decorative border A SERMON PREACHED Without a TEXT, At the Inner-Temple, March the 12. Anno Dom. 1643. By John Freeman, B. D. Cum legas, Mome, noli ridere, said gemens disce fata deflere lugenda furentis Angliae, Quae male visa est retro-movere, instar ruentis HiBerniae. LONDON Printed in the year 1643. To his friends, &c. Sirs, UPon a time it pleased the Cinique humour of Diogenes before a great assembly of people to go backward, the people smiled, he was angry; thinking he might with as much discretion go backward with his body, as others go backward all dayes of their lives in their actions, not doing what reason dictates to be done. In this discourse there is some resemblance of the Philosophers motion, but with a dissimile, or different event, for from his motion, onely smiles or laughter, but from this discourse frowns and scandals did arise, &c.( but whether or noe justly, the press grants liberty of judging to the Censors) many whereof ( I am confident) will deal candidly, namely such as have a coidentity of fancy with the author, and of others not a few there will be found, to whom this treatise will give some content, if not for substance, yet for Methods sake, viz. because it crosseth the custom of Antiquity, and Popish practise, Which was and is, First to prefix and red a Text, and then to discourse an hour on it, a thing AS used of old, so NOW at Rome, goodsooth at Rome to this very day. Willingly this tractate would creep under the Patronizing wings of some Particular One, by whose influentiall favour( ever since the general suffering of the Protestants under the Rebellious Irish) I have subsistence, but it will not be permitted, by reason of its ferventnes of shape; having Caput in cauda, the Text in the Conclusion. And therefore Alla ventura; I sand it naked into the world without a protection. As for the Epigraphe or superscription expressed in these words ( A Sermon without a Text) say tis an odd one, say tis an absurd one, say tis a false one,( considering this discourse( as a verse on many feet) runs upon eleven several Texts to find out the twelfth) call it what ye will, tis none of mine; it had its original from the Painters pleasure, or Printers capriccious conceit, who thinks,( that in these times) tis lawful for every one to appear in his own humour; for my part, I had no acquaintance with it, till I met it in the front of the Printed Copies, and therefore if you please, writ a deleatur upon it, onely excuse me, and for once be entreated to spare the Printer, that he may with the more alacrity sand forth the sermon preached on the Text, which onely here was found in the last period of the hour, and so silently passed over, with a reservation to the next occasion. So shall I rest YOURS most observantly Joh. F. A SERMON Preached without a Text. I Have turned and turned over and over and yet that Text which you expect( as the subject of an houres) discourse presents not itself unto my view; ye may imagine that this Text was in the Apocrapha, for to you it is {αβγδ}, yet I am sure it lieth in the caconical Scripture, and that in some part of the old Testament, and though precisely I do not tell you the place, yet whereabouts it is I can declare, it is in some of the Prophets, and that amongst those which are called Prophetae minores lesser Prophets, in some of their books or writings it lieth; and since it doth not yet appear, give me leave to make search and inquisition for it amongst them: I'll begin my search at the first of these Prophets and so hold on in the search till I find it out: the substance of it I well remember and can tell you what it was about, it was a menacing and threatening Text and spoken of Gods wrath and displeasure against proud and wicked ones; and therefore where ever I meet with a place of Scripture speaking in language, I shall look on the place and then pass on along in search of what we desire to see; and let me entreat you to accompany me in my search with patience and attention; for if in the search ye find not the thing desired, yet I am sure we shall find many observations resulting from the several places through which we pass, that may( if not delight the ear of the curious) yet may profit the heart of the humble hearer. And first we will begin with Hosea the first of the small Prophets. And here looking, I find not my Text; yet I find a place which hath a great Analogy with it, for it is a menacing place, and mentioneth Gods displeasure against offenders; ye may please to see it, Hos. 4.3. Therefore shall the Land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall lanquish, with the beast of the field and the fowles of Heaven, yea, the Fishes of the sea shall be taken away. Here is a place much resembling the place sought for, and indeed 'tis worth looking on it, though we spent the whole hour in looking on this onely: but forasmuch as I have a purpose to find out the expected Subject; therefore I will onely look a while at this, and so pass away to the next Prophet in search of the Text. Now in this verse I see three things, Fons mali, malum fontis, subjectum mali. Fons mali; A fountain of evil, and the worst fountain in all the world. Historians tell of strange fountains, being noxious to those that taste of them; but none so bad as this, which is commonly called by the name Peccatum, sin: this word sin is onely contained in this verse inclusively, and that in the first word thereof, viz. therefore; which word by its reflection on the former verses, doth plainly intimate to us, the original of all the ensuing evils to be sin and onely sin, that is made the fountain; and, as above said, the worst fountain that ever was, it sendeth forth the worst waters; the waters of Marah were bitter, but these waters are a thousand times worse then those of Marah, for the water flowing from this fountain is a venomous water, a poisoning water, 'tis a wormie water, that breeds worms in those which drink of it; living worms, stinging worms, gnawing worms, such as will be gnawing the conscience, gnawing of the soul to all eternity, unless there be a timely cure; and yet silly Mortals will still be about this Well? about this fountain, bibbing and sipping, till like birds with cocculi-Indie they are intoxicated, or like men in an epilepsy, fall a turning and tumbling, till they tumble and turn into perdition. The second is, malum Fontis, The evil of the fountain: There are many evils flowing from it, some I name, and could to those add a hundred more; but those evils which are mentioned in this verse are onely two, viz. expressed by these general words of mourning and languishing, in which two words, are included multitudes of evils. The third thing is Subjectum mali, The subject of the evil, or( to follow the Metaphor) the channel of the evil; or of the evil water flowing from the fountain; this is a broad and a very broad channel, it's as broad as a whole Nation, yea, a whole Land, with the Beasts thereof and the Fowles of Heaven and the Fish of the sea, for it overfloweth all, and runneth over all, forsomuch is declared whilst it is said, Therefore shall the Land mourn, &c. Oh what is this, I red of mourning and lanquishing, and 'tis a strange mourning and lanquishing here mentioned; often have I heard of mourning of sinners, of languishing of wicked, but here I red that the earth is to mourn, and the Beasts of the field to mourn, the Fowles of Heaven to mourn; they are threatened, they are menaced, the earth shall mourn, the Beasts of the field shall mourn, Fowles of Heaven shall languish. Alas what a thing, what a strange thing is this, that evil should come on them: The earth it is a harmless thing, the Beasts, Fish, Fowle, they are Innocentia animalia, innocent creatures; and why must they be brought into this sad condition, what have they done, whom have they offended? What is the Earths offence, the Fowls crime, or the Fishes transgression, that they are to suffer, with the Inhabitants of the Earth; I red not, I find not any thing that they have done worthy the evils which are to come upon them, the Scripture layeth nothing to their charge: red yourselves and see what you can find; well, ye have red, and what find ye, ye have found that there is lying in the Land, cruelty in the Land, ignorance in the Land, swearing in the Land, stealing in the Land, killing and murdering and effusion of blood in the Land, and all these things committed by the People of the Land; still I find nothing that the Earth is accused of, or that the Beasts are accused of, or the Fishes or Fowles of heaven are accused of; and yet it is here said that Terra lugebit, &c. The Land shall mourn and lanquish, the Beasts shall mourn and lanquish, the Fowles of heaven shall mourn and lanquish, none of these creatures are accused, onely the Children of men are accused and condemned: and so here menaced or threatened with sorrow and lanquish, and the poor and innocent creatures are wrapped up together with them in this threatening; so that though the Children of men are sinners onely, are transgressors onely, are offenders onely, and so onely worthy of punishments; yet the harmless creatures are to suffer with them, for so here it is said: Therefore, viz. because of those sins and abominations of men, the Land itself shall mourn and lanquish, and the Beasts, &c. The words in the original for therfore are {αβγδ}, which interpnted, is supper sic& supper ita. Therefore upon this basis or on this foundation which is laid in the former verses, is built this horrid structure of mourning and lanquishing, viz. Upon sins and transgresions of the people, which are the sole and proper props, pillars, basis and foundation whereon God buildeth his judgments, for so much is intimated in these words. Therefore shall the Land mourn, &c. From whence observe: Doct. Through the sins of men, the creatures, the harmless creatures are subjected to several evils.) This we may see in the first beginning of the World, Gen. 3.17. For after that Adam had sinned, presently God is angry, and in his anger fals upon the Earth, nurseth the earth, the innocent earth, saying, Cursed is the ground for thy sake( Adam) why must the Earth be cursed, what had the Earth done? I hear of no evil, for the Earth obeied its Creator in supporting Adam and the rest of the creatures which trod upon it; and in bringing forth Herbs, Flowers and fruits, for the several creatures which fed on them, and so kept the course prescribed by the God of Nature; and yet for all this, here we red of a curse coming upon the earth: The sinless earth must be cursed, and not for its offence, but for the offence of man that had wandered from his course, Cursed is the ground for thy sake: so that whereas the earth might have abounded with al pleasant fruits, now it must bring forth briars and thorns and thistles. This was a strange change for the earth, in respect of what it was in the time of mans innocency; such a change, though somewhat of another nature, was there of a sudden in Ireland; for I know when it might have been said of Ireland, that it was Terra florida, a verdant and flourishing Land; but of a sudden it was changed, that he which had looked on it would have said of it, that it was Terra torrida simul ac horrida: torrid being all scorched with devouring flames, and horrid by reason of the uncouth spectacles of desolation appearing in every County. So I may say of England, there is also a strange change in it, and so strange a change, that England seemeth not to be England; the people of Israel were promised to be called Ammi, my people; but in respect of their sins, they deserved the name of Loammi, i.e. not my people; so England by reason of her change deserveth a new name, sometimes it was called Albion, as it were the Alba terra, the white Land, but now whilst we look on the confusion that is in it, we may fitly call it terra nigra; or whilst we consider the effusion of blood on this English soil we may( with sorrow be it heard) call it terra rubra, the read Land, or rather the bloody Land; such changes have our sins brought upon these two kingdoms now of a sudden. again, to further your sight of the creatures subjection to evil through the sins of man, see Job 25.5. where ye may red how that the stars are not pure in Gods sight, the stars not pure nor pleasing to the sight of God; the words may be taken and expounded comparative to God and his purity, and so also they may be taken declarative to show what they are now; and what are they now? why now they are impure, foul like him that hath breathed on them even man, sinful man: what is this? are the stars impure? Tis pitty, there was a day when it was not so with the stars of Heaven, when there was no stain nor spot of impurity in them. In Gen. 1.31. We red how that in the first creation, God having made his creatures did look upon them to see how they were, it is said that he found them to be good and very good, the words in the original {αβγδ}, that is, very good, very tifull, very faire to look on; for in that sense the word is taken easter 2.3. Where counsel is given, that faire Virgins be sought for the King; the words in the original for faire are {αβγδ}, good to look on, that is, faire, beauteous, such a kind of goodness was in every kind of creature at the first, then every created substance was a faire object and pleasing spectacle. God looked on the earth, it was good, that is, faire and beauteous; he looked on each creature of the earth, as Stones, Herbs, Trees, and each ston was faire, each herb was pleasing, each three beauteous. He looks again, on the sun, moon, and stars; in each of them he beholds a beauty, the sun faire, the moon faire, and each star faire and beauteous in the appearance of it to the eyes of the Almighty. But behold upon a sudden there was a change in all these creatures, and so amongst the rest, in the stars, for soon they became impure, foul, polluted. How came this to pass? What could maculate the glorious sun and moon, or bespot the radiant and brightsome stars of the Firmament? will ye know what it was, it was sin, sinful man breathed upon the heavens and by the breath of sin did make the very stars impure, unclean and ugly in the sight of God. Oh! the penetrant and infectious power of sin, that passing forth from that silly worm which creepeth on the earth( viz. man) could so suddenly infect the creatures as high as heaven. again, yet to give you a clearer sight of the power of sin in subjecting the creatures to evil, see Rom. 8.22. where the Apostle speaking of the creation, saith, that the whole creation groaneth to be delivered. What maketh it groan? It is a burden, a heavy burden, a burden of vanity, a burden of corruption lying on it; see Rom. 8.20.21. who laid that burden on the creatures? It was one that subjected himself and the creatures together in hope, ver. 20. in hope of some great matter; so Adam by eating the forbidden fruit, had a thought of attaining so high a degree of knowledge, that he thereby might be like God himself; and so aspiring too high, fell down full low, and with himself brought down the whole creation together with the heavy burden of corruption upon their backs, under which ever since it groaneth in hope of deliverance, that so with the sons of God, it may be delivered into a consimilitude of their glorious liberty: the Earth is one of those which groaneth for deliverance under her heavy burden; the Heaven is another of those that groaneth for deliverance under the heavy burden; and so I may say of each part of the whole creation for all creatures are in hope of a happy change. Not that there shall be terra nova et coelum novum but onely terra novata, novatum Coelum; not a new earth, but this earth renewed and made new: Not that there shall be a new heaven, but this heaven renewed or moulded a new i.e. brought into a more glorious form, into an incorruptible, unchangeable, and eternal form; 'tis for such a change that heaven groaneth and that the earth groaneth with the rest of the creatures here below; you will say how can they groan, they have no sense no reason in them? I answer, that this is but a metaphoricall expression, whereby life and so sense is attributed to inanimate things and yet there be some Philosophers will tell you, if you please to believe them, then the earth is Grande animal, and the sea is Grande animal; and so the sun, moon and stars all being so many living and rational creatures, but I cannot stand to pass censure on their opinions. Use. Thus beloved, you see the power of sin in hurting the creatures in provoking and stirring up God to curse his creatures; man sinneth and God is angry, and his anger is exalted ad talem gradum to such a degree that presently he fals a cursing; he nurseth the sun, he nurseth the moon, he nurseth the stars he nurseth the earth, he nurseth the sea, and all the creatures with that heavy curse of corruption; he nurseth the earth it groweth barren and brings forth nothing but briars thorns and thistles; he nurseth the celestial orbs and the meteors of the air and presently they sand down their malignant influences; and so he nurseth the creatures living in their several elements, and presently they begin to mourn, lanquish and pine away. hear this O sinners and tremble, if for the sin of man, the innocent creatures be subjected to a curse; oh then how heavy a curse will fall upon the sinner himself. Here I have occasion to set forth the horrid curses and fearful evils, whereunto poor sinners are liable; but I must not now dwell on this part of Hosea, my purpose being to travail further in search of my Text. The next Prophet whereof I inquire is Joel, and here I look on his writings, but find not the thing inquired for, but yet here is one place much like it, ye may see it, Joel, 1.15. Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Here stay and look a while, 'tis worthy a cast of your eye, what see you here? but tell me your visions another time, and I'll tell ye mine now: I see here two things: first, a Prophet, and he is in a passion, and 'tis Passio dolorosa, a dolorous passion: I look again and see here a day, and 'tis Dies luctuosa, a sorrowful day, which is the cause of the Prophets passion: the Prophet here appeareth but all in mourning, and in the depth of his sorrows he cries out, Alas for the day, &c. Why, what is the matter? what hath happened? Oh beloved! the Prophet seeth a day( as a threatening cloud in the air) a certain day, but 'tis a gloomy day, 'tis a terrible day; which he seeth coming upon the people of God, and the sight or the vision of this day so worketh on him, that it makes him cry out, Alas for the day, &c. why doth he cry? what, can a day of destruction hurt him? what if it were the last of dayes,( when as there shal be a general quaking and trembling over all the world) such a day as that cannot hurt a Saint or a Prophet, such an one as Joel was; what then makes him cry so passionately? Oh! 'tis not for himself, but for others he is so affencted; as ye may see verse 16.17, 18, 19, 20, &c. the people of God are in danger of being uttterly destroyed, that makes him cry: Whence observe, Doct. Good men are afraid of evil dayes for others sakes: so Paul seeing an evil day coming toward Ephesus through false Teachers, which should arise in that City, was so affencted, that he went weeping and crying up and down, and warning every one night and day with tears, Act 20.21.30. And so Moses seeing an evil day coming on Israel, stood in the gap with prayers and tears of sorrow, to keep out that evil day from the heritage of God: Oh, the stupidnesse of those that are not affencted with the evils coming on their own heads, when as Saints are so affencted with others miseries; there is now a day, and a cloudy day coming on England, coming on London the glory of England, and yet there be full many that lye at ease in this our Sion, never crying Alas for the day; such as these may take themselves for Angels of light, yet they come short of the likeness of Saints, whose nature is like Joels, being ready upon the sight of an evil coming towards others, to sigh out, Alas for the day. Alas for the day, what day is this? Tis a sad day, 'tis a cloudy day, 'tis a destroying day; who brings in this day, Joel tells us here, 'tis the Lords day; that is, a day of the Lords bringing in, a day of the Lords fetching in; the day cometh from him even as destruction from the Almighty, whence observe, Doct. God hath his destroying dayes, his killing times. There be certain dayes, wherein God useth to walk abroad and destroy people, to ruin people, to kill people& therfore 'tis said, Eccl. 3.3. That there is a time to kill; God hath a time to save, so he hath also his times of killing; and so in Pro. 16.4. mention is made of a day of evil, that is, of a certain day wherein God will kill an evil man; will slay a wicked man; however sinners and wicked ones may escape for a season, yet there is a day wherein if God meeteth them in the way of wickedness, they are gone, cut up and destroyed without all mercy: Astrologers tells us of good dayes, and of evil dayes according to the dominion of benevolent or malignant Planets; so God hath his good dayes and his bad dayes, not respective ad se, but relative to his effects, and influences upon us mortal creatures; but you will say, which are those bad dayes, those killing dayes of God, that wee may know them and take heed of them to avoid them. I'll tell ye, first Negative, they are not dayes of repentance, nor dayes of purity, nor dayes of righteousness, &c. no: no: these are none of these killing dayes, these are holy dayes, blessing dayes, wherein God casteth his favours upon the souls of such and such a kind of men. The Penetentiall day is a day of healing, a day of curing; not of bruising not of wounding, not of killing, Hos. 6.1. So the pure dayes, the dayes of purity; they are dayes of visions, for in those dayes. God useth to walk abroad, and show himself to his holy ones that are of a pure heart; on such times he useth to come out of his secret Pavilion, and appear in some gracious manner, in some irradiant manner, to his people,( as Princes to their Subjects, on some festivals) see Mat. 5.8. and so in John 14.21. He promiseth to the keepers of his Commandements, that is, to the generation of pure ones, to manifest himself. The word in the original is, {αβγδ} which signifieth, to shine upon them, to lift up the light of his countenance upon them, as David speaks Ps. 4.6. That day is not a day of harming, or of hurting; and so the dayes of righteousness, they are not the dayes of killing, or of destroying, but dayes of feasting to the soul, wherein God feeds the spirits of godly men, with the blessed fruits of the Trees of righteousness, Is. 3.10. Which fruits are peace of conscience, joy in the holy Ghost, assurance of Gods favours; and these fruits are far more beauteous, more amiable, and more to be desired, then that fruit our first parents so much longed for, Gen. 3.6. But now to tell ye affirmative, what these dayes are, briefly thus, these destroying dayes, these killing times, wherein God useth to come forth and kill, to walk abroad and shoot his arrows of death, to draw his sword and cut off the sons of men from the Land of the living; they are dayes of sin, and to particularise they are dayes of pride, on such a day I well remember King Herod was slain, Act. 12.22, 23. And dayes of murmuring against God and his anointed ones, and on such a day Corah, Dathan and Abiram perished: and dayes of lying against the holy Ghost, for on such a day Ananias was destroyed: Dayes of security, for on such dayes the old world perished, &c. since then, there be such dangerous dayes as these, let's look to ourselves, and not stir abroad in such dayes, in such stormy and tempestuous dayes, least we be blown into confusion. Tis, true there may be such dayes and yet God may forbear to come forth, or if he doth come forth, yet he may( in his great mercy) forbear to kill every sinner he meeteth, and every wicked one he findeth in his way, for though his Justice would have him kill all that he seeth, of the evil ones on such a day; yet oft mercy& long-suffering do crave so hard, do beg so violently, that many a time the wicked are spared for a season, to see if they will amend, if they will repent; but 'tis very perilous to venture on such a hazard; for those are his killing dayes, and so he may or may not kill; the wicked have no promise, no word of comfort for their security, or safety: there may be Mors in pane, &c. Death may lie in their bread, or in their meat, or in their clothes, or in their walks, or in their chambers, or in their beds, &c. And therfore 'tis great wisdom to prevent the worst, and keep none of these dayes of sin, but rather to observe and keep those celestial holy dayes of Repentance, those sweet holy dayes of purity, those blessed holy dayes of righteousness: and then though God killeth hundreds on our left hand, or thousands on our right hand, yet he will give his Angels charge over us, that nothing shall come near us, but onely such things as shall be for our good, Rom. 8.28. Now I would run a little further on this place of Joel, but I must away I have stayed over long, and therefore in search of the Text I come to the next Prophet, which is Amos. And now looking about here, in the writings of this Prophet, I find not the Text ye look for; but though I find it not, yet here is a place that hath the same voice, and speaks in a menacing manner, ye may hear it, Amos 1.6. Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Gaza,& for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they carried away the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. This place is worth a pause for the observations which are lying in it, here it is said by God himself, I will not turn away the punishment; it seemeth therefore he could if so pleased his wisdom, Doct. Punshments are in the hands of God. As rivers may be altered, changed& turned by several inlets and outlets by the hands of men, so God hath a turning power, whereby he can turn mala paenae, evils of punishments, and cause them( like so many Rivers or streams) to run where he pleaseth; sometimes he turneth one of these Rivers through egypt, sometimes he causeth one to stream through Babylon, sometimes he brings these Rivers through Greece, Hungary, Germany, or makes them overflow this or that City; as proud Nineve, or stately Constantinople,( when ruined by the Turkish conqueror) and therefore, whensoever ye chance to be in a kingdom, or in a City of any kingdom, and see one of these Rivers of judgements running through the kingdom, or overflowing the walls of the City, ye may say there is Digitus Dei, for none could bring the waters in without the peculiar warrant and licence of this God of Justice Amos 3.6. For three transgresions, &c. I will not turn away the pnishment therof, &c. Here again ye see that God is resolved not to turn away the judgements, they are coming; and God seeth them and can stop them, but will not, decreeth that he will not? Why will he not save Gaza, preserve Gaza, and keep off those evils from Gaza? ye see the reason, because of the sins of Gaza, and transgression of Gaza, Doct. sins are the cause why God turneth the rivers of his judgements through this or that Land, this or that other Country: For though God hath streams of judgements and rivers of punishments, which he can turn this or that other way. Yet he keeps these waters in their bounds, in their limits, and suffers them not to pass into, or through any place, but where sins and transgressions are croaking and crying, and where iniquities bear sway and dominion, these are the Operarij, or the Engineers and workmen, that makes the Channels for Gods rivers of anger, and streams of wrath to run in; God hath these at his will, but yet never do they flow from the main Ocean of his fury, till sin digs and makes a channel, a bed or passage for them to flow through. Oh! that these kingdoms of England and Ireland, had not had so many of these workers, of these channell-makers in them; for then we should not have seen so many rivers of blood, and rivers of sorrows, rivers of tribulation, as our eyes have lately seen in an overflowing manner, streaming through these sister kingdoms. again in this place of Amos, you see Gods anger against Gaza, but particularly for their cruelty against his people, in being so ready to deliver them up to the Edomites, their mortal enemies; and for that reason amongst others, if the judgements will come they shall come, if the channel be made, and the water of his wrath begins to pass out of the Ocean of his indignation, and so to destroy Gaza, he will not hinder, because of the barbarous usage of his children: No, he hath born long with Gaza, yet now he is resolved to suffer Gaza to be overthrown for this their offence, Doct. God is a foe to those which harm his people:& therefore he is a foe to Turkey, for the wrongs done the Christians in Asia and Europe; and he is a foe to Rome, for the harm done by her, to his heritage in Germany, and in Ireland; and though they escape for a season, yet not for ever, for God will undo those that afflict his flock; he will not onely lash them, scourge them, but totally undo them, as 'tis said Zeph. 3.19. When his time of destruction cometh, when his day of killing cometh, oh! then these foes of God are undone, so when God ariseth in his anger, his enemies will soon be scattered: he will roar out of zion, and make them tremble; repentance I confess may do wonders, and stop an evil, chase away a cloud( if sound if seasonable) but otherwise without all contradiction, the enemies of Gods people will perish: and though for a time, they afflict Joseph, and laugh at Josephs afflictions; yet but a little while, and there will a noise be heard, founding in the ears of the foes of Gods church as in Nahum 1.3. The Lord revengeth, The Lord revengeth; and such a thundering from the Throne of his heavy displeasure, as shall make their hearts melt away with terror to the great amazement of those, which behold the wonders that God doth for the Saints of zion, and for all those that trust in his holy name. I would willingly stay with this Prophet Amos a little longer, but the desire of my Text urgeth me to pass unto the next Prophet in search of it, and that is Obadiah. Now here I have soon cast an eye over all his prophesy, and here is none of the Text, but a place that hath some relation to it, for 'tis full of threats, see Obadiah v. 4. these words Though than exalt thyself as the Eagle, and make thy nest amongst the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. Though thou dost thus and thus exalt thyself, yet I will down with thee even to the ground: there observe, Doct. God can cast down and overturn the mightiest things; for indeed there is in him a fullness of power, an omnipotency of doing; the talest Cedars of Lebanon are overturned with the smallest blast of his anger, the mightiest trees of the forest of this world, are rooted up with a pluck of his power; he that reads the story of Daniel, will find what a vast bodied three, or what an overgrown oak Nabuchadnezzar was; and yet God did but blow upon him and down he fell, Dan. 4.30. we red of Senacharib he was a mighty three in the forest of this world, he, because he had conquered the people of Amath, Arphad and Sepharvaim, therefore thought to conquer the God of jerusalem with his chosen people; but worm that he was; what did he do? No sooner began he to blaspheme the God of jerusalem, but God sent( and that but one of his Army, to the like whereof he had millions of millions) namely, one angel, and immediately the Army of Senacahrib was destroyed and totally routed, with the death of an hundred fourscore and five thousand, Is. 37.35, 36. Let none therefore think himself safe, by reason of any arm of flesh which doth support him, or because he sits under the spreading bows of some mighty three, for these cannot save him from the power of the storm when once it begins to bluster; the sacred three of Gods providence may and can shelter a man, but all the trees in the world besides cannot secure us. again, once more look on these words, and here ye may see in what a case Edom stood; Edom thought his self safe, and as safe as if his habitation had been placed above in the air, as high, as the Eagle flieth, or amongst the stars, whereunto the short hand of mortals could never reach; and therefore blessed himself in his present fortunes and prosperous security, never thinking of the power of the immortal God, who all this while lay in silence, secretly preparing engines to fetch down Edom, and to pluck down Edom from his lofty habitation of promising security, Doct. men oft flatter themselves with hopes of happiness, when the greatest dangers are at hand: We find the truth of this by daily experiment; we of Ireland were crying peace, peace, when destruction was at our heels, and ruin hovering over our heads: we red of the people of the old world, how they were feasting and merry, marrying and giving in marriage, little dreaming of any flood, of any deluge; whilst God in the mean time was very busy in devising their ruin, and to that purpose had employed several agents; some were set at work in the sea to convey the waters over the face of the earth, whilst others were as busy amongst the clouds, and in opening the windows of Heaven, that the waters might overflow the world: ye that hear this, consider and make an application to yourselves, and spare me in that work, having now a motion to pass on further in search of what you desire to behold. The next prophesy I meet withall, is that of the Prophet jonah, and he is soon overviewed; but yet in all jonah the Text appeareth not; yet here is a verse that doth in some part resemble that which we inquire after, for here is a mention of wickedness, and an intimation of Gods displeasure against it, appearing in this, That God sendeth Jonah to cry against the City, for the wickedness thereof; ye may see the verse jonah 1.2. the words of the verse are these; Arise go to Ninive that great City, and cry against it for their wickedness is come up before me. Here see a wonder, wickedness goeth into Gods presence, we would not have imagined that God would admit of such a thing; such a Serpent, such a toad to come into his sight; indeed purity admits it not, but abhors the sight of it, yet Gods Justice admits it into his presence and suffers it, as he doth the devils to come into his courts of Judgements, to hear their accusations and complaints against sinners: but beholds them both, no otherwise then with the eyes of detestation; this they know, yet such is their envy and malice against poor men, that they will rush into these courts of God, to accuse and calumniate. Come here, come here ye sinners of the world, and see your folly, your wickedness; ye nourish wickedness, ye feed wickedness, and lodge it in your bosoms; ye think it a faire creature, and a pretty friend, but see her actions; she betrayeth you to the court of Justice, tells all before the terrible Judge of the souls of men; and is still yellowing and howling for judgments and executions against ye, longing to see your ruin; which your gracious God is loathe to behold( as formerly he was unwilling to see the perdition of Ninive) and therefore sent his Prophet to cry against it, as here it is declared; Arise, go to Ninive and cry against it: what was he to cry? destruction, subversion,( and that subitaneous) for within forty dayes, it was to come upon them; Yet forty dayes and Ninive shall be subverted, Ion. 3.4. Ninive was then to be overthrown; yet God will give the Ninivites forty dayes space of repentance: Doct. God warns before he wounds; he useth to give notice of his coming in judgement; but in mercy God seizeth upon a soul, surpriseth it in the arms of love before it is ware, and whilst it thinks not of him, Isaiah 65.1. but giveth warning of the coming of his wrath, that people may run from the wrath that is to come: Oh happy we in such a God! if we knew our own happiness; for before he sends evils to devour us for our wickedness, he sends some or other to cry against our wickedness, as here against Ninive. I could show ye more things in this glass, but I must away to behold the prophesy of the Prophet Micah. In this book, I find; what? not the Text; but yet I find a place that hath a correspondency with it, you may see it Micah 3.12. the words are these, Therefore shall Sion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. What is this I hear of Sion and of jerusalem, why! 'tis reported that Sion must be ploughed and that jerusalem must be turned into heaps, that is, in a more plain and naked expression, Sion must be ruined and jerusalem be destroyed; and yet these were the beloved habitations of the God of judah: hence, Doct. God sometimes visiteth his own habitation with judgements. This Isaiah well knew, and therefore in a sorrowing manner he cried, Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the City where David dwelled, Is. 29.1. This Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, &c.( sometimes glorious Churches, now dens of Turkish lions) have experimentally proved; and many hundreds of Church-assemblies in Ireland with weeping eyes can confirm this truth; and I pray God, that ere long England be not brought in for a witness. At this instaint we have Templa Domini, templa Domini, Churches for God to dwell in: but how long he will stay amongst us, how long he will be worshipped by us in these Temples, who can tell? for he is not tied to material Churches, be they never so beauteous, he is not taken with the beauty of them, nor will he show himself in them to his people, unless they themselves be beauteous in the beauty of holinesse: if a Temple or the outward form of worship in that Temple, would have prevailed to have held God, with his favouring influences in a Land, then had this threatening never had a being, and we should not have been reading this day, that Sion shall be ploughed, and jerusalem be made heaps. Alas! what is the reason? Why ye hear that it is for the peoples sake, something they had done which angered God so much, that therefore Sion must be ploughed, &c. What did they do? ye may red of their doings in the 9.10. and 11. verses; there ye may red how the Princes. counsellors of state, and Judges of the Land were covetous, abhorred Judgement, perverted Equity, and built up Sion in blood, and jerusalem in iniquity; Priests and Prophets joining with them for some sinister ends of their own, as for money, and preferment, and such like things; but God hereby the Prophet sends them word, that their devices are vain, their projects foolish, their designs and doings wicked, and therefore they shall come to ruin; they may be building and building, rearing and rearing the walls of Jerusalem, but because they build in blood, because they build in iniquity, therefore all shall tumble down again; hence Doct. It is an unprofitable thing to build upon an ill foundation. The Jews here you see were building up Sion, but they did build it on an ill foundation; they laid the foundation of it in sin, in iniquity, in oppression, in covetousness, in lying, in cruelty, in blood( the worst lime and ston that ever man can build withall) and what is the end of it? it will tumble down upon their own heads, and kill the very builders of it. So Rome buildeth up many churches( as in the East and west Indies) but they will never stand long, because the foundation of them is laid upon lying miracles, false doctrines, covetousness and blood( many hundreds, many thousands of those poor Indians being wilfully murdered by the Spaniards, Romes Admirers.) So Mahomet, he plants Churches in the levant( Churches after his own humour) but the foundation of them is blasphemy, blood( and that the blood of many thousands of holy Martyrs) these Churches may stand for a while, but ere long they will totter. for the gates of hell will prevail against them; God abhorreth them and all such buildings, with their builders; and therefore pray we, that our builders and planters, may labour to rear up the walls of our Sion, in truth in meekness, in equity, in mercy, in compassion, &c. If thus they go about, the works and buildings of God, then Christ the corner ston, and foundation of all foundations, will prosper their handy works. Beloved, I have some small skill in Atchitecture,( for it is my trade;) and therefore I would willingly say some more things unto you, touching the building, rearing, or supporting of our English Sion; but truth it is, I cannot now do it, for I must hence to visit Nahum, and inquire of him for my Text. Upon Nahum I look, but this prophesy containeth not that place, yet here is one place of great affinity with it, ye may red it, Nahum 1.8. But with an over-running flood, he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. He tells us here two things; first, what he will do with Ninive, secondly, what he will do with the people of Ninive. As for Ninive he will destroy it, An over-running flood shall come upon the place thereof, upon the very place where Ninive is seated or situated; what will he destroy Ninive, that mighty City? yes! it must be destroyed, how? with a flood, with an over-running flood, that shall flow over the walls thereof; a flood of subversion, here see Doct. Gods judgements can enter the strongest holds) witness towering Babylon, whose walls were once the wonder of the world: and populous No, Na. 3.8. And here proud Ninive, all now lie under water, being overflowed by the water of desolation: Hence may we see what folly it is to trust in strong places, or to place confidence in walls, bulworkes, fortifications or deep watertrenches, for they cannot keep out Gods judgements; were a kingdom surrounded with the sea as populous No, or encompassed with hills and mountaines, equal to the Alps, Atlas, or lofty Caucasus, or encircled with bulworkes of iron, or walls of brass, reaching up to the very clouds, yet judgement will pass through, or run over all, if God but give them a commission; if God but once bid them go and enter, go and destroy such a City, such a kingdom, it is suddenly done, if he require such a sudden expedition. What safety for us then here on earth? Yes, there is some kind of walls; some kind of trenches that are of notable strength for keeping out of evils; these are the walls of righteousness, and trenches filled with penetentiall waters; these will be a defence when Cities, like those of Canaan, will fall down and crumble into dust. Oh! that our England were encompassed with such like walls, and instead of the Ocean, were surrounded with a river of penetentiall waters, streaming from humbled souls; then might England enjoy the presence of God in mercy, whereas now God appeareth here in England, all clad in fury and indignation. again, as you see the threatened ruin of Ninive, so here behold the tragedy of the Inhabitants; what shall become of them? It is told us, that darkness shall pursue them; what darkness? darkness of affliction, and if that bring them not back( as it did David, Ps. 119.67.) then followeth darkness of judgement in this or that degree; so that they fall upon the belief of lies and false delusions, 2 Thes. 2.9, 10. And after these follow darkness of death; and last of all the darkness of damnation, plagues enough, evils enough to fright men from fighting against God; hear this ye sinners, and reconcile yourselves unto your God; hear this ye sons of rebellion, and reconcile yourselves unto your King, even unto your gracious King Jesus, God blessed for ever; but if you do not do this, then Actum est de vobis, ye are an undone people; for ere long, God will sand one of his Armies against you, even this here called by the name or darkness; somewhat more for illustration sake, I would have said of this darkness, of this pursuing darkness, to have shewed ye the horridness of it, but I am in pursuit of another thing, and therefore at present I am urged to leave Nahum and pass over hence to the prophesy or Habacuck. This prophesy like some of the rest is very short and soon overlooked, but without effect in respect of the text: for here likewise it is not found, but here is a part of the prophesy that appeareth in a menacing form, correspondently to the place I inquire for, red it ha. 2.8. Because thou hast spoiled many Nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee, because of mens blood, and for the violence of the Land, of the City, and of all that dwell therein. Here is a burden for Caldea, a destruction for Caldea, for it must be destroyed and spoiled, but why must Caldea be spoiled? the reason is given, because Caldea hath spoiled many Nations by pillaging their goods, ruining and burning their Cities, murdering the inhabitants; and therefore now Caldea is cited before God, censured, condemned to ruin, rapine, spoil by a Law called lex talionis: hence, Doct.( Spoilers must be spoiled) this is not always done de subito at an instant, but God tarrieth a season, but at length will come; and though sero yet serio, if not this way, or that way, yet he findeth some other way to destroy them; so that the murderer shall be destroyed, the cruel one destroyed, they which love blood shall taste of blood, if not here yet hereafter; they shall have full bowls of blood of wrath powred down their souls, so the oppressor, the pillager, the plundrer, shall here of his doings to his own terror. Object. Why may not one kill, spoil, destroy, pillage, plunder? &c. Answ. Yes, where men have Gods warrant for it; Gods commission for it: the Iewes spoyled, pillaged, and plundered, the pleasant Land of Canaan; and stayed not there, but killed and slayed the people, men, women and children, even the very beasts of the Land; and they did well in it, they had Gods command for it, and therefore properly could not be called murderers, pillagers, spoilers, &c but rather justicers, executioners, of the will of God. Mercy in such a case had been as bad as cruelty, pitty had been equal to murder in some degree: you see that Saul spared, when God commanded to kill; and what did God think of him for it? he called it disobedience, and counted it as a sin of witchcraft,( 1 Sam. 15.3, 9, 10, 11. and so to the 24. so in all such cases, when we have commission from heaven, to ruin or destroy this or that person, this or that City, this or that kingdom, then we are bound upon pain of damnation to kill and slay( without pitty or compassion) man, woman, child, father, mother, wife, brother, any one, every one, &c.( if the commission cometh forth in such a form.) But if wee go, without commission, or without a sure warrant from Gods Word, then is our killing murdering, our pillaging stealing, and he will sand after us, such as shall spoil and pillage us; first of our goods, after that of our lives, and last of all of our souls, unless we return from such doings with tears of repentance before the decree cometh forth: I could most willingly here propound and resolve some questions touching this point, but the desire to comply with my present intentions, forceth me from hence to the Prophet Zephan ah. I here behold Zephaniah, and see him passionate in his expression of Gods wrath against sinners and ungodly ones: but yet in no part of that prophesy doth that lodge which I seek, but yet here is somewhat of the famed nature, see it Zephaniah 1.2. ( I will utterly consume all things from off the Land saith the Lord) God here saith God here faith that he will consume, not some things only, but all things of the Land of Judah, and if he will do it, if he hath a mind a purpose to do it, I am sure he can do it; for the Psalmist telleth us Ps. 115.3. Our God is in heaven, he hath done whatsoever he pleaseth: hence Doct. God hath a consuming power) he that reads and believes the Scripture, cannot doubt of this proposition; for as there is in God a creating power, a supporting power, so also is there a consuming power, and a destroying power: and when he hath a will to consume he can do it, and most easily he can do it, even with the shaking of his hand, with a blast of his breath, with a call for the spirits of vengeance; a shaking of his hand over a Nation undoth it: so we red Zach. 2.9. I will shake my hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants. They that are mighty on earth, Rulers, Commanders over others subjected to them in vassaladge, these on a sudden, upon the shaking of Gods hand over their heads, fall down and become a spoil to their vassals, slaves and captives; so he can do with a blast, great power is in the breath of the Lord, he did but breath and out of nothing came a world; he did but breath, and man was in an instant framed out of the earth; he did but breath, and in a moment a soul issued out of nothing into that form of earth; he doth but breath, and blessings( like april showers) fall from the clouds of his mercies; but then onely thus it is, when he breatheth in love: but when he looketh on creatures in anger, and breatheth on them in displeasure, then death and destruction is in his breath; then he blasteth, when he bloweth; Haggai tells us, that the people of Israel looked for much and it came to little, they looked for great increase of fruits, and they came almost to nothing; what was the cause? it was Gods blasting of the fruits, he did but blow, and they were blasted and blown clear away, Haggai 1.9. he can soon blow a creature into a consumption, into ruin, into death, yea and into hell itself. again, it is easy with God to consume all creatures that are upon the face of a Land, or upon the face of a kingdom, because at his call, all the spirits of vengeance come with all readiness to execute his commands. 'tis said in Zach. 10.8. That he will hiss for his people, and so they shall be gathered; so he may but hiss for the destroying creatures, and they will come, such as frogs, Locusts, caterpillars, hail, Snow, Frost, Mists, fogs, rain, war, Plague, Famine, Diseases, winds, storms, Earth-quakes, Lightnings, Thunder, Fire and Brimstone, Good and evil Angels, and all standing in a moment before him, saying, what shall we do? whom shall we destroy? what Nation shall we ruin? what kingdom shall we devour? these are the spirits, these are the Guests which the Lord oft biddeth to a feast of his wrath; and they are strange guests, they have hungry stomachs, devouring stomachs: Once God set before some of these a City, a great and faire City, and all on a sudden it was devoured; it was no less a City then Babylon. Another time he set before these Harpies, or these Ostriches, a whole kingdom and they devoured it; it was the pleasant Kingdom of Egypt; and now lately, God being in Ireland and there walking up and down, and seeing the sins of the Land, and the ripeness of them, waxeth angry; and on a sudden hisseth for some of these hungry Spirits, and suddenly they came and devoured up most of all the Protestants of that Land, and spoiled the form and beauty of the whole kingdom, within two or three dayes. So God being in England, and looking about, observing and seeing, that sins like grasshoppers were skipping up and down in every place, or like frogs croaking in every ditch; at the sight fell into a passion of wrath and hissed, and at his hiss there came one of these Spirits, viz. war; and hath spoiled our kingdom, and falling upon the inhabitants, hath fed on their flesh, and caroused in full bowls of their blood; and where it did least harm, it gnawed, if not devoured the estates of the most part of the surviving people: But what tell I you of a City, or of a kingdom; why amongst these creatures, there are some that can devour or ruin a world in a very short season, as ye have heard was done in the dayes of Noah by rain. Henceforth I shall not wonder to hear it said that God hath a consuming power, whereby he is able to consume all things as here is said, I will consume all things from off the Land. &c. All things, what! must all go? must all perish? the People of the Land, the Beasts of the Land, the Fruits of the Land, &c. Yes, all must go, all must be consumed, for so it is said, I will consume all, &c. Then hence, ( Doct. All creatures are subject to a consumption;) {αβγδ} here is an evil, and horrid evil; a disease and a consuming disease, like scabies volatica, it runneth up and down upon all the creatures of the world, as on the heaven, the Earth, the Men, the Beast, the Fowles, the Fish, &c. they are all subject to this disease, to this consumption, Zach. 1.3. But since it is a disease, so spreading, so common, so universal; 'tis our wisdom to labour to prevent this consumption,( if possible we may) or at least procure some Elixirs that may cure us,( if we find it be once on us) and nothing can do the cure but grace; a few grains, nay, one grain of saving grace will cure out bodies and souls; though it be true the body will be long a curing, viz. till the day of doom, yet it will do the dead; this medicine of grace, will at length perfectly cure the body, and cause it to rise out of Ashes, out of Dust, out of atoms into a most glorious body again, fit for the glorified soul to lodge in for all Eternity; Happy are those which have some few grains of this most precious Elixir; I might here more fully set forth before you the nature of this disease, of this consumption, but time alloweth me not, and therefore I'll hence to Haggai. Haggai is the next Prophet, but yet for any thing I see, here is not the object of my inquisition, but here is that which is not much unlike it, see it Haggai 2.23. I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, and I will overthrow the Charets, and those that ride in them, and the Horse and the Rider shall come down every one by the sword of his brother. Here in this verse, God threateneth to overthrow and to destroy the Kingdoms& the strength of the Heathens; here he decreeth to bring in judgements upon them; and what judgements? destroying judgements, so that they shall fall one upon another; not onely one Nation upon another nation, one kingdom upon another kingdom; but those of the same Nation, of the same kingdom, should arise one against the other, brother against brother, and sheathe their swords in one the others bowels: this was the curse, this the destruction, that God would sand amongst the Heathens; what is this? God is angry with the Heathens; and see his way of punishing, he will destroy them: and how? by infatuating of them in such a manner, That brother should rise against brother, brother kill brother; this is the Heathens judgement; ah me! is it not thus now even now in England; doth God take England to be a Heathen Land, and the Inhabitants to be Heathens? that we are punished after the way of Heathens; that we are so besotted, so infatuated in our understandings, that we must rise up and kill one another, murder one the other, imbrue one the others hands in blood of our brethren, after the manner of the Heathens; whence cometh this evil amongst us? surely we have communicated with Heathens in sins, or else we should never participate with them in judgements, according to that in Reve. 18.4. And what a shane is this for England, where the gospel hath shined so gloriously, to be taken with such like sins as the Heathens( which sate in darkness) have committed. again, here see Gods severity: the kingdoms are to be destroyed; what kingdoms? the mighty kingdoms of the Heathens? Alas, alas, the Heathens they are ignorant, they might say, Domine non novimus te, &c. Lord, we know thee not, nor thy laws, nor thy will; we have no Seers, no Prophets, no lights, no visions, no revelations amongst us? why then wilt thou be angry with us, ignorant and blinded creatures; thus and thus might they have pleaded their excuse before God; but suppose they had, yet had it been in vain, the plea had not been good in curia Coeli, for it was decreed that judgements should come upon them, though Heathens: whence Doct. The plea of ignorance is not sufficient to excuse a people before God.) The plea of ignorance will not excuse ill deeds, ungodly deeds, the most that it can do is but to excuse a Tanto, but it doth not excuse a Toto: some stripes are due to the ignorant Luke 12.48. Tyre and Sydon may do better then Corazan and Bethsaida; but still though they sate ( in tenebrie) in darkness of ignorance, yet a woe will fall on them, Mat. 11.21.22. If God dealeth thus with Heathens, and those which know not his laws; Oh! then what heavy judgements will fall on their heads, that have the Law and the Prophets, the gospel and the Apostles daily set before them, as we of England have: Here I should distinguish of ignorance vincibilis& invincibilis, of ignorantia purae negationis& pravae dispositionis, and so show you what kind of ignorance( and in what cases) ignorance is excusable, and how far excusable, but the time hasteth and so must I, or miss of what I aim at, and therefore hence I pass to the Prophet Zachariah. This prophesy containeth many notable things, yet herein is not enclosed the Text so much sought, but however here you may see a menacing and a threatening expression, see Zacha. 7.13. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear, so they cried and I would not hear, saith the Lord of Hosts. Here is shewed the just proceedings of God against foolish men; God sent his spirit in his Prophets, as it is verse 12. And he crieth unto men in this or that other way, and sinners regard it not; and when God seeth their careless negligence in hearing his spirit, then waxeth he wrath and will not hear them in their cries powred out before him; God sent his spirit in the old Testament, and then the cry was commonly like that in Ezek. 33.11. turn, turn, for why will ye die, oh house of Israel? or like that in Amos 5.4. seek ye me and ye shall live; or that in Isaiah 1.19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land, &c. He sends his spirit now under the gospel, and it soundeth commonly of faith and repentance, as in Mar. 1 15. Repent and believe the gospel. Or of Love and Charity, as in Mat. 5.44. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them which hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Such are the cries and sounds of the spirit. Now when men hear not the spirits voice, speaking in this kind and gracious language, then God calleth away his spirit; commands it to cry no more, but sends others to cry, and these criers are judgements;& these roar& yell so loud in the ears of the people, that they beget an horror in their souls, and make them hear them with a king hearts? their cries, their sounds are of another kind, they speak in a new manner, to sinners saying, we are judgments, judgments sent from the living God; to you we are come to torture and torment you, to feed on ye, to ruin ye to take ye and tear ye with the teeth of perdition, and we will not pitty, nor shall our eye spare you. At such a sound the people start and tremble, and then they can find ears to hear, and mouths to open, and tongues to answer the God of Heaven, saying, Quid vis Domine, &c. what wilt thou Lord that we should do; we understand by the voice of thy judgements crying in our ears, that thou art angry with us, because we have not done thy will, nor lissened to thy spirit; we are sorry for the fault, Nunc jube quid vis, now command what thou wilt and it shall be done, Nunc mirte spiritum, &c. now sand down thy spirit, and we will hear and harken to the cry; but oft times in such cases it proveth too late( as to the israelites) for God seeing they would not hear his spirit, crying in his Prophets, he now will not hear them crying for fear of judgements; as here it is said; as he cried( that is) as his spirit cried and they would not hear, so they cried, and J would not hear saith the Lord of Hosts. Beloved, ye here see how the case standeth, how dangerous it is not to harken to Gods spirit crying in your ears; and therefore have a care of the danger: as there is a spring time, so there is a hearing time, and that is {αβγδ} Nunc hody, to day, even whilst the spirit is crying to day, hear his voice, Heb. 3.13. Me thinks I hear how the spirit of the Lord running up and down this kingdom of England is crying in every County, in every City, in every Congregation, repent ye people of England, repent ye inhabitants of England; repent ye of your pride, repent you of your covetousness, repent ye of your oppression, repent ye of your chambering and wantonness, repent ye of your rioting and drunkenness, repent ye of your strifes and envyings, repent ye of your divisions and contentions, or else the God( to whom vengeance belongeth) will come against ye, and fall upon you with more violence then as yet hath been used, and cause your land to overflow with blood, and your Cities to appear in flames, or bring in famine to kill her thousands, and fetch in a plague to kill ten thousands; so that there shall be ( Luctus crudelis ubique) sorrow on all sides, dread on all sides, death and destruction on all sides round about ye, and then may ye cry, Lord we are in misery, have mercy upon us; Lord we are in distress, have mercy upon us; Lord we are in tribulation, have mercy upon us. And what answer will there be given? perchance such a one as this, hence, away, God cares for ye not, hears ye not; go cry to your sins, go cry to your pleasures, go cry to your Mammons,( as the Israelites were sent in judge. 10.13, 14. Oh! this would be a dismal answer for England, and yet such an one must England expect from God, unless England hear God crying to her in the language of John the Baptist, Repent( Matth. 3.2.) Now beloved I could here prosecute this subject, and cry unto you, to hear the voice of God now crying in a louder manner then usually ye have heard him cry in England: but I must on forward to Malachy in search of the Text expected, &c. Now having passed through several Prophets, I am arrived at the propesie of Malachy the last of Prophets, and here in the last chapter of this last Prophet I find the Text couchant in the first verse of the said chapter, the words are these, For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and shall leave them neither root nor branch, &c. Here is a Text and a most observable Text, for the things enclosed in it, and since I have traveled so much in search of it, you may expect some strange rarities from it, but what ever is in it, or deducible from it; I cannot at present stay to show it unto you, for I see that now, just now, as I red the Text the glass is run; with reading of the Text, the hour is expired; but what time doth not allow me now to do upon the next occasion I shall perform, and so for this present, I leave this Text as I found it untouched, unhandled. Craving of your patience some few minutes of time, to pled my excuse for bringing in the Text, in the ultimate conclusion, and final period of the Sermon. I know there are some that will censure me deeply for it, whilst they let many pass without a frown, that red their Text and never come near it an hour after; yet I may be excused in part, for if the hearers had not this one Text at the first, yet instead of this one, they have had the liberty of looking on eleven other Texts for this one; but brethren be ye not censorious, 'tis true, that the hour is out, and just at the last of the hour I red the Text, whilst others, first read the Text and then discourse an hour: in this ye will say, I have gone ( retro) backward, to common use and custom, walking in a new and unusual path; but herein is your error, for 'tis no novelty, no new invention to go retrograde, for in this cross and back-moving motion; I am but an imitator, imitating the whole world in general, and England in particular. The world is on her journey, and whether is the world journing? to Heaven, to Heaven, to bliss, to happiness, to the fruition of that which is, summum bonum, for at these things all Nations, all Sects, all Religions aim at; but mark how the world goeth, respectively, to the general of the Inhabitants: It travaileth ( retro) it goeth backward, for the way to Heaven, &c. is a way of 1. Truth, 2. of Holinesse, but the world goeth in the way of errors( Ethnicall, judaical, malnimeticall, heretical and seismaticall) and in the way of profaneness, ungodliness, licentiousness, &c. and is not this iter retrogradum, is not this a cross going, a backward travailing, judge ye. So I may say of England in particular, England is now in a journey; and whether is England going? It is travailing to find out Terra pacis a Land of peace; and the way leading to that Land, to that happy Land; is there, directly, there— ☞ Eastwards; but England is now walking Westward, in an occidental path, and marching in Campo martio, even in the blood of her people;& is not this Iter retrogradum, &c. I know a man may sail towards the west, and yet arrive in some island of the East; but he must make a Drakes voyage of it then, he must go with a strange compass, not( without many perils) so a man may come to this Terra pacis by marching through the field of war; but it is a great compass about, and thousands of dangers in the way, and very few of such travailours come safe to their journeys end; some lose their arms, some their legs, some their eyes, some their estates before ever they come there, and most lose their heads or their bodies, perishing in the way. again, England is now on her journey; and whether is England passing? towards a place called Terra prosperitatis, she hath a great desire to have all her children seated in a Land of plenty and prosperity, that they may not behold the face of want and misery: but mark how she goeth backward, still backward doth she go; the direct and strait way, to this Land of prosperity is that there— ☞ But now England goeth in a path where there is nothing for the general but force, violence, fire and sword, compelling and borrowing, pillaging and plundering, &c. and what think you, is not this Iter retrogradum, &c. again, England is now a journeying, and whether doth England travail? towards a place called terra veritatis, a Land of truth, for England is much in love with truth,( if you will believe her) and desireth to have truth planted and established; and to have all her children live in a Country of truth, that they may not be in danger to be swallowed up by the devouring jaws of error; Well, 'tis a good desire, and travail for such a jewel is highly commendable; but now mark the way England taketh, the way to this land of truth lieth there, directly there— ☞ But England goeth in a way clean backward, for in this way where England now goeth, there is a tacite licentiation, or permission of error, as of Popery, of Seperatisme, anabaptism, brownism, &c. And these by the silent influences of England upon them, do so bud, so bloom, so prosper, so spread abroad, that ere long( without Gods preventing mercy) they are like to overshaddow those tender plants of truth, which are already planted in this English soil, and what think you; is not this iter retrogradum? again, England findeth her children to be sick of a misunderstanding, and she turns physician, and for the cure of their distempers, sets them together by the ears; calls on them to beat out one anothers brains; the strangest cure of wit, misunderstanding and distempers, that ever was heard of. In the dayes of Hippocrates and Galen, they used to cure distempers of the brain, with Hellebore, and it was thought a violent physic: But our physic is far more violent; happy for us, if we had Galen, or Hippocrates amongst us, to give us of gentle Hellebore for the operation of it is gentle, in respect of the operation of the physic England giveth; happy men if we were all shipped hence to Anticyra for cure, rather then follow our Mothers prescriptions here at home; but whether or no, this be not a cross method, and a retrograde path to tread in for procuration of health, judge ye. Many petitions have the Inhabitants of England presented to King and Parliament; I would they would present one to this effect, namely, that there may be a toleration for those of the Protestant Religion heretofore, for many yeers fore passed, used in England; as also a toleration for those that cannot bear the Ceremonies of the Church of England for a season, even till the Papists Separatists, Anabaptists, &c. were disposed of to Englands safety, and Irelands recovery; and then afterwards( if these two must decide the quarrel by the sword) let them fall to it, and kill and murder one another, without pitty or mercy, to man women or child( if they have Gods warrant for it) Quis talia fando temperet a lachrymis? Can truth not grow now in our England, till England be washed with blood? is the English soil so barren, so sterile, that it must be fattened with the blood of our brethren? to accelerate the production and conservation of truth? IF SO, 'tis a thousand pities, is this the way to truth? Oh! it is iter retrogradum a cross way; 'tis confessed that this is a way through which England( possibly) may come to truth, but 'tis via flebilis, a mournful way, a lamentable way, and those which walk in it, may chance never behold the face of truth, but God ( qui solus facit mirabilia) who alone worketh wonders, can draw light out of this darkness and I hope he will; otherwise we may say with the Apostles, Lord we perish. Thus briefly I have presented ye with the worlds and Englands cross motions, something more I would have said, but it would have ended as in a mist, and therefore Ile not name it; onely thus much I have said to show you that I am only an Imitator and not an Inventor of motions Retrogade, but in these motions happier then my native country, for I went ( retro) backward in my method in respect of custom; but I am at an end of that journey, and now though with a compass have I arrived at my text, but the Lord onely knoweth when England will be at an end of her miserable and toiling journey, for he that looks on the concurrence of evils, and at the intertexture and complication of these concurrent evils, would almost conclude ( Quod regni jam fatae jubent) that England should be ruined, for she fetcheth such a a compass about her in passage to the land of peace, plenty, and truth, and passeth through so maey dangers and perils; of fire sword war famine plague, pestilence, that it is an hundred to one, a thousand to one, but poor England will perish before she arrive at her journeys end) but let us hope the best, pray for the best but in the mean time prepare with patience to endure the worst. Now beloved you see the occasion of my motion, and I hope you will excuse me; but some will say, I did not lodge the Text in the conclusion out of any intent of imitation for some exemplary purpose, but rather that this happened out of forgetfulness, as if I had forgot the Text; well say I had, yet might you pass over the fault in silence, for if you blame a Preacher for this, if such an act be meritorious of censure, then how justly may you hearers be acused and censured: I forgot the Text count you this so strange a thing? why, 'tis familiar for people to come to Church, to hear Sermons, and forget to bring their ears, I mean their obediential ears, and is not this as strange a thing. I forgot the Text, count you this so strange a thing? why 'tis familiar with people to come to Church, to draw the water of life at the well of Gods Ordinances, and yet oft they forget to bring the vessels to hold that water; I mean their hearts, for these are left at home, or suffered to wander or rove abroad amongst the bags of gold, or flocks of cattle, or gardens of pleasure, &c. Is not this as strange a thing. I forgot the Text? say I did, count you this so strange a thing? why, 'tis familiar with the people to go into the Temple to worship God, and yet full oft they forget God is there; witness their careless preparation for that worship of God, and their unbeseeming irreverence of gesture in the Temple of that glorious God; and is not this as strange a thing? But say I did forget this place, yet at length I found it; but you will say, I found it not till the glass was run, even clean run out, well 'tis granted, yet herein you may excuse me, for I have done but as others do, as I shall instance in some particulars: There be full many that seek for that Bonum, or that good thing, that is, in Temperance and Chastity; yet never find it, till the glass of their health be clean run out, through their chambering and wantonness, whereby they bring diseases upon their bodies, and so become fit subjects for chirurgeons to work upon in Hospitals. So there be many that seek to find out that bonum which is in providence and yet never find it, till the glass of their estates be clean run out, through their prodigal rioting and disorders, and then like grasshoppers, they are forced to skip about the meadows of this world, sub forma pauperum. So there are many that seek to find out that bonum which is in Grace, but never find it till the glass of their life is almost clean run out; and then when they are upon their death-beds, ready to breath out their last, and consider the excellency and necessity of grace, then they begin to prise it and cry out for grace, for grace, nothing then is cared for but grace, then a Kingdom, then a world for a grain of grace would they give, were it in their power, if so they could purchase that celestial gem. So many there be that spend some thoughts to find out the nature of this world, but never find it, till the glass of their life is almost clean run out; and then when they are upon their dying beds, and see how their riches take the wing and fly away, how their honours take the wing and fly away, how their pleasure take the wing, and fly away, and so leave a dying man naked in his bed, as naked as he came into the world; then he begins to see that the world is vanity, and then seeing nothing certain before his eyes, but death and another world, he begins to curse his folly in admiring the world, and to cry out against himself, quid mihi superbia, &c. what hath pride profited me, what hath riches honours& pleasures advantaged me, &c. that now I am left here all alone, all naked, having no heavenly treasures, than I can challenge for mine own, in Christ Jesus in the other world; at this he begins to mourn, to weep, and weeping dyes, whom we leave in the hands of Gods mercy. Here beloved ye have several instances of late finding, so that I am not alone in finding when the glass is run; I would I were in such a case alone, but there are too many of these late finders; and I fear, I fear it much, that one more there is, that is to be inserted into this number, and to be placed in this catalogue, and this one is England in which one are many thousands, &c. England is now seeking for peace, but I fear shee will not find it till her glass be run, i.e. till it be first destroyed by war, and woeful is that peace, which issueth out of the bowels of war; I count it an unhappy peace, for the children, which is conveyed unto them, through a flowing stream of the Parents blood. England is now in search of truth, but I fear shee will not find it, till her glass be run, i.e. till she be obscured if not destryoed by the increasing errors difusing themselves throughout our Land. England is now seeking for plenty, but I fear she will not find it, till her glass be run, i.e. till she be starved; and destroyed by famine. England is now in a consumption, sick and very sick, and seeking for health, seeking for a physician to cure her malady and procure her health, but I fear shee will not find it till her glass be run, i.e. till she pine, languish, and consume away. But you will say, these are but fears, but jealousies, true they are no more, I would there were no occasion for those, but however I hope to see the day, that God will blow upon the causes and occasions of those fears and jealousies: and then you shall see them vanish into air. I hope ere long to see the day, that God will blow upon this monster war, and cause it vanish into nothing, and that he will blow upon these errors, and make them vanish into nothing, and that he will blow upon our present wants, and make them vanish into nothing; I hope to see the day, that he will breath with the breath of salvation on our England, and so cure the consumption, cure her afflicting, malady; that she may recover and arise out of the bed of her sickness: and so in her conclusion England being healed, I hope that God will by his providential disposing of things here, sand some Physitians from hence into Ireland with balms, Elixirs, tinctures, for the curing of the mortal wounds, and desperate imposturnations of that bleeding, dying, and perishing kingdom; Hoc spero, speransque ono, for this I hope, for this I pray,( as one of the sons of that dying mother,) and I doubt not but ye have the same hope, now to that hope mustard-seed, your prayers, supplications, tears and humiliations, and the Lord of mercy from his habitation in the highest look upon us, and lift up the light of his countenance and be merciful unto us, and bless us now and for ever. Amen. FINIS.