A DIVINE BALSAM TO CURE The bleeding WOUNDS of these dangerous TIMES. OR, The true cause of two grand and heavy judgements of Almighty God now upon this Kingdom.  
I. The PLAGUE, which is incumbent on us:  
II. The SWORD, which is imminent over us.  
The former we feel, the later we fear.  
WITH The only remedy for the cessation of the one, and the prevention of the other.  
Composed by I. L. and exposed to public view for the benefit of the Republic.  
London printed for Robert Wood 1642.   

A Divine Balsam to cure the bleeding wounds of these dangerous times.  
Physicians hold, that there are two causes of a pestilence, external and internal; the infection of the air, and the corruption of men's humours. But Divines (who transcend them in this their judgement) are of another opinion, ascribing it to the wrath of God, and to the sin of man; so that it is not so much putredo humorum, as corruptio morum. This is magnum mysterium; and in this great mystery we must look beyond and a-above nature, to the God of Nature, acknowledging with the Egyptian Magis, that Digitus Dei est hic, the finger of God is here. I have sent pestilence amongst you, saith the Lord, Amos 4 10.  
From these premises some haply may infer, that God, (the fountain of all goodness) is the author of evil, and may enforce the argument by divine writ, as in that of the Prophet, Is there evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it? In which interrogation there is an asseveration, and vehement affirmation, that there is no evil in a City, but the Lord hath done it? For the understanding whereof you must distinguish of evil: for there is duplex malum, a double evil, malum culpae, & malum poenae, the evil of sin, and the evil of punishment; the evil in us, and the evil on us, or (according to S. Austin) malum quod homo facit, & malum quod homo patitur, the evil that man doth, and the evil that man suffereth. Of the first God is not the author, but the last. God (who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Goodness itself) would have all men to be saved. How often would I have gathered thee, etc. says our blessed Lord? I would, said nolu●sti, but thou wouldst not; therefore (the judgement follows in the subsequent words) Thy habitation is left unto thee desolate. Nemo laditur, nisi a seipso, no man is hurt but by himself. Per ditio tua est ex te, Thy destruction is of thyself. Intra muros hostis, the enemy is within the walls. There is no greater enemy to man, than man himself is to himself. Though the Devil like a roaring Lion, goeth about continually, seeking whom he may devour, yet he cannot devour whom he would. He will do for our ruin what he can; there's his malice: but he cannot do what he would, that's our comfort. But this is our misery, that we ourselves are the only workers of our own woe. Man's sin is the cause of God's plague, and God's plague is but the effect of man's sin. Suppose we are now in a set battle, the Lord of Hosts the General of the Army, his wrath the trumpet summoning and sounding the Alarm, our iniquities are his enemies, which have provoked him to make war against us, sin is our sickness, and sin the quarrel. It is nothing but the exhalation of our sins, which hath now caused the clouds of these judgements both on us and over us: judgement doth as naturally flow from sin, as water from a fountain. It was never known that sin went before, and punishment did not follow after. If thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door, Gen. 4.7. Sin, that is, the punishment of sin. And hence it is, that sin and punishment, are all one in the Hebrew tongue, and signify the very same. Punishment (like a swift hunting Nimrod) pursueth sin; It says, like Naomi, I will lodge with thee. Both these (like two inseparable twins) live and die together. Wherefore is the living man sorrowful? It is the Quaere of the Prophet, Lament. 3.39. and he resolves the question in the same verse; Man suffereth for his sin: If men be active in sinning, they shall be passive in mourning. Great sins do procure great sorrows: Why are we so diseased but because God is so much displeased? We have grievously sinned, therefore are we so grievously plagued. The grievousness of our sins doth add grief unto our souls.  
The elements would be our attendants, and all the creatures would be our friends, were not we by our iniquities at enmity with our Creator. All sublunary bodies would be our servants, would we but serve in holiness and righteousness, the father of Spirits: Heaven would have no quarrel with us, did not we by our impieties, war with the God of Heaven. Nay, Hell itself, and all the infernal powers thereof, could have no power over us, were it not for sin. Sin is the only makebate between God and Man. It is the wall of separation, that separates us from the favour and grace of God in this life, and from the joys and glory with God in the life to come. Your transgressions (saith the Prophet Isaiah) have separated between you and your God; they have hid his face from you. Sin is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great gulf between God and Man, so great, that it hinders the ascent of our prayers unto God, and the descent of his favours upon us.  
It is an unsupportable load, the greatest burden man can possibly undergo. It is a burden to the Creator, and it is no less to the Creatures. God complains by his Prophet, that he is pressed with their iniquities, as a Cart that is full of Sheaves: And the whole creation groans under this intolerable weight, Rom. 8. It was the doleful song of the sweet Singer of Israel, Iniquitates meae gravatae sunt super me, mine iniquities overburthen me. It made our blessed Saviour suffer like a cursed sinner. It made him, who knew no sin in himself, to become sin for us; him, who was invested with a Deity, to assume to himself our humanity; him, who was the Lord over all, to become subject unto all; him, who was the God of Nature, to yield himself unto Nature: It made him groan till he wept, weep till he sweat, sweat till he bled, and bleed till he died. These are the woeful effects, and miserable consequents of sin. And can that seem light and delicious to us, which was so heavy and grievous to Christ?) This is the lamentable tragedy, and sad Catastrophe of iniquity. Stipendium peccati est mors. After iniquity hath for a while played her part, than death comes upon the stage: With death it hath its period here, and without repentance the torments of the second death do ensue hereafter: which second death is so dismal and dreadful, that from it, and from the terrible torments of it, good Lord save and deliver us. It is not only a natural death of the body, nor a spiritual death of the soul, but an eternal death of both body and soul for evermore. Sin is the Devil's work, wicked men are the Devil's labourers, or hired servants, and the stipend or wages for their service, is no better than death here, hell and damnation hereafter. If ye would see the guiltiness of sin, look upon Cain; If ye would behold the beastliness of sin, look upon Nabuchadnezzar: If ye would take notice of the shame of sin, view then Hamon: If ye would observe the madness of sin, consider Saul; and if ye would see the end of sin, look upon the Glutton frying in hell, so doleful is the end of sin, yea, without end.  
These are the lamentable effects, and bitter fruits which sin produces to us. It is the ground of all our miseries, and hath wrought all the disasters and calamities that we now sustain. What hath caused the sword in Ireland, and the plague in England, but the iniquity of Ireland, and transgression of England? Toto Mars saevit in orbe, what a havoc and vastation hath the bloody hand of war made in the Christian world? where fair Towns, famous Cities, and flourishing Kingdoms, have been made Stages and theatres of desolation and destruction for our eyes to behold. Sin is the cause of all these mischiefs. The pale horse of death goes in triumph through our streets. The pestilence hath a long time continued and been dispersed and scattered in most places amongst us. Though graves in Churchyards have been so pestered, that there is scarce room left for any more to be buried in; yet so insatiate are they, that they are still gaping for more carcases. Our ears are nocturnal auditors of sad sounding passing bells, and our eyes are diurnal spectators of the common objects of mortality.  
The sword is already drawn forth, and at this present brandished over our heads. It was the case of the inhabitants of Manchester in Lancashire the last week, and it may be our own here in London the next week: we hear daily of wars, and rumours of wars, of preparations of Men, Horses, Arms and Ammunition, both here and else where, at home and abroad, both in London and at York: I pray God all these may tend to our good (as they are pretended) If any evil by these doth befall any of us, it is the evil of our wickedness, which is the just cause of it.  
The only remedy against these evils, that the plague may be stai●d and the sword sheathed, is repentance. Repentance is a Supersedeas to all judgement. It is that precious Balm of Gilead, that will cure a sick-languishing land of all her diseases. The only way to repair our breaches, is to prepare ourselves to meet our God. Therefore in the name and fear of God, let us resolve with ourselves to repent of our sins. We have all sinned from the highest to the lowest, from the richest to the poorest, from the mightiest to the meanest. The sins of the Priests, & the sins of the people, have caused God's judgements to light heavy upon us; no man can exempt himself, or plead impunity: and therefore as we are all partakers of the common calamity, so let us all betake ourselves to the prescribed remedy. The axe is now laid to the root of the tree; by the axe is meant God's judgement, and by the tree is understood every man. Now for aught I know the axe of God's judgement is now laid to the root of the Kingdom, or the root of the Church, or to the roots of the several individual members of the Church. Let every true subject of the King, & let every sound member of the Church, bring forth fruit worthy amendment of life. Amendment & reformation is the only way to avert evil, to procure mercy, & to prevent judgement. If we will turn from our sins, and turn unto our God by a true and timely repentance, God will turn away his judgements from us, and return in his former mercies unto us. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord; he had rather that we should redire then perire, return unto him then perish without him. God delights not in the death of any sinner, but had rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. The Lord hath graciously promised, that when he doth send pestilence amongst his people, if his people which are called by his name shall humble themselves, pray unto him, seek his face, and turn from their evil ways, he will then hear from heaven, be merciful to their sins, and will heal the land, the sores of the land are the sins of the land. Let us unfeignedly perform our duty in the former words, and we shall certainly obtain God's mercy in the latter; let us sic plangere commissa peccata, ut ne committamus plangenda, so lament our sins which we have committed, that we do not commit those again which we have lamented. Let remorse for our sins, and divorce from our sins, be expressed in our hearty humiliation, and resolved reformation. This twofold act must be performed by us in our aversion from sin, and conversion to God, namely, dolere & cavere; unum, respectu praeteriti; alterum, respectu futuri: grieve for our sins past and take heed of sin for the time to come Thus let us prepare to meet our God, to meet him in the way of his fury to meet him as the Gibeonites met josuah, resolve to do any thing rather than stand it out: for God will have the victory at the last; either his will must be done by us, or it will be done upon us. A terrible tempest at this instant is over our heads; in regard whereof the Ark of this Church is tossed with various and perilous waves; and the Ship of the State of the Kingdom, is now in great danger. Let us therefore meet him, lachrymit & precibus, (lachrymae & preces sunt arma Christianorum) with tears in our eyes, and with prayers in our mouths, with sorrow in our hearts, with our knees on the ground, and our faces in the dust. By this means he will preserve us from ruin, by this means he will preserve this City of London from desolation, the whole kingdom of England from destruction; and will save our bodies & souls in the day of the appearance of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ. If every man would sweep his own door, the streets would soon be clean; and if every man would cleanse his own hands, purify his own heart, purge himself of his particular and personal corruptions, and forsake his dilecta delicta, his beloved and bosom sins, there would then be a wished for alteration, and a blessed reformation amongst us; and without all question a most happy concurrence and union between our Royal King and his loyal Parliament. In one word, to conclude all, let every one amend one and I pray God amend us all. Amen.  
FINIS.