Eleven Choice Sermons, Sermon 4
PSAL. 106. 19, 20, 21, 22.
They made a calfe in Horeb: and worſhipped the molten Image.
Thus they changed their glory into the ſimilitude of an oxe that eateth graſſe.
They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt:
Wondrous workes in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red-ſea.
THere remaines now but one thing more concerning this worſhipping of Images, that is, the uſe that you are to make of all this that you have heard concerning it. It is this, by way of exhortation: Let mee exhort you to hate, and abhorre, and deteſt all Idolatry if it be Image-worſhip, whether heatheniſh, or popiſh.
Holy David, in Pſalme 119. brings many arguments to prove his love to God, and to his Word; and one argument above all other (for hee repeates it often) is this, his hatred of falſe waies; hee meanes falſe doctrine, all falſhood in doctrine, and falſhood in life: In verſe 113. I hate all inventions; but thy Law doe I love. Ver. 163. I hate and abhorre all falſhood, but thy Law doe I love. And thus hee goes on in many places more. Now then, if our hatred of falſhood, be an argument of our love to the truth; if ſuch as is our hatred to errour, is our love to true Religion; then ſurely, brethren, wee are fallen from our firſt love, becauſe wee are fallen from our firſt hatred of Popery and Superſtition. Wee are growne now to have a better opinion of Image-worſhip then wee had before. Wee are growne almoſt to a very neutrality in Religion.
The deſire of my ſoule is, to preſerve your hearts upright in the holy, ſincere worſhip of God: therefore, I pray, let me commend foure caveats to you, with which I will conclude this point.
The firſt is this, it is that of Saint John, 1 John Chap. ult. Ver. ult. Babes, (ſaith the Apoſtle) keep your ſelves from Idols. Marke, hee ſaith not your ſelves from Idolatry, but from Idols; not ab officio, as Tertullian ſpeakes, but ab effigie: not from the ſervice of Idols, but from Idols; from ſuch Images as may be abuſed to Idolatry.
God in the old Law forbad his people to deſire the gold of an Image: they may not deſire ſo much as the gold of an Image; For it will be as a ſnare to thee, ſaith God, Deut. 7. 25. David, hee met with the Philiſtines Images; it is likely they were of gold, or ſilver, or the like: and what doth hee with them? He burnes them every one, 2 Sam. 5. 20.
The brazen ſerpent, though it were ſet up at the firſt (as you heard) by Gods owne command; though there were miracles wrought by the ſight of it; though it were kept ſeven hundred yeares, as an excellent monument of Gods mercy; though it were a type and figure of Chriſt; Even as the brazen ſerpent was lifted up in the wilderneſſe, ſo ſhall the Sonne of man be lifted up: yet good Hezekiah, when hee ſaw incenſe burned to it, would not forbid the burning of incenſe, but he takes the ſerpent, and breakes it, and ſtamps it in pieces, and calls it Nehuſhtan, it was a piece of braſſe, and no more.
What did Moſes in this hiſtory, when he ſaw the calf? Though it were made of gold, and there might have been ſome uſe of gold among the poore people, it might have done good to a number of them; yet hee would not keepe the gold, hee burnes it in the fire, hee ſtampes it to powder, hee beates it as ſmall as duſt, Deuter. 9. ver. 21. And hee is not yet revenged enough of this Image; hee caſts the duſt into the brooke that ranne out of Horeb, and made the people drinke of that water: hee would not have the leſt memoriall of this Image left.
Let mee tell you but one hiſtory more out of the Church hiſtory: Epiphanius, that good Biſhop, hee came to a Church, and found a vaile in the Church, wherein there was an Image of Chriſt, or of ſome Saint: For, quoth hee, I remember not whoſe it was, but I tooke it, and tore it, and wrote to John, Biſhop of Jeruſalem, under whoſe charge that Church was, that hee ſhould not ſuffer ſuch vailes in the Church, againſt Chriſtian Religion.
Theſe are good patternes fo Magiſtrates in Church, or Common-wealth; but theſe are no preſidents for private men in publike places, out of a pretence of zeale, in a tumultuous manner, to enterpriſe any ſuch publike Reformation. Men may doe, as Jacob, at home; every man reforme his owne houſhold, burie his owne Images, at home: but private men muſt learne that golden rule of Saint Auſtine, To correct what they can within the compaſſe of their owne calling, and what they cannot, to mourne for; to mourne and to cry to God, that hee would pleaſe to ſend his Son, to take whatſoever offends out of his Kingdome. This is the firſt caveat, Take heed of Images: To take heed of ſinne, is to Take heed of the occaſions of ſinne.
My ſecond caveat is, take heed of familiar converſation with theſe Image-worſhippers. All ſociety with them is not unlawfull; there may be a lawfull ſociety even with Idolaters, quoad publicam converſationem, in regard of a publike converſation: but take heed of ſocietie with them in regard of inward acquaintance with them; it is dangerous. Let a good man be joyned with an evill man, you ſeldome ſee the evill bettered by the good; but the good is eaſily corrupted, and ſpoyled by the evill. A whole lump of dough will not ſweeten a little leaven, but a little leaven will ſowre a whole lump of dough. If any man that is called a brother be an Idolater (ſaith Paul,) with ſuch a man eate not, 1 Cor. 5. 11.
The Pharaſees in old time were ſo carefull of their carriage among the Gentiles and Samaritanes, that they would not ſo much as eate of a Samaritanes bread, nor drinke of a Samaritanes cup, nor warme themſelves at a Samaritanes fire; they would not weare a Samaritanes garment, nor reade a Samaritanes booke. It is ſaid of John the Evangeliſt, that hee refuſed to waſh himſelfe in that bath wherein Cerinthus the heretike had waſhed. Polycarpus could not be gotten to ſalute Marcion the heretike. Euſebius Verſalenſis would not receive meat in priſon from the hands of the Arrians. You know what Saint John ſaith; Whoſoever ſaith, God ſpeed to them, is partaker with them in their ſin, 2 John 10.
It is a childiſh thing I ſhall tell you of, but you may perceive by that how children were trained up in the deteſtation of hereſie. Theodoret tells of it: At Samoſatum, the children playing with a ball, refuſed to play with it after the ball by chance had touched Lucius the hereticall Biſhop, or the aſſe that hee rode on; they caſt the ball into the fire, and would play no more with it. Wee have a ſtory of Thoſmos, that being about to be throwne, when hee was dead, into the grave of an hereticall Biſhop, a voice was heard in the grave, Touch mee not heretike. I avouch not this for truth, but I told you what the Apoſtle ſaith; If any man be called a brother, and be an Idolater, with ſuch an one eate not.
Surely, brethren, wee are growne a little too familiar with them, wee are too bold a little with theſe Image-mongers; wee match with them, wee conſult with them, wee conferre with them, wee converſe with them; nay, peradventure, wee finde ſuch delight in their company, as that wee cannot be merry, except they be in our company; we cannot eate our meat, except they carve it; wee cannot ſleepe, except they rocke the cradle: no wonder, brethren, if wee be drawne away.
But let me give you a third caveat: Take heed of beholding Idoll-ſervice out of the curioſity of the eye. Many men will goe to maſſe, or Idoll-ſervice; they ſay they meane not to adore, they will not worſhip, they go but to ſee; and, may they not go ſee it?
I tell you, that ſight is very dangerous, that curioſitie of the eye is a branch of the concupiſcence of the eye, which, if it be not mortified, may be the occaſion of many ſinnes. Idolatry is called in Scripture by the name of whoredome. Luſt gets into the heart by the eye. It is a hard matter for the body to be kept cleane, if the eye be full of adultery. Job made a covenant with his eyes to abridge them of liberty in matters of indifferency.
Let mee tell you a ſtory that Saint Auſtine hath in the ſixth booke of his Confeſsions, c. 8. He tells us of Allipius his deare friend, who went to Rome to ſtudy the Law. At Rome there were uſually thoſe gladiatory ſports, bloudy, ſword-killing ſports; they killed men in ſport: Hee could not be perſwaded by his companions to ſee thoſe ſports; they deſired him, but by no meanes hee would goe: at laſt (ſaith Saint Auſtine) by a familiar violence they drew him once to goe, and ſee thoſe bloudy ſports. Well, ſaith hee, I will goe, but I will be abſent while I am there, I will not looke on it. Hee went, and when hee came, hee ſate there among the reſt, but hee ſhut his eyes, and would not ſee any of thoſe ſports, till at length there was a man wounded, and then the people ſhouted: Hee had ſhut his eyes, but hee had not ſtopped his eares; hee heard the ſhout, and would ſee what was the matter; hee looked about, and, ſeeing the wounded man, he then deſired to ſee a little more. Thus (ſaith Saint Auſtine) he grew at the laſt not to be the ſame man he was when he came thither, but to be as one of the company to which hee came; and, after that time, hee deſired to ſee it a ſecond, and a third time; and, at laſt, hee came to be, not only a companion of thoſe that went thither, but would be a guide to them; yet hee would goe, not tanquam unus ex illis, he would be one of the forwardeſt. And thus hee continued a while, till it pleaſed God, by a mighty hand, to deliver him from this vanity.
The eyes are the windowes of the body, and if wee ſhut them not up againſt allurements, wee may happily be forced to crie out, as they did Jerem. 9. 21. Death is entered in at the windowes. Lord (ſaith David) turne away mine eyes, that they behold not vanity. Idols are called vanities oft in Scripture. Surely, wee ſhoud make a covenant with our eyes, that they be not the occaſion of our falling. I ſaid it the other day; I conclude with it now, Hee that would have an eye to his heart, muſt have an heart to his eye.
My fourth caveat that I give, is this, Take heed how you doe allow your ſelves to live in any knowne ſinne without repentance; for, this is the way for which God gives men over to this ſinne of Idolatry. Unrepented of errours in life, breed errours in judgement. Thoſe 2 Theſ. 3. v. 10, 11.that will not embrace the love of the truth, that they may be ſaved (ſaith the Apoſtle,) thoſe men ſhall have ſtrong deluſions to beleeve lies. I conclude all with what the Apoſtle (ſpeaking of the heathen) ſaith, Rom. 1. 25. They knew God. The heathen had ſome knowledge of God, but, they were not carefull to glorifie him as God, but were unthankfull. What puniſhment came upon them for it? This, their fooliſh heart grew full of darkeneſſe, and when they profeſſed themſelves wiſe men, they became fooles. Fooles! Why? How did they play the fooles? Saith the Apoſtle (which is the very phraſe that is here) Becauſe, when they knew God, they did not care to glorifie him as God, but were unthankfull; therefore God gave them over to this blindeneſſe, to turne the glory of the incorruptible God, to the Image of corruptible man, and of foure-footed beaſts, and they ſerved and worſhipped the creature, more then the Creator, that is God over all, who is bleſſed for ever. Thus, beloved, I have now done with that great point, concerning the worſhipping of Images.
Now I come to the laſt thing in my Text, that is the roote of this ſin, whence this ſin of theirs did ſpring; it was from forgetfulneſſe of God, and of his workes.
They forgat God their Saviour, &c.
The words are many, and many things may be obſerved out of them. I will runne them firſt over with a briefe paraphraſe, and then ſpeake of that ſinne that was the cauſe of this Idolatry; the forgetfulneſſe of God.
[They forgat God.] There was one of the Tribes that was called the Tribe of Manaſſes; Manaſſes had this name, of forgetfulneſſe. When I looke over this Pſalme, mee thinkes this people ſhould be all of that Tribe, they were ſo forgetfull. In ver. 7. They remembred not the multitude of his mercies. There the Spirit of God ſpeakes of their forgetfulneſſe. Then, in ver. 13. they ſoone forgat his workes. They made haſte, and forgat them, as the words are. And now here againe, They forgat God their Saviour. Three times the Spirit of God in this Scripture ſpeakes of their forgetfulneſſe of God.
It was but three months agoe, ſince God brought them out of the land of Egypt: It was little more then one month agoe, ſince God appeared to them in a fearefull manner upon Mount Sinai, with thunder, and lightning, and earth-quakes; and yet ſee, they have already forgot God.
[God their Saviour.] Saviour: The word is ſometime taken ſtrictly in the Scripture, in a narrow ſenſe; and ſometime it is taken in a larger ſenſe.
Take it in the narrow ſenſe, and then a Saviour is ſuch an one as ſaveth from ſinne, from the puniſhment of ſinne, from Gods wrath, from hell, and eternall damnation: Thus our Lord is called a Saviour. You know what the Angell ſaid to the Shepheards; This day is borne to you in the City of David a Saviour, which is Chriſt the Lord. And his very name ſhewes him to be thus; Jeſus, it ſignifies a Saviour: and the reaſon is given by the Angell; becauſe hee ſhall ſave the people from their ſinnes. Hee ſaves them,
Firſt, from the guilt of ſin.
Then he ſaves them from the puniſhment of ſin.
Then hee ſaves them from the power of ſin: Thus the word Saviour is taken, when you take it ſtrictly.
But you may take it more largely, and then a Saviour is ſuch an one as is a deliverer, a preſerver, either from wrong, from afflictions, from oppreſsions, from dangers, from temporall death. A Saviour, that is, as if hee ſhould ſay, a Preſerver. In this ſenſe the Apoſtle ſaith, 1 Tim. 1. 10. that God is the Saviour of all men; that is, the preſerver of all men: but, eſpecially, of them that beleeve. In this ſenſe take the word here: God was their Saviour, that is, their Preſerver; And doe but conſider,
Firſt the evils from which hee preſerved them, and thoſe were many.
Then conſider the meanes whereby hee preſerved them, and thoſe were mighty.
Then conſider the end to which he preſerved them, and that was glorious, that they ſhould be a holy people, a peculiar treaſure to himſelf. Conſider, I ſay, the meanes by which, the ill from which, and the end to which they were ſaved; and then no people may more appropriate God to be their Saviour, then this people could: Yet, behold, They forgat God their Saviour.
Yea, and they forgat his works. The works of God are ſet downe here to be of three ſorts:
Great workes.
Wonderfull workes.
Terrible workes.
Great works in Egypt: Wondrous works in the land of Ham (the land of Ham, and Egypt are all one.) Then, Terrible works by the Red-ſea.
[Great works.] The works of God, are either,
workes of Nature.
workes of Grace.
The workes of Nature, are either workes of Creation; or they are workes of Actuall providence, in the preſerving that that is created.
The workes of Grace thoſe are many. The principall work whereupon all others depend, is the Incarnation of the Son of God, that great myſtery of godlineſſe, God manifeſt in our fleſh; that was the great work of grace.
Then redemption of mankinde by his blood. The electing of ſome to ſalvation, before the foundations of the world were laid. The vocation of them in Gods good time. The juſtification of them in the blood of our crucified Jeſus. The ſanctification of them by Gods bleſſed Spirit, the reſurrection of their bodies, and the glorification of them. All theſe are workes of grace.
Now all the workes of God, whether they be workes of nature, or of grace, they are all great workes. There is not a worke of Creation, but it is a great worke. The Piſ-mire is a little creature, yet it is a great worke: the making of a Piſ-mire is as great a worke, as the creation of an Elephant. It is all one with God; hee can as eaſily make an Elephant, as a Piſ-mire; nay, Deus maximus in minimis, a man may truely ſay it; God is greateſt in the leaſt creatures. If you marke it, you may ſee how great God is in every little creature.
The leſſe the Watch is that you carry about you, to know the time of the day, the greater is the skill of the work-man: And, ſurely, in every little worke, it appeares how great God is. There is never a worke ſo little, but it is a great work, if it be well conſidered. Workes of Creation are great workes.
But there are ſome workes greater then other: Thoſe workes wherein the Divine attributes are moſt manifeſted; ſuch workes wherein appeares the great wiſedome of God, or the great goodneſſe of God, or the great power of God, or the great truth of God, or the great mercy of God, or the great juſtice of God. Thoſe workes wherein theſe attributes of Divine majeſty are moſt apparent, thoſe are called great workes: Therefore the workes of redemption, are greater workes then the workes of creation: The workes of grace, are greater workes then the workes of nature. But now this people had ſeen great workes in both kindes;
Great workes of Nature.
Great workes of Grace.
There were workes of nature; let mee name but one or two of them: The multiplication of them in Egypt. When they came to Egypt at firſt, there were but ſeventy ſouls of them, ſeventy ſouls that came out of the loines of Jacob, no more. They were in Egypt but two hundred and fifteene years, no longer: A great part of this time they lived under oppreſsion, loaden with burthens, loaden with blowes, loaden with injuries; yet ſee how they multiplied: this ſame bleeding vine bare abundance of fruit, this Camomile that was thus trodden downe, it proſpered exceedingly. They grew in two hundred and fifteene yeares to be ſo many, that, at their coming out of Egypt, there were numbred ſix hundred thouſand men, from twenty yeares old and upward, beſides women and children. This multiplication was a great work of God; a work of Nature.
Then conſider their preſervation there, how wonderfully they were preſerved in the deſpight of their enemies; and how all things were preſerved that were theirs: As the land of Goſhen preſerved from thoſe ſame ſwarmes of flies, with which all the reſt of Egypt was peſtred. Their cattell in the land of Goſhen preſerved from that murraine, of which the cattell, through the land of Egypt, died. The land of Goſhen was light, when all Egypt beſides was darkneſſe. This wonderfull preſervation of that that they had, and the preſervation of their firſt-born, when all the firſt-born died in the land of Egypt. This preſervation of them was a great worke.
There is another work, which I know not whether it be the greater; their eduction and bringing out of Egypt. Their preſervation was great, their bringing out was as great; they came out in deſpight of Pharaoh and his ſervants; and they came out with vigour of body, their veins full of bloud, and their bones full of marrow; There was not one feeble perſon among their Tribes. Here were great Works; but all theſe were works of nature, either of multiplication, or preſervation.
Then will you heare the great workes of Grace? The adoption of this people to be Gods firſt-borne: the ſeparation of this people from all the people of the earth, to be to God a holy Nation, a Royall Prieſt-hood, his peculiar treaſure. The revealing of his promiſes, eſpecially that great promiſe, that out of their loines ſhould come that bleſſed ſeed, that bleſſed Lord, in whom all the Nations of the earth were to be bleſſed. The promulgation of the Law; no Nation had it but they: God had not dealt ſo with other Nations; the heathens had not the knowledge of his Lawes.
Here were great workes of Nature, great works of Grace; yet this was the unthankfulneſſe of this people, they forgat God their Saviour that had done theſe great things for them in Egypt.
Then Wonderfull things too, Mirabilia. There be foure ſorts of Mirabilia, of wonderfull things: There be mirabilia naturae, wondrous works of nature: ſecret wondrous works of nature; That the load-ſtone ſhould draw Iron to it; That this power of the load-ſtone ſhould be reſtrained, if the Adamant be neare it. That the Adamant cannot be broken upon an anvile with an hammer, that is eaſily broken if it be anointed with goats bloud. That the fleſh of a dead Peacocke ſhould not putrefie: Saint Auſtine ſaith, hee obſerved it himſelfe, hee took an experiment of it in an whole twelve-month, hee tried it, that it putrefied not. That a fountaine in Lybia ſhould ſend forth water ſo cold in the day, that none could drink it; and ſo hote in the night, that none can touch it: Theſe, and a thouſand more, are mirabilia naturae, wonderfull things in nature; no man is able to give the reaſon of it: yet it is God that did theſe wonderfull things in nature.
Then againe, there be mirabilia artis, wonderfull things in art. There were ſeven buildings that were wont to be called the Wonders of the world: one of them was in Egypt, the Pyramides: another of them, above all other was a wonder, me thinks, above all wonders: a wonder of Art. It were too long to tell you what a wonder it was. It was nothing but a prodigall monument of prodigality and vaine-glory; prodigality and vaine-glory, that was the ſin of them that built it; but the skill in making it, that came from God.
Thirdly, there be mirabilia Satanae, there be wonderfull things of Satan, wondrous works that Satan and his inſtruments, Magicians and Sorcerers, can doe. God did not puniſh the apoſtate Angels at the firſt (as the School-men ſay) in their naturall skill and power; that is as great now to doe a miſchiefe, as the skill and power of good Angels is to doe that that is good. The Divell, hee can doe wonderfull things; hee can compaſſe the whole earth in a little time; you finde, in the booke of Job, that he can raiſe tempeſts, he can bring down fire, hee can hurrie a body, and remove it; as he did the body of our Lord from the wilderneſſe to the pinacle of the Temple, and thence to the mountaine. Hee can ſpeake in Images; it was the divell that ſpake in ſome Images of the Gentiles. And if popiſh Images have now and then ſpoken too, as they ſay they have, (Bene de me ſcripſiſti, ſaid he of Thomas Aquinas, Thou haſt written well of mee Thomas) I make no queſtion, but the divell ſpake in them.
The divell can doe more then that; the divell knowes the ſecret and hidden vertues in things; their ſympathies and antipathies, their qualities and properties. The divels can doe wonderfull things: Though they cannot doe miraculous things, they can doe wonderfull things. Thus the ſorcerers in Egypt, they did many wonderfull things; mira, but not true miracles.
Now fourthly, there are mirabilia Dei, the wonderfull things of God. Indeed, there is never a worke of God but it is wonderfull, what worke ſoever it be. The very Heathen man could ſay, in every naturall thing, there is ſomething in it that is wonderfull. But there are ſome workes of God above all other that are truly miracles; not mira, but miracula. What workes are thoſe?
Such as exceed the facultie and poſsibility of nature, they are properly and theologically miracles. The divell can doe many things by the concurrence of naturall cauſes, but hee cannot worke a miracle: that which is properly and theologically called a miracle, the divell cannot worke it.
Now God had wrought many miracles for this people. The turning of the duſt of the earth into lice, this was a miracle: the Magicians, by the help of the divell, attempted to doe this; but they could not doe it: the art of the Magicians failed them in ſuch a thing as this, they could not turne the duſt into lice. Then he turned the water of the river into blood; hee turned the red-ſea into drie land; hee turned three daies into three darke nights; hee turned light into palpable darkneſſe, that no man ſaw one another, nor ſtirred from the place where hee was for three daies. Theſe are wonderfull things, truely miracles; yet, this people forgat God their Saviour, that had done ſuch great things for them in Egypt, and wondrous things in the land of Ham.
Yea, and laſtly, Terrible things in the Red-ſea; yea, God did terrible things for them before they came to the red-ſea: He did terrible things for them in Egypt, if you marke them; hee plagued the Egyptians in all things.
Firſt in their ſoules, with hardneſſe of heart; hee plagued them in their bodies with botches, and blaines; hee plagued them in their corne with haile; hee plagued them in their beaſts with murraine; hee plagued them in their houſes with froggs; hee plagued them in their families with the death of their firſt-born: Here were terrible things when they were in Egypt; but, the moſt terrible thing of all was that at the red-ſea, when hee drowned Pharaoh, and all his hoſt, that there was not one of them left. In the ninth verſe of this Pſalme, you may obſerve a worke of power; in the tenth verſe, a worke of mercy; and, in the eleventh verſe, a worke of judgement. The worke of mercy was a great worke, the worke of power was a wonderfull worke, and the worke of judgement was a terrible worke.
Yet, for all this, ſee the unthankfulneſſe of this people. They forgat all theſe.
But, is it poſsible (you will ſay) that they forgat, in ſo little a time, all theſe works; that they did not remember them?
There is a two-fold forgetfulneſſe; there is a forgetfulneſſe of the minde, and a forgetfulneſſe in affection, and action. A man may have God in his minde, yea, in his words, in his mouth, and yet forget him while hee thinkes of him, while hee ſpeakes of him.
I will ſhew it you in examples: Aske the Idoll-monger, Why doſt thou make this Idoll? He will ſay, To remember God by it. It is the uſuall word of the Papiſts; Why have you theſe Images? Why? To remember God by them. But this is no way to remember God, this is to forget him: becauſe, when his Commandement is forgotten, hee is forgotten; his Commandement is, that thou ſhalt not make an Image. They made this calfe to have a viſible repreſentation of God before their eyes, to remember him. O, they forgat him now.
A blaſphemer, a ſwearer, will have the Name of God in his mouth: there are not three periods, but hee will have the Name of God in his mouth. Will you ſay, that this man remembers God that talkes and ſpeakes of him, and ſwears by him at every word? Doth hee remember him, thinke you? This is to forget God: For, if hee remembred the Name of God, that it is a good name, hee would love it: If hee remembred that it were a great name, hee would feare it: If hee remembred it were a glorious name, hee would reverence it. But hee neither knowes it to be a good name, hee forgets that it is a good name, and a great name, and a glorious name, and that makes him to forget God, even when hee remembers him, and ſpeakes of him.
To conclude, let mee onelyonly make a little application. I thinke, if any Nation may call God their Saviour next this people; ſurely, I thinke, wee may doe it. Conſider how God ſaved us in 88. Was not that a great worke? Remember how God ſaved us in the Gun-powder treaſon: Was not that a wonderfull worke? Remember how God ſaved our lives from death five yeares ſince, in that ſame great and heavie plague: Was not that plague a terrible worke?
Yet ſurely, brethren, have not wee forgotten God? have not wee forgotten theſe workes of his? Our falling from our firſt love, our ſliding back again to Egypt, our neutrality in Religion, our little hatred of Idolatry, and Superſtition: ſuch is our pride, ſuch is our wanton exceſſe, ſuch is our oppreſsion, ſuch our falſe weights, and ſuch our falſe oathes, and ſuch our falſe faces: Our waies that wee walke in are ſo unworthy of the Goſpell of Chriſt, that, I am affraid, God may charge us as truely as hee charged this people, Wee have forgot God our Saviour, that hath done ſo great things, ſo wondrous things, and ſo terrible things for us.
FINIS.