Sermons and Discourses Volume 4, Sermon 7 – Title page 9
The way to prevent the Ruin of a Sinful People.
Jeremiah VI.8.
Be thou inſtructed O Jeruſalem, leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a land not inhabited.
THeſe Words are a merciful warning from God to the People of Iſrael by the Prophet Jeremiah, the laſt Prophet that God ſent to them before their Captivity in Babylon.
The time of his Prophecy was of a long continuance, above the ſpace of forty years, viz. from the thirteenth year of King Joſiah, to the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, the year in which Jeruſalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon.
This I obſerve, to ſhew the great patience of God to a ſinful Nation. And this is much the ſame ſpace of time that God gave warning by our Bleſſed Saviour and his Apoſtles to the ſame People of the Jews concerning their final Deſtruction. For it was about forty years after the Prediction of our Saviour concerning it, juſt before his Death, that the terrible Deſtruction of Jeruſalem and the Jewiſh Nation was executed upon them by the Romans, or rather chiefly by themſelves; as I ſhall preſently ſhew. Of which dreadful Deſolation, the firſt taking of Jeruſalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and their Captivity into Babylon was a kind of Type and Forerunner. For, as Joſephus obſerves, the taking of Jeruſalem by Titus Veſpaſian did happen in the very ſame Month, and on the very ſame Day of the Month in which Jeruſalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, viz. upon our tenth of Auguſt.
And it is not unworthy of our obſervation, that the time of God's warning is wont to hold ſome ſort of proportion with the extent of his Judgments. Before the univerſal Deluge which deſtroyed the whole World▪ Noah and his Family only excepted, God gave a much longer warning by the preaching of Noah, for the ſpace of an hundred and twenty years. Before the deſtruction of a particular Nation, if we may judge by God's dealing with the Jews, his time of warning is forty years. And before the deſtruction of a particular City, if we may conclude any thing from the ſingle example of Niniveh, the time of God's warning is yet much ſhorter, the ſpace of forty days.
And now to what end doth God exerciſe ſo much patience and threaten ſo long beforehand, but that by the terror of his threatnings men may be brought to repentance, and by repentance may prevent the execution of them? For all the while that God by his Prophet threatens ruin and deſtruction to the People of Iſrael, he earneſtly invites and urges them to repentance, that by this means they might eſcape the ruin that was denounced againſt them: This being a condition perpetually implyed in the denunciation of publick judgments, that if a People repent of the evil of their doings God alſo will repent of the evil which he ſaid he would do unto them, as he expreſly declares chap. 18. verſ. 7, 8. At what inſtant I ſpeak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down and to deſtroy it, if that Nation againſt whom I have pronounc'd turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them. And here in the Text, after God had threaten'd deſtruction to Jeruſalem, becauſe of the overflowing of all manner of wickedneſs and oppreſſion in the midſt of her, he gives her a merciful warning to prevent this ruin and deſolation by repentance, verſ. 6, 7. Thus hath the Lord of Hoſts ſaid, Hew ye down trees, and caſt a mount againſt Jeruſalem; this is a City to be viſited, ſhe is wholly oppreſſion in the midſt of her. As a fountain caſteth out waters, ſo ſhe caſteth out her wickedneſs. Before me continually is grief and wounds. And yet when he had pronounced this fearful Sentence upon her, he tells her that all this miſery and deſolation might yet be prevented, if they would but hearken to the counſel of God, and be inſtructed by him concerning the things of their peace: For ſo it follows in the next words, Be thou inſtructed O Jeruſalem, leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a land not inhabited. Be thou inſtructed O Jeruſalem, that is, do but now at laſt take that counſel and warning which hath ſo often, and ſo long, been tender'd to thee by my ſervant the Prophet, who hath now for the ſpace of forty years continually, and that with great earneſtneſs and importunity, been warning thee of this danger and calling thee to repentance and a better mind.
Leſt my ſoul depart from thee. In the Hebrew it is, Leſt my ſoul be looſened and disjointed from thee, as it is in the margin of your Bibles; hereby ſignifying, in the moſt emphatical manner, the wonderful affection and kindneſs which God had for his People, and how ſtrongly his ſoul was link'd to them, and how loth he was to withdraw his love from them; it was like the tearing off of a limb, or the plucking of a joint in ſunder; ſo unwilling is God to come to extremity; ſo hardly is he brought to reſolve upon the ruin even of a ſinful Nation: How much rather would he, that they would be inſtructed and receive correction, and hearken to the things of their peace? But if they will not be perſuaded, if no warning will work upon them, his ſpirit will not always ſtrive with them; but his ſoul will at laſt, though with great unwillingneſs and reluctancy, depart from them.
And then, no interceſſion will prevail for them; as he threatens by the ſame Prophet, chap. 15. verſe 1. Then ſaid the Lord unto me, though Moſes and Samuel ſtood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this People; caſt them out of my ſight and let them go forth; away with them into Captivity, for they have loſt my heart, and no interceſſion of others for them, nothing but their own repentance can recover it.
And when his Soul is once departed from a People, and his heart turn'd againſt them, then all ſorts of evils and calamities will be let looſe upon them; as we may read in the next verſe of that Chapter: Jer. 15.2.And it ſhall come to paſs if they ſay unto thee, whither ſhall we go forth? Then ſhalt thou tell them, Thus ſaith the Lord, ſuch as are for death to death, and ſuch as are for the ſword to the ſword, and ſuch as are for the famine to the famine, and ſuch as are for the captivity to the captivity. For then God will be weary of repenting, as he tells them verſe 6. Thou haſt forſaken me, ſaith the Lord, thou art gone backward; therefore will I ſtretch out my hand againſt thee and deliver thee, I am weary of repenting. By our obſtinate impenitency we harden the heart of God againſt us, and make him weary of repenting. Hoſ. 9.12.And when his ſoul is thus departed from a People, nothing remains but a fearful expectation of ruin. Wo unto them, ſaith God by the Prophet, when I depart from them. Therefore be thou inſtructed O Jeruſalem, leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a Land not inhabited.
Having given this account of the Words, I ſhall obſerve from them three things well worth our conſideration.
Firſt, The infinite goodneſs and patience of God towards a ſinful People, and his great unwillingneſs to bring ruin and deſtruction upon them leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a Land not inhabited. How loth is He that things ſhould come to this extremity? He is not without great difficulty, and ſome kind of violence, as it were, offered to himſelf, brought to this ſevere reſolution; his ſoul is, as it were, rent and disjointed from them.
Secondly, You ſee here what is the only proper and effectual means to prevent the miſery and ruin of a ſinful People. If they will be inſtructed and take warning by the threatnings of God, and will become wiſer and better, then his ſoul will not depart from them, he will not bring upon them the deſolation which he hath threatned.
Thirdly, You have here intimated the miſerable caſe and condition of a People, when God takes off his affection from them, and gives over all further care and concernment for them. Wo unto them, when his ſoul departs from them. For when God once leaves them, then all ſorts of evils and calamities will break in upon them.
I ſhall ſpeak as briefly as I can to theſe three Obſervations from the Text.
Firſt, I obſerve the infinite patience and goodneſs of God towards a ſinful People, and his great unwillingneſs to bring ruin and deſtruction upon them; leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a Land not inhabited. How loth is God that things ſhould come to this? He is very patient to particular perſons, notwithſtanding their great and innumerable provocations. God is ſtrong and patient, though men provoke him every day. And much greater is his patience to whole Nations and great Communities of men.
How great was it to the old World, when the long ſuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, for the ſpace of an hundred and twenty years? And did not expire, till he ſaw that the wickedneſs of man was grown great upon the earth, and that all fleſh had corrupted its way; not till it was neceſſary to drown the World to cleanſe it, and to deſtroy Mankind to reform it, by beginning a new World upon the only righteous Family that was left of all the laſt generation of the Old. For ſo God teſtifies concerning Noah, when he commanded him to enter into the Ark, ſaying,Gen. 7.1. Come thou and all thy houſe into the Ark; for thee, that is, thee only, have I ſeen righteous before me in this Generation.
The patience of God was great likewiſe to Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them. For when the cry of their ſins had reached heaven, and called loud for vengeance to be poured down upon them, to expreſs the wonderful patience of God towards ſuch grievous Sinners, though nothing is hid from his ſight and knowledge, yet he is repreſented as coming down from Heaven to Earth on purpoſe to enquire into the truth of things, and whether they were altogether according to the cry that was come up to him. And when he found things as bad as was poſſible, yet then was he willing to have come almoſt to the loweſt terms imaginable, that if there had been but ten righteous perſons in thoſe wicked Cities, he would not have deſtroy'd them for the ten's ſake.
Nay he ſeems to come to lower terms yet, with the City of Jeruſalem, Jer. 5.1. Run ye to and fro through the ſtreets of Jeruſalem, and ſee now and know, and ſeek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment and ſeeketh the truth, and I will pardon it.
What can be imagin'd more ſlow, and mild, and merciful, than the proceedings of the Divine juſtice againſt a ſinful People? God is repreſented in Scripture as taking a long time to make ready his bow, and to whet his glittering ſword, before his hand takes hold of vengeance; as if the inſtruments of his wrath lay by him blunt and ruſty and unready for uſe. Many a time he threatens, and many a time lifts up his hand, before he gives the fatal blow. And how glad is he when any good man will ſtep in and interpoſe to ſtay his hand? As we read Pſal. 106.23. Therefore he ſaid, ſpeaking of the People of Iſrael, that he would deſtroy them, had not Moſes his ſervant stood in the breach to turn away his wrath, leſt he ſhould deſtroy them. And how kindly doth God take it of Phinehas, as a moſt acceptable piece of ſervice done to him, and which he hardly knew how ſufficiently to reward, that he was a means of putting a ſtop to his anger againſt the People of Iſrael: Inſomuch that the Pſalmiſt tells us that it was accounted to him for righteouſneſs to all generations for evermore. I will recite the whole paſſage at large, becauſe it is remarkable. When the People of Iſrael were ſeduced into Idolatry and Whoredom by the Daughters of Moab, Phinehas in great zeal ſtood up and executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi in the very act: By which means the Plague which was broken out upon the Congregation of Iſrael was preſently ſtayed. Hear what God ſays to Moſes concerning this act of Phinehas. The Lord ſpake unto Moſes ſaying, Phinehas the ſon of Eleazer, the ſon of Aaron the Priest, hath turned away my wrath from the Children of Iſrael, whilſt he was zealous for my ſake that I conſumed them not. Wherefore ſay, Behold I give unto him my Covenant of peace, and he ſhall have it, and his ſeed after him, even the Covenant of an everlaſting Prieſthood, becauſe he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the Children of Iſrael: That which God takes ſo kindly at his hands, next to his zeal for Him, is, that he pacified God's wrath towards the Children of Iſrael.
And thus did God from time to time deal with the People of Iſrael, that great Example of the Old Teſtament of the merciful methods of the Divine Providence towards a ſinful Nation. And an Example, as St. Paul tells us, purpoſely recorded for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come.1 Cor. 10.11.
Let us therefore conſider a little the aſtoniſhing patience of God towards that perverſe People. After all the ſigns and wonders which he had wrought in their deliverance out of Egypt, and for their ſupport in the Wilderneſs; and notwithſtanding their groſs and ſtupid infidelity and horrible ingratitude to God their Saviour, and all their rebellious murmurings and diſcontents, yet he ſuffer'd their manners for the ſpace of forty years.
And when they were at laſt peaceably ſettled in the promiſed Land; notwithſtanding their frequent relapſes into Idolatry, with what patience did God expect their repentance, and the reſult of all the merciful meſſages and warnings given them from time to time by his Prophets, as one that earneſtly deſir'd it and even long'd for it?Jer. 4.14. O Jeruſalem, waſh thine heart from wickedneſs, that thou mayeſt be ſaved; how long ſhall vain thoughts lodge within thee? that is, how long wilt thou delude thy ſelf with vain hopes of eſcaping the judgments of God by any other way than by repentance? And again, O Jeruſalem,Jer. 13.27. wilt thou not be made clean? when ſhall it once be? And chap. 8. ver. 6. ſays God there, I hearkened and I heard, but they ſpake not aright; no man repented him of his wickedneſs, ſaying, What have I done? Where God is repreſented, after the manner of men, waiting with great patience, as one that would have been glad to have heard any penitent word drop from them, to have ſeen any ſign of their repentance and return to a better mind.
And when they made ſome ſhews of repentance, and had ſome fits of good reſolution that did preſently vaniſh and come to nothing, how paſſionately does God complain of their fickleneſs and inconſtancy? O Ephraim, what ſhall I do unto thee? O Judah, what ſhall I do unto thee? for your goodneſs is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
And at laſt, when nothing would do, with what difficulty and reluctancy does God deliver them up into the hands of their Enemies? How ſhall I give thee up Ephraim? How ſhall I deliver thee Judah?Hoſ. 11.8, 9. How ſhall I make thee as Admah? how ſhall I ſet thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, and my repentings are kindled together; I will not execute the fierceneſs of mine anger, I will not deſtroy Ephraim. What a conflict is here? what tenderneſs and yerning of his bowels towards them? He cannot find in his heart to give them up, till he is forced to it by the laſt neceſſity.
And when the Nation of the Jews, after their return from the Captivity of Babylon, had in the courſe of ſeveral Ages greatly corrupted themſelves, and fill'd up the meaſure of their ſins by crucifying the Lord of Life and Glory, yet how ſlow was the patience of God in bringing that fatal and final Deſtruction upon them? Not till after the moſt merciful warnings given to them, by the Apoſtles of our Lord and Saviour; not till after the moſt obſtinate impenitency of forty years, under the moſt powerful means of repentance that any People in the World ever enjoyed. I proceed to the
Second Obſervation from the Text, namely, What is the only proper and effectual means to prevent the ruin of a ſinful People? And that is, if they will be inſtructed and take warning by the threatnings of God to become wiſer and better, then his ſoul will not depart from them, and he will not bring upon them the deſolation threatned. Be thou inſtructed, O Jeruſalem, leſt my ſoul depart from thee, and I make thee deſolate, a Land not inhabited; intimating, or rather plainly declaring to us, that if we will receive inſtruction and take warning the evil threaten'd ſhall not come. For what other reaſon can there be, why God ſhould threaten ſo long before he ſtrikes, and ſo earneſtly preſs men to repentance, but that he might have the opportunity to ſpare them and to ſhew mercy to them?
And indeed, as I obſerv'd before, all the denunciations and threatnings of God to a ſinful Nation do carry this tacit condition in them, that if that Nation turn from their evil ways, God will repent of the evil which he thought to do unto them. For God never paſſeth ſo irrevocable a Sentence upon a Nation, as to exclude the caſe of repentance: Nay on the contrary He gives all imaginable encouragement to it, and is always ready to meet it, with a pardon in his hand. How often would I have gathered thee, ſays our merciful Lord when he wept over Jeruſalem, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not; therefore your Houſe is left unto you deſolate.
God is very merciful to particular perſons upon their repentance. When the Prodigal Son in the Parable, after all his riot and lewdneſs came to himſelf and reſolv'd to return home, his Father ſeeing him yet afar off coming towards him, came out to meet him, and had compaſſion on him and kiſſed him. And can any of us be ſo obſtinate and hard-hearted, as not preſently to reſolve to repent and return, and to meet the compaſſions of ſuch a Father? Who, after we have offended him to the uttermoſt, is upon the firſt diſcovery of our repentance ready to be as kind to us, as he could poſſibly have been if we had never offended him.
And much more is God ready to receive a Nation upon their ſincere Repentance; when his Judgments muſt needs make great havock, and ſo many are like to ſuffer under them. This conſideration God urgeth and pleads with his froward Prophet, in behalf of the great City of Niniveh. Jonah 4.11.And ſhall not I ſpare that great City of Niniveh, wherein are more than ſixſcore thouſand perſons, who cannot diſcern their right hand from their left? that is, ſo many innocent children, by which we may judge of the vaſt number of the reſt of the Inhabitants. For this is a great conſideration with God in his ſending of publick Calamities, the multitude of the Sufferers; and that not only the guilty but the innocent alſo, without a ſpecial and miraculous Providence, muſt be involved in a common Calamity.
Sometimes God reſpites his Judgments upon the mere external humiliation of a People, and ſome formal teſtimonies and expreſſions of their repentance.Pſal. 78. When the People of Iſrael ſought God and enquired early after him, though they did but flatter him with their mouth, and their heart was not right with him, yet the Pſalmiſt tells us, that being full of compaſſion he forgave their iniquity and deſtroyed them not; that is, he forgave them ſo far as to reſpite their ruin.
And much more will a ſincere and effectual Repentance ſtay God's hand, and infallibly turn him from the fierceneſs of his anger: Inſomuch that after he had fix'd and determin'd the very Day for the deſtruction of Niniveh, and had engaged the credit of his Prophet in it, yet as ſoon as he ſaw their works, and that they turned from their evil ways, and how glad was he to ſee it? he preſently repented of the evil which he had ſaid he would do unto them, and he did it not. In this caſe God does not ſtand upon the reputation of his Prophet, by whom he had ſent ſo peremptory a meſſage to them; but his mercy breaks through all conſiderations, and rejoiceth againſt judgment: For he cannot find in his heart to ruin thoſe who by the terror of his judgments will be brought to repentance.
And this ſurely is a mighty motive and encouragement to repentance, to be aſſur'd that we ſhall find mercy; and that when our ruin is even decreed, and all the inſtruments of God…s wrath are fix'd and ready for execution, and his hand is juſt taking hold of vengeance, yet even then a ſincere repentance will mitigate his hotteſt diſpleaſure and turn away his wrath. And if we will not come in upon theſe terms, we extort the judgments of God from him and force him to depart from us, and with violent hands we pull down vengeance upon our own heads.
Thirdly and laſtly, the Text intimates to us the miſerable caſe and condition of a People when God takes off his heart and affection from them, when he gives over all further care and concernment for them, and abandons them to their own wickedneſs and folly, and to the miſerable effects and conſequences thereof: Wo unto them, when his ſoul departs from them: For then all ſorts of evils and calamities will ruſh in, and wrath will come upon them to the uttermoſt; as was threaten'd to the Jews a little before their final deſtruction, and executed upon them in the moſt terrible and amazing manner that ever was from the foundation of the World. Theſe, as our Bleſſed Saviour expreſſes it, were days of vengeance indeed, that all things which were written, that is foretold by Moſes and the Prophets concerning the fearful end of this perverſe and ſtiff-neck'd People, might be fulfilled.
And becauſe my Text ſpeaks to Jeruſalem, Be thou inſtructed, O Jeruſalem, leſt my ſoul depart from thee, leſt I make thee deſolate, a Land not inhabited; though this was ſpoken to Jeruſalem before her Captivity into Babylon, yet becauſe this firſt Captivity was but a faint Type of her laſt and final Deſolation by the Romans, when God's Soul was indeed departed from Her, and Judea was left deſolate, a Land not inhabited: I ſhall therefore briefly repreſent to you the full effect of this Threatning in her laſt final Deſtruction, when God's Soul was, as it were, perfectly looſen'd and disjointed from Her: That you may ſee what the fierceneſs and power of God's Anger is, when he departs from them, and wrath comes upon them to the uttermoſt, becauſe they would not be inſtructed and know the time of their viſitation.
Thus it was with the Jews, about forty years after the Paſſion of our Lord, whom with wicked hands they had crucified and ſlain: Then was God's ſoul departed from them: Then darkneſs and deſolation came upon them; and they were in a far worſe condition than a Countrey would be that is forſaken of the Sun and left condemn'd to a perpetual night, in which darkneſs and diſorder, faction and fury do reign and rage; together with all the fatal conſequences of zeal and ſtrife, which, St. James tells us, are confuſion and every evil work. For when God is once gone, all the good and happineſs of Mankind departs together with Him: Then men fall foul upon one another, divide into Parties and Factions, and execute the vengeance of God upon themſelves with their own hands.
Thus it happen'd to the Jewiſh Nation, when the meaſure of their iniquity was full, and their final ruin was approaching. And that we might know their Fate, and be inſtructed by it, God provided and preſerv'd a faithful Hiſtorian on purpoſe, who was an Eye witneſs of all that befel them: I mean Joſephus, who was perſonally engaged, and was a conſiderable Commander in the Wars of the Jews with the Romans, before the Siege of Jeruſalem: And during the Siege was preſent in the Roman Camp, and being a Jew himſelf hath tranſmitted theſe things to poſterity in a moſt exact and admirable Hiſtory: ſuch a Hiſtory, as no man that hath the heart and bowels of a man can read without the greateſt pity and aſtoniſhment.
In the Preface of that lamentable Hiſtory he tells us, that all the misfortunes and calamities which the World from the beginning of it had ſeen, compar'd with this laſt Calamity of the Jewiſh Nation, were but ſlight and inconſiderable. He tells us likewiſe, that their Civil diſſentions were the next and immediate cauſe of their confuſion and ruin.
And this more than once: For when Pompey, about ſixty years before our Saviour's birth, ſate down before Jeruſalem, he tells us, *Lib. 1. c. 3.that the Factions and diviſions which they had among themſelves were the cauſe of the taking the City and Temple at that time. And when they rebelled afterwards, that the Heads of their Factions provok'd the Romans, and brought them unwillingly upon them, and at laſt forced the beſt natur'd Prince in the World Titus Veſpaſian to that ſeverity which he moſt earneſtly deſired by all means to have prevented. And he further tells us,Lib. 4. c. 5. that even before the Siege of Jeruſalem, the Cities of Judea had all of them civil diſcords among themſelves, and that in every City one part of the Jews fought againſt another.
And when Jeruſalem began to be beſieged, What a miſerable condition was it in, by the cruelty of the Zealots under the command of John the Son of Giorah? And preſently after another Faction aroſe under Simon, who enter'd into the City with a freſh Force and aſſaulted the Zealots in the Temple; ſo that moſt miſerable havock was made between them. And then a third Faction ſtarted up under Eleazer, Lib. 7. c. 1.as bad as either of the other: So that infinite almoſt were the numbers of the People within the City that were barbarouſly ſlain by theſe Seditions.
And what an infatuation was this? when the Enemy was at the Gates and ready to break in upon them, to employ their whole ſtrength and force againſt one another: When the ſame courage and fury, which they ſpent ſo freely upon themſelves, had it been turn'd with the like deſperateneſs and obſtinacy upon the Romans, might have endanger'd the whole force of the Roman Empire. Once or twice indeed they ſeem'd to lay aſide their enmity for a little while, and to unite in the common defence; but as ſoon as the danger of a preſent aſſault was over, they relaps'd into their former ſtate of inteſtine enmity and diſſention, as if that had been their main buſineſs, and the preſervation of their City againſt the Romans only a work by the by, and not much to be regarded.
And to add to all their other miſeries, they were ſo blinded by their own rage and madneſs, that they wilfully brought upon themſelves an extreme Famine. For, as the Hiſtorian tells us, they themſelves ſet on fire vaſt ſtores of corn and other neceſſaries, ſufficient to have ſerv'd them for many years; and by this means the City was much ſooner reduc'd, even by a Famine of their own making, and which could not have been brought upon them but by themſelves.
This Famine, beſides all the other miſeries and cruelties which it occaſion'd within the City, did force great numbers of them to ſteal out by night into the Roman Camp; where they met with as cruel but a ſpeedier death. For Titus, in hope to reduce them the ſooner by terror, order'd all thoſe that came out of the City to be crucified before the Walls. Which order was ſo ſeverely executed, that for ſeveral days five hundred a day were crucified, till there was neither room left to place Croſſes in, nor wood whereof to make them: So that they who once cried out ſo vehemently againſt our Saviour, Crucify him, Crucify him, had enough of it at laſt, and by the juſt and moſt remarkable judgment of God were paid home in their own kind.
Behold the ſad Fate of a ſinful People, when God is departed from them! Then all evils overtake them at once. For as their miſery increaſed, ſo did their Impiety to that degree, that the Hiſtorian tells us,Lib. 5. c. 2. they ſcorned and mocked at all divine and holy things, and derided the Oracles of the Prophets, eſteeming them no better than Fables; and, in a word, were carried to that extremity of wickedneſs, as not only to prophane their Temple in the higheſt manner, and to break the Laws of their own Religion, but even to violate the Laws of Nature and Humanity in the groſſeſt Inſtances: which made their Hiſtorian to give that diſmal character of them, that as he thought no City ever ſuffer'd ſuch things, ſo no Nation, Lib. 6. c. 11.from the beginning of the World, did ever ſo abound in all manner of wickedneſs and impiety: A certain ſign that God's Soul was departed from them.
And the ſame Hiſtorian afterwards, upon conſideration of the lamentable ſtate into which their Seditions had brought them, breaks out into this doleful lamentation over them, O miſerable City!Lib. 7. c. 1. what didſt thou ſuffer from the Romans, though at laſt they ſet thee on fire to purge thee from thy ſins, that is to be compar'd with thoſe miſeries which thou haſt brought upon thy ſelf?
To ſuch a diſmal ſtate did things come at laſt, that, as the ſame Hiſtorian relates, many of the Jews prayed for the good ſucceſs of their Enemies, to deliver them from their civil Diſſenſions, the Calamity whereof was ſo great that their final Deſtruction by the Romans did rather put an end to their miſery than increaſe it,
— En! quo diſcordia Cives
Perduxit miſeros—
To conclude this ſad Story. It was the Jews themſelves that by their own folly and diſſenſions forc'd the Romans to this ſorrowful Victory over them; for in truth all the remorſe and pity was on the Enemies ſide. The Romans were little more than Spectators in this cruel Tragedy, the Jews acted it upon themſelves: And they only who were arriv'd at that prodigious height of Impiety and wickedneſs were fit to be the executioners of this vengeance of God upon one another: As if the Prophet had foretold this, when he ſays,Jer. 2.19. Thine own wickedneſs ſhall correct thee.
When Impiety and wickedneſs are at their higheſt pitch in a Nation, then they themſelves are the only proper inſtruments to puniſh one another. The Romans were by far too good and gentle to inflict a ſuffering upon the Jews that was equal to the evil of their doings: None but their own barbarous Selves, who were ſunk down into the very loweſt degeneracy of humane nature, were capable of ſo much cruelty and inhumanity as was requiſite to execute the Judgment of God upon them to that degree which their ſins had deſerved.
You ſee, my Brethren, by what hath been ſaid upon this Argument, what were the Faults, and what the Fate of the Jewiſh Nation. Now theſe things, as the Apoſtle expreſly tells us, were written for our admonition, and to the intent that we upon whom the ends of the World are come might be inſtructed by them: We, I ſay, who next to the Jewiſh Nation ſeem to be a People highly favoured by God above all the Nations of the Earth. We reſemble them very much in their many and wonderful Deliverances, and a great deal too much in their Faults and Follies.
But as I intend it not, ſo God forbid that there ſhould be any juſt ground for a full and exact Parallel between us; Yet this I muſt ſay, that nothing ever came nearer to them than We do in ſeveral reſpects. In our fickleneſs and inconſtancy, in our murmurings and diſcontents; for we are never pleas…d with what God does, neither when he brings us into danger, nor when he delivers us out of it: We reſemble them likewiſe, in our horrible prophaneneſs and infidelity, and in our impiety and wickedneſs of ſeveral kinds: in our monſtrous ingratitude and moſt unworthy returns to the God of our Salvation: and laſtly, in our Factions and Diviſions, which were the fatal ſign of God's being departed from the Jews, and the immediate cauſe and means of thoſe diſmal Calamities which wrought their final Ruin. And how can we chuſe but dread leſt their Fate ſhould overtake us, the Example of whoſe Faults and Follies we do in ſo many things ſo nearly reſemble?
That this may not, nor any thing like it, be our Fate, let us apply our ſelves to the great Duties of this Day; a ſerious and deep Repentance, and humiliation of our ſelves before Almighty God for the many and heinous Sins which we in this Nation have been, and ſtill are guilty of, againſt His Divine Majeſty; by our prophaneneſs and impiety, by our lewdneſs and luxury, by our oppreſſion and injuſtice, by our implacable malice and hatred one towards another, and by our ſenſeleſs diviſions and animoſities one againſt another, without cauſe and without end: By our neglect of God's Worſhip, and prophanation of his Holy Day, and by our dreadful abuſe of God's great and glorious Name in thoſe horrid Oaths and Curſes and Imprecations which are heard almoſt day and night in the ſtreets of this great City.
For theſe and all other our innumerable provocations of the patience and goodneſs and long-ſuffering of God towards us, let us ſadly repent our ſelves this Day, and turn unto the Lord with all our hearts, with faſting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rent our hearts and not our garments, and turn unto the Lord our God; For he is gracious and merciful, ſlow to anger and of great kindneſs, and repenteth him of the evil: And who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a bleſſing behind him? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we ſhall beturned: Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciouſly.
And let us earneſtly beg of Him, that he would be pleaſed to prevent thoſe terrible Judgments and Calamities which hang over us, and which our Sins have ſo juſtly deſerved ſhould fall upon us: And that He would perfect that wonderful Deliverance which he hath begun for us, and eſtabliſh the thing which he hath wrought: That He would bleſs Them whom he hath ſet in Authority over us; and particularly, that He would preſerve the Perſon of the King in his preſent Expedition, and crown him with victory and good ſucceſs.
And to our Repentance and Prayers let us add our liberal Alms, and according to the counſel given by the Prophet to Nebuchadnezzar, let us break off our ſins by righteouſneſs, and our iniquities by ſhewing mercy to the poor, if ſo be it may be a lengthening of our tranquility.
We are yet, bleſſed be God, in the full enjoyment of peace and quiet at home, and of our Religion and Civil Liberties. God hath given us two excellent Princes ſitting on the Throne together, and both of the ſame Religion with the main Body of the Nation; and as bright Examples of piety and goodneſs as England ever ſaw: And who do by all ways and means ſtudy and ſeek the good of the People committed to their charge.
So that if we did but know our own happineſs, and how to value it, we might be the happieſt People this day under Heaven: And yet for all this, we are very far from being happy; becauſe we are neither contented, nor united; and tho we have all the materials of Happineſs about us and within our reach, yet have we not the skill and wiſdom to put them together.
Miſerable People! that may be happy and will not; whom neither ſo freſh a Deliverance from ſo great a Danger as was juſt ready to have ſwallowed us up, nor the fear and apprehenſion of falling again into the like confuſion, can be a warning to us from returning again unto the ſame folly: For thoſe odious and unhappy Names of difference which ſome years ago ſprang up among us, the Devil knows how, did ſeem whilſt a common danger threatned us, to be quite dead and buried: But no ſooner was the danger over, but by a kind of miraculous infatuation, behold a ſudden Reſurrection of them, with greater heats and animoſities, if poſſible, than before: Juſt as it was with the Jews in the Siege of Jeruſalem, when the Romans had made a wide breach and the City was furiouſly aſſaulted, the Factions then gave Truce to one another, and ran in to the common defence; but as ſoon as ever the danger was a little over, they fell on afreſh and proſecuted their main deſign of deſtroying one another.
And now that the danger is a little over with us alſo, how like a Fate upon us does it look, that we are ſo ſoon alter'd from our wiſer and better temper? Did we well and wiſely before out late happy Revolution, when we united for our common defence againſt a common danger, and did let thoſe unlucky Names of diſtinction fall, ſo that they ſeem'd to be quite extinguiſh'd? And can it be now wiſe to revive them, and to take them up again; when the ſame danger in ſome degree, and from the ſame implacable Enemies, ſtill hovers over us? No ſurely, it would not be wiſe, if the danger were quite paſt and over; but when it ſtill remains and threatens us, what greater folly and infatuation can there be than ſtill to divide and quarrel among our ſelves? Will nothing but ſad and bitter experience be an admonition to us? Will nothing but the laſt neceſſity and extremity of things bring us to our ſelves and teach us wiſdom?
Methinks we ſhould all now be glad to be at reſt, after the tedious troubles and diſtractions, the fruitleſs quarrels and diviſions of fifty years. So long I remember; and in all that ſpace how very few years paſs'd over us without ſome great Calamity and diſmal Event. So that by this time one would think we ſhould all be ſick of our own follies, and ſo tir'd with our unprofitable feuds and diſſentions, as to make both ſides look about them, to ſee if any body will take pity on us, and ſtep in to part our quarrels.
And now I begin to be ſenſible, that I have engag'd in a tender Point indeed; and do feel my ſelf ſtanding upon a very ſlippery place. For who is fit to interpoſe in ſuch hot and fierce differences? who can do it without danger, or with any hopes of ſucceſs? And yet for Zion's ſake I will not hold my peace, for Jeruſalem's ſake I will not keep ſilence: Of ſo great conſequence is it to the peace and happineſs of this Church and Nation, that theſe Names and Diſtinctions of Parties ſhould be laid down and aboliſh'd for ever.
In order whereunto I take it for granted and lay it for a Principle, that he who hopes to perſuade both ſides muſt provoke neither: And therefore I will not ſo much as enquire where the fault lies. It is in theſe Civil differences as in Family quarrels between Man and Wife, if any man ask on which ſide lies the fault; one may almoſt ſafely anſwer at a venture, on both ſides. It muſt indeed begin on one, but if it be not preſently heal'd and made up, the other Party is always ſo civil as to run in and take a ſhare of the fault, that all the blame may not lie wholly on one ſide.
And now, my Brethren, let me for once perſuade and prevail with you for your good: Let me be ſo happy as to ſay ſomething that may ſink into your hearts, and incline your minds to peace and good agreement with one another, Have ſalt in your ſelves, ſays our Bleſſed Saviour the great Peace maker, and peace one with another. By Salt is meant grace and ſpiritual wiſdom, and if that do but rule and ſway in our hearts, we ſhall then endeavour, if it be poſſible, and as much as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men. If we have ſalt in our ſelves, that is, if we be wiſe, we will then certainly have peace one with another.
And if we were but once come to this healing temper, in this divided and diſtracted Nation, we ſhould not then need to fear all the power of the Enemy. And this our Enemies know full well: and therefore their chief policy and wiſdom is, and ever hath been, to divide us; and it will be our own great folly and weakneſs if we ſuffer our ſelves to be divided: For who that is wiſe will take counſel and advice from an Enemy? But if we could agree and hold together, then our Jeruſalem would be as a City that is compact together, ſtrong and impregnable.
Let us then be inſtructed, and know, in this our day, things which belong to our Peace, before they be hid from our eyes. And let us all earneſtly endeavour and pray for the peace of Jeruſalem:Pſal. 122. They ſhall proſper that love her, ſays the Pſalmiſt, and they do not love her, that do not ſeek her peace and endeavour by all means to procure it: That peace may be within her walls, and proſperity within her Palaces: The one cannot be without the other: without Peace there can be no Proſperity. And to go on with the words of the Pſalmiſt, let every one of us ſay, yea let us all with one heart and voice ſay, for our Brethren and Companions ſake, for the ſake of our Proteſtant Brethren all the World over, let us ſay, Peace be within thee: For the Houſe of the Lord our God, for the ſake of our Holy Religion, and of that excellent Church whereof we all are, or ought to be Members, let every one of us ſay, I will ſeek thy good.
And what greater good can we do to the beſt Religion, how can we better ſerve the intereſt of it in all parts of the World, than by being at peace and unity among our ſelves, here in England? upon whom the eyes of all the Proteſtants abroad are fixed, as the Glory of the Reformation, and the great bulwark and ſupport of it.
That ſo under the Providence of Almighty God, and the conduct of two ſuch excellent Princes as He hath now bleſs'd us withal: The One ſo brave and valiant, and Both of them ſo wiſe, ſo good, ſo religious, we may at laſt arrive at a firm eſtabliſhment, and become like mount Zion that cannot be moved; the perfection of Beauty and Strength, and the admiration and joy of the whole Earth; which God of his infinite goodneſs grant, for his mercies ſake in Jeſus Chriſt: To whom, with thee O Father, and the Holy Ghoſt, be all honour and glory, dominion and power, thankſgiving and praiſe both now and ever, Amen.
A Conſcience void of Offence, towards God and Men. IN A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN, AT WHITE-HALL, February the 27th 1690/1.