Israels Prayer in Time of Trouble, Table of contents
The Contents.
Sermon I.
Sect. 1. EPhraims blessings and judgments answerable to his name. 2. When judgment purposed against obstinate sinners, mercy proclaimed to penitent. 3. How good and bad are alike involved in outward judgments. Iudgments make no difference but of penitent and impenitent. Penitent sinners, in all kinds of trouble, have a refuge to some promise or other. 4. Conversion must be not meerly Philosophical, or Political, but Spiritual, and that full and constant. 5. Motives unto conversion, mercy and judgment, especially interwoven. 6. Great preparation due in our addresses unto God. The rule, matter, principle, and power of Prayer. How sin is taken away. 7. When God threatneth judgments, we must pray against sins. 8. Iudgments may be removed in anger. Repentance makes afflictions precious, as sin doth corrupt blessings. 9. No affliction comes in anger, but with respect to sin. 10. One sin generally unrepented of, may undo a Kingdom; we must pray against all, and dye unto all. 11. Sense of sin. The wrath of God beyond the fears of man. 12. Confession of sin full and free. Our weakness can commit sin, none but Gods power can remove it. 13. What God worketh in us, he also requireth of us. Sin most dangerous in great men, to themselves and the publick. 14. How iniquity is to be taken out of the Land. 15. God the author of good, the orderer of evil. 16. From conversion to salvation free-grace worketh. 17. No work truly good, but as derived from God. 18. Patience in suffering evil, in doing duty. Humility the companion of Grace, pride of emptiness. Continual dependance on God. Fidelity in services. The misery of divisions. 19. In temporal judgments pray for spiritual mercies. No helps can avail us against Gods anger, but his grace. 20. Carnal prayers provoke God, when men make Religion serve turns. Piety the foundation of Prosperity. 21. Iudgments are then truly sanctified, when they make us more in love with grace. Prayer the more heavenly, the more prevalent.
Sermon II.
Sect. 1. SPiritual ends of Legal Ceremonies and Sacrifices. We return nothing to God but words for mercies. 2. A renouncing carnal confidence in the Assyrian, Horses, Idols. How the Church an Orphan. 3. Penitents not only pray, but covenant. Circumcision a Covenant Circumcised in uncircumcision. Gentiles converted are called Iews: Iews unconverted, Gentiles. Baptism how the answer of a good conscience. The Covenant perpetual. 4. God bindeth himself to us by promise, by oath: We are his by his Soveraign Interest, and our own voluntary consent. 5. Fickleness of the heart in duty, and sluggishness to it. 6. Duties in combination strongest. 7. Enemies combine. Military oaths. How Truth a Girdle, doctrinally, morally. 8. Wicked men, like Witches, in covenant with the Devil, doing service for wages. 9. Prayer vain without obedience. Gods Covenant to us, ours to him. 10. The material cause of a Covenant, our persons, our services, in matters of necessity. Expediency praise. 11. The formal and efficient cause. Knowledg, willingness, power of promise and performance. 12. Danger of covenanting in the dark only, and 13. On the Rack. 14. When we promise duty, we must pray for grace. The final cause. 15. The falseness and perfidiousness of the heart…; how it is unstable as waters. 16. Gods faithfulness and mercies: Our Baptism, Faith, Spirits, Hopes, are all obligations to Fidelity.
Sermon III.
Sect. 1. SAcrifices Propitiatory and Eucharistical. 2. Praises the matter of a Covenant, a Staple commodity for commerce with Heaven. 3. Praises the fruits of Repentance. 4. An Argument in prayer. God forceth his glory out of wicked men, but is glorified actively by the godly. 5. A principle of obedience: difference between the obedience of fear and of love. 6. An Instrument of glory to God. Praises of the heart and of the lips. Communion of Sinners, Communion of Saints. 7. Converts report Gods mercies to others. No true praises without Piety. Sins against mercy soonest ripe. 8. The more greedy, the less thankeful. Gods greatness matter of praise. Things strongest, when neerest their original. Other creatures guided by an external, Reasonable by an internal knowledg. 9. Gods goodness matter of praise. Knowledg of God notional and experimental. Praise the language of Heaven. Sacrifices were Gods own. Love of Communion above self-love. 10. We are wide to receive, narrow to acknowledg. The benefit of praises is our own. 11. Wherein the duties of praising God stand. 12. Repentance careful of obedience. 13. This care wrought by godly sorrow. Present sense. Holy jealousie. Love to Christ. Sons by adoption and regeneration. 14. Repentance sets it self most against a mans special sin. 15. By this sin God most dishonored. By this repentance sincerity most evidenced.
Sermon IV.
Sect. 1. REpentance removes carnal confidence. Naturally we affect an absoluteness within our selves. 2. This failing, we trust in other creatures. 3. When all fail, we go to God in ways of our own inventing. Repentance the cure of all this. 4. Confederacies with Gods enemies dangerous. Take heed of competition between our own interest and Gods. 5. The creature not to be trusted in, it wants strength and wisdom. 6. Idols not to be trusted in, they are lyes. Grounds of confidence, all wanting in Idols. 7. God onelyonly to be trusted absolutely in the way of his commands and providence. 8. The way to mercy is to be fatherless: weakness in our selves makes us seek help above our selves. 9. Sin healed by pardon, purging, deliverance, comfort. Why back-sliding pardoned by name. 10. Our conversion grounded on free-grace. No guilt too great for love to pardon. Gods anger will consist with his love. 11. Conversion and healing go together. Sin a sickness and a wound. 12. The proper passions of sickness agree to sin, viz. pain, weakness, consumption, deformity. 13. Sin a wound: the impotent, wilful, and desperate case of this patient. 14. The mercy of the Physitian. 15. Guilt cannot look on Majesty. Apprehensions of mercy the grounds of prayer. 16. Sense of misery works estimation of mercy. 17. Back-sliding formally opposite to faith and repentance. Apostacy two-fold. What it is to speak against the Son of man, and against the Spirit. How a sin is said not to be forgiven in this world, nor in the world to come. Free love respects not persons, nor free pardon, sins. 18. From beginning to end of salvation, all is free grace. 19. In judgments Gods anger more to be noted then our sufferings.
Sermon V.
Sect. 1. BLessings as large to the penitent, as curses to the impenitent, and answer all our wants. 2. God answereth prayers, beyond the petitions of the people. 3. We pray according to the knowledg and love we have of our selves. God answers according to his knowledg and love. 4. God answers prayer not only with respect to our wants, but his own honor. Gods ultimate end in working our strongest argument in praying 5. Encouragement to prayer. Gods shekel double to ours. 6. Prayer may be ambitious, and beg great things. 7. Free love puts forth it self in various blessings. 8. Gr…ce as dew of a celestial original, fruit of a serene heaven. 9. Abundant, insensible, insinuating, and searching, vegetating and quickning. Refreshing and comforting. 10. Peace no blessing, except it come as dew from Heaven. 11. All wants must be supplied from Heaven. Christ all beauties to his Church. The root and stability of the Church, foundation doctrinall, personall. Righteousnesse of Redemption stronger then of Creation. 12. Growth of the Church under the Law, Nationall; under the Gospell, Universall. Christ the Olive-tree, originall of grace to his Church. 13. Our refuge and shelter. Our power above afflictions. 14. All Christs graces fruits of Lebanon, the best of all others. Creature-helps liers either by falsenesse or impotency. 15. Promises should beget duties. God promiseth Beauty to his Church; wee should labour to adorn it. 16. He promiseth stability; we should be rooted in truth and grace: all our gifts should serve the Temple. 17. He promiseth growth; we should grow our selves, and endeavour the growth of others. Christ both the end and the beinging of the Churches growth. 18. Compacture and unity in the Church, necessary to the growth of it. Divisions hinder it. 19. In the body compacted, there are severall distinct members each to act in his owne place, and joynts fastning members to the head, and to one another. A different measure of vertue for severall offices. A mutuall supply and helpfulnesse on unto another. An eternall faculty in each part to form and concoct the matter subministred unto it. 20. He promiseth the fruitfulnesse of the Olive, which wee should shew forth in workes of grace and peace. 21. He promiseth the smell of Lebanon, the oyntment of the Gospell, the graces of which we should expresse. 22. He promiseth protection and conversion; we should make him our shel…er, and from his protection learn our duty of conversion. 23. He promiseth reviving out of afflictions, profiting by them. We should not be discouraged by temptations, but amended; they have many times mercy in them. 24. The vertues of Heathen, grapes of Sodom; the graces of Christ …rapes of Lebanon. What ever we present unto God, must grow in Immanuels land.
Sermon VI
Sect. 1. GOds promise enabling, is our confidence to engage. Idols sorrows. Gods observing us, a note of care, counsell, honour, hearing prayers. 2. Summe, division. 3. Mans seal to Gods promise, only a confession; Gods seal to mans covenant, a confirmation. 4. Mans covenant of obedience, hath its firmnesse in Gods promise of grace. Indissolvable dependance of all second causes on the first. 5. In sins of men, God hath an influence into them as actions, a providence over them as sinnes. In gracious actions Gods influence necessary both to the substance and goodnesse of them. 6. Of the concord between Gods grace and mans will▪ Freewill naturall, theologicall. Innate pravi…y and corrupt force, which resisteth grace, the remainders whereof in the regenerate. 7. The will of Gods precept, and of his purpose. 8. They who are called externally only, resist and perish: they who eternally, are made willing and obedient. 9. By an act of spirituall teaching. 10. By an act of effectuall enclining and determining the will, preventing, assisting subsequent grace. 11. We may not trust in our owne strength, but be ever jealous of our originall impotency unto good, our naturall antipathy against it; and of the frequent decayes and abatements of the grace of God in us. 12. By prayer and faith get a heart fixed upon God. 13. Great comfort that our conversion and obedience dependeth on the power of God. This no ground of supine neglect of duties, for grace so worketh in us, as that it disposeth us unto working, the means being decreed as well as the end. 14. Other mens wills are in Gods keeping. He the author and orderer of our troubles. 15. Repentance breaks off sin, and makes haste out of it. 16. God heareth onelyonly penitents. Our persons accepted before our prayers. A wicked man may pray a prayer of nature, not of faith. Two wills in prayer, Ours, and Gods: when a wicked man prayes for mercy, he prayes against Gods will: when for grace, against his own. 17. When we pray for outward things, our aimes must be spirituall. The way to have all our other ends, is to make God our chiefe end. 18. Prayer the Key of obedience. The principles of service, are the fruits of prayer. 19. Words Ammunition against Armes; that way as prayer goes, God goes. 20. Sound conversion engageth Gods protection, and yeeldeth comfort in all conditions of life.
Sermon VII
Sect. 1. THe seal of the Prophets Doctrine. Interrogation, denying, wishing, demonstrating, awakening. 2. In spirituall things mentall knowledge seconded with practicall wisdome. 3. The wayes of the Lord, his providence, his precepts. 4. Few men wise to salvation. 5. The weaker part more then the wiser. The word a sweet savour to … singularity sinfull; pious singularity necessary. 6. … pondreth all Gods wayes. Wisdome particular, gene…all. 7. Wicked m…n shape their own end, and apply sinfull means by a sinfull wisdome unto it. God only the last end of righteous men. 8. All wisdome is for obtaining of good, avoiding of evill. The excellency of every thing in Beauty, Vse. 9. Wisdome of Angels conversant about the Word. Scripture the best Counsellor. The plenitude thereof. The pernicious influence of corrupt doctrines upon the present state of the Church. 10. Twofold knowledge of judgements and blessings. 11. The rectitude of Gods wayes in their equity and reason, ablenesse, their perfect harmony, their directnesse to their end, their conformity to the will of God, their plainnesse and perspicuity. 12. We are apt to pick quarrels at the Word. 13. Wicked men set up their wills against Gods, and invent distinctions to reconcile Gods will to theirs. 14. Ministers may not stamp Gods mark on doctrines of humane invention, nor superinduce any thing upon the Scripture. People have a judgement of discretion to try the spirit. 15. Obedience the end of the Ministry. Ordinances not obeyed, ripen and increase sin, and hasten judgements. 16. None but righteous men will obey the Word. Every wicked man doth in some thing or other gainsay the truth. 17. The right wayes of the Lord are unto wicked men matter of scandall, 18. They stumble at the profoundnesse of the Word, as being above reason. 19. At the the strictnesse of it, as being against their peruliar lust. 20. At To the seraching power and simplicity of the Gospell. 21. At impossibility of fulfilling the law, which is but accidentall. To ergenerate men the Law is Evangelically possible. Wicked men hardened willingly as well as judicially. 22. At the grace of the word by presumption, at the threatnings and judgements of it by stubbornnesse. 23. Wicked men stumble at the word not only unto scandall, but unto ruine.