Right Thoughts, Part 2 · Section 26 – Section 27
Sect. XXVI.
TO think alſo, but with all awfulneſs,God terrible. Deut. 10.17. of the Lord our God as God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God, a Mighty and terrible, which regardeth not perſons, nor taketh Rewards, Heb. 12.29. Mal. 1.14. Pſalm 65.18.for even our God is a conſuming Fire, whoſe Name is DREADFUL among the very Heathen; who maketh even the ends, or uttermoſt parts of the Earth affraid at his Tokens; who is terrible to the Kings thereof; Pſal. 76.12. Job 4 18. Job 15.15. Iſaiah 6.2.who putteth no truſt in his Servants, and his Angels he chargeth with folly; who putteth no truſt in his Saints, yea the Heavens are not clean in his ſight, Before whom the holy Seraphims do cover both their feet and their faces, (as coverings of old were uſed in token of Reverence and Subjection.Gen. 24.65.) They cover their feet, in token perhaps of their utter unworthineſs to be lookt upon by him, to whom it is a kind of bumbling to behold even the things that are in Heaven; Pſalm 113.6.and their faces as unable to look upon him; as the Stars in a morning do carry their Lights,Angels ſtand in aw of God. Job 38 7. as it were in dark Lanthornes, upon the Suns appearing, So alſo do theſe Morning Stars (as Scripture ſtiles them) though of excellent glory themſelves, and ſuch as is terrifying to the Children of Men,Though terrible to men. to the beſt, as to Zechariah, to the worſt and moſt obdurate, as the Keepers of the Watch upon the Sepulchre, who for fear of one Angel did ſhake and became as dead men; Luke 1.11, 12. Mat 28.3, 4. Heb. 1.7. Iſaiah 37.36.And now no wonder, for he maketh his Angels Spirits, and his Miniſters a flaming Fire. So that one of them is able to turn 185000 armed Men to aſhes in a night. And yet as the very beams of the far diſtant Sun in the Firmament do baffle, as it were, and non-plus the Fire that flames on your hearths, (which, Oh how frightful is it to you, when it ſteals but a little out of its place, and begins to reach the bones of your buildings, and ride triumphantly on the tops of your houſes?) ſo, and infinitely more then ſo, doth the Dreadful Majeſty of GOD apale the Excellency of all Angelical glory. Job 15.15. Chap. 26.11.And if the Heavens (that were never ſtained) thinks the ſerious Soul, be not clean in his ſight, but the pillars thereof tremble, and are aſtoniſhed at his reproof; If the Angels that never ſinned are ſo affraid,De…ls affraid of God. How terrible is his preſence to that wicked one that is ſuch a terrour to poor miſerable mankind that ſome Nations worſhip Him (as 'tis ſaid of the Indians) that he may do them no harm, whoſe very Apparition (though in a viſible ſhape) is ſo confounding to poor Man, that he becomes like Saul before the Witch of Endor, or like Eliphaz, 1 Sam. 28.20when fear and trembling came upon him, which made all his bones to ſhake, a Spirit paſſed before his face, Job 4.14, 15.and the hair of his fleſh ſtood up. It is not needful to preſent purpoſe to determine what ſorts of Spirits thoſe were. This is certain, that who ſhall not fear thee, O Lord? Rev. 15 3, 5. foreign.is an Ode, as Scripture calls it; and as true, that as Saints and Angels do fear before him, ſo the Devils alſo believe and tremble. And therefore when the Soul thinks O I dare not pray, for the Devil tells me,James 1.19. Job 15.4. Job 33.7. that if I go alone, or retire my ſelf to pray, he will appear to me, and affright me; It thinks again, O I dare leſs reſtrain Prayer from the Almighty, for then his Terribleneſs will make me affraid: And if his ſlave be ſo terrible, how dreadful is he that hath him in his chain? who can reſtrain him if I go, God terrible to his Saints. Job 31.23. Cap. 23.15, 16.and will ſooner or later let him looſe upon me for not going. Deſtruction from God was a terrour unto me (ſaith Holy Job) and by reaſon of his Highneſs, I could not endure; Therefore I am troubled at his preſence, when I conſider, I am affraid of him, for God maketh my heart ſoft, and the Almighty troubleth me; When I CONSIDER, &c. Oh what high and awful Thoughts had this Holy Perſon of God! And indeed who would not fear thee, Jerem. 10, 7.O thou King of Nations? For to thee doth it appertain: as the Prophet ſpeaks. Wouldeſt thou then be made ſoft, O mine heart, as Job's was under the awful impreſſions of the moſt High? Wouldeſt thou ſerve the Lord with fear, Pſalm 2.11.and converſe before him with trembling? Go but to his Water-works, or Fire-works, for many hard things are made ſof… by Fire and Water; And think of them a little ſeriouſly. ASK of them of Old times,God terrible in his Waterworks. Gen. 7.1. Pſal 107.23, 25, 26. when the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up, and the Floud Gates of Heaven opened in the ſame day, and let them tell thee if God be not terrible. Or if that be too far off, let them that go down into the Seas in Ships, that do buſineſs in the great Waters, declare unto thee, when he commandeth, and raiſeth the ſtormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof, they mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths, their Soul is melted becauſe of trouble, Verſe 27. Fire-works. Gen. 19.24, 26.they reel to and fro and ſtagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits ends. Or let Sodom ſay if God be not terrible, and that Pillar of Salt that was ſet like an Hand in the Margin of that Dreadful Text, Ask alſo of the trembling Iſraelites, who ſaw the Mountain that burned with Fire; Deut. 10.16, 18. Heb. 12.21.and ſo terrible was the ſight, that Moſes ſaid, I exceedingly fear and quake. Spo…t thy ſelf on the top of flaming AETNA, or lay thy hand upon the hole of raging Veſuvius: Bath thy ſelf in the melted Minerals that flow in the bowels of the cold Earth; Cool thy skin with Cantharides, or with the cold leaves of that Plant in which one may feel ſo much of him that calls himſelf a Conſuming Fire, that a touch thereof doth bliſter the skin, and burn the fleſh: Harden alſo the Eye-ſight againſt the lightening, and ſtrengthen thine ears againſt the voice of Gods Thunder. Thunder. Pſalm 29.3.Ask the Heathen, why he ran under his Bed, and that his Imperial Crown was not thought by him a ſufficient ſecurity to his Head. Ask Lebanon what it ails to skip like a Calf, Verſe 6.8, 9.and Syrion like a young Vnicorn? The Wilderneſs of Kadeſh why it ſhakes, and the Hinds why they caſt their Calves before their time? or why men more wild then the Wilderneſs, and Bruitiſh then the Beaſts, do tremble when the God of glory Thundreth; eſpecially when he makes his Fire-works and Water-works meet in One, when the Lord is upon many waters, Pſal. 29.3, 7.that is, the Ocean, And there the voice of the Lord divideth the flames of Fire, that is, the Lightenings; Lightenings.which Seafaring men find to be moſt terrible in Nocturnal Tempeſts. Nay ask Men why they tremble without Thunderings, at the ſtill voice of a poor deſpiſed Man?Felix. Acts 24 25. Belſtazzar. Da…el 5.6. Nay a Faelix, on the Bench; before a Priſoner at the Bar? Nay a Bold Belſ…azzar without any noiſe or whiſper to affright him in the midſt of Merriment, and Godleſs ſecurity, and that upon the firſt appearing (not of an Hand with a ſword in it but the Fingers of a Mans Hand ſilently inſcribing a few words on the wall? Paſhur. Jerem. 20.3. Spira.Nay why ſo many are Magor Miſſabibs, fear round about, without voice or viſion, ſave what is within? Ask poor Spira what he ailed, and why he refuſed to be comforted? And the many of the preſent Age that have been hung up in Chains of the Spirit of Bondage, and made terrours to themſelves, and ſpectacles to all about them, Verſe 4. Others under the Spirit of bondage. See alſo M… Brewers S… on Mr. … Hevenin…As one Dales Wife of Chelmesford in Eſſex, that lived many years in perpetual horrour to her ſelf, and thoſe that ſaw her; and one Maud, a man that (through terrours of Conſcience) ſtarved himſelf to death, being otherwiſe prevented in deſtroying himſelf by Hanging and Drowning which he attempted, and in accuſing himſelf that he might have been diſpatcht out of the way by the hand of publick Juſtice, for an old Murther which he pretended, but intended it as a plot upon his own Life, which not taking, he never would admit any ſuſtenance down his throat (though forced into his mouth) till utterly famiſhed; both recent inſtances and within little more then twenty Miles each of other, and of both which I have been an eye-witneſs; and other like might be added.
And now ask ſuch as theſe, if it be not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb. 10.31. Terrible in praiſes. Exod. 15.11. Goodneſs. Hoſea 3.5. Forgiveneſs. Pſal. 130.4. Spar'd not Angels. 2 Cor. 2.4. Old World. Verſe 5. Sodom. Ver. 6. Natural branches. Rom. 11.21. His own Son.He indeed is fearful in his very Praiſes, and his Goodneſs to be feared: His Grace by no means to be turned into wantonneſs, but the forgiveneſs that is with him is that he may be feared, He that ſpared not the Angels that ſinned, but caſt them down into hell, that ſpared not the old World, bringing in the Floud upon the World of the ungodly, and turning the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into Aſhes, condemning them with an overthrow, making them an Example unto thoſe that ſhould live ungodly; that ſpared not the Natural Branches, O take heed leaſt he alſo ſpare not thee. If by terrible things in Righteouſneſs, God will anſwer them to whom be is a God of Salvation; Surely his Juſtice will be very terrible to the Sons of Perdition; If God ſpared no his own Son, but it pleaſed the Lord to bruiſe him, Iſaiah 53.10. Rejoycing in the deſtruction of the wicked. Iſaiah 1.24. Deut. 38.63. Jer. 1.26, 27.and to put him to grief who knew no ſin, but had ſin onelyonly imputed to him; O how terrible, thinks the Soul, is God when he cryes out, Ah I will caſe me of mine Adverſaries, and avenge me of mi… Enemies; I will rejoyce over you to deſtroy you, and to bring you to naught; I will laugh at your Calamity, and mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as deſolation, and your Deſtruction cometh as a Whirlwind, when diſtreſs and anguiſh cometh upon you: Thus ſhall mine anger be accompliſhed, and I will cauſe my fury to reſt upon them, Ezek. 5.13.and I will be comforted. And oh how awful a thought it is that it ſhould be both caſing and pleaſing to God to deſtroy ſinners?…. 1.3. That the God of all comforts, as Scripture calls him, ſhould be Comforted in the Perdition of ungodly Men; and laugh at their fear, … 6.14.who forſake the fear of the Almighty? And Oh how fearful is He in his puniſhments, who is ſo in his praiſes? How terrible in his Righteouſneſs, who is to be feared for his Goodneſs? 1 Pet. 1.17.If they that Call on the Father muſt paſs their time in fear, becauſe without reſpect of perſons, Iſaiah 33.14.he judgeth every one according to his works, O how may the Sinners in Zion be affraid, what fearfulneſs may ſurprize the Hypocrites? If they be unable to Contend with his burning Agues, God terrible in preſent puniſhment. Jerem. 12.5. Iſaiah 30.33. Chap. 66.…4. Nahum 1.2.Plagues and Feavers, How will they dwell with Everlaſting burnings? Oh what will they do in the ſwellings of Jordan? when the breath o… the Lord as a River of Brimſtone ſhall kindle upon them thoſe Eternal flames that none ſhall be able to quench? for the Lord is jealous and Revengeth: The Lord Revengeth and is furious; The Lord will take vengeance on his Adverſaries, and he Reſerveth wrath for his Enemies. Reſerves of wrath terrible.O thoſe RESERVES of Wrath, how dreadful are they? That, when Millions of Ages are expired, they remain unexhauſted; There is ſtill a certain fearful expectation, and looking for, of Judgment and fiery Indignation ſtill, Heb. 10.27. Pſalm 90.11. God corrects whom he loves.ſtill. Ah Lord! who knows the power of thine Anger? according to thy fear ſo is thy wrath. Thou Correcteſt whom thou loveſt, what wilt thou do wi…h them thou hateſt? If Judgment muſt begin at the Houſe of God, what, Heb. 12.6. 1 Peter 17.18. What then ſhall be the end of the wicked. Zech. 13.7. Heb. 5.8. Luke 23.31.O what ſhall be the end of them that obey not the Goſpel of God? and If the Righteous ſcarcely be ſaved, where ſhall the ungodly and ſinner appear? thou gathereſt a Rod for every Son thou receiveſt, nay the Holy Child Jeſus was not excepted, nor exempted, who though he were a Son, thine Equal, a Man thy fellow, yet did thy Sword awake againſt him, and He learnt obedience by the things that he ſuffered. And if theſe things were done in the Green Tree, O what ſhall become of the Dry? What Scorpions are prepared to be ſcourges for the wicked?Pſalm 9.13. ſurely God hath prepared for him the inſtruments of death, and ordained his Arrows againſt the Perſecutors, Upon the Wicked he ſhall Rain ſnares, Fire and Brimſtone, Pſalm 11.6.and an horrible tempeſt, this ſhall be the portion of their cup. Pſal. 119.…Wherefore, O God, My Fleſh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am affraid of thy Judgments, Deut. 32.4.for all the wayes of the Lord are Judgment, a God of Truth, and without iniquity, Juſt and Right is he; with him is terrible Majeſty, Job 37.22, 23, 24. Prov. 23.14. Neh. 5.15.He is excellent in Power, and in Judgment, Men do therefore fear him, and well they may. Be thou therefore in the fear of the Lord, O my Soul, all the day long; and however others may dare to preſume upon him, yet ſo do not thou, becauſe of the fear of the Lord.
Sect. XXVII.
THe Lord thou heareſt, O my Soul!God of truth. is a God of TRUTH is as well as Righteouſneſs,Iſaiah 66.5. O Tremble at his word as well as works, and be thou affraid of the Judgments of his mouth as well as of his hands, For the Lord confirmeth the word of his Servants, Iſaiah 64.26. Math. 5.28.and performeth the Counſels of his Meſſengers, neither is there any Iota of his Threatenings any more then of his Promiſes, that ſhall paſs away untill all be fulfilled; for the ſtrength of Iſrael will not he nor Repent, 1 Sam. 15.29. Iſaiah 11.5.for he is not as Man that he ſhould Repent. The truth is, Gods TRUTH is as the Girdle of his Loins. What ever God is, He is in TRUTH. As God is TRUE,In all He is. 1 Tim. 1.18. Jerem. 10.10. ſaith the Apoſtle, Our word towards you was not yea and nay, The Lord is the true God, ſaith Jeremiah, the God of TRUTH (ſaith the Margin with the Hebrew) at his Wrath ſhall the Earth tremble, &c. Whatever God ſaith,In all he ſaith. Pſal. 119.160. He ſaith in Truth, Thy Word is true (ſaith David) from the beginning, and every one of thy Righteous Judgments endureth for ever. Pſalm 19.9. Revel. 19.9. In all he doth. Pſalm 33.4. Pſal. 111.7, 8. Pſal. 80.7, 8.The Judgments of the Lord are truth (ſaith the Hebrew) Theſe are the true ſayings of God. Whatever God doth, He doth it in Truth, All his works are done in Truth, The works of his hands are verity and Judgment, they ſtand faſt for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightneſs. Therefore God is greatly to be feared in the Aſſembly of the Saints, and to be had in Reverence of all them that are about him, It follows, O Lord God of Hoſts, who is like unto thee, or to thy FAITHFULNESS round about thee? So that as the Girdle goes round about All, and encompaſſeth and encloſeth All, ſo Gods Truth and Faithfulneſs doth ſurround all the reſt of his Excellencies, and therefore if our Thoughts of God be Right, We ſhall have moſt awful and Reverend Impreſſions on our Hearts, not onelyonly from the SEVERITY but from the VERITY of God, not onelyonly from his Juſtice and Righteouſneſs, but alſo from his TRUTH and Faithfulneſs.