silly flies and grasshoppers, and filthy lice, which in time of God his wrath shall have power to destroy us, Exod. 10. & 11. Before his face shall the people tremble: all faces shall gather blackness. The meaning ofthese words are, that in the Vers. 6. presence of these beasts shall be much trembling and fear: yea, they shall be very near death: for blackness betokeneth death. From hence we may observe how God maketh men at their wits end before destruction, Ezech. 26. 16. They go not to their ruins like sheep, but like swine; not like lambs, but like lions; not peaceably but furiously. The reasons are, because the fear of the wicked shall come upon them, Prou. 10. 24. Secondly, Reason 1. God by this fear and trembling calleth them to repentance, Deut. 32. 21. So that if then they could be as angry 2 with their sins, as they are with their enemies, and fight as christianly with the devil, as they do manfully against men; although they lose the life of the body, yet they may keep the life of the soul. Learn therefore to Use 1. fear God, and so thou shalt never fear evil, Psal. 112. 1, 6. but thy mind shall be peaceable in death, and not distracted. Again, use thyself to mourning before hand, Ezechiel 21. 12. that when they come thou mayest 2 more easily endure them, and more happily avoid them. Secondly, when he saith all faces shall gather blackness: we may not only see that the greatest and strongest man in the world can do nothing against the judgement of God; but offer himself to death, and his heart dieth within him as a stone: but we may also see how wicked men in adversity Wicked men desperate in adversity. become altogether desperate, Isa. 2. 19 they cry to the hills to save them, to the mountains to cover them, and to the rocks to hide them. And this will be then the boldness, and courage of our gallant youths, who in their pride threaten to fight with the devil, and with their oaths will tear the Lord out of heaven, who think by their worshipful pedigrees to shame the kirks of Christ; and by their golden and silken bravery to dazzle the glory of God: then, then, will these things little comfort them. But as all the Midianites ran away for the dream of a barley-cake; so shall these run, if they knew whither; and take, if they knew what; and trust, if they witted in whom; and fly from the great wrath of God, if there were any refuge; but seeing none, they shall fall to the earth as the snow cometh from the clouds. Oh, cannot you think of this to put away your sins? for if you bear them with you, they will serve you as jael served Sisera, and strike into your brains and heart the nails of deadly poison: there can be no resisting; for they have won the fort. Yet in time, crave the help of some other to besiege them, and to regain a quiet conscience; or else whensoever any danger cometh, they will do with you, as the citizens of Samaria did with Achabs' children, deliver you to your enemies, and with their own hands be your butchers, and so commend you to the devils custody. The reasons of this doctrine are these, because Reason: 1. than they have no hearts to remember what God hath done for them, Deut. 7. 18, 19 but think evermore this is for the sin, this for such an adultery, this is for my pride, this for my covetousness, this for my swearing, this for my contempt of preaching, and all shall be for my damnation. Again, then shall they be overwhelmed with destruction, 2 1. Sam. 31. 4, 5. as Saul was, for knowing that his sin had made God departed from him, he slew himself in the battle. If he had gone to a prophet when he went to a witch, or had believed Samuel as well being alive, as he did the devil when Samuel was dead, his life had then been spared; or if he had put off his sins when he put on his armour to go to the battle; or then fell to prayer, when he fell upon his sword, than had Saul escaped that day. But what could the body of Saul do when his soul was so laden with sin? for he knew that the Philistines must needs have his life and the devil his soul: in like manner will the enemy bewitch you when you are in adversity; Therefore cast Use 1. down your castles and defences for sin as the Lord exhorteth, Hos. 10. 14. before the devil make them invincible. For as the reign of Abimelech was the slaughter of Gedeons' sons, and the reign of Athaliah was the overthrow of all the king's seed: so is it betwixt us and our sins, if they reign, we must die; if we put them down, we shall live. Let us therefore cast them down betimes; for as the Israelites did at the first spare the Canaanites, afterward they could never destroy them: so if at the first we dally with our sins, in the end they will grow unresistible. Oh that we might live to say of our sins, as Christ said of the temple, that there might not one sin be left upon another. Let us bury our sins as jeremy said jehoijakim should be buried jerm. 22. 18, 19 that their deaths be not lamented, but let them be cast out of our souls, as a dead ass is cast out of a city: for as a dead corpse procureth nothing but worms and stink, and feedeth fowls: so our sins cause nothing but woe and sorrow, and feed devils. Again, let us not only cast away our sins in heart as many say 2 they have done, but in words and works profess and show the same, Hos. 14. 3. for by our words we shall be saved, and by our words we shall be condemned. A repentant man is known by his confession, as Rahabs' house was known by the thread that was tied in her window, which caused her & all her kindred to be spared: and so if we would be spared at the great day of the Lord, let us confess ourselves to be of his family. Many I know there be which think it sufficient to leave sin, and never to make confession thereof; so also there be many that think it sufficient to believe the Gospel, although they never profess it: but in my opinion the one and the other are both deceived. For we must not be of Abraham's heart, and of Belials life; we may not bear the soul of David, and the show of Pharisees. Good king jehoshaphat being in show like wicked Ahab, was in danger to be slain for Ahab: so are all those in danger of death who have inwardly good hearts, and outwardly evil lives. Confess thy sins, thy faith, thy God: thy sins to thy brethren, thy faith to the church, and thy God to the whole world, that thou mayest be as far from note of evil, as ever is light from the show of darkness. The xviij. Sermon. Verse. 7. They shall run like strong men, and go up to the wall like men of war, and every one shall go forward in his way, and they shall not stay in their paths. Now the Prophet cometh to the last similitude, wherein he compareth these devourers to soldiers; for in truth there is not any mischief like to the mischief of war, which is well termed the slaughter house of mankind, and the hell of this world. And in this treatise following, I must enter into martial affairs, that as I have hitherto taught you to be christians; so now I must instruct you to be soldiers, and learn you the art of war. Wherein this Prophet toucheth two things: The first is the order of an army, verse. 7. 8. Secondly, the overthrow or sacking of the conquered. For the first, he noteth 1 The condition of soldiers. what manner of men soldiers should be, namely, Strong men, Exod. 17. 10. For God hath so ordained that all men have their crosses and callings to humble them. If thou be be wise, thou art employed in government; if thou be strong, thou art busied in war; if thou be weak, thou art tormented in want; if thou be a woman, thou art under subjection; if thou be a fool, thou livest in contempt. Therefore thou which art a soldier, make this use of this point, that thou increase thy strength, and cast away fear, 1 Deuter. 31. 8, Undo not thy strength by quarreling or drinking, or watching, or fasting, or feasting, or whoring; but keep thy body in strength to benefit thy country. Again, make another use which the Lord taught josuah, 2 the most noble captain and soldier of the world, who had the leading of six hundred thousand men, and overcame The exercise of a soldier. thirty and one several kings in a little time; this exhortation is set down, Ios. 1 8. That always in war thou look to the word of God: whether thy cause be just, thy heart be willing, and thy calling be lawful; whether thy hands strike when God biddeth, and thy foot stand when God calleth: Look to this I say, and rob not, kill not, and fight not but against a lawful enemy. But alas, josuah is dead, and all those which saw his doings: now in wars, there is gain in stead of godliness, courage in stead of equity, bloudthirstines in stead of valour, policy in stead of justice, and you seldom see a soldier of any religion, and never prayeth till he be in danger of death. Another instruction ariseth out of this verse, when 2 Institution in martial affairs. the prophet saith, Like men of war: whereby we observe, that soldiers should be disciplined and instructed before they be sent into wars, or else they cannot be like men of war. This benefit David acknowledged that he received of God, Psal. 18. 34. it is a dangerous matter to adventure a whole army upon young soldiers, and more dangerous it is to undo any through want of skill. The reason is, because men must not only have strength, but wisdom and cunning in their weapons, and sometime use the stratagems of war, where policy and experience is worth ten thousand men's hands, as we may see in josuah, cap. 8, 4, 5, 6. and in the Israelites, judg. 20. Wherefore make this use in thy warfare of this doctrine, howsoever thy cause be good, thy strength be great, and thy experience much; yet never fight till thou have commended the victory to God, 2. Sam. 10. 12. for God is the warrior which daunteth every enemy, and directeth every dart to the person appointed. Be not too bold as the Israelites were, Deut. 1. and were chased back again by the Amorites; but use devotion to God and discretion in thy business: remember well that the sword cannot cut except the Lord whet it; that thy arm cannot strike, except God enable it; that the enemy will not fly except he discomfort him; and that victory will not follow thee, except God be on thy side. Again, if thou be an able man for the war both in strength and skill, come willingly when thou art called, and refuse not to fight in a good cause, although it be against thy own brother: Yield obedience to them that shall teach thee: and as the captain in the Gospel said, that his soldiers did as he bid them; so do thou perform what thy general or captain commandeth, if it be lawful and possible. Thirdly, he noteth another duty of martial men, 3 Celerity in a soldier. which is this, that they perform their business with all celerity and speed, Ios. 8. 19 The reason is, because it is the greatest commendation of a soldier that can be, to be swift and of a ready dispatch, Psalm. 19 5. 2. Sam. 2. 18. for as a sluggish servant, a heavy ox, and a tiring horse are very discommendable: so a slow and heavy soldier is not tolerable. Gedeons' army was but three hundred, and their dexterity was such, that they overthrew an innumerable rabble of Midianites; and so shall soldiers prove it very advantageous to surprise their enemy on a sudden. But yet for all this trust not too much in thy legs, or in the strength of an horse, Psal. 147. 10. for they are but vain things to save a man. Asahell could run well, yet Abner slew him: and therefore beware lest thou make thy own agility to overthrow thee. Neither shall one thrust another, but every one shall walk in Vers. 8. his path: and when they fall on the sword, they shall not be wounded. In this verse he expresseth other duties of soldiers, which they must observe in their array, which are, first of all 1 Order in battle. that they keep their places, and be not one hurtful to an other. judg. 7. 16. 22. achan's gadding out of place was the loss of his own life and of many more. And therefore let them learn that exhortation of Moses, Deut. 23. 19 to abstain from evil, especially when they go to war. Secondly, let them, as it is here expressed, keep themselves 2 Soldiers must look to themselves. from wounding, although they fall on their enemies sword, that is, let them look to the matter, that they be not only careful to annoy the enemy, but also to defend themselves: for it is an evil victory which is purchased with the loss of many men's lives, and we know that all Canaan was won with the loss of a very few men. It is a great butchery of men, to press still on the enemy, where there is no hope but of death: Therefore it is good for a soldier sometime to look to his safety, as well by an unwilling retire, as by a desperate and a voluntary march. They shall run to and fro in the city: they shall run upon the wall: they shall climb up upon the houses, and enter in at the Vers. 9 windows like a thief. Now we are come to the last part of this similitude, wherein the victory is reported, and the manner how the poor conquered are oppressed, showing unto us, that as it is when a city or town is sacked, so shall it be when this judgement shall be executed: for some shall flee to go forth, and some shall fight to come in; every man's house shall be sacked; great booties shall be obtained, and no spare shall be made of any thing that can be found. Where we might note, that in the conquest or winning of 1 Confusion in victory. any city or town, there is a mighty confusion, every one running to and fro for themselves, they tread upon the aged, upon the women, upon the children, and no eye doth so much as pity them. But when he saith, they shall climb over the walls, and creep in at the windows like a thief, we are taught that in war they account not any thing unlawful All villainy made lawful in war. that is done to an enemy: the robbing of houses, the ravishing of women, the kill of old men, the braining of children, the burning of cities, the spoiling of corn, and the rasing down of dwelling houses, are accounted virtues: whereupon a Father said well, Bellum malis videtur voluptas, bonis necessitas, evil men make a pastime of war, but good men accounted it a hard necessity. Wherein we may see one sin punished by another; neglect of law in peace, is punished by contempt of law in war, for there is no law to bridle the conquerors. Oh, how happy is England! which never for these many years hath heard so much as a trumpet sounded unto wars; we have not seen the shaking of a spear; we have had no leading into captivity, no complaining nor lamentation in our streets: But yet unhappy, which in these peaceable times hath laid the foundation of her own woe, and scattered the seed of her own destruction. Let us therefore Use 1. learn to continue our peace, if by any conditions of equity and reason it may be obtained, Numb. 6. 26. were we not better in these times to buy our peace with gold & silver, or other possessions, then to adventure all that we have by giving nothing? If the enemy come home to us it is not ten subsidies that will satisfy him: & why are men so wretched as to pinch at one or two? were you not better keep them in doing abroad with your armour and money, then suffer them to come home and take away your wives and children: what do I say? take away: they will ravish them and you shall behold it; they will slay your children before your face; your houses and lands they will either give to strangers, or set them on fire over your heads, and if any remain alive, they shall be made drudges & slaves, or prisoners and captives. Therefore pray for the peace of England: use the means to keep it; refuse the way to lose it; let them prosper that love it. For the keeping of our peace let God be our governor; let the Gospel be our law; let the saints dwell among us; let the churches be our courts; let the preachers be our counsellors; let religion be our exercise; let prayers be our weapons; let holiness be our armour, and then shall the angels be our walls. Let us build our cities with love; let us plant our fields with truth, and then shall peace flourish in our land. For the avoiding of the things that will break off our peace, let us banish Atheism and all manner of carnal profession; let us root out all the weeds of sin from our hearts; let us wash off all the spots of evil from our lives; let us cast down all the castles of the devil in our land; let us drive away whosoever worketh unrighteousness; let us abrogate all the counsels of wickedness; let us avoid sedition, rebellion, and confusion, and come from the sea of infidelity; and then shall all be peace, because the God of peace dwelleth among us. Then shall the earth tremble before him, the heavens shall shake, the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall Vers. 10. withdraw their shining. After the former description of the terrible calamity, which these beasts should bring to that nation, now he addeth these heavy tidings for their greater daunting and farther astonishment: for least they should think that all the former came to pass by natural means, the Lord not directing it, or not regarding it; the prophet joineth these tokens of the Lords peculiar power to all the former judgements: that they might know that as none but God could be the author of these, so none but his majesty could be the sender of them. These heavenly signs, or rather signs in heaven, are described in the two next verses; first, the shaking of the world; secondly, the darkening of the lights; and thirdly, the great and terrible thunders which should then be heard: all which is supported by a strong reason, vers. 11. By this verse we may first of all learn, that the extraordinary signs of heaven are 1 Signs show judgements. the forerunners and most evident prophets of calamity and destruction following. Isa. 29. 6. God which would have all his judgements not only felt but feared, doth not let them come stealing on the world, as if he could not do them against our will, or not hinder them against their nature, but proclaimeth them by manifold fearful signs in heaven. The reasons are, first, because we should know Reason 1. that the evil only proceedeth from him, 2. Sam. 5. 24. it doth not any whit distain the Lords honour to be a revenger of sin upon the bodies and souls of many thousands, but rather it maketh for his glory; for he must judge the world in righteousness. Another reason is, because by this 2 means the Lord doth most earnestly affect good men's hearts, and afflict the wicked, Ezech. 32. 9 for the sight of terrible signs cannot choose but move the brute beasts of the earth, much more reasonable men, who are more given to fear, because they are more given to sin: and our Saviour saith in the gospel, that men's hearts shall fail them, because of the signs of heaven. The uses are these: Use 1. first, let us not be superstitious or heathenish in fearing the signs of heaven above the rule of faith, jer. 10. 2. For alas what can any planet or any sign do but by the lords assignment? and therefore in fearing it superstitiously we fear not God, we distrust his providence, we restrain his power, and we cast away our own confidence and faith. It was a great sign in heaven when fire came down and destroyed Sodom and Gomor, and all cities, cattle and pastures of the plain, Gen. 19 yet little Zoar was saved standing among them, when all the residue were burning about it: therefore beware of the slavish fear of the signs of heaven, for it is the Lord that governeth the stars. Another use, as we are not to fear them too much, so we 2 are not to regard them too little, but use them as promptors and furtherances to another life, Luk. 21. 28. when you see these (saith Christ) then lift up your heads, and know that your redemption draweth near. Be it therefore that the heavens be burning, the lights be darkening, the stars be falling, the earth be shaking, and the air be thundering: yet fear it no more than the Israelites did in Egypt; but rather now think that the Lord will amaze sinners, & erect his throne of righteousness to stand for evermore. This must much encourage us in these our later days, where in every hour we look for the accomplishing of all the signs before Christ's coming, and let us watch for the appearing of our Saviour, that we be not comfortless when other shall be both witless and faithless: but know that good men shall stand in the midst of all these terrors and fires, as the men did walk in the midst of the Babylonish furnace, and not have one hair of our head diminished. When he saith that the earth shall tremble, he noteth that earth— quakes are notable tokens of the lords 2 wrath, Psal. 18. 7. we are not only to impute it to the air shut up in the furrows of the earth, as in philosophy Earthquakes betoken God his anger. they do, but we must go to the principal cause, which is the hand of God; and the final cause which is to show his wrath: for in his wrath saith the scripture, he casteth down whole mountains. Oh, how terrible is this to consider that the whole earth should be shaken at the chiding of God? & yet man which is made of earth, and standeth on earth, and liveth on earth, and shall return to earth again, will not shake or tremble for the same. I think there is more terror in the dead bones in the graves, then in living bodies in their houses. The reason's hereofare these, because the Reason 1. law of wrath was given in fire and earthquakes, Exod. 19 18. Heb. 12. 18. for God did then show himself most terrible when the mountain seemed to burn, and there was nothing but cursing and death: for the law that then was given did condemn many millions, which now do know the same. Again, earthquakes do commonly proceed 2 and go before the alteration of religion, Revel. 6. 12. for as when jehu altered the idolatry of Baal, the prophets and the God were both displaced: so when religion is altered, God is as it were displaced, and all his servants persecuted, which must of necessity show the heavy indignation of God; for he will not have his image defaced nor endure that his glory should be given to another. Let us therefore learn, that if the strong earth be not able to abide Use 1. the wrath of God, then much less shall weak and sinful men, Num. 16. 1. Again, let us learn to preach the word more earnestly by the consideration of earthquakes. We 2 may read Amos 1. 2. that two year before the earthquake, the Lord sent him to prophesy, as it were to plant the minds of his church that they might have lived without wavering. Now it is well known that we have had one great and terrible earth— quake in our times: would God it might so work that the preachers would for that cause preach more diligently, and the people hear more attentively, lest it prove unto us a token of the decay of religion. Truly as yet (blessed be God) religion is not altered, but it is much defaced; and God grant that as the earthquake at the death of Christ was the decrease of judaisme and Paganism, but the increase of christianity: so, that in our time may work the like effect, and may seal unto us the decay of Popery and heresy, but may assure us of the continuance of verity and pure religion. We might also note out of this verse, that seeing the heavens and earth are afraid of him: therefore the most guiltless creatures of God cannot abide his anger. But this we will defer unto the next chapter. Again, in that the sun and moon are darkened: we may observe not only, that God is the author of light and darkness; but also that he will not let sinners in his anger have any benefit of them, Isa. 13. 9, 10. The reasons are, First, because they are enemies to good men and good things, Exod. 10. 22. Secondly, because they are ashamed of the sins of men, as we may see at Christ's death, Matth. 27 45. Let us therefore so glorify God in our places, as these creatures do in theirs: for they are dark at his chiding, and they shine at his bidding; so let us live to praise him while he giveth life, and die to honour him when he sendeth death. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his host is very great: for he is strong that doth his word: for the Verse. 11. day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? Having spoken of the darkening of the lights, & the shaking of the earth: now it followeth that we proceed to the uttering of the Lords voice, which signifieth thunder, Psal. 29. 3. and most plainly, Psalm. 18. 14. The Lord thundered out of heaven, and the highest gave his voice. By the consideration of which phrase we are given to understand the infinite and unspeakable power of God, which hath so wonderful and powerful a voice; the which when the Israelites heard Exod. 19 20. they were not able to abide, and so desired that Moses should speak unto them: even so are we unable to endure the same if the Lord should so speak unto us; as we should have had no benefit by Christ except he had taken upon him the nature of man: so we could not endure the powerful word of God if it were not offered by the tongue of man. As the ways of God are not like the ways of men; so the voice of God is not like the voice of men: that is strong, but this is weak; that is high, but this is low; that is fearful, this is simple; that is terrible, this is easy. The people that could not abide Salomons government, had a worse than was salomon's, for they lost their kings and their God: even so, when we can no longer abide the voice of man, then let us look for the fearful thunderclaps of heaven: wherefore hear the words of God in the mouths of men, or else you shall fear and tremble, and melt at it in the stroke of the air. Again, the prophet David Psalm. 29. 11. maketh another use of thunder, telling us that for the power thereof, every one in his temple do speak his praise. It is a wicked and damnable opinion of the multitude that the devil can raise thunder: whereas we are to account it only in the lords power, job 38. 25. although the devil can do much, yet is he but weak, and his power restrained: therefore we need no more fear his power in the time of thunder then in the clearest sun— shine day; but rather let us praise the Lord for his power, who is so wonderful in all his works. Again, if thunder be the voice of God, why do the papists in the time of thunder ring their bells to stay it, as if it were an unholy thing? surely it well be cometh them, for seeing they will not hear God in the Scriptures, they will not hear him in the clouds: if we oppose Scripture to them, they say we speak as heretics; if the Lord send thunder, than they say there is a devil abroad. Oh blasphemous mouths and hearts! that are so simple, and yet so great; great in blasphemous heresy, and simple in true divinity. Again, when the prophet saith that he will utter his voice before his host, for his host is very great: he meaneth the noisome beasts that he should send like an host of men, as hath been already showed. Whereby 1 Creatures enemies one to another. we are taught that every creature since sin entered into the world is become an enemy one to another, like to the enemies in war, Psal. 105. 34. The great birds are enemies to the small, the great fishes to the little, the great beasts to the inferior; and so are the great men to the little ones: the ox cannot abide the lion; the sheep cannot endure the wolf; the fox will not tarry with the goat; the horse will not dwell with the Bear; the Hart will not attend the hound; and many more live in hatred one with another, but most of them all are enemies to man. The reasons are these; First, as man destroyed his own nature, Reason 1. so God destroyeth or rather altereth the nature of all other things. Secondly, God will surely be known that he giveth power to the spoil, Amos 5. 9 What can an enemy do in war, or a thief by the high way side, or a beast that devoureth man, surely nothing but by the working hand of God? for the devils themselves are under his correction. One lion destroyed a prophet, 1. Kings 13. yet we know that Daniel was cast among a den of lions, and had no hurt at all; surely it was the Lord that opened the mouth of the one, and muzzled the jaws of the other. Let us therefore know that whensoever either man or beast Use 1. shall annoy us, that it cometh of God, job. 1. 4. When Shemei cursed David, David would not have him punished, because said he, The Lord hath bid him curse: and so if we be bitten by any beasts, or stung by any serpent, or haunted by any fowls, or oppressed by any enemies, let us then think with ourselves, this hath the Lord done to us, and pray for the remission of sins. This doctrine will take away all revenge against man for any injury, when we shall be persuaded, that God by them doth fatherly correct us. Again, let us think with ourselves how many ways the Lord hath to correct us for our sins: the angels 2 are about us, when God biddeth them they strike, the beasts are among us, when he commandeth they discomfort us, the flies and worms overcome us, we are enemies one to another, and one wound and kill another as Cain did Abel; yea we cannot trust our own hands, for fear they destroy us, as we see in Saul, Achitophel, and judas: and when all this is done, there are ready all the devils in hell to torment us. Now who would love his life? nay, who would love his sins? that bring with them upon him such an everlasting and intolerable hatred. Again, when he saith, that he is strong that doth his word, he meaneth him that doth his commandment: whereby we are taught, that every creature hath power given him to do that which God assigneth him, 1. King. 17. 4. The ravens at the commandment of God fed Elijah morning and evening with bread and meat, and so every one when he biddeth them go, they go; when he biddeth them come, they come. The reason is: first, because they wait upon Reason 1. God, Psal. 145. 15. secondly, they worship their creator, Reu. 5. 14. and so we may learn that God never advanceth any, but he giveth them gifts to perform their callings. When he saith that the day of God is great, and who can The wrath of God intolerable. Reason 1. abide it? he thereby teacheth us, that the wrath of God is intolerable, Deut. 9 18. 19 The reasons are, because there is no way to fly from his presence, Amos 5. 18, 19 Secondly, there can be no mediator in wrath, jer. 15. 1, 2. By which we are taught, how inestimable is the benefit of redemption 2 by jesus Christ, who hath delivered us from wrath to come. 1. Thes. 1. 10. Christ hath delivered us from that wrath that condemned the angels, that shook the heavens, that rendeth the earth, that killeth the beasts, and that tormenteth the wicked. Oh, what had our estate been without a Saviour? but this, to undergo the intolerable wrath of God, which burneth more than any fire, which paineth more than any death, which smarteth more than any torture, which tasteth worse than any bitterness, & smelleth worse than any filthiness, where a man and a devil should for evermore be yoked together: this wrath hath Christ pacified, & from this damnation hath he redeemed us: But now if thou sin again, & make no account of the blood of Christ, the wrath shall be seven times hotter, and thou seven times more the child of hell. Again, seeing this is the estate of the damned, ●. how wretched is their estate, which live in danger thereof every hour of life; being alive they have no peace, and being dead they have no ease: they are borne in filthiness, they live in wickedness, they die in wretchedness, and damnation is their grave; where the fire is their cradle, the devils are their nurses, the Lord is their enemy, endless torments are their rest, & wrath without remedy is their meat. Oh let this make good men desire to forsake this life; and let it make evil men long to forsake their sins: for their pleasurable life shall end in insufferable woes. The nineteen. Sermon. Verse. 12. Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn you unto me with all your hearts, with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. NOw at the length by the merciful assistance of the holy Ghost have we finished the first part of our first division, and are come unto the last; wherein the people are exhorted to repentance. In this treatise following, first of all the prophet showeth them the manner of their repentance, 12. 13. verses: and secondly, setteth down certain reasons to persuade them thereunto. The manner of their repentance is either in action or in affection, and it respecteth both the people and the priests: In affection, as conversion in heart, and renting thereof: in action, as weeping, fasting, and mourning. The reasons to move them hereunto are two: first, in respect of his nature, vers. 13. then of his works, vers. 14. That part which concerneth the priests doth show us first, how they should stir up the people: and secondly, how they should pray, vers. 15, 16, 17, thus much for the division. In this, that after all the before expressed judgements, the prophet now at the length cometh with the flat 1 No judgement without the word worketh repentance. commandment and word of God, to cause them to be converted: We are first of all taught, that except God give the preaching of his word with his heavy judgements, men can never be amended by them, Amos 4. 6, 7, 8. Let him thunder omnipotently, let him shake the earth terribly, let him darken the light fearfully, let him curse the world justly, and multiply his punishments abundantly; yet all this without the word of God cannot convert a soul. All this is plain in the forenamed place of Amos, wherein God telleth the people, that he had given them scarcenesss of bread and no rain, insomuch as two or three cities wandered up and down to drink water: he sent blast, and mildeawes, and great store of pestilence, the young men lay murdered, their horses were taken away, and noisome stinks & smells infected them, & yet still God complained that they had not turned unto him: & then he biddeth them be prepared to meet their maker: So that it is evident that no cross or judgement can work repentance. The experience hereof is to be seen in our times, wherein have been as great signs and as many wonders as in any place of the world beside: great thunders, fearful earthquakes, terrible darkness, mortal pestilence, pining famines, & yet who is converted by them? great men are made richer, mean men are made poorer, poor men are made beggars, & yet who considereth this? The waters have drowned us, the wars have devoured us, & want hath afflicted us: and yet still we are as heard hearted, as wickedly affected, and as stiff-necked as ever we were; insomuch as, if the whole world were in an uproar, & our whole land upon her death bed, well we might complain, but hardly repent. The reasons Reason 1. of this doctrine may be these; First, because the Lord sendeth judgements to take revenge, and not to work repentance, Deuter. 32. 41. The halter is not put on the the eves neck to convert him, but to punish him, as Agar was expelled out of Abraham's house, not to reclaim her, The end of God's judgements. but to torment her. And here we may learn the end of all the lords judgements, which is to take vengeance on our evil lives: what is our estate? seeing we are under the revenging hand of God; one while our desires are plagued, another while our appetites are molested, and continually is our life threatened with a longer calamity. But some will say, shall we not be repentant during our crosses and adversity? Oh, yes my dear brethren, for we have the word as well as the rod, and therefore we must be instructed by the one as we are corrected by the other: our punishment is a light vengeance; but our profession is a great comfort: yet we are but as it were led to execution, and therefore we must repent with speed before death catch our souls, as dearth hath done our bodies. Another reason is, because the word is of more force than any judgement 2 whatsoever, for the conversion of a sinner is a work of more value than the destruction of a world: man was lost by an apple, but it cost more to redeem their souls. Is not my word like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the stone? jerem. 23. 29. and the word of God is life, and lively in operation, Heb. 4. 10. sharper than a sword, lighter than the sun, and heavier than the earth. The which thing doth mightily magnify the word preached, and the public ministery thereof, being attended by the angels, accompanied with the spirit, and reverenced in the church. The angel was honourable that slew so many thousands of Saneheribs' army, Esay 37. for it was a great judgement; but the ministery of the word hath drove more devils out of the world than it slew or drove Assyrians out of Israel. And hereby let us learn what account we are to Use 1. make of the word of God: We fear drowning in the seas, burning on the land, robbing in our journeys, and every joint in our body is subject to many easeless pains: but let us more earnestly fear the word of God; for those hurt us when we feel them and see them, but this will harm us when we, neither feel norsee it; they afflict us, but this instructeth us; they punish us, but this doth acquit us; they bring us the heavy news of condemnation, but this bringeth the glad news of life everlasting. By judgements we are blinded, but by the Gospel we are enlightened; by judgements we are endangered, by the Gospel we are defended: and to conclude, they threaten our lives, but the word threateneth our souls. Make much of the word in thy health, for believe me, sickness cannot so prepare thee for the Lord as the word can: be converted by it, for thou seest all other means fail, for miracles do make us wonder, and this maketh us repent: therefore either make this thy joy, or God shall make them thy sorrow. What then? will some say, this is a strange doctrine, do not sorrows and earthquakes and other fearful 2 things turn us to the Lord? then we will not make any account of these things. To whom I answer, that if they do so, they do that which will undo them: shall the scholar nevercare for the rod because it cannot teach him but correct him, and shall we set light by the lords judgements because they cannot convert us? no, no, they must keep us in obedience although they cannot beget us to obedience; they must reform us, although they cannot turn us. David said Psal. 119. when I see thy judgements, I am astonished and afraid; and so must all the elect children of God use the judgements of God, to continue them in the fear of God, and to keep their natures from being overproud: Yea let us tremble and quake as the earth doth, let us weep and mourn as the air doth, when we see the wrath of God; the sun cannot then show her face, she is so dazzled with his brightness, how shall men far inferior to her in glory, be careless of his anger? And although I have said, that we are but yet leading unto execution, let us yet fear most grievously lest the wrath of God be increased on us; for we know not how soon we shall be consumed, with what calamities we shall be troubled, and with what manner of death we shall be crucified. Therefore let us fear the works of God, that we need not feel them; let us be warned by them, that we be not confounded by them; and above all things, let us cast away that profaneness that calleth for heaven and earth to take vengeance on us. Secondly, we may observe in 2 this verse, when he saith, thus saith the Lord: that if the Lord work not repentance in us we shall never have it while the world standeth: we may weep out our eyes, rip up our breasts, rend asunder our hearts, and satisfy for our injuries; but if the Lord work not repentance in us, than all is lost. For this cause 2. Tim. 2. 25. Paul instructeth him with meekness, to instruct those which were contrary minded, waiting if at any time God would give them repentance unto life. Indeed I grant that men may have a kind of repentance as judas had, Matt. 27. 6. when he saw Christ condemned, he repent, and went and hung up himself; but to have repentance unto life, Act. 11. 18. as the church speaketh, it is a special and worthy work of God. And in these days may this point be very profitably urged, wherein men are so careless in living, and so wretched in sinning, as if repentance were pinned on their sleeves, or lay in their pockets to pull out and in at their pleasure: but let them beware & be warned, that if they will be saved, they must seek it at the hands of God. Is repentance so easy, that you can have it at your wish? indeed you may have it, but you cannot do it. Imagine in thy presence a man or woman possessed with a devil; try thy cunning, & cast him forth. I know your answer; you will say you cannot, because you can work no miracles: & so again say I, that you cannot have repentance of yourselves; for it is a casting of the devil out of your souls, the which none can do but by the finger of God. Repentance is not to wring out a tear, or to breath out a sigh, or to lift up an eye unto heaven, or to say, I am sorry for my sins; but it must fill all a man's life with weeping, & sighing, & praying, & confessing, & amending, the which cometh from God only. The first reason of this doctrine is, because with repentance goeth remission of Reason 1. sins, Act. 5. 31. & therefore we may as well say, that they can pardon their own sins, as they say they can repent when they list. And this must needs mightily discourage us from sinning, seeing we may commit that in one minute, which we can never claw off so long as we live. Again, how sweet is this consideration, that remission of sins is joined with repentance. We know what great & vile sins we have committed; but we know not will some say, how, or when they were pardoned. Unto whom I answer, that they have been so long pardoned as they have repent: and they have as many witnesses and seals of their remission, as they have weeping tears, sighing sobs, and wounded affections for them in the presence of God. Another reason is, as it is the work of God to harden men's hearts, john. 12. 40. so it 2 must needs be the work of God to soften the heart: But some will say, how can the Lord punish men for not repenting, when he denieth them repentance? and how can he damn them for hard hearts, when he hath hardened them? I answer, an hard heart and an ill life do not simply condemn a man, but delight in them and negligence to be delivered from them: good men are tormented with hardness of heart, but they lament it; evil men are perplexed with it, & they rejoice in it. God is said to make hard hearts, but not evil hearts, and so to make hard hearts, that men may know and acknowledge, that soft hearts come from his work-house; so then, God hardeneth, but men delight in it, and they are condemned not for sin, but for delight in sin. wouldst thou then know whether thy heart hath been new wrought in the lords mould? then look and see how thou lovest sin: but thou findest thy heart hard; then look again how thou art pleased with this hardness; if thou like it, thy heart is damnable, but if thou loathe it, thy state is tolerable. The first use we are Use 1 to make of this doctrine is this, seeing the Lord hath the working of repentance in us, then let us pray every day to his majesty for the same, Lament. 5. 21. So do the faithful when they say, Turn us unto thee O Lord, and we shall be turned, return us as of old. This is the duty of all those that have any care of their soul's health. Art thou heavy in thy heart, and feelest a dullness in thy soul unto goodness, but a nimbleness unto evil? when thou knowest thou dost those things which displease the Lord, and trouble thy conscience, then enter into thy soul and humble thyself by prayer, lift up thy voice to heaven, and speak for thy conversion. Seest thou not the danger of life worse than death, so long as thou livest in an unrepentant state? there is but a little air twixt thee and death, there is but a little time twixt thee and hell. Repentance is the lords gift, and he giveth it to them that ask it. I dare be bold to say, that of all suits commenced before God, this was never denied: and if thou have any mind to be saved, pray that thou mayest be converted. Art thou dissolute in life, and resolute in vanity, yet hearing some sermons of death, and fearing some judgements for thy sins, wouldst willingly wish that thou couldst do better? and dost thou sometime wring out tears to see the preacher so earnest, and yet by no means thou canst reform thy life? then commune with thy soul, and pray to the Lord, that thou mayest so live as he hath taught, and so die as thou shalt wish. Pray I say, not only in company, but secretly, not for a season, but continually, not with an indifferent mind, but with an earnest affection; and then I assure thee, drunkenness shall not drown thee, covetousness shall not prevail with thee, pride shall not deface thee, whoredom shall not undo thee, stealing shall not shame thee, the world shall not deceive thee, nor the flesh shall ever condemn thee. Another use is this, seeing we must ask repentance of God, we must needs know our sins before 2 we can repent them, jerem, 3. 13. So then, if thou wouldst pray most earnestly for thy conversion, and bring all thy evidence into the lords sight that he might pronounce sentence on thy side, thou must not come with general words & say, I am a sinner as other men are, I have lived sinfully as my neighbours have done, and I know I have offended thy majesty grievously: But thou must know thy sins, thou must account them to know the number so near as thou canst possible; thou must weigh them uprightly, & fee which were directly against God, and which were against thy neighbour; thou must aggravate them mightily, and make them as heinous as the greatest; thou must condemn thyself, open thy whole soul, and abhor thy own life. Then shalt thou know thy sins, that their number is infinite, their reward is damnation, that their power is execrable, that their presence is intolerable: Tell them as a covetousman doth his silver; look on them as the husbandman doth his furrow, consider them as the carrier doth his load, condemn them as the judge doth the thief, pray against them as a mariner against a storm, fight against them as a soldier against an enemy, accuse them as a lawyer doth his adversary, and forsake them as a lamb doth a lion. Then shalt thou know that one sin is worth a soul, that one drop of mercy is worth a world, and that true repentance hath wings to bear thee up to heaven. If the preacher tell thee thy sins, then know them; if the law tell thee them, then remember them; if thy conscience accuse them, then repent them; if thy brother rebuke them, than ever after love him; if the church reprove, then yield unto it; and if thy enemy cast them at thee, yet receive it, for this will make thee know them: and if thou know them, thou wilt pray against them; and if thou pray against them, thou wilt repent them. Turn you unto me. By this sentence we may observe that God never regardeth any of our sufferings or crosses till we be repentant: Or more plainly, be it that our houses are burned, our children murdered, our inheritances removed, and our own lives tormented; yet all this doth not appease his wrath except we add contrition, the which thing the prophet insinuateth when he maketh this conclusion upon all the former judgements; Therefore now saith the Lord, turn unto me, etc. As if he had used more words saying: you O people have had your land wasted with beasts, your lives pined with famine, your cattle mourning for food, the heavens obscured with darkness, God regardeth no sorrow but repentance. the earth quaking to trouble you, and terrible thunders roaring to disquiet you; yet for all this is not the Lord contented with you, except you be repentant. The self-same thing may we see Esay 57, 3, 4, 5. where the Lord telleth them that it was not their fasting and sorrows that he regarded, but their unfeigned conversion. As a father having an evil son is not pleased with him because he is whipped openly in the streets, or imprisoned, and so arraigned for his folly, except he be repentant: even so is it with the Lord, he regardeth not the punishment (saith Augustine) but the person that suffereth. It is not our sufferings voluntary or involuntary, our sickness, war, famine, poverty, or blood that can satisfy the Lord or save our souls; insomuch as after thou hast endured hard fits, wicked slanders, wrongful oppressions, many hungry days, many sharp stripes, and many dangers of death: yet for all this without the ornaments of a christian, thou are never the nearer to God. Some will say this is hard meat to be digested, that the Lord is not pleased nor pacified although he punish us: why? are not all these sufferings the punishments of sin? and when we are punished here, is not the Lord too rigorous to punish us also hereafter? I answer, we suffer for our sins, but not to satisfy for our sins: for the reward of sin is death everlasting, and all miseries which may bring us to our end. Therefore excuse not yourselves for poverty or sickness, or famine, or labour, or slavery, or service, or any other cross, for a man may have all this, and yet be a cast away. The first reason hereof is, Matth. 24. 8. That all the sufferings of this life are but the beginning of Reason 1. sorrows, they are not one quarter of that vengeance which the Lord will take for our sins except we repent. Oh, consider the intolerable hand of the lords wrath, which regardeth not our blood, nor would look on a burnt sacrifice made of a whole nation, and yet regardeth the broken hearts, & cast down souls: what are the plagues in the world to come, and the wages of sin in another life, if here we may have a pining sickness, a despised life, an easeless heart, and an endless fear; one man never lieth in bed, another never eateth bread, another never liveth merry day, some lie tormented in a burning fire, some bed-redden with the gout, some tormented with a colic, some scalded to death, some cut in pieces inchmeale, some are put into furnaces of burning lead, and yet all these are but the beginning of sorrows and without repentance: if it were possible for one man to endure all, yet afterward he might go to hell fire. Another reason is, because the sufferings of this life are alike, common to 2 good and bad, uncircumcised and the people of God, Ezec. 32. 28. Although God chasten every one that he loveth, yet he loveth not every one that he chasteneth. Christ his best beloved was crucified, and yet beloved: but Herod was eaten with worms, & yet hated: shall we think that the estate of Herod was any whit better in another life, because his misery was begun in this life? no verily: no more may we extol or accuse those which live long or miserable days in this life. josiah a good king, of whom God pronounceth that he should be gathered to his fathers in peace, but yet he was slain in wars; and Ahab an evil king died also in wars, was his estate the better because he ended his life as a good man did? no, no, it had been better for him he had never been. Yet despair not in thy afflictions, and presume not to advance worldly sorrow into the place of godly sorrow, and make not thy calamities thy Christ to lift thee up to heaven. Having learned that our Use 1. calamities will not commend us to God, let us do as the prophet here exhorteth, Turn unto the Lord our God, jer. 3. 1. Blood cannot pacify him, but water can; death cannot satisfy him, yet tears can; bodily plagues will not move him, but spiritual sorrows will; vengeance stayeth him not, but repentance will alter him: Therefore turn unto the Lord. Shall not we think my dear brethren, that all these judgements which we for these many years have endured, have wrought mightily in them, and on them which were taken by them, and is there yet an end of them, either in sight or in hope? Have not many soldiers fight, & dying in their own blood cried aloud in the ears of God? Have not many houses been suddenly swept away with the pestilence? Did not the Lord see it? and if he saw it, why did he not pity it? and if he pitied it, why did he not stay it? have not many hundreds in the first year of famine perished most miserably for want of bread, whose cries must needs pierce the heavens, and whose last gaps might move him to pity; yet it hath continued some years since? Then may we see and say, if sufferings could have satisfied the Lord, the blood of soldiers, the lives of citizens, the cry of poor men, and the fear of all men might already long ago have pleased him: but he will never be altered till we be altered. Therefore now let me remember you with joel, Turn unto me saith the Lord, etc. Alas, alas, our health is turned into sickness, our lives into death, our plenty into famine, our peace into wars, our mirth into mourning, our store into want, our people into perishing, and our poor are turned into their graves; and yet we have not turned unto the Lord: oh let us turn before all be overturned. Let us fill our chambers with mourning, rather than all our land be filled with howling; let us pray for repentance; let us sue for repentance; let us work for repentance, and bestow all that we have upon repentance, or else vengeance will come and take all away. Another use is this, Rom. 8. 18. seeing God regardeth not our miseries, 2 than it followeth that all our sufferings are not worthy of the life to come. Art thou good? then despise these worldly sorrows, and hope for heavenly joys: art thou an evil man? then repent with speed, lest thy intolerable evils be turned into intolerable woe. wouldst thou by pain seek advancement? they deserve it not: wouldst thou by pain be amended? then pray for repentance. Oh, how are we punished in this life? nay rather how shall we be blessed in another life? Couldst thou which liest in some strange torments, be content to end thy life in sorrow, to spend thy good for ease, or to become any base servant, that thou mightest be released? are thy pains so great, so comfortless, and so continual? yet for all this be not disquieted, be not discouraged, for anon thy joys may be far more pleasant and continual. But why do I spend time in vain? fearest thou any of those evils which happen in the world; for thou canst not but fear all: wherefore a Father said, it is better to suffer one death, and so to die, then by living to fear all manner of deaths. Then I say, consider with thyself whether is greater, thy sorrows, or thy comforts, thy body or the heavens, thy sufferings, or the joys of the world to come; there shall famine be banished, wars shall be conquered, sickness shall be cured, labour shall be ceased, poverty be forgotten, enmity shall be cooled, pains shall be removed, tears shall be dried up, and death itself be everlastingly destroyed: therefore suffer much to live so, labour much to die so, and die in despite of death to reign so. All the miseries of this life are not worthy of this blessedness, but there is not any man living that can endure the one half of them: therefore precious is the bounty of God, who giveth us this glory for his promise, not for our crosses, nor yet for our virtues; for our crosses are the deserts of sins, and our virtues are imperfect goodness. Thirdly, in these 3 words we may observe the definition of repentance, namely, that it is a turning unto the Lord: so that, so long as we are unrepentant, so long we go from the Lord. I might also make many words on the metaphor, turn, and not without profit, to show you how our life is a journey, our faith the legs whereon we walk, the scripture our guide, the church our companion, and heaven our ways end; seeing all is done elsewhere, I will not now stand upon it. Only in these words I will urge this, that there is no repentance, Repentance is the conversion of the whole heart. except the whole heart be changed; it is not in good words, nor yet in an outward good practice, but in the motions and affections of the heart, 1. King. 8. 47, 48. for this cause our Saviour biddeth first cleanse that which is within, and then that which is without: As men do first cleanse the inside of a vessel (not the outside) and then put goodness therein; so must the heart, which is a vessel, be first cleansed, or else all is vain which the hand doth, the mouth speaketh, and the mind believeth. Thy memory must be turned, thy understanding, will, and affections must be changed; thy memory, by remembering God and his truth; thy understanding, by knowing God and his Gospel; thy will, by believing God and his promises; and thy affections, by loving, desiring, meditating, and rejoicing in and on heavenly things; and then is thy whole heart converted. Some have knowledge and understanding, but no sound faith, or sweet love; some again love, but they want knowledge: and so some have a good will to the Gospel, but they want memory. For the amending of all this, follow my direction: confer, and you shall have memory: read, and you shall have knowledge: hear, and you shall have faith: pray often, and you shall have all good affections, all which must be done before you can be saved. The first reason hereofmay be this, because no man can have a perfect faith, without the total Reason 1. conversion of the heart, Rom. 10. 9 and men can never live well that believe not well, saith Augustine. If thou have one part of thy heart with the Lord, because thou knowest the truth, thou hast another part with the world in loving thy life; so in part thou believest God, and believest the devil. Canst thou brag of faith, when thy heart is distracted? loving and liking two contrary masters: no verily, thou deceivest thyself, thou canst not love gold and believe in God: thou canst not haunt thy pleasures, and yet delight in the Gospel: Therefore if thou wouldst have a sound faith, thou must first have a sound heart, convert thy heart, and then thy faith will follow: if it be thoroughly, thou shalt have a perfect faith; but if thou do it in part, then is it but a painted body, which can neither go nor see. Another reason, because regeneration maketh 2 the heart to be one, jerem. 32. 39 Indeed they which wander in wickedness, have a heart and a heart; but when we come to the Lord, we must have but one heart: for the heart is the man, wherein are treasured all kind of understanding and knowledge: therefore it must not be half of flesh, and half of stone, Ezech. 11. 19 but either all flesh, or all stone: for he that is in part profane, and in part a christian, in very deed is no man. And for this cause is hypocrisy of all sins most abominable, which maketh a man no man dissembling with God, the world and himself: with God, in his heart; with the world, in his life; and with himself, in that he dissembleth. Of all sinners fewest hypocrites are converted, and of all persons are they most odious; and therefore hell is called the lake burning with fire and brimstone prepared for hypocrites: unless then, we will live as they live, and die as they die, we must turn our whole hearts to the Lord. The uses are these, First that we draw Use 1. near unto the Lord with a pure heart, Heb. 10. 22. Purity is joined with integrity: therefore when our hearts be purest, then are they fittest for the Lord. In old time there strait steps to our feet, lest that which is halting be turned out of the way, Heb. 12. 12. 13. we are in great danger by prolonging our amendment to have all marred and turned out of the way: therefore let us awake over our souls that we may save those parts which are unsound; for there is not any man but he hath some wounds and maims in his soul, which must be speedily cured; or else the longer they run, the more miserable they grow. It is a lamentable thing to see men to defer their conversion, saying one year they will do it next year, and the next season they will plough their hearts, and sow it with the word. It is also a thing dangerous to lodge but one night in a known sin, and therefore as the Apostle said of anger, so we must of every other transgression, Let not the Sun go down thereon. Make speed I beseech you to amend your lives, to reclaim your hearts, to forsake your vanities, to renounce your errors, and to put away your pleasures: for if your heart delight in any thing beside God, it denieth God; if it keep her natural corruption, and cast it not forth, it blasphemeth God; if it delay to return, it abuseth his mercy, it despiseth his grace, and condemneth itself. Say not saith Solomon, I will give thee to morrow, when thou mayest to day. The whole time of this life is a time of repentance, and therefore look how much thereof we spend not in repentance, so much we shall want to do it in, which must every day make us nearer to the Lord, or nearer to hell. The xx. Sermon. Having handled the exhortation unto repentance, now let us proceed to the manner thereof; With weep, fastings, and mournings: the which Outward signs with inward repentance. words require a several treatise. And first, in that they are commanded to weep, we may observe, that with inward repentance, there must be joined outward signs thereof, and in occasion of greater and more forcible feeling of our sins, we shall wring out sorrows more abundantly. This thing is taught by the prophet Hos. 14. 3, 4. where having exhorted the Israelites to a new life, he biddeth them to take the words of repentance, and to make a public profession thereof. Peter repent, and it was with tears, for the Scripture saith, he wept bitterly. The self same thing do good men find in themselves at this day: for as where the body is wounded, there issueth forth some blood; so where repentance hath wounded the soul, there will follow some blood, I mean the tears thereof. Carnal men think they have repent, if they say (God forgive me, or I am sorry for it) although afterward they live never so lewdly. Look upon thy life and see what gutters the tears have made in thy face, which have distilled from thy eyes for thy sins: look also upon the sacrifices of thy lips, how lamentable thy prayers have been before the Lord: account with thyself where & when thou didst offer them; for without prayer thou couldst never be converted. It may be thou hast not wept, by reason of some natural infirmity; but it must be, that thou hast prayed, or else it cannot be that thou hast repent: Therefore let not any man deceive himself, & think that he hath repent, till his life be turned from the world, his mind from pleasure, his face from joy, and his body from desire of sinning. The first reason hereof may be this, because Reason 1. the Lord hath redeemed us, Isa. 44. 22. that is, as the Lord hath showed open tokens of his favour toward us: so we must show open tokens of our repentance toward him. The which reason well considered will teach us that there ought to be as great love in us for our salvation, as was in Christ for our redemption: He cared not for his life that he might save us, why then should we care for our own lives, and spare our sins? he shed his blood, and we sent our follies: he gave himself for our sins, and yet we will not let him have them. There is none that is ignorant of this, except he had repent, he must have perished: and therefore if thou repent not, thou must be damned. The Lord hath not been careful for thy soul that thou shouldest be secure, but his love must be a pattern for thee to love thyself. All that he did was for thy soul, he was reproached, he was impoverished, he was condemned, and crucified for it; that thou mightest endure all shame to repent them, all poverty to prevent them, all injuries to lament them, and all deaths to mortify them. He walked many miles, watched many nights, fasted many days, and endured many afflictions, that thou mightest labour much, watch carefully, abstain continually, and endure all sorrows to put away thy sins. Another reason, because unto outward tokens of repentance the Lord is ready 2 to give remission, Dan. 4. 23. when men satisfy their for injuries, distribute their goods, weep for their evils, and pray for pardon, then is the Lord most willing to seal a release in the blood of his son. For in truth there must be a change in all the parts of a man's life & possessions. When a sick man is recovered, he weareth not the same clothes, he useth not his old diet or apparel and rest: so when our souls are recovered by repentance; then we cannot eat stolen bread, nor wear gorgeous apparel, nor▪ yet rest in that wealth which we unlawfully gained, but all must be turned into charity and piety. The first use of this doctrine is this, Isa. 31. 6. seeing we have sunk Use 1. deep in rebellion, let us turn again unto the Lord from whom we are fallen: as we were not ashamed to sin, so let us not be ashamed to be converted. As covetous men care not for their names, so they may get wealth; and unclean persons little esteem their infamy, so they may fulfil their lusts; and as thieves make but a pastime to rob and steal, if they may escape the gallows: so let us account it a far less discredit to confess our faults in goodness, than they do to commit them in wickedness. Turn therefore as we have sinned: we have many sins, let us shed many tears; we have great sins, let us sigh many sorrows; we have long dwelled in them, let us speedily forsake them; we have watched in sin, now let us watch in prayer; we have loved sin, let us embrace correction; we have delighted in vanities, let us rejoice in tears. How can a man rejoice in tears? verily unto a good soul tears are more welcome than joys, and it rejoiceth in tribulation, finding it more safe to be washed with weeping, then to be delighted in music. There is not any man that hath felt the power of godliness, that will deny this; and if he do, let David teach him, when he protesteth that tears were his repast, when the enemies of God reproached him. Look on thy soul weeping, as thou wast wont to behold thy pleasure rejoicing, and think that this is the Lords great mercy toward thee, which hath yet knocked at thy heart for amendment; love the means which will make thee tender hearted; delight in those sorrows which will procure thy endless joys; shed thy tears here, that hereafter thou mayst be freed; lament in sorrows this life, that in another thou mayst rejoice in comforts. Secondly, let us not always lie in sorrows, and 2 live unreformed, but follow the counsel of the prophet, jer. 26. 13. to make our ways of evil good. When men are repentant, they enter into a new journey▪ for as before they were joyfully sailing to hell, so now they are painfully traveling to heaven: and seeing a good way is the wish of a traveler, let us amend our ways, that we may hasten to our journeys end. When thou hast well drenched thy soul in sorrows, then proceed to reformation, and remove those blocks out of thy life, which would have hindered thy passage into heaven. If thou hast been a drunkard, be now temperate; hast thou been an Atheist? now fear God; if thou have been a swearer? use his name more reverently: and as Paul said of thieves, Let him that stole, steal no more; so say I of all notorious sinners, let them be so no more, but rather labour to do good unto other. By this we may see that repentance is not in show, but in heart; not in heart, but in works; not in works, but in affections; not in affections, but in conversation. Some think they have well repent, if they be a little sorrowful; other think they are well reform, if they be a little reclaimed, and weary of theirvanities: but these men must know, that if good lives be not joined with godly minds, and reformed ways with weeping hearts, neither the one nor the other shall profit them. Therefore now my dear brethren, let us win the field from our sins, and overthrow the troops of our pleasures; let us now conquer our desires, and reform all the abuses of our lives, that we may yield to the gospel, live in the church, eat at the lords table, and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. In the second place the Lord biddeth them to fast, that is, to abstain from all delights and desire of meats, that 2 as they have already pined their souls with sinning; so now they should punish their bodies with fasting. And in In great calamities we must fast privately. this place the prophet speaketh of private fasting: for as yet he is not come to the public fasts, which must be directed by the cleargiemen, who only had authority to proclaim them: of the which we have spoken in the first chapter. In this place we may observe, that heinous offences and general, must have grievous and general lamentation. It is most requisite, that when we have any grand cause to crave at the Lords hand, we use most humble tokens of an instant and longing desire, judg. 20. 26. The Israelites overcome by the Beniamites, fast and pray all the day till evening, and the day following they get the victory, the which is a warrant for us to do the like, that we may so slay our sins, as they did their enemies. The which must instruct every man in his family, during these times of vengeance, (wherein we have no more power to be delivered, than a woman in travel to cast forth her child) that they abstain from glutting and devouring the Lords benefits: For the Lord will not redress our want, till we have generally lamented our misery: and we can no way better punish our bodies then by fasting, that the Lord may be moved to pity us, as he did Abraham, being willing to sacrifice his son, yet he restrained him. The first reason is this, because fasting maketh us pray with more Reason 1. feeling affection, which our Saviour insinuated, Matth. 17. 21. when he said that fasting and prayer would heal the falling evil, and nothing else. Indeed, to show you how men are affected in the time of their fasting, I can hardly do it except youfelt it: how sweet are their sorrows, how earnest are their prayers, how strong are their groans, and how acceptable are their hearts unto the Lord: their tears are their drink, their cares are their meat, their nakedness their bravery, ashes their beauty, humility their health: their eyes are not drowsy, their minds are not weary, their hands are not filthy, and their cries are not easy. The Lord accepteth their obedience, in doing that they are not able; and their faith, in believing that they have not in them; and their prayers, in desiring that which is above them: then can men afford to die for God, that they may live for ever for themselves. Another reason is, because fasts do mightily move the 2 Lord, and bless the mourners, Ezra 8. 23. There was never any man that was thus humbled, and was not comforted: We ourselves have had the trial hereof not long ago, that great matters have been by this means effected: And surely, if it were more orderly practised, neither should the lords cause be so coldly professed, nor our lives so fearfully plagued. Oh, this fullness of bread hath wrought all manner of mischief among us; it maketh men's lives licentious, their manners monstrous, their minds wicked, and their names odious: The taverns are fuller than the churches, the pantries better furnished then the chapels; the markets more adorned than any place is with religion; men forget not the shambles, but their maker; and a steward or purueior, or cater, is more thought upon then the minister. The first use hereof is this, that when the Use 1. Lord is about to punish us, we can never be humbled sufficiently, no though we lay open our sins, setting our lives to shame, our health to sickness, our friends to hatred, our wealth to poverty, or our brute beasts to mourn with us, jon. 3. 8. How wilt thou now humble thyself to show thy penitent heart? when thou seest that all means to increase thy sorrow are little enough. Do not think that this is sufficient humility to come into the lords house, and there to uncover thy head, and so sit down, rather as a judge of repentance than a doer of repentance, or falling down on thy knee, speaking a few cold prayers, or rather with a lukewarm desire, dost thou rest therewithal contented, but God is not contented with it: nay rather uncover thy heart with thy head, and let thy mind fall down as low as thy knee. Strange is it to see, that men are not half so humble to God as they be to their superiors. If I might teach thee to live penitently, I would tell thee that thy life must be filled with fear, thy heart with sorrow, thy labours with grief, thy comforts with mourning, and thy mind must ever be considering the lords presence. Thou must suspect thy meat, lest thou delight too much in it; thou must fear thy expenses, lest thou offend charity; thou must doubt of thy actions, lest they prove hurtful; thou must hinder thy natural affection, lest it exceed measure; and look that thy marriage-love be not too much, lest you be both endangered; thy labour must not be continual, thy sleep must not be too ordinary; thy talk must not be too merry, neither mayest thou think thyself holy. Let the word be as a cock to awak thee; let prayer be as darkness to hinder thee; let the cogitation of thy sins be as sorrowful news in thy ears to trouble thee; and then let wisdom rule in thy worldly actions. A second use is this, that 2 if we account ourselves of the Lords bride-chamber, let us fast when time & occasion calleth us thereunto, Mat. 9 15. for if we fast not, either we are no children, or no obedient children: If Vrijah would not rest in his bed nor in his house, till joab & the Lords hosts were at rest; then let us my beloved (except we be worse than Hittites) fast in want, & not rest in trouble in these dangerous times, wherein there hath not been a creature of God but it crieth, nor a child of God but he weary. I am afraid to say, that the bridegroom is taken from us, although I am assured we have deserved it, & good men suspect it. We have as yet more practice of joy then of sorrow, although we have more cause to weep then to rejoice: & thus we are merry in our woe, & sorry in our joy. Alas, alas, hard hearted men (if men, or rather unreasonable beasts) which gather the wood, and blow the fire to burn themselves withal. All time is become too little for pleasure, & no time is little enough for holiness: all costs go to the kitchen, none to religion; so much eating & drinking, and so little fasting and praying, must needs drown up that little goodness that men had gained by living among christians, & till men can leave their meat to serve the Lord, they can never leave their sins to save their souls. Fast I beseech you, great men in their palaces, rich men in their houses, & poor men in their cottages: men with their servants, women with their maids, and parents with their children; for this kind of evil will not be cast out but by prayer and fasting. The third 3 circumstance of their repentance is mourning, whereby the Prophet teacheth us that a sorrowful spirit doth accompany a penitent heart, 2. Corint. 9 10. for this cause Paul telleth us that godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repent of, and Solomon, 1. King. 8. 35. calleth repentance the tribulation of the spirit. Men in our days wonder at this tribulation, because it is so seldom: for in deed if it were common, than it would cease to be a wonder; but yet it is a greater wonder, that we have repentance so much preached, and so little practised. But seeing repentance bringeth so much sorrow with it, it may notably comfort those which are distressed in mind, living in torments of conscience for the burden of sin: surely happy is their estate which are corrected with this rod, whereby they are freed from sin, delivered from wrath, and reconciled to God. The medicine that worketh most forcibly causeth greatest pain, and speediest remedy; in like manner those saving wounds of Christ, do then most sweetly wipe away our sins, when our minds are most roughly gawled with a pricking conscience. And therefore they cannot be said to have repent, which affect nothing but pleasure, and never in their life wept one tear for their sins, or prayed secretly for the distemper of their minds. This is a grounded and infallible rule, Without repentance there is no salvation; without sorrow there is no repentance; without earnest prayer there is no godly sorrow; and without feeling of the Lords wrath, there is no prayer that pierceth the sky, or moveth the Lord. The first reason of this doctrine is this, because there is no coming Reason 1. to our Saviour till we be oppressed, Matt. 11. 28. Christ calleth not merry hearts, or those that love pleasure and mirth; for this suiteth not with contrition: but then is our way open to our Saviour, when our hearts are as heavy as lead, and our affections like the voices of mourning women. And thus the Lord tempereth our estate, that when we are lost in ourselves, he findeth us; when we are weak, he strengtheneth us; and when we are castaways, he receiveth us. Oh how happy are our oppressions which drive us to God, as the shipwreck drove Paul and his companions into Melitum: where by that means many souls were won to God. hearken my dear brother, dost thou sorrow that it is thy hap to endure grief? nay rejoice in thy sorrow, that bringeth thee to Christ. Sorrow is a guide to lead thee; a broom to sweep thy passage, that nothing hinder thee: it is the key that openeth the gate of Christ's mercy, and a sure friend to sue out thy pardon. Another reason is, because Christ will not come but to such 2 spirits, Luc. 19 10. so that if thou wouldst go up to Christ, thy sorrow will lend thee wings; if thou wouldst have Christ to descend to thee, thy sorrow will persuade him: Christ is the physician of the mind, and he will not come till thy mind be sick. As in winter the most rain falleth; so in distress of conscience most comforts come down: this doctrine bringeth great joy of glad tidings which shall be to all hearts, where godly sorrow dwelleth. But let us not Use 1. always lament these sorrows, or rest in the graves of our easeless cares; but let our prayers be multiplied as our dangers are increased, so do the godly Hos. 6. 1. Fly therefore to the Lord when thou feelest any smart in thy soul; and let not musical delights or pleasant companions entice with conceits to banish this grief; but let thy grief be thy meat and drink, and the means to stir thee up to prayer. It is to be feared, that many have been either utterly condemned, or desperately endangered by using worldly medicines for these heavenly sores: for so soon as their hearts wax heavy by reason of their sin, they call for worldly delights, which either drive them to desperation, or harden them to condemnation. Drink is good to the thirsty, but it is dangerous to them that are sick of burning fevers; in like sort unto them that have eaten poison: so mirth is good, but use it not to drive away godly sorrow, but abide it patiently with prayer and fasting. As thou seest thy sins, so let the Lord hear thy prayers; and as thy grief for them is increased, so let thy cries against them be multiplied. Think whom thou hast offended, wherewithal thou art grieved, and how thou canst be pacified. If thou be rich, let thy closet be thy sanctuary; if thou be poor, let the woods and secret places be thy temple; if thou have little knowledge, resort to them that have more; if thou be heavy and feelest no comfort, yet pray still, and give not over; for the end shall be blessed, although the beginning be desolate. Again, as Hoseah Use 2. teacheth chap. 14. 5. let us in our mourning take with us the hope of pardon; or else a Christian soul should have no more feeling then a desperate wretch: for we may lawfully persuade ourselves, how sharp soever we feel our pangs and soule-fits, yet there is never taken from us the hope of pardon; yea, if faith be not utterly covered, we may be bold to assure ourselves of victory. What then? how if hope and faith be buried, and we yield unto death, denying the sweet promises of Christ; is not this desperation? no verily: for as there may be life in the body, although men cannot perceive it; so there may be in the soul, although none discern it: for although David said, This is my death; yet he recovered both life and peace of conscience. Therefore a contrite spirit is always regarded of God; and if he evermore love it in other, he doth also like it in thee. Be patiented, the same hand which made the wound shall heal the grief; and if thou feel a decay of grace, stir up thyself more earnestly by calling on God, and hold fast till the Lord come: Receive good comfort in the midst of thy sorrows, as a watchman espying the dawning long before it be light; although it be bitter in thy mouth, it shall be sweet after digestion, (and say) I will abide the Lords leisure, I will drink his potion; it is a cup, but not of deadly wine; I will receive it for the purgation of my sin, although it make me sick. The xxj. Sermon. Verse. 13. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. THese words are another part of the Prophet's exhortation unto repentance, wherein he noteth the greatest measure of Repentance, under this metaphor, Rend your hearts. Meaning the most extreme and comfortless pains in the action thereof: not that indeed men should rip up their breasts, and rend in twain their hearts; no more than when our Saviour biddeth us cut off the arm, or pluck out the eye that offendeth us, we should dismember our bodies for every fall or oversight: But by the rending of the hearts, we are taught that the pains of true repentance, exceed all other pains (death The pains of true repentance exceeds the pains of the flesh. excepted) neither whipping of the body as the jesuits do, nor lancing it with knives as the priests of Baal did, or pricking it with bodkins, or sickness, or famine, or travail, are comparable to repentance: for these may be quickly eased by man, but the other cannot be redressed but by God. Upon this the godly Israelites pray, judg. 10. 15. that God would deliver them (meaning from the terrors of their sin) and lay whatsoever pleased him upon them beside. The insufferable wounds of a tormented mind are the only pains which are like to the pains of hell; so that neither brimstone nor fire cometh any thing so near unto it as this doth. Whereupon it was said, that good men have their hell in this life; meaning that the pains of repentance are so smart unto them, that it differeth many times very little from the plagues of the other life. Now (I beseech you) that are godly, that have long rested in this restless harbour, to acknowledge with me the truth hereof: and you that have persuaded yourselves, that not only tears; but easy sighing groans do go for payment of your sins: Learn of me this one lesson, that your minds must be more perplexed, and your hearts more inwardly vexed; not only for a day, but for a longer time, yea, peradventure a whole life, that you may sing with all the godly, The pains of hell came about me. The first reason, because Reason 1. that repentance is the dressing of the soul's wound: so that as the soul is more dangerous than the body; so the wound therein must needs be more painful, than a wound in the flesh: And for this cause are the ministers charged with the souls of men, Heb. 13. 17. because they dress not their wounds, and show not their sins that lie secret in their souls. The which account is now a days little regarded of many ministers ', and less of many people: one careth not for their sin, and the other regardeth not their soul; but the more they be, the more is the pity, or rather the more shall be their judgement: Neither let us be amazed to hear of these unspeakable gripes of mind, for they cry continually in the ears of God for mercy, as a wound calleth for a salve. Another reason, because in repentance men feel the wrath of God against sin, which 2 they do not in other corporal plagues, Psal. 74. 1. The wrath of God made our Saviour to sweat water and blood, which coming upon men, although they cannot sweat as he did, because they cannot resist as he did; yet they feel in themselves such terrible horrors, as amaze the strong, and confound the weak: From hence it cometh that some in this extremity, think that all that they do is for their condemnation, their meat, drink, apparel, health, and liberty, are unto many weak minds tokens of the Lords wrath. Indeed they which are burned with this iron, think that every house will overwhelm them, and every leaf that falleth on the ground will hurt them; the noise of any thing doth trouble them, and a sharp word almost killeth them. Terrible is a life lead under such conflicts; for every hour threateneth a thousand deaths: the heart ever accuseth; the memory witnesseth against itself; his own reason condemneth him; and his continual fear is his cruel tormentor. The first use. Let us not be discouraged in these woeful torments; but take example by our Use 1. Saviour Christ, who for the glory that was set before him most patiently endured the greatest cross. A hell thou must needs have, thou canst not eschew it: therefore choose it in this world, where thou shalt find mercy with God, comfort in his word, and solace in his church; in the world to come thou shalt have none of these. Make here thy apprenticeship unto sorrows, where thy friends may accompany thee, thy prayers may quiet thee, and thy joys may recompense thee. Why? art thou afraid that thou canst not abide such pains; then look unto God the author and finisher of thy faith. Art thou in doubt to suffer shipwreck and despair? then know that GOD tempteth none beyond their power? Are thy friends against thee? yet the Angels are with thee. Lovest thou not sorrows? then shalt thou never gain joys: if thou wouldst have learning, thou must endure the rod; if thou wilt have gold, thou must cross the seas; if thou wilt be famous, thou must take much pains; and if thou wilt have heaven, thou must win it by repentance. Art thou yet afraid of thyself, and canst not willingly undergo it? set before thee the pains of this life, and the plagues of the other life: these are temporal, those are eternal; these are sufferable, those are intolerable; these are among men, those among devils; these come of love, those of wrath: and to conclude, God shall mitigate these, but he will augment and aggravate them. How canst thou avoid death? no more canst thou avoid hell: If thou wouldst never die, thou must never be borne; and if thou wouldst never repent, thou must never live. Let repentance be thy purgatory; sins, thy pains; sorrows thy tormentors, and say with Elijah, Pour on more water, that God may the more be glorified in thy salvation. The second use, is the same that David maketh Psalm. 31. 2 23. after he had told of this great extremity, and how the Lord did set him at liberty, he calleth upon all the godly saying, Love ye the Lord, ye his saints: for he preserveth the faithful, and rewardeth abundantly the evil doers. Hearken unto this you sorrowful doves of the Lord: your cause is not wicked, your case is not desperate, and your hope shall not be frustrate: for the Lord will deliver you. Is it not as easy for him to free you from sin, as from hell; and from sorrow, as from damnation? Yes verily, and therefore love the Lord if you be his saints. Love him I say, and he shall love you; nay, he loved you first, and therefore love him again: He loveth you, for he looketh still upon you; and do you love him by looking still unto him; he loveth you and watcheth for your safety; do you love him & watch in his praises. Which of us living that were born in his church, cannot say that the Lord hath wrought wonders for his anointed? Tell thy soul what the Lord hath done for it; how he cast out the devil, and planted his spirit; how he freed it from wrath, and gave it grace; how he gained it from vengeance, & gave it repentance: Repentance I say, with watery eyes, lean body, mournful mind, and miserable wounded heart; and now for all this, thou livest in greater peace. Therefore love ye the Lord ye his saints: love him as your husband, you are his wife; love him as your father, you are his children: love him as your God, you are his creatures; and love him as your life, you are his offspring. Labour for him you love, pray to him you love, think upon him you love, rejoice in him you love; and then die to live with him you love: think it long till you see him; think it little that you give him; count it woe to forsake him; and count it blessedness to love him. After he had told them what they should do, now he telleth them what they 2 should not do, namely, Not cut their garments. Wherein he rebuketh the folly reigning in their, and our times, when they used to rend their clothes: what careth the Lord for a new garment, agaie cloak, or a costly pearl: All these shall perish, but he endureth for ever. And therefore rend not your garments only: not meaning it to be unlawful to show an outward token of sorrow, but he blameth curiosity and hypocrisy without inward sincerity; such as was in the high priest when he heard Christ say he was the son of God, he rend his garments. From hence we may gather, that outward holiness is abominable: Outward holiness abominable. All such religion as is only for fashion, praying, and receiving the Sacraments, hearing of sermons, and such like for mere show and company, Esay 57 3, 4. And if it be lawful to say that men are only ciphers in religion, when they know little or nothing, and practise evil; then may we say that there are more ciphers than figures in our days. You shall know them, because they come but now and then to church, where they fetch many a feigned sigh, and speak many ignorant Amen: thinking that the worship of the Sabbaoth lieth in putting on their best apparel; and yet simple souls, they are persuaded they be as good christians as can be of flesh and blood, and so they be as Christ's disciples were, when he said unto them, O ye of little faith, how long shall I be with you, how long shall I suffer you? and so we may say to them, how long shall this simplicity be called christianity? and how long shall faith give place to opinion? and how long shall every base person extol vain profession against true Religion? Oh, I would they could be brought unto us, that we might cast out this devil from them. The reasons of this doctrine are these: because the Lord Reason 1. trying the secret disposition of every heart, pronounceth, that he is weary of such feigned worship, and that his soul abhorreth it, Isai. 12. 13. what a matter is this? that our knee-praiers, our lip-labours, our Easter-communicants, our timeserving hearers, and all of that brood, whose devotion is as hot as jacobs' stone, should weary the Lord with their vain petitions, their idle presence, their outward reverence, and their temporal obedience, that he abhorreth both them and theirs. Whose tongue shall persuade them of the truth hereof; verily if the prophet Isay should come from the immediate presence of God, with his tongue purified by a Seraphim; yet they would no more believe him then they do us, except they feel the smart of their idleness. Another reason, because God doth not regard 2 temporal sorrow for sin, as we may see in Esau and Ahab; and therefore much less that service which is but temporal, and outward also. And although Ahab was spared for his feigned repentance, yet it was but respited, and the judgement came notwithstanding: whereby we may see how unwilling is our merciful father to take vengeance of our sins, if there appear in us any small sparkles of grace, or any remorse for punishment. Let us therefore learn that no visor can deceive God, and that there is no halting before him: it is not our lifted up eyes, our knocking of breasts, our sighing, our whipping, our lancing, fasting and pining that can satisfy the Lords expectation, or minister any comfort unto us at the day of judgement. Let us learn from hence that exhortation Use 1. of the Apostle, Gal.. 6. 7. that we be not deceived. The main point of religion is this, that we be assured of life everlasting. What shall we be, if we be deceived? if we have guesses in steed of knowledge; wavering in steed of constancy; weakness in steed of faith; darkness in steed of light, and vanity in steed of divinity, what are we but deceived? If we make Christ in our mouths, religion in our eyes, and mortification in a friday fast, or Christianity to continue no longer than while we be in the churches: if we be not deceived in this, than were never any deceived. We deceive our brethren with shadows, our God with shows, and ourselves with sin; we deceive our hearts of knowledge, our lives of holiness, and our souls of meat, and life everlasting. Oh how do men deceive themselves, and deceive other! when in the mean season the Lord crieth out, Be not deceived. What fools are men to be so besotted with follies, making hypocrisy their heaven, Satan their God, and counterfeit religion their soul's worship. The Lord hath sent strong delusion among men that they might be damned, which received not the love of the truth: yea it is most equal that they should be damned by falsehood, which would not be ruled by truth. Yet let us take heed to our souls, that we deceive them not, and mock the Lord: for the case is dangerous if we consider it, and desperate if we fall into it. We will sing in voice, and we will sing in spirit; even so we will repent in heart, and repent in tears: let us profess with the mouth that we may be saved, and believe in the soul that we may be justified. Let us also receive the exhortation of the Lord, 2 Isa. 1. chap. that we wash ourselves from dissimulation, and have the evil thereof removed from us. The filth of this sin is so odious in the eyes of God, that until it be scoured off, there is not any thing in us that may satisfy his wrath, or pacify his displeasure: Therefore if either the fear of his highness, or the regard of our own souls may any way move us to amendment, let us wash away this abominable filthiness. It is but a painted hue, the water will purge it; it is like snow, the water will melt it; and it resembleth hoar frost which the water dissolveth: but I mean not the water of the earth, but the blood of Christ; for that is the only medicine against hypocrisy: Pray for it and thou shalt have it, wherewithal if it be once washed, it shall never be defiled again: Flatter not thyself, and rest not in the show of holiness, but reform thy soul thoroughly. Of all sickness the falling evil is the worst, for it maketh one seem without life; and so of all evil hypocrisy is the worst, for it maketh men live as if there were no God: it defaceth good things, it denieth religion; for it maketh it to have a harlot's face: men's lives it defileth, and men's minds it corrupteth; therefore bring not such a monster into the Lord's sight, which altereth all thy proportion and lineaments, & disfigureth the glorious gifts of God. But of this thing we have elsewhere spoken, and now it sufficeth to touch it lightly. Lord your God. Now the prophet telleth 3 them to whom this conversion must be made, that is to God, for whose sake only men must repent. From hence observe, that so long as we are unrepentant, we err and run away from God, Psalm. 119. 67. Until God called Adam, & so wrought repentance in him, he hide himself from the sight of God; and so do all the posterity of Adam fly from the Lord, as jonah did, until we are Till we turn to God, we go from God. repentant: We abhor his Gospel, we deny his truth, we renounce all goodness: so long as we are unregenerate, we speak evil of the things we know not, and corrupt ourselves in the things we know, jud. 10. we eat in riot, we sleep in pride, we walk in pleasure, and live in unthankfulness. Rich men advance themselves above other: poor men murmur against God: young men live in open sin, and old men die in wicked ignorance; and all because they are not repentant: Thus men wander, some one way, and some another, and few or none the right way. What marvel is it? to see so many abominations arise in the world, seeing men run from the truth, that is Christ: forsake the light, that is the spirit; and die in miserable death, because they have departed from the life, that is God. Oh, miserable men that cast themselves into such a sea of evils! wherein the farther they wade, the deeper they are plunged, and the longer they go the harder they are reclaimed: and if at any time they strain at any evil, it is not for love of God, for him they have forsaken; but it is for shame of the world, which they fear more than death. The first Reason 1. reason is, because of ourselves we have no knowledge of salvation, neither can we inherit the kingdom of God, Matth. 18. 17. whereby it is evident how little we are able to do in any good thing, but every day wax worse and worse: And this may serve us for a notable and lamentable spectacle to behold our vile nature which draweth us the farther from God, that it might drown us the deeper in condemnation. If we have nothing in us but good nature, there is nothing in us of God his grace: we are not building timber, but fire wood: it is repentance that chooseth us and squareth us, and joineth us to God. The Lord in this work is the builder; the ministers are the carpenters; the word is the axe; the grief of heart is the stroke; and regeneration maketh us the frame: otherwise we are stones refused of the builder. Another reason, because 2 in our unrepentant estate we cannot please God, Rom. 8. 8. & seeing we cannot please him, we run from him, we forsake and deny him: This would make one's heart to melt, to consider that all actions not grounded on a new life do serve from God. Some object, if God did not like them, they could not do them: So may a thief, an adulterer, or ravisher of women defend his iniquity, but it will not go for payment: for God suffereth you to follow your pleasures against his pleasure, that your pleasures may taste of everlasting pains. Therefore labour for repentance, that you may be brought into the Lords sheepfold, and be incorporated into his congregation, and saved by his dearly beloved son: then shall your ways be altered, and your pleasures overturned, and you shall pray with Christ; Not our will, but thy will O heavenly father be done. Being in an unrepentant estate we run away Use 1. from God; yet let us look back on God, as Isay exhorteth, Isa. 45. 22. and then we shall be saved. If thou be running from God through a lewd life, giving over thyself unto liberty, yet look back upon him often: the children of Israel if they were stung by serpents, by looking on the brazen serpent recovered presently: And although the sting of thy sin is greater than the sting of adders; yet the Lord is mightier and wholesomer than the brazen serpent: therefore look unto him if thou wilt be healed. Old Simeon so soon as he had seen Christ, presently desired to die for joy: and Zacheus having but a mind to see him, was made that day a notable christian. Look often on the Lord, for by beholding him thou mayst grow in love with him: wish continually to be with him, as the jews which being captives in Babel, yet made their prayers toward jerusalem. Esau at the sight of jacob fell to weeping, & loved him the better ever after: so if thou wilt cast thy eyes to heaven & behold his glory; & then look upon the world, and see his government; then behold the earth, and consider his benefits; learn his Gospel, and note his truth; and life thy eyes to Christ to mark his mercy: thou wilt surely turn the sail of thy wicked life, and come with the Sabaean Queen to worship in his church. Consider his works, for they defend thee: think upon his judgements, for they threaten thee: mark well his kindness, for it maintaineth thee: and believe his word, for it shall convert thee: cast but one of thy eyes upon the Lord, and thou shalt win him: look often upon him, lest mind and eyes be both blinded, and never see him more. Another 2 use, we must lament the plague of our sins reigning among us, Isa. 59 9 10. when the Prophet had showed them their danger, he bringeth them in mourning on this wise: Therefore is judgement far from us, neither doth justice come near us: we wait for light, but lo it is darkness: we grope for the wall like the blind, & grope as one without eyes: we stumble at the noon day, as in the twilight: we are in solitary places, as dead men: we roar allike bears, & mourn like doves, etc. Thus must men that are not yet regenerate recount their miseries, after they hear them condemned by the word, saying unto themselves; How blind are our eyes that we cannot see the glorious light of the Gospel; we are quite forsaken of the Lord, who keepeth us from believing of his truth; we have no power to perform the least part of that Gospel, to walk in any tolerable obedience, sanctification goeth against the hair, and though we like it, yet we cannot do it; we see that he that refraineth from evil maketh himself a pray: therefore let the Lord come and reform our lives, and adorn our minds with righteousness, that we may be delivered from this slavery of sin, let him turn the hearts of children to their fathers, and turn our course unto himself. Moreover think what deadness is in your soul, what sinfulness is in your life, and what wrath of God hangeth over your heads; for assuredly except you confess in this sort, you shall be confounded before you be converted. Let your hearts be awaked betimes, that wrath overtake you not, and let whatsoever may further you to God, (although it be shame or judgement, or nakedness, or poverty, or death) be most speedily received. The xxij. Sermon. YOur God. After all this preaching of repentance: now he beginneth to comfort their distressed minds, which could not but be grieved grievously, and therefore he putteth them in mind that the Lord is their Lord and God. How may this be? if he be theirs, than they are his: and will he suffer them to be made a prey unto brute beasts, and to make the heavens to thunder their destruction? what comfort have they by his service? or what pleasure hath he in their cries? very much; for sometimes a tender nurse and loving mother will make her child weep bitterly, that it may love her the better: so the Lord to try his own, casteth them into a bed of sorrows. From hence we must gather, that in our greatest calamity and adversity, God is our merciful God. Artthou tormented with sorrow that it is bitter to thee In our greatest misery we must account God very merciful to live, and better for thee to die? or, art thou vexed with sore sickness, and intolerable imprisonment? hast thou no meat for thyself and thy tender babes? and seest thou a whole nation in an uproar? yet for all this acknowledge with David, Psalm. 22. 1. that God is thy God although thou seem forsaken. Oh, sweet mercy of a father, and glorious condition of a son! whom no poverty, no misery, no iniquity can part in sunder: though he chasten us, yet he loveth us; though we be helpless, yet he remembreth us; though we be in death, yet he saveth us. God is evermore the father of his church, and of every member therein; he scorneth not their parentage; he refuseth not their poverty; he regardeth their sufferings, and desweth their salvation: Let us then say with job, that although he slay us, yet we will trust in him; death shall not drive us in sunder, but conjoin us together. The reasons are; First, because in prosperity he will be known to maintain us, Reason 1. and in adversity to comfort us, Esay 51. 12. If men would or could undergo all the former evils without comfort, than might they have some colour torefuse and distrust God, but they are not able: never is any man at one time distressed in body, and distracted in mind; or oppressed outwardly and not comforted inwardly. If thy mind be heavy, think on the comforts of this life; if thy body be vexed, then consider the quietness of thy mind; if both be graveled together, then comfort thyself because thou livest: And so thou shalt see one staff to beat thee, and another to defend thee; one cause to punish thee, but a greater to comfort thee. Then deny not God although thy comfort seem small, for that beggar were worthy of stripes which would rail on a gentleman, giving him a groat which was able to give him a crown. Another reason: God hateth them that cry out against him, jer. 12. 8. 2 Now how can we more blasphemously cry against him, then when we traitorously deny him? for if we acknowledge not him to be ours, than we deny ourselves to be his, wherein we shake off all obedience, and spit in his face. O consider what a thing it is to make the Lord to hate us, the world will laugh at us, the church will defy us, the angels will not defend us, but the devil will have us; for he watcheth for the lords hatred as a raven doth for a bullocks death or the butcher's slaughter day. We cannot prevail by complaining against God, for to whom shall we appeal? therefore if we would prevail, let us complain of ourselves, that he may be justified and we acquitted. Let us take heed that we tempt not God in our miseries, for he will take vengeance of the sins we Use 1. commit in adversity, Ezech. 20. 15. The Israelites being in the wilderness without drink, having the whole world to be their enemies, their number being great and their miseries being many; yet the Lord made their own blood to wash away their murmuring. And let not us tempt the Lords power as they did; nor yet lightly esteem these mercies we enjoy, being weary of patience, and grudging at our poor estate: neither let our weak wits or sick bodies excuse our follies; for we see the Lord will plague us with one misery after another. Some are of this mind that they think they may be borne withal, if they go awry in adversity: as to lie, to swear, to steal, to be absent willingly from sermons, because they be poor, or lame, or sick, or light-witted; but they are far deceived, for it is not lawful to do evil, that they may be well. If a stubborn son feeling his father's rod shall revile him, he will punish him the more; so God will punish us the more if we abuse him in our adversity. job was more blamed for his unadvised speeches in the time of his trouble, then for all the vanities of his former life. Therefore my dear brethren, let us be advised how we murmur against the Lord, notwithstanding our adversity: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that presumeth on his mercy, or despaireth of his goodness: let not our words be stout against him, that we defy him, or too base that we should forget him. Another use: we know the Lord doth multiply our miseries, 2 to the intent that we should more earnestly seek after him, Hos. 5. 15. He giveth us the more stripes, that we should give him the more prayers: he increaseth our sharp sufferings, that we should increase our bitter weep, and for this cause he punisheth us that he might be known to be our God. What then? will some say, hath he no other means to manifest his jurisdiction, and to challenge our lives to himself, then by laying on a load on our backs of intolerable miseries. To whom I answer, that he hath more means to work it then any living are able to show it; but this means liketh him best, especially after men have forsaken him. It is lawful for him to crush their bones into powder, their flesh into pieces, their blood into dung, and their lives into death, if it please him; and most blessed is their estate that are thus advanced by him. Now then learn if thou have tasted of the sour cup of sorrow, to fly to God more speedily, and to entreat him more earnestly. He hideth himself, that we should seek him; he runneth from us, that we should run after him; he casteth us off, that we should make account of him; he it is that bringeth us into danger, that we might know he will deliver us out of danger: We are taught by experience, we are reclaimed by correction, we are purged by his rod, and he taketh from us our delight, that we might come to him for delights. Let us therefore go out of ourselves, much more out of our houses to seek his presence which is every where, his benefits which are general, and our own happiness in the valley of tears, never giving over till we have found him whom our soul loveth. For he is gracious. Now we are come to the reasons which the prophet useth, to persuade him to repentance, which are set down in this verse and in the next: in this verse taken from the adjuncts or properties of God; in the next, they are taken from his effects or works. His properties are described to be these four, gracious, merciful, long suffering, and repenting him of the evil: whereof every one hath a singular weight to persuade men to repentance. By the first he meaneth, plentiful in gifts; by the second, ready to forgive sinners; by the third, waiting for their conversion by repentance; by the fourth, the changing of his judgements threatened. So that the prophet might thus reason with them, Repent, O ye men of judea, for the Lord hath many blessings in store, do not lose them; he is most ready to pardon you, do not refuse it; for he hath and doth tarry long for your amendment, abuse not his patience; and it may be if you will repent, these lamentable miseries shall be all revoked. Again, can you not repent? the Lord is gracious, he will help you with his spirit. Are you afraid it will be in vain? noe, he is evermore entreated. Think you it is too late? that cannot be, for he is long suffering. Fear you that your land and lives shall be yet destroyed, his promises notwithstanding? I tell you plainly, you shall no sooner repent of your sins, but he will change his mind, and repent him of the evil. By the first word, gracious, let us learn that all the spiritual 1 and temporal gifts of God do call us to repentance, Deut. 4. 33, 38, 40 Repentance being a thing so needful, as without it none can be saved, the Lord hath made as many preachers thereof, as he and all his creatures are. If All creatures do move us to repentance. we look up to him, we see his grace, that putteth us in mind of repentance; if we look to his creatures, & mark for whom they were made, that is, for us, than they overcome us; if how they were made, by the unspeakable power of God, than they dismay us; if we consider their estate, sometime seen, and sometime not seen, sometime pleasant, and sometime not pleasant, sometime glorious, and anon troubled; all this will teach us to be troubled for sin. Thou changest thy garments, then change thy life; thou seest the earth fruitful abounding with many a pleasant herb, let not thy heart be barren, and stuffed with filthy & stinking sins. Come to the spiritual gifts of God, & see how many preachers thou hast to move thee to repentance: it is the end of preaching, the fruit of hearing, & the motion of prayer: the sacraments signify it; the Spirit worketh it; and the whole church of God liveth in it: the bishop watcheth for it; the doctor teacheth for it; the worker of miracles doth witness it; & the poor man's box doth prove it. I cannot run over all, it is sufficient that every one do prove it, & I would to God that any might prevail. The reason, because God would be near unto all that call upon him, Reason Psa. 145. 18. he will compass us about with a world of witnesses that they may draw us to him, or else to accuse our disobedience, whom the heavens could not win, or the earth admonish, or the church persuade, or the spirit instruct, that all these which could not work our health, may further our death. And seeing in every place these are manifest, in so much as we despise all warnings of God and his creatures, it is most equal that we be pnnished with all torments of hell fire. Seeing all things are notes unto us of the Lords Use 1. favour, then assuredly if men will show any care to serve him, he will never hide his face, or punish us extremely, 2. Chron. 30. 9 Oh what a comfort is this to a troubled soul, to have all the creatures of the world to witness the Lords favour! the birds flying, the beasts eating, the corn standing, the grass growing, and the houses over our heads are pledges unto us of the grace of God: Then turn thee and consider not two or three, but every one in their kind, and thou shalt find inestimable joy. Why do men complain for want of grace? when all the world is full of grace; it pierceth the stones, it cleaveth the rocks, it shaketh the trees, it quickeneth the beasts, and it descendeth to the bottom of the earth; only the souls of men are not capable thereof. Begin now with thyself; set these creatures as judge; arraign thy soul as guilty; bring forth thy guilty conscience, and wait for the sentence of condemnation. Oh, no, save thyself from these froward inventions. Turn I say a little, show a willing mind, bring a ready heart, pray for an ounce of godly sorrow, and let the world and the gospel, the creatures and the spirit, the earth and the church, the angels and the beasts increase the same; gather thou the wood, they will blow the fire; thy care shall be augmented, as the widows oil by Elishah, that thy debts shall be discharged, thy trouble shall be eased, thy life shall be amended, and thy soul shall be blessed. Seeing all the creatures of God do remember us of his grace, then let every creature be dear and precious 2 unto us, Gen. 1. 31. as a pledge of his favour; for the Lord commendeth them all to be good: And if he which wrought them do so, then much more ought we for whose sake they were created. Let us then often meditate on the frame of the world, the bodies of men, the proportion of beasts, and the little green leaves shall minister unto us much instruction to reform our lives: we shall find not one of them made for themselves, but all of them for one another, and especially for us. Wherefore it cannot be, that we were borne for luxury, riot, pleasure, profit, sorrow, love, joy, or hatred: no not for the possession of ourselves, but for the possession of the Lord. Consider these things, and thou shalt find all time too little not spent herein, and all joy but vanity that is not applied to this. When thou canst not hear the word, read it; when thou canst not read, then meditate on it; when thou art weary of meditation, then turn to the creatures, and solace thyself in them, as in a most pleasant garden of many sweet flowers; mark their diversity, in colour strange, in number infinite, in making contrary, and yet in use all one, even for thy sake, that thou mightest be for the Lords glory. Mark their growth, that thou mayst grow so; and their death, for thou shalt die so; and their spring, for thou shalt arise in the summer of all pleasures with them in the kingdom of heaven. Merciful. The second reason is taken from 2 the Lords mercy, and that therefore if they will repent, he will pardon. Wherein I might tell you many things worth the learning, of the lords mercy, and show you by many arguments, how the scripture in many places doth express it, sometime naturally, as to men and beasts, Psal. 36. 6. sometime to good and bad, Mat. 5. to his church through Christ, Luc. 1. 78. and all these he meaneth in this place, when he saith, that God is merciful, not simply through Christ, whereby he saveth his church; but also through himself, whereby he loveth all his creatures. From God his mercy must move us to repentance. hence observe, that the mercy of God must lead men to repentance, 1. Sam. 12. 24. The which is clean contrary to the course of the world, which take it for a liberty of sin, and make it not a necessity to repentance: but a good child is more afraid of a gentle and a kind father, then of a stern and severe; and we if we be the children of God must be as much terrified from sin with the sweet songs of Zion, as with the loud thunder claps of Sinai, & be as subject to the Lords censure in his sweet mercies, as other in the fearful curses of the Law. Therefore let not our time of peace, our healthy bodies, our large possessions, our heaps of treasure, our sweet children, and all other mercies of God, make our hearts fat; but let us use all these to awake us from sinning, and to restrain us from offending him that defendeth us with them: yea, let us weep more tears for having them, then for wanting them, that we may enjoy the promises of this life and of the life to come. The first reason, because they are merciful which love mercy, and therefore blessed, Matt. 5. 7. If we would see a token of our Reason 1. pitiful hearts, then let us think how the sweet promises of the Gospel have pierced them. It is no wonder to see such bloody minds in Papists, because they make small account of the Lords mercy, teaching us that men may satisfy for their sin: and for this cause they thirst after blood for the breach of their canons. But yet let us beware how we persuade men to rely on the mercy of God; for they say we teach men to trust to mercy, and to live vilely: but let us exhort one another in the Lord that we walk worthy of his mercy, and use his abundant clemency for a promptor unto repentance. Another reason, because God is more delighted with his mercy, then with our sacrifice, 2 Hos. 6. 6. and therefore so ought we to be: sacrifice winneth him, therefore let mercy overcome us, even those mercies which we read in his word, and note in our lives, that we may pull down more and more upon us. Oh I fear, seeing of long time we have had so little regard of mercy, and all of judgement, now the thing we were afraid of is come upon us, namely wrath; for we feel it in our lives & in our times, making many men's hearts to tremble, and the bodies of some to die: Yet for all this, the time of mercy is not all spent; therefore let mercy draw us unto God, and the former and late received kindness from him, be as bands of steel to keep us in obedience. Seeing the mercies of Use 1. God must move us to repentance; then (I beseech you) let not our ears be deaf at his sweet promises, lest the Lord complain of us, as he did of his own time, Matth. 11. 19 that we are like to children, neither dancing with them that sing, nor weeping with them that mourn. Austerity is too hard for us, and mercy is too soft: if we preach the law, than men say we speak of malice, of else give judgement upon them; if we show them liberty, that maketh them worse and worse; so that our times are like a thief, being in prison he complaineth of cruelty, and being at liberty, runneth to robbing again. The mercy of God is much called for; and being obtained, is much abused: they make it a charter to sin, and think if they have one pardon, all their villainy afterward is forgiven. The deep wounds of Christ doth not assuage their heat of sin, but increaseth their desire. O my dear brethren, if gentleness will not win, rigour most persuade. You are the Lords scholars, learn you must, the rod is your tormentor, or else you shall be expelled his school. Make much of mercy, while you may have mercy: for if the gate of mercy be shut, and the date expired; your tears shall be drops of blood, and your wounds, as windows for your bones to look through; your flesh shall feed the fowls of the air, and your souls shall feel the torments of hell. Secondly, 2 seeing mercy must win us, let us be merciful as our heavenly father is merciful, Luk. 6. 36. which is needful to be urged in these hard times, wherein are many poor and many complaints: for if we look to have mercy of God when we pray unto him, let the poor find mercy in us when they cry upon us. Be merciful as our heanenly father is merciful. His hand is ever giving; his spirit is ever comforting; his mercy is ever pardoning, and his liberality is ever feeding; therefore give thou to the poor, comfort the sorrowful, forgive thy offenders, and let many hungry souls feed on thy meat. Mercy is better than sacrifice; hotter, than coals of fire; softer, then liquid oil; and sweeter than pleasant honey. Offer this sacrifice, kindle this fire, touch this oil, and eat this honey: thou shalt find mercy in judgement, in thy deathbed, in thy grave, and in thy resurrection: it shall cover thee, as a garment; comfort thee, as a guide; carry thee, as a mother; and crown thee, as a king. God delighteth in it; Angels rejoice at it; men look for it; and bruit beasts love it: Therefore with mercy delight thy creator; rejoice the Angels; and satisfy man and beast. And be merciful to men, to beasts, and to thyself; to man, for God requireth it; to beasts, for nature craveth it; and to thyself; for thy soul challengeth it: the first, is of charity; the second, of equity; and the last, of piety; therefore practise mercy, that christian love, godly kindness, and glorious religion, may evermore maintain thee. Of great kindness and long suffering. This is another argument to persuade them to repentance. By the which we may note, that God doth not always take vengeance of God deferreth vengeance and why? sin so soon as it is committed, but winketh at it, and deferreth till we repent or grow incurable. This thing the Apostle noteth, Rom. 2. 4. that God by his bountifulness and long suffering leadeth us to repentance. Although for example sake he slew Er, and Onan, & Vzzah, and Ananias, and Saphira, and many other in the very act of sinning: yet he doth not always take this course: For four hundred years together did he bear with the abominations of Canaan, Gen. 15. 18. Let not men think because they are not killed so soon as they have blasphemed or denied God, or committed adultery, or profaned the Sabbaoth or the like, that therefore their deeds shall go unpunished: no verily, for the longer before they reckon, the greater shall be their account, and the farther a man runneth backward, the farther he leapeth forward: and so the longer that God forbeareth our sins, the heavier shall be his stroke, for we shall bear double blame, the one, for breaking his law; the other, for abusing his patience. It were needful for us to consider in our souls this singular favour of God, that we might use it as the prophet here doth, to further our repentance; for let us be well assured, if peace and long suffering do not prepare us for God, it will anoint us for destruction. The first reason; because God will be exalted in Reason 1. sparing us, Esay 36. 18. The Lord which is most excellent in all his works, is most excellent in forbearing the malice of men; for who could endure to be denied plainly, reviled openly, and blasphemed boldly, save only the Lord? or who could abide to see his works reproached, his word rebuked, and his liberality scorned, save only the Lord? who filleth all in all, and beareth much with all, or else all would be confounded. But this is sufficient, that the prophet saith; he is exalted in sparing us, that is, it magnifieth his honour, while he regardeth not his vengeance, nor his majesty, nor his wrath, nor his power, but his mercy, that his chief glory might be through clemency. Another reason; because his chief desire is, that not 2 one should perish, 1. Pet. 3. 9 So that, if men would or could lay hold on repentance, they shall find sufficient time to amend after they have sinned. So dear is the love of God towards us his creatures, that for his part he omitteth not any duty to recall us: We have the word for the means, his works for our helps, his mercies for our comfort, and his long suffering for the time of our conversion, so that all things are discharged on the lords part, and nothing on ours. In this saying of Peter, we must not understand, that any were damned contrary to the Lords will: but rather that he is unwilling thereunto; for a man may do that unwillingly, which is not contrary to his will. Let us not abuse the long suffering of God, Use 1. and although he be willing to spare, yet let not us be willing to sin, Luk. 12. 46. If the evil servant shall say in his heart, my master deferreth his coming, and shall begin to strike his fellows, and to eat and drink with the drunken: the Lord of that servant shall come in a day that he knoweth not, and give him his portion with unbelievers. O my beloved, we are those servants that have secured ourselves from wrath, and think still it will not come yet. Look on our manners, are they not drunken? look on our faith, is it not idle? look on our care, is it not unprofitable? look on our lives, and see if we bite not oneanother; from the throne to the footstool none can escape us. Do we not abuse the patience of God, which should make us resolute in repentance, and it maketh us dissolute in religion? We say with the wicked priests, To morrow shall be as to day; and much more: and with the heathen, Psalm. 10. Truly the Lord regardeth not, neither is there knowledge in the most high. O miserable souls thus plagued that turn all things against themselves! O let nothing delight us, but the presence of the Lord of hosts! who is come down into our land, and waiteth for our repentance: Let us give him our sins we have committed, and our lives we have to spend, and our souls we have to save, that he may spare our blood and take our lamentation. Again, let us seek the Lord while he may be 2 found, and call upon him while he is near at hand, Esay 55. 6. seeing he dwelleth among us; and this is the time of long suffering: now let us run after him day and night as Obadiah did after Eliah, and never cease seeking till we have found him. In seeking for the Lord we ought to have a single eye, a simple heart, a clean hand, and a swift foot, that we may easily see him, earnestly desire him, speedily run after him, and reverently lay hold on him. Alas, alas, we live in an age wherein men will not travail to find either God or grace, except it fall into their mouths: if the Lord lack but one of his sheep, he never ceaseth till he have found him again; but we could abide to want him, if we might enjoy our pleasures all the days of our life. Seek for him in his temple; go to him in thy soul, and pray to him in heaven; for he calleth unto thee, saying, Open unto me, for the night hath watered my locks, etc. Seek him as the Lord doth his sheep, as the merchant did his pearl, as the woman did her groat, as the sick man doth his physician, and as the disciples did Christ. He is in thy house, there seek him; he is in thy field, there seek him; he is in thy closet, there seek him; and he is in thy heart, there keep him. His time is but short; his departure will be sudden; his patience will be weary, and he will be gone; only he tarrieth a little: therefore if ever, now run out to follow him. And repenteth him of the evil. This is the last argument, whereby the prophet persuadeth them to repent, because God will repent the evil that he threatened: not that God indeed repenteth, by correcting of himself; for that cannot be, seeing all his works are yea and Amen, 2. Cor. 1. 20. he is also unchangeable, and with him is no shadow of turning, jam. 1. 17. although the world change, and the heavens wax old as a garment, yet the Lord abideth the same for ever, Psal. 102. 18. but this is a phrase according to our capacity: for when we change our minds, we repent in a sort; so when the Lord seemeth to alter his purpose, he showeth as if he repent. Why then some will say? if the Lord alter his purpose, than he changeth; and why did he here tell the people that all this misery should come upon them? and yet if they will, it shall not. Unto which I answer, that the first purpose of God shall ever stand; for he foreseeth and decreeth the end: but many times to try our faith, and to show his love, he propoundeth prophetically, that is, with condition of repentance, the same which he will never do. How then will you say, shall we know his pleasure? verily if two things be propounded, the one certain, the other uncertain, as here was repentance and judgement; let us take the first, and abide the last, that is, let us embrace that which is certain, and let the uncertain go free: Neither let us be less careful to please God, because his judgements be conditional, but rather more careful to perform the condition, lest we feel the obligation. God will repent him of the evil, that is, he will stay the evil that shall come upon you. From hence let us observe, that the Lord is unwilling to take vengeance of our sins. Ezech. 33. 11. As I live, saith the Lord, I will not the death of a sinner: he willeth it not; but he saith not, I decree it not, and if he decree it, I dare not say, he doth it against his will: and if he both will and decree it, I cannot say he dealeth unjustly; for we may see in the scriptures, that none can tell the reasons of his will, or the cause of his decree, or excuse the fall of man by the ordinance of God: this I only touch by the way, for other have more effectually laboured therein, to whom I refer you. And in this we may see a notable testimony of the love of God, that he will rather silence his justice then his mercy: and although we be at the very brink of destruction, if we repent, he will repent. If the Lord did take any pleasure in our harms, why then did he crucify his son? sending abroad the ministers with his scriptures, & warning us before hand of our end. These do show us that he is as unwilling to punish our faults, as a father is to punish his son. All this granted, let us not dream of an immunity, that we are utterly exempted, and be at liberty to do whatsoever pleaseth us: for although he be a tender father, yet he is a wise father, and knoweth that correction is as needful as instruction. It is no matter to us if we be condemned either with the will, or without the will of God: for it cometh all to one end, our plagues and pains are never the less. The reason hereof, because God hath a natural love to all his creatures, Psal. 38. 6. the Reason. works of his hands are dear unto him, and for the work of creation, he loveth and spareth them. By this we may see as Ezech. 33. 12. if ye turn, all your transgressions shall Use 1. never remove his favour from you. What can be more general? then that all shall be forgotten: or more comfortable? then that not one sin shall be remembered? and if they be not remembered (saith Austen) they are not imputed; and if they be not imputed, they are pardoned. Be not afraid to come to the Lord; for thou seest he will lay nothing to thy charge; his communing is for peace, and not for wrath, and his call is more for thy good then for his: be not discomforted, because thou hast a guilty crying conscience, for thou seest that the Lord is as unwilling to strike, as thou art to bear. But thou wilt say, that he hath already witnessed thy destruction: yea, but I say, he will repent him of the evil seeing thou repentest of thy sins: his judgements are conditional, he which gave the word can recall it, and who can say? he doth not his word. Fear not I say, though thou be as near to death as Isaac was to be sacrificed, for the Lord hath an angel in heaven to save thy life; & the godly shall come out of trouble, but the wicked shall come in his stead. Seeing the Lord is unwilling to take vengeance of our sins, let us be as unwilling to grieve 2 him with our sins, that so we may be the children of the most high. For it cannot be, but that he is mightily grieved when we fall into new follies, in that he is enforced to open once again to us the wounds of Christ, and let more blood issue forth out of the side of his mercy. jacob was much offended with his two sons, Simeon and Levi, Gen. 34. when they slew the Sichemites, for said he, you have made my presence to stink in the sight of this people: much more must the Lord be offended with us his sons, being a more tender father then ever was jacob, when we grieve him with our sins: for we bring his glorious name into contempt, and religion into hatred. Once be thus affected and assured that thou art the child of God, then take part of the godly nature; love all as he doth, do good to all as he doth, repent of evil as he doth, and be as much afraid to sin, as he is unwilling to punish thee. He ever thinketh on thee, do thou so on him; he ever watcheth for thy sake, do thou so for his; & he ever worketh for thy profit, do thou ever live for his praise: He would forgive thee, if thou offend; and therefore although thou canst offend, yet do not: he endureth grief to save thy health, and do thou endure tentation to save his truth: he could revenge, yet doth not, that thou mightest learn not to follow what thy heart suggesteth, and thy flesh allureth. The twenty-three. Sermon. Verse. 14. Who knoweth, whether he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God; THis verse. containeth another reason taken from the works of God to move them to repentance, which is this, that God will spare them, and leave something for his own service, although it be but a little. For I take not this question for a simple affirmation, as in other places; but rather, if it please him, he may leave an offering, and for any thing they knew to the contrary he would. From hence we learn, that God concealeth from us the Why we know not the end of our sorrows. issue of our sorrows, and the end of our lives, that we may be kept in a continual practice of repentance; as appeareth by David, 2. Sam. 12. 23. Some are desperate in their miseries, because they know not how or by what means they shall be delivered from it: But good men, and good minds must take another course, seeing they cannot know in these things the mind of the Lord: nor as Solomon saith, who shall be after them therefore; their watch and care over their lives must be more continual. This is a good lesson for us to mark, because our case is the very same with the case of the jews; we are threatened as they were, and we know no more than they did: Let us therefore watch in repentance, that if our calamity increase, we may be ready for the grave; and if it be reversed, we may be ready for praise. Art thou desirous to make profit of the thing thou knowest not? then be repentant; for death and life, joy and sorrow, pain and ease, riches and poverty, freedom and danger are both alike to a repentant man. The first reason; because by this means Reason 1. we are taught humility, Rom. 9 20. because we are not able to reason with God, or to plead against him; for we are in his hand, as clay in the hand of the potter. Where are all our gallant youths, and lusty minded persons, whose heads are so full of knowledge, that they are able to teach the Apostles, and no marvel, for it appeareth by their lives, bearing themselves like Gods in the world. But look on your minds again, you shall find them stuffed with vanity, and not filled with knowledge: if you know one thing you are ignorant of a thousand. Therefore let this teach you, that your minds are carnal, your lives be sensual, and your souls endangered except you think better of others, and base of yourselves: Learn humility of thyself, thy body is earth, thy glory is earth, thy bravery is earth: and no marvel, for gold is but earth. Why shouldest thou be lifted so high? canst thou number thy sins? or save thy life, or tell when, or what death shall take thee away? cast thy mind to the earth, for than it will look upward, for as yet it looketh downward and deceiveth itself. Another reason; No man can tell things to come. Eccl. 7. 2. 2 no not so much as the work of an hour hence: therefore seeing we are assured of nothing but death, let death be our life, that is, let the death of our sins be the life of our souls. But we can never slay them, but by repentance; and therefore every hour of our life to come, calleth for it at our hands: we know not when, therefore now is the time: we know not how, therefore this is the mean: we know not where, therefore this is the place. Youth biddeth us repent; age biddeth us repent; sickness biddeth us repent: and all that is to come, calleth us to amendment, because we know not what is to come. From hence let us learn to be contented Use 1. with that ordinary and certain knowledge which the Lord hath showed us in his word (I mean) to make us repentant. Paul telleth of himself that he regarded to know nothing save jesus Christ & him crucified, 1. Cor. 2. 2. the which he learned from the Lord himself. This was certain that Christ was crucified, therefore oughtwe to learn the same: This is heavenly; this is comfortable; and this is glorious: heavenly, for God did it; comfortable, for it was for our sins; and glorious, for neither man nor angel could do the like: and in this short sentence the Apostle hath lapped up all religion. wouldst thou know how to be saved? look to the death of Christ. wouldst thou know how to live? look on the cross of Christ: and wouldst thou know what to profess? then consider the sorrows of Christ. This is heavenly wisdom, not known of the angels: this is worthy learning, not known to many learned kings and princes: and this is true felicity not felt of every one; therefore Paul said, I esteem to know nothing, but Christ and him crucified. It maketh no matter to be ignorant of thy own death, if thou know the death of Christ: it skilleth not to know what shall be, if thou know that he died for thee: if thou know him, his death will mortify thee; his wounds will wash thee, and his stripes will save thee. He died, wilt not thou repent? He was condemned, wilt not thou be saved? He was crucified, wilt not thou be sorrowful? Study not to live, but to believe: care not what shall be after thee in this world, so thou be assured of the world to come. Thou knowest not what shall be to morrow, therefore repent to day: thou knowest not whether God will hereafter, therefore do it now; learn this lesson speedily: for as the Israelites could not gather Manna after the sun was risen; so thou canst not have repentance after time is overpassed. Seeing God concealeth 2 many things from us, therefore let not us curiously inquire after secret and hid things, the which fault our Saviour reproveth in his disciples, Act. 1. 7. In our times there be many which busy themselves about idle and unprofitable questions: as, whether they shall know one another in the next life: what God did before he made the world: whether Christ should have been borne, if Adam had stood in innocency, and when or what time of the year shall be the latter day; of which questions the schoolmen abound. Again, there be other that think themselves very christianly busied, if they let alone the study for knowledge, the practice of prayer, and the keeping of the moral law: yea, they are ignorant of the order of salvation: but they turn to & fro to find platforms of government, to speak against authority, to erect new states, and to pry and inquire into the secret lives and sins of men; unto whom I say with our Saviour, it is not for you to know these things. I might weary you to tell the conceits of them, which take themselves for wise men, and the dreams of the simpler sort; unto whom I say, you teach and learn the lighter points of the law, but judgement, and knowledge, and sanctification, you let alone. Amend this fault, for it is good to be ignorant of some things, and what the Lord saith not, believe not; what is not disclosed, inquire not; what cannot be proved, receive not: and what the Lord hath silenced, know thou not. A meat offering: we have declared in the former chapter, that there was no sacrifice, but there was a meat and drink offering annexed unto it: for as the sacrifice was for God, so was this for man. And herein the Prophet teacheth us (seeing his desire is not for continuance of plenty or restitution of abundance; but for a meat offering and a drink offering, which was a small portion of meal, and oil, and wine used in the service of God:) that we must rather impart our goods to the Lords worship, then to the maintenance of our own lives, as David did with the water of Bethleem, All things must be applied to religion. 2. Sam. 23. 16. 17. I say we must have more care to serve God, then to live at ease; and we must rather want for ourselves, then let religion go to the wall. This I may teach, but I know there are few that have any wealth, but had rather to departed with their profession, church, temple, ministery, sacrifice, gospel, and God, then with the Sarephthian widow to give their little to Elijah. I know what I speak; I see much taken from the Lord, but little given to him. Woe worth these lamentable times! wherein already wise men may see, that if want should increase, surely the name of God would be forgotten, unless it were to be blasphemed. Do we not see that a feast hath more guests than a sermon? and a dinner more eaters than a church hath hearers? Do you think that they would desire but a meat offering for the Lords service? nay rather they will weep if their bellies be not served before the Lord: would they, which gain their meat by the life and sweat of other men, do as David did, offer it to the Lord? no no, we have them among us, which care not what pain and danger, and trouble they procure to other, so themselves may eat the flesh, & drink the best. The first reason, because it is the Lords portion that is allotted thereto, Numb. 18. 8. The Lord for the rent Reason 1. of all our goods and lands, which we hold of him as our chief Lord, hath reserved but two parts, the one for the church, and the other for the poor; & if we pay not these we forfeit all; yea, more than all into the hands of his majesty. Grudge not therefore at the charges of the gospel; for thouseest how good thy farm is, how small thy rent is, how large thy lease is, how few are thy covenants, and how easy to be kept: depart with it willingly, it is the Lords; shall not the master be served before the man? and shall not the Lord be paid? though our coffers say nay. O my brethren, pay him cheerfully, for you are bound by blood: you are in danger to lose all, and that worthily, if you give not that little. Another reason: because it is better to die in misery, then to live in impiety; & therefore it is better to 2 live godly with want, then wickedly with abundance. Psal. 37. 16. A little thing that the righteous hath, is better than the great riches of the ungodly: Therefore serve the Lord before thy life, and prefer his worship before thy appetite: let not distrust hinder it, the Lord hath enough for thee; let not poverty stay thee, for thou must live by the word as well as by bread: do not refrain because thou hast little, for if thou hadst much, he can scatter; and having little, he can multiply it: Fear not want in age; doubt not of help in sickness; and despair not of a supply, when all is spent, as God commanded thee. The first use: we must know Use 1. that God loveth that most dearly which we offer to him, with the hazard of our own want: for this cause did our Saviour so much commend the action of the poor widow Luc. 21. 4. before all the abundant offerings of the wealthy; saying that her two mites were more than all theirs, because she did it of mere love to the Lord; but the other of superfluity: And we, if we have any mind to the like commendation, let us put on the like affection; although we labour with our hands, watch above our hours, and fast above our ordinary, to give the bread of our lives into the treasury of the Lord. Neither ought we to think, but that the Lord doth highly accept the willing and rich offerings of the wealthy, especially if they reserve it from vain and proud expenses. Oh how doth this magnify religion, & the professors thereof? unto the which they are more indebted then to their own lives: let us offer this sacrifice, for the Lord will take any thing at our hand in good part: ifit be little, because we have but little, he maketh much thereof; if it be much, because we have much, he maketh more thereof: then say we all; If God doc thus accept, then will we give it. Let us not reason with him, as the woman of Samaria did, john. 4. when he asked for water, but let us speedily give him his request, as Rebecca did to Abraham's servant, who ask but a little, yet she gave him more. Another use; let us serve the Lord before our lives, for else 2 we make ourselves gluttons, and feed our bellies: and the Apostle saith of this kind, 1. Cor. 6. 15. Meat for the belly, and the belly for meat: but God shall destroy both it and them. Wilt thou spend all on thy belly, and nothing on the Lord? thinkest thou that thou possessest all for thyself, and nothing for the Lord? dost thou so live to thy meat, and with thy meat, as if thou were only borne for it, and that were only made for thee? then surely take thou heed, for God shall destroy both it and thee. Give therefore to him, and to his uses in his church: if thou fail, thy store shall fail; and if thou repent not, thy life shall perish. Who was ever famished for meat, that gave it to the Lord? or begged for his bread, which spent it at the altar? or was impoverished by maintaining religion? surely none, but with them was the saying of Solomon performed, There is that give and have nothing the less. Eat not I beseech you, your destruction in your meat: and drink not your damnation in your abundance: if you will save your life, you shall lose it, but if in this case for the Lords cause you will lay down your life, you shall find it. If when we have but little we give from ourselves to the Lord, we do as poor jacob did, which sent his store into Egypt with his sons, where was more store: but through his little, he gained both his sons, he saved his own life, and sustained all his family: so let not us doubt or fear to bestow on the Lord, for look what we lose we sow for more increase; what we give, we shall gain; and what in peasure we dispend, in pain we shall lament. The xxiv. Sermon. Verse. 15. 16. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation: gather the elders, assemble the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her bride chamber. OF the blowing of the trumpet, we have spoken in the beginning of this chapter: so also we have handled the proclaiming of a fast, the calling of an assembly, both of the people and of their elders; all which to stand upon again were but needless. Therefore we will to the next words, The young children, and them that suck the breasts: That is, every one among you, from the least to the most. Some will say unto me? what good can the sucking children do in the lords service? I grant in sight they cannot; but seeing David saith, that the brute beasts do seek their meat at God, which they do not by praying or speaking; so may joel assign the young sucking babes to want their meat, that with their mothers they might pour forth most lamentable tears and terrible cries into the ears of the Lord; and for this cause to increase mourning doth the prophet invite them to the fast. From hence we may observe, that the wrath of God must General lamentation. be appeased with a general repentance: Old men and babes, young men and maidens, rich and poor, prince and people must all be humbled at the lords anger: as we may read, jon. 3. 8. Yea, the very cattle of the Ninivites were covered, with a mourning weed: wherein we may see that it is no marvel if the Lord were so long angry with us, because we were not generally humbled. If parents have repent, yet children have not sorrowed; if children mourn, parents have been dissolute; if the old men were humbled, the young men rebelled: Therefore our misery remaineth, because some remain obstinate. The reasons; Reason 1. First, because the Lord hath a quarrel against all sexes, ages, degrees, and conditions of men, jerem. 12. 12. the which ought to be a sufficient cause to have every one to be humbled, and let not one escape. I muse much, that many christian parents have so little regard to their children, that they care not with what vanities and toys they delight and allure them, thinking they are not bound to any exercise on Sabbaoth days: nor that any oath or foolish talk doth annoy them: But here we see not only those which can speak must practise religion; but also if they be able to cry, let them feel the lords commandment. Some will think that these little children are innocent, and therefore need no repentance: for it is a common saying, if it go not well with children, how shall it go with old men? meaning that children are without sin. Unto which I answer, that they are sinful by nature, even the heirs of wrath, Eph. 2. 2. and if they were not, yet because God requireth it, who dare refuse it? and the rather because the brute beasts are invited thereto, which neither can nor ever shall sin. Another reason; because whosoever doth not thus humble himself, 2 shall be judged of God, 1. Cor. 11. 31. We know it an usual thing in the word of God, to spare neither man, woman, nor child; and to take the sucking babes, and to dash their brains against the wall: If they be subject to punishment, why not to religion? if to death, why not to the lords service? Therefore let all be humbled, children, because they are borne in sin; old men, because they are weary of sin; young men, because they live in sin; and striplings, because they grow in sin; or else shall every one die in condemnation. Let us not therefore provoke the Lord, 1. Cor. 10. 22. but consider how fearful it is to stir a lion Use 1. from his den; or to meet a Bear rob of her whelps; or to provoke a prince to displeasure; of which it is said, That the anger of a king is the messenger of death: but I say, if the Lord, more fierce than a lion, more raging than a Bear, and more powerful than a prince, be stirred up to strike us; we can hardly hurt him; he can easily destroy us; we can hardly move him, but more hardly pacify him. See you not that the new borne babes shall repent it, yea, sometime they feel it before they be borne? Oh think upon it, the blood of old men, the strength of young men, the beauty of women, and the love of children, do not always move him; and shall we then tempt him, to our and others everlasting destruction? in his wrath he is an unquenchable fire, an unresistible flood, an unpacifiable judge, and a destroyer of all that come in his way. But alas, with tears we may lament to see him provoked every day: who is so sick, that sinneth not against him? who is so weak, that striveth not with him? who is so unwise, that pleadeth not with him? Look with tears over all sorts of men: the poor despise him; the lame run from him; the blind come not at him; the dumb speak against him; the rich will not fear him, and the dead will not confess him. By all means we provoke his wrath, by tempting, by murmuring, by denying, by abusing, and abasing his glory: We tempt him, in thinking he will pardon whatsoever we commit; we murmur, when we have not all our desires; we deny him, when we esteem not his gospel; we abuse him, using our wealth to luxury, and our meat to gluttony; and we abase him, when we more fear a mortal man's displeasure, than the wrath of the highest. When 2 we see the Lord being angry, and so hardly pacified, let us use all means to please him again, although it be with the hazard of our own lives, as Moses did Deut. 9 18, 19 perceiving the Lord to be moved to wrath, he fell down on his face to entreat him for his people, tarrying with him forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor drinking: yea he desired God to be pacified with his people, although he razed his name out of the book of life. What could be done with greater zeal or more earnest affection? the Lord was angry, who could appease him but Moses? and how could he be satisfied, but with offering his body to death through fasting, and his soul unto condemnation? Mark it I beseech you, that we all learn with more zeal to entreat the Lord to be turned toward us. Offer we must our bodies to pining, our members to tortures, our health to sickness, our wealth to povertic, our pleasure to pain, and our life to death, rather than the wrath of God should proceed upon us. Oh let us come unto the Lord, and offer him his whole man, to satisfy his mercies; neither be afraid to do so, but put it in speedy practice. Come to him, though thou be lame; run to him, though thou be blind; pray to him, though thou be sick; and trust in him, though thou be poor. Abide not one misery but all miseries, that thou mayst dwell with him: neither care for the rage of man; the want of maintenance; the love of friends, or the fear of death: for if thou love these more than him, thou art not worthy of him. Having willed the sucking babes to come to mourning, 2 he also inviteth the new married folks, bridegrooms and brides to leave of their usual dalliance, and come among their neighbours to this sorrowful banquet. From whence No lawful action must hinder repentance. we observe, that we must not in any thing, be it never so lawful, hinder true repentance, or the profession of godliness. For there is nothing more honaurable than marriage; more lawful than a wedding feast; more usual than pleasant mirth; and more commendable than a joyful marriage day: but all these being hindrances unto repentance, must be laid aside as a mourner doth his daily attire. We may read Luc. 14. 21. how they were cursed that came not to the Lords feast, among whom there was one that had married a wife: it shall be no excuse before the Lord, that they did but the course of the world, in using these things; it were better for us to forsake our wives, then to lose our souls; to renounce our mirth, then to relinquish our lives; to defer our pleasure, then to departed from the Lord. Let this I beseech you, be your care in the Lord, that you offend him not in the use of his creatures, neither let those comforts which you receive in wedlock, in feasting, in riches, in beauty, and the like, work your everlasting discomfort in another world. Live not in mirth, for than thou canst not repent; rejoice not in youth, for it is but vanity; distrust thy joys, for they are deceitful; be not always mourning, for thou canst not be thankful; be ever repentant, that thou mayest be faithful. One reason here of is given by the Lord himself, jerem. Reason 1. 7. 34 because a desolation shall come; and of all reasons there is none more forcible than the rod of vengeance and desolation: so that in this sort might jeremy and joel, and other the lords ministers reason with the world. Lay away your mirth, let not the voice of music, the day of marriage, the means of joyfulness, or the comfort of pleasure, be had, or heard among you; for a desolation shall come: Draw the child from the breast; the elders from their ease; the married from their love, and the people from their vanity; for a desolation cometh. Houses shall be desolate without inhabitants, parents shall be desolate without children, cities shall be desolate without citizens, and whole kingdoms shall be desolate without professors: Therefore put away this joy like an unlawful wife, & come again to the Lord with much weeping, and rejoice not in thy youth, or thy age, or thy wealth, or thy friends, or thy marriage. Another reason; because by this kind of 2 mirth we grow to hardness of heart, and neglect the wrath of God, Amos 6. 1, 5. It is much that men esteem not the fair promises and sweet blessings of God: but yet it is more fearful when they make light account of his heavy judgements. Now if you mark who they be that care not for judgement, you shall see that they are those who eat in abundance, live in pleasure, enjoying wealth and children at their will, and want is not known unto them. Again, poor people living in continual scarcity, and are content with simple allowance, having learned the fear of God, a shower of rain, and a cloudy day humbleth their knees to the earth, and lifteth their prayers to heaven. Let us learn not to rejoice in any unlawful manner, all Use 1. the time that the church of God is in adversity, Psal. 137. 2, 3, 4. Good men in captivity, commanded by their enemies to sing one of the songs of Zion, refused it, because they were in a strange land: and so if we hope for mirth and joy in another world, let us refuse it as much as may be in this life present, for we be but strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And verily, if we consider the matter well, we have as many causes to lament, old and young, married and unmarried, as these people had to whom joel preached: Famine was threatened to them, but felt of us; they were under the Babylonian government, and we are subject to the tyranny of sathan; they had abused many benefits and prophets of God, and so have we; they had rejoiced in many worldly pleasures and wicked pastimes, and so have we; they were warned to turn all into lamentation, and so must we be. Therefore if now you look on the misery of our time, you shall find it high time for all to be humbled: Let the elders begin, the younger will follow; yea, the little children will cry for company. Let us all take us to the houses of mourning; old men, because they have seen good days; young men, because they have lived ill lives; and children, because they are appointed to fearful destinies; parents, because they have begotten sin; children, because they were borne in sin; rich men, because they have gathered much; married folk, because they have loved too much; and poor men, because these days are but the beginning of sorrows. Death calleth for the old, let them weep; age calleth for the young, let them be sorrowful; correction calleth for children, let them cry; wars call for strong men, let them lament; and repentance calleth for all men, therefore let all mourn. But some will say, do you condemn all mirth that is used in our times? and shall we live, eat, drink, marry, and die in continual sorrow? then can we not account it any benefit to live in the world. To whom I answer, that this is no where commanded, that men should so live in continual sorrow, but rather Eccl. 2. 24. Solomon saith, That it is the only portion of a man to rejoice in the things that God giveth him: for all men in health shall conceive a natural joy by their eating & drinking, as Bohaz Ruth, 3. 7. and Solomon said, That wine maketh glad the heart of man: the which is lawful for Christians, and necessary for health. Again, there is another joy which is spiritual and heavenly, which is called the joy of the holy Ghost, Rom. 14 17. This maketh all our afflictions seem light and little to be regarded, Rom. 5. 7. and without this inward joy, one can hardly be a christian; the which is never lost, though we endure never so many torments; yet in repentance it is darkened, and seemeth utterly gone; howbeit it returneth again with greater measure as the sun rising. But whether natural joy be lost in repentance, it is hard to say: for sometime a heart that is humbled hath no more joy in meat and drink, than a sick person. As for carnal joys which are invented by iniquity, practised with greediness, and loved with too much affection; they are neither lawful or necessary for a christian: and whosoever receiveth any comfort by them, he may justly suspect that his sorrow was not godly, but some other heavy conceit, which is easily removed by company or joy conceived of pleasure. The xxv. Sermon. Verse. 17. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar: and let them say, Spare thy people o Lord, and give not thine heritage into reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God? NOw the prophet showeth unto the priests how they must behave themselves, namely that they should weep: and he telleth them the place, betwixt the porch and the altar, that is, in the utter court where the people waited for the blessing after the sacrifice. For the people must now be gathered as we have heard, and it was not lawful for them to come within the precincts of the priests; wherefore the priests must come forth to them, and in their place and assembly make their lamentation. By the description of this place for the priests to weep and pray in: we may note, that all the public exercises of All the exercises of the ministery must be so done as they may be understood. the ministery ought to be done in a place where the people may hear and see them; and for this cause are they commanded to weep betwixt the porch and the altar. So we may read did jehoshaphat 2. Chro. 20. 5. when he made prayer for the people against the children of Moab and Ammon. I think there is not any in their right mind, but they will confess the necessity hereof; except those which care not whether they pray for or against themselves, standing aloof in the Church as if they were afraid to hear what the preacher saith. Let men therefore labour not only to pray, but to come with diligence into the Lord's house and public place of prayer, where they must bestow themselves with such care, as they may pray when the pastor prayeth, and hear when the word is preached, that there be not one in a congregation, but he may departed better instructed and better edified. The first reason: because they can have no knowledge of that which they hear not Reason 1. and understand not, 1. Cor. 14, 15, 16. alas it is a marvel to see, that so many have so little regard what is prayed or taught in the congregation, especially the poorer sort, who are thrust behind the doors in the greater assemblies; by which it cometh to pass that all that is taught is little regarded, and whatsoever is prayed for is coldly desired: it is your duty to press into the midst of the assembly that you may hear & understand the mysteries of salvation: modesty in choosing places is not to be regarded, where danger followeth too much courtesy. Another reason: in a convenient place of hearing our hearts are more touched 2 and awaked by the word, Act. 1. 13, 14. there can be no zeal in them, that cannot hear the voice of the preacher, neither any reverence to almighty God: and it is much better that they come not at all, or departed out of the church, then to sit there without obedience to God, attention to the word, or profit to their own souls. Let us therefore so sort ourselves in the congregation, where our ears may be beaten with an understanding sound, and our hearts be touched with a heavenly power, that the coals of zeal may be inflamed, and the light of knowledge may be kindled. Therefore let this Use 1. be the form of a congregation, that the minister so speak and the people so hear, that with one soul their prayer may ascend to heaven: and so we may read Acts. 4. 24. that the Apostles with one consent lift up their voices to God, and the place shook where they were assembled: one spoke and all agreed, their ears were attentive to his words, and all their hearts were lifted up at once to the Lord. The which honourable practice commendeth a congregation, when as they being many, make but one man at prayer; as the wheate-cornes being many, make but one loaf at table. Our Saviour hath taught us, that if two or three shall agree on any thing in earth, the same shall be sealed and confirmed in heaven. Agreement in battle getteth victory; consent in a common weal maketh peace; unity in music maketh harmony; and the fellowship in prayer conquereth the devil; getteth peace of conscience, and soundeth sweetly in the ears of God. Therefore if everthou come into the place of any godly exercise, join thy mouth & ears, and hand, and heart to theirs: when they are humbled, fall thou down; when they are praying, pray with them; when they are hearing, hear with them; when they are singing, sing with them; and when they are mourning, lamenth with them: If they join in petition to God, oh account it happiness for thee to subscribe thy name; for they are blessed that are joined to the fellowship of the saints. Another use: if we must seat ourselves in most 2 convenient place to hear, then let us also frequent the places of prayer and religion. When the church was compelled to a rivers side, in steed of a cathedral church, Act. 16. 15. Lydia the purple woman resorted thither, and once she had her heart opened, and converted to the Lord: In like manner let us resort to the churches, for at one time or other we may boldly assure ourselves, that we shall receive the pledge of life eternal. But in our days men are so affected to this doctrine, that the devil laugheth at it, and good men lament it: for either they come not at all, as the guests which were bid to a wedding; or else they come without conscience, as he did without a wedding garment; or else they are present without attention, as Eutyches that fell on sleep at Paul's preaching; or else they depart out of our assemblies, as judas did from Christ when he went to betray him. Standing times of prayer in the church, some say are of Popery, and in the house they are of other condemned for puritanism; so that godly prayers being the sword of the spirit, are now grown rusty and dull, that few men's sins, or lives, or hearts are parted therewith. But my dear brethren, come to the times of prayer, and bind yourselves not only publicly, but also privately with severe vows, and pay them to the Lord: for so shall the fire of the spirit be kindled in you, the holy Ghost shall reign in you, the saints shall be comforted by you, and you shall try that all things are possible to a Christian. Spare thy people. Now we are come to the prayer which the prophet teacheth the priests to make for the people, which is thus 1 much in effect: We have no refuge, but to fly to thee O Lord; we are guilty of the punishment, but yet thou mayst stay thy hand, and spare our lives. Give us not over, we pray thee, that our enemies rejoice not over us, and blaspheme thy blessed name; we are the fields of thine own inheritance, revenge our cause from the hands of strangers; oh spare us that we may serve thee. First out of the beginning of this prayer we may note, that petitioners, and those which are suitors to the throne of grace, must always plead guilty in the presence of God. Luc. 18. 12, 13. The example of the Publican proveth this, that the Lord loveth Our prayers must begin with confession. us better when we tell him of our follies, then when we show him our virtues. The Lord which will seldom help, till there be no help but in his mercy, biddeth us always to condemn ourselves; so that when we think most basely of our natures, and speak most vilely (yet truly) of our lives, and confess most bitterly against ourselves, then are we most nigh to the end of our prayers. For this cause let us meditate before prayer, that we may sufficiently weigh our miseries, and more lamentably bewail our wants, and more ardently pray for his mercy, that we may more comfortably enjoy his favour. The reasons Reason 1. hereof: because there is not one man living that can be justified before God, Psal. 143. 1, 2. but every man is an unprofitable servant: for which cause we must always accuse our sins, and call for pardon at the Lords hand. This reason being known of the base and wickeder sort, they imagine that they have gained a sufficient charter to continue in their evil: why (say they) the most righteous are guilty in the Lord's sight; and what are we more? Do what we can, yet we shall sin; and we can but crave pardon of him for many as well as for few: but this is a wicked and an accursed reason. For although the best fall into many enormities, yet ought not you to sin; good men fall into sin, but you dwell in sin; they are sorry for them, but you delight in them. David sinned, was therefore Absolom or Achitophel unpunished? because Peter denied his master, might therefore judas betray him? or because one man falleth into debt by sickness, may you therefore fall into debt through riot? if a sound body do now and then fall into sickness, than he which hath a crazy body had need to look to himself: so if men of sound souls do fall into evils, you which have sick souls must be much more careful of your health. Another reason our Saviour 2 giveth, Luc. 18. 14. for the Lord resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble and meek; therefore ought we to increase in the numbering of our sins, that the Lord may advance us to the beholding of his mercy: Let us be assured, if we pray without sorrow, we do but mock the Lord; but if we sorrow with earnest prayer, we prepare many joys for our souls. First, let us learn that our prayers must be ardent and continual in the ears of the Use 1. Lord, as the Israelites were, judg. 10. 3. to 13. for as we have a continual occasion of sinning, so we must take continual occasion of praying. Who is he, that hath been but a little while in the practice of christianity, and hath not learned this lesson, My sins are ever in my sight, too heavy a burden for me to bear? therefore as he which is vexed with a continual want, laboureth in a continual work; and he which hath a continual sickness, turneth on every side to find ease: so must we which are evermore oppressed with sin, be evermore praying for help. As the greatest burdens make the porters sweat the greatest drops; so will our sins if we feel them, make us sweat drops of blood to be released of them: therefore pray till thou be heard, and take for thy example the poor widow, which would never give over till the judge had righted her cause; neither do thou cease to pray till thy soul do cease to sin. Many pray through want, but not with want; and for grace, but not with grace; they are cold and not continual in their suits. Who is so hard hearted, seeing a poor man with as many sores as his body can bear, running after him a mile or twain, and begging but a penny, that could deny him? in like manner if we show all our sores and sins and miseries unto the Lord continually, that when our voice is weary, our hearts may speak; and when our hearts are sleepy, our wounds may cry for mercy; so that we may neither eat nor sleep, till we know our sins be pardoned. Let us never be afraid to come to the Lord, 2 notwithstanding we find ourselves never so sinful, Psal. 9 9, 10. although we be never so poor in spirit, yet let us know that ours is the kingdom of heaven. So that if thou reason with the devil himself, who will (if it be possible) deceive thy soul, telling thee that thou art more vile than others, and therefore it is but folly for thee to call on God for mercy; yet say to thy soul, that the Lord never despiseth the sigh of the poor: although I have sinned, yet I have sorrowed; although I have neglected grace, yet with the Lord there is more grace; be it, that I have no goodness in me, the more need have I to go to God the author of goodness. Men seek not to the physician in health, but in sickness; and the more desperate is their disease, the more speedily they solicit him, and a good physician cometh quickly: so I want the health of my soul, and I see death standing at the door and knocking for me; therefore my prayer shall go to the Lord my physician, and I know that he will speedily come unto me. He abhorreth not my weakness; he hateth not my person; he willeth not my destruction; and therefore will I pray for salvation: I am exceeding base, but he will bend to me; I am very poor, but he will give me the riches of the spirit; I am a sinner, and he is a Saviour, why should I not go unto him, and fall down low upon his footstool? for he never despiseth the sighing of the contrite. Give not thine heritage. That is, the people whom thou didst take unto thyself above all the nations of the world: & from hence we may observe as in a singular metaphor, how dear the church is unto God, Deut. 4. 20. even as dear as any man's inheritance is to himself: for indeed an inheritance doth very fitly resemble and shadow out unto us the nature and condition of the church. First, because it is not worth any thing, except a man do plant & sow the same; and so is it in the church, wherein if the Lord blow not and sow not, there can no good thing grow therein. Again, an inheritance is sometimes sold away for the barrenness thereof; so when the church groweth secure and bringeth not forth good fruits, the Lord giveth it over for a season to be spoiled by strangers. Again, if an inheritance will no way be amended, then is it accursed and burned, Heb. 6. 8. so if no means will reclaim the world from their wicked life, than he accurseth them and giveth them over to the fire of hell. Also as a man taketh singular comfort in his inheritance, so the Lord doth in his church: and as a man hedgeth and encloseth his inheritance, to keep it from being wasted; even so the Lord hath set a brazen wall about his church, the which all the devils in hell shall never be able to overthrow, but men and angels shall fight for their safeguard, and maugre sin and hell they shall endure as the earth doth, even for ever and ever. The first reason: because he might power his blessing on it, Esa. 19 25. for he having many Reason 1. most excellent benefits in store hath made choice of his church to power forth all that he hath thereupon: for whether we consider the blessings of this life, or the benefits of the life to come, they are all ordained for the good of them that be godly. He is wise to instruct us; he is mighty to defend us; he is liberal to maintain us; & he is merciful to receive us: for our sakes were the heavens created, the earth established; the waters removed, and the fruits appointed: for our sakes were the angels condemned, the son of God crucified, and the age and years of the world is plunged. Another reason: because we should be holy unto him, Deut. 19 2. Of all the creatures of this world, 2 there is none that can be holy unto the Lord save only mankind, for they are the image of God: and if the land whereupon Moses stood was holy, much more is the land of our hearts holy, whereupon the Lord himself standeth, for he reigneth in us. And this is the cause why the Lord hath made us his inheritance that we should serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life: for the heavens are holy, whither we are going: the angels are holy, with whom we shall dwell: the church is holy, wherein we live: and therefore we must be holy, or else we are accursed. Seeing we are the inheritance of God purchased by his son, then let not any of us live to ourselves, but to him that redeemed us, 2. Cor. 5. 15. how many ways might I urge this doctrine? that as the earth beareth not fruit for itself, but for us; so should not we eat the fruits of our own labours, but offer them to the Lord. Our hearts are the grounds; our bodies, are the hedges; God his law, is the plough; the word, is the seed; and himself, is the husbandman: Oh, let us not be ploughed and planted in vain; let us not frustrate the Lords expectation, and our soul's salvation. If we were but servants, yet we ought to work for our hire; but being his inheritance we must live and die day and night to bear him fruit, we cannot put him away, but he may put us away: our fruits do not profit him, and yet the want of them will curse us. Let us not be for the weeds of sin, nor for pleasures to feed on, as bullocks do on pasture-land: but let us be his garden of sweet flowers; his vineyard of fruitful grapes; his field of fine planted wheat; and his possession, for an everlasting inheritance. Let our words, be as gracious fruit; let our religion, be as precious pearl; let our love, be as rocks of gold; and let our bodies, be as fruitful garners; let us bring him all for first fruits & tenths, and offerings, and sacrifices, that we may be his blessed land unto the world's end. Another use; seeing we are the Lords inheritance, we may see that the Lord will be very hardly driven to forsake us, for he gave a law, Numb. 27. that none should sell away their inheritance, but at the end of fifty years, every one should reclaim thereunto. So that, if the Lord shall give over his inheritance as he did Israel, Hos. 5. 15. the case is very desperate, but not perpetual. A man that hath many barren fields doth not presently sell them away; no more the Lord, which hath many barren souls in the compass of his church, doth presently forsake them: but rather dresseth them by the ministery of the word, that they may be made fruitful. Oh, hear this you that are in the lords fold; although he bear for a season with your barren hearts, and suffer you many years to lie in rest, thinking at the last you will bring him some profit: bring it forth with speed, or else know that the Lord which redeemed you from hell, will once again commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitless fig tree was. Think not yourselves happy that you live so long before you be called to bear; for verily, long ago were you appointed and called to yield him his harvest. If therefore you will not strive to yield it, think that God will reap where he did not sow, and gather where he did not lend, and he will tarry no time; for the fig tree bore no fruit because the time of fruits was not come, yet was it reprobated: So if God come to thee, although thou never were able to yield him any commodity; yet he will regard himself and not thee, his expectation and not thine, his glory and not thy welfare; for he which is hardly provoked, is more hardly pacified, neither sparing in his rage, man, woman, beast, or angel. That the heathen. These words contain another ground of their prayer, wherein they desire that the Lord would spare them, lest that by reason of famine they should be driven to the lords enemies for succour: or else, they feared that when their scarcity should be noised abroad, the heathen would come & conquer them. From hence we may observe, that Nothing more grievous to good men than the regiment of the evil. there is not any thing more odious to godly minds, then that the heathen, idolatrous men without religion, should rule over them, Psal. 74 4, 5. As it is unnatural and dangerous, that men should be ruled by beasts; sheep by wolves; and little birds by the great hawk; every minute threatening to tear them in pieces: so is it when good men are driven through want or war, or love or fear of life, to seek harbour among the enemies of God. Well they know that their liberty is worse than imprisonment, and that the highest place of dignity among the wicked, is inferior to the lowest in the church of God, as David said: I had rather keep a door in the house of God, then to dwell in the tents of wickedness. What pleasure have we of sight living in darkness? or of health living in imprisonment; or of strength living in bondage; or of meat living in sickness? and no more shall we have of all worldly things, when we are in the land of heathens. The first Reason 1. reason: because in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of blood, or care of equity, Ezech. 22. 27. They turn their subjects to slavery, their widows to destruction, their children to beggary, and they send heaps of dead carcases at one time to the grave; they care not for religion, neither respect the king of heaven and earth: Although the streets flow with blood, and the living be not sufficient to bury the dead; yet if they may reign they care not: Life, and living, and honesty is nothing worth among them: They deny God, persecute his church, and burn his word most wickedly; they regard not old men, ravish women, and murder children villainously: They take away houses, lands, rents, goods, patrimonies, and wives from them that possess them: and therefore there is no greater cross then to live under the government of a heathen. Another reason; because their 2 wickedness shall be a continual heartburning unto them, 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm. 120. 5. Their ears shall hear their blasphemies; their eyes shall see their idolatry; and their lives shall feel their treacheries. All things shall be lawful among them save goodness, for nothing is lawful that tendeth to godliness. Oh, how will this grieve a godly soul! to hear his Saviour reviled, true religion slandered, the godly to be hated, the world to be loved, the devil to be worshipped, and heaven to be neglected. He must not speak for fear of death; he must not pray but in secret; he shall not dare to disclose himself; he shall find no neighbours, nor friends, nor followers, nor comfort among them. The first use; Let us therefore forsake the fellowship Use 1. of unbelievers, Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable; whose lives are abominable; whose profession is execrable; and whose end is condemnation: of these the world is filled, and yet we must avoid them. Let us not be defiled with their sins, nor corrupted with their manners, nor alured with their pleasures, but go out from the midst of them: They are hated of God, possessed of devils, bewitched with vanities, and professed miscreants. How shall we love God and dwell among them? but either the anger of God, or the love of the world, or the bait of lusts, or the enchantments of vanities will draw us away. Oh, let us take ourselves to desolate places, and rather dwell with the brute beasts then with these godless persons: we cannot trust them; we may not live with them; we must fly from them, or else be condemned among them: therefore put them from your houses, and from your tables, and from your conference, and from your friendship. I know you would be ashamed to be seen daily conversing with an open and shameless harlot: therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company, whose lives are like beasts; whose hearts are like heathens; whose faces are like harlots; and whose actions proceed of evil. I tell you, their ways do lead unto death, and their lodgings are chambers of hell. Where is now their God? That is, either they are not the lords people that are thus afflicted, or else their God is no God that cannot deliver them. From hence we may gather, that it is the property of wicked men, if they get advantage against a professor of religion, then presently they turn it against God himself, and fall to reviling his glorious majesty, Psal. 74. 10. So in our times, if any have any small profession of religion, and do fall into the hands of the world, then presently they scoff, and scorn, and laugh, and deride Christ, the Gospel, religion, and all the followers thereof: If they happen to be poor, why? will an atheist say, canst thou not get thy living by hearing of Sermons? If they be rich men Reason. their faults shall be aggravated. The reason hereof is; because they might be known to be not so much enemies to the godly, as to God himself; like the jews that crucified Christ, Matth. 27. Let us rather lament them that fall into their enemies hands, then rejoice at their sins and overthrows; & let us know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his own hand, and severely punish such intolerable blasphemy as he did in Rabsakeh, and the king of Syria, Esay 37. although their words be great, their pride be infinite, their power glorious, their minds ambitious, and their cruelty extreme; yet will, and shall the Lord defend his name and truth, and children from all their blasphemies; and this shall be a cause of their more speedy destruction. The xxuj. Sermon. Verse. 18. Then will the Lord be jealous over his people, and spare his land. NOw at the length by the merciful assistance of the Almighty, are we come to the last part of this prophesy, wherein, as in the former we have heard the wonderful troubles upon the afflicted jews: so now we shall hear, the same spirit assisting us, the singular comforts and promises which the prophet maketh unto them, unto the end of this prophesy. These comforts are either the restitution of their own abundance, in this whole chapter following: or the promise for the overthrow of their enemies in the last chapter: unto themselves in this chapter he promiseth worldly benefits, unto the 27. verse. and spiritual benefits or graces from the 27. to the end. The worldly blessings are of two sorts: First, that he will spare them from farther vengeance, verse. 18. secondly, that he will heap on them many benefits. In this vers. he promiseth to be jealous over his land and spare his people. Meaning that he will watch over them with a revenging hand, to annoy and destroy all those that rise against them: For jealousy signifieth an inordinate love, tending to revenge, Num. 25. 13. In this verse considering the order which the prophet maketh in that he first exhorteth them to repentance & to prayer, and so presently descendeth to these sweet promises following: we may observe that so Repentance maketh us fit for all benefits. soon as a man hath repent, so soon is he capable of the tender mercies of God. All this while we have heard of no mercy but judgements, threatening and thundering most fearful wrath: but now at length after some worthy exhortations to repentance, cometh this cheerful promise of mercy, to tell us that we can no sooner repent on earth, but the Lord will seal our remission in heaven, job. 11. 14. 15. Naamans' servant told him that the Prophet bade him an easy thing, when he said, go wash and be clean; and therefore if he would not wash he should not be clean: so is it but a short commandment that we should be repentant, and then be saved; therefore if men will not repent, it is no pity if they be not saved. Oh, I would to God that they might go out of this life as free from sin, as Naaman went out of Israel free from leprosy: but if the promises of God cannot be had without repentance, no more than a cable rope can go through the eye of a needle, except it be spun as fine as any thread; then are they like to lie on the Lords own hand, for there are but few that will buy them so dearly: rather had they pass a short life without promises in the possession of vanities, then lead a sorrowful life in the fruition of godliness; so that the contrary shall be said to them, that here the Prophet speaketh: God will never be jealous over them and spare their souls. The first reason: because in repentance we mitigate the intolerable wrath of God, jon 3. 3. that Reason 1. thing which the everlasting pains of hell cannot perform may be redressed by the sorrows of our hearts, & the tears of our lives: for no blood, no money, no riches, no torments, nor any friends can appease the Lords wrath; but a sorrowful perplexed spirit can do away all. For as the ground is fit for the seed when it is ploughed; so a heart is fit for the Lord when it is broken. By this we may see what is the folly of wicked men: for if by repentance good men escape damnation; then without repentance evil men shall possess damnation. Tell me, hadst thou leifer be drunk one meal, and then fast for ever after; or fast at one meal, and then eat for all thy life following? Canst thou not abide two or three blows with a rod, to avoid ten thousand with an iron scourage? or were thou not better have thy nails pared, then suffer thy fingers to be cut off; and rather suffer a little blood to be taken from thee, then let all thy life be lost? so endure here mourning for an hour, rather than in hell for ever; and abide here the chastisement of God his word, rather than in hell the punishment of devils: let thy life lose all her joy, rather than thy soul should lose her salvation. Another reason: because it 2 worketh or bringeth life eternal, Act. 11. 28. now life eternal is all in all: he that can have this, what matter is it? though his life be poor; his body be starved; his name be odious; his miseries be tedious; his liberty be closed up in irons; his health be laid up in sickness; and his friends be turned into mortal foes: what are all these, if a man be assured of heaven? surely lighter, than feathers; easier, then soft beds; and welcomer, than a long life. Nay rather, what are all things without life eternal; great livings, dainty fare, many friends, obedient servants, goodly houses, easy days, soft beds and long life, but as the pleasant sting of a serpent? which a while doth so tickle the veins and sinews of the body, that it delighteth every member; but in the end it swelleth the body, poisoneth the blood, breaketh the veins, and destroyeth the life: so are the goods of this life without the goods of the world to come. Let us therefore make this use thereof, that if it be but to dwell in our land, let us be repentant, jerem. 25. 5. God will Use 1. not spare our land till we have repent. Oh, how fearful is it to think that we should beg in Italy, or Spain, or France, when we may enjoy our revenues in England? Let us weep at home, that we lament not in other lands: let us sorrow in our houses, that we complain not in foreign prisons. Now would the Lord feed us with the finest flower, the sweetest honey, the fattest oxen, and the best lambs in the flock: Oh, why should we abuse all these? to be carried where we shall want all sustenance for life. Some men hold their lands by suit of law and continual danger: let us bestow as much for repentance to hold ours, as they do to defend theirs. Let us repent for ourselves, for our possessions, for our wives and children, and for our bodies and souls, or else all will be taken from us. Another 2 use. God will never withdraw his mercy from a repentant man, Zech. 1. 3. and this was it that our Saviour meant when he said, that all things are possible to him that believeth; namely, that he should begin, continue, and end well: Fear not the assistance of God in any trouble, or trial, or death, or affliction, if thou have repent; for thou shalt hold out to the end. Repentance made Abraham to travel longer and be well contented: it made the Israelites to wait for Christ, & it encouraged the Martyrs to die for Christ: therefore if thou have repent, thou mayest boldly assure thyself, that thou shalt have patience in every trouble, & zeal in all thy life, and comfort in any distress, and ability for every temptation, with power to abide death, and glory to reward thy soul: For although thou mayst slip after thou hast repent, yet thou canst not finally perish; for all the sins done after thy conversion, shall be everlastingly silenced. I might also note out of this verse, that God is more ready and willing to pardon us, than we are to ask pardon, Rom. 10. 22. and therefore if we ask not, he will not only be revenged for our sins, but also upon us for the sins of our fathers, Isa. 65. 7. Again, let us upon this ground be bold to pray in hope and assurance: for as God 3 opened the iron gates for Peter to come forth out of prison; so hath he opened the gates of heaven, that our prayers without all let may come up before him. I might also observe in this verse, that God doth sometime cast off his own people for a seaso, that he may for ever cast off the wicked, Ezec. 1. 15. as a jealous husband putteth off his wife, that he may for ever beware of his enemies; for a friend cannot be hid in prosperity, nor an enemy in adversity. The reasons, because the wicked blaspheme the just, jer. 30. 17. again, or else we should think that the wicked were happy, Psa. 37. 1, 2, 3. therefore when once good men begin to cry, then shall wicked men begin to fall, Isa. 35. 4. and we may boldly desire of God to turn his wrath from us to them, Isa. 51. 22, 23. that his enemies may feel his heavy hand. Yea the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied Verse. 19 therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen. In this verse and so forward to the 27. the prophet doth declare the special worldly benefits, which God would give to his people upon their repentance: the first, that he will hear their prayer, vers. 19 and herein he promiseth, first, to answer them by word; secondly, to ease them. In this that the Lord saith he will answer them: 1 we may note that God hath evermore a regard to the prayers of the penitent, joh. 9 31. howsoever he shutteth his ears against sinners, accounting of their prayers and God ever heard good men's prayers. tears as of abomination, yet he maketh great reckoning of their desires that are in league with him. The faithful are as dear to the Lord as Esther was to Assuerus, or Herodias daughter to Herod, who promised but one half of their kingdom unto them; but the Lord hath freely promised a whole kingdom, if we will desire the same. This must mightily stir us up to prayer; for if the Lord regard us when we pray, to bless us; then will he regard us when we pray not, to curse us. Who liveth in the world, but he hath need of many things: if he have need, he is blind, if he see it not; if he see it, he is wilful if he ask not; if he ask, he is unfaithful, if he hope not to receive. The reasons: first, because penitent men have felt poverty, Psal. Reason 1 79. 8. that is, they have been cast down enough, and therefore they shall be raised up again. Again, they delight 2 in God, and therefore will God delight in them, Isa. 33. 6. for it cannot be that God should love that man or that soul, that hath no delight in his majesty. Therefore hereby shall men try whether they be repentant, if so be the meditation of God and his mercy, and their calling, and holiness, and his word, be sweet and pleasant in their minds and mouths. First, as we tender our own lives and welfare, so let us pray unto the Lord, jer. 29. 12. for we Use 1. have great need to look to ourselves in this distressed estate of the world; and for so much as only the Lord is our keeper, how shall we commend our lives unto him but by prayer. Pray always my dear brethren, as diligently as you labour; as fervently as you thirst; as ordinarily as you eat; and as joyfully as you sleep: pray I say, as a woman doth in travel; as a sick man doth in his fits; as the mariners do in a storm; and as a condemned man at the place of execution. Oh what would you not do, that you might live? and therefore what ought you not to do, that you might pray. Unto prayer there must be no comparison in worldly things; all earthly things must give place as we see in Daniel; sleep must be put off, as we see in Christ; and ease must be banished, as we see in David: and the Apostle willeth for prayers sake, that married folks become strangers one to another: and therefore so let us do for prayer as we do for meat; for we never cease from hunger till we be satisfied: so let us never cease from prayer till we be glorified. Secondly in this verse. when he promiseth Corn, and wine, 2 All abundance to religion. and oil: we may observe, that all abundance accompanieth and as it were waiteth upon religion. So long as the word reigneth, the church standeth, and the Gospel is obeyed: so long we need not fear, for our fields shall abound with corn, & our land shall flow with plenty, Psal. 81. 16. We have had best experience of this thing in England; for ever since the Gospel had any footing among us, and was publicly preached, and generally professed, we were never in any general distress: but we have forgotten all sorrow; and I would God we had not forgotten our peace and plenty giver. But since we began to be weary of the truth, that Divines fell to wrangling, professors to carnality, & hypocrites into Atheism; since that time we have felt some want of corn, and some terror of war. Oh, that we could so continue in profession, that we might dwell in the Lord's favour: so should we be ever fed with the finest wheat, clothed with the warmest wool, and defended by the greatest angels; but seeing we begin to be weary of our religion, God beginneth to be weary of his liberality: so that I verily fear, till we have all repent, our corn and plenty shall not be restored. The reasons; First, because by such abundance Reason 1 the Lord breaketh in pieces the fiery violence of wicked men, Psalm. 37. 17. for they accuse religion for a base and poor profession: and therefore after a calamity God giveth to his church greatest plenty; as after a long rain, the sun shineth brightest. Another reason; because 2 by such plenty God cureth and healeth the misery of his people, Esay 30. 28. which being fearfully afflicted through famine, are again most joyfully comforted through plenty: so that abundance is like a medicine or plaster, which with good advise healeth and cureth; but through abuse corrupteth and maketh the wound more incurable. First, then let us desire the spirit of God to be Use 1. powered on us, and then shall the wilderness become fruitful, and the barren earth be amended, Esay 32. 15. The same spirit that maketh good hearts, maketh glad fields, that which giveth store of righteousness, giveth store of food and corn: And thus God giveth under one request two benefits. For when we ask for grace, he giveth more also, as Solomon ask for wisdom, obtained wisdom and riches: or as Ruth desiring to glean after the reapers; Boaz gave her leave to gather among the sheaves; and at length made her lady and mistress of all he had. Seek therefore the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and all other things, as godly children, obedient families, plenty of victuals, peace of life, length of days, and glory everlasting shall be heaped on thee. Again, 2 if abundance follow the profession of religion, than it is manifest, that when plenty faileth, religion also faileth, jerem. 9 12, 13. For as there can be no preaching when there is no minister, so there can be no plenty when there is no professing. Oh, this cutteth our nation to the quick, for the Lord by this dearth, doth avouch to our faces, that there is among us as great decay of his church, as of corn, and the seed of the word hath been as much choked and drowned in the hearts of men, as the seed of the earth hath been choked and drowned in the fields of men: and what remaineth? but as the Prophet saith, that the Lord feed us with wormwood, and give us the bitterness of gall to drink. I fear greatly, if our misery continue, our religion will be clean abolished; and if our want be now redressed, we shall be shortly cast into a bed of comfortless troubles; for as yet I cannot see any general or continual repentance in lamentation. Thirdly, when the Lord promiseth them to deliver them from the reproach 3 of the heathen: we may note, that it is a great blessing of God to be delivered from slander, job 5. 21. To live without slander it is impossible, except we could live without sin: And therefore if at any time thou be suspected and defamed, pray unto the Lord to be delivered from it. The reasons: First, because life and death are Reason 1. in the power of the tongue, Prover. 28. 21. So than who can continue life, or bring death but God alone? Secondly, slanderous tongues do hate them that are in affliction: that is, they will then more grieve them and bely them, because they think then will every body believe them. Mark this thing well, and you shall see that it is the common practice of this age. Let us not open our ears to every Use 1. tale, or take heed, or ask what other men say of us, Eccle. 7. 23. for that will hurt us. And let us refrain our 2 tongues from slander, or else we have no religion, jam. 1. 26. The xxvij. Sermon. Verse. 20. But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his end to the utmost sea: and his stink shall come up, and his corruption shall ascend, because he hath exalted himself to do this. AFter the promise of plenty, followeth the removing away of the Northern army, which are the Locusts, palmers, and the other noisome beasts, who came by a northern wind, and therefore are called the Northern army, whom he will drive away into the wilderness, where they shall all starve and never come again, with their face or forefront to the east sea; that is, the dead sea, which lay eastward; so called, because never any fish could live therein. And this is that sea which now covereth all the land of Sodom and Gomorhe, called the lake Asphaltite. And his end to the utmost sea: That is, the great sea, which is called the Mediterranean sea. And his stink shall ascend: Meaning, there they should lie unburied, and their filthiness ascend, and remain odious to God and men. From hence, when he saith that he will drive away: God only driveth away hurtful things we must note that it is only the Lord that must take away from us all noisome and hurtful things, Deut. 32. 39 We have touched this doctrine already, when we showed in the former chapter, that no judgement can be removed by natural means. The first reason; because by this Reason 1. means he is known to be the God of the world, Exod. 7. 17. Again, as his hand sendeth evil, Amos 3. 7. so his 2 hand must remove evil, Esay 49. 9 Let us therefore learn howsoever we be annoyed, to seek for help of Use 1. God; and as we have been often admonished, let the afflictions of the body, wring forth the tears and prayers of the soul. Again, seeing God will drive from us all hurtful things, let us not fear the sting of death, nor the power 2 of the grave, Hos. 13. 14. And if we believe that God shall raise us up from death to life, why should we think that beasts or birds, or afflictions shall ever prevail against us? It is the better for us, that God alone doth this thing, and not ourselves, for our power is often weakened, but his hand and strength is always mighty. secondly, when he bringeth in the wilderness and dead sea, to receive 2 these devouring beasts: He teacheth us that there is as good use of the barren as of the ploughed land; and of the sea where nothing liveth, as of the sea where all engender; for these are made to destroy, as the other are made to build up. Whereby we may see, that all the creatures of All things help God to destroy his enemies. the world do help God against his enemies to perform his wrath, jos 10. 12. The clouds throw down stones, and the Sun stood still a whole day till josuah had discomfited all his enemies. The first reason: because they will not help them that God persecuteth, Esay 15. 6. David would not spare the men that slew Ishboseth his enemy: Reason 1. and much more will not the creatures spare or help them that are enemies to God. Again, the day of wrath is a day of affliction, Esay 22. 5. and therefore the creaatures 2 are afraid of judgement themselves: And as jezabels' messengers followed and turned after jehu her enemy: so all the creatures of God turn after him, when he is in war to destroy sinners. Let us therefore learn to Use 1. look upon our creator, Esay 17. 7. & that in this time, when time of repentance may be had. For as the inhabitants of Ceilah would have betrayed David to Saul, that he might slay him; so would all the creatures of the Lord deliver and betray us unto him (though more justly) that he may make an end of us. God is almost forgotten among men to be their creator, for they give more reverence to their parents then to him: therefore will the creatures forget us, and deliver us up for spies and enemies, as joseph gave Simeon his brother into prison. Again, let this general 2 obedience of the creatures cause us to walk more righteously, Esay 33. 15. 16. or else they will one day be revenged, because we have caused them to be subjecteth unto vanity. What a grievous thing is it? that these dumb creatures should receive when God giveth, and give when God asketh, and obey when God commandeth; and yet we which have more reason, are not mollified by the gifts of God, or warned by our works to him, or pierced by his commandments: but of this enough else where. Because he hath exalted. This is the reason why the Lord will bring so sharp a punishment upon them, because they have been so bold as to afflict his people. But some may say unto me, did not the Lord send these creatures to destroy? and if he sent them, why doth he punish them? and if he sent them not, how could they come in such swarms? to whom I answer that the Lord sent them, and yet they exalted themselves to do it. Whereby we may gather, that men shall not always escape unpunished, although they perform that which God commanded: for God willed A man may offend God, in doing that which he willed. that Christ should be crucified, but yet judas was nevertheless eternally plagued, Act. 1. 18. if one man murder another, God will have it so, or else it could not be; yet shall the murderer suffer death justly. God will have good men in his church to be persecuted, imprisoned, and martyred by the enemies: yet woe be to those men and hands, that so handle and mangle their godly members. The first Reason 1. reason: because in these actions men serve not God, but their own will, Act. 13. 27. God decreeth it for one cause, but they do it for another: as God would have Christ delivered for the sins of the world, but judas betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. God would have Christ die for redemption, but the jews would put him to death for malice: and thus one and the same thing done for divers causes doth not excuse their malice, as we may note in the story of joseph and his brethren. Again, as they do it for 2 their own pleasure, so they attribute it to their own power, Isa. 10. 13. so we shall find many boasting of their wickedness; how they have played the tall fellows in wounding, and killing, and whoring, and stealing, and endicting, and condemning, and accusing other men, when themselves are as guilty of hell as the other were of death. Oh fearful spectacle of human infirmity! that we may do that which God willeth to be done; and yet we cannot will as God would have it done. No marvel if our life be so separated from God, when our will cannot agree with our hand. Seeing we may be transgressors in doing that which God commandeth, especially when we have to do Use 1. with the godly: let us follow the counsel of pilate's wife, which was this, that we have nothing to do against just men, for God will surely plague us in the end, Matth. 27. 19 Speak not against them, for it shall be rewarded; fight not against them, for thou shalt be conquered; spoil them not, for thou shalt be spoiled; and accuse them not, for thou shalt be condemned. They are the eye of God, prick them not; they are the Lords anointed, touch them not; they are Christ's members, hurt them not: for surely as Saul by striving against David did spoil himself, and as Pharaoh by tyrannising over the Israelites, did undo himself and all his country; so shalt thou bring both nations and people, thyself, and all thy posterity into everlasting woe, if thou oppress the professors of religion. Remember if thou chastise them, thou art but the rod of God; which, when corrections be finished is thrown into the fire: and even as now Pilate wisheth (though it be too late) that he had obeyed his wife's counsel; so shalt thou wish (if not too late) that thou hadst never meddled against religion. Again, let us learn to frame our wills to 2 God his will, and then shall our hands without trespass work that which God commandeth: and therefore do nothing of malice, for that is of the devil; do nothing of envy, for that is of sedition; do nothing rashly, for that is folly; but do all things with love, for there is God. If thou canst do anything and not break the bond of love to God, or to thy neighbour, thou sinnest not; yea, although it seem never so sinful in the sight of man, for love is the fulfilling of the law: so then so long as thou workest in love, so long thou dost not offend God; and so long as thou dost not offend God, so long thou dost not transgress the law. Fear not o land, but be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do Vers. 21. mighty things. In this and in the verses following the Prophet giveth them very many exhortations, grounded on the never failing promise of God: First, generally in this verse, and then more specially in the verses following. In this verse, he biddeth them not to fear: some will think that this exhortation is needles, for if they did not fear they could not believe his former threatenings. To whom I answer, that he meaneth they should not distrust the promises of God, notwithstanding all the before named judgements; and therefore presently in this verse he telleth them, that the Lord will do for them mighty things. By this than we gather, that in all good men the promises of God must be more powerful than the fear of evil: more plainly thus, Art thou feared with sickness, with poverty, with loss of children, and such like dangers then? remember the promise of God which saith, that all shall work to thy best, and that I will not fail thee The promises of God must ever prevail with good men. nor thy seed, and such like; and so let these promises more comfort thee then thy terrors do dismay thee: So our Saviour comforted his disciples, and in them all of us, Luc. 12. 32. Fear not little flock, it is your father's will to give you a kingdom; and David said well to this purpose, Though I walk in the valley of death I will not fear, for thy rod and thy staff they comfort me: so let us say with him, though we live in fear of war, and famine, and pestilence, and devil, and death, and hell; yet we will not fear, because God hath said they shall not hurt us. josuah was never afraid to fight, because God had said, that he would fight for him; so let not us be afraid to fight with sin, to live in danger, to languish in prison, and to pine away in famine; seeing we have the Lords own promise, that none of these shall destroy us, but amend us. The first reason, because his everlasting Reason 1. love is the cause of his promise, and therefore it will perform his mercy, jer. 31. 3 and if it be everlasting, then is the force thereof now as well, as when it was first made; and seeing it never was nor ever shall be repealed, therefore it shall as well strengthen thy soul, as the soul of Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, or David, or jeremy, or any other. Again, evil things are always conditionally threatened, meaning, 2 if men repent not: as we may see in David, Ahab, Niniveh, and many other; and therefore repentant men need not fear any danger; for they are always blessed, having the angels to defend them against the force of men, & Christ to fight for them against the rage of Satan. Let Use 1. us therefore learn to give all diligence, that we may be sure of the favour of God, Psa. 23. 6. And for this cause Peter biddeth us give all diligence to make our election sure, meaning, that this is the greatest work of the world, that men should be certain of the promises of God. When we have the promises, and cannot certainly yield unto them, then are we like sick men, which have good physic, but cannot be persuaded to take it, because they think it will do them no good: so we think these promises uncertain, and some they have holp, but some they failed. But we must know that the promises never failed, if the men were not unfaithful; for as men will not plant corrupt imps and grafts, so God will not make unsteadfast promises: but as the ground doth many times alter a good plant that it groweth not; so men do choke the promises that they help not. Therefore if God bid thee not fear, than cast away fear; if he bid thee not weep, then cease from tears; as when he biddeth thee not kill, thou refrainest from murder. The assurance of the lords favour must grow by a continual practice of repentance, as the Apostle teacheth, when he saith, Patience worketh experience, Rom. 5. and therefore this benefit we may reap by our often sorrows, that we may come with confidence to the throne of grace. Another use: seeing the promises of God must 2 be so available in us, that they must expel all fear of evil, then let us especially be armed with them against the fear of death, that every one of us may say with job. 13. 15. that although God slay us, yet will we trust in him. What doth more trouble all the world, then doth the departure out of the world? for it maketh good men pray with David, I will not die but live; and it maketh evil men at their wit's end, to think on the pains of death: therefore blessed is the remedy of the sweet promises of God which enable us against death. Daniel being once preserved among the lions alive, would never be afraid to be cast among them again; so we which once were not and now are, once were dead and now alive; once were under the devil, but now under Christ: let us not, I say, fear the gates of death, or the sorrows of the grave. To whom do I speak, but to them that shall pass under the hand of death? therefore learn attentively what is delivered: when thou beginnest to draw toward the sun setting of thy life, I mean, thy death; then look upon all the promises of God which ever thou heardest at Sermons, or didst read in the Scriptures, & lay them to thy soul, bidding it not to fear death, for the Lord hath commanded thee not to fear it. But peradventure it will reply unto thee & say; the pain of death is intolerable, how can I but fear it? then tell it again, that it is not so, for death hath lost her sting, as the apostle saith, O death where is thy sting? what is an adder, a viper, or a serpent, when they have lost their sting? Surely every young child may play with them and handle them. And as the pains of a travailing woman, do bring forth a man child; so thy pain shall work pleasure, thy life shall bring death, thy sorrows shall gain joys; thy friends shall be turned into saints; thy parents into angels; and thy governors into God himself: If thou be a woman, he will be thy husband; if thou be a man he will be thy wife; and if thou be a servant he will be thy Lord. Oh, fear not death, but learn the promises of God, to comfort thee against it: and think what shall be thy blessedness? to forsake the world to go to heaven; to forsake thy poverty, to go to riches; to forsake thy sickness, to go to health; to forsake thy friends, to go to God; and to forsake a living of house and land, for a whole kingdom. Oh, trust in God in life, that thou mayest trust in God in death; believe in Christ in health, that thou mayest believe in him in sickness; pray unto him in thy joys, that thou mayest pray unto him in thy sorrows. And be not afraid while thou art living of the power of man, that thou mayest not be afraid when thou art dying of the power of death and condemnation. For God shall. Now he giveth them the reason of this exhortation why they should not fear; because the Lord would do mighty things for them: whereby we may note, that the unspeakable power of God should make men to rejoice, Esay 14. 27. For what can better assure us of his promises then this, that he is able to perform them, and therefore as the godly comfort themselves with this saying; The Lord is king be the earth never so unpatient: so let us lift up ourselves in comfort, in the kingdom, glory, majesty, power, and mercy of God that he can do what he will; and will do what we pray for. The first reason: because for the godlies' sake he worketh miracles, Exod. 15. 12. and therefore we Reason 1. ought to rejoice in his power. We may read Mark 2. that for one miracle all the people gave praise unto God: We have many miracles and wonders done for us, and who is able to tell what God hath done for his soul; therefore yet let thy heart rejoice when thy tongue is not able to express the power of God. Another reason: because nothing 2 can stand against the salvation of his elect, Psal. 107. 14. For the sea shall be emptied, the earth shall be removed, the rocks shall be broken, and the heavens shall bow themselves, that the power of God may be manifested, and his saints be saved. Let us learn by consideration of his Use 1. power to serve him more earnestly as David doth, Psal. 118. 27. when he had told how mightily God destroyed his enemies as a fire of thorns; then he presently addeth, Bind the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the altar. As God is powerful to save, so is he powerful to destroy; and therefore be afraid, lest, as he is able to bless thee, if thou do well; so he curse thee if thou do evil. Pilate would have had Christ have answered, because (he said) he had power to lose him or to deliver him; but he was rebuked for his labour: let us much more answer the Lord, for he hath absolute power to do with us whatsoever he will. Again, let us learn by consideration of the 2 power of God to believe in him more confidently as Abraham did, Rom. 4. 21. although he saw no reason how the promise of God should be fulfilled (if Isaac were sacrificed) yet this did animate him that God was able to raise him from death to life: and so let us be obedient to the lords commandments when they are contrary to all reason and nature. For God which seethe more than we see, can do more than we can do. Therefore fear not thy worldly joy which is as dear to thee as ever was Isaac to Abraham, for God can raise it out of the pits of deepest sorrow, into the throne of everlasting pleasure. The xxviij. Sermon. Verse. 22 Be not afraid ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness are green: for the tree beareth her fruit, the figtree and the vine do give their force. Having finished the general exhortation, now followeth the special, whereof this first is directed to the beasts of the field bidding them not be afraid: for now the fruits are budded out of the earth; as they had already tasted of man's punishment which cometh by sin; so now they should taste of man's blessing which cometh by repentance. We must not so take this speech of the prophet as if the beasts did or could understand, but by a usual figure of the scripture, whereby a person is feigned to do a thing that it cannot do, as in that of jeremy, Hear o heavens, hearken o earth, etc. For as God calleth things that are not as if they were: so he speaketh to things that understand not, as if they did. From hence that the Prophet speaketh to bruit beasts, we may note, that it is the word of The word of God gladdeth man and beast. God that gladdeth both man and beast, Gen. 1. 22. for when the word of comfort is withdrawn, than they mourn as we heard in the former chapter: but when it standeth, than they rejoice; and when it waineth, than they fall away. The first reason, because they do reverence thereunto; now their reverence proceedeth not of fear, but of nature, Reason 1. whereby the creature rejoiceth in his creator, Isa. 45. 21. Again, their whole life doth depend thereon, Psalm. 36. 6. and therefore their whole care, or rather their natural incliation 2 is to glorify their creator. Let us also which are the creatures of God, partakers of their natures; as we have a spirit, with the angels; sense and flesh, with the beasts; life and motion, with trees; and solid substance, with the stones: be glad and joyful with the earth, in much fruit; with the trees, in a quick and growing obedience; with the beasts, in a lively sense of the Lords grace; and with the angels, in an everlasting lauding of his majesty: or else he will take his word from us, and give it to them which will bear more fruit; for although we be all destroyed, yet is God able of the stones of the street to make living souls to sit with angels in his kingdom: and let us cast away all uncleanness, jam. 1. 21. that with them we may be clear of sin and ready for immortality. I might also in this verse take occasion to show you how all the creatures of God rejoice in his benefits: the ox, for the grass; the foul, for seeds; the fishes, for rain; the Bee, for the dew; the horse, for the pasture; and the angels, for the conversion of men: therefore let man be converted that he abuse not that which these honour, and despise not that which saveth us all. Be glad than ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your Vers. 23. God: for he hath given you the rain of righteousness, and he will cause to come down for you the first rain, and the latter rain in the first month. This verse containeth another special exhortation to the members of the church under the name of Zion, as hath been already declared, bidding them also to rejoice; for as there is a time to mourn, so there is a time to rejoice. And the reasons of their joy are rehearsed: First, because as rain, so should righteousness come down upon them, 23. Secondly, for fruitfulness, which should fill all their barns: 24. and fully recompense their former losses: 25. and lastly, that they should comfortably eat thereof, verse. 26. When he biddeth the children of Zion to be glad; we may note, that it is only God that rejoiceth God only giveth joys. our hearts, Eccl. 2. 24. for as before he had bid them rend in sunder their hearts; so now he biddeth them to sow them together again, and he himself doth give a plaster to make them whole for evermore. Thus worketh repentance; first, by tears, and then by joys; as a woman that first groaneth, and afterward laugheth with her child in her arms; and like to old jacob who went a long journey into Egypt, to see his son joseph, and their first meeting was nothing but tears. The reason: because God only taketh away sin, Prou. 29. 6. therefore our sins make us Reason 1. sorrowful when they are wantied to us, as a burden to a horses back, and then they rejoice us, when they are taken from us: but sins are not only burdens on our backs, but pricks in our sides, and thorns in our eyes, which keep us from all rest, and hinder us from all sight of goodness. They play with us for a season as the devil seemeth to play with witches: but alas, in the end their mating faces are all turned into sorrowful woes. Another reason, because God only humbleth and raiseth 2 Use 1. up, and therefore he only giveth sorrow and joy, Psal. 51. 10. Let us therefore know when we are heavy, that God hath laid his hand upon us, and fear his name, Psal. 86. 10. and not seek extraordinary means, as Saul did by music, to remove from us that dampish grief that presseth us down: but rather take the exhortation of james, when we be sorrowful to lift up ourselves in prayer: for as those which were stung with serpents, must look on the brazen serpent before they could be whole; so must we which are stung with sorrow, look to the Lord which wrought our sorrow, before we can rejoice. Again, let us seek for those lawful means in the creatures of God, 2 which may any way cause us in the time of our sorrows, to lift up ourselves in praise to God, Psal. 70. 5. There is not any creature, but it may put us in mind of some benefit or other; so that so often as we behold the same, so often we may rejoice in the workmanship of our creator: and truly as it is a great fault not to mourn when God calleth for lamentation; so is it no less fault not to rejoice when God biddeth to rejoice. Let us therefore learn to be so affected, that by the plentiful hand of God we may be stirred up to praise; but by withdrawing his benefits, we may be moved to repentance. Again, when he 3 speaketh to the church under the name of the children of Zion, we are taught that the members of the church must be as children, Matt. 18. 3. Children are ever growing, so must we in grace; children often hunger, so ought we after the food of our souls; they take no care, but their parents provide for them; no more ought we, for God careth for us: their natures are pure, so must ours be; they have seldom sickness, so ought we seldom to sin. The Reason 1. reasons are: first, because children are without malice, 1. Cor. 14. 20. for he is no member of the church that is malicious, but a murderer; again, children honour their parents; so ought the members of the church to honour their God, Mal. 1. 6. But alas malice hath devoured the love of man, and the honour of God, and we shall hardly find one among a thousand that is not maliciously bend against one or other. But let us learn to lead our lives in fear, seeing Use 1. we are the children of God, 1. Pet. 1. 17. for else we may be children, but stubborn children, and such as the Lord will never acknowledge. Again, let us learn to do the 2 will of our heavenly father, Matt. 21. 28. For not every one that can say, Our father which art in heaven; or, Lord, Lord, Christ our Saviour, and our redeemer, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Oh let us be sanctified; for this is the will of God, even our sanctification; for except we do that which he biddeth, and bring that which he calleth for, we shall come to confusion as Babel did; wherein, when the builders called for stone, they brought mortar; and when they called for mortar, they brought brick: so when we should do one thing, we do another; and when God calleth for holiness, we run to profaneness. Again, 3 when he biddeth them to rejoice in the Lord their God, we may note, that the joy of good men is only in God and spiritual things, Psal. 53. 7. it is not in masking and mumming, Wherein good men rejoice. piping and dancing, marrying or monkering, eating or drinking, hawking or hunting, riding or running; but in this, that God is theirs, and they are his; and this is the best part, which cannot be taken from them. The first reason: because he looketh on the estate of the poor abject, Reason 1. Isa. 29. 19 but the world will not acknowledge a brother if he be in poverty, or a friend if he be in danger. Again, God openeth his most secret goodness to his saints, 2 Cant. 1. 4. bringing them into his cellars of wine, who can but rejoice in him, that rejoiceth in them? and who can withhold his heart from him, that gave him heart and soul and life and all? For one benefit or good turn, David took Abigaijl for his wife, but if we having so much kindness from the Lord do refuse him from being our husband; let us beware lest the wrath of God fall upon us, as the wrath of David should have fell on Nabal, that he would not leave man, woman, or child alive of his posterity. Let us not rejoice in our works, Luc. 10. 20. nor in the world which is but transitory; nor in riot which is but labour; nor in riches, which are but vanity; nor in eating, which is but necessity; nor in garments, which are but shadows of sin, nor in any thing but in God, who hath registered our names in the kingdom of heaven. Let us also rejoice with john Baptist, joh. 3. 29. That we have heard the voice of the bridegroom, that his Gospel hath been preached to us, his graces have been poured on us; his blood hath been shed for us; his death hath redeemed us; and that he hath bought us to serve him without fear all the days of our life. The rain of righteousness. This is the first reason of his exhortation to joy: for as before they had wanted fruits through want of rain; so they had wanted goodness through want of grace: and now he promiseth both, namely righteousness and fruitfulness, for this rain of righteousness, doth signify abundance of righteousness: wherein by the metaphor (rain) I might tell you from whence cometh grace, righteousness, justification and sanctification; from above as the rain doth, and many other ways I might urge the figure; but I rest not in figures, I will go to the plain words. And seeing in the first place he promiseth them the rain of righteousness; we may note that religion and holiness Religion better for the church than riches. is better for the church than any riches, Proverb. 28. 6. There is not any thing more needful for a man then to live under the wings of God; and there is not any thing more needful for him that liveth under the wings of God, that is, in his church, than the knowledge and practice of the pure worship of God. The paradise where Adam was; the riches of Solomon; the peace of Augustus Caesar; the glory of David; or the pomp of Agrippa, are nothing so needful for the church, as is preaching and hearing, and praying and weeping. David was never farther from God, then when he was most at ease: The rich man was never so near distress as when his barns were fullest: The Israelites were never in more danger than when they were pampered with quails; and Noah was safer in the ark, then on the dry land: And so are we all in better estate when the world thinketh us to be miserable, then when it judgeth us to be happy. The reasons: First, because the Reason 1. things of this life do drown us in miserable temptations, 1. Tim. 6. 9 but religion quieteth the mind, establisheth the conscience, driveth away the devil, cutteth off many sins, is ready for death, and is assured of salvation. Again, all the good we receive by abundance is this; 2 that we shall have no consolation in the life to come, and therefore God hath better provided for us, that we should live here a little while in poverty and ever after in glory, rather than here a little while in riches, and ever after in hell fire. Let us therefore bestow all the labour we Use 1. can that we may have religion, and grow in graces, 1. Cor. 1. 5. thereon adventure thy money, for thy merchandise shall be warranted: If there be any man that hath religion, buy some of him; if there be any means to obtain it, use them earnestly; if there be any fair or mart where it may be bought, travail thither: The ministers are the men that have it; prayers are the means to get it; and the church is the place where thou mayest buy it: the persons are noted, thou mayest easily find them; the means are cheap, thou mayest speedily use them; the place is near, thou mayest quickly and often go for thy store. Oh, travail for righteousness, and grace, and holiness, for all these are sold together. Be not poor in religion, but rich, that thou mayest rather be able to give then to receive. As there be some very poor, and make no spare, for age or sickness: so there be some which have little or no religion, which only take so much as will save them from present danger of law or infidelity, and never think what they shall do when they come to their graves. Yet let these be also warned, that they labour to be rich in religion, for a poor man may be rich in righteousness; and a rich man may be poor in goodness. Again, let rich men 2 especially look to themselves, jam. 5. 1. for they for the most part esteem more of gain then of grace, and of a great gentleman though he be an infidel, then of a poor and true member of Christ. Let them remember how few good rich men are named in the Scriptures: and let them always set before their eyes that most dreadful saying of our Saviour; It is easier for agable to go through the eye of a needle, then for a rich man to enter into heaven. Let them be liberal to good uses, courteous to every christian, sparing in all expenses, humble in all authority: not gorgeous, but clothed with Christ; not covetous, but open handed; not ambitious, but content with their place, and not infidels, but as far exceed other in faith as they do in wealth. He shall give you the first rain. In those countries they had ordinarily two rains in the year especially desired, whereof the first was most acceptable when they first sowed their seed: and the latter rain was in the spring of the year, which is here called the first month, answering in some part to our March and April, because the world was made as it were in the spring of the year. But in this that the Prophet promiseth them the first and the latter rain, we must observe that it is the Lord that ruleth the clouds, giving all The Lord ruleth the clouds. seasonable and unseasonable weather, 1. King 18. 1. The reasons are, because he will only be known to bless the works of our hands, Deut. 28. 1. Again, it is only he which decketh the heavens with clouds, Psal. 147. 8. Let us Use 1 therefore learn to fear the Lord by the consideration of rain, jerem. 5. 24. for he reserveth for us the appointed weeks for harvest. Me thinks that every creature of God do so admonish us of our duty, that not so much as the little drops of rain, but they teach us to fear him. Oh, that our souls could so thirst for the mercy of God as the earth thirsteth for the water drops, or the grace of God might so fall from heaven on our hearts, as the rain doth issue from the clouds on the ploughed land! Again, 2 let us seek for the testimony of the Lords favour towards us in them, Act. 14. 17. the Apostle showeth the rain of the clouds, the spring of the earth, and the increase of temporal things, to be a sufficient means, for the old world to have searched for, and found out God; but yet they did not search into it: and so is it now a good means for many ignorant souls to lead them to God at the first; if they consider, the world continueth, the grass groweth, the corn increaseth, & the rain falleth down from heaven, that by these, as it were by the crosse-row of letters, they might come to greater knowledge in religion. When he saith, that their barns shall be full of wheat, and their presses shall abound with oil and wine; he noteth thereby, that their decayed houses shall be builded again, and their full joy restored: And also that if God do once begin to do good to his people, he never thinketh any thing too much that is bestowed on them, if they be repentant. The xxix. Sermon. Verse. 25. And I will render unto you the years that the grasshopper hath eaten, the caterpillar, and cankerwoorme, and palmer-woorme, my great host which I sent among you. NOw he toucheth the restitution of their goods lost in famine, telling them that all their former years devoured by the beasts shall be restored again. By which we may note a wonderful example of the Lords kindness, that he will give to the repentant whatsoever they have lost in trouble: It were enough for him, yea, more than he oweth us, if he did only ease our misery; yet is he We have no loss by affliction. not contented therewith, but giveth us as much as we desire, and beyond our desires as much as we lost; so he dealt with job. cap. 42. 10. giving him a thousand for five hundred, six for three, & fourteen for seven. The first reason, Reason 1. because he would have none to be like him in mercy and liberality, Mich. 7. 18. Secondly, that the wicked may note a difference betwixt the just and the unjust, Mal. 3. 2 18. therefore let not any thing in the world hinder thy conversion, jerem. 7. 14. for thy sins shall be changed into much holiness; thy poverty into great wealth; thy sorrow into double joy; and thy short life into twice so many days. If thou hadst little ease, now it shall be more; or little peace, it shall be increased; or little grace, it shall be augmented; or little joy, it shall be multiplied: and thus will God take away curse and change it into blessing, and turn our punishment into pardon. Again, let us hereby Use. be instructed, that there shall never be any hindrance to the joy of the Lords saints, Isa. 40. 2, 3. the crooked shall be made strait; the high shall be made low; the low shall be made high; the weak shall be made strong; the sick shall be made whole; the lame shall be made well limmed; the sorrowful heart shall be rejoiced; and the contrite soul shall be glorified: the great power of sathan shall not hinder; the tyranny of sin shall not prevail; nor the space twixt heaven and earth shall keep us from ascending to joys. Oh come on my brethren with hope and comfort, and bestow your labour in the word more cheerfully, that our single sorrows may receive double joys. So you shall eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Vers. 26. Lord your God, that hath dealt marvelously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. Having signified unto them their plenty, now he granteth unto them the free and lawful use of every creature, telling them they should eat and drink them, and praise the name of God for them. When he saith, They shall eat and be satisfied: we may note a great blessing of God upon meat temperately received, for it satisfieth us, meaning it nourisheth and maintaineth life, Hag. 1. 6. but when it is riotously and gluttonously devoured, than men fall into sickness in stead of health; into raging in stead of quietness: and this is the very cause why our affrays and quarrels are begun at taverns and alehouses, and at great idol and glutton feasts, because men receive them not in moderation, but in excess. The first reason: because meat so Reason 1. taken giveth strength to the body, 1. Sam. 1427. jonathan tasted but a drop of honey and his wearied body was strengthened: and his eyes almost blind recovered their sight. Another reason: because meat thus taken cheereth the 2 Use 1. heart of man, Ruth 3. 7. Let us therefore learn what a singular benefit it is to eat & be satisfied with the labours of our own hand, Eccle. 5. 16. 17. for if the Lord should breathe thereon, then were our travail in the dust: meat hath no life in it, and yet it keepeth life in us; who is able to show the cause hereof, but the Lord who knoweth all? and if this one blessing should fail us, although our possessions were as great as salomon's, yet they would not serve us. Again, let every man in his place gather this meat and ● comfort for his life, Esay 62. 3. that so we may perform the old commandment of God to Adam, that we eat our meat in the sweat of our faces. The Bees will not suffer one drone among them: and so let not us suffer them that are careless to provide some thing whereby their duty may be discharged to God, and their lives preserved in the world. Secondly, he telleth them with what affection they should receive their meat; With praise and thanksgiving to God: Whereby we may see one principal token of a temperate receiver, in that he can give thanks to God for his meat, 1. Cor. 10. 25. but gluttons and belli-gods take their meat as Swine do; although with more manners, yet with as little reverence, sitting down to fill their bellies, and rising up to fulfil their pleasures, and through immeasurable fullness, their teeth put their mouth to silence, and sleep falleth on them, that their hearts do not only forget their feeder, but their maintainer also. The first reason: because it is a token they love God, Deut. 12. 11. and they that love never offend: for love is the fulfilling Reason 1. of the law. Again, meat is only blessed unto them that join thanksgiving with it, 1. Sam. 9 13. So that 2 whatsoever is not thankfully received must needs be accursed. And surely if Paul said, he had rather never eat meat as long as he lived, then eat to the offence of his brother: we may more lawfully pine in famine, starve in want, and perish in distress of meat, rather than God should be offended. thieves which steal for meat, cozeners that deceive for meat; beggars that counterfeit for meat; idle persons that work not for meat, and rich men that pray not for meat, can never be thankful for that which they eat, but all is accursed unto them. Let us therefore for fear of the curse, and especially for conscience of death, live soberly in prayer, in our eating and drinking, working and resting, sleeping and waking, because we know not whether we eat our last morsel, as the Israelites which died with meat in their mouths, or work our last day-worke, as the poor man that was stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbaoth; or sleep our last sleep, & never wake again: Surely as jacob ended his life when he had blessed his children; so shall we be happy if we end our lives, when we have praised God. Again, Use 2. let us not tempt God for meat whatsoever distress we live in, but seek it humbly in prayer, Psal. 104. 27. that we may eat more cheerfully, and be assured that God will continue his blessings: for what shall it profit to feed our bodies to the full, and let our souls go starve and pine away to death? That the Lord hath. This clause is added unto their praises at meat, because than they ought to remember the lords benefits, the which thing ought to drive away all vain and foolish tabletalk, wherein men silence the mercy of God, and praise the taste of their meat, or the liberality of the feast-maker, always thanking him, and never thinking on God; whereas they are bound to do both. We may note in these words, that God doth not only use his ordinary God useth ordinary and extraordinary power to deliver his church. power in the delivery of his church, but also his extraordinary, whereby he worketh marvels and wonders, 1. Pet. 1. 5. for by the wonderful power of God are we continued in our profession, contained in the church, and preserved to life eternal. God told David, 2. Sam. 12. that if he had not done enough for him, yet he would have done much more for him; so that he hath not limited his power nor his mercy toward the faithful. The reasons: first, because Reason 1. we should know that we are saved through grace, and the great power of God, 1. Cor. 1. 18. as it is not a light matter to enjoy a kingdom; so is it not a small matter to climb up into heaven, but the unspeakable power of God must be used therein. Again, the more power he useth in 2 his church, the more must be his glory, Mark. 7. 17. and this is the cause, why all good men think they can never praise God enough, although every day they renew their thanksgiving: in heaven is the power of God most of all seen, and therefore there the angels and saints do nothing but praise the power of God. And therefore we Use 1. may hereby learn, that all miracles which God doth in the world, do call us to be partakers of his kingdom, Matt. 12. 28. and if we refuse them, and do not come, the same power shall be used in our condemnation that is promised in our salvation. Neither let us ever forget the works 2 which God doth for us, Psal. 106. 21, 22. but remember them in our meat, in our beds, in our labour, in our ease, in our watching, and in our rejoicing, that our God may still continue to do them, as we do still persevere to remember them. Lastly, in this verse he promiseth, that they should never be more ashamed of any reproaches. Whereby we may note, that religion doth not commit any thing that either we may be ashamed of, or repent, 1. Cor. 15. 58. for our labour in religion is not in vain. If any through the fear or commandment of God should slay their children as Abraham would, or deceive their masters as jacob did, or beguile their husbands as Rebecca did, or disobey their princes as Moses did, or murder their enemies as Samson did, or lose their lives as Christ did; yet shall they never need to repent any of them. Oh what a marvelous benefit hath a man by religion, which he cannot Religion never maketh ashamed. have by any other thing in the world! There is nothing in all the life of man, but we may repent, except it be the fear of God: We repent our words, our works, our expenses, our get, our wander, our negligence, our diligence, our sleep, meat, and money and all: We are ashamed of our thoughts, our to yes, trifles, plays, childishness, wantonness, love, hatred, lust, poverty, nakedness, and the very parts of our body; but of no part of religion. Thou shalt never repent that thou forsookest the world, believed'st in the Lord, mournedst for thy sins, studiedst in the scriptures, heardest the preachers, was obedient to the gospel, praiedst many hours, watched many nights, fasted many days, endured many troubles, and shalt die any death for the Lords sake, seeing heaven is thy rest: Nay rather we see many men in their deathbeds wish with tears that they had hawked, and hunted, and played, and laboured, and loved, and hated much less; for now in their sickness their sins come on them, as the Philistines came on Samson when he had lost his strength, and carry their poor souls into miserable captivity. Oh wouldst thou never weep, nor sorrow, nor wring thy hands for any worldly thing? then be religious; and as peace was in Israel all salomon's reign, so shall it be in thy soul all the while that religion reigneth. The first reason: because Reason 1. religion is the wisdom of God, Matt. 11. 19 1. Cor. 1. 30. now this is the greatest point of wisdom to foresee that they do nothing which may hurt them: for this is true repentance, not to commit sin which must be repent; and it is religion that only awaketh us when we are sleepy, & ruleth us when we are awaked: We never read that the children of Israel had any cause to repent their obedience all the while that they were in the wilderness; no more shall we have any cause to repent our obedience to the gospel, which is our heavenly wisdom. Another 2 reason: it is the power of God unto salvation, Rom. 1. 16. Let us therefore say with David, 2. Sam. 6. 22. that for the Lord of hosts sake and for religion, we will yet be more Use 1. vain, that is, howsoever the world account of us and of our zeal in religion, yet we will adventure their displeasure farther; for all their mocks, and reproaches, and by names, & slanders shall not dismay us, but we will go forward in our pretended course: And as Mical was cursed with barrenness all her life long, because she mocked her husband David when he danced before the Ark; so I pray God they be not as barren and void of goodness that mock at the professors of religion. Again, let us evermore 2 hearken to the Lord speaking in his word, jerem. 38. 20. for then we shall not be burned with heat, nor frozen with cold, nor be ashamed of our youth, or be troubled with our age, or repent our birth, or curse the day that we came into the world: for it shall shield us from all these mischiefs. Oh, let us open our ears to his words, that he may open his ears to our prayers: for as the Israelites were never blamed so long as they followed the cloud, the pillar of smoke, & the Ark: so shalt thou never be blamed if thou look upward to the Lord, and join thyself to the main pillar of truth, the church of God, and follow the Ark which is the Gospel borne by the ministers; or else thou shalt weep and cry, howl and repent at the last, when thou canst not repent thoroughly. Ye shall also know that I am in the mids of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and none other, and my people Vers. 27. shall never be ashamed. Now he beginneth to follow the spiritual benefits from this verse. to the end of the chapter; promising them first his presence, verse. 27, 28, 29. then his power in the verses to the end. His presence is promised, first in regard of the particular knowledge of his favour resting among them, vers. 27. And in the two next verses, by the pouring out of his spirit. And hereby we may first of all note, that the church of God which is Israel, hath the Lord in her continually, Matth. 28. 19 Although by divine power God be present every where; God evermore in the church. yet is he most present in the church in heaven and earth, there doth he show more power, more mercy, more judgement, more favour, then in other places, I mean in that place where his Gospel is professed. The first reason: because in his church is his chief treasure, Esay 33. 6. Reason 1. And as Christ said to us, where our treasures are, there are our hearts: so the lords heart and soul is lodged in his church where are his treasures, namely his fear, zeal, faith, knowledge, redemption, and the graces of the spirit, and I would God men did not cast his treasure before the swine of their filthy sins. Another reason; because the 2 power of darkness shall not prevail against it, Mat. 16. 18. For as the sun doth break away the clouds, and the north— wind drive away the rain; so doth the presence of God in his church, break in pieces the strength of devils, and drive away the rage of sin: And truly, as when Lot went out of Sodom, the valley was destroyed; so when God shall forsake his church, it shall come to ruin. Let us learn Use 1. to glorify the Lord in the church, 1. Cor. 6. 20. for he is not far off, but in the midst of us. Again, let us also by the consideration of his dwelling among us, hold fast our hope of trust, Heb. 3: 6. that we be not confounded at the last. The presence of Deborah made Barac get the victory against Sisera, and his nine hundred charets of iron; & let us, not by the presence of a woman or man, but God Almighty, put to flight all our sins, and lead our pleasures captives, that they may never more offend the church of God. Secondly, 2 by this verse we must note, that it behoveth every member of the church to have a particular knowledge of Every one must know how he is in God's favour. the lords favour toward him, not only that God is, or that Christ died for the world; but that God is their God, and Christ is their redeemer, 2. Cor. 5. 11. So that as Elisha would not forsake Elijah because he was his master; nor Ruth forsake Naomi because she was her stepmother; nor Peter forsake Christ because he was his Saviour; no more must we forsake the Lord, for he is our master, our father, our Saviour, and our God. In this one point is included all religion, for this is the end of all profession, that God may be ours, and we may be his. The first Reason 1. reason; because without this assurance of faith we cannot please God, Heb. 11. 6. So that whatsoever we do for company or custom, or persuasion, or of uncertainty, doth not please almighty God. Again, if we know not that 2 GOD is in us, then are we reprobates, and then were it better for us that we had never so much as lived under the time of the Gospel. Therefore let us seek the Lord more ardently; for as the brethren of joseph might not see his face any more, except they brought little Benjamin with them; so may not we appear before GOD except we bring this persuasion with us. Gedeon slew forty two thousand, because they could not rightly pronounce one word; but the Lord will slay many millions that cannot say, that he is theirs. Oh learn to say unto God (my father) as Isaac did, that he may answer unto thee, (my son) as Abraham did. Again, let us open the way, that other men may come to the Lord as well as we, Isai. 26. 2. for God keepeth 2 not his kingdom to himself, as Noah did not build his ark for himself, or Solomon his houses for himself, nor the Apostles possessed the spirit for themselves only; and so let us not conceal the lords favour to ourselves only: but tell them to our parents, our wives, our children, our servants, our friends, and our neighbours; that they may be signed by the same seal, and saved by the same grace. Thirdly, God will have none other to be known in Israel but himself alone. Whereby we are 3 We must not doubt of our religion. taught, not to stand in doubt, whom, where, when, we ought to believe, fear, love or worship: but only and perfectly to rely on the Lord. 1. King. 18. 21. It is not good to halt betwixt two opinions, but either we must be constant professors, or obstinate blasphemers. I would they would consider this that say, they know not whether to be papists or protestants, for both live alike, and therefore both shall be saved alike: But they must know that Cham escaped the flood as well as Sem, but yet he escaped not damnation so easily; and so wicked professors in this life do many times as well as good; but death and judgement shall try the cause. The reasons: first, because the halting part is often turned out of the way, Heb. 12, 13. and indeed it is Reason 1. fearful that always evil doth surpass goodness, as weeds overgrowe corn, and sickness over cometh health. Therefore let us beware, lest when we doubt what is best we take the worst, as jeroboam did. Moreover, while we doubt in religion, we are carried away by the crafty 2 deceit of men, Ephes. 4. 14. For heretics and evil men do always labour first to draw us into wavering, and then to bring us into condemnation. Let us then abide in that which we have heard, 1. joh. 2. 24. for that which is first is truth, and that which is last is falsehood. Let us not have tickling and itching ears, such as many in our days have, which like not our doctrine, our preachers, our prayers, our government, our sacraments, our people, and our prince: and what will they do shortly, but fall in dislike with our God, and all manner of religion. Let us also learn to be constant, 2. Tim. 3. 14. that we be not moved from it; but as joab would not come out of the temple, but would die holding the altar by the horns; so let us die holding fast by our altar jesus Christ: And that seeing we must die, let us die in his arms, for his sake, to his glory, and our own salvation. The thirty. Sermon. Vers. 28. And afterward I will power out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions; 29 And also upon your servants and your maidens in those days will I power our my spirit. THese two verses contain the second part of the spiritual benefits to be powered on them, namely, the spirit and the graces thereof; for when he saith, that he will power forth his spirit, he meaneth not to divide the holy Ghost into parcels: but by a usual figure of the scripture, he putteth the spirit for the graces, because wheresoever any one grace is, there is the holy Ghost, 1. Cor. 12. 6, 11. By this we may see that the old fathers and the prophets had some knowledge of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead: for not only here but in many other places is mention made of the Spirit; and we know the name of son is and was very familiar in the scriptures. He saith, he will power out his Spirit, by a usual metaphor taken from water; because the holy Ghost is resembled to water, Heb. 10. 22. meaning also, that he would give it abundantly, in more plentiful manner then heretofore; so that all this pertaineth properly to the kingdom of Christ, as Peter showeth, Act. 2. 17. and not to their return from Babylon. By the coherence of this verse with the former, where is promised knowledge, as is here the holy Ghost: we may note, that after God hath given us knowledge, he also will give us the holy Ghost, Act. After knowledge cometh the holy Ghost. 15. 8. so that there is not any one that can assure himself that he knoweth God by the word preached, but he may also be assured that he is made the temple and dwelling house of the holy Ghost, joh. 1. 12. this is the only reward in this world of the obedience to the Gospel, that we have the spirit dwelling in us, and opening unto us the things of God. If the affairs of Potiphar were blessed because he had joseph in his house; much more blessed are the works of a christian, because he hath the holy Ghost in his heart. Oh learn (I beseech you) to know the Lord by the scriptures, for than shall you have the Lord dwelling in you; for than shall not sin hurt you, nor the devil annoy you; you shall not fear any danger, nor any death; for the spirit shall still comfort you, and carry your spirits into heaven. The reasons: First, because we should evermore have him in our souls, joh. 14. 16. the Lord knoweth that we have a Reason 1. great deal of sorrow to suffer in the world, and therefore he hath provided for us a comforter that may help us to bear it: and they which care not for their profession, care not for the spirit; and they which care not for the spirit, care not for the Lord. By which we may see how fearful a thing it is to forsake the profession of the Gospel, for then the Lord forsaketh us, seeing us give over his spirit: also the Spirit of the Lord is fire, and if it purge us not it will burn us. Another reason; because it may persuade us that we 1 are in the truth, joh. 15. 26. for if our profession were but barely gathered out of the scriptures by men, than might it be altered, as the ministers thereof have been altered: but the spirit abideth for ever, and doth assure our hearts that this Gospel, this faith, this hope, this obedience, and this kingdom, is the same that Christ taught, the saints believed, good men received, the disciples lived, and all the faithful have obtained. So that if thou stand in faith and dost peaceably enjoy the profession of religion, and knowest by the infallible word of God thou art in the way of salvation; then rejoice boldly, because the holy Ghost is in thy heart, as Simeon did when he had Christ in his arms. But yet many have peace in their hearts through the devil, which are in error, in Popery, in Mahometisme, and Idolatry, being persuaded they are in the truth: but this persuasion is but counterfeit, like as the miracles of the Magicians in Egypt were but counterfeit to the miracles of Moses; and therefore not every one that is persuaded he is in the truth, is to be thought to have the holy Ghost; but only they that are persuaded by the scriptures, and rely upon nothing in the world beside. Let us then Use 1. try whether as yet we have had the holy Ghost given unto us or not, for the Lord teacheth john. 16. 8. when the holy Ghost is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they abound in it; of righteousness, because they want it; and of judgement, because they fear it. Now search thy soul whether thou have been reproved for these things or not: for it will speak to thee when thou art alone, and it will follow thee whither soever thou goest, and it will not suffer thee to rest in any sins; but at the first it will admonish thee gently, afterward it will call upon thee with diligence early and late, if thou amend not: It will make thy meat unsavoury, and turn thy sleep into many fears; and than if thou repent not, either it will utterly forsake thee, or else lay load on thee of most fearful judgements and terrible wrath of God; which will either turn thee into lamentation and great distress of mind, or else into desperation and utter loss of soul. Oh, fear my dear brethren for the conscience of these things, for it will work most terribly in you: if you have it, you live in subjection; if you offend it, you live in danger; and if you lose it, you die in trouble. Therefore thou art happy, when thou art reproved for sin; thou art more happy, when thou art inwardly scourged for thy faults; but thou art most happy, when thou art repentant in tears, and ashes, & sackcloth, and an infinite number of sorrows: so that hereby we see why God exempteth us from the fear of hell, because he keepeth us under continual correction of sin. Another 2 use: let us ask for the holy Ghost when we feel the want thereof, Luke 11. 13. for God will send him to those that want him. Barren women ask for children, sick men for health, old men for life, weak men for strength, blind men for sight; and therefore let Christians ask for the holy Ghost: For God will be as easily entreated for him as for the other; and he will give us more joy than children, more comfort than health, more good than life, more benefit than strength, more profit than sight; and therefore let us pray for him more earnestly then for any other of these. If you ask how you shall pray for the holy Ghost, I answer, by the holy Ghost. But you will say, if you have him already, you need not pray for him: to which I answer; you must pray as sick men do for life when they have life; so when you have a little feeling of the holy Ghost, pray that it may be more, and that every little sparkle may be a flame, and all our weakness turned into strength. The persons upon whom this spirit is to be powered are sons and daughters, old and young, men and women, free and bond; for of all these doth the church consist: Whereby we may observe, that there is not any sex, or any man, but he is capable of the holy Ghost, and so of salvation. Isa. 44. 3. The reasons are: first, because they have received the hope of eternal life. Tit. 3. 7. secondly, the promises are general, and there is not any excluded. Therefore let us learn not to grieve the holy Ghost, Ephe. 4. 30. nor to quench any motions of the spirit within us: for the beginning of religion is like the blading of the corn, if it then be bitten it never groweth more. Again, let us fight against the lusts of the flesh, Gal. 5. 17. for the spirit lusteth against the flesh. There must be a pitched field in every man's soul; the soul is one fighter, and sins are the other; the soul is aided by the spirit, and our sins are aided by the flesh: the weapons of the soul are spiritual, the word, the promises, faith, hope, love, patience, and constancy; the weapons of sin are ignorance, lusts, pleasures, ease, profit, gain, pride, self-love, and prosperity: The means whereby they strike are temptations; if the soul conquer, the sins bleed abundance of tears; if sin conquer, the soul is quiet and bound in a soft bed of delight, that she may live in perpetual imprisonment fed with all loathing of goodness, and starved with vain shows of food, stuffed with sweet poisons of many woeful sins, and so in the end breaketh in pieces, and falleth to eternal misery. This is a Christians combat, one must needs die; the enemies cannot live in league; the battle must needs be fought out, and therefore come prepared; the less thou eatest, the better thou shalt endure; the more thou watchest in prayer, the more shall be thy advantage. This battle is like the battle betwixt David and Absalon; for our own sins which we have begotten do conspire against us: and as David wept for Absalon when he had gotten the field; so we shall weep for our sins when we have conquered them, and wish, that either they had not been, or else that we had not been: therefore let us have the spirit on our sides, that we may have peace in our souls. Now follow the effects of the spirit; and the first is that they shall prophesy; the next, that they should dream 3 dreams, and see visions: for these were accounted the most honourable works of the spirit before the coming of Christ, because herein did the Lord answer the demands of men, as we may see in joseph, Matt. 1. 21. and in Zacharie, Luc. 1. And under these old types doth the prophet signify the abundant graces in the church, when every one should prophesy, that is, should be able to speak the word for the comfort and edification of his brother, and every one should see the counsels of God day and night by dreams and visions and not be afraid. First, we may observe here, that none can prophesy but by the spirit of God, 1. Cor. 14. 29. It is not possible that any None prophesy, but by the spirit. should open the word of God and speak to the comfort of them that hear him, but by inspiration of the holy Ghost; therefore those which speak in the congregation, and are not able to edify them that hear them, do nothing less than speak by the holy Ghost, opening their barren wits to the wonder of the world. The Reason 1. reasons: first, because prophesy is an opening of the counsel of God, which none can do but those which have the spirit of God, 1. Cor. 2. 11. Again, it is the spirit of God 2 that openeth our hearts and maketh us able to answer the adversary of our profession; much more doth it help us when we are to comfort the people of God in the congregation, Luke 21. 15. Let us therefore in our preaching or prophesying learn to prophesy according to the proportion Use 1. of faith, Rom. 12. 6. for as it is a damnable thing before God under an oath to cover falsehood; so is it alike damnable thing under pretence of the spirit to teach heresy and impiety. Again, let us learn to try the spirits, 2 1. john 5. 1. whether they be of God or not: for many false spirits are come into the world, bringing in again popery, heresy, idolatry, and the monarchy of the devil, the which I pray God for ever destroy. But in this that we said that the abundance of the spirit under the time of the kingdom of Christ, is shadowed forth under these types of the old testament; so that the kingdom of Christ consisteth of such members as are here described to be possessed with They which labour not to prophesy do deface the kingdom of Christ. the spirit of God to prophesy and such like. Whereby we learn that those which avoid the ministery, and other spiritual functions, do as much as they can darken and deface the kingdom of Christ, joh. 5. 39 so that a continual and an unwearied study must be applied unto the same: there is no wit so fine, but herein it may be busied; there is no profession so needful, but it must give place to this. For Divinity is like Sara, and other arts and sciences like Agar: and although human arts have conceived with child, and gotten more followers than Divinity; yet they must know they are but handmaids, and must be subject to their mistress. The reasons: First, because the ignorance Reason 1. of the scriptures is the mother of all abomination and error, Matth. 22. 25. so that take away religion and Divinity, although their sciences could make gold, yet they cannot stand. Secondly, in the profession of faith and of religion consisteth the groundwork and foundation 2 of the church, Matth. 16. 18. and therefore they which give not themselves hereunto, do not only pull down the building of christianity; but raze down the very foundations thereof. I have followed these things more at large in the beginning, and therefore I now touch them lightly. Let us therefore exercise the commandments of God, and purge our impure lives by their rule, Psalm. 119. 9 for so long as our ears are open to his word, our lives shall be covered from shame: as joas prospered all the days of jehoijada; so shall we so long as the Gospel and religion ruleth in our souls. Let us take that which the angels brought, Act. 7. 53. for they brought the law, and in nothing are we so like the angels as in the study of Divinity: for they behold the face of God in heaven, and we behold him in the scriptures. Thirdly, when he saith, 3 that their sons and their daughters shall prophesy; we may note that there are not any in the church too rich or too good for the study of divinity: isaiah the Prophet was of None in the church too good for to study divinity. the king's seed; and Solomon the richest and wisest king that ever was, would be called a preacher in his wisest and best days. Our gentlemen scorn this priestly trade, but set their sons to merchandise, or to the law, or to one golden trade or other; but they set their sons as much to Divinity as their daughters: yea, they think their whole family is disgraced, if there be any of their name a priest: for so they odiously term us, otherwise the name is too good for them or us. The reasons: First, because bodily Reason 1. exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable to all, 1. Tim. 4. 8. One was wont to say, that the world was destroyed by three sorts of men: by Lawyers, for they destroy men's goods; by Physicians, for they kill men's bodies; and by ignorant Divines, for they damn men's souls: now verily I think that so it is with us; for there was never more contention for wealth, or more cost laid forth on physic, and never less care for salvation. Such ignorant divines have marred all, whose heads are as full of learning, as a flint stone is of oil, and their lives correspondent to their knowledge; so that now adays there is no difference between Aaron and the priests of Egypt, betwixt Nadab and Phinehas, betwixt Sadoc and Abiathar, betwixt Michaiah and Zidkijah, betwixt jeremy and Shemaiah, betwixt Christ and the Pharisees, betwixt Peter and Simon, betwixt the Physician and the patiented, betwixt Balaam and his Ass. Study doth not commend a Divine, but a noble man's letter, and an angel is more worth than a preacher. Another reason: it will amend every man's way, Psal. 119. 9 Let therefore the word of God dwell ● among us plentifully, Col. 3. 16. and let us exercise the scriptures from our childhood, 2. Tim. 3. 15. that so we may have God in ourselves, religion in our hearts, and holiness in our lives, that our ancients may teach better, our youth may live better, our children may learn better, that our houses, our hearts, our lives, our fathers, our sons, our daughters, may be blessed. Fourthly, he saith, 4 He will power forth his spirit upon their servants and maidens: who in old time were basely accounted of, especially if they were not of their own nation. From hence we may note that it is the duty of christians Christian's must have religious servants. that live in these times, since this Gospel was fulfilled, to have care to make their servants religious, Prou. 14. 35. or else to make choice of such when they want. A good christian will be always a good servant, and therefore if thou wouldst have good servants, make them good christians: He is a better servant that liveth well, than he that laboureth well, for think not that he will ever make conscience of thy business, that maketh not conscience of the lords business, Col. 3. 22. The reasons; First, because Reason 1. thou mayest safely give all into his hands, as was in joseph, Gen. 39 8. Again, he may profit thy sons, and 2 do them more good than thou canst, Proverb. 17. 2. Therefore Use 1. let servants be handled like christians, not like slaves, like men, and not like beasts, Levit. 25. 39 They are your brethren, despise them not, 1. Timoth 6. 2. They are the Lords free men, abuse them not, 1 Cor. 7. 22. Command them no evil, offer them no wrong, hinder not their faith, torment not their lives, forsake them not in age, nourish them in sickness; pay them their hire, feed them sufficiently, impair not their credit, revile them not, correct them for evil, commend them for godliness, and be such masters to them, as Christ is to you. Again, let servants 2 make choice of christian masters; not where they may have most wages, but where they may have most instruction; not where they may have most ease, but most information, 1. Timot. 6. 6. You were better eat herbs with a godly master, than a fat ox with a wicked; you were better far hard, and work hard, where your souls may be governed, then far well and work little, where your souls are endangered. Be subject to thy master, 1. Pet. 2. 18. Serve not an Atheist for any money; nor a papist for any meat; nor a neuter for any hire; nor a known hypocrite for any wages: but serve thy master, look to his wealth, tranaile for his profit, misspend not his substance, defend his credit, make much of his children, and pray for his salvation: Care not for ease, spend nothing in riot, carry no tales, keep within the house, and remember God in thy work, that he may remember thee in thy death; for as thou servest, thou shalt be served again. The xxxj. Sermon. Verse. 30. And I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth: blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. 32. But whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved: for in mount Zion and in jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. NOw we are come to the last part, namely, the manifestation of the power of God by great and fearful signs in heaven; and secondly by giving salvation to the faithful. Concerning the great and fearful wonders, much hath already been spoken, and now the less shall suffice. For the interpretation take thus much: That when Christ is come and ascended into heaven, and the world converted from infidelity unto him; then shall appear many extraordinary tokens of the lords power, both in the heavens and in the earth, the lights shall be most fearfully eclipsed, being in show turned into darkness and blood; the air shall be troubled; and many terrible and strange things shall be seen: So that herein is described the constitution and event of all things at the change of the world, when God shall come to take vengeance on his enemies, as it is in the chapter following. I will briefly touch every thing that I purpose to handle in this verse. First, in that he telleth us of these fearful wonders presently to succeed, or rather to accompany the preaching of the Gospel, the pouring forth of the spirit and conversion of the world: we may learn that God will give us temporal calamities with spiritual benefits, Luk. 21. 9 So that there is no marvel that in our times there have been seen so many terrible things in heaven and earth, seeing the Gospel hath been preached unto us; for calamities make us to believe it more willingly, Hos. 5. 15. And if the Gospel be not shadowed Reason in this trouble, and we not overthrown by them; then have we a notable trial of the Lords promise toward us, Luk 21. 18. For as Gedeons' fleece was dry when all the earth about it was wet; so shall we be safe when many shall be cast down. Let us learn to commit our souls unto him, 1. Pet. 4. 19 that although the heavens fall down & the earth Use 1. be removed, the sea be dried, and the light be darkened, yet we may possess our souls, and our souls may possess our Saviour; for it is God that sendeth wonders, & ruleth all signs: the same cloud did lead the Israelites to Canaan that brought other to destruction; & the same signs are for our salvation, which are for other men's condemnation. Secondly, when he saith he will set wonders in 2 heaven, we are taught that God will manifest his wrath before it cometh, Rom. 10. 18. Heaven is in the sight of God showeth his wrath before he doth it. all, and naturally we are inclined to look upward; so that whatsoever we there see, we know it cometh from God; and therefore there are the signs manifested, because every one might see them. The reasons: first, because we Reason 1. may either confess them, or be confounded by them, Isai. 2. 18. Secondly, that the greatest enemies of God may be 2 stilled, Psal. 8. 2. Therefore learn so soon as you see the Use 1. rod to fear him that ordained it, Mich. 6. 9 Again, let us make a good use of the signs that we have already 2 seen, and not try the Lords patience any longer, or tempt the power of God any more, Amos 5. 18. The wicked jews would have had Christ show them a miracle when he was on the cross, and then they would believe him; but yet they were wicked: and so you which desire more tokens of the Lords power, that you may be amended, are still wicked; for if you cannot believe the living word, you shall not believe the dead miracles. Thirdly, when he saith that all these shall come before the great and terrible day of the Lord: we must note, that 3 all the wonders and signs in the air must prepare us to judgement, Isa. 29. 6. Oh how can the Lord change us, when he thus changeth the world; and how doth he provide for our safety, and preach our repentance by all the wonders of heaven and earth? Darkness putteth us in mind of hell; fire putteth us in mind of the latter day; blood putteth us in mind of destruction; smoke doth admonish us of the vanity of our life: the earth would move us to repentance by removing herself; the light would cover our sins in darkness, by withdrawing itself; and the clouds would call us to heaven. Let us learn to fear the power of God more earnestly in his creatures, that if these strange things come upon us, yet we may not forget our Saviour, who shall come in the clouds. But whosoever. Lest we should think that these troubles should overturn and overcome all in the world, when there shall be no light but darkness; no peace but thunders; no comfort but fires, nor any appearance but wrath and judgement: the prophet in these words telleth them, that then even in those most desperate miseries, God would remember to hear the prayers of his children; for the godly cannot choose but fear mightily, when they should see all the world in an uproar, and heaven and earth roaring to their destruction. Whereby I might note, that good men must endure the fear of those evils which shall come on the world, Isa. 33. 4. because they love their life too much, Psal. 119. 108. and because their whole life must be mortified and mangled with many sorrows, Rom. 8. 36. yet let us not so fear that we despair, how near soever we seem to destruction, Isa. 41. 14. but be obedient as Noah was, Heb. 11. 7. though the waters and cries of all the world be as near to us as they were to him. First, when he saith that all that 1 call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: we may note that salvation must be prayed for before we can have it, Heb. 7. 25. Salvation cometh not as honour came on David, which made him a king before he thought on it; but it must come on us as cleanness and health came on Naaman, which he traveled for, and prayed for, and washed for seven times in Iorden before he could be cleansed. And as the poor Canaanitish woman entreated Christ a good while before he would grant; so the Lord looketh that men should entreat for salvation many days, and nights, and times, with many tears, and sighs, and groans, through many sorrows, and cares, and troubles, before they can be saved. The reasons: first, because salvation is the Reason 1. Lords, Psal. 3. 8. and therefore it must be prayed for: secondly, we must be saved by faith: now faith is no faith that prayeth not for grace, Ephes. 2. 8. Therefore as the old fathers searched for salvation, 1. Pet. 1. 19 so do thou; and as the woman did for her money, which never gave over sweeping and seeking till she had found it: in like manner do thou; but follow salvation as Isaac followed Abraham unto the place where he should be sacrificed. Secondly, when he saith that there shall be deliverance in Mount 2 Zion, we may note, that God will evermore have some Some of the jews shall ever be saved. among the people of the jews that shall be saved, Rom. 11. 15, 16, 26. so that, notwithstanding their intolerable hardness of heart, and great obstinacy against the Gospel, yet there are some believers among them, and it may be that there shall be a day, when they shall all believe in the Messiah: and I think verily that this is the very cause why they are reserved alive; for else in consideration of that great villainy offered to our Saviour Christ, with their infidelity, and other notorious sins, they had long ago been destroyed, man, woman and child. Thirdly, the prophet allegeth the proof hereofwhen he saith, (as the 3 Lord hath said) whereby we may note, that the promise of God his promise shall preserve his church. God shall preserve his church in what distress soever it be, Heb. 13. 5. yea when heaven and earth shall be burned, they shall be preserved. The reasons: first, because all the promises of God in him are Yea & Amen, 2. Cor. 1. 18. 20. Reason 1. they are not changeable but constant as it is already declared, because he is mighty that doth his word. Again, 2 life eternal is given by promise, Col. 3. 14. and if the promises never fail in that, no more they can in this. Therefore let us through patience do the will of God, and wait for the promise, Heb. 10. 26. and having once received it, let us fear no evil nor any death, Gen. 32. 9, 10. Fourthly, 4 Few shall be saved. when he saith that salvation shall be to a remnant, and to as many as God shall call: we may note, that but a remant, that is, a very few shall be saved, Luc. 13. 23. The reasons: Reason 1. because of the great hatred of God against sin, Rom. 5. 14. the which hatred shall cause the damnation of many thousands. Secondly, the Lord will make but a short account 2 Use 1. of all the earth, Rom. 9 28. Therefore let every one study to enter, although he know there be but few to be saved, that if it may be, he may be one of those few, Luc. 13. 24. Again, let us know that except the Lord of his great mercy did keep this remnant from the violence of sin 2 and sathan, no not one should or could ever come to life eternal, Isai. 1. 9 Lastly, when he saith, to as many as God shall call: we 5 may note, that we must be called by the gospel before we can be saved in the kingdom, Jude 5. But of these points I have often already spoken in the former treatises, and therefore I may the safer excuse my brevity; and the God of all mercy give a blessing to all. The xxxij. Sermon. Chap. 3. Verse. 1. For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of judah and jerusalem. THis third and last chapter of this Prophet joel, containeth a most lamentable destruction of mankind, namely of those which were the sworn enemies to the church of God: which cannot choose but move a heart of stone, to exceeding sorrow and abundant tears, to consider that so many brave men, stately kings, warlike soldiers, honourable persons, rich possessors, beautiful women, and innocent young children (as it may seem) should be violently driven and drawn unto the slaughter-house of woeful destruction. Oh, how may men forrowe, that they were so borne to be enemies to God, and so live that they hurt themselves; and so shall die as they condemn their souls? for their blood is worse than water, their flesh is viler than dung, their heart is base than the earth, and they were only created that they might be destroyed. In the handling of this chapter we will observe this method: First, the time when the enemies of the church shall be discussed; and secondly the manner. The time is set forth in this verse. to be then when the Lord should bring again the captivity of judah and jerusalem: that is, when he should deliver them from all manner of thraldom. For behold: The prophet after the usual manner of the Scriptures, beginneth the matter with words of demonstration and attention, and so telleth them of this matter, as if it were already in action; bidding them to behold it, as we may see the like Esay 24. 1. & 42. 1. jerem. 51. 1. Matth. 24. 25. By which words we may note, By the word we behold what is to come after us. the word of God in prophets and preachers must teach us to consider, as well the things that are to come, as those that are present, 2. Cor. 4. 18. We look not (saith the Apostle) on the things that are seen, but on the things that are not seen. The voice of the lords word must not be like the stroke of the musician, which only affecteth a man while he heareth the sound: but it must be like a physicians potion which worketh in the body many days after it is taken. But what do I talk of days? as jonathan loved David when he neither saw him nor heard him, so must we love the word of God and think thereon, when we neither see it nor hear it. The ox careth for the prick which presently goreth him, but yet he never thinketh on the slaughter which is coming; the child feareth the rod which he seethe, but thinketh not on it when it is hidden; the sheep windeth from the storm when it bloweth, but in calmer times it never remembreth: but God which hath made us more excellent than oxen and sheep, and willeth us to be more wise than children, hath given his word that we may know and fear the things that are to come. So that in this sort thou must persuade thyself; if thou hear the preacher tell of any plague, then think with thyself that thou now beholdest it a far off: & therefore it will certainly come. Believe the Lord and his prophets, said jehoshaphat, and you shall prosper: but alas, our dull hearted hearers will believe no more than they see; will fear no more than they feel; nor be righteous any longer than they are in affliction: Death is far off, they care not for it; and the day of judgement will be God knoweth when, and therefore if their time be so long, they think it will be never. Oh wretches! behold presently before your eyes, how the Lord cometh, how the sword wasteth, how the blood runneth, how vengeance increaseth, how Christ condemneth, and all things are overturned. If thou canst so behold the coming miseries, and with tears lament them, as if they were present, thou shalt likewise by the word of God so behold the coming joys of another life, & with heart rejoice, as if now thou enjoyedst them: Therefore behold judgement, and terror, and thunder, and fire and the overthrow of all things, which one day shall be, that thou mayest fear thy proud and sinful nature, and so behold mercy, the resurrection, the life to come, the face of God, and the fellowship of Angels, that thou mayest quietly repose thy soul in the sweet profession of the lords Gospel. The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because they Reason 1. are base minded, if not beastly affected, which only look to the temporal things that they see, and not to the heavenly and eternal things, which they see not, as the Apostle in the beforenamed place saith; and therefore it is far more honourable that thou shouldest believe the things that are to come when we hear them in the word, than the things that are past and present which our eyes behold. Again, our Saviour saith, Marc. 9 23. that all 2 things are possible to him that believeth, which is verified in nothing more than in this: when we give up our whole hearts to the things that are preached, and daily wait when they shall be performed. And if all things be possible, then is salvation and the joys of heaven possible for thee if thou canst believe them, and so live as thou mayest obtain them. The uses which we are to make of this Use 1. doctrine are these: first, seeing we must be instructed by the word of God to behold the things that are to come, as if they were present; then let us evermore be faithful: the which thing the Apostle teacheth us, when he saith, that we stand by faith, Rom. 9 23. so that as our bodies stand upon our legs, so our souls stand upon our faith. And if this be so; how many lame souls are there in the world? nay, they are not lame that never had legs, but those that had them, yet are they monsters; and such monsters are faithless and infidel men. If thy legs be sick, thou wilt go to thy surgeon; and if thy faith be sick, go to thy Saviour: what comfort hast thou of the world, if thou canst not walk in the world; and what joy hath thy soul if it have no faith to walk in the scriptures? Stand by faith and fall not, believe sound and strongly; bring not a wooden leg, I mean a wooden faith, such as men can make, but a true and substantial faith, which the Lord only giveth. Let not any thing move thee, for all things are possible to the believer: though the earth remove, be not thou afraid; though the heavens pass, yet the world shall not pass: believe all things; say not this will be long, or that will be late, or the other is doubtful, or God is merciful, his mind may alter, or the preachers are but men, they may be deceived, or the judgements be conditional, they may be reversed; or the promises be uncertain, they may be recalled. Oh beware of an infidel heart, Heb. 3. 12. and 2 depart not from the living God: Moses because he did but once distrust God, he could not enter into the land of Canaan; the governor that would not believe the prophet was trod to pieces; the princes which would not believe jeremy were slain by the Babylonians; and the souls which will not believe the preachers, shall be overcome by devils. Oh consider how fearful a thing it will be for you to say as the jews, Ezech. 33. v. vlt. surely there was a prophet among us. Therefore as the husbandman looketh to the harvest in the winter when the corn appeareth not; as the servant thinketh on his wages long before it cometh; as the bird thinketh on her young ones long before she breedeth; and the builder thinketh on his dwelling long before it be finished: so do you think on the joys and woes which shall be long before they come. And account yourselves the happiest men alive whom God warneth with his own word, that you may avoid the day of destruction: for if you lived not under the check of the gospel and the controlment of preachers, you might go as other barbarous nations do blindfolded, that is, unwitting and unknowing, to the slaughter of your bodies, & the butchery of your souls. Surely the Lord doth nothing but he revealeth the same to his servants the prophets; and therefore blessed are they that live among them; but more blessed are they which hear them, believe them, love them, receive them, & regard them, because God hath sent them. Secondly, in this verse. we may observe when he saith, In 2 Redemption must be certainly known. those days and in that time: that God will have the redemption and delivery of his saints, and church to be most certain and known; for upon this occasion doth the prophet double the note of the time, as it were noting both the day and the month: So as once he told Abraham that his seed should be a stranger in another land four hundred and thirty years, and no longer; to show unto him, that they should be assuredly delivered: So doth he here by this prophet (though not so precisely) note the assurance of their redemption. The reasons Reason 1. of this doctrine are these; First, because we are not redeemed with any temporal, worldly, or earthly price, but by and with the most precious blood of Christ jesus, 1. Pet. 1. 18. Again, another reason is, because as the Apostle 2 Use 1. saith, 1. Timoth. 2. 6. that this was done in due time. The uses which come of this doctrine are these; First, seeing the Lord will have the redemption of his people to be sealed and certainly known; then let us look for that time, and that day, when Christ shall finally deliver us from the wrath to come, 1. Thess. 1. 10. What should make good men to fear the latter day? their redemption is certain, the Lord is their Saviour, the Saviour is their head, their head is their brother, and until Christ come they are subject to wrath, but when he is come they are delivered from death. Again, let us receive any pledge or token of 2 the lords love and favour toward us, which is shed in our hearts by the holy Ghost, Rom. 5. 5. and seeing this is it, that we are certainly redeemed, and our soul's health is not builded upon peradventures, but it is surely established, then let us certainly persuade ourselves that God loveth us with an everlasting love. What will he keep from us? that giveth us his own son, and will kill him to acquit us? If this persuade us not to be penitent, and to love God again; then is not the love of God, nor the blood of Christ sprinkled in our hearts. Naaman would have given to Elisha many thousand pounds, because the water of Iorden had cleansed his leprosy; what would he have given if Elisha had cured him by medicine? But Christ hath cured our souls and bodies by the river of his own blood, and by the loss of his own life; then are we worthy to give heart for heart, blood for blood, body for body, eye for eye, and life for life to him again. Shall bring again the captivity. The prophet under the name of 3 captivity doth understand all the miseries of the people of God; for in captivity there is a concurrence or consent of all manner of evils. For in truth, if there be any estate lamentable in the world, it is the estate of a captive: He shall live a common slave, he shall ever be abridged of liberty; he shall wear the coarsest; he shall eat the basest; he shall lie the hardest; he shall labour the sorest; and he shall live the unhappiest: His correction shall be fit for a beast then a man; his pity shall be nothing; if he be sick, he shall have no attendance; and in this he is worse than any prisoner, for he must not beg for necessity, but either live with little, or else starve: and the prisoner knoweth, that the judge only hath authority to take away his life; but a captives life is in every man's hand. So that when we read of the captivity of judah and jerusalem, we must understand an intolerable mischief to be fallen upon them. For their country was all spoiled, their goodly houses were razed to the earth; their streets ran with blood of men, their women, wives and virgins were most shamefully abused; they were carried from their own country, kindred and acquaintance; they were sold like beasts, they were killed like sheep, they were kept like dogs, and they lived to see their children sold away into other countries, whose sweet faces they should never see again. Oh, that we in England could think with ourselves what was the cause, why God did so lamentably give over his people to be racked and ruled by others, which was the contempt of his word: and we may greatly fear the like punishment for the same sin among us! Oh, my heart bleedeth to think what will be the estate of many, if a captivity should come, their goods which they would not give to the poor, shall be taken by the enemy; the fire shall consume their houses; the sword shall destroy their lives; the lust of men shall defile their gallant proud dames: and peradventure their tender babes and gentle posterity shall be sold to be some gallislaves, some kitchin-boys, some to draw the plough instead of oxen, with their backs bare for the scourge; some to be slain before their eyes, & many to be committed to the beasts, to the waters, to the heathens, & to the infidels to be new nurtured in paganism. O Lord keep this day from England. But he telleth them that the Lord would deliver them out of this captivity before they were in it, as God told Abraham of the delivery of his seed, before he had any seed. By which we may observe, that God doth think upon our deliverance & redemption, before we be in misery. O God determineth the end of good men's trouble before trouble. unspeakable mercy of God which had so in his everlasting decree appointed, that his son should redeem us before the world was made: yea, before there was any to be redeemed. He doth not make thee sick, but first he hath made thee a medicine; he doth not take away thy children or thy goods, but first he thinketh a way how to restore them again; he doth not stir thee up any enemy, but he hath appointed thee another friend: and as at the beginning he made every tree, and plant, and herb, and fruit, before he made either man or beast which should eat them; so he continually provideth meat before hunger, ease before danger, light before darkness, and joy before sorrow, as joseph of Arimathea which made his tomb before he was dead. The reasons hereof are these: First, because he will not have his church to be in desperation of deliverance, Reason 1. Isa. 10. 30. for our afflictions are called our burdens: now a burden is appointed to be taken off before it be laid on, and so our miseries are appointed to be taken from us before they be cast upon us; for the rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the backs of the righteous: And therefore let none cast in our teeth the misery of a christian which seemeth to be borne for misery; but rather christians are borne for immortality; for our short enduring calamities are nothing worthy the glory which shall be heaped upon us. Another reason is, because that this is a 2 token of the Lords just judgement, 2. Thess. 1. 6, 7. The Lord which every way doth show his mercy, will also declare the same in the chastising of his children: and therefore as in justice he doth wound them for their sins; so in justice he first provideth for their safety, whereby we may know a singular comfort for them which are troubled in conscience, and let them not much trouble themselves to seek for the means of their ease: for as Abraham did bind Isaac to be sacrificed, so he did unbind him again; and in like sort as God hath troubled thy soul, so he will give it ease again. The uses which we may make of Use 1. this doctrine are these: First, letus never despair for any miseries whatsoever, but still hope, Isa. 40. 2. for the Lord hath already numbered the days of thy life, and of thy sorrow, and of thy pain, and of thy affliction; therefore never care, for it will one day be ended. Oh, but thou wilt say, it will be ended, but it will be long first; therefore I fear I shall faint in suffering: but how canst thou tell? it will be long: hath the Lord told thee so? then abide his pleasure, although it be to thy pain: hath he not told thee so? then make not thy affliction longer or greater: God which made the oaks subject to the greatest winds, hath given them the largest and deepest roots to stay them up withal: And if God do tempt thee with long calamity, O happy man art thou, for he tempteth none above their power: and if God load thy days with sickness, or poverty, or losses, or pains, or wounds, or infamy, or servitude; yet know thou shalt be able to abide it, if God have sent it. Another 2 use is, that under our afflictions we rejoice in hope, Rom. 12. 12. for what greater persuasion can we have to move us hereunto then this, that the Lord hath already determined the continuance thereof? Rejoice therefore that thou art like unto Christ, though thou be unlike to thyself: Know, that there is no darkness, but it flieth from the sun; there is no poison, but it yieldeth unto medicine; there is no winter, but it is removed by summer; and therefore there shall never come unto thee any such misery, but it shall be taken from thee. But some will say, we may endure our adversity, but we cannot rejoice in the company thereof: how shall we whet our hope and rejoice under tribulation? My dear brethren, if you can bear it patiently you may easily rejoice therein; for there is not required laughter to this joy: but the inward peace of your soul, whereby you may know it shall turn to your good; and this you may have although you lament with tears: therefore pluck up your sorrowful minds, and put away your mourning garments, for the time is at hand, that your easeles days shall be turned into painless rest, and your careful prayers into the joyful possession of life and glory, and angels and saints, and God and Christ for evermore. The xxxiij. Sermon. Verse. 2. I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for mine heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. Having handled the time when the destruction of the church's enemies should be, which was, when they were delivered from their captivity: now it followeth, that we pursue the manner of their destruction in this and in the verse following: and for our more orderly proceeding, we will first handle the causes of the Lords judgement upon them, and secondly the execution thereof: the causes expressed vers. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And first, before the causes the prophet noteth these two things, their assembly and the place thereof: their assembly in these words, I will also gather, etc. the place he calleth the valley of jehoshaphat. When he saith that he will gather all nations, he doth give The infinite power of God can at one time assemble the whole world. us to understand his infinite power, that he can easily bring the whole world together: Psal. 50. 2, 3. David saith that he calleth them from the rising of the sun, unto the setting thereof; that as he could and did at the beginning create the whole world in one man: so can he at the latter end, bring them all together again as one man. How can the thief escape him, by riding? or the whoremonger, by keeping in a secret chamber? or the swearer, by creeping into a prince's court? or a king, by lying in his strongest hold? but as he brought all creatures to Adam that he might name them, and seven of every clean beast to Noah that he might save them; so will he bring all the world before his son, that he may judge them. The reasons are these: first, because he doth it by his angels, Reason 1. Matt. 24. 31. who are of infinite power and wisdom, and celerity, and diligence. One angel is stronger than all men, as appeareth by that angel which killed of Saneheribs' army in one night, an hundred fourscore and five thousand, Isa. 37. 36. yet for all this power, we must not fear or worship the angels; for they are but our fellow servants, but rather let us fear the creator of the angels: for if he have given so much glory to his angels, oh how much hath he kept to himself? and if he maketh them flames of fire, himself must needs be a consuming furnace. Another 2 reason is this: because all the world do live and move and have their being in him, Act. 17. 28. and therefore he may as easily bring every one to judgement, as a man may lay his left hand in his right. Oh how might this terrify a great sort! which living in God, yet deny God, as Absalon which would depose his own father to make himself king. The uses which we may make hereof are these: Use 1. first, that we avoid not, and do not fly from the presence of God, as jonah did, jon. 1. 3. for the Lord will bring us again, as he did him. Whither wilt thou go from the Allseeing spirit of God? oh fly not from him; for there is no heaven so high, but he is higher; nor any earth so deep, but he is deeper; nor any world so wide, but he is larger; nor any place so secret, but he can find it out. Abide in his temple, for there is his presence; and in his church, for there he dwelleth. Look to him above, look on him beneath, look for him in the morning, and run to him in the evening. Go not out of the congregation, for than thou runnest from him, but abide the lords leisure for evermore. But how might I complain on them that run away from God? some run from the faith; some from the sermon; some from our prayers; some from our company; and some are gadding abroad in strange, popish, and paganish countries; some go to taverns, when they should go to churches; some to exercise of pleasure; some are riding in the fields, when they should be praying in the congregations; and some are at the bearbaiting or play houses, when they should serve the Lord: oh monstrous times that ever men lived in! and they account themselves happy, that never come where any goodness is. If God correct them, they are desperate; if the law would punish them, they are obstinate; if the preacher rebuke them, they are almost malice-mad. What do these men, but fly from the presence of God? for they will not go to him, they will not pray to him, they will not live with him, they will not tarry for him, they will not see him, they will not hear him, but they shall surely feel him. Although Tzedechiah would not abide the Babylonians but fled away by night; yet they overtook him, and brought him back to their captain, who put out his eyes, and led him in chains to Babylon: so although you fly from the Lord, yet he shall follow and gather you, be your company never so great, and deprive you of your best estate, and lead you in chains to the devils in hell: They are separated from God; but you are worse than devils, for you separate yourselves from God; yet be assured, you shall shortly try, that it were better for you to follow Christ into the sea, as Peter did, then to forsake him on the land, as judas did. Into the valley of jehoshaphat. These words contain the place where the nations should be gathered together: the which I take not to be any special place, much less the valley of Engedi, 2. Chron. 20. 2. where jehoshaphat by the help of God destroyed the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites; but rather by allusion to that place and battle, he showeth what slaughter he would make of his enemies. But this word jehoshaphat, may be taken as well appellatively as properly, & so it signifieth the judgement of God: and therefore the valley of jehoshaphat shall signify the place of God his judgement, as afterward the valley of threshing shall signify the execution thereof. By the former words and by these we will observe, that the wicked shall be drawn to judgement whether they will The wicked shall be unwillingly drawn to judgement. or not, Luke 23. 30. for God will gather them into the valley of judgement: As there is no force in the corn to resist the reaper, so shall there be no resistance in the wicked to avoid judgement. And this thing of all other may mightily a stonish all deceitful and infidel hearts, which cannot abide to hear of judgement; yet they shall be compelled to come to judgement. How desperate is their estate, when their conscience shall be more against them then all the world, and their helps of nature shall give them over; and they left destitute of all hope, shall be delivered into the hand of devils: and surely they which scorn the company of God his saints on the earth, are worthy to be torn by the teeth and claws of devils in hell. But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand, and to think with thyself how thou shalt see an infinite company of Angels driving thee to judgement, and then presently all the devils in hell haling thee to damnation? Be willing therefore to come to God in earth, that thou mayest be desirous to go to God in heaven: for be assured, that if thou fear judgement, and wishest it might never be, thou art in a pitiful case, for thy conscience doth already condemn thee; and if thou despise judgement, and watch not for it, thou art more reckless, for thou resistest God: but if thou cry for the last day, and say, Come Lord jesus, come quickly, thou art a happy man; for the Lord is in thee, Christ hath cleansed thee, sin is dying in thee, thou lovest God his kingdom, and therefore thou shalt possess his kingdom. Oh, that we could willingly submit our hearts to the Gospel, and then should we not unwillingly offer our souls to judgement! The reasons Reason 1. of this doctrine are these: First, because they shall be compelled by the power of God, Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feel the power of God in saving them, shall feel it in condemning them: and therefore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yield to Moses and Aaron; and made Sisera to yield to Deborah; and made Goliath to yield to David; and made the temple to rend a sunder when Christ was crucified, and the sun to lose her light, shall compel the wicked to the judgement seat of God. Another reason is; because their hope for help or mercy 2 or pardon is but in vain, Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they would escape, yet their hope shall deceive them: as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victory, when in the end it turned to their own overthrow. I do but briefly touch these things, because I have handled them more at large already. The uses which Use 1. arise from hence are these; First, that we come willingly to the throne of grace, Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be unwillingly drawn to the throne of wrath. Come to all godly exercises joyfully; hear the Gospel diligently; read the scriptures zealously; love the godly tenderly; and pray to the Lord comfortably: and then shalt thou come to grace, not to wrath; to glory, not to shame; to life, not to death; to heaven, not to hell. Make no excuses for thy absence, admit no delays for thy hindrance, suffer no temptations for thy allurement; and let not the wife of thy youth keep thee from prayer, and the throne of grace. Fear God more than love the world; hate evil more than love thy wife: Say unto all cumbrancers, away from me, for I will keep the Gospel of my God: I had rather lose my finger than my hand; my hair than my head; my body than my soul, my friends than my God. I will fear the Lord before wrath, that I may rejoice in judgement. Again, let us learn to acknowledge and persuade ourselves of this terror of God, 2 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except we consider before hand how the heavens shall be consumed, how the earth shall be burned, how the world shall be ended, and how the Lord shall be manifested the Gospel; will be but a weak word, and an idle tale unto us: But if thou canst believe the last judgement, and with the eye of faith behold it a far off, and tremble at the secret meditation thereof, than thou mayest easily feel the power of life unto life, and happily forsake the sentence of death. Therefore evermore remember judgement at thy feast, in thy bed, on thy table, in the morning, at thy labour, before thy sleep, and with thy friends, that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth, which shall wail and lament before the coming of Christ, Revel. 1. 7. There will I plead with them. Having finished the gathering together of the wicked into the place of judgement; now it remaineth that we go on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord here openeth, as pleaders do in their courts at the law: and therefore he saith, that he will plead with them for his people, alluding to the manner of worldly judgements: so that here we may see that the Lord is both judge & counsellor for his church, which may greatly comfort us, and discomfort our enemies: for the Lord who is to tally for us, and eagerly against them, hath the whole law in his own hand. But in this that he saith, All sins shall be opened in judgement. he will plead with them, we may note that God will open all the sins of the wicked in judgement, Eccles. 11. 9 For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their adversary, or the cause against which they speak: yea, they will suspect those things which they cannot gainsay, and condemn those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish. In like sort, the Lord when he shall draw thee to judgement, will there open all thy life, and tell thy secret whoredom, thy hidden theft, thy often blasphemies, thy idle words, thy vain expenses, thy proud gestures, thy idle worship, thy friend-pleasing vanity, and all thy hypocrisy. Thy charity, he will defame with vainglory; thy prayers, he will account abomination; thy fasting, he will call dissembling, and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering virtue: All this will he bring to judgement; he will prove it by thy conscience; he will condemn it by his Gospel; and he will punish it by condemnation: oh, then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that all may know them, and thy privy doings blown with a trumpet that all may hear them, and thy forsworn sins opened by a crier, that all may loathe them. Oh wretched wretches! which had rather abide this judgement of God, then that which is in this life: but if thou have any means to persuade thy soul unto goodness, or to terrify thy flesh from evil; let this help it forward, that God shall open all thy faults at the day of judgement, and discredit all thy virtues be they never so many, or never so glorious. Think not that thy good deeds shall overcome thy evil, but as one blemish disfigureth a whole body; so one sin will disgrace a whole body of virtues. The reasons of this doctrine are these, because the counsel of every heart shall Reason 1. then be manifested, whether it be good or evil, 1. Cor. 4, 5. and if the counsels of men be opened, much more their sins. Another reason is, because they are remembered before God, Revel. 20. 12. and if all the sins of the 2 wicked be in the Lords continual sight and remembrance, then shall they not be forgotten or covered when the number shall be rehearsed. And surely me thinks that the conscience of this matter should mightily terrify our natures from sin, seeing that all our offences are continually in the Lord's memory. Some think that because the time is long since they committed adultery, or sacrilege, or theft, or drunkenness, or idolatry; now God hath forgotten it, and it shall never more be laid to their charge. But they must know that a thousand years, are with the Lord as one day, seeing that is passed as a watch in the night: and therefore the Lord doth as well remember their old committed sins, as a watchman remembreth who came by him in the night; their childish vanity, their youthful wantonness, their sinful sporting, their filthy resting, their babish trifling, and their merry pastimes are fresh before the Lord, 1. Sam. 15. 1, 2, 3. The Lord telleth Samuel that he remembreth what Amalek did to Israel, Exod. 17. how he was the first that bid them to battle after they came out of Egypt: and therefore commandeth Saul to destroy them man, woman, and child. This was many hundred years after the act committed, and the injury offered; yet God thinketh upon it, although they had been already well punished for it. And so doth he remember, how thou hast oppressed the poor long ago, how many acres thou hast encroached, how many pounds thou hast gathered by usury, how many men's cattle thou hast bought by extortion; and finally how often in thy younger days thou were negligent to sanctify the sabbaoth. If thy sins might fall from thy life, as thy teeth in age do fall from thy mouth, thou were happy; or if thy life could be changed into holiness, as thy old years turn thy black hair into whiteness, blessed were thou: but alas thy strength faileth, thy beauty fadeth, thy life weareth, thy hand weakeneth, thy blood drieth, thy head changeth, and thy whole body stoopeth to the earth; yet thy wickedness remaineth untouched and unblasted, as the ivy which is thickest and greenest, when it hath killed and withered the great oak. The use which cometh Use. of this doctrine is the same that the most wise preacher that ever was taught us, Eccles. 12. 13. That seeing God would bring every secret work into judgement, therefore fear him and keep his commandments. How many ways we are taught to fear the Lord appeareth in the former sermons; and therefore it were needless to urge this exhortation any farther in this place. But if we consider that if it be such a shame to endure the speeches of friends and enemies in this life for the faults we have committed; how much more ought we to blush before the Lord with all the angels of heaven, and all the men that ever were, are, or shall be in the world, when at the latter day our faults shall be opened; when every one shall hiss at our filthiness, and laugh at our wickedness. Oh confess thyself to a few in this world, rather than defer to be revealed before all in the end of the world. Think not that thy own estate will be any thing more tolerable, because all other men shall have their faults also ripped up and repeated; for the more the worse, a judge will be more easily entreated for one then for twenty, and therefore God will be less partial, because so many shall be found guilty: fear not shame, but death; abstain not from sin for the worlds sake, but for the Lords sake; and let not other men's voices more appal thee, than the sentence of God. It hath been heretofore and shall be hereafter more manifestly showed, that God doth no more spare a multitude then a man, or many than one: and therefore never flatter thyself in the matter, but only use the time and these admonitions, that God may forget thy sins, and then they shall be forgiven thee; and if they be forgiven, they shall not be opened, but silenced at the latter day. For although we shall then hear of the murder that Cain did; of the mocking that Ishmael did; of the filthiness that Er and Onan did; of the rebellion of Absalon, and the treason of judas: yet we shall not hear of Noah's drunkenness, or Lot's incest, or joseph's oath, or Moses unfaithfulness, or David's adultery, or Peter's denial, or of any of the faults of the elect; for their sins shall remain in the grave, when their bodies are raised up to the joy of another life. The xxxiiij. Sermon. FOr my people. In these words we may observe, that God will judge the world for the injuries done to his church, and for nothing more, Psal. 9 17. for he will God will adjudge the injuries done to his church. then open the counsels thou hast conceived against the godly, how many stripes thou hast given them; how many times thou hast reviled them; how many ways thou hast oppressed them; how often thou hast imprisoned them; and how many thou hast murdered of them. He will ask thy poor neighbour how thou didst relieve him; how often thou didst lend him; how much usury thou tookest of him; how many times thou didst harbour him; and with what affection of heart thou didst embrace him. I grant that he will open thy other sins, and condemn thee for them: but yet the special cause why he sitteth in judgement at the latter day with all the world before him, is, that he may make inquisition for the blood of his saints, and justify his children whom the world condemned. The reasons are, First because he is the life of the faithful, Col. 3. 4. Secondly, because this doth show his righteousness, Reason 1. 2 2. Thess. 1. 6, 7. when he doth acquit the faultless, and condemn the guilty. The uses which we may make Use 1. thereof are these: First, that we never grieve any of the saints of God, Psal. 105. 15. when jehu was to kill all the prophets of Baal, he bade them search diligently for the servants of God, and be sure that there were not one among them to be hurt. This care ought men to have of the least and basest in the church, that they provoke them not to complain upon them to the Lord: for surely if the poorest member of Christ that liveth among us, do justly complain of the greatest Lord and potentate of the world, unto the God of heaven; it were better for that Lord that a millstone were tied about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. Again, seeing it is so dangerous to offer any violence to any of the Lords children, let us abide in the Lord jesus, joh. 2. 28. and then will he revenge our cause; for he cannot forget his own stripes, and for his sake are we buffeted & disdained, and mocked, and reviled, & persecuted, & martyred: and therefore by him shall we be defended, & revenged upon them. If we be of the Lords body, we cannot hurt the Lords members: & therefore they which persecute the church & speak evil of the poor, are none of the Lords family. Whom they have scattered among the nations. We have already showed that one principal part of a captivity was the scattering and dispersing abroad of the people into many countries, where they should never gather strength or hope to return home again. This is the first cause why the wicked are thus judged, because they scattered abroad the seed of jacob, that it might die and never grow; for so is the meaning of the word: Whereby we may observe, that the wicked are nearest to destruction Wicked men in their greatest joy nearest to hell. when they most of all triumph over the godly, as here we may see the first cause of their condemnation is the scattering of Israel. So the Lord affirmeth by the prophet, Esay 49. 25. that when the mighty were at the pray, and the tyrant at the spoil; then will the Lord come and spoil them, but deliver his children. The lion and the Bear that David slew might have escaped with prey and life, if they had not meddled with David's lambs: and so the wicked might escape damnation if they could refrain from biting of the lords sheep. But seeing then they are at the brim of destruction, when they are in the highest of their mischief; O unhappy men which die as soon as they conceive pleasure. The reasons of this doctrine are these, Reason 1. First, because they help to aggravate the evil upon the poor saints of God, Zech. 1. 15. I did it a little, saith the Lord, but thou didst it much more: so they make our faults greater than they are, and give us more stripes than God hath appointed them; therefore doth the Lord so suddenly destroy them. Beware how thou accuse a good man, although thou do it justly, for if thou make it any thing more, it shall redound to thy own danger. Again, when the poor and good men are most oppressed by the 2 wicked, than the Lord ariseth to hear their cry, Psal. 12. 5. and when he ariseth he cometh with all wrath to recompense the injury. And as already I have warned, so I must again and again, make not a good man complain on thee to God, for thy oppression; for the Lord hath more delight to revenge the cause of one that is helpless and friendless, then of ten thousand that are able to defend their own business; and in my choice, I had rather be unjustly accused of treason to my prince, then by a godly man, to be justly complained for injury unto God. The uses of this doctrine are these; First, that we comfort ourselves in the destruction of the wicked, isaiah 62. 1. For although Use 1. we are not to rejoice at their overthrow for our own sakes, yet for the lords cause, by whom they are overturned, we may lawfully and joyfully be comforted for their end. For God doth then take them when they are in their deepest mischief, and when they purpose to execute their most deadly malice. None can know it but God, because none should have the praise for their overthrow but God. Therefore it is a vile thing for any to lament the loss of wicked men the enemies of God; for their life is not to be desired, that live not for the benefit of the lords household. Although David lamented Saul and Absalon, yet that maketh not against this doctrine; for David lamented Saul because he had undone himself, and lost the glory of the field: and Absalon, because so kind a father could not choose but be moved for the utter condemnation of the fruit of his loins. But this is most lamentable that even in our days there are yet some that lament the overthrow of God his enemies the Pope and Spanish forces, and it grieveth them that so many cardinals and mitred fathers, so many abbots, and shaveling friars are clean driven out of England; whereas, if these had continued, the Gospel of Christ must have been banished: As well might Moses and all Israel lament the overthrow of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the sea (which they rejoiced at) as these lament the overthrow of papists and popery, for which they should be thankful: and I pray God give us shortly as good cause to rejoice against all Atheists and idolaters. Another use is this, that wicked 2 men learn to know their own danger; for woe be unto them that laugh, for they shall lament, Luke 6. 25. Bless not thyself when every one honoureth thee as they did Haman, for presently he fell to the gallows: Exalt not thyself because others praise thee, as they did Herod; for by and by he was devoured of worms: fret not thyself because others deserve better than thou, as did Saul with David, for he fell into a lunacy: follow not any man nor any cause with a desire to oppress as Saneherib did, for the Angels of God destroyed his host, and his own sons made an end of his life. And parted my land. Another point of a captivity is the taking away of the land from the possessors thereof; for we must not think that if the Lord should suffer an invasion, that men should escape with a tribute, but rather their houses and lands should be distributed to strangers: Their demesnes, their freeholdes, their manors, their copieholds, their rents, their knights-fees, and all other their possessions shall be quite and clean taken from them, which the conquerors challenge by law of arms. But this is worthy to be noted, that notwithstanding this law of arms, God allegeth this parting of the land, and dispossessing the ancient inheritors thereof, to be one cause why the wicked should be judged: they won it in deed, but yet they are called to an account for it. By which we may observe, that it is not lawful in wars so to triumph over the godly and their possessions, as it is over other men, Tzeph. 2. 8, 9 although the king of Syria had triumphed against Amath, Sepharuaim, jua, and many other countries No lawful triumph over the godly in war. and kingdoms, and cities; yet when once he came to touch jerusalem, and to rail upon Ezechiah, he and all his host were quickly dispatched: and in like sort when the wicked come to deal tyrannously with the church of God, and put them to extremities, then doth the Lord take their cause into his own hand. The Spaniards boast of wonderful countries, which they have conquered among the silly heathen and barbarous Indians; which may well be so, but what have they gotten in these parts of the world, which are the beloved jerusalem of the Lord? surely nothing but blows; for here they lose more men at the siege of a town, then there in the conquest of a country: and therefore they may teach us that such barbarous cruelty as they have used among the Indians, and such tyranny as they would have practised in the Lowe-countries, must not be offered to any Christian nations: but rather as David was glad that Absalon his son had lost the field, yet was he sorry that he was slain; so must we rejoice if God give a Christian enemy into our hand, and yet be sorry if any blood beshed, or any violence be executed in his overthrow. But I know some will say, how shall we war against the papists? may we not triumph with all manner of warlike and lawful joy at their overthrow, as we would do against heathens? Surely I answer, we may so war with them as with idolaters, not with heathens, and so to triumph in their conquest as judah was wont against Israel, that is, being provoked by them, to try it to the uttermost, and to spare no person that is an adversary; yet to suffer the remnants to enjoy their country, if they will embrace the truth and forsake idolatry. The reasons of Reason 1. this doctrine are these: first, because as men spoil the godly, so shall they be spoiled again, jer. 30. 16. Again, 2 good men are at peace in the land, and therefore it were cruelty to rage against the peaceable. And therefore make this account that God will revenge the injury offered to his people, upon the children and children's children of them that were the workers thereof, Isa. 13. 16. As David commanded Solomon, that he should not suffer the hoar head of joab to go into the grave in peace, because he had slain two men more righteous than himself in the time of peace; so God will not suffer them to come in peace to their graves, that have had any hand against the righteous of the world. Learn therefore as the Prophet exhorteth, Use. jerem 39 12. that in wars or in any common slaughter, thou ever use gentleness to them that thou shalt know have lived godly: And therefore in all the wars betwixt judah and Israel, you shall never read of a priest or prophet of the Lord to be slain, but they were slain in the time of peace, when men were weary of the word of God. Be a valiant soldier; but be also a merciful christian, if any yield himself, then give not his life to thy sword. Remember that glory doth not only dwell in fight and killing, but in overcoming; and if thou overcome by any means or stratagems, thy conquest is never the less. Spare them that pray for thee, for all christians pray one for another: and as the King of Syria fought no more after he had overcome Ahab, but let all Israel go home in peace; so after thou hast overcome the principal actors and procurers of the war, then let the residue go scotfree. Think also that the wars are mutable; and if they give thee victory at one time, yet they may let thee be conquered at another time; and therefore so spare as thou wouldst be spared: and as Abner would have persuaded Asahel, joabs brother to departed from him, because he should slay him, and then would joah be wroth with him: so if words may pacify thy enemy, rather use them then weapons. And as I would have thee deal in wars; so thou must deal in peace, that thou take not every advantage against thy brother, but spare him, when thou hast him in thy hand, whether it be in combat, or in suit at the law, or in complaint before a magistrate, or in any extremity. Do thou nothing against him, but let the law do all; rather silence some bitter things, then invent any new occasions of strife, and to the uttermost of thy endeavour, labour to buy peace although it cost thee dearly, for whether thou win or lose, thou shalt be polluted by trouble. The xxxv. Sermon. ANd they have cast lots. This is another cause why the Lord doth enter into so sharp a judgement against the wicked, and that is as you see because they used them most vilely; and not only them, but the holy ordinance of God, which is casting of lots: So that they as it were played at dice for the people of God, they cared not who won them, nor how they grieved them; for it could not choose but offend them to see the lottery made upon them; which God had appointed for another use. But in this that they cast lots for the people of God, and the lot being the very ordinance of God, not to be used in sport or pastime: we may note that evil and ignorant men do profane and abuse every thing, yea Evil men make good things evil. though in itself it be never so good, Tit. 1. 15. To evil men and defiled, all things (saith the Apostle) are polluted: their tongues are adders spears, their lips are instruments of guile, their hands work iniquity, and their feet run to evil, and shed blood: and if they thus abuse their natural parts, what will they do with the spiritual benefits? Oh, it grieveth my heart to tell you! for their prayers they use to curse and ban them with whom they are angry; their knowledge they abuse to beguile and deceive the simple and unstable souls; they will have the Scriptures to cover their profaneness; and when they be espied, they say they can approve their sins by holy warrant. Oh, damnable blasphemy! they use their wits to cavil, their wealth to oppress; their strength to steal; their friends to bolster out their offences; and their natural wisdom to maintain their unnatural blasphemy; they are hungry, to be gluttons; they are thirsty, to be drunkards; they are clothed, to be proud; they are honoured, to be disdainful; & they are well borne, that they may live ill uncontrolled: with a thousand such like enormities, which we may find in the continual practice of the wicked: they abuse their marriage for lust; their children for covetousness; their offices for bribing; their ministery for reprehension; their law for delay of truth; the day for open evil; and the night for secret shame. If a good man fall into their hands they will use him scurrilously, the holy word of God either they despise or wrest damnably, the ordinances of God they profane wickedly, and the society of men they dishonour shamefully; and yet still they live, and still shall live, that they may so abuse death, as they have abused life: that as they make life a time of sin, so they may find death a day of destruction. The reasons of this doctrine Reason 1. are these; First, because they are blinded of the devil, 2. Corint. 4. 4. And therefore they cannot see so much as that which nature teacheth, for the devil never ceaseth to toll on a man till he have made him defy the grace of God, and to defile the nature of man. Another reason is, 2 because such is the poison of sin, that it defileth the very garments of a man, and the walls of a house, jud. 23. wherefore it will work more effectually in man, who is a more meet and apt subject for the same. The uses which come of this doctrine are these; First, that we learn to discern a man that is thus given over to abuse very lawful things; woe be to them (saith the prophet) that Use 1. speak evil of good, and good of evil, Isai. 5. 20. For men in this estate will not stick to commend any kind of filthiness, because they would feign bring all unto filthiness. And if ever there were times of such practice, now they are; for sin is become kind, and religion turned away naked: We have heresy, and blasphemy, and paganism, and bawdry committed to the press, to be commended in print; there is no Italian tale so scurrilous, or fable so odious, or action so abominable, but some have adventured to defend the same: Plays on the Sabbaoth are made lawful; to be sometime a companion of evil is good policy; whoredom with some is good physic, and no man can be a good member in his country except he think well of himself: Honesty is foolery, knavery is commodity, dissembling is discretion, and idleness is gentry. Oh my soul, come not in their habitation! bearding of the ministery and clipping their livings is but enmity to popery, racking of rents is good husbandry, wicked scoffing is a token of a good wit, and common jesting at God, scriptures, goodness, and good men, is but solace. I tell you nothing but that I have read in print, and heard with my ears. Gaming is as lawful as labour, and money so gotten is well gotten. Men may be saved without preaching; and faith cometh not by hearing: papists live better than protestants, because they give more to the poor; and the world will never be well till the ministers be turned to ten pounds stipend and a cloak. Woe be unto them! for they follow the way of Balaam, who for a little money would have cursed the people of God: And I pray GOD, either purge our times from these men, or take these monsters from among us. They have given the child. Here is another cause of their condemnation; for that they had sold a child for a harlot: & hearken, I beseech you, if ever you heard of the like mischief, or more base and beastly part of a man, then to take a young child, well borne and godly brought up, and to give him for the price of a harlot. Harlots in those times had a special desire unto boys and young youths, whom they bought and made eunuchs: but this villainy to be done to the jews the people of God, that their holy seed should be the hire of so unholy business, it could not choose but make the people that heard it, to rend their hairs from their head. For it might be they had a farther reach in selling their children for a whore, because it was commanded that the price of a harlot should never come to the lords tabernacle, and therefore they gave their children for this price, that for ever they might undo them. But whatsoever moved them thereunto, they did it; and therefore we are herein given to understand, that wicked men set more by their lust, then by any good man Wicked men esteem more of their own lust then of others life. in the world. A good man (saith Solomon, Prou. 29. 27.) is an abomination to the wicked. They had rather have a harlot then a Christian, as Herod that cut off john Baptists head to please his whore, Mar. 6. Would or could a man have believed this, if God himself had not told us of it? truly no, if we had seen it with our eyes: yet such, I fear me, we have among us, that if time shall serve them, they will be forward enough to spend our goods, and consume our livings; and when they be gone, they will sell our wives and children to harlots or heathens, or to any that will give them any money for us. O England, England, look to thy welfare! Thy goodly men, thy brave women, thy sweet children, and thy rich possessions will all fall to the hands of an enemy. What will they not do to the old, that thus deal with the young? to the parents, which thus undo their children? Give not yourselves to too much marrying and marriages, as they did in the days of Noah; for here you may see the price of the fruit of your body, begotten in sin, and given for sin; sin selleth them to sathan, and men sell them to harlots: that as they were borne in a body of sin; so they might be brought up in a school of filthiness. O wicked sellers! O wretched buyers! O unhappy wares, that are thus exchanged to fulfil beastliness! The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because they are inceassable and unsatisfiable in their Iustes, Reason 1. 2. Pet. 2. 14. and therefore they care not what they do to perform their lusts. Another reason is, because they 2 are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, 2. Tim. 3. 4. and such have we in our days, if love may be esteemed by the work as Maries was by her oil; for these are the latter days of which Paul speaketh. The uses which we may make of this doctrine are these: first, that Use 1. we consider the miserable estate of these kind of men, who as the Apostle saith, 2. Pet. 2. 13. shall receive the wages for their pleasure. And if Sichem, for ravishing of one woman, lost his own life, his fathers, and all his citizens, Gen. 34. what shall be the reward of these men, that have defiled themselves and many women? O dangerous evils that hang over their heads! And that which is said against this pleasure, may be said against all other kinds of pleasures, that they shall every one receive their reward: as Cain for his wrath was cursed; Laban for his oppression was impoverished; David for his lust was troubled by his own sons, and josiah for his boldness lost his life: so shall every one that taketh pleasure in drunkenness, or whoredom, or idleness, or quarreling, or murder, or bravery, or belly-cheer, receive the hire of all their pleasures. Again, let us learn to make precious account of 2 the seed of the faithful, and suffer them not to want any comfort; for God hath promised to be a friend to their friends, and an enemy to their enemies. Offer them no violence, no not in their infancy, for joseph who was sold by his brethren, was at length able to be revenged upon them: And so it may come to pass, that as twigs come in time to be trees; so children come in time to be men, and then beware your old injuries be not repaid by them; for that which is conceived young, will hardly be removed old. I see in many places the posterity of good and godly men, yea of those that have suffered very much for the gospels sake, to be accounted no better than vagabonds and rogues; and I fear that men would be content to send them into the farthest parts of the world, and to sell them to any Spaniard, papist, or infidel, rather than to help their estate, and keep them according to their quality. And sold your girls for wine. This is another cause why the Lord dealeth thus rigorously with his enemies, because they had sold away the women children for cups of wine; which was as much among them, as a cup of drink among us. Whereby we may note, that wicked men make no Wicked men set nothing by the godly. reckoning of the godly, Amos 8. 5. They sell them for bread, and for old shoes: And so we may see the rich man in the Gospel, that esteemed more of his dogs, then of Lazarus, and so Nehe. 5. 3, 4, 5. the poor were driven to sell their children to slavery for to buy them bread. Such hard hearted men were and shall be for ever, which make not any account of their poor brethren. The reasons Reason 1. are; First, because they are unmerciful, Pro. 21. 10. and therefore how can they be merciful to them whom they hate, seeing they are not merciful to them whom they love? Another reason is, because they do not think good 2. men worthy to live, joh. 19 15. and therefore they care not how they abuse them. The uses which we are to Use 1. make hereof are briefly these; First, that we give not to wicked men any commendations, Proverb. 24. 24. What is there in any ungodly man worth the noting, except it be sin? and shall we commend any body for their sin? But I think that in our times either every man is righteous, and none are evil, or else many men are beside the exhortation of the wise man. For there is not any Usurer, nor any briber, nor any tyrant, nor any Atheist, nor any papist, nor any rich man, but they are all commended by one or other: No landlord so hard, no gentleman so lewd, no minister so ignorant, no whoremonger so filthy, although he die of the French disease, but we have some epitaphs of his commendation, although they lived without praise, and died without repentance. Whereunto will the world come? and who will desire to live therein? if thou commend evil men, how canst thou dispraise evil? for evil doth not make the man, but the man maketh the evil. Yea, we have of our noble and royal preachers, that will in a funeral sermon tell of the good deeds of many blasphemers, and misers, and covetous, and filthy, and ignorant, and gamesters; and I think for money, of witches and conjurers, and rebels, pronounce in the pulpit that they are in heaven: but beware, and be as wise in saying that a man is saved, as thou wilt be wary in affirming that any is damned. Another use which we may make of this 2 doctrine, is the same that God asked of sathan, job 1. 8. Whether he had considered his servant job: Insinuating unto us, that we ought to weigh & measure the dignity of a godly man, how there is none like unto him in all the world. And truly if we did often call to our minds the blessings that righteous men do bring unto the world; we should account them as happy that live with them, as the Queen of Saba did those which lived with Solomon: but since no man considereth either their life or their death as the Prophet speaketh, men grow to so perverse & corrupt a judgement concerning the world, that they think there is no difference betwixt the just and the wicked. Sodom never knew what a good man was, till the fire came; and the world will not know the benefit of a christian, till Christ come to judgement. But do not men consider what righteous men are? yes verily, for they try them as the devil did job; they vex them with many troubles, & load them with many evils, and offend them with many outrages, and grieve them with many slanders: you shall hear in the open streets open reviling of God his dear children; and now adays there is not a play or an interlude, but there are some scoffs at religion; many scorns at good christians, and infinite abuses offered to the preachers. What considering is this? but grieving of the righteous spirit of the Lord that dwelleth in them, and studying how to improve their sins to the uttermost. But it shall be sufficient for us to know that the Lord of glory will not do so unto us. And therefore be not discouraged my beloved brethren, gold is gold, although it lie in the dirt; and pearl is pearl, although it be buried in a dunghill: so a christian is a christian, although he be trodden under the feet of hellhounds, and be buried alive in the company of serpents. Consider them that fear God, to honour them, not to vex them; to help them, not to hurt them; to love them, not to tempt them; to live after them, not to accuse them: Think they are the stars that give light in the night; they are captains that are foremost in service; they are the souls that shield others from danger. Now if there be no stars, and no captains, and no shields, how shall we walk in the night of this world, or fight in the battle of Christ, or be saved from the fiery darts of sathan? The xxxuj. Sermon. Verse. 4. Yea, and what have you to do with me, o Tyrus and Zidon and all the coasts of Palestina? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I render your recompense upon your head: THis verse containeth a question of the Lord unto the nearest enemies of the church, namely, the merchants of Tyrus and Zidon, insinuating that they did all the before named villainy to the jews, as it were to wreck their malice upon God: and therefore he asketh them whether they will recompense him; and if they do but once think so to do, then will he fully repay them home again. And first of all we may here note, that it is in vain to be angry with God, for he saith, what have you to Be not angry with God. do with me, & c? and so the Lord chastiseth jonah, jon. 4. 9 that he might learn not to repine against his creator. The world now adays as they care little to please God: so they care less to offend God; and like mad people, if their doings be but a little crossed, they swear & stare against God himself: they like not his government; sometime he sendeth too much drought; another time too much rain; another time they are angry for the loss of their cattle; and most times for the reproof of their sins. So that thus they lie tossed like an unquiet sea, fretting and foaming against God and heaven: but what have they gained by their repining? or what are they eased by their swearing? Surely nothing, but their wound is greater, and their sore is made more incurable: learn therefore to be more quiet, and open not thy mouth against thy creator. If thy sores be as thy hairs, and thy pains be as thy thoughts, and thy wounds be as thy days, and thy losses be as thy life; yet be not angry with God, he is more inclined to our patience then to our wrath; for the patiented spirit shall inherit the land. The reasons hereof are these: First, because sin Reason 1. will slay us as the Lord told Cain, Gen. 4. 7. Again, we cannot possibly be angry or repine against God be it but the least motion, but we shall sin against him. And therefore in 2 all extremities let every good christian say with old Eli, it is the Lord, let him do what he will; let him take my goods, for he gave them; let him have my children, for he made them; let him remove my health, for he sent it; let him change my friends, for he won them; let him trouble my conscience, for he can give it peace; and let him take away my soul, for he can give it salvation. The uses Use 1. that we may make hereof are these: First, that we wait patiently upon the Lord, Psal. 37. 7. & we shall see in the end our heart's desire, & commit our whole care to his protection, who is able & will be willing to effect the same. Wait patiently, for there is no master so kind, but he hath some attendance of his servant; and therefore how canst thou be the servant of God, if thou never attend upon him? A good servant of a willing mind doth obey his master even in those things that are hard to be performed: and so although it be hard for thee, yet endure the calamity that somewhat presseth and oppresseth thee. Naamans' servants said to him that the Prophet bid him but a small thing, that was, wash and be clean, and then he washed and was cleansed: and so I say unto you, it is but a small thing I exhort you, wait and you shall be eased. Oh, that I might persuade any sick man to wait for health, or any poor man to wait for relief, or any old man to wait for death, or any young man to wait for Christ, happy were I; but more happy were they, that so could be taught to be so cured. Wait in the morning for a blessing, and in the day for a comfort, and in the night for a light: in the morning, that thou mayst work; in the day, that thou mayst continue; and in the night, that thou mayst receive thy reward: oh tarry but a little while, and thou shalt see an end of all misery! Another use of this doctrine is this, that we take 2 heed how we by our wrath provoke the wrath of the holy Ghost against us, and so grieve the spirit by whom we are sealed. We were far better let our souls go forth of our bodies, then let the Spirit go forth of our souls: I mean it were better for us to die then to live without the holy Ghost. Yea let us eat sorrow as we eat meat, and grieve our consciences rather than grieve the holy Ghost. David's servants were afraid to tell him of the death of his child, because it would grieve him: oh, therefore let us be more afraid to grieve the Spirit of God, than they were to grieve the king of Israel! Now, if thy sins be reproved, amend them; if thy life be threatened, abide it; if thy goods be wasted, fret not at it; if thy enemies rejoice at thee, be not desperate; if thou be offended, swear not rashly; if thou be punished, curse not outwardly; and if thou be accused, yet answer not bitterly, & grieve not the spirit of promise. For ye have taken my silver and my gold. This is the fifth cause specified in their inditement, for the which the Lord calleth them to judgement, for that they ransacked his temple, and took away all his gold and silver which was appointed for his service, and carried into their idoll-temples, whatsoever was ordained for the performing of his worship. And first of all we may observe in this place, that What is once lawfully given to religion, may not be recalled. whatsoever hath been lawfully given, and appointed unto the maintenance of religion, can never be taken away again: or else in vain had the Lord blamed these infidels, for that in their lawful conquest they had spoiled his temple also; and this self-same thing do the godly complain of, Psal. 74. 6, 7. So that if any lands have been given, or any houses have been builded, or any privileges have been granted, or any money have been delivered for the furtherance of the lords worship, it is sacrilege to transfer them violently, or covetously, or craftily to any other uses. Oh how shall they be judged that live upon the spoil of the church, and share the Lords portion so near and so narrow, that they have made it too little to fit his glory? Do they not know that the Lord shall call them to a reckoning for his silver and his gold; and then, oh then, how dear will their dainty fare, their silken suits, their velvet slippers, their frenchhoods, their golden borders, and their blew-coate-hirelings cost them, that they have gained and maintained by the robbery of churches? The reasons of this doctrine are these: first, because the Reason 1. goods of the church are holy things, 2. Chron. 20. 19 and therefore not to be profaned; which is then done, when they are withdrawn from the Lords service. For certainly, although in substance the gold and treasure of the church be the same that all other is of, as the water and the bread and wine in the sacraments, in substance be all one with other water, wine, and bread; yet in regard of the use there is a difference; for they are made holy by dedication: and therefore as it were horrible villainy to abuse the elements in the sacraments; so is it execrable robbery to profane the treasure of the church. Another reason 2 is this, because if it were not lawful for Ananias and Saphira under pretence of religion to sell their land, as if they would have given it to the church, and yet kept away part thereof, Act. 5. 4. then is it much more unlawful to keep away any part from the church which we never gave, but it was rightly the church's possession before we were borne. And the uses which may be made hereof may be Use 1. these: first, that these church-robbers and sacrilegious persons know that the judgement of God doth continually hang over their head, as often as ever they abuse and take any of these hallowed and sanctified treasures, as it did over Belshazzar, Dan. 5. 3, 5. who was then sentenced to destruction, when he was drinking wine in the cups of the temple. And surely we were better wear camels hair for our garments, as john Baptist did, and have not a house to rest our heads upon, as Christ had not, and lap up our drink, as Gedeons' soldiers did out of the running stream, than so to be clothed and lodged, and delicately nourished with the goods of the church, and the curse of the Lord. What though some kings of judah did buy peace with them? and David did eat of the showbread? yet they did it for necessity to maintain the commonwealth, and to preserve life; and so verily I think may be done now. But blessed be God we never yet tasted of the like necessity; and so long as there shall be one penny of money, or one foot of land in the possessions of private men; so long must the treasury of the church be left untouched. O ye gentlemen, and rich men, and unhappy men! which have filled your private coffers with the Apostles goods, whereas you should have laid your goods at the Apostles feet: what will ye do when the mouth of God shall pronounce your destruction for meddling with his tithes and his offerings, and his sacrifices, and his livings, as the hand of God did Belshazzars' deprivation on the wall? surely, not your knees will bend, but your hearts will quake; not your countenance will change, but your conscience will tremble; not your loins will be loosed, but your lives; & not your wealth shall be only destroyed, but your souls & bodies for ever & ever. Secondly, we may observe out of this vers. when he 2 saith, that they have carried into their temples, his goodly & pleasant things: that God accounteth preciously of the means of his worship, how basely soever the world and God taketh pleasure in his worship. all worldlings do judge thereof, Leuit. 1. 2. for he calleth them his goodly and pleasant things. The which thing I would have most diligently observed, that we may so think of the things of God, as the spirit of God doth deliver them unto us: that we find them goodly as full of grace, and pleasant as filled with delight, that we may all say: Oh Lord, how sweet are thy laws unto our hearts, yea sweeter than honey to our mouths? For carnal minded men, see no more grace in a church then in a tavern, nor no more delight in a christian then in a ruffian; nor esteem any whit better of a preacher then a craftsman; or find any more sweetness in a sermon then a play; or take any more delight in the Gospel then in a little pedlars french. Oh, how basely are you minded, that cannot think better of the Lords matters! One of you think that there is great goodness in an ear of wheat; another findeth great delight in a field flower; another sporteth himself with the smell of a rose; but none of you can feel any pleasure in that corn that bringeth bread of life, or that flower that showeth the work of life, or that rose that offereth the smell of heaven. Lay away thy base thoughts of spiritual matters; and know that the church is the lords house, who is greater than a king; that the preachers are the lords stewards, who are better than lords; that the Gospel is thy soul's food, sweeter than any iuncate; that a christian is the lords friend, better than any rich man; that a sermon is thy saviours praise, higher than any prince; and that the fellowship of saints is more worth than the valour of knights. Think I say, how goodly and pleasant are the words full of grace, the company full of goodness, the prayers full of sweetness, the Psalms full of melody, and the souls full of sorrow which are gathered together before the Lord in his church. The reasons of this doctrine are Reason 1. these; First, because he evermore regardeth what himself hath appointed, Cant. 5. 1. His church is his garden, and therefore he hath planted every flower growing therein: wherewithal he cannot choose but be highly delighted, as he was at the beginning when he saw that all his works were good. Another reason is, because he punisheth 2 them severely that contemn any part of his ordinance, Heb. 2. 2. 1. Cor. 11. 30. and therefore he accounteth preciously of his word which he defendeth by his power, and of his poor saints whom he maintaineth by his angels; and of his mercy which he manifested in his son; and of the neglect of his Gospel which he punisheth by condemnation. Let us therefore honour whom Use 1. God honoureth, Act. 10. 15. and that which God accounteth precious, let us not cast away as vile. Because Assuerus honoured Haman, all the people of his kingdom did him reverence; and therefore because the Lord thinketh well of the word, and of the Sacraments, and of prayer, and of preaching, and of hearing the Gospel, let him be a dead dog that speaketh against the same. But alas, alas, as Vasthi would not come although the king her husband sent for her; so will not our Vasthies, men, women, old and young, follow religion, and come to the Gospel, although God our father, and Christ our husband send for them never so earnestly: but she was rewarded for her disobedience, and was divorced from the king; and so I fear will be the end of very many in our days, to be put out of the lords favour, and divorced from the blessings of Christ. And again, let us learn to put on our eyes of faith, that we may commend that which God commendeth; for except we can behold the works of God, and the Gospel of God with spiritual eyes, it shall never be goodly and pleasant before us: and cast away the blockish dullness that oppresseth your brains, like a drowsy nap in a shining day, which will not suffer you to behold the light with any comfort: But lift up your eyes as the children of light, that you may see the beauty of Christ's church, the riches of the Lords spirit, the treasures of the lords saints, the ornaments of a faithful soul, and the glory of another life. The children also of judah, and the children of jerusalem Verse. 6. have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might send them far from their border. This verse containeth the last cause of the lords judgement upon his enemies, for that they had sold his seed and servants unto the heathen nations: with this policy, because when they were carried far from their own country, they should live like slaves, without hope ever to return home again. These Grecians to whom they sold the people of God were Gentiles or heathens, the posterity of javan the son of japhet, who was the eldest son of Noah. And in this that the Lord now calleth them to a reckoning, because they had sold away his people, although they were their captives, unto infidels: we may observe that it is not lawful to commit the children of the believers into the hands of unbelievers. And for this cause it is reported, Gen. 12. 5. that when Abraham was commanded by God to go out of Haran where all were fallen to idolatry, into the promised land of Canaan, he took with him Sarai his wife, and Let his brother's son, for he would not leave him in the hands of Terah, Abraham's father, and Let his grandfather, because with the residue he then was fallen to idolatry. And this Commit not the children of believers to Infidels. example is a sufficient proof of the matter, to teach us that we should so love the souls of the righteous seed, that we leave them not resident among the infidels or Atheists, or Papists, or other profane wretches; but to our own cost and labour redeem them from the devils tyranny. But in this we may lament, First, that even in our times we may see many of years of discretion to run away into papistical and heathenish wars, or else to safeguard themselves under the liveries of them that are open enemies to the Gospel: and many to bind and put their own children the fruit of their body (which they ought to consecrat to the Lord) into the education of most blasphemous and abominable Atheists: are not these as much to be complained upon, as them whom the Lord here condemneth for selling of jerusalems' seed into the hands of the Grecians? Yea much more, for these sold their enemies; but our men sell themselves and their children: these did it by the law of war; but our men do it contrary to the law of God: these men in so doing did not sin against their knowledge; but our men in doing as they do, sin against their conscience. O unhappy parents! which destroy your children in Popish houses: what are you inferior to them that sacrificed them to devils? O unhappy young men! which destroy your souls for the service of wicked men: why do you to gain a gentleman's cognisance, lose your saviours crown? I pray God open your eyes, that you may come from them, or else you will be destroyed with them. The reasons of this doctrine are these: First, because Reason 1. it is not lawful to make marriages with infidels, heathens, papists, or Atheists, Deut. 7. 3. and if in an equal band we may not adventure our sons or our daughters; much more may we not give them over in an unequal: if it be not lawful to give them in marriage, then is it not lawful to sell or give them to slavery or servitude. The worser part is apt to overcome the better: for if an infidel man do take a believing woman, or an infidel woman a believing husband, a thousand to one but the infidel will persuade the believer, as wise king Solomon who was persuaded to idolatry by his wives: And then I pray you, how will those that are wicked masters and governors compel and persuade their poor despised servants and captives, hirelings and apprentices, unto whatsoever iniquity cometh in their brain? But peradventure some will say, that when we be overcharged with poor people, we are glad if we find any that will ease us of our cost; and we were better suffer our poor men's children to serve carnal men, and papists, and Atheists, then to keep them in idleness, or let them famish: to whom I answer, that God hath not so dealt with any in England, for there are means sufficient to bring them up with christians, and not to suffer them to famish, if men would but strain their ability a little to do good; but all is too little that is reserved for the wanton posterity of the wealthy, and men choose rather that their unthrifty children should consume all in lewdness which they have got in misery, then that any portion should go forth of their coffers to maintain poor men's children, and so to put the less in their inventory. Another reason to confirm this doctrine is this, that there is no part nor 2 communion betwixt the children of God and Belial, 2. Cor. 6. 15. and therefore to send or give our children unto Pagans, Atheists, and carnal godless men to be by them instructed, is to join light with darkness, heaven with hell, saints with devils, and God with Beliall. Oh what a confusion is there now in the world? for seeing God doth yet suffer a few Papists among us as he suffered Philistims among the Israelites to try them and provoke them: now happy are they that can be in league with them, for they have good cheer, fat beeves, many great manors, goodly rich farms, & they are able to pleasure them; but such pleasure will cost more than a lawyers or a courtier's friendship: & although thou shouldst converse with them without all approving of their superstition; yet thou oughtest not at all, for God hath no fellowship with them. The uses which arise from this doctrine Use 1. are these: first, that by the former example of Abraham we have singular care that all the children which are born among us be godly & virtuously brought up, & carefully provided for, that they may do Christ some service in the commonwealth or church. And surely, as our saviour said, Ma. 18. that whosoever doth offend one of those little ones that believe in him, it were better a millstone were hanged about his neck, & he cast into the sea: but of all offences there is none so great as to bequeath them unto their tuition that will cast away their souls; for men of corrupt consciences & wicked affections will compass heaven & earth to make any the children of damnation. Oh therefore, cast not away the seed of the righteous, the children of Christians, & the price of the precious blood of Christ! You have made them in their baptism when they were young to confess Christ, now make them not again to deny Christ; but if ever there be any poor man's child come to your provision, so set him forward & deal for his health, that with the maintenance of this life he may have the assurance of the life to come. Bind them to none but to Christ; put them to none but to christians; sell them to nothing but to the gospel; & leave not young helpless youths & maidens in the hands & custody of old cankered & wicked enemies of God. Another use: if it be not lawful to 2 commit the children of the righteous unto the government of the wicked, then is it not lawful for masters & lords to keep their servants from the true service of God. It was a wicked tyranny of Pharaoh, Exod. 5. 3, 4. that he kept the children of Israel from the service of God: & such surely is the tyranny of them that will busy their servants even on the Lord's day, rather than send them or suffer them to serve the Lord: oh think with yourselves that Christ is your Lord and master, Eph. 6. 9 & therefore how will he take it at your hands to see you thus afflict his free men? and how can you afford him your own service, which will deny him your servants? Rather follow the example of josuah, and say that you and your household will serve the Lord: and let there be as many Pharaohs as will be, yet they shall know one day that there is no cruelty more punishable than is the authority which is used against the Lord's service. That you might send them far from their border. That is, you have a wicked policy to sell away my people, because you would never have them come again; but that you might for ever possess their inheritances. By which we may observe, that it is a most wicked and vile thing to deprive any of their patrimonies or inheritances, and by violence and countenance to keep them from them, Ezech. 22. 7. And the A wicked thing to spoil orphans of patrimonies. reason is, because the Lord nameth himself to be a father of the fatherless, Psal. 68 5. & therefore he that oppresseth them shall be oppressed by God, and they that take away their inheritance, how shall they look for any inheritance in another life. Give unto them and take not from them, Deut. 24. 19 and augment their revenues, rather than diminish them. Is God their father? who will not give them: are they not brethren? who will oppress them: are they not helpless orphans? who will hurt them. If we see but the son of a mean gentleman, we are ready to gratify him with the richest gifts we have: and then let us not be backward to help fatherless children even with our own unto their own. Oh my dear brethren! it is the cause that belongeth to us all, and therefore never suffer an orphan to be oppressed; for even thy posterity may come to the like calamity. God taketh more care for children then for oxen, or sheep, or birds, or beasts, and he would not have any to be oppressed: therefore be assured that he will not let thee go unpunished if thou oppress the fatherless. Take not away their lands, which parents left them; take not away their goods, which God gave them; take not away their liberty, which Christ hath gotten them; and deprive them not of those gifts, which nature hath bred in them. Some I know there are which make slaves and fools of their wards and pupils, and desire nothing more than to get all that they have into their own hands, whose books of account and bills of reckoning shall surely follow them to the lords judgement: and they think they are very charitable if they can get away any man's lands and livings, & afterwards bring up their heirs in their kitchens to be scullions, or else at their ploughs or sheepfolds, to be drudges and slaves all the days of their life. O miserable and wretched charity! to make them the servants to their own goods, and to pay their hire with their own lands. Others will cozen for lands, and extort all that they can, and then will make them their farmers, who were the owners, and think they do them a pleasure: and thus they threaten kindness like lawyers and usurers which pay themselves with ours; and yet say, we are beholding to them. The xxxix. Sermon. Verse. 7. Behold, I will raise them up out of the place where ye have sold them; and will render your reward upon your own head. Having hitherto dealt with them, and opened their injuries as it were in several bills of inditement, which they offered to the church, he now proceedeth to their condemnation. And first of all, he showeth them in this verse, that their policy in oppressing his people, and selling them to strangers so far off, that they might never return home again, shall be utterly void: for he will raise them up again, and will recompense the injury as if the enemy had prevailed; and therefore he biddeth them behold it, because the wicked shall certainly see and perceive that their counsels against the lords saints shall be all in vain, and to no purpose. But first of all we may note when he saith, that he will raise them up out of the place where they had sold them: that God will for evermore preserve his church in the seed of the righteous, In the seed of the righteous shall good men be preserved. Psalm. 102. 28. So that although we cannot say that this man's children, or that man's posterity shall continue in the church; yet we may certainly believe, that the posterity of righteous men shall be the church for evermore; for God saith, he will raise them up, yea if they were dead, as Abraham thought he would do with his son. Three several times hath God in one man knit up his church: First, in Adam, who was a righteous man (although he fell out of Paradise) and of him came all, both good and bad: Afterward he destroyed the wicked, and in Noah one good man did he combine his church: but when his posterity fell to idolatry, then in Abraham did he bless the world. What if we see many called to the faith, whose late parents were enemies to the Gospel? yet we must know that they are descended from some that were godly, insomuch as that we may boldly affirm, that there is not any righteous man in the world but he came from some parents that had been godly, and so may hope that God will again raise up out of his seed (although many years to come) some that shall be saved. No doubt but Adam had some fruit in Cain, as Noah had in Cham; Abraham in Esau; and jacob in the sons of his bondservants. And if this were not so, good men might do well to leave of from marrying: but God which hath determined the world, will have us in a continual hope of good children, and a holy posterity; and therefore hath instituted marriage to continue as long as the world shall endure. The reasons of this doctrine are these; First, because the power of God Reason 1. shall uphold them; and this was it that john Baptist told the Pharisees, Matth. 3. 9 that God was able of the stones to raise up children to Abraham. Again, the gates of hell shall never prevail against the church, Matth. 16. 18. 2 There is no enemy that men ought more to fear, than sin, which is meant by the gates of hell; but yet sin shall not for ever prevail against the seed of the righteous. We may see many times a young sprout coming forth of an old stub which hath long been dead; and so we may consider, that as Samuel came of the rebel Corah, who murmured against Moses and Aaron, so shall there some good seed come from them who seemed to be dead and drowned in sin. But yet this must not make good men to set any thing lighter by their sins because God hath promised it shall not prevail: but we must know that the promise is, that it shall not condemn the church, yet may God cast thee out of the church, and there condemn thee, if thou abide in sin. Let us therefore after the example Use 1. of Moses, Exod. 32. 13. remember God of his promise when the church is in affliction, and feeleth his heavy wrath. For the promises of God are the pillars of the church, insomuch as every member therein is called the child of promise, Roman. 9 8. Now than none can so forget the church of God as that he should forget himself, for he is borne by promise as that standeth by promise. But it is no marvel that the church of God so decreaseth, that good men's children become wicked, and wicked men's issue multiply, waxing worse and worse, because there is not a Moses left to remember the Lord of his promise. Many are more afraid that their posterity will be too righteous rather then too profane, and therefore their mouths are opened against jerusalem, because they are opened against heaven. Yea good men are too lose in this point, for they forget to remember the Lord of his promise to continue his church; and therefore I fear, the Lord forgetteth them in their progeny. Blessed was Abraham, Genes. 17. 18, 20. that he never gave over to pray for Ishmael, till God had promised to make him a mighty man; and therefore the church of God would be much greater, and the posterity of the righteous much happier and godlier, if more often with Moses we remember him to take away his wrath by continuing his church. Another use are we taught, jer. 32. 39 which is, that we 2 likewise pray that our posterity may have one and a single heart, that they may dwell for ever in the presence of God. We can no way so much benefit our posterity, as by praying for them; for than we lay up their treasure in heaven before the Lord, making him the overseer of our wills, and his kingdom their inheritance. So that as he promised David, that he should never want a man to sit on his throne, if they would continue in his covenant; so may every righteous man assure himself, that they shall never want posterity, if they continue in the Lord's worship. As there is but one God, so men should have but one heart; and as there is but one heaven, so men should have but one soul: now the heart is one when it abideth in the worship of God; but when it wavereth, and is distracted into as many follies as affections, there is no heart at all: as it is all one to make more gods, and to deny God; so is it all one to have many hearts and no heart. Therefore pray for thy children whom thou hast nourished in the world, that they may be single hearted, and remain before the Lord for ever and ever; for surely if they multiply their hearts, God will remove their graces. For as Ahab by seeking to win Ramoth-Gilead lost his own life, because he would increase his territories; so shall we lose our own souls if we enlarge our hearts for more vanity. Remember that jerusalem was so built as it was at unity in itself: and so must every member of jerusalem, that is, of the church, have one heart in himself, that his heart may fit the Lord, and his soul may serve for heaven. Secondly, we may observe in this verse, that the policy of wicked men cannot Wicked men's policy cannot always stand. always prevail against the good, Psal. 124. 1, 2, 3. It was one of the wonders of the world, that ever the counsel of Achitophel was so soon confounded, that he took against David, but the Lords hand was in it; for seeing he had promised that David should reign, was not wise Achitophel a fool, that would assay to break the covenant? and so were these gentiles in taking counsel against the jews to keep them from ever returning to their country again. The first reason: the Lord will purge Reason 1. iniquity from his sanctuary, Dan. 8. 13, 14. and therefore he will not suffer iniquity to overthrow his sanctuary. For the policy of wicked men in the destruction of the godly is not so much against mankind, as it is to bury for ever the worship and worshippers of God. Would God that this reason might be well weighed of them, who are evermore corrupting the sanctuary of God, who broach all the devices of the world to corrupt the gospel. But as the Roman Image standing in the holy place was called the abomination of desolation; in like manner shall the imaginations of heretical and proud men standing in the church be called the abominable desolation of religion. Another reason, because good men might not fall from 2 God by enduring their injuries, Psal. 125. 4. and therefore be assured, if God will make one of his own saints worth a thousand of his enemies, then will he rather destroy their counsels, then want his worshippers. The use is: let us then Use 1. know that not all the counsel of men, nor all the policy of the devil, nor all the power of the angels shall ever cast down the members of Christ. Apoc. 7. 3. Oh sweet instruction for us miserable deemed wretches! when we need not to fear all the engines and devices of the devil: if he stir up princes, yet God is greater; if wise men, God is wiser; if strong men, Christ is stronger; and if learned men, yet God catcheth the learned. What shall I say more? all the devils in hell cannot take away one soul from the Lord. They are bound, they cannot rove; they are muzzled, they cannot roar; they are ruled, they cannot rage's; and they are damned, they cannot hurt us. Nay, they can neither hurt body nor soul; for the same that redeemed souls redeemed bodies, and preserveth both: Therefore fear not death, that hath lost his sting, and fear not the devil that hath lost his force. Another use: let this confidence 2 for our raising up, out of misery into glory; out of iniquity into holiness; out of death into life, and quitteth us from the wicked, stir up every man's soul and heart to cleave to the Lord for evermore: for as Dinah was safe in her father's house, and none could touch her; so shall we be safe in the Lord's presence, & none can hurt us. Thirdly, by this verse, when he layeth to their charge the selling of his people, that they might never return again, which they could not bring to pass; but yet he telleth them he would punish them: we may note that God punisheth our devices and thoughts of evil, although they Thoughts to do evil, like evil actions. proceed no farther, as if the thing had been effected, and the sin perfected, Genes. 11. 4, 8. The builders of Babel thought to build a tower to reach to heaven; but they could not prevail, and yet God punished their enterprise, by confounding their language: So that, imagine with thyself how often thou hast stolen by coveting; how often thou hast committed adultery by lusting; and how often thou hast deserved actual punishment, by mental transgressing: we do therefore all of us most justly suffer the danger of all kind of deaths, because we live in the danger of all kind of sin; neither is there any man living but at one time or other he hath lusted after every sin that he knew, for if we knew not sin, we should not sin. And indeed these builders, and this building of Babel doth notably describe and decipher unto us the nature of sinners and sin: for as Babel was built without God his consent, so is sin: as the builders made the substance and frame thereof, of themselves; so do we of sin: As they did it to continue their names, that the flood should no more overflow them, not trusting to the former promises of God; so do sinners forsake God his promise, and for worldly causes fall into many follies. Again, as they would build, never cease building till they had brought it up to heaven: so is the measure of sin, it would never cease till it ascended up into the sight of God, and filled all the space between heaven and earth. And lastly, as the building was not stayed, but by the confounding of their tongues; so shall not sin be stayed but by confounding the souls of men. The reasons of this Reason 1. doctrine are these; First, because they which consent to sin (and go no farther) are worthy of death, Rom 1. 32. So that it is a grievous thing to be made privy unto any unlawful practices, and not to reveal and open the same. Secondly, our corrupt estate is such, that our temptations 2 Use 1. do draw us from God, jam. 1. 14. The first use, Let us follow the counsel of the prophet Isa. 1. 16. That we take away the evil of our hearts. Men think it lawful for them to range in conceit upon any folly or sin, or lust or treachery whatsoever, and to play with the devil in imagination, suffering his delusions to tickle their delights, and delight their souls with an inward desire only: But in truth this kind of sport is a most unlawful game, condemned by the Lords own statute, when he biddeth us to take away the evil of our hearts; Cleanse your hands ye sinners, and purge your hearts you wavering minded. the devil first cometh into your hearts by doubting, then by entreaty or begging, then by delighting; when once he delighteth, he hath erected his throne in thy soul, and if thou labour not to cast him out, he will become unresistible. Dally not with him as Samson did with Delilah, for it will betray thee; trust him not as Sisera did jael, for it will destroy thee; desire him not as David did Bathsheba, for it will repent thee; choose him not as Lot did Sodom, for in the end it will vex thee. Remember that God which seethe thy heart will punish the sin of the heart, for in truth thy heart is the principal in every offence, and the body is but accessory: Thy heart provoketh thee to sin, as the high priests provoked Pilate to crucify Christ; and thy body obeyeth as Pilate did, while in the mean time thy conscience giveth thee warning as Pilat's wife did him: and therefore have nothing to do with sin, which is poison, with the knowledge of it, for it will infect thee, and purge thy soul from evil thoughts, as Ezechiah purged Israel from idolatry. fourthly, when he saith, that he will render their recompense upon What we do to other, we shall receive of other. their own head: We may note that the same measure which we offer unto others shall be repaid to us again, isaiah 33. As we smite with the sword, so shall we perish with the sword: & as we shed the blood of other, so shall we have our own blood shed again. We know that as Ahab and jezabel did cause Naboth to come to a violent death, and the dogs to lick his blood; so the dogs did lick up their blood again. And this falleth out with the most godly in the world, as we may see in David, who took away the life and wife of Vrijah, he lost his own sons, and escaped himself very narrowly; and in the end you know how his son Absolom lay with his wives before all Israel. Therefore hearken unto this, my dearly beloved, that you never offer any other things to other, but the same that you would have offered to you again. Take what liberty thou wilt to offend other; to waste their goods, to shame their lives, to open their sins, to defile their wives, to oppress their goods, to harden thy heart against the poor, and to heap up injuries in the highest measure: for as Solomon said, He that stoppeth his ear at the cry of other, shall cry himself and not be heard: so shalt thou be offended, and wasted, and shamed, and opened, and defiled, and oppressed, and injuried, and revenged, as thou hast deserved. We see the king escaped not this law; and therefore think not thou, whether thou be rich, or wise, or great, or noble, or worshipful, or poor, or strong, or weak, or young, or old, or learned, or ignorant: but as thou hast rejoiced in others harms, so shall other in thine; as thou hast defiled others wives, so shall other thine; as thou hast stolen other men's goods, so shall they steal thine; as thou hast reproached other men's lives, so shall thine be; as thou hast been pitiful to others, so thou shalt receive pity: for this law shall never be broken, that whatsoever we do to other, we shall receive of other again. The reasons: First, because this Reason. is the whole doctrine of the law and the prophets, Matth. 712 for surely there is not any thing that savoureth more of beastly tyranny, or less of godly piety, then to do that unto other which we would not receive of other: & therefore in the practice of religion betwixt man & man, let this serve instead of the golden rule, whereby the weak shall be never offended, or the poor be ever oppressed, or the rich be ever envied, or the godly be ever defamed. This will take away all bribing from officers, all tyranny from princes, all pride from gentlemen, all covetousness from landlords, and all malice from enemies. Truly, truly, there was never precept given better for the church, for the commonwealth, or for the world: for the church, for it teacheth to save souls, for who would lose his own: to the commonwealth, for it preserveth life, for who would kill himself: and to the world, for it keepeth humanity, for who would become a beast? Let us therefore learn Use. to forget injuries, Levit. 19 18. for their remembrance provoke us to revenge, and all revenge is damnable before God. Oh, whose soul is not set on fire to embrace this doctrine, which I might follow with all the examples of the world? For who can abide to have his own blood shed, his own body maimed, his own children murdered, and his own soul damned? therefore do not so to other, but writ this law on the palm of thy hands that it may never be out of thy sight. It will teach thee all religion, it will save thee from the strife of tongues, the shame of fools, the blame of good men, the fury of devils, and the wrath of God: for if thou canst bear the injuries of thy brother, and not revenge them; thou wilt also bear the afflictions which God sendeth, and the sorrow which good men endure, and not repine at it: but as joseph having all his brethren that sold him, yet did not hurt one of them; so do thou not hurt any of them that hate thee. The xxxviij. Sermon. Verse. 8. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spokenat. Having showed them, that he would do unto them as they had done unto him and his people; that is, he would take their sons and daughters, and give them into the hands of the children of judah whom they had spoiled, and the children of judah should sell them away to the Sabeans, who dwelled in the utmost parts of Arabia, being great merchants, which should likewise send them away into a very far country, that so their own policy might return to their own damage. Whereby here cometh a question to be handled, namely, whether it be lawful for Christians having conquered any nation their enemies, to sell away their children whom they had taken prisoners, unto heathens and infidels, as the Lord here saith, that the jews should sell them to the Sabeans who were infidels. First, for the opening of this place, it was lawful for the jews so to do, because they had the express commandment of God, as it is here set down: and if at the commandment of God they must in their wars, kill man, woman and child; much more at his commandment may they sell their prisoners to heathens. Secondly, we must not make this place any rule or example for us to imitate, but take it for a special curse upon the enemies of the jews at this time, because they should sell them as they had sold theirs. Then to the question, I think it not lawful for us to sell any unto heathens; yea though they be heathens and our enemies: The reasons are these; first, Reason 1. because Deut. 20. 11, 12. the Lord propoundeth an everlasting law for war, standing upon these conditions: first, that they offer peace; secondly, if they overcome their enemies, then shall they make them their tributary servants, and not sell them away; or if they refuse peace being offered, then shall they destroy them all: so then, selling of men and women becometh barbarous and heathen men, and not the children of God. Secondly, by selling away our enemies, we do not weaken the common enemy of our faith, but rather strengthen him; for a bondslave can fight as well against the gospel as a free man; therefore it is better to slay them outright, than to make a gain of them unto heathens or men of no faith. Thirdly, it is not lawful to sell them, because it is an unnatural thing for one man to buy another, or to sell another, as we may see in the history of joseph. Fourthly, they were better be among us, and be the least in our congregation, where they may possibly come to learn jesus Christ, than to be among heathens where Christ is hated: and so I cannot see how we can wash our hands clean from the guilt of their damnation. So that now it appeareth, that men must look especially that they undo not those whom the Lord hath commended to their safety and preservation; besides many other reasons which I could add unto the former. And again, by this verse we may see how the children of the wicked bear their father's faults; for here are the sons and daughters to be sold: so may we read, Psal. 127. 9 that they are blessed that revenge the father's cruelty on the children. Oh my dear brethren! let your tender babes procure pity and piety in your souls; for you see how their lives shall pay for your wrongs, and their butchery for your tyranny. It were an easier calamity if the hand that sinned should only be cut off; but we see that if the right hand slay a man, the whole body must perish thereby. It is a singular blessing of God to be descended of godly parents, yea the wicked brag thereof, joh. 8. 39 Matt. 3. 9 Therefore if you will make your posterity happy and blessed; make your own souls godly and your works holy. Let not your children be made slaves to the wicked, and bondslaves to the devil for your folly; but be you gentle, that they may live; be you patiented, that they may be beloved; be you honest, that they may be honoured; and be you good to the godly, that they may possess your revenues. Publish this among the Gentiles, prepare war, wake up the Vers. 9 mighty men, let all the men of war draw near and come up. Now are we come to the second means, whereby the Lord taketh vengeance on the enemies of his church, that is by war; for as by war they had wasted the jews, so by war should themselves be confounded. In this war we are to consider, First, the preparation thereof by soldiers, verse 9 then the instruments or weapons, verse 10. Secondly the execution in the verses following. First then in this verse he calleth for the soldiers, and biddeth that the war should be proclaimed, and that all the men fitted thereunto should come up to fight. Whereby we must first of all observe, that war must be proclaimed before it be waged, Ios. 22. 12. For it becometh not any War proclaimed beforehand. prince or great person so to deal with his enemies, that he overcome them before they have intelligence of him. The reason, First, because peace must be first of all offered, Deuter. 20. 10. For war, which is the slaughter of mankind, Reason 1. must be the last means for princes to right and try their injuries. It must be taken in hand for necessity, not for pleasure; and it must be executed with mercy, not with cruelty. Another reason, because victory only dependeth 2 on God, 2. Chron. 13. 12. and therefore we must use all good means in the undertaking thereof, least beginning without the lords counsel, we end with his curse, being guilty of our own death, & others. Let us not then in this latter age of the world fear any of the rumours Use 1. of war, Mat. 24. 6. for the Lord of hosts is the great warrior, whose soldiers we are; and if he can use the roaring of the devil to drive us from hell, then think also he will use the trumpets of war to bring us into heaven. Fear not I say all the rumours of war in France, Flanders, Hungary, Turkey, or in other places of the world; for if the wicked die in them it is for sin; if good men, by the punishment for sin, they kill sin; and all this shall promote the Gospel and preserve the church. Secondly, 2 when he biddeth to awake the mighty men, we may note that men of greatest courage and valour are fit for the wars, 2. Sam. 10 9 But of this matter we have spoken in the second chapter. Again, when he calleth them soldiers must have a calling from God. to draw near and to come up, we note that soldiers should beware that they have a calling from God, and a commandment from him to fight, 1. King. 22. 7. jehoshaphat would not fight with Ahab against the Syrians, till he had inquired of the Lord: and this we may see in David many times. For seeing wars are the cause of many men's death, let us beware that we add not curse to curse; like the king of Moab, who being overcome by the Israelites, went home and sacrificed his own son in the fire. The Reason 1. reasons are; First, because they cannot prosper that wait not for the Lords calling, Ios. 1. 17, 18. Secondly, he giveth 2 power to fight, Psalm. 18. Let us therefore be so minded in wars, that we never undertake them when the Lord disalloweth them, Numb. 14. 44, 45. The Israelites fight with the Amorites contrary to the Lords will were slain and driven back again; whereas at other times they lost not a man, but returned in victory. Again, let soldiers learn to keep themselves from evil, Deuter. 23. 9 For the battle or warfare is like a man's deathbed, and although a man have made no conscience all the time of his health, yet on his deathbed will he lie most devout: so let devotion and religion reign in them that follow the wars, that every man's death may be a sermon of repentance unto them: and let the trumpet admonish them of judgement, and their continual danger awake them, for the Lords coming. Oh that men of this life would so live, that they might fight in less danger, overcome with smaller loss, live with greater holiness, and die with greater honour: die I say, to honour their country with their lives, and their Saviour with their souls. Break your plough shares into sword, and your scythes into spears: let the weak say I am strong. Having handled Vers. 10. the pressing of the soldiers, now it followeth that we go to the preparation of weapons in this verse, where he biddeth them to take their tools wherewith they husband the earth, and turn them into the instruments of war: whereby we may observe, that the war which the faithful War as needful as husbandry. have against their enemies, is as needful or more needful than tillage of the earth, Gen. 14. 14, 15. Abraham to recover again Lot, took all his household both shepherds and other, and followed the kings which lead him away captive, and by a main battle overthrew them all. And surely many times, there is none but they may do more good in the war, then at the plough; and at the slaughter of men, then at the mowing of corn. If Abraham had not stirred presently, all had been lost, and then woe had been Lot, which should have lived a prisoner, and forgot the God of Abraham: therefore better was it to leave the sheep to the danger of the wolf, and the earth to be untilled and overgrown with weeds, then to let any souls of God be captivate by man, or be taken away from the flock and visible church of God. The reasons: First, because Reason 1. it is waged for the Lord and for the church, 2. Sam. 10. 12. now then it being sometime a part of the Lords service, what worldly work is there that must not yield unto it? Yea, though it be as natural as the tillage of the earth. Again, then doth the Lord take vengeance of the sins 2 of wicked men, whereupon they were accursed by the prophet jeremy that did the work of the Lord negligently; meaning those which did not execute the fullness of his wrath upon the wicked that he had given into their hands. Therefore learn the necessity of war, and when thou Use 1. art called, then refrain not to come, Ios. 1. 14. to help thy brethren; for they are accursed that follow not willingly the war of God, judg. 5. 23. Deborah cursed Meroz, because it did not help Barac against Sisera: and so are those faint hearted and white-livered soldiers, who are afraid to lose their life in the Lord's quarrel. Some that are great, press forward those that are under them: other being lawfully called, buy out their calling with money, and so avoid the war; substituting some one or other in their place, who peradventure runneth away before the battle: Yea, if it be so necessary, let them learn that God is sometime as well served by killing in the field, as at an other time by praying in the church; and it is better for them to leave wife and children, to go and fight against the Lords enemies, then to live at home and follow their daily labour. Let us also learn to entreat the Lord to go forth 2 with our armies against our enemies, Psal. 44. 9 for there is no policy like his presence, no captain like his direction, no power like his grace, no sword like his anger, no foe like his displeasure, no shot like his breath, and no danger like his absence. Oh therefore, if Barac would not go except Deborah went with him, then go not to the war except the Lord go with thee. The Israelites never lost battle wherein josuah was; and therefore never shall we lose the field if the Lord be on our side. Let his call command thee, his cause provoke thee, his presence arm thee, and then shall never foe hurt thee. Let him be thy captain to go before, thy company to follow after, thy provision to feed thy camp: let his laws govern thy soldiers, & his presence shall preserve thee from danger. Oh, pray when thou goest, that he may guide thee; & when thou trainest, that he may see thee; & when thou fightest, that he may save thee. Secondly, when he thus calleth unto them to turn their plowshares into swords, and their siethes into spears: we may note that it is a thing requisite that every one do provide him weapons for the defence of his country: and Weapons needful and lawful for any christian. therefore doth the spirit of God 1. Sam. 13. 23. account it a detestable policy of the Philistines, who took away all the smiths out of Israel, because they would keep the Israelites without weapon; for therein they were never able to try their cause, and to avenge themselves of their tyranny. The reason: first, because no man by the law of God is forbidden to defend himself, although in his Reason. own defence he kill his adversary, yet could he not be blamed, because the Lord had delivered him into his hand. And in truth I think it a rare policy of the devil in the mouths of Anabaptists, denying Christians to wear weapons, because thereby the Turks and Pagans might come upon us unarmed men, and so take away our lives and our profession together: therefore I hold it as needful for a man to wear weapon to defend himself from wounds, as for a man to take physic, to preserve himself from sickness. Let us not spend more time herein then needeth, but let us learn that we provide the weapons of the spirit, Ephes. 6. 11. Be not armed against men, and unarmed against the devil; be as cunning to defend thy soul from hell, as thou wouldst be to defend thy life from death. Seest thou not that a whole nation are overcome without weapon; and so shalt thou be overcome without the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the darts of faithful prayers to wound the infernal foes. They are stronger, therefore thou must learn more cunning; they are wiser, therefore thou must get more strength; they are swifter, therefore thou must strike more sure; they are more dangerous, therefore thou must be more zealous. Again, when he biddeth the weak to say that they are strong, he thereby teacheth us, that we must not admit any excuse to keep us from the battle, neither sickness, nor lameness, nor poverty, nor riches, nor youth, nor gentry, nor weakness must excuse men from fight of the Lords battles; but rather the zeal to do him service must exceed and excel the want which oppresseth us. Therefore learn from hence how thou oughtest to live in all thy ways that God looketh for at thy hand: no excuse can be ever admitted; none can be exempted from religion, because they are honourable; or from the gospel, because they are rich; or from sermons, because they are learned; or from the churches, because they are tender; or from prayer, because they are sick; or from war, because they are weak: but the weak must say, I am strong. Rather pray the more, and go the farther, and hear the oftener, and obey the willinglier, and profess more earnestly, because God hath made thee sick, or poor, or weak, or rich, or tender, or honourable, or learned: for I tell thee that there is no excuse from coming into the Lord's vinyeard. Thou canst not come into heaven by a proxee, or substitute another to hear the gospel for thee; but in thy own person and soul, and strength or weakness thou must enter into it. Therefore now look to the matter, if ever thou wilt obtain grace: for although we satisfied the wrath of God by another, namely, by Christ; yet we cannot be sanctified in any man's person, but in our own. All the lazars and lame diseased men of Israel, came from all quarters thereof to be laid by the pool of Bethesda to be washed and cured, and none suffered any let to keep them away; in like manner, let all the weak and lame souls of the world come to worship the Lord, and let not any hindrance keep them back. The xxxix. Sermon. Verse. 11. Assemble yourselves, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about, there shall the Lord cast down thy mighty men. 12. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. AS in the former verses he called the soldiers which should be the ministers of his wrath, to destroy his enemies: so now again the second time he calleth the heathen to judgement, to prepare them for the execution; and although their destruction should come of themselves, yet the Lord calleth them to battle, that they might know it proceedeth from him. Concerning the first part of these two verses, namely, the gathering of the heathen into the valley of jehoshaphat: we have already spoken in the second verse of this chapter. Therefore we will briefly touch that which is not handled already. I might first note unto you, that the Lord careth not for all the multitude of the world, although they were up in arms against him, when he saith, Assemble yourselves and come all ye heathen, meaning to war, and defend themselves against his soldiers before called. Secondly, in these words I might show you, how the heathen and infidels in all their wars, trust to their multitudes, and bring all the force they can make: as we may read of the Madianites against Gedeon; and the Philistines against Barac: but it is the Lord that overthroweth the horse and the rider. I will cast down thy mighty men. By these words the prophet telleth us, that God will deal with the strongest, and confound them, Luk. 1. 52. The Lord who is of great wisdom and infinite strength and power, doth buckle always The strongest overthrown by God. with them that are of greatest account, suffering the pride of the lesser to be punished by men, but he himself controlleth the oppressions of the mighty. Whereby we may see, that there is no cause why we should fear any force or fury, or rage of man, for he can, and doth, take the mightiest to overthrow them. When we see any lifting up themselves above their brethren, then are we to think their pride is ascending up before the Lord to be crossed. This is a sweet instruction and comfort for the poor members of Christ: for as there are none in the world more humble than themselves, so there are none more oppressed by the pride of other than they are: But they may here learn, that their mightiest foes are nearest to the vengeance of God. The reasons: First, because Reason 1. his name is omnipotent, Exod. 15. 4. this was the reason that Moses gave of the overthrow of Pharaoh: and therefore it is no marvel if any man or army, or navy, or castle, or king, or emperor, be thrown down as the snow falleth from heaven; for the omnipotency of his name remaineth for ever. By it he drowned the giants, he burned the Sodomites, he overthrew the Egyptians, he slew the Canaanites, he captivated the Israelites, he hath changed the lives of great princes, and shall at the latter day judge both quick and dead. Another reason: because strong 2 and mighty men do mightily abuse their strength: as we may see in Goliath, who knowing his own strength, came and defied all Israel. And surely herein we may greatly lament the estate of the world, for men do abuse all the benefits of God: Such is the corruption of sin in Adam's children, that their riches are the coals of iniquity, their authority a liberty to transgress, their health a patent for worldly vanity, & their strength a sufficient charter to revile God, and oppress man: But as David the least in Israel cut off that monster's head, so shall the least part of the lords power take revenge upon our highest abuses. Let us Use. therefore learn to be humbled under the hand of God, 1. Pet. 5. 6. For if we be poor and base, men will punish us: but if we be high & rich, God himself will plague and cast us down. But alas, we are never humble till it be too late, namely, till we be laid in our graves; for while we live pride is rooted in us, that it will not out of us: there is such league betwixt the life of man and the sin of man, as was betwixt Naomi and Ruth, for nothing but death can part them in sunder. Who would be rich to be spoiled by thieves? who would be wicked to be damned by devils? and who would be proud to be plagued by God? Advance not thy soul for thy birth, or thy wealth, or thy friends, or thy office, or thy liberty, or thy strength; for God will cast down the mighty men: distrust thy virtues, and thy cause, and thy favour, and thy health, and thy joy, and thy life, for if thou be exalted in any of these, God will surely humble thee to thy shame. Let the heathen be wakened. Now he showeth us, that the heathen after they had spoiled the church, grew to security, and therefore he calleth on them to be awaked; for there were no manhood in it to slay them in their sleep. By which we may note, that the wicked in their greatest A sudden destruction to the wicked. security shall be drawn unto judgement, jer. 22. 23. when their buildings are stately, their bodies healthy, their minds lofty, their wealth abundant, and their lives past fear; then, then cometh the alarm of their misery, waking them from their soft beds, heavy sleep, sweet love, pleasant pastime, easy health, and happy joy, to gather them into the slaughter-house of hell. Oh that men would mitigate their desire of pleasure, and once distrust their hearts when they be joyful! for as Herod was struck with death while he sat upon his throne of majesty; so are we never nearer to our woe, than when we are mounted to honour, or seated in quietness. The physicians say, that want of motion, and love of rest breedeth more diseases than all evil surfeits: and so must we say that are the physicians of men's souls, that more perish by ease, than by labour; by joy, than by sorrow; by pleasure, than by pain; and by idle religion, than by earnest and zealous profession. The reasons: the same that Isay taught, chap. 65. 12. because God is refused in his word: and good reason why Reason 1. it should be so; for as already we have showed, that the word must be a light for our paths, and a remembrancer to our souls: which being forgotten, no marvel if in our greatest security the Lord's wrath overtake us. Therefore let the idle followers of the gospel persuade their souls with more zeal and diligence to be informed by the Lord, lest the wrath take them sleeping, or selling, or drinking, or playing, or dicing, or dancing to their condemnation. Secondly, another reason, because they love pleasure 2 more than God, 2. Tim. 3. 4. therefore as Saneherib Isay. 37. was slain at that instant when he was worshipping his idol; so shall their bane be wrought when they are in their belly-worship following their pleasing delights. Let us therefore never put danger out of our Use 1 minds, but then when we are in most quiet comfort of soul and body, let us trouble our peace with one thought or other, Mich. 3. 11. If thou have children, fear their death; if thou have parents, fear their wrath; if thou have friends, fear their hatred; and if thou have health, fear thy sickness; if thou be joyful at a feast, think on the misery of famine; if at a pleasure, think upon the pain of the wounded; if at liberty, think upon the irons of the imprisoned; if in life, think on the pangs of death. Never exempt thyself from danger, but in peace remember war; in youth remember age; in play remember labour; and in the heaven of the worlds delight, think upon the hell of another life. Let sorrow be in thy sense; mourning in thy soul; danger in thy life; fear in thy music; trouble in thy sleep; pain in thy health; want in thy plenty; dislike in thy love; and distrust in thy desire: so shalt thou never be called to sickness, but with less grief; or to danger, but with less fear; or to death, but with less trouble; or to judgement, but thou shalt be provided for it. Another use: seeing the wicked shall be drawn to judgement 2 in their greatest security; then we may learn, whether they fear wrath and evil, or fear it not, yet all is one, it shall come upon them. David said, that the fear of the wicked shall fall on him; and herewee see joel saith, that though they sleep, yet shall they be awaked with and for their danger; so that if wicked men fear, their sorrow is the more; and if they fear not, their danger is not the less. Oh miserable captivity of wicked men! which are hardened to feel more pain, and softened to fear more wrath; would not this bring us out of love with our sin, and make us earnestly to lament our follies, which give us no peace till we desire them, and no rest after we possess them! But of this often have we spoken before. For there will I sit. When he saith, that he will sit in judgement: we may note, that the Lord will with no labour condemn the wicked, as it is Mal. 1. 4. even as one that sitteth in all ease. Again, in this that he sitteth in judgement, he alludeth to the judgements of men which were most lawful; showing that his proceed against the wicked were not unjust or extraordinary, but according to equity. But this is especially to be regarded when he nameth the persons whom he will judge, saying, all the heathen round about: meaning all those which dwelled near unto Israel; Whereby we are taught, that those which are our neighbours The nearest foes of the Church in the greatest danger. and see our worship, and live near, or among us, and yet be not of us, but are our enemies, God will judge them more severely, jerem. 12. 14. For if they which live among us, and see every day the works of God for us and in us, will not be ruled by us or turned to us, they may wait for the heavier judgement. And therefore was Philisthia more judged than Arabia, and Syria more vexed than Ethiopia, because they were on the confines of Israel. Then surely this may teach the lose Protestants and vain professors among us, what great danger they live in all this while; they have heard the Gospel and not believed it; the nearer they were to the truth, the more is the lords wrath against them; and the longer they have lived in our peace and seen the glorious works of God, the more shall be their heavy judgement. It were better for them that they lived in Rome, or in Barbary, or in Tartary, where the gospel is not talked of, for than should they be farther from danger; but now they live with us, eating at our tables, treading on our Land, standing in our churches, clothed with our garments, and blessed by our God: Oh how dear shall they pay for all these benefits! for the Lord will judge them that dwell near us; much more them that dwell with us: he will condemn them that dwell about us, much more them that dwell among us. The reasons of this doctrine are Reason 1. these: First, because they should be subject to the church, Isa. 60. 5. The members of the church are the true & lawful kings of the world, & all other aught to be their subjects: therefore when the subject rebelleth against his natural prince, he is more punished than a stranger; so when the nearest neighbours of the church are most of all negligent, they are more endangered than other are: for when the Lord giveth most means of instruction, such as is to live among the godly, than he rewardeth such neglect or contempt with more severe punishment. Another reason: because 2 they should secure than in their necessity, Isa. 21. 14. but if they will taste of their benefits, and not believe their sayings or comfort them in their sorrows, they are the more worthy to be destroyed. The use: let us never meddle Use. against good men, Matth. 27. 19 for their injuries will be rewarded double upon our heads. If thou live with them, honour them; if thou hear of them, go visit them; if they teach thee, believe them; if they want thee, relieve them; and never be an enemy unto them. The Lord saith, that our treading on the earth, is sufficient to make us without excuse if we believe him not: and then surely it is sufficient to condemn those that live under the Gospel, and receive not the Gospel that they tread on our land, see our churches, read our books, and believe not our Sermons. Now think with thyself that hast lived thus long in a strange place, & yet knowest not, nor obeyest the Lord of that place, art thou not in danger to be arraigned for rebellion? Yes verily: and so are all those that live with good men, and know them not, that may have the truth, and labour not for it; that might be saved, and yet will be reprobated. Be not therefore an enemy to godliness or to any member of the church: for if thou hear them not, their words will hurt thee; if thou help them not, their wants will witness against thee; and if thou oppress them, the Lord himself will judge thee. The xl. Sermon. Verse. 13. Put in your scythes, for the harvest is ripe: come get you down, for the winepress is full: yea, the winepress runneth over, for their wickedness is great. 14. O multitude, o multitude, come into the valley of threshing: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of threshing. AT the length by the assistance of God we are come to the last part of the execution, contained under the allegory of an harvest and threshing of corn. In the harvest and winepress, we must consider their death; and under the threshing, their condemnation. For the first, where he compareth their destruction to a harvest, he doth but as it is usual in the Scriptures, both old and new, to set forth a massacre of men, by cutting down of corn; the which is applied to the latter judgement in the Revelation, only here is mention made of scythes, but there the angels are said to reap with sickles, the matter is all one, for as one said; Non multum refert an uno grandi fluctu, an paulatim aqua subrepente, navis submergatur: It cometh all to one thing to have a ship drowned either with one great wave, or by a leak; and it is no matter whether a man be killed with a sword or a rapier: so the judgement is alike both with the sickle and with the sith. By the allegory both of the harvest and of the winepress, wherein there is not a stalk but it is cut, nor a grape but it is pressed out, we may note that not one shall escape the judgement of God, Amos 9 2. The which thing the Lord by this plain similitude would have us observe, that every day we might see our misery, and learn to mitigate the wrath of God toward us. Neither is the estate of the wicked more tolerable, because it seemeth they are here compared to corn, for it is but the worst and basest corn, such as is cut with the sith, not reaped with a sickle: For although they are corn, yet they are not for the Lords spending. David saith they lie like sheep in hell: are they the better in hell because they are compared to sheep? no verily; no more are they the happier because they are resembled to corn. The reason of this Reason. universal judgement is, because the Lord will bring every action whether it be good or bad unto judgement, Eccl. 12. 14. If he will bring every action, then much more every man, for every man hath a thousand actions, all which shall be so adjudged, as we shall know the particular censure of God upon every one of them. Seeing therefore Use. there is not one man in the world but he must come to judgement; as there is not one stalk in a corne-fielde but it must be cut down; and as the apostle saith, 2. Cor. 5. 10. that we must every one appear before the judgement seat of God: then let us live in the continual expectation thereof. A man that is wrongfully imprisoned thinketh it long till the judge come, who will set him at liberty because he knoweth his injury: in like sort, a man that is a christian is a prisoner in this world, having his flesh for his jail, his sins for his irons, the devils for his keepers, and Christ his Saviour for his judge; thinketh long till his judge come and set him at liberty, and therefore desireth every day to come into the presence of God. A judgement we must all undergo; therefore they are happy men that desire the same; let not any be so wilful as to wish there were none, for they which cannot like judgement, do deny justice, and they which deny justice shall certainly feel it. Appear before the Lord often with thy prayers, that he may know thee at the general judgement. Be not as unwilling to come before him, as a thief that careth not for the face of the judge; but as joseph thought long till he saw his father jacob, after he knew he was alive; so do thou think every day many years, till thou have seen the Lord in his kingdom. Again, when in the second place he mentioneth the wine press, saying, it runneth over, and their wickedness is great: he thereby noteth the quality of sin, namely, if God had not set a measure thereof, it would grow immeasurable; for as the measure of the wine press never stayeth till it be full, and when it is full, it ceaseth not till it run over; so will the sins of men never cease till they exceed measure, jer. 9 3. whereby we may see a wonderful work Sin will never cease growing. of God, for there is not one man living but he hath in him the seed and spawn of all sin: now it is wonderful that every one groweth not, and that any man living should have in him any little drop of goodness. We may also lament our corrupt and sinful estate, that during the time of our life we are subject to all sin: for there is no subject so true, but if God let him fall he will become a traitor; no woman so honest, but she may become an adulteress; no man so righteous, but he may become a thief; and to conclude, there is not any so glorious, but he may be as infamous; for as we are subject to all sicknesses, so are we to all sins. O miserable men that we are, who shall deliver us from these bodies of sin! it is borne with us, it groweth with us, it liveth with us, and it dieth with us, it is the death of itself, and the death of us; the death of itself by killing us; and the death of us by exceeding measure: for as the sons of Zeruiah were too strong for David, although he was king; so our sins are too strong for us, although we should rule them. We were happy men if our sins were not, or if they were not so immeasurable. They will come at the first to be our slaves, as the Philistines; but in the end they will be our lords, as they would be to Israel. Oh, would God we might conquer them and drive them out of our souls, as they expelled the Philistines out of jerusalem! The reason is; because the power of sathan which Reason 1. is the efficient cause of sin, doth increase to deceive us, 2. Thess. 2. 9 11. The devil never ceaseth to suggest new temptations, and we are seldom able to resist them: therefore he never is idle, but ever proceedeth farther and farther, till he have plunged us over the ears in sin, that so he might drown us. When he made Peter deny Christ once, than he made him to deny him thrice; so when he hath persuaded us a little to follow the ways of our own hearts, than he never giveth over till he have made us to deny him often: so that this increasing in sin must be attributed to the devil; for in truth the devil shall be punished for the sins of the whole world, and yet every wicked man shall be punished for his own. Let us learn Use 1. then that there is a measure appointed to receive our sins, and ifwe cease not till it be full, we cannot cease till it run over; and if we suffer it to run over, we cannot hinder it from overrunning us. There is none that would be willing to sell his inheritance to fill a thieves purse with gold: Therefore let not any of us be so simple as to fill the devils measure full of our sins, which we buy by selling away our souls. Oh, that we were as hard to the devil when he craveth for a sin, as we are to a beggar when he crieth for an alms! we think well, if we bestow a penny in a week upon such a person, and we can hardly be drawn in for more: but sin after sin we commit, as fast as hail cometh from the clouds. Let us then empty the measure of our sin, and not fill it, and be as unwilling to cast one folly into the devils hand, as many are to cast one farthing into the poor man's box. Let us resist the temptations of sin, as jacob resisted the voice of his sons persuading him to suffer his little Benjamin to go with them into Egypt; and let us never yield unto him: let us not be overcome, rather let us die. For their iniquity is great. These words contain the reason of their judgement, namely because of their sins; for in truth if men did never sin, they should never be judged: and therefore seeing every one that is borne hath sinned, every one borne shall answer for their sin at judgement. But when he saith, it is great: he teacheth us that every man shall be punished according to the quantity Such as is our sin shall be our pain. of his sin, Luc. 12. 47. Many sins many stripes, great sins great judgement: As in civil political government there is a difference; so also is there in the heavenly regiment; for every one shall be punished according to the measure of his sins. Therefore now take occasion to stay the heat of thy sins, seeing many pleasures, many joys, many thefts, many adulteries, many oaths, many lies, and many wicked actions shall bring unto thee manifold indignation. Moses would not suffer any of Israel to sacrifice in Egypt, because the Egyptians would slay them: if fear of death made them cease sacrificing to God, then let fear of death make thee cease to sin against God. Some men will not eat the best meats, although they love them well, because their price is too costly: oh that we could as willingly abstain from sin, which we love too well, because it will cost so dearly! for one hours pleasure will bring a whole world's pain. The first reason: because God hath ordained his church to have Reason 1. several kinds of punishment, Matt. 18. whereby he teacheth that he will observe the same order in the world to come, to cast out obstinate offenders into the pit that is prepared for heathens and hypocrites; for all the actions in the church militant, do lead us to the like in the church triumphant. Secondly, another reason is, or else the greatest wretch of the world were in no worse case than the 2 new-born babe: but this cannot be; for than were there not degrees of the Lords justice, as there are in his mercy. Let us learn to make this use thereof: seeing the Lord would have a man that had stolen any goods, or taken wrongfully from any man, to restore it fowerfolde: then let us learn by the greatness of our sins to aggravate our sorrows; for surely, if we still remain impenitent in the church of God, his wrath will in the end overtake us as it did joab, who was slain at the horns of the altar. For the slaughter of the Gibeonites which Saul made unjustly, God after his death caused seven of his posterity to be hanged, because Saul had not pacified the matter himself. Be careful therefore to repent thy sins with sorrow, and to recompense them with obedience, lest thy deserts fall upon thy posterity: otherwise thy delight will be too dear, and the fruits of thy pleasure will be more bitter than wormwood. Had judas known when he was with Christ at supper that which now he feeleth, all the priests of jewrie and all the money in their several treasuries, could never have persuaded him to that treason: Try not the adventure of thy sins; for hell is hotter than the furnace of Babylon, and they which once come in it, can never come out again. Learn also to know the weight of 2 every one of thy sins, that thou mayest easily see they are odious to God, infamous to men, and dangerous to thy soul: how the devil hatcheth them, the flesh nurseth them, the world maintaineth them, and God abhorreth them. Look I say, unto their weight; for they are a burden too heavy for thee to bear: if thou keep them, they will eat thee; if thou strive with them, they will weary thee; if thou bear them, they will hurt thee; if thou forsake them, they will follow thee; and if thou know them, they will fear thee: therefore learn to measure them, and number them, and weigh them, that thou mayest empty and lessen, and cast them down, never to take them up again. O multitude. In this verse is contained the second similitude, Vers. 14. whereby their destruction is deciphered. For after harvest cometh threshing: and in my opinion in the former verse is set down their first death; and in this verse their second death, by reason of the resemblance betwixt the pains of hell, and the action of threshing. First, the stroke of the thresher seemeth to threaten the corn to strike it in pieces, but yet it doth not so; a man would think that the pains of hell would make an end of them that suffer them, but yet they abide them: Secondly threshing followeth the cutting of the corn; and so hell followeth the death of the body. Thirdly, threshing is a continual striking of one sheaf; and so hell is a continual tormenting of one soul: for pain followeth pain, as stroke followeth stroke. But certain it is a destruction is here signified, and that a more sharp and severe one than was noted in the former verse: wherefore he calleth unto them mournefullie; O multitude, o multitude: The which phrase of speech teacheth us, that God is very sorry God is sorry to destroy us. to execute his wrath upon the wicked; for so our Saviour expressed his grief for jerusalem, Luk. 13. 34. when he cried out, O jerusalem, jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thee, etc. The which thing putteth us in mind of the infinite love of God, whereby he would pity our loss, revoke his sentence, silence his wrath, and save us from heavy destruction. But such is our nature, as is the nature of children in their birth, which think not upon the pains of their mothers in travail; although they die in extremity, yet they forget them when they be old: and so do we both the anger and the love of God, we regard not his mercies, nor his judgements, nor his gospel, nor his tears, nor the blood of our Saviour The reasons of this doctrine: First, in regard of us, because we know Reason 1. not the things that belong to our peace, Luke 17. 42. So wretched is the estate of men, that they are not able to discern when God blesseth them or curseth them: when he wisheth them well, and when he wouldeth them evil. This is clearer than the sun, for Christ and his Gospel being offered to the world, and preached to every degree of men; you shall see nothing more vilely esteemed, or basely regarded, insomuch as we may say, that the men of our time do not know the things that belong to their peace. For if the Lord threaten them, than they spurn; if he bless them, than they are wanton; if he punish them, than they murmur; if he honour them, than they are proud; and every one thinketh that the Gospel serveth but for a time, and they shall do as well without it, as with it. They know not that now is their visitation, or that now they work their death, or life; or that now they are married to God or the devil: Surely, if men believe not the Gospel, and walk not thereafter, they are satans bondslaves, although their wealth be as great as salomon's; and their authority as great haman's: but if they joyfully embrace it in the ministery of the word, then are they the wife of the lamb, and the elected heirs of grace. Another reason; secondly in regard of God, because he 2 rather willeth repentance then vengeance; of this we have often spoken. Let us make this use: First, when we Use 1. see the froward and wicked disposition of the world, that will not be reclaimed by any warning, or any mercy of God: let us do as Christ doth for the pharisees, Mark 3. 5. Mourn for the hardness of their hearts. It is the custom of some vain professors, (for so I may term them) to rail odiously at them that will not be ruled by their words: and so it is of some choleric and unwise preachers, who will take liberty in their pulpits rather to revile men then to reclaim them, except at the first they come and lay their hands under their feet; in the one it is foolish zeal, in the other vain folly. Learn therefore by our Saviour how to be affected when thy people, or thy children, or thy servants, or thy friends, or thy neighbours, will not be governed by thy instruction, namely, to mourn for their hardness of heart; and no marvel, for thou seest God to mourn for them: when thy words can no longer prevail, then let tears; and if they will not be moved by warning, let them be by mourning. Hardness of heart is a sickness sent by God, and it lieth not in the power of man to cure the same: therefore cast not away a man when he is sick, not a soul when it is hard; but let sorrow and prayer speak for it to God when there is no help in man's physic. Another use: seeing God is unwilling, and therefore mourneth for our destruction, ● and so do all good men also: oh let us not despise and neglect all their sorrows, and cares, and tears which they power forth for us! it is ungodliness not to regard the Gospel, but it is unnatural not to regard the sorrowful. In heaven is nothing but joy, oh wretches that we should make the Lord sorrowful for us! in the church there is all sorrow; oh unkind and pitiless men that we should increase their sorrow, and mourning, and tears, and add to their affliction! but that which is worst of all, we are hardened and will not care for their cries. Be moved to repentance, and conversion, and holiness, and religion, for God and men do mourn for thy rebellion: let their tears make thee weep in this life, or else they will make thee roar in another life. Secondly, we may observe in this verse, when he calleth upon the multitude to come to destruction, that God careth no more for a multitude, then for one man, and will as easily cast many into hell as one soul, as we may see in the drowning of the old world, Gen. 7. 21. The reason: because all are but flesh, Gen. 6. 3. that is but vile, made of earth; but weak, wanting strength; and abominable, corrupted with sin. Now what should the Lord strive and stand with earth, or weakness, or sin, he hath not an angel, but it is stronger than a world: and therefore a multitude are as easily given to damnation as one or two. Let us learn not to do evil after the example of a multitude, Exod. 23. 2. Although many be blasphemers, or Atheists, or heathens, or papists, or whoremongers, or neglecters of the Gospel, despisers of preachers, and such like: yet be not thou so, for it is no ease to have company to hell. Again, when he calleth them to come into the valley of threshing, meaning the place of wrath, using no other ● means to draw them thither but his call: we may note, that the only word of God shall bring men to judgement, Psalm. 50. 1, 2, 3. and the reason is, because he is strong that giveth the word, jerem. 30, 7. Oh therefore that the same word might stir us up to salvation, which shall prepare us to condemnation and judgement, 2. Thess. 3. 1. For verily if it be so powerful as to bring all the world in one company together, and to raise the dead out of their graves, and make living men out of the dust of the earth: in whom I beseech you is the fault? that it gathereth not us to hear it when the Lord speaketh in the congregation, and raiseth us not up to the life of righteousness: surely as the lords hand is not shortened; so his word is not weakened. The xlj. Sermon. Verse. 15. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light. 16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from jerusalem: and the heavens and earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. AS in the former chapter, when the destruction and calamities of the Lords own people the jews, were threatened, the heavens were said to be covered with darkness; so now, when the enemies shall be brought to judgement, the like terrors, and fear, and darkness, and wonders shall be wrought to their astonishment: so that the prophet to the end of this chapter handleth these two things; first, the fearful tokens of the enemy's destruction in these verses: and secondly, he concludeth with sweet comforts to the godly. Concerning the darkening of the sun and moon and stars, we have already spoken in the former chapter, where we told you; first, that the darkening of these lights did teach us, that no creatures are able to keep their places when the Lord is angry, Isa. 13. 9, 10. because they themselves have a natural fear of corruption, job. 15. 15. Secondly, we showed you, how they wait upon God to shine when he smileth, and to frown when he chideth, teaching us to do the like. Again, by uttering of his voice we showed you that he meant thunder; and therefore when he saith, that he will utter his voice out of Zion, and roar out of jerusalem at the overthrow of his enemies: he thereby teacheth us, that all that live in the church of GOD must make account to hear and see many fearful signs Fearful things in the church. and wonders, Psal. 48. 5, 6, 7. for in the church God manifesteth his wrath against others and against it; he showeth, that he is terrible and will be feared: therefore we hear the thunders, when other feel the blows; we see the miracles, when other smart for their operation; we are taught by others harms, and we are terrified by other men's destructions. Therefore none can live in the church proudly, but the heavens will dismay him; or profanely, but signs and wonders will admonish him; or wickedly, but the word of God will reprove him; or ignorantly, but the shaking, and quaking, and troubling, and darkening of the world instruct him. Therefore the church is well called the kingdom of fear; for there is fear of God, and fear of trouble, and fear of damnation: fear of God, wrought by word and wonders; fear of trouble, lest violence should overthrow all religion; and fear of damnation, lest the devils kingdom should be enlarged: and surely we were better fear in this place, then be secure in another; as the godly jews which had rather fight upon the walls of jerusalem, then suffer all quietness in Babylon. But I have followed all this more effectually in another place. But the Lord will be the hope. When he had told them that he would roar out these destructions in jerusalem, lest they should fear that a new calamity was coming upon them: He telleth them that he will be their hope; that is, they shall hope in him, and he will be their strength to deliver them from all his wrath and vengeance. Whereby we may see that by the fearful signs and wonders which he worketh in his church, he teacheth us to hope in him more assuredly, jerem. 30. 5. 11. So that now I might Wonders make good men to hope in God. thus reason with all my brethren: We have had many fearful and extraordinary thunders; many terrible flashes of lightning, which have killed men, and burned houses; many wonderful apparitions in the air, as fire and blood, and light and darkness, and the visions of armed men; many comets or blazing stars; beside many other: yet hath the Church stood, the Gospel been preached, our land quieted, our prince preserved; yea God is still our God, and we are still his people. Therefore let us hope in him more assuredly. Paul having been once stoned, & raised up again, feared the violence of that death never afterward; and so seeing we have often suffered these things, and never yet perished in them, let God be our hope for evermore. Consider how he saved some in the fire; some in the dens of lions; some in shipwreck on the sea; and some being taken up above the clouds, yet returned without all hurt: Even so will he do unto us; no quaking of the earth, or breaking of the clouds, or darkening of the day, or changing of the air, shall change our minds from trusting in our God. When Sinai shook and burned like a world on fire, not one of the people were hurt by it; but they were prepared to a more reverend receiving of the law: and so let these wonders and fires prepare us to the like, that our proud natures may be humbled by them, our secure lives may be wakened, our little fear of sin may be increased, and our daily expectation of judgement may be renewed; that when the Lord shall come, he may find us preaching or praying, or mourning, or fasting, or watching, or hearing, or reading, or repenting and ready for his kingdom: Oh, blessed are they that are in such a case, and blessed are they whose hope is in the Lord. The first reason: because Reason 1. all the ends of the world may see the salvation of our God, Esay 52. 10. For the godly which are scattered here and there through all the world will spread abroad the same, that every one might learn it. Another reason; because in the midst of all terrors, yet is God in the church, 2 Psal. 50. 2. and his beauty is then greatest, when he shineth in darkness, and dwelleth in fire, and ruleth in wonders, & is feared in his signs. Let us learn by these things to increase our faith, and confidence in the Lord, that we may Use. say with David, Though the earth be removed, yet we will not fear There is a base kind of trust or confidence which men retain and content themselves withal, when as they grow not forward into a most Christian resolution, not caring for riches, which are but vanity; or for health which is but weakness; or for life, which is but temporal; or for death which shall bring immortality. This confidence maketh a man like to Christ, who cared not for the cross, because God was his father, and in like sort shall not we care for the miseries of the world, if (as we say) we care not for the world. Let us not care for that which we cannot keep, I mean our life; much less let us sin to keep it by unlawful means, for than we do but hire a lion to watch our lambs, which in the end will destroy them all. We can say in our health, that we can comfort the sick; but being in sickness, we can receive none ourselves: so there be many that make great show of faith, and confidence in these times of health and peace, and quietness, as if they were ready to die for God; but alas, if the Lord frown upon them but a little, their faith fadeth like mown grass, and they are at their wit's end. Therefore come into the closet and storehouse of thy soul, and see that thy faith be as good as thy face, and that it will as well abide the burning furnace, as the warm sun, and try whether it will abide the torments of death, and not be killed: thy faith if it be true must be as immortal as thy soul, that it may stand in all storms; swim in all seas; abide in all dangers; live in all deaths; and reign in all glory. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Vers. 17 Zion, my holy mountain: then shall jerusalem be holy, and no strangers shall go through her any more. Now the Prophet drawing to a conclusion of his Sermons, shutteth them up with many sweet promises of the Lords favour; as first of all his presence, than his bounty: his presence in this verse, which shall sanctify them and keep them from enemies. Concerning the former part of this verse where the Prophet saith, they shall know him to be their God dwelling in Zion; sufficient hath been already spoken, and I will not stand any longer thereon, but refer you to the former chapter. This therefore his promise unto jerusalem, that it should be holy, teacheth us the perfection or greatest honour of the church, namely Holiness, Ephes. 1. 4. when Holiness is the perfection of the church. the Lord promiseth that his church should be holy: he thereby teacheth us that all gifts and goodness, and mercy, and glory, and dignity of the church, proceedeth from this that she is holy; neither can the Lord in this world bestow any greater benefit upon his church, than her sanctication. This Holiness consisteth not in learning, nor in studying, nor in knowledge, nor in prophesy, nor in miracles, nor in church-offices, but in a good life and in all them; so that a holy man is a perfect christian. Now verily when the Lord promiseth jerusalem to be Holy, he giveth her all things, for he giveth her grace to be righteous, his favour to be honourable, and his benefits to be glorious: Without holiness men are heathens, but with it they are christians; without it they cannot enjoy the earth, but with it they may enjoy the heavens; without it they are satans slaves, but with it they are the Lords sons: and to conclude, Holiness is the will of God, the end of our redemption, the fruit of the Spirit, the clothing of our souls, the joy of the godly, and the perfection of the church. By Holiness, lands are established, evil is banished, kings thrones are maintained, and it maketh a nation dwell without danger; no enemy can touch them, no famine can dismay them, no misery can overthrow them, because they be holy: and so may every man's soul by Holiness drive away the devil, continue in the church, and obtain the kingdom of heaven. The Reason 1. first reason: because in nothing do we resemble God more than in holiness, Exod. 22. 23. who is only holy, Revel. 15. 4. Holiness and righteousness was the image wherein God created us, and therefore he caused to be wrote upon the breast of the high Priests robes, Holiness to the Lord. Contrary unto this holiness, is profaneness, when men abuse whatsoever is appointed to be holy; whereby I see that they are very justly termed profane men, who have no manner of show of holiness. God his fearful name which is holy they blaspheme; the sabbaoths which are holy, they profane; religion which is holy, they contemn; the congregation which is holy, they persecute; prayers which are holy, they seldom use; and to be brief, all the laws of God which are holy, they violate: these are carnal men; these are miserable men; these are subject to all abominations. So that as there is no blessing, but it belongeth to the holy; so there is no curse but it belongeth to the profane. Another reason is: because holiness is freed from 2 sin & hell, Isa. 11. 8, 9 now to be freed from sin, is the greatest blessing in this world; & to be freed from hell, is the greatest blessing in the world to come: & indeed one followeth another; for whosoever is freed from sin, is also freed from hell. But there are many that think it a great pain unto them to be free from sin, because they cannot endure to be free from the means of sinning: yet let us know that this is, or aught to be our prayer that we may once be freed from committing of sin; that whereas we have a mind to idolatry or Popery, it may be turned from it; or if we be inclined to swearing, we may fall to leave it and hate it; and if we be addicted to be envious, we may be charitable; or to lusts, we may be chaste; or to falsehood, we may be true; or to covetousness, we may be liberal; or ignorance of the scriptures, we may be learned in them; and finally if to any vain or unlawful thing, we may no more desire it, than children do the rod: oh happy were we if we were thus cleansed from sin, that we might be thus sanctified. Let us learn that exhortation of the Apostle, 1. Pet. 1. Use 1. 15, 16. That seeing God which hath called us is holy, so let us be holy, that we may purge ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. And surely this reason of the Apostle, is very effectual to move us unto holiness, when he telleth us that God which called us is holy. Therefore look to thyself, that hearest the Gospel preached, and leadest a lewd and profane life; for I tell thee that this very call of God whereby thou art severed from jews and Turks, shall at the latter day tell thee of thy evil, which wouldst not walk in holiness, although God which called thee were holy. The first image of God created in thee is decayed, and it can never be repaired but by holiness: wouldst thou be glorified, thou must first be sanctified: thy body must be holy, abstaining from pleasure; thy soul must be holy, not yielding to temptation; thy affections must be holy, not corrupted with vanity; and thy life must be holy, not drowned in sin. Oh be holy as God is holy; it is a part of his essence, so let it be of thine; it is never parted from him, so let it be ever with thee; it is always found in him, so let it be always found in thee: God is holy in the earth; so be thou; he is holy in the church, so be thou; he is holy in the day, so be thou; he is holy in the night, be thou so also; and he is holy in heaven, oh that we may be so! his judgements are holy, so let thine be; his words are holy, so ought thine to be; and his works are holy, so let thine be. Oh that we could be holy, as he is holy; that we might be perfect, as he is perfect; holy without sin, holy without want, holy without love: without sin, that they were pardoned; without want, that all graces might be supplied; and without love, that life, and health, and world, and pleasure, and lands may give place to holiness; for holy people are redeemed of the Lord, but the wicked and profane are damned to hell. Another use is, that now we are exhorted 2 to holiness, let us learn how to be holy, which john teacheth us 1. joh. 3. 2, 5. which is first by expectation of Christ's coming: secondly, by hoping for our glorification: and thirdly, by purging ourselves; in a word this is all, We are made holy by regeneration and sanctification; for a new mind is a holy mind, as a new life is a holy life. So then, wouldst thou be holy, the word must beget thee in the womb of the church; and the blood of Christ must purge thee in the tabernacle of thy flesh: & this is the way to make a saint first by the word, them by the blood of Christ; and all of this must be done in this life: for they do but mock and delude the world, which canonize saints after they be dead, except they can bring them to life again. So then a pure life maketh not a saint, that is, holy, without a new mind; nor another mind without a clean life. Some are of opinion, that there are no saints but in the kingdom of heaven: but they are easily confuted by the scripture, which calleth the godly at Corinth, at Ephesus, at Colossa, and many other places, by the name of saints. But they say we do, all them saints which the scripture calleth holy men: and I pray what difference is there betwixt a saint and a holy man? surely none at all: but every holy man is a saint, in all tongues that ever I learned. But if they understand saints to be the souls of godly men in heaven, than I say that in all good divinity and sound writers, there are none such spoken of, I mean, that the blessed souls in heaven are only called saints. To conclude, hear the gospel, believe the promises, wait for the appearing of our Saviour, and take but a drop of his blood to purge thy soul and life, and thou shalt be holy, thou shalt be a saint: otherwise, thy life lead in long iniquity shall end in everlasting woe, pain, and misery. And no strangers. In these words he telleth them one benefit of his presence and their sanctification or holiness, which is this, that no strangers shall any more go through Israel: meaning, that they should never be overcome by any enemies; otherwise to harbour strangers is the commandment of God. But by these words we are taught, that only religion maketh a commonwealth or kingdom Religion only maketh a kingdom happy. to be peaceable and happy, 1. Sam. 12. 14, 15. Although human policy and worldly wisdom do much in the government of any nation: yet there is not any thing that so establisheth a people and maketh them happy as religion, which is the wisdom and written word of God. Why was not Ahabs' government as good as David's, or jeroboams a most politic king as good as salomon's? Surely because the one was established in the law of God, and the other was mingled with filthy idolatry. Let all the Politicians of the world, and cursed Machiavellian Atheists murmur what they dare into the ears of kings and great persons, that they must sometime regard Stratagems contrary to the Scriptures, or else thrones cannot stand: yet they are all deceived, for no policy nor counsel can stand against the Almighty. Oppression, breach of promise, toleration of malefactors, insinuations, examinations, extortions, creations of offices, and all the like policies cannot stand without religion: for there was never yet any Politician, but he ended his life in great sorrow, as did Achitophel: I mean such as are not ruled by the scriptures. We have read many policies of wicked men, as of Pharaoh, to keep the Israelites in Egypt; of the Philistims, to keep them without weapons; of jeroboam, to keep them from jerusalem; of the kings of Assyria, to keep them from returning home again; of Herod, to kill our Saviour Christ, but what gained they all by their policie● surely nothing, but their own sorrow and death: for as David saith, The Lord intrappeth the wicked in the net that he laid for other, Psalm. 9 The reasons of this doctrine are these: First, because for sin God dissolveth kingdoms, Proverb. 28. 2. Reason 1. and therefore for religion he establisheth them: for there is not any thing so contrary to sin, as is the Lords worship, I mean religion; for all other human virtues, are rather in the compass of sin, then in the shadow of true godliness. Neither yet are all policies so condemned, as it is utterly unlawful to use any; for some are godly and may be practised, as we may see in joseph with his brethren, who was a great courtier, and yet used no unlawful extremity of his authority: so we may read of Moses that sent spies into the land of Canaan; of the Israelites fight with the Beniamites, and of Gedeon when he slew so many of the Ephramites whom he found out by pronunciation of the word Shibboleth: but if policy be grounded upon any sin, or accompanied with any unlawful thing, then better abide the hazard, than that we should do evil that good may come of it. Another reason: because, King's reign by the Lord, and by him Princes bear rule. Now we must not think that he favoureth or 2 accounteth any nation blessed without his worship, for he regardeth not a soul that feareth him not. For this cause he drove Nabuchadnezzar from the throne to the herds of cattle, that he might teach him, that his throne depended upon him. Now shall we say that God is, where there is no God accounted; or if accounted, yet not worshipped; or if externally worshipped, yet not sincerely; where every fancy of a worldly wise man is preferred before that truth, which is sealed with the Lords blood. I grant that jethro a heathen gave Moses counsel how to behave himself in his government, but GOD approved it: and so let every man speak for the good government of a nation; but let the word of GOD govern their sayings. The uses: first, let us take that counsel of the wisest king that ever was, Prou. 25. 5. Take away the wicked from the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. If the wicked be removed, wicked counsel will be silenced; and if wicked counsel be silenced, then will the prince's throne be established in righteousness. David would not have them to be his courtiers that slew Ishboseth his enemy, and no more would he have any vain persons or liars to be his servants, Psalm. 101. 5, 6. for as Gedeons' army was most honourable when he had sent away all dastards and fearful soldiers (although it was small) so a king's court is most glorious, when all wicked are banished from it, although very few be left. Multitudes are very dangerous, & many men many wicked men: Our Saviour Christ had but twelve, and yet one of them was a traitor, and so it is most likely there is not any great company living in court or country, but there are some wicked among them. Although wicked men may be good for the common wealth, yet they cannot establish the king's throne in righteousness: therefore I would that all the princes of the world would say with David, Psal. 119. Away from me ye wicked, for I will keep the commandments of my God. Another use: let us pray for kings and kingdoms, that the word of God 2 may take place in their hearts and lands: for verily, if it only make them blessed, we shall be very uncharitable to make them cursed, for seeing God doth so highly delight in our prayers, that when we pray but for our own peace, he heareth and granteth our petitions: much more will he be merciful unto us when we pray for his worship, and for the enlarging of his kingdom. And surely if Paul wished that king Agrippa were like himself, his bonds excepted; then let us also unfeignedly pray that all kings and people were like ours, our sins excepted, which are as heavy on us, as were Paul's bonds on him. The xlij. Sermon. Vers. 18. And in that day shall the mountains drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of judah shall run with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and water the valley of Shittim. Having promised them his presence, now he also granteth them his bounty, for as the barrenness of the earth wrought their famine; and their famine wrought their curse: so the fruitfulness of the earth must work their plenty; and their plenty must bring their joy. Now than the church being delivered, the wars quieted, the godly sanctified, and religion or the true worship of God once again established, all the mountains and hills, and valleys and rivers flow with abundance of worldly comforts. That the mountains should drop wine, and the hills flow with milk, and all rivers run with water, it is but a figurative or hyperbolical speech: whereby is noted the wonderful plenty and abundance that should come unto them after their peace; yea, beyond the nature of the earth, and the expectation of man. In this verse there are these two things to be spoken of: First, of the plenty of victuals and food: and secondly, of the fountain that should come out of the house of the Lord; and water the valley of Shittim, which was a place in the country of Moab, where the Israelites committed fornication with the daughters of Moab, Numer. 25. 1. First, in the large promise of so great plenty as these jews The peace of the church rejoice the creatures of God. should have after the restitution of worldly things, we may note, that if God give peace to his church, than all the creatures of the world are the better for it, Esa. 30. 24, 25. For and in the peace of the church, there is nothing in the world but are rejoiced in it: The heavens are clearer, the sun is lighter; the ox is stronger; the sheep are fatter; the rivers are fuller; the bread is sweeter; the fields are fruitfuller; and the world is ioyfuller. So that when they grow which worship God, they shall also grow that serve man. Till Adam sinned there was not any creature that knew the curse: and so if the church could live without sin, there is not a creature but should be free from evil. Wherefore when their sins are purged and themselves reconciled to God & established in peace; then the herbs grow, the fields abound, the trees blossom, the cattle labour, the wines nourish, and all things prosper forgetting their curse, as a man recovering health, forgetteth sickness, or as a reconciled friend forgetteth his malice. The godly therefore being in captivity in Babylon, had good cause to put away all mirth and joy until they saw the deliverance of the church of God. And if ever any nation in the world had the experience of this prophesy, that they could say their land was quiet, their earth was fruitful, their people were many, their hills flowed with milk, their houses with wine, their coffers with gold, their pastures with sheep, their yokes with oxen, their fields with corn, their bread with strength, and their health preserved by the fruits of the earth: then may we in England say that the Lords plenty hath been among us, because his church is with us. We have had no war, but we conquered; no sickness, but we were comforted; no famine, but we were delivered; no danger, but we were preserved, & no occasion of mourning in our streets, and all because the spouse of Christ dwelleth among us. Our earth hath not lost her strength; our children have not been left fatherless; our summers, have not burned us; our winters have not killed us; our harvest hath not failed us; our season hath reached our barley harvest; our barley harvest, our wheat harvest; our wheat harvest, our vintage; and our vintage, our season again: and this is all because the lambs of Christ feed with our flocks, the servants of Christ sit at our tables, the spouse of Christ dwelleth in our houses, and the church of Christ is at peace in our land: oh wake not the beloved of Christ until she please, and let her not be imprisoned as joseph was, because all things prosper under peace! The Reason 1. first reason, because when the church is at peace, the people have the Lord about them as rivers, and their iniquity pardoned, Isa. 33. 21. 24. The Lord is all things to the world, as he is all things to the elect in another life: What is the reason? that the angels hunger not, that the saints in heaven die not, or be not sick or cold, that they live without bodies, or without meat, that they see without day or sun, that they watch, and never sleep; that they speak, and never be weary; and that they live, and shall never die; but because the Lord's presence is all unto them, Revel. 21. 22, 23, 24. and so is it in the church when the Lord giveth quietness unto it, he bringeth all joy, and peace, and comfort, and glory, and plenty; that not only men, but his dumb and senseless creatures may rejoice in them. Then it followeth that the peaceable estate of the church in this life, is little inferior to the joy of another life. In the other life they have no want, no more have we; there they have no sorrow, no more is here; there is no fear of enemies, no more is here; there they take no care for life, no more do they here; there they have immortality, here they be assured of it, only death hindereth: there they worship God continually, so they do here, only natural infirmity letteth: and to conclude, there they have God, and so have we here. Oh, who would not live in the church, that he may have a heaven in this world? Secondly, another reason: the angels of heaven rejoice at it, and therefore 2 much more men and creatures of the earth: for when Christ was borne, a number of heavenly soldiers sang glory unto God, because peace was on the earth and good will toward men, Luke 2. 13. 14. Blessed therefore is that peace which glorifieth GOD that sendeth it, and rejoiceth angels that hear of it, and comforteth good men that have it, and blesseth all creatures that grow in it. Surely they which take away the peace from the church, take away all glory from God, and all comfort from men. Let us which live in these blessed times look to ourselves Use. above all other: for as God hath made our earthly estate better than other men's, so will he do our condition in the other life worse than all men's for the abusing hereof. Let me lament my country as Esaie lamented Israel, cap 43. 22, 23, 24. saying. Thou hast not called upon me o England, but thou hast wearied me; Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt offerings, neither haste thou honoured me with thy sacrifices; I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast not bought me sweet savour with thy money; neither haste thou made me drunk with the fat of your sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, and wearied me with thine iniquities. O my brethren! thus may the Lord complain of us. We have had peace, who hath been honoured for it? we have had money, who hath been worshipped for it? we have had cattle and corn, to whom have we sacrificed? surely we have honoured our policy, for our peace; we have worshipped our goods and lands, with our money; and we have sacrificed our corn and flesh, to our bellies. What could the Lord give more than he hath? or bear more than he doth? or tarry longer than he must? or we receive more than hath been cast upon us? Oh, that I could now power forth myself in words, to lament the estate of our times! We have much preaching, but little religion; for the prophets scant believe themselves; we have much peace, but little knowledge of God is reaped thereby; we have great plenty, but very small thankfulness: our peace hath bred pride; our pride hath bred want; our want hath caused mourning; our mourning hath brought forth plenty, and our plenty hath hatched pride again. Let the hearts of men cleave in sunder, to consider this point: that now we fall as fast to our former vomits, as any ruffian to his former follies. We have been humbled, and God hath heard us; God hath heard us, and we regard it not: for the rich men eat their flock in plenty; lavish out their money in wantonness; spend God his fruits in riot, and never think of thankfulness. This, saith he, my friends left me; or I gained by such a bargain; or I won at such a game; or got by such an office, or I saved in my shop, and now I will be merry with it: And the Lord hath no sweet savour by their money, nor any sacrifice by their flocks. But to come to the point, they begin already to forget that there was a famine: and as the staruen kine in winter, become wanton and wild in the spring, so they which of late could speak pitifully, and mourn bitterly for want; now they begin to forget their want, and their God and all. Oh my dear brethren! we are now in more danger to perish by plenty, than we were to fall by famine; for ease slayeth the foolish, and the prosperity of the wicked shall destroy them. When the children of Israel went every day poor and rich to gather Manna, and to eat thereof, they lived well; but when the quails came, and they eat thereof, the plague took them while the meat was in their mouths: so, not want of food, but want of grace and thankfulness destroyeth men. Therefore now let the magistrates look to the laws; let the ministers discharge their places; let the fathers admonish their children; and let all men govern themselves, lest our plenty of fruits cost the death of our souls. Now be as diligent to render praise, as you were wont to be vigilant in prayer: let the tears burst forth for joy; for our peace rejoiceth both men and angels. We are come to our first heaven (I mean the peace of our church) if we now wax proud, and grow insolent, as the devils were cast out of heaven above; so shall we be out of heaven beneath. Remember sickness followeth health, death followeth sickness, judgement followeth death; and damnation followeth judgement: now are our souls sick, let us recover them, for else they die, & if they die, they will be judged, & if they be judged, they will be damned. Secondly, he promiseth that a fountain shall go forth of the house of the Lord to water the valley of Setim: meaning that the Gospel should be preached to the Gentiles; for it began at jerusalem as at the spring head, and so flowed through the whole world; of the which the Prophet Ezechiel saw a vision, Ezech. 47. 3, 4, 5, etc. whereby we are taught: first, that God caused salvation to flow from the jews unto the Gentiles; they had both spring and stream, and yet wanted grace to drink thereof: whereupon she speaketh, Cant. 1. 5. that they made her the keeper of the vines, but she kept not her own vine. Secondly, in that the Gospel is compared to a running water: we may note that it never standeth still, but goeth as it were a flood through the world, and there is no power to resist it: And this is the cause why all the kings and counsellors of the world could never stop the course thereof, only the Bishop of Rome is that star called Wormwood, Revel. 8. 10. 11. that fell from heaven and corrupted these fountains of water; whereby they being made bitter, caused the death of many that drank thereof. Thirdly, the valley of Setim was a very dry place, and these waters made it fruitful; so were all the Gentiles, whereof we are a part: & if these waters of the Gospel had not come unto us, we had remained unfruitful land, very near unto cursing and burning. Lastly, we may see that no other doctrine or profession whatsoever is to be received, but this which is derived from jerusalem: We must not fetch our water from Rome, or from Mecha, or from any other place, but take of these which flowed from the temple. And it is verily thought, that God would not suffer jerusalem or the temple to stand, nor convert it into a Bishops-seate, lest the antiquity or dignity of the place should challenge authority to send forth what waters and what Gospel they pleased into the world. Egypt shall be wasted and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, Vers. 19 for the injuries of the children of judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. Once again he mentioneth the destruction of their enemies: for in their overthrow standeth the felicity of good men, when they shall not be able to molest the church by their power, nor to corrupt it by their evil example. Hereby we see first of all noted unto us, that the blood of the Lords saints shall be certainly revenged, although it cost whole countries, Isa. 9 12. The reasons: First, because they are the images of God, Gen. 9 6. the Lord saith that he will have his blood shed that sheddeth any blood: Secondly, the nature of it is to cry for vengeance in the ears of God, Gen. 4. 10. as the Lord said to Cain: and therefore I think verily there will come a day that our recusants, which are the offspring of many bloody persecutors, shall have the blood of the Lords saints revenged upon them. But if the blood of saints shall be so revenged; then much more shall the blood of Christ, Heb. 10. 29. There are only two kinds of people upon whom the Lord will bring the blood of his son, the jews whom we see scattered over all the world, being accounted a very miserable and forlorn people: the other are the contemners of the Gospel, which make no account to be saved thereby; who are in a manner as guilty of the death of Christ, as were the soldiers & jews that nailed him on the cross: Wherefore God will not forget how they tread under their feet his precious blood. Again, let us take occasion to praise the Lord which letteth not the blood of his children be shed in vain, Deut. 32. 43. as he blesseth them that take revenge upon his enemies, & make them fall to the earth; so he curseth them that cause any of his servants to come to their latter end. Again, by this verse we may note, that the blood of the Lords saints is innocent, 2. King. 21. 16. whatsoever laws of princes or decrees of men be laid to their charge, yet this must still comfort them, that if they die for the Lords cause, they are innocent, and shall certainly receive life eternal. The reasons: because through hatred and malice of the world are they delivered, joh. 17. 4 Secondly being the servants of righteousness, they cannot be justly executed for the same, Rom. 6. 18. Let us be hereby encouraged not to fear death, 1. Pet. 2. 19 for if we die naturally, we die happily; and if we die violently, we die innocently. Again, let not any of us that are Christians suffer for our evil doing, 1. Pet. 4. 15. but rather let us watch over our lives, that no sinful danger of human laws do ever overtake us. But judah shall dwell for ever, and jerusalem from generation Vers. 20. to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, and the 21 Lord shall dwell in Zion. These verses contain the last promises of the Lord unto his church, grounded upon the presence of God among them; First, for their perpetuity; Secondly, for the declaration of their innocency, which he noteth when he saith, that he will cleanse their blood, etc. when as upon the report of the injuries received in the former verse, he presently addeth, that they shall dwell for ever: we may note, that the wrongs which good men in this life endure, shall be one means to forward their rest, and glorification, Psa. 12. 5. For this is the fruit of our afflictions, to persuade the Lord for our immortality: for as when the Israelites cried in Egypt, than the Lord brought them into Canaan; so when we cry for our wrongs, we are readiest for heaven. The reasons; God evermore hath an eye to the afflicted, Psal. 9 13. Secondly, then are we most like to the son of God, and when we are likest to him on earth, we are nearest to him in heaven. Let us so bear our afflictions and wrongs, as if we were borne for them, 1. Cor. 4 9 for we see they shall turn to our greater joy. But of this matter we have spoke often. I might also remember out of this verse, when he saith, that judah and jerusalem shall dwell for ever: he meaneth not the city jerusalem, for that is long ago destroyed; but he meaneth that the jews shall never be utterly destroyed, but many of them shall be saved in the world to come. When he saith, that he will cleanse their blood: that is, he will manifest to all the world that they were not justly executed, but unjustly murdered: whereby we may see at length that the wicked, whether they were wilfully blinded, or ignorantly affected in persecuting good men; yet they shall know, and so shall other, that they murdered them unjustly, as the jews which shall see Christ whom they pierced, Revel. 1. 7. Mat. 27. 3, 4. for wilful murders cannot be everlastingly concealed: and it is all one before God to steal by authority or without law, to kill by law or without authority. Lastly we may see when he saith, he will dwell in Zion, that the presence of God preserveth the church, Revel. 1. 13. how can it ever perish when the Lord maintaineth it? Surely sathan told Christ that he could not do amiss, for the Angels watched about him and held him up that at no time he should dash his foot against a stone: If the help of Angels in the devils conceit was so great to preserve Christ; then much greater is the presence and hand of God to uphold his church. He alone buildeth it, that it fall not; keepeth it, that it fade not; dresseth it, that it may be holy; & preserveth it, that it may be godly: so that so long as the Lord endureth, so long shall the church stand, maugre the might of all the devils in hell. To the which God everlasting, immortal and only wise, the most glorious Trinity, the Father, the Son, & the holy Ghost, let us render all praise, ascribe all majesty, and give our whole spirits, souls and bodies, that he may be glorified in us, and we be glorified in him: Amen, Amen. FINIS.