THE manifest Design of this Book is, to give us the True Character of a Christian Hero, bright and il­lustrious in every Condition of Life; possessing himself in Prosperity with a constant Devotion to his God, and steadily sustaining the heaviest and repeated Charges of Adversity, with a Firmness of Mind, which evidently declared him to be under the Government of more exalted Views, and [...] more noble Ends, than could be proposed [...] all the Enjoyments of this World.

[Page 2]JOB is this Gallant Hero: who whether he de­scended from Uz, the Grandson of Shem, by Aram; or was the I [...]bab mentioned in the Line of Arphaxad; or came of Huz, the first-born of Nahor, the Bro­ther of Abraham, it matters not. Whoever he was, 'tis evident he was the Greatest Man in his Country: God had blessed him with the Affluence of the Good things of this Life, a Numerous and Promising Posterity, and had exalted him at the Head of the Government.

HOW happily does he spend his Dayes? While every Ear listens to him, and every Knee bows be­fore him, and his Children also Delight him with their close Friendship to One another, and their Dutiful regards to him. And how much like a Christian does he Live? While under all this, he does not grow Fat and Wanton, but keeps his Heart Perfect and Upright towards his God; and is continually offering Sacrifices before the Lord, least his Children, in the height of their friendly En­tertainments, should so far forget themselves, as to do any thing that might cast Dishonour upon the Name of God.

THIS is the Man! the Delight of God, but the Envy of Devils. And 'tis not long before these Ma­licious Spirits fiercely assault him, and thro' the Di­vine Permission bring him as Low, with respect to his Outward Circumstances, and consequently as Low in the Opinion of the World, as before he was High.

HERE now is the Tryal of the Man! Let us then view him in this his Depressed State; his Fortunes sunk and gone, insulted by the Meanest of the People, forsaken and reproached by his Unkind Friends: and how does he bear it all? Like a True Hero! He stands the shock, preserves his Vertue, possesses [Page 3] his Mind, triumphs over his Adversity; and so Baf­fles the Design of Satan, gains the Divine Plaudite, and stands the Admiration and Emulation of all that come after him.

IN this Chapter we have an Account of the First Method of his Tryal, and his Behaviour under it. His Tryal; in the repeated Messengers of Evil Ti­dings, and Close upon the Heels of one another. The First Messenger comes in with the Unwelcome News that the Sabeans had carryed away his Oxen and Asses, and slain the Servants that kept them; and he only had escaped to tell it. E'er he had finish [...]d his sad Story, a Second rushes in, in a Fright, and tells him, that Fire from God, the Lightening, had con­sumed his Sheep, and his Servants that attended them, and he only had Escaped. While he is yet Speaking, a Third, who only had Escaped, ac­quaints him, that the Chaldeans had made out a Band and carryed away his Camels, and slain his Servants. So is he spoiled of his Substance; and without allowing him time to breath upon it, a Fourth Messenger breaks in trembling and asto­nished, scarce able to utter his heavy Tidings, That while his Sons and Daughters were feasting toge­ther, a strong Wind from the Wilderness smote the four Corners of the House, and it fell upon the Young Men, and they are Dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. This was a Black-Day indeed! And who but a Christian could out-live it!

JOB like a Prince sits unmoved at the sorrowful Tidings of the Three first Messengers; but this Fourth! Such is his Mien! such the killing accents of his piercing report! His Children Dead! all of them! and in such a dreadful manner slain! This sets Nature a work; it touches the inmost Fibers of his Heart; he can hold no longer; and what [Page 4] but strength of Grace could have preserved it re­gular? Then Iob arose, and rent his Mantle, and shaved his Head, and fell down upon the Ground, and Worshipped. Which shews us Humane Nature in a bitter Agony, and Grace Triumphant.

1. JOB gives vent to the Sorrow and Grief that struggled in his Breast; He ar [...]se; 'twas not a time to sit Sedate and Easy; and rent his Mantle; which was Customary among the Eastern Nations, to ex­press their Sorrow and Mourning. So Iacob when he thought he had lost his Ioseph. And Shaved his Head; which also was a Custom that obtained a­mong the Orientals, that when they buryed a near Fe [...]ation, they cut their Hair Short; or shaved their Head: the contrary to which prevailed a­mong the Romans formerly, [...] to let their Hair grow long, and hang [...] about them, (as our Eastern Indians do at this Day,) when any of their near Kindred Dyed. So did Nature work, and Iob Expresses his Sorrow and Grief by the usual Signs of it.

2. IN the midst of this Agony of Nature, we find Iob [...]s Grace Triumphant, and correcting the Sinful Excesses and Defects of it; He Fell down upon the Ground, and Worshipped. Iob was not such a Stock, so destitute of Natural Affections, as to be Untouched at the Death of his Children; nor was he so wholly under the Government of his Passions, as to sink beneath the Burden; but he maintains an Unbroken Heroick Mind; a Mind Subsisting in God, and Supported by Him; He fell down and Worshipped. This therefore is the Doctrine I shall at present discourse on.

[Page 5] DOCT. THAT, tho' under Severe and Repeated Be­reavements, Nature may be allowed it's proper Opera­tion, yet it becomes a Christian to Correct the Sinful Defects and Excesse [...] of Nature, by Acts of Grace: That when he rends his Mantle and shaves his Head, expressing his Grief and Sorrow, he should remember to fall down and Worship his God.

I shall not spend time to prove, that a Christian may meet with Severe and Repeated Bereavements; A Iob is a convincing Evidence of it: and alas, that we also have seen some sad Instances of it of Late. All I shall attempt shall be briefly, as the Season requires, to shew,

I. THAT under such Bereavements, Nature may be allowed its proper Operation.

And,

II. THAT the Sinful Defects and Excesses of Na­ture should be Corrected by acts of Grace, by falling down and Worshipping our God.

I. I shall shew that under such Severe and Repeated Bereavements, Nature may be allowed its proper Operation. The God of Nature has formed us with Reasonable Powers, apprehensive of Evil at a distance, and perceptive of it when it overtakes us. He has endowed us with Passions and Affecti­ons suited to the different nature of Objects, whe­ther Good or Evil: and while some Objects work upon our Love and Liking, others do so upon our H [...]tred and Aversion; while some are suited to give us [...] Joy and Pleasure, others call forth our▪ Grief and Sorrow. Now those things which hav [...] in [...]he [...]selves, or in their circumstances, a contrar [...]ety [Page 6] to us, either to the Body, or to the Mind, they are the Objects of our Aversion; Hence we dread them while at a distance from us, and are filled with Grief and Sorrow when they Seize upon us. Thus the Bereavement of any Desirable Enjoyment, stands in opposition both to Flesh and Spirit, con­sidered in a State of Nature, and therefore when we meet with such, our Natural Aversion will disco­ver it self; the sense of our Loss will Evidence it self, in the Shock which it gives us, the Pain and Uneasiness it throws the Mind into.

IN Vain does the most hardened Stoick boast such a Power over himself, as to be unsusceptible of any Impression from Afflictive Evils, and remain untouched by Bereavements. Tis impossible to us, in our present State, to be wholly Insensible of Pain; and if it were possible, it would be very Ir­regular: because a Sorrowful sense of our Afflicti­ons is but suited to our present make, while we are cloathed with Flesh, and invested with Passions, that will, and ought to be affected with Joy, or Sorrow, according to the different Nature of the Objects that strike upon them. An Arm can't be taken off, but Sense, while in Health, will per­ceive it, and recoil at it; and the Passions will be stirred up according to their Sensation of Pain. So a desirable Good can't be taken away from us, but the Soul will be apprehensive of the Loss, and Grief necessarily follows. Iob can't hear of the Death of his Children, but his Sorrowful resent­ments are kindled at it.

THE Design of Grace is not to destroy Nature, but to correct it. God therefore does not require of us that we Eradicate our Natural Affections and Passions out of our Souls, and that when he afflicts us we be like Stocks and Stones, altogether insensible [Page 7] of it; but 'tis our Duty to be sensibly touched therewith, to feel the Stroaks, and let Nature work, and run in its proper Channel of Grief and Sorrow. The Man JESUS Himself could allow of it; as when apprehensive of the Misery that was ap­proaching upon Him, He was in a bitter Agony, and said, Math. 26.38. My Soul is exceeding Sorrow­ful, even unto Death. And hence we find the Best of Gods Children, upon Record in the Sacred Pages, Mourning over their departed Friends: As Abra­ham for his Sarah, and Iacob for his Son. —

AND 'tis allowable to Express our Sorrow and Grief in proper wayes, to let the World see that we are in Heaviness because of our Loss, and that our Hearts are full; and that not only by our Words, but by our Actions and Gestures, and those decent Signs and Tokens of it, which may be the Custom of the Country where we Dwell. Iob rends his Mantle, and shaves his Head, in Token of his Sorrow and Mourning.

BUT I pass to the Second thing, which is,

II. TO shew how the Sinful Defects and Ex [...]esses of Nature should be Corrected by Acts of Grace, by Falling down and Worshipping our God. He fell down up­on the Ground and Worshipped. To Worship God im­plyes, the giving to Him the Glory that is due unto His Name; it means such a suitable Deport­ment of our selves under our Bereavements, as is answerable to the Character we sustain, as becomes our Relation to God, and the Profession we make of His Name. Now such a Carriage will certainly Correct the Sinful Defects and Excesses, which otherwise our Natural Grief, and Uneasiness at o [...]r Bereavements, might throw us into. All I have [Page 8] to do therefore is, to shew more particularly, how under our Bereavements, we are to fall down and Worship our God.

AND,

1. WE are to Acknowledge the Hand of God in all that befals us; that 'tis He that hath taken our Desirable Enjoyments from us. He fell down and Worshipped; Whom but his GOD? the only Object of Religious Worship. By this he plainly Acknowledged that all came from God. And ac­cordingly, we find Iob saying in express terms, ( v. 21.) The Lord hath taken away. So whatever we have taken from us, whether our Name, our Estate, our Relations and Friends, we must Ac­knowledge, that 'tis the Lord that hath done it. God sayes, Amos 3.6. Shall there be Evil in the City, and the Lord hath not done it? The Afflictive E­vils which befal a Person, or People, all comes from God, as the Prime Efficient Cause of it.

NOW this Acknowledgment Corrects that Defect, of ascribing to Chance and Casualty the Allotments of Divine Providence, and the looking only to Se­cond Causes, which tends to stir up our Anger and Revenge. Iob had as Good a Plea for this as any Man; he could have said the Chaldeans and Sabeans have taken away my Goods; and have At­tributed his Loss to the Casualty of the Thunder and the Winds; but we find his Grace over-ruling and correcting this gross Defect; we see him fall down before the Lord, acknowledging that this Trouble did not spring out of the Ground, but the Lord order it for him. Whatever be [...] Means and Instruments, still 'tis the Lord [...] has done it; and much more should we [...] own His Hand, when He more Immedia [...]ely▪ Be­reaves us of our Enjoyments: and the [...] [Page 9] Death of our Relations and Friends may be looked upon as such.

2. THE Divine Sovereignty over us and all that we Enjoy, must also be Acknowledged by us. He fell down upon the Ground, as at the Foot of his So­vereign Lord, and Worshipped▪ Acknowledging Gods Right to deal with him as He Pleased, without giving him any account of his Matters. God is the Sovereign Lord of all his Creatures, and He doth with them whatsoever He Pleaseth; He Sa­veth Alive, and He Killeth, as Pleaseth Him. We our Selves are the Workmanship of His Hands, He made us, and He bestows all upon us that we Enjoy. Hence God has an Original and In­herent Right in us, and is the only true Proprie­tor of all our Mercies. God's bestowing this and the other Blessing upon us don't relinquish His Right to them; He only I ends them to us, or rather makes us Stewards of them; hence as our Sovereign Lord, whose we are, and whom we ought to Serve with all that we have. He takes our Enjoyments out of our Hands when He sees good, and 'tis but His Own that we Surrender to Him.

NOW the Acknowledgment of this Divine Su­premacy, will Correct the Excesses of Murmuring and Complaint, of Fretting and Quarrelling with God: This will keep our Passions from [...]yling over, and throwing out their Froth and Foam; and make us Think and Speak reverently of God, tho' He severely Chasten us. For who are we Worms of the Dust, that we should enter a [...] with the Almighty? Shall the Potsherds of the [...] quarrel with their Maker▪ and say, Why hast [...] done thus unto me▪ [...], let Him: [Page 10] do what seemeth Him Good, is the Language that becomes us; as Good Old Eli said when he re­ceived the Sorrowful News of the Death of his Children, I. Sam. 3.18. So should we acknowledge Gods right to take from us the Dearest Enjoy­ment of this World; tho' He repeat His strokes upon us, and take away till there is none left, 'tis all Thine Own, O Lord; I have nothing but what I received from Thee; Naked came I into the World, thy Bounty hath enriched me with many Comforts, and if Thou take them from me again, I will not complain; I have not a Word against it; nor would I angryly say, Where­fore has Thou done so; I will be dumb and not Open my Mouth, because thou did [...] it, Psal. 39.9.

3. WE must pay the Profoundest Submission and Resignation to the Will of God under the severest Bereavements. He fell down and Worshipped; manifesting thereby the intire Resignation of himself and his Enjoyments to the Divine Good Pleasure. By this he paid the greatest Homage to God; and did Him the Highest Honour by this profound Submission to Him.

More Particularly,

(1.) WE must highly Approve of the Methods of Gods dealings with us. Our Understanding must be so resolved into the Divine Mind, as highly to approve of what that Infinite Understanding Di­rects and Orders for us. Without this, there will be a Repugnancy in our Wills, and a Tumult in our Affections at the Divine Disposals. We must therefore be entirely Satisfyed in the Wisdom, Justice, and Graciousness of the Lords dealings [Page 11] with us; and that not only when we may see thro' the Meaning of Providences, but when Clouds and Darkness surround the Most High, the goings of the Lord are a great Deep, and His Footsteps are Unknown to us.

THUS we must approve of the Divine Wisdom in our Bereavements. The Infinite Wisdom of God will so over-rule all things, as shall be most for His Own Glory▪ and it will so Temper the bitterest Mixture as shall be Best for His Children. Thus therefore should we Worship before Him, acknowledging Him to be the only Wise God, who knows what is Best for us, and would not have ordered this Bereavement for us, if In­finite Wisdom had not seen it needful; and tho' we know not now, yet we shall see hereafter some­thing of the Unsearchable Depths of Divine Wis­dom in His Providential Dispensations.

THUS we must approve the Rectitude and Iustice of the Divine Administrations. God is Righteous in all His Ways, and Holy in all His Works, Psal. 145.17. Righteousness and Iudgment is the Habita­tion of His Throne. And all the Divine Admini­strations are according to the Rules of Relative Justice. If we had no Original Guilt to answer for, our Transgressions are eno' to deserve the Chastisements we meet with; or if we had never been Actually Guilty in our Own Persons▪ the Original Guilt we derive from our Degen [...]t [...] [...]arents is sufficient to vindicate the Justice of [...] in all His Infli [...]ions▪ but seeing both of [...] meet in us, [...] living Man [...], a Man for the [...] his Sin, Lam. [...]. This then should [...] [...]ur L [...]nguage when [Page 12] God Chastens us, tho' never so severely; Righte­ous are Thou, O Lord, and Upright are Thy Judgments, Thou has Punished me far less than my Iniquities Deserve.

THUS we must approve of the Graciousness of God in what He orders for us. If He Chasten His Children, 'tis for their Profit to make them Partakers of His Holiness; 'tis to recover them from their Wandrings from Him; 'tis to fix their Love more intensly upon Him, that He takes from them created Objects of their Affection; and by this means also He Advances their Crown of Glory. Now such gracious Ends and Intentions should be highly approved of by us; and it be­comes us to say, Gracious art Thou. O Lord, and full of Compassion, when Thou str [...]west my Way with Thorns, and waterest my Path with Tears to make my Walk more Circumspect and Fruitful; when Thou takest Earthly Delights from me, to fill me with Heavenly Joys and Consola­tions; and when Thou carryest me thro' Fire and Water, to bring me to the Possession of the Eternal Crown of Glory. So should our Minds be resolved into the Infinite Understanding of God. This was the Language and Frame of Iob when he bowed the Head and Worshipped, Lord, I ap­prove of all that Thou hast done unto me.

(2.) WE must entirely Res [...]on our Wills up to the Will of God: our Wills must be perfectly Go­verned by the Divine Will. Now this Resignation lies not in the Divine Dispensations [...]rmonizing with our Natural Will and Choice; but when there appears a Di [...]greement between the Will of God, [...]ering this or that Bereavement for us, [Page 13] and our Will, which has a Natural Reluctancy to such Evils; then for us to Supercede our own Will, by resolving it into the Divine, and sincerely and heartily Choosing the Affli [...]tion, because God has Chosen it for us; This is indeed to fall down and Worship [...] God! Th [...] Will can't Choose Evil, and Embrace Affliction [...] as such: but we must have it well reconciled to what is most harsh and difficult to Flesh and Blood from this Principle, because 'tis the Will of God that it should be so; and we are sure He will never do us any Hurt. Thus we find Holy David when driven from his Throne, saying to Z [...]dock with the profoundest Sub­mission: II Sam. 15.25. Carry back the Ark of God into the City; if I have found favour in the Eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and shew me both it, and His Habitation; but if He say thus, I have no Delight in thee; behold here am I, let Him do unto me, what seemeth Good unto Him. And so our Blessed Sa­viour, when He earnestly Prayed the Cup might pass from Him, N [...]vertheless, says He, not as I will, but as Thou [...], Math 26.39. If it be Thy Will, that I shall drink of this Cup of Sufferings, as Thou wilt; what Thou choosest, I choose also.

(3) OUR Passions must be kept under a Good Regula­tion. Tho' we are allowed to give some vent to our Passions, in Mourning over our Departed Friends; yet we must not suffer them to get the Upper-hand of us▪ [...]o depress our Spirits, or break forth into Storm and Rage; For this will be, on the one hand, to Paint in the Day of Adversity; and to fly in the Face of God, on the other. The Passions therefore must be regulated, Soothed and Calmed, that we may still possess our selves with something of Sedateness, and Ease. Till these [Page 14] ruffling Passions are lulled, we shall be like Bul­locks unaccostomed to the Yoke, kick and fling, and yield no due Submission to the Will of God, nor Worship Him as we ought to do: but when our Sanctifyed Mind has got the Ascendant over these, maintains its Empire and Dominion in the Soul, scatters the thick Clouds that surrounds us, makes us Patient in Tribulation, and Easy within when all things without us are Tempestuous; this is to fall down and Worship the Lord, as Iob with­out the least Sinful Disorder and Ruffling of his Soul. And thus we find Holy David, when Shimei Cursed him, and Abis [...]i would have taken severe Revenge upon him for it, how Calm? how Easy is he? Let him alone, says he, and let him Curse, for the Lord hath bidden him, II. Sam. 16.11. And so when he had lost his first-born by Bathsheba; tho' he had fasted and wept sore before, in hopes to obtain the Life of the Child, yet now he rises, washes, anoints himself, changes his Apparel, and with Composure of Mind, goes into the House of God and Worshippeth, II. Sam. 12.20. Thus are we to fall down before the Lord and Worship Him, by the Profoundest Resignation of our Selves and all that we have to His Disposal.

4. WE must Humble our Selves deeply before the Lord when under such Bereavements. He fell down upon the Ground Prostrating himself, (so some render the Words) betokening his Deep Humiliation, and Self-Abasement. Hence we are called upon, I. Pet. 5.6. Humble your Selves under the Mighty Hand of God. When Gods Hand is upon us, it becomes us to lay our selves low, as in the Dust before Him; to have our Souls filled with Weeping and with Mourning, and to be covered as [...] Sackcloth and Ashes.

[Page 15]THERE is requisite, not only a Sorrow that arises from our Natural Affections, but a Sorrow and Grief of Heart that arises from Spiritual and Heroick Principles in us: a Sorrow from a Sense of the Hand of God upon us. It should abase us, and make us Humble, to see the Frowns in the Countenance of our Heavenly Father, and feel such heavy Tokens of His Displeasure. When He Chastens us, He expects that we should be grieved at it, and lay our selves Low at His Feet.

AND much greater should be our Humiliation and Sorrow, from a Sense of our Deserving His Chastisements. The Sense of our own Sinfulness, which is the first Cause of all our Afflictions and Bereavements, should make us to Walk Softly, in the Bitterness of our Souls; and produce in us that Godly Sorrow that worketh Repentance. For surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have born Chastisement, I will not offend any more; if I have done Iniquity, I will do so no more; Behold, I am Vile before Thee, wherefore I abhor my Self, and Repent in Dust and Ashes.

5. LASTLY; WE must Carefully Attend all those Religious Acts of Worship and Homage which we Owe to God. He fell down upon the Ground, and Wor­shipped: Then under the Surprise and Confusion, which one would have expected he should have been thrown into at the hearing of such Dismal Tydings, he did not forget the Homage and Wor­ship which he owed to his God▪

[...] thus the Christian▪ whatever be his [...], Severe▪ and often Repeated his Be­reavements [Page 16] may be, still he won't suffer his Mind to be Unhinged, and Unfitted for the Duties of his General Calling, but keeps himself in such a Frame, as to Bow down and Worship his God, in all the Methods of his appointment.

THERE are some Acts which are more peculiar­ly termed a Worshipping of God; as Prayer, and Praise, whether in Publick or Private: Now all such Acts of Religious Worship must be carefully Attended, under the Sharpest Fight of Afflictions; Nay, the more exact and frequent should we be in our Performance of them, because of our Af­flictions. For thus we Read, Iam. 5.13. Is any Man Afflicted let him Pray? Then is a special Season for This, and all other Acts of Religious Worship, and this will be the most likely way to fetch in suitable Help and Support.

AND here suffer me to Suggest; whether it ought not to be esteemed a Fault among Christians, for any to Absent themselves from the Publick Worship of God, while under their Bereavements, upon pretence that their Spirits are too much over­whelmed, or their Outward Circumstances are such as will not suffer them to Appear in the Habit of Mourners? This I am sure of, that those Acts of Worship, which it would be our Duty to Attend, were it not for the Death of a Relation, ought by no means, purely for that Reason to be neglected, when ot [...]r Circumstances will allow our Perfor­mance of them.

BUT then, there are those Duties▪ which Reflect Honour upon God, and are therefore to be esteemed a Worshipping of Him; such are all Moral Duties, [Page 17] and our steady Obedience to the Divine Command­ment; these therefore ought Carefully to be ob­served by us under the heavyest Chastisements; and no Affliction should prevail with us to Omit them; nor should we take any Methods contrary to them to Deliver our Selves out of our Troubles▪ For this is the Homage which we forever owe to our God, to Govern our Selves by His Laws; and we cease to Worship Him, when we do it not.

THUS is the Christian, when exercised with Be­reavements, or indeed any Sort of Affliction, to fall down upon the Ground and Worship his God: and when he does so, he appears a Perfect and Up­right Man, One that Feareth God and Escheweth Evil; for these are some of the Characters of the truly Christian Heroick Mind, which renders him Illustrious among Men, and a Delightful Spectacle to the Holy Angels.

I Proceed now to make some Improvement of this DOCTRINE.

USE. 1. HENCE; we may infer the Excellency of True Christian Principles. The great pretenders to Phylosophy may reason with themselves all their Days, and form as many fine Schemes and Projects as they please, to support and strengthen their Minds, and preserve them calm and steady in the midst of the uncertain Changes of Providence, and the thick and black Storms that may beat upon them; they may boast as long as they Please, of their greatness of Mind, and their remaining un­touched by the Sharpest Adversity; but 'tis certain after all, they have but put a trick and cheat upon themselves, and formed Artificial Passions (as One [Page 18] expresses it) in hopes to Suppress their Natural Ones; and yet their hopes are but vain; for their Natural Passions will certainly rise upon them, break in upon their Quiet, and disturb the Peace of their Minds, in spite of all their Reason and Philosophy; As has been Evidently seen, in the Deportment of the severest Philosophers; Especially in Cato, that Celebrated Man, who gained the Title of Severe from his Government of his Passions; yet after all his Prentences, when Distresses grew thick and heavy upon him, how did he discover the Bastard­lyness of his Spirit, and his Fears to meet his ap­proaching Fate, by meanly rushing upon his own Sword, to escape Death in the form of an Enemy, or being lead Captive to Grace the Triumphs of a Generous Conquerour.

BUT here lyes the Superiority of Truly Reli­gious Principles, over all meerly Natural or Ac­quired Habits of the Mind, that they will enable a Man, with a Steady and Composed Countenance, to meet the Allotments of Divine Providence, to face the greatest Dangers, and bravely walk thro' the Flames, and receive all the Fire with an Un­daunted Resolution, when it meets him in the way of his Duty: and tho' the Stormy Shower may fall never so thick and heavy upon him, these Christian Principles will Support his Mind, keep him Serene and [...]air within, and cause Light to arise in Darkness to him; this will give him a Presence of Mind, a Sedate Temper, and Cool Thought under all Exigencies; will enable him to Quit himself like a Man of Conscience and Honour, with a just Deference to his God, [...] Serious regard to the Welfare of his own Soul [...] a Faithful Discharge of all Relative [...] So does the [Page 19] Christian Religion shew us a more Excellent and Perfect way, than Reason and Philosophy with all their Art and Contrivance can pretend to.

2. HENCE; A Stupid Insensibility of the Hand of God, when He bereaves us of dear Enjoyments, is very unbecoming a Christian. This is the Guilt the Prophet Charges upon the Jews: Isai. 26.11. Lord, when thy Hand is Lifted up they will not see! They refused to see the Hand of God smiting of them, might think of this or that Reason of their Affliction, but did not see God in it; or else like the same hardened People whom God com­plains of: Isai. 42.25. It Set him on Fire round about, but he knew it not; it burned him, but he laid it not to Heart. So Stubborn was he grown, as not to feel the Blows that were struck upon him. Now such a Wilful refusal to see the Hand of God; such a hardness of Heart as, like the Anvil, resists to the Blows that are struck upon it, is altogether unbecoming the Character of a Christian; for it argues a Secret Atheism in the Heart, and Disbelief of God's Governing Providence, which is most contrary to an Acknowledgment of Him, and Worshipping before Him.

3. HENCE; Neither is it agreeable to the Christians Character, to Sink under the Weight of his Bereavements. Tho' we may Sorrow and Mourn, when we are Bereaved, yet we must not Sorrow, as those that are without Hope; nor, with Rachel▪ Refuse to be C [...]mforted. We must not conclude that all is gone, and we are undone, because this Va­luable Earthly Enjoyment is taken from us. For this Sinking, Fainting, Desp [...]nding Frame argues, that there is a Disagreement between our Wills▪ [Page 20] and the Will of God in ordering this Providence for us; whereas we have seen, that the Christian is to fall down and Worship his God, by an en­tire Resignation of his Will to the Divine. And this is the holy Apostles advice: Heb. 12.5. My Son, despise not thou the Chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art Rebuked of Him.

4. HENCE; We owe Our Thankfulness to God for the many Mercies He is Pleased yet to con­tinue to us. If when He Bereaves us of the Com­forts of this Life, we are under all still to fall down and Worship Him, certainly then we are to Worship Him when He continues His Smiles upon us; and our Thankfulness to God for His Mercies, is but the Natural Worship which as Crea­tures, who have our whole Dependance on Him, and receive all our Enjoyments from His Bounty, we owe unto Him. We are to Bless God even when He takes away; As Iob, in the Verse fol­lowing my Text, The Lord hath taken away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord: Then certainly we should Bless and Praise Him for what of His Favours He continues to us. And those of us who have Ex­perienced His Goodness, in Restoring our Selves, or those that belong to us, from Sickness, and Pre­serving us from going down to the Pit, when, it may be, we have been brought to the Edges of the Grave, Such certainly owe this Tribute of Praise. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name; Bless the Lord, O my Soul, who Healeth all thy Diseases; who ransometh thy Life from Destruction, and Crowneth thee with Loving Kindness and Tender Merc [...], Psal. 103.1, 2, 4.

BUT,

[Page 21]5. LASTLY; Let us all then Labour after Iob's Religious Frame, when under the Divine Be­reavements, To fall down and Worship our God. We all of us have our Tryals, and meet with Afflictions of One Sort or Other; and some of us have sadly stood as in Iob's stead, have met with Bereavement upon Bereavement, and till there is none Left. And whose condition it shall be next to pass thro' the like Fiery Tryal, God only knows. Well then, Let us all endeavour after this devout Frame of Mind, that when we are called to rend our Mantles and shave our Heads, to Weeping and to Mourning, and the Expressions of our Sorrow and Grief by our Outward Actions and Deportment, our Souls may at the same time, Fall down and Worship our Maker.

IN order to work us up to this Frame of Mind,

1. MAINTAIN a Steady View of Gods Gover­ning Providence. How would it Prostrate us before the Lord, compose all the Tumults and Uneasy­ness of our Minds, to uphold a continued fixed Belief of Gods Government of the World? To consider that all things are of His ordering, and Nothing comes to pass without His Knowledge and Direction; that the very Hairs of our Heads are all Numbred by Him; that not a Sparrow falls to the Ground without His Good Pleasure, much less does any of our Relations▪ (the Dear Objects of our Love, whom God has given to us very much for this End, to Solace our Selves in the Enjoyment of them) fall into the Grave without the Concurrence and Direction of His Governing Providence.

[Page 22]2. LET GOD Himself have our highest Esteem, and Maintain a Low Opinion of the Best of the Things of this World. If God be the Object of our highest Affection, and we have chosen Him as the Portion of our Souls; and can Sincerely say, I have none in Heaven but Thee, and Desire nothing on Earth in Comparison of Thee; then tho' we should be bereaved of the Best of our Earthly Delights and Comforts, or of all of them, yet our Treasure will abide by us still; Our God can't be taken away; No; not Death it self can Sepa­rate us from His Love.

AND if we have a Low Opinion of the Things of this World; Consider them as truely they are, Perishable Things; then it will not be hard to part with them, we shall be able to bear the Loss Patiently, and Weep as tho' we wept not; as we are advised, 1 Cor. 7.30. This now will tend to keep us in a Religious and Devout frame of Mind.

3. EYE the Example of those that have gone before us in the like Sufferings. Set before us the Example of our Saviour. Whose Sorrows are like unto His Sorrows? View Him in every State and Condition of Life, and we shall find Him a Man of Sorrows and Acquainted with Griefs: and what was His Deportment under them? but the Deepest Devotion, and a Constant Adoration and Worshipping of God His Father. And herein Christ hath Suffered for us, leaving us an Example, that we should tread in His Steps: As the Apostle tell us, 1 Pet. 2.21.

[Page 23]BUT then, we have the Example of Holy Men; Men like our Selves, as frail by Nature as we are, subject to like Passions with us, to whom their Relations and Friends were as dear as ours to us, and who had as Natural an Aversion at Parting with them, as we have; We also have the same Helps with them, the same Religious Principles, the same Divine and Gracious Spirit to Strengthen and Support us. And how did they bear their Bereavements? You have heard of the Patience and Religion of Iob; Let us then take our Bre­thren for an Example of Suffering Affliction, and of Patience, and be fired with an Holy Ambition, to do like them.

4. CALL to Mind the Recompence of Reward that shall be given to them, who thus Govern their Natural Passions by Acts of Grace. It may be they shall be Rewarded in this Life, and like Iob, have made up to them abundantly in the same kind that was taken from them, and their Latter End be better than their Beginning.

BUT however, there are Rewards in the [...]uture Immortal World, for them that behave themselves aright under the Dealings of God with them; thro' Faith and Patience they shall come to inherit the Promises: For we shall Reap if we faint not, says the Apostle. Gal. 6.9. Our Light Afflictions, which are here but as for a Moment, shall work for us a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory, 2 Cor. 4.17. And how should the Thoughts of this make us to fall down and Worship our God.

[Page 24]5. LIVE in Expectation of all Sorts of Afflictions and Bereavements while in this World. We are told, Act 14.22. Thro' much Tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God. If we Live in Expecta­tion of them, consider our Selves in a Mutable World, perpetually Subject to Changes; a World where none of its Enjoyments are Sure and Certain; then when we are Disappointed in our best laid Designs, Crossed in our most valuable Interest here, and Bereaved of our Sweetest and most Comforta­ble Enjoyments, we shall not think Strange con­cerning the Fiery Tryal, as tho' some Strange Thing had happened to us; we shall not be thrown into Dejection and Despair, into Impatience and Murmuring; but shall be enabled to meet our Tryals with a Composed Mind, and Sustain the Shock that may be given to Nature by them, with a true Christian Heroick frame.

6. LASTLY; And when Bereavements and Af­flictions do overtake us, Exercise Prayer and Faith. This is indeed part of that Worship, we must Pay to God under them; and 'tis also a proper Method to lead us to the whole of that Homage, which God Challenges of us, when He Rebukes and Chastens us.

THUS then, let us earnestly Pour out our Sup­plications before the Lord, thereby making known all our Wants to Him, entreating His favourable Support under our Bereavements, His Gracious De­liverance out of our Tryals, and a Sanctifyed Use and Improvemen [...] of them. This will be the way to Unbosome our S [...]uls, to give a proper vent to the Griefs and Sorrows of our Hearts, to breath out our [Page 25] Troubles, and to fetch in of the Divine Consolations which are not small. So will it Buoy up our Spirits, and keep our Hearts from fainting.

AND then Exercise Faith, relying upon the Mercy of God, who is more ready to Communicate than we are to Ask or Receive: trusting to His Goodness (tho' with the Pr [...]foundest Submi [...]io [...] [...] His Will, as to the Time, and Manner) for our Assistance and Deliverance: [...] upon the Infinite Merits of Christ Jesus, who by His Suf­ferings has Purchased for us, that our Afflictions of Curses shall be turned into Blessings, that all things shall work together for Good unto them that Love God; and Humbly perswading our Selves, that this our Merciful High Priest, who is touched with the feeling of our Infirmities, will find out a way for our Escape, and bring all to a happy Issue for us.

THUS let us work our Selves up unto Iob's happy frame of Spirit, that when we are Bereaved of what is most Delightful to us here, we may with him fall down upon the Ground, and Wor­ship the Lord our God. Then shall we be Per­fect Men in Christ Jesus, wanting nothing to make us Comfortable here, and Happy hereafter: For this Frame will be our Perfection and our Hap­piness. Our Perfection; because by this Means, there will be a good Agre [...]men [...] [...] our Wills and the Will of God▪ wh [...]h is t [...] Perfection of the Gloryfied Spirits Ab [...]ve 'Twill will be our Hap­ [...]es [...] also; because this will [...]eep us Temperate, [...] and Easy; and our Happ [...]ss arises not so [...] from our Enjoyments here▪ as from the [Page 26] Frame and Temper of our Minds. Besides, this will be a Comfortable Evidence of our Adoption, that we are the true Children of God: for thus we are assured, Heb. 12.7. with which Words I Conclude, If ye endure Chastisement, God dealeth with you, as with Sons; for what Son is he, whom his Fa [...]her Chasteneth not?

THE History of the Jewish Nation is very Entertaining and Instructive, Pre­senting us with a fair view of the various Scenes of Providence, and the Methods of the Divine Proceedings, [Page 28] with a People that stand peculiarly related to God; at once shewing us the Happiness of that People, whose God is the Lord, while they faith­fully adhere to His Covenant, and maintain their Loyalty to their Sovereign; and giving us a Pros­pect of the Unspotted Holiness and Righteousness, and the burning Jealousy of God in Punishing of them, when they forsake His Ordinances, and Dis­obey His Commandments.

IF we trace that People, from their first Infant State, to their very Consummation, we shall find they Prospered in all their Designs, grew Great and Flourishing, or were brought Low and Abased with various Calamities, according as their Religion was Upheld, and they were found faithful to their God, or as Profanness and Vice prevailed among them.

WHILE they were careful to Walk in all the Ordinances of the Lord blameless, to observe His Statutes and Judgments to do them, what amazing Instances of the Divine Power, Wisdom, and Care, exerted for them, do we meet with in the Sacred Story? How is the Almighty Arm made bare for their Support and Deliverance, and the over­throw of their Enemies? Their Increase and Flou­rishing in Goshen; their Miraculous Redemption from their Egyptian-Bondage; the Conduct afforded them in their Long Travels; the Amazing Sup­ply of Manna and Quail [...], and the Stream from the Rock that followed them in the Desert for their Refreshment; the Wonders wrought by the hands of their Judges; their Subduing the Land of Canaan; their State and Magnificence in the Reigns of David and Solom [...]n, and some other of their Good Kings; these are all Lasting Monu­ments of the Divine Care, and Evident Demon­strations, [Page 29] what God will do for His People, while their Hearts are Perfect towards Him.

ON the other hand, their Plagues and Distresses, their Intestine Jarrs, and Repeated Wars, their Captivity in Babylon, and their final overthrow by the Romans, are as full Prooffs, that tho' God has known a People above all the Families of the Earth, yet He will Punish them for their Iniquities.

AND we may observe throughout the Sacred History, that God is wont very much, to Propor­tion His Judgments according to the Degrees of His Peoples Crimes; that He layed His Inflictions upon them more heavy and severe, as His People were more Obstinate and Incorrigable, and by their repeated Trespasses filled up the Measure of their Iniquities.

MY Text and Context leads me a little to Con­sider their Captivity in Babylon, and their Delive­rance there from. When the Wicked Reigns of Ahas, Menasseth, Iehojakim, and Zedekiah, filled with Idolatry, the Contempt of Gods Sabbath, House and Ordinances, with Oppression, Injustice, and every Evil Work, had fully ripened them for the Desolating Judgments of God; Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon comes up as a Devouring Scourge▪ and compleats their over-throw, in the Destruction of Jerusalem their Royal City; burning their Palaces and their Temple; Slaying their Young Men, their Flower and Hopes; scarce sparing Age or Sex, and carrying the Remnant that had Escaped the Sword into Babylon, where they remained Vassals for Seventy Years, till their Land had fulfilled its Sabbath.

[Page 30]IN this their Distress, there were a Remnant that Feared the Lord, and sought Him with their whole Heart, and the Lord stirred up Cyrus, King of Persia, to issue out a Royal Proclamation, giving Li­berty to the Jews, to return to their own Land, and Re-build their City, and the House of their God; at which time their Seventy Years Captivity Expired; tho' they still met with many Difficulties and Hindrances from their Enemies, in the Reigns of Cyrus, Cambyses, Artaxerxes, Darius Hystaspis, till it was finished in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Darius, or Artaxerxes Longimanus.

EZRA a Priest and Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, who had peculiarly set his Heart towards the House of his God, probably had tar­ryed at the Court of Babylon, to take such mea­sures there, as might be necessary for the further­ance of the work; after the House was finished and the Wall of Ierusalem, he leaves the Persian Court, in the Seventh Year of Artaxerxes, and brings up the remainder of the People with him, and the Vessels of the House of the Lord, giving them into the hands of the Priests and Levites, to whom he appoints their several Charge, and they offer Sacrifice with Joy and Thanksgiving before the Lord.

WHILE these things were doing, Ezra is in­formed, that Contrary to the Divine Command­ment, many of the Princes and Priests with the People had taken Wives, for themselves and their Sons, of the Babylonish Women, whom they had brought with them to Ierusalem; which as it was expressly forbiden, least thereby their Hearts should be drawn away to Idolatry, so was it extreamly Provoking to God.

[Page 31]UPON the hearing hereof, Ezra s [...]ts down filled with Astonishment and Indignation, and under the black Apprehensions he has of the fatal Conse­quents of it, he humbles himself before the Lord, and pours out a Prayer; as in this Ninth Chap. whereof my Text is a part: And after all that is come upon us, for our Evil Deeds, &c. Wherein I shall only Remark.

1. HIS acknowledgment, that it was for their Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, that God had brought those heavy Judgments upon them, which they had laboured under; All this that is come upon us, for our Evil Deeds.

2. THE Aggravating Circumstances that At­tended their present Transgression; first, in that it was after all that had come upon them, and so a Con­tempt of former Judgments; and then, it was notwithstanding God had punished them less than they de­served, and had now granted them a very great De­liverance, and so it was base Ingratitude, and an abuse of the Divine Lenity and Mercy.

3. HIS Just fears least, if they persisted in their Transgression, it should prove their utter Ruine and Confusion: After and Notwithstanding — Should we again break thy Commandments, in Ioyning Affinity with the People of these Abominations, wouldst no [...] Thou be Angry with us, till Thou hast Consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping. Certainly, the bold Transgressions of a People, so Circum­stanced, so [...]ighly Aggravated, after Judgments to Deter them, notwithstanding Mercies to Allure them▪ are very Provoking, and lay such an Incorrigible People [...] to the Amazing Effects of the Divi [...] [Page 32] Displeasure. From which Words we may gather this Doctrine, Viz

DOCT. THAT for a People in Covenant with GOD to Persist in their Evil Deeds and Great Trespasses, after former Iudgments GOD hath brought upon them therefor, and notwithstanding the Merciful Deliverances He hath favoured them with, is the most ready way to utter Ruine and Confusion.

IN the handling of this Doctrine, I shall En­deavour these things:

I. TO shew, That GOD does and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His Covenant People, by Iudgments upon them in this Life and World.

II. I shall just hint, That the Iudgments GOD In­flicts upon His People, ordinarily rise in Proportion to the Nature of their Crimes.

III. I shall Endeavour to Prove, That for GOD'S Covenant People to Persist in their Evil Deeds, after Iudgments, and notwithstanding Deliverances, is the most ready way to Ruine.

IV. AND then I shall make some Improvement, suitable to the Solemnity of this Day.

I. THE first thing then is, to shew, That GOD does and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His Co­venant People, by Iudgments upon them in this Life. This appears plain from these things.

1. THE Covenant between God and His Peo­ple considers them as a Collective Body. That there [Page 33] is a Covenant between God and His Professing People, is too evident in the Sacred Pages to make any Question of. His Israel ever stood in a Co­venant Relation to Him, from the Days of Abra­ham, to the Dayes of the Messiah; and His Spiri­tual Israel have done so, from Ad [...]m to this Day. All the Difficulty lies in Understanding the Na­ture of this Covenant. And I freely Acknowledge, that I take it to be none other, than what we call the Covenant of Grace, Diversifyed with respect to the Parties, and the Sanctions of it. As the Covenant of Grace respects a Particular Person, so it considers him Singly and by himself, and the Sanctions of it are Eternal Rewards or Punish­ments: But as the same Covenant respects the People of God in the General, so it considers them as a Collective Body, all as One, and so its Sanctions are Temporal Rewards and Punishments.

THE Covenant between God and His Professing People is, their Mutual Engagement to each other, to perform something or other Specifyed in that Covenant. The very Notion of a Covenant car­ries Obligation in it: and this Obligation must be Mutual, and the Covenant binding upon both Par­ties; or the One, being under no Obligation, is at Liberty whether he will perform his Part or no, which necessarily leaves the other at as great a Liberty by reason of his Uncertainty; and so that which is Designed for the Strongest Tye and Bond, becomes Weaker than Sampson's Withs, having no force at all. And then the Terms of the Covenant, or Articles upon which the Two Parties agree, must be Specified in the Covenant; otherwise 'tis altogether uncertain what is to be done on either Part, and so no Obligation can lye upon [Page 34] either to the Performance of any thing at all; a Covenant binding no further than it expresses.

THUS God and His People stand engaged in Covenant unto each other; the Sum of which is expressed in, Jer. XXXI.33. I will be their God, and they shall be my People. That which is re [...]uired on Mans Part is, all Possible Homage and Obedience to God, as He has fully set their Duty before them in His Word, which is the Book of the Co­venant; and God has been graciously Pleased to come under Covenant Obligations, to bestow upon His People all the Blessings expressed in that Co­venant, if they be Faithful to Him therein. Now this Covenant is Mutually Obligatory, upon the Divine Majesty and His People; only Man being to receive the Benefit of the Covenant, it stands him in stead to see to the Performance of his Part, e'er he can Challenge the Blessing, or indeed so much as hope for it. And this is still the Cove­nant of Grace, in that 'tis an high Act of Grace, for the Great GOD thus to Condescend, to come under Covenant Engagements to a Worm; and in that the Covenant is still founded in Christ Jesus, as Head and Mediator of it, without whom there could be no Possibility for a Sinful Creature, to come into so near a Relation to a Holy God; nor would the Duty Performed by Man, be suffi­cient to entitle him, to the Blessings engaged by God, were it not for the Merits of Christ; even Temporal Blessings being more than Man can De­serve. And besides, in this Covenant there is suffi­cient Room for the Suspending, at least for a Time, the Threatenings denounced in case of Dis­obedience, and the utter averting of Impending Judgments, upon a Sincere and Hearty Repentance and Reformation.

[Page 35]NOW this Covenant, between God and His Peo­ple, ever considers them as a Collective Body, being made with the Whole Congregation of His Pro­fessing People; and therefore where-ever we find it mentioned in the Sacred Pages, it always ru [...]s in such Terms, as evidently manifests, that it respects the People Collectively and Together, all of them as One Party concerned in it. So it was at the first more evident Ratifying of it on Mount Sinai; and therefore when Moses had received all the Statutes and Ordinances for the Children of Israel; sayes God to him, Exod. XXXIV.27. Write thou these words, for after the Tenor of these words I have made a Covenant with thee, and with Israel. i. e. with the whole Body of the People, whom Moses represented. And this more plainly appears at the renewing of the Covenant in the Land of Moab: for thus runs the Preamble to it, Deut. XXIX.10. Ye stand this Day all of you before the Lord your God, your Captains of your Tribes, your Elders and your Officers, with all the M [...]n of Israel, your Little Ones, your Wives, and the Stranger that is within your Gates, from the Hewer of Wo [...]d, to the Drawer of Water, that thou shouldest enter into Cove­nant with the Lord thy God, and into His Oath▪ which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this Day, that He may Establish thee to Day for a People unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee a God. Than which▪ nothing can be more full and pertinent to the purpose; and it evidently shews▪ that the Cove­nant is made with the whole Body of the People▪ considered as a People.

2. THE Sanctions of this Covenant between God and His People are Temporal; Temporal Rewards, and Temporal Punishments. Far be it from me, [Page 36] to say any thing that shall take off the Edge, and a [...]e the Force of those Eternal Rewards and Pun­ishments, by which the Covenant is Established with Particular Persons. Every Visible Professor in a Christian State stands related to God in a Double Capacity, both as a Private Person consi­dered by himself, and as a Member of that Col­lective Body of which he is but a Part. As a Private Person, he is by his Baptism Personally in Covenant with God; and tho' the Dispensations of Providence towards him here are not Propor­tioned exactly according to his behaviour, but as God in Infinite Sovereignty sees meet, yet the E­ternal Rewards and Punishments of the future World will be Dispensed to him, according to his Fidelity or Unfaithfulness in the Covenant.

BUT then, as a Person stands related to the Body Politick, so he is but a Part of that Body, or Com­munity with whom the Covenant is made; and this Society or Body of Men, of which each Person is but a part of the whole, have the Covenant Ratifyed with them by the Sanctions of Temporal Rewards or Punishments; and accordingly they are National and Publick Judgments that are Inflicted on such a People, for their Sin; And Publick Blessings that are Conferred upon them, when they are a Righteous People. Hence every Member of the Common-Wealth has some Part in the Allot­ments of Providence; and the most Righteous Per­son has his share in the Common Calamity brought upon such a People; and tho' a very Profane and Vicious Person may happen to escape a Personal Suffering, under the heavy distresses that may be Inflicted upon the Nation or State of which he is a Member, yet have they all their common Interest [Page 37] bound up together, and every Part of the Body feels something of the Wounds that are given to it, and rejoyces in it's Health and Prosperity.

AND indeed throughout the whole Bible, where-ever we find the Covenant made with a People as such, we shall also find, that Outward Prosperity is the Blessing engaged in Case of Obedience, and Outward Afflictions and Chastisements are the Punishments threatened in Case of Disobedience.

THUS it was when the Covenant was made with Abraham, who was considered as the head of a Family and Nation: Gen. XVII. begin. The Lord appeared to Abram, and said, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou Perfect; and I will make my Covenant between Me and thee, — and thou shalt be a Father of many Nations. — Thy Name shall be called Abraham, for a Father of many Nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceeding Fruitful, and I will make Nations of thee, and I will establish my Covenant between Me and thee, and thy Seed after thee; — and I will give unto thee and thy Seed after thee, the Land wherein thou art a Stranger, all the Land of Canaan, for an Everlasting Possession. — And God said unto Abraham, thou shalt keep my Co­venant therefore, thou and thy Seed after thee. In all of which 'tis plainly Evident, that tho Cove­nant here was not made with Abraham meerly as a Single Person, but as including a Great People in his Loyns, and respected that Unborn People together with him; 'Tis Evident also that the Blessings of this Life are the Favours engaged in the Covenant, if Abraham and his Seed keep their Covenant; and their Temporal Punishment, in Case of Disobedience, is inferred by the rule of Con­traries, [Page 38] and is fairly pointed at by the Word therefore: Thou shall keep my Covenant therefore, thou and thy Seed, Q. D. if you do it not, you shall not be so blessed, but on the Contrary Af­flicted; and we see by the Event it was so, in the many bitter things they met with e'er they came to the Possession of the Promised Land of Canaan.

AND this Ratification of the Covenant by Tem­poral Rewards and Punishments appears in a clearer Light, when after the Seed of Abraham, by Isaac, came to be a Great Nation, and the Covenant was more fully and openly made with the whole Peo­ple; as is to be seen, Levit. XXVI. Chap. Where after all the Articles of the Covenant had been expressed, Moses layes down the Sanctions from Verse 3 d. If ye walk in my Statutes, and keep my Commandments to do them, then I will give you Rain in due Season, and the Land shall yield her Increase, and the Trees of the Field shall yield their Fruit; and your Thr [...]shing shall reach unto the Vintage, and the Vintage shall reach unto the Sowing Time; and ye shall Eat your Bread to the full, and dwell in your Land Safely: And I will give Peace in the Land, and ye shall lye down, and none shall make you affraid; and I will rid evil Beast out of the Land, neither shall the Sword pass thro' the Land; and ye shall Chase your Enemies, and they shall fall before you by the Sword. — And I will have respect unto you, and make you Fruitful and Multiply you. — And ye shall Eat old Sto [...]e, and bring forth the Old because of the New, &c. But (on the other hand) If ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these Commandments, if ye shall Despise my Statutes, or if your Soul abhor my Iudgments, so that ye will not do all my Commandments, but that ye break my Covenant; I also will do this unto you▪ [Page 39] I will even appoint over you Terror, Consum [...]tion, and the Burning Ague — And ye shall Sow your Seed in vain, — And ye shall be Slain before your Ene­mies. Thro'out the whole of which it plainly ap­pears, that Temporal Rewards or Punishments are the Sanctions of the Covenant between God and His People.

AND indeed it seems natural that it should be so; for a People in Covenant with God are more Peculiarly under a Theocratical Government, ha­ving Chosen the Lord for their Head and King, and are become in a special manner His Common-Wealth; and tho' His Power over them is Mo­narchical and Absolute, yet He proceeds by the Rules of Rectoral Holiness and Relative Righte­ousness, and accordingly favours them with Out­ward Prosperity, or punishes them with Outward Adversity, according to their Manners, as they be­have themselves with a steady Loyalty, or prove Treacherous and Disobedient to Him.

3. THE Evil Deeds and Trespasses of Gods Cove­nant People are Provoking to Him, and Deserve Pun­ishment. God is a Holy and Jealous God, of Purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity; and all Sin must needs be offensive to the unspotted Holiness, and unerring Rectitude of the Divine Nature: 'tis the Abominable thing which He Hates, (Jer. XLIV.4.) And which He will sooner or later, one way or other, certainly Punish where-ever 'tis found.

WHEN therefore this hateful thing is found in a Particular Person, the Holy and Righteous God will either Punish for it, by inflicting the Just Wages of Sin upon the Offender in his own Person; or accept of what his Surely has Suffered for him, as a Sufficient and Satisfactory Punishment.

[Page 40]BUT when a People are found Guilty, we may rationally Conclude, that as the Covenant is made with them as such, and the Sanctions of tha [...] Co­venant threaten Temporal Afflictions, that accor­dingly their Crimes, which are provoking to God, shall be Punished upon them as such a People.

FOR Sin is not the less Offensive and ill De­serving, for its being found among a People in Covenant with God, but rather the more so; be­cause such a People know better, the Law of the Lord their God is among them; and besides they have Sworn Alleigance to God as their Righ [...]ful Sovereign: so that their Evil Deeds must needs be Peculiarly Offensive and Provoking, being a­gainst the clearest Light to the Contrary, and the addition of Perjury to their Disobedience.

HERE then I might properly enough In­quire; When may a People considered as such be Looked upon as Guilty? For 'tis very certain, that some particular Acts of Sin and Disobedience, found in particular Persons, among a Covenant People, don't alwayes involve that People in the Guilt thereof. But all I shall attempt to say in Answer hereto (having no time to be larger) is, that when the Sins of Particular Persons are allowed and abetted by the generality of a People especially their Heads and Rulers, without provi­ding proper Laws against them, or neglecting the Execution of those Laws; and when any Sin be­comes the general practice of a People and Epide­mically rages among them; and much more when all kind of Sins prevail among a People: I think under these Characters they may be accounted the Sins of the People, for which they lye exposed to the Divine Chastisements. For You only have I known (says God) above all the Families of the Earth, [Page 41] therefore will I punish you for your Iniquities, Amos III.2. So that Sin is not lest Offensive and Pro­voking for being found among His Covenant People.

4. THIS Life and World is the only suitable Time and Place for a People considered as such, to be Pun­ished for their Evil Deeds. For the Covenant being made with a People considered as a Collective Body, and the Sanctions of that Covenant respecting them as such, and accordingly threatening them with Temporal Punishments, when therefore by Sin they become Obnoxious to the Penalties contained in the Sanction, what of Punishment is inflicted on them as a People therefor, must be while they are such a Collective Body, and so considered. Their Evil Deeds and Trespasses are considered, not as the Acts of this or that particular Person, but when they are op [...]ly Tollerated, and Epide­mically prevail among [...]em, they are looked upon as the Evil Deeds of the whole Body of the Peo­ple together; and therefore while they are such a Community, which is only in this Life and World, they are to be Punished therefor.

IN the General Judgment▪ then every particu­lar Person shall stand or fall by his own Deeds, he shall be Tryed, Condemned or Acquited, Re­warded or Punished, according as his Deeds in the Body have been: But then, in the other World, a People don't appear as a Body, a State or Kingdom, to be Tryed and Judged for what their Behaviour has been as such a People; nor indeed is there Room for such a Tryal▪ the Perpetual Mu­tation and Succession of Generations forbids it.

SO that since the future World is no proper Time and Place for the Rewarding or Punishing a People, considered as a Collective Bod [...] ▪ it remains▪ [Page 42] that this Life and World, wherein only they are so, is the only fit Time and Place of their being Punished for their Evil Deeds and Trespasses. And accordingly this we find the Method of the Divine Proceedure; if we examine the Sacred History both of the Old Testament, and the New.

FROM all which it appears plain that God does, and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His Peo­ple, by Judgments upon them in this Life and World: for the Covenant between God and them considers them all as one Body, the Sanctions of that Covenant are Temporal Inflictions, the Sins of Gods People are displeasing and deserve Chastise­ment, and this Life and World seems to be the only suitable Time and Place for it. I proceed to the Second thing I Proposed, which I shall but just touch upon: viz.

II. THAT the Iudgments GOD inflicts upon His People, Ordinarily rise in Proportion to the Nature of their Crimes: The Punishments brought upon them are greater or less, more gentle, or more severe, according to the Degrees of their Provo­cations. For God is a Righteous Lord; Psal. XI.7. And He Rules and Governs the World according to the strictest Rules of Righteousness, in Con­juction with His other Perfections.

WITH respect to a particular Person, there is no necessity that the strict Rules of Justice give Law to the Divine Dispensations here, and that there­fore he should never be Afflicted but Meerly upon the account of some Sin or other deserving it; for God may have Wise and Holy Ends, and Gra­cious Ones too, why He deals so or so with a particular Person; and yet Righteousness and Judg­ment is the Foundation of His Throne, when His [Page 43] Providences are Dark and Mysterious: but with respect to a People or Nation, 'tis more peculiarly an Effect of Divine Justice that He Punishes them; nor do I know any one Instant in the whole Bible, where National Judgments were not inflicted purely upon the account of National Sins. Now the same Justice that leads to the Punishment Proportions out the several Degrees of it, answerable to the various Degrees of the Malignancy and Provocation of the Crimes; that lesser Sins shall have a lesser Punishment, and greater Sins a more grevious one. For 'tis equally an Effect of Justice, to Proportion the Degrees of the Punishment to the nature of the Crime, as to Punish for it at all. Some­times also the Divine Justice is seen so to Pro­portion the Punishment, as that the greatest share of a Publick Calamity shall fall heaviest on those, who have had the chiefest hand in the Trespass.

'TIS true, the Justice of God does not necessi­tate, that immediately upon the Commission of the Sin the People should Suffer the Punishment of it▪ for God is their Sovereign, and there is suffi­cient Room for the Exercise of Mercy, Patience, and Long-suffering; and therefore the Lord has Proclaimed His Name to be, The Lord God Graci­ous, and Merciful slow unto Anger, — And yet, that He will by no means clear the Guilty: For tho' God may forbear to Punish for a while, and bear a long time with the ill Manners of a People, yet He will take a time to Visit for their Iniquities▪ and when He does so, their former Trangressions▪ which remain Unpunished, shall come into Re­membrance with Him: Exod. XXXII.34. Never­theless in the Day when I visit, I will visi [...] their Sin upon them. And when He does thus [...] for Sin, [Page 44] He will Proportion His Judgments, according to the Demerit of their Sins, as one Sin holds in Proportion to another.

IF we take a view of the History of the Church of God, we shall see this Proceedure Plain and Evident: And in such a Method God before hand declares He will deal with His Covenant People: as may be seen in Levit. XXVI.14. v. and on. But if ye will not hearken unto me — I will ap­point over you Terror, Consum [...]tion and the burning Ague. — And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me, — then I will Punish you Seven times more for your Sins, and I will break the Pride of your Power, and will make your Heaven as Iron, and your E [...]r [...]h as Brass— And if you walk contrary unto Me, — I will bring Seven times more Plagues upon you according to your Sins. — And if you will not be Reformed by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me, then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will Punish you yet Seven times for your Sins; and I will bring a Sword upon you, that shall Avenge the quarrel of my Covenant. — And if ye will not for all this hearken un­to me, but walk contrary to Me▪ then I will walk con­trary unto you also in Fury; and I, even I will chastise you Seven times for your Sins. — And I will Scatter you among the Heathen, — And your Land shall be de­solate, and your Cities Wast; then shall the Land Enjoy her Sabbaths, &c. Which last finishing Judgment particularly Points to the Babylonish Captivity, un­der which their Land was desolate, and their Cities waste, for Seventy Years, till the Land had fulfilled it's Sabbaths.

THUS we see a very remarkable Gradation, in the Punishment inflicted, answerable to the Nature of their Crimes; by lesser Judgments God Chastens them for their Amendment, but if these will not [Page 45] Reclaim them, the Rod shall be turned into [...] Sword, and His Anger become heated Indignation; and as their Sins rise higher, proportionably will the Divine Displeasure encrease till His Jealousy Smoak against them, and His Anger burn like Fire.

I pass, to the Third Head. viz.

III. TO prove, That when a Covenant People Persist in their Evil Deeds and Trespasses, After for­mer Judgments, and Notwithstanding Merciful De­liverances, they take the most Ready Way to utter Ruine and Destruction.

THIS will appear from these things:

1. THIS Temper and Frame in a People, Na­turally opens the Door to utter Ruine. For a People to go on in Sin, violating the Covenant of their God, after He has Punished them therefor, and notwithstanding the Deliverances and Mercies that have been mixed with Judgment; it argues that they have a fixed Love and Delight in the Wayes of Sin: and when this comes to be the Epidemi­cal reigning Distemper of a People▪ that they Love to do Evil, and will not be Reformed▪ it naturally sets open a Wide Door to all sorts of Miseries and Desolations. For if the Laws of God, which are of the strongest Obligation▪ loose their Efficacy▪ and become of no force at all; if they can easily break His Bonds▪ and cast His Cords from them▪ of how little force will Humane Laws be to re­strain them, to cirb their Passions▪ and subdue their Lusts? These however well concerted, will be but like Tow and Fla [...] with them▪ which their Mo [...] Lusts will easily snap asunde [...] And certainly while there are no sufficient restraints upon them▪ [Page 46] to keep them within the Circle of their Duty, they will of themselves rush into utter Ruine and Destruction.

HENCE GOD sayes of Ephraim, Hos. IV.17. Ephraim is Ioyned unto Idols, let him alone: Which is not barely a giving him up to Sin, as a Pun­ishment for Sin; but is Designed to shew, that thereby he will himself make his Drink to become Sour; Let him Alone, leave him to his own Counsils, they are so perverse, that his Ruine will be the Natural fruit of his Doings. As our Saviour said of the Pharisees, Math. XV.14. Let them alone, they are Blind Leaders of the Blind; and if the Blind lead the Blind, they both shall fall into the ditch.

LOOK among all the Barbarous Nations of the World, and see if their Ignorance of the true GOD does not involve them in sufficient Misery: Yet wide is the Difference between them and Gods Covenant People. For as their Guilt is greater, and so provokes God to deal more severely with them, and Punish them by Confounding their Counsils, and hiding from them the plain Path; So their Passions and Lusts, which have heretofore been under some Restraint, now break forth, like pent Rivers, with greater force and violence, with Im­petuous Rage and Fury, and carry all before them. Now Tyranny, Injustice, and Oppression in Supe­riours; Insolence, Murmuring, and Sedition in In­feriours, Wrack their Civil Constitution, and sap the very foundations of their Government; on the Good Settlement whereof, very much of the Pros­perity and Flourishing of a People does depend. Besides Fraud and Couzening, Falsehood, Hatred, Malice, and Envy, and every Evil Work, will now Prevail among Private Persons; who having [...]st [Page 47] off all restraint, and make a Pish at the Laws of God and Man, each One will set up for himself, resolving to promote his own Interest, right or wrong; and will stick at nothing, how base and unjust soever, to accomplish their Designs. And what a Mortal Consumption must this needs thro' a State into? So that this Frame and Temper in a People, naturally runs them into Ruine and De­struction.

2. THIS Persisting in Sin Gives the highest Pro­vocation to God, For,

[1.] BY this means they make a New Addition to their Old Guilt. Tho' a People may have had National Judgments inflicted on them, and have been sorely Punished for their former Transgressions, yet by their Continuance in their Sins, and their resolved Persisting in their Rebellions against their Sovereign, their Old Guilt returns upon them; because by their a-New Transgressing the Law of their God, they Approve and Vindicate all their former Disobedience; which equally involves them in the Guilt of it, as if it were but just now committed, and had never been Punished upon them. Hence our Blessed Saviour tells the Jews, Math. XXIII.35. That, upon that Generation should come all the Righteous Blood shed upon the Earth, from the Blood of Righteous Abel, to the Blood of Zacharias the Son of Barachias, whom they slew between the Porch and the Altar. For by their Sinful Deeds, and especially by their Slaying [...]he Messias, they Vin­dicated the vile Murders that had been committed upon those of His Prophets, whom their Fore-Fathers had, slain; and so they took upon themselves the Guilt of it all: and accordingly all that Righteous [Page 48] Blood, that had been so unjustly shed, fell v [...]ry heavy upon that Generation, upon them and their Children, as they Imprecated on themselves.

AND as their Old Guilt thus returns upon a People, by their Persisting in Sin; so by their con­tinual repeated Acts of Sin, they contract New and Greater Guilt: As every New Transgression adds to the Pile of their Iniquities, so it encreases their old Debt, and adds to the Weight of their Guilt. And besides, as the first Act of Rebel­lion is a Crime, provoking to God, and expo­ses to Punishment; so the repetition thereof en­creases their Guilt, not only as 'tis a New Crime, but as 'tis of a deeper Dye, and of a more heinous Nature; because it Argues a fixed Malignity against their Sovereign, and a resolution to do all they can to Affront Him, since they cannot depose Him: So that by this Means God is more highly Provoked. Hence 'tis reckoned as an encreased Provocation in the Children of Israel, that to all [...]heir other Sins, They added this, to ask for them a King, [...] Sam. XII.19. And God expresses His An­ger, and [...] His Woes against them that thus go [...] to add Sin to Sin. Isai XXX 1 Wo unto the Rebellious Children (saith the Lord) that take Councel, but [...] of Me, that they may add Sin to Sin. And 'tis uttered as one of the heaviest Curses upon a People, Psal. LXIX.27. Add Iniquity to t [...]eir In [...]quity So that by this Persisting in Sin there is an Addition of New and Greater Guilt, and so encreased Provocation given to God; and certainly this must need [...] b [...] the [...]eady way to Ruine.

[Page 49][2.] THE Peculiarly Aggravating Circumstances that Attend a Peoples Persisting in Sin, renders it more highly Provoking to GOD Here I shall distinctly, tho' but briefly, touch upon those Aggravations mentioned in my Text. As,

(1.) THEIR Sin is peculiarly Aggravated▪ in that they go on and persist in their Evil Deeds, After all the Iudgments GOD has brought upon them therefor. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds and our Great Trespass — Should we again break thy Commandments! — What, after God had so severely Punished them! — Had driven them out of their own Land! — Had laid their Cities waste, and left their Land Desolate! — After the Sword had devoured their flourishing Youth! — After Seventy Years Ca [...] ­tiv [...]ty and Bondage to the King of Babylon! — And when they k [...]ew too, that this Desolation befell them as the Punishment of their Sin! — After all [...]his! — To go on Sinning Still! — What can be more Provoking to Heaven?

THIS was that A [...]az's peculiarly Aggravated Guilt, that, in the Time of his Distress, he Sinned yet m [...]e, II. Chron XXVIII.22. And so was it Iudah's, Isai. XLII. ult. Because they have not walked in my Wa [...]es, (says God) and would not be Obedient unto my Laws, therefo [...]e He hath Poured out upon them the Fury of His Anger, and the Strength of Battle, and it set him on Fire round about, but [...]e knew it not; it burned him, but he laid it not to Heart. It did not reclaim him, but he went on Sinning still: and this Provoked God to bring yet heavier Judg­ments upon them. Jer. XLIV.10, 11. They are not [Page 50] humbled even unto this Day; therefore, (thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel) Behold, I will set my Face against you for Evil, and will cut off all Iudah. He did so, and but a small remnant Escaped, to return from their Babylonish Captivity to Je­rusalem; and yet; After all this! — Should we again break thy Commandments! — What could they expect should be the fruit of such high­handed Provocation, but their total Ruine and De­struction.

(2.) THEIR Sin is peculiarly Aggravated, in that Notwithstanding the great Me [...]cies and wonderful Deliverances they have Experienced, they still Per­sist in their Evil Deeds. Seeing thou, our God, hast Punished us less than our Iniquities do de­serve, and hast given us such Deliverance as this! — Should we again break thy Commandment! — This must needs be a Mighty Aggravation of their Crime and Guilt, and highly provoking to God; that God in the midst of all the Judgments He had brought upon them, had Remembred Mercy for them; He had not poured out upon them all His Indignation, had not so strictly marked all their Wayes, as to Punish them to the height of what their Iniquities Deserved; but had shewed Compassion to them, and endeavoured by lesser Judg­ments to Reform them; and now had wrought such a great and surprising Deliverance for them; had stirred up the Spirit of a Pagan Prince, whose Vassals and Tributaries they were, of his own ac­cord to Propose their Deliverance, and encourage them to return to their own Land, and build the House of their God; and Successively thro' seve­ral Reigns had still preserved the Hearts of the several Princes in their Interest, notwithstanding [Page 51] the many Subtle Contrivances, and Powerful En­deavours of the Politick Courtiers and Great Men of Persia, to frustrate the Good Design; and at last had enlarged the Heart of Artaxerxes (probably Longimanus) to Contribute so largely towards the Defraying the Charge of the Work, and had ena­bled a handful of the Jews to go thro' and finish the Work, Maugre all the Opposition they met with from their Malicious Enemies! — After all these Mercies! — So Great and Signal a Deliverance as this! — Should we again break Thy Commandments! Wouldst not Thou be Angry with us, till Thou hast consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping. Verily such their Persisting in Sin would have been the blackest Ingratitude, and the most Intollerable Abuse of the Divine Goodness, and Extreamly Provoking. And so God resents the vile Ingratitude and Base­ness of those that trample upon His Goodness, and spurn at the Bowels of Mercy, who are so Dis­ingenious as to Conspire against His Crown and Dignity, at the same time that He is loading them with His Benefits, that can rise up in Rebellion against the Breast that gave them Suck. Hear O Heavens, and give Ear O Earth; for the Lord hath Spoken, I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have Rebelled against me; the Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib, but Israel doth not know, my People doth not consider: Ah, Sinful Nation, a People laden with Iniquities, a Seed of Evil Doers, Children that are Corrupters, they have forsaken the Lord, they have Provoked the Holy One of Israel unto Anger, Isai. I.2, 3, 4. And who cannot see, that such Increased Guilt, such Aggravated Impiety, such a Contempt of the Divine Arm, and Abuse of the Goodness of God, which should lead them [Page 52] to Repentance is the most direct and ready Way to Ruine and Destruction.

TO Proceed,

3. BY this Pe [...]sisting in Sin a [...]er Judgments and M [...]r [...]ies, a People Ripen [...] for Utter Ruine: When God Chastens a People [...]y lesser Judgments, His Corrections are designed to Amend them; By this shall the Iniquity o [...] Iacob be Purged, and t [...]s is all the Fruit to take away Sin, Isai. XXVII.9 When He confers Mercies and Deliverances on them, 'tis to draw them by the Cords of a Man, and the Bands of Love, Hos. XI.4.

BUT if they remain Incorrigable; If Judgments will not teach them Righteousness, nor Mercies lead them to Repentance; If the proper Methods to work upon their Hopes and Love, their Fear and Aversion prove Ineffectual, and they can con­temn the Rod, and despise the Riches of His Grace, shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? Saith the Lord. GOD is as it were wearyed with their Iniquities, and with use­ing Means to reclaim them; why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: by this Means they fill up the Measure of their Iniquity; and when their Ephah is full, what can they Expect? but the Tallent of Lead to be let down upon them: since all the Divine Cultiva­tions have been bestowed upon them in vain, and they remain barren and unfruitful under all; the next thing is, Cut them down, why Cumber they the Ground?

THIS was Gods last Resolution concerning Iudah, in the Song of the Vineyard, Isai. V. begin: He had Planted a Vineyard on a fruitful Hill; [Page 53] had Fenced it, and gathered out the Stones there­of, and Planted it with the choicest Vine, &c. And what could have been done more, that I have not done in it (saith God) but since after all this pains, it brought forth only wild Grapes; I will take away the Hedge thereof, and it shall be Eaten up; and break down the Wall thereof, and it shall be troden down; and I will lay it waste, Unpruned, Undigged, and it shall be full of Briers and Thorns. And thus we find it, in that fore-mentioned, Lev. XXVI.14. — If you will not hearken unto me, I will do this unto you, — and if you will not for all this hearken unto me, I will Punish you yet Seven Times. —. Observe the Gradation in the Judgments inflicted, and then as the last result of all, if they would still Persist in their Sins, If ye will walk contrary unto Me, I also will walk contrary unto you in Fury, and I will Obhor you, and make your Cities waste. By this obstinate irreclaima­ble Temper, the Harvast grows Ripe, and it is time for the Sickle to be thrust in; by this great Wickedness, the Press becomes full, the Vats over­flow, and now the Wine-Press of the Wrath of God shall be trodden down▪ till they are bruised to Pieces, and made an utter Desolation.

4. WHEN a People resolvedly Persist in Sin, the Honour of God seems to call for their Utter Ru­ine. The Honour of God is more peculiarly con­cerned in a People that are in Covenant with Him; for the Nations round about them will be apt to Judge of their God▪ according to the Behaviour of such a People, and His dealings with them: and as their Obedient Walk mani­fests their God, to be a God Glorious in Holi­ness; and it gives a forcible Invitation to the [Page 54] Heathen World, to bow down and joyn in His Praise, when they see how peculiarly favoured they are with Prosperity; so their Disobedience reflects most dishonourably upon Him, as tho' He were a God that had Pleasure in Wickedness. If therefore they will not take Care to give Him the Glory due unto His Name, and make His Praise to be known, by their Fidelity to His Co­venant; 'tis time for Him to arise, when Men make void His Law, and vindicate the Glory of His Own Name; by Punishing their Bold Trans­gressions with a Rod, and their Iniquities with Stripes: and if they prove Irreclaimable, and will go on still in their Rebellions against their Lord, the Honour of His Name seems to Demand, that He appear a Righteous Judge in the Earth, that all Nations may fear before Him, and give Praise at the Remembrance of His Holiness.

SO the Honour of the Divine Sovereignty seems to demand, that those Rebels, that will not by any Means be brought over to their Obedience, should no longer be born with, but have the Pe­nalties of the Law Executed upon them.

SO the Glory of the Divine Holiness, which now has the last and highest Abuse and Indignity cast upon it, seems to demand the fullest Evidence of its Unspotted Purity, and that therefore the highest Testimony should [...] against such workers of Iniquity.

SO the Glory of the Divine Faithfulness, which stands bound by the Sanctions of the Divine Law, and the Covenant between God and His People, that if they will not fear the Glorious and Fear­ful Name of the LORD their GOD, that their Plagues shall be Wonderful, calls for the Accom­plishment of it.

[Page 55]THUS the Injured Patience, Long-Suffering, and Mercy of God, which has been abused and trampled on, [...] into Wantonness, and Improved against Him, seems necessarily to withdraw and bear no longer with such hardened Rebels, but leave them to their Deserved Punishment.

INFINITE Wisdom, which Concerts the Best Me [...]thods of Government, for the Attainment of the true Ends thereof, seems to bespeak it, that such a Nation be delivered up, and made an Example▪ that others may hear and fear and do no more so Wickedly.

AND certainly Divine Iustice urges for a speedy Execution of all the Curses written in the Law▪ upon those that are resolved not to do the things contained therein, but will go on in their high-handed Violations of the Divine Commandment.

SO that the Glory of the Divine Name, the Asserting and Vindicating the Honour of His Glo­rious Perfections, all of which have the last Con­tempt and Indignity cast upon them▪ by a Peo­ples irreclaimable Pursuit of Sin, seem to call upon God to Arise and Scatter His Enemies▪ that He no longer keep Silence, least Men should vainly Imagine Him to be, One Ignorant and Weak like themselves, but that He set their Sins in Order before them, and reprove them; that they that Hate Him, and lift up their Heads in Contempt of Him, may be Confounded and Trou­led for ever, that they may be put to Shame and Perish; that Men may know▪ that Thou, whose Name Alone is JEHOVAH, are the Most High over all the Earth. [...] Psalm L.21. And, LXXXIII.1, 2▪ — 17, 18▪

[Page 56]5. LASTLY; Such a resolute Persisting in Sin, notwithstanding Divine Judgments and Mer­cies, has proved the Utter Ruine and Destruction of a Professing People. I will not attempt, under this head, to present you with the Sorrowful History of what has befallen any part of the Christian World; who have felt the weight of the Divine Displeasure for their Stubborn Rebellion: but I [...]hall close this Proposition, with a short view of the Methods of Gods Proceedings with the Jewish Nation; in which we have a plain and full Con­firmation of what is Asserted.

THEY were once a People Peculiarly dear to God, among whom only, of all the Families of the Earth, He had caused His Name to be known, and had Established them for a People to Himself: And if you take a view of them in their Infant State, while as yet the Name of Jews was not known among them, from the Days of their Great Father Abraham, under their Theocratical [...], and under their Judges, You will find, That when they Rebelled against the Lord, and forsook His Com­mandments, God Punished them for their Disobe­dience: they Repented while under His Hand, and Reformed for a Time; but soon forgot their God and Saviour, and returned to their former Courses; and were again Punished therefor. The same you will see, if you consider them under their Kings, after the Distinction of Jews and Israelites had obtained among them; till their Crimes grew so Great, and were so frequently repeated, and they become so hardened in them, that the Lord was Provoked to deliver them into the Hands of the King of Babylon, and laid them waste for Seventy Years together. And after all [Page 57] this, that had come upon them for their Evil Deed▪ and tho' God had granted them a Revival, tha [...] they return'd to their own Land, built their City and Temple, and Planted Vineyards, and [...]at the fruit thereof; yet they soon forgot it all, and returned to their old Idolatry and Prophanity▪ grew incorrigible in their Wickedness; hated and slew the Lords Prophets, and the Son of God Himself; that Warned and Advised them; [...] Judgments, no Mercies would reclaim them: [...] then the Lord was Angry with them, till He [...]ad Consumed them; till by their own Feuds, their dreadful Intestine Broyls, and unheard of Cruelties upon one another, and the Roman Invasion (which brought them into such miserable Distresses, that the very Relation of them by Iosephus is enough to shock the most resolute Mind, and overwhelm the Heart with fainting in the midst of the Bowels) had utterly Consumed them, and destroyed them from being a People: under which fatal Destruction they remain to this very Day.

SO that we see, that such a Professing People as resolve to go on in Sin, notwithstanding former Judgments, and the Merciful Deliverances God has favoured them with, are in the ready way to Utter Destruction; for this their Persisting in their Sin­ful Courses, naturally opens a Door to their Ruine and Confusion, is highly Provoking to God, ripens them a-pace for Desolating Judgments, which the Honour of Gods Name now seems to call for, and which has been the Sad and Lamentable End of such an Incorrigible People.

AND so I have Passed thro' the Doctrinal hand­ling of my Text; I shall proceed.

[Page 58] IV. TO make some IMPROVEMENT of this Discourse.

I must wave many Inferences which this Sub­ject would afford us, and only Select a few that seem proper to the Work and Solemnity of this Day.

I. HENCE then; It concerns us to take a View of the Methods of Gods Dealings w [...]th us.

THAT we are a People in Covenant with God is readily Confessed; we have His Name called upon us, His Statutes and Ordinances, the Laws of the God of Israel among us; we call our selves His Servants, and openly wear His Mark and Livery. Now by a View of Gods Dealings with us, we shall be helped to form some Judg­ment of our true State and Frame. For if this Life and World be the only proper Place for a People as such to be Rewarded or Punished, then by the Tenour of the Divine Dispensations, we may be helped at least to see what Terms we are in with God. With respect to particular Per­sons indeed, there is no Knowing Love or Hatred by all that befalls them: For there is One Event to the Righteous and the Wicked, Eccl. IX.1, 2. But the Reason is otherwise with respect to a People, with whom God always proceeds with a strict Adherance to the Rules of Relative Righteousness; so that they may make some Rational Conjecture, what Interest they have in His Favour, by a view of the Methods of Providences towards them. So Moses urges Obedience upon the Children of Israel, from this Consideration, That their Flou­rishing would be so conspicuous, that the Nations [Page 59] round about them would rightly conclude; What Nation is there so Great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is, in all things that we [...]all upon Him for, Deut. IV.7. And certainly 'tis a M [...]tt [...]r of very Considerable Importance, for a People to be well Acquainted with their State, to know what Interest they have in the Divine Favour; that they may take the Comfort of it, and Worship before the Lord with the Voice of Joy and Praise, or be put upon Searching out and Removing the Accursed thing, which Separate, between them and their God.

NOW I freely confess, I have alwayes thought that if there has been any People in the Wo [...]d▪ whose History has run Parallel with that of the Ancient Israelites, 'tis the People of New-England. GOD delivered our Fathers out of the hands of those who Imposed heavy Yokes and Burdens up­on them, Conducted them thro' the Paths of the Sea, and brought them into a Strange Land; and tho' some Unpromising Accounts and Circumstan­ces, relating to the Land and its Native Inha­bitants brought a Discouragement upon the first Attempts for a Settlement here, yet our God has given them Possession of this Good Land, as Ca­naan, a Land flowing with Milk and Hon [...]y▪ He drove out the Heathen before them also, tho' not all at Once, or in one Year, least the Beasts of the Field should Multiply against them, and the Land become desolate▪ but by little and little did He drive them out from befo [...]e the [...], till they were encreased to Inhe [...]i [...] the Land▪ so did He make room for them [...] up His Ta­bernacle also among [...] them: yet did He [...] [Page 60] to be as Thorns in their Sides, and a Scourge to them and their Children, when they decline from the Path of His Commandments.

AND since the Settlement has been made, how various have been the Judgments of God upon us, as upon Israel of Old. What Desolations has the War with the Salvages, once and again, brought upon several Parts of the Land, tho' God has not suffered them wholly to prevail against us? Has not God often sent Blasting and Mil­dew, the Locust and the Caterpillar, to devour the Fruit of the Ground, and eat up all most every Green Tree? Has He not often reduced us to a great Cry for Bread, that the Poor of the Land especially have sought it, and been ready to part with their Desirable things for it? Has not He sent Pestilential Diseases that have Multiply­ed the Slain among us? So has God been often Punishing of us.

AND yet He has Punished us far less than our Iniquities do deserve, and has granted us great Deliverances out of our Afflictions, and from those Evils that Threatened us; as now at this Day, in Sheathing the Devouring Sword of the Wilderness; in Delivering this Great Town from the distressing Famine, which we had so near a Prospect of, by sending in Sufficient Supplies, in the only Op­portunity and Season, the Roughness of the Wea­ther would have allowed for it; as also in car­rying the Town almost through the Dangers of that Common Distemper which so lately invaded us, and so swiftly and fatally spread among us.

[Page 61]NOW certainly 'tis for our Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, that the Lord our God has been Chastening of us in so many Instances. He would not have blasted our Hopes, frustrated our Un­dertakings, and confounded our Best laid Designs; as when He break to Pieces our Gallant Navy, and Scattered them in His Anger, and so defeated the Attempt of 1711. He would not have De­livered our Substance into the Hands of the Spoilers; that when we went out Full, we returned Empty, and when we looked for much, Lo, He had blown upon it, that it came to little: He would not have reduced our Ordinary Food to so Scanty an Allowance, and Greviously Distressed and Impoverished us with the Scarcity and Dearness of the Necessaries of Life: He would not have sent raging Sickness among us, and given a Commission to the Destroying An­gel to Smite and Cut down so many, as we have seen in the Latest Months: Our God would not have brought all these Evils upon us, if He had not a Controversy with us, because of our Great Trespasses against Him; for He does not willingly Afflict nor Grieve the Children of Men, but thus Punishes His People for their Iniquities.

II. HENCE; It concerns us to Examine what are those Sins amongst us, which Provoke the Lord to Anger. If all this is come upon us for our Evil Deeds, it concerns us to get the Cause Removed, as ever we would have the Effect to cease: And how shall we get rid of those Malignant Influences, if we remain Strangers to What and Where they are? Had Ezra continued Ignorant of the pre­sent Crime of the Jews, to which my Text relates, [Page 62] their taking Strange Wives to themselves, and Joyning in Affinity with an Abominable People, he would never have been able to have taken the proper Methods to Purge away that Iniquity, and so divert the threatened Ruine. It therefore be­comes a People, labouring under the Afflicting hand of God, to say with Iob, Job X.2. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. This is what God calls us to this Day, even to Search and Try our Wayes.

THEN let this whole People Set upon Exami­ning, What are those Evils Prevailing among us, which enkindle the Divine Displeasure, and pull down His Judgments upon us. Alas! Alas! Are there not many and great Impieties to be found in our Land? Is not God Himself too much neglected, our Loyalty to Him forgotten, and a bare Forma­lity, without the Power of Religion, the Guise of many High Professors? Is not His most Dread­ful and Sacred Name greatly Dishonoured and Blasphemed, by the most Hideous and Execrable Oaths and Cursing? Is not His Holy Day Pro­phaned? And does not His House too much lye waste, by Multitudes forgetting the Assembling of themselves together; by a Contempt cast upon the plain Ordinances and Institution of Christ, to Remember Him in a Serious and Worthy Ap­proach to His Holy Table? Is not Love and Charity, the Christians peculiar Badge, grown Cold? Is there no Oppression and Injustice, no Levelling and Seditious Spirit, crept into the several Orders, wherein we [...] [...]elated to one another? Are there no raging Boisterous and Contentious Passions flaming among us, and Con­suming the Peace and Good Order, even of the Churches themselves? Are there no Rampant Lust [Page 63] Tyranizing over none of us, and Intemperately hurrying the Possessed thro' the Dark and Miry Places that Pollute and Defile them? Are there no such things as Fraud, Couzen and Deceit, as Falshood and Evil Speaking, to be seen or heard of in our Land? Has not the Spirit of this World gain'd the Ascendant over the Thoughts and Actions of the Generality of Men? And, to have done, Is there not an Impious Spirit of Murmuring and Complaining of Divine Provi­dence, and instead of Thankfully receiving the many Blessings the Divine Bounty Yearly con­fers upon us, a Piteous Lament of the Thinness of them, Murmured out by many, that under the Covert thereof they may make their Advantage to Oppress their Neighbours? It were most heartily to be wished, that none of these things were to be found in the midst of us.

BLESSED be GOD; We have as yet Pious Rulers, and many wholsome Laws; Faithful Watch-men, and bright Examples too of Vertue and Religion: Yet if such things as these should grow Common among us, and pass freely without proper Endea­vours to Suppress them, they will certainly be Im­puted as the Sins of the People, and accordingly expose us to the Righteous Judgments of God.

III. HENCE: We may Learn, What we have to Fear, if we will still go on in our Evil Deeds and Trespasses. GOD has been dealing with us in much Tenderness and Compassion. We have Sinned, and He has been Angry with us, and Punished us▪ but far less than our Iniquities do deserve. He has been Shaking His Rod over us, to Warn us of our Sin and Danger, has been giving us more [Page 64] Easy and Gentle Stripes, mixing many Mercies with His Judgments, and trying by the Mildest Exercise of His Sovereign Authority to Reclaim us, and bring us to a Steady Obedience. His Patience has been Lengthened out to Long-Suffe­ring, and the Tenour of His Dispensations has Spoke the Tender and Gracious Language, that was uttered to Israel and Ephraim: Hos. XI.8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I de­liver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine Heart is turned within me, my Repentings are kindled together.

BUT if we should be a People bent to back-slinding; If we harden our Hearts, and go on in our Evil Wayes; If we are not afraid of His Tokens, nor tremble for fear of His Judgments; if we refuse to be drawn by the Cords of Love, and the Bands of a Man; What can we Expect, but that more Severe and Heavy Judgments than ever yet we have felt shall over-take us! For thus we are assured; Isai. IX.13, 14, & 17. The People turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, nei­ther do they Seek the Lord of Host; therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel, Head and Tayl, Branch and Rush, in one Day; — for His Anger is not turned away, but His Hand is stretched out still. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds, and for our Great Trespass, seeing that Thou, our God, hast Punished us less than our Iniquities Deserve, and hast given us such Deliverance as this; should we again break Thy Commandment — Wouldst thou not be Angry with us, till Thou hast consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping.

[Page 65] IV. LASTLY; Hence then, We see the Way to Prevent our Ruine, and Obtain the Divine Blessing: viz. By a Sincere and Hearty Acknowledgment of our Sins, and turning there-from; by a Steady, Constant and Universal Obedience to the Com­mandments of our GOD, and the Institutions of JESUS CHRIST; and our Fervent and Incessant Prayers to Heaven thro' our Glorious Mediator.

THUS then, Let us Sincerely Confess and Bewayl, and Turn from all our Transgressions, where-with we have been Transgressing the Law of our GOD. For this we are called together this Day, ‘TO MAKE AN HUMBLE PENITENTIAL AC­KNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR SINS.’ Let this then be heartily attended by us, not only in the Publick Services, but in our Private Retirements, Mourning before the Lord, that we have been a People so void of Understanding, as to Sin against our GOD, and Provoke His Holy Displeasure; ‘And, ACKNOWLEDGING THE HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD ’in Chastening of us for our Sins, Saying before Him, Righteous art Thou, O Lord, in all Thy Wayes, and Holy in all thy Works. And then take care to break off from our Sins by Righteousness, and from our Iniquities by shewing Mercy to the Poor. Thus does Pious Ezra. For our Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, all this is come upon us; And, v. 15. Behold we are before thee, in our Trespasses: And, with what Humiliation and Abasement of Soul, — O my God, I am Ashamed, and Blush to Lift up my Face to Thee, my God; v. 6. And then we find him (as in the Tenth Chapter) Putting away the Provoking Evil, and Separating themselves from [Page 66] their Strange Wives. And if we thus turn from our Evil Wayes, the Lord will Repent of the Evil that He thought to do unto us. Vid. Jer. XVIII.8.

AGAIN; Let us Evidence the Sincerity of our Repentance by a Steady and Universal Obedience to all t [...]e Divine Commandments. Turn ye unto Me, even unto Me, saith the Lord; If ye be Willing and Obedient ye shall Eat the Good of the Land, Isai. I.19. Let us then Search and See what is a­miss, that we may cease to do Evil, and learn to do Well. And let every One begin this Work with himself; for there never will be a General Reformation, but what is founded in Individuals. Let it not be said of us, No Man Repented, Say­ing, What have I done? But let every One con­sider what are the Personal Evils I have been Guilty of, that have helped to pull down the Divine Judgments upon the Land. And now Im­mediately, Set upon the Practice of all known Duties; Faithfully Performing all that we stand engaged to in the Covenant of our God; Ex­pressing our Unfeigned Love to God; and our Neighbour, by an Universal Conformity to all the Particular Instances of our Duty, to our Creator, and our Fellow Creatures; which are but so many branches of that Royal Law of Love. Let every One, in his Station and Capacity, do what he can, for the Suppressing of Vice, and the Encourage­ment of Vertue: And at least, by the Powerful Influence of a Good Example, dash Prophaneness and Immorality out of Countenance, and Revive and Support declining Vertue and Religion; that Pure Religion and Undefiled may yet appear Shining in its Native Lustre among us. O that my People [Page 67] had hearkened unto Me! (sayes God, Psalm LXXXI.13, 14, & 16.) and Israel had walked in My Wayes! I should soon have subdued their Enemies; — He would have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat; and with Honey out of the Rock should I have Satis­f [...]ed thee. And, If thou wilt diligently hearken unto the Voice of thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His Sight, and will give Ear to His Commandments, and Keep His Statutes, I will put none of these Diseases upon thee, — for I am the Lord that healeth thee, Exod. XV.26.

TO draw to a Close; To these let us Ioyn our Earnest Prayers in the Name of our Blessed Mediator, for the Removal of Divine Judgments, and the Ob­taining a Blessing. This is a Day for us to bow down before the Lord our God, and Implore His Pardoning Mercy, and to Seek His Favour and Blessing.

MY Text is found in the Prayer of Ezra, un­der the Apprehension of what God might inflict upon them for their Sin▪ And this is the Way God Himself has been graciously Pleased to direct us; For this, I will be Enq [...]ired of to do it for them, Ezek. XXXVI.37. And for our Encouragement He has Mercifully assured us, That He has not said to the Seed of Iacob, Seek ye Me in Vain. Let us then be found Faithful and Hearty in this Duty this Day, with the greatest Earnestness and Importunity Pouring out our Supplications before the Lord, both in Publick and Private. And let all our Prayers As [...]end in the Name [...] CHRIST JESUS, our Blessed Advocate with the Father, who ever Lives to make Intercession for us▪ That Perfumed with His Sweet Incense, they may go up with a Pleasant Savour into the No [...]rils of our God, and find Acceptance [...]ith Him▪

[Page 68]SO let us Earnestly Supplicate at the Throne of Grace, for the Pardon of all our Many and Great Sins; for the Removal of those Judgments which we feel, and for the diverting those which we fear; for Suitable and Seasonable Supplies to the Wants of the Poor and Needy, as well as our Own; that the Angel of DEATH may not pass in Triumph thro' our Land; that GOD would be Attoned for our Land, and Vouchsafe His Mer­ciful Regards to us, for the Sake of His Dear SON, our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST.

AND let us Remember in this our Day of Sup­plication, Humbly to ask for the Guidance and Di­rection of Infinite Wisdom to our Royal Sovereign, that Her Majesties Councils may be as tho' we had Enquired of the Oracles of our God; for the Flourishing and Peace of Her Dominions; and for the Prosperity and Deliverance of the Church of God in the World.

THUS let us Attend the Work of this Day, with all Possible Sincerity, and with true Devotion of Soul; and who knows but the Lord will Return to us in Mercy, and not only grant us a little Reviving, but Establish us a Quiet Habitation, and make us a Praise, and a Joy in the Earth. I will Conclude all with, Jer. VI.8. Be thou Instructed, O Ierusalem, lest my Soul depart from thee, lest I make thee Desolate, a Land not Inhabited.