Englands Face in Israels Glass, Sermon 6
PSAL. 106.23.
Wherefore hee ſaid, hee would deſtroy them, had not Moſes his choſen ſtood in the breach, &c.
I Spake the laſt day of the revocation of this ſentence. I come now to the next thing, Who cauſed the revocation of this ſentence: but one man, Moſes; but hee was a choſen man.
[Moſes whom hee had choſen.]
Marke, I pray, among Gods elect in every generation, in every age, there have been ſome men that have been ſelect. Such a man I name Enoch in the old world, that God tooke away hence, that hee ſhould not ſee death: And ſuch a man I reckon Noah to be, a man gracious in the eyes of God, when all the world periſhed. And ſuch a man I reckon Abraham to be, whom God is pleaſed to honour with the name of his Friend, Abraham my Friend: And ſuch a man was Moſes, whom God was wont to talk with, as familiarly as one man talkes with another, as the Scripture ſaith: And ſuch men I reck on Eliah, and Eliſha to be, the very Chariots and Horſemen of Iſrael in their daies: And ſuch a man was Daniel, a man of Gods affection, a man that God did wondrouſly love, and ſet by; and many more. Theſe are as deare to God, as the apple of his owne eye, as the ſignet upon his right hand: theſe I call the Favourites of heaven.
Kings upon earth have their Favourites; the King of Kings hath his. Theſe are the Favourites of heaven; theſe are thoſe principall men: Micah 5. v. 5. The Princes of men. The hebrew beares it, Principall men. Theſe are thoſe Excellent ones upon earth, that David ſpeakes of, Pſal. 16. My delight is upon the Excellent ones that are upon the earth. There is not one of theſe but are worth a thouſand others, and have more power with God, then many thouſands of others: And, as the people ſaid of David, when hee would goe to battell againſt Abſolom; No, thou ſhalt not goe, leſt the light of Iſrael be quenched: for thou art worth ten thouſand of us. I may ſay the ſame of ſuch as theſe: One Moſes in the day of Gods hot wrath and vengeance; one ſuch a man as Phineas was in the time of a plague; One ſuch a man as Eliah was in the time of a drought; One ſuch a man as Paul in the companie when men are in a ſhipwrack, is able to doe more good then a thouſand others.
Gods children, they are not alway mighty men according to the fleſh; Not many mighty, ſaith the Apoſtle, not many mighty ones according to the fleſh, 1 Cor. 1.6. But, though they be not alway mighty according to the fleſh; yet, in regard of their ſpirit and grace, and their ſtate with God, they may be mighty men. Saint John Baptiſt, a contemptible man according to the fleſh; but the Angell fore-told of him, that hee ſhould be great in the ſight of the Lord.
You have ſome men that have prided themſelves in the ſirname of Great; Antiochus the Great, and Alexander the Great, and Herod the Great, and Pompey the Great, and diverſe others. There be many of Gods children poore, contemptible things, Ignobilia mundi, the contemptible things of the world; that are greater men with God, and have done greater acts, then the greateſt of theſe great ones.
Which of all thoſe great ones was able to command the ſun to ſtand ſtill? Joſuah did it; Sun, ſtand thou ſtill in Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon. Which of all thoſe great ones was able to command the thunder? Samuel did it in the time of wheat-harveſt. Which of all thoſe great ones was able to command the raine? Eliah did it: As the Lord God of Iſrael liveth, there ſhall be no raine, but according to my word, 1 King. 17. verſe 1. Which of all thoſe great ones was able to ſtand in the breach againſt the great God of heaven and earth, when hee came to execute his fierce wrath upon his people? you ſee Moſes did it. If one Moſes may cauſe a revocation of a fearfull ſentence againſt a whole Nation, what may a multitude of Gods choſen ones doe, uniting their forces, and ſoliciting heaven for mercy?
I know, beloved brethren, what opinion the world hath of Gods children, of Gods choſen ones: they doe not onelyonly thinke them to be contemptible things, foreign, as the Apoſtle ſpeakes, the very filth of the world, and the off-ſcouring of all things unto this day: Men of no name, as Job ſaith; Nay, men of no being: Thoſe things that are not, ſaith the Apoſtle. They may have a being in nature; but they have no being in the eſteeme and account of men, thoſe things that are not.
And they not onelyonly thinke them thus, but (beſides) the only troubleſome, dangerous men in a ſtate. Ahab tooke Eliah to be the man that troubled all Iſrael. The men of Theſſalonica tooke Jaſon, and the brethren in his houſe, to be the men that turned the world upſide downe, as they ſpeake Acts 17. ver. 5. Tertullus accuſeth Paul to be a peſtilent fellow; nay, it is ſomewhat worſe in the Greeke, it is foreign in the abſtract, the peſtilence it ſelfe, a plague, one that moved ſedition thorow the world where hee came, Acts 24.
In the firſt ages of the Church, if either Tyber at any time did flow above the accuſtomed height, or Nilus did not flow to the accuſtomed height; if either there were famine, or peſtilence in the land, or any calamity, they laid all the fault upon the Chriſtians: the Chriſtians were in the fault, away with the Chriſtians, to the lions with them; as though they were men not worthy to live in the world. Yet hearken, I pray, what the Apoſtle ſaith for all that, in Hebrew. 11. ver. 38. The world was not worthy of them. Hee ſpeakes of ſome men that wandred up and downe in ſheep-skins, and goat-skins, deſtitute, afflicted, tormented; yet the world was not worthy of them. Why not worthy? Theſe men bring bleſsings to the places where they come, they bring bleſsings to the world; the world is not worthy of theſe bleſsings, therefore not worthy of the men that procured them.
And what bleſsings (will you ſay) doe Gods children bring to a place?
I tell you, they bring a bleſsing with their very preſence, their very preſence is a bleſsing. The preſence of Jacob was a bleſsing in the houſe of Laban. The very preſence of Joſeph was a bleſsing in the houſe of Potiphar. And what a bleſsing was in the widow of Zarephath's houſe, when Eliah was there?
Then they procure a bleſsing with their prayers where they come: Jam. 5.16.The prayer of a faithfull man prevailes much with God. God promiſed this to Abimelech as a great favour; Gen. 20.5.My ſervant Abraham ſhall pray for thee. And the like favour is promiſed to the three friends of Job; Goe, (ſaith God, to thoſe three men, Job's friends,) goe every one of you offer a burnt offering, ſeven bullockes, and ſeven lambes for a burnt offering, and my ſervant Job ſhall pray for you, Job ult. 8.
Thirdly, they procure bleſsings by their good example of life, becauſe they ſhine as ſtars among a wicked and froward generation.
Yea, and they procure this bleſsing, not onelyonly to private houſes, as Jacob did to the houſe of Laban, and Joſeph to the houſe of Potiphar; but to the whole ſociety, to all that are in the company. There were in the ſhip with Paul two hundred ſeventy and ſix ſoules in a mighty ſhipwrack: not one of thoſe men periſhed, not a haire fell from the head of any one of them; and all for Paul's ſake. They bring a bleſsing to the whole company that is with them.
Nay, further, they bring a bleſsing to a whole City where they be: Runne to and fro (ſaith the Lord to the Prophet) in the ſtreets of Jeruſalem, and ſee if you can finde a man that will execute judgement, and ſpeake the truth, and I will ſpare the City for his ſake, Jer. 5.1. If there had been but ten men in Sodome righteous, it had not been deſtroyed: there was but one righteous man found there, and God could doe nothing to Sodome till hee was out of it; Get thee gone (ſaith the Angell to Lot) I can doe nothing till thou be gone.
Nay, further, they doe good to the whole country wherein they live. Wee are not in a continent here, wee live in an Iſland: And hearken what Eliphaz the Temanite ſaith, according to our former tranſlation (our new ſomewhat varies, but the words will beare as well the one as the other) The righteous ſhall deliver the Iſland, and it ſhall be delivered through the uprightneſſe of his hands, Job 22. ult.
Nay, I will goe further, The children of God are not the men that turne the world upſide downe, they are the men that keepe it upright. Were it not for the Elect in the world, God would ſoone turne it upſide downe. It is for the Elects ſake that hee keepes it up: as ſoone as the Elect are gathered together, the world will be at an end.
Let mee make uſe of it, and I have done. Doth God for the righteous ſake ſhew favour to the wicked; mee thinkes, the wicked for their owne ſakes ſhould ſhew favour to the righteous. If Moſes were gone, and the wrath of God begin to burne like fire againſt us, who ſhould run to the gap, and to the breach?
If Aaron were gone, and the plague ſhould wax hot among us, who ſhould run with his cenſer, and ſtand between the living and the dead, and make atonement for us?
If war ſhould be in the land, and if the Chariots and Horſe-men of Iſrael were gone, who ſhould fight for us?
A fearefull preſage of an utter deſtruction, (and was ever held ſo) is the untimely end of many eminent perſons in the Church or Common-wealth; a fearfull preſage. Methuſelah, if you marke the ſtory, did live to the very ſix hundredth yeare of Noah's life, and in the ſecond month of that ſix hundredth yeare the Flood came: Methuſelah was but new dead, and, as ſoone as Methuſelah was dead, God ſent the Flood. As ſoone as Joſiah, that good King, was ſlaine, then came that miſerable captivity. Eſay chap. 57. ver. 1. The righteous periſheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and good men are taken away. Why? from the evill that is to come. Marke that, from the evill that is to come. God takes thoſe away, thoſe would hinder him, thoſe would run to the breach, thoſe would ſtay divine juſtice from proceeding further; hee takes them away. Let me conclude this point: You have had here one worke of Moſes; let mee tell you of another in another hiſtory. In the 17th. of Exodus, there was war between Iſrael and Amalek; Moſes hee gate up on the hill, and held his hands to God in prayer: As long as Moſes his hands were held up, Iſrael prevailed; when Moſes his hands grew faint, come Aaron and Hur, one on the one hand, and the other on the other, and hold up his hands, and prop them up, that they might not be weary. Brethren, wee ſhould all be holding up our hands to God for mercy. If thou, out of conſcience of thine owne unworthineſſe, thinkeſt ſurely that God will not regard the holding up of thine hands; he will never have an eye to thine hands when thou holdeſt them up; yet doe as Aaron and Hur, hold up the hands of them, whoſe hands thou thinkeſt God will reſpect. If thou canſt not act Moſes his part, act Aarons and Hurs.
Alas! the hands of Gods children are faint, they are diſcouraged, their knees are feeble with prayer: O, encourage them, lift up their hands, it may be God will yet heare their prayers, and ſhew mercy to them. Thus much ſhall ſerve for the firſt point: It was Moſes that got the ſentence revoked.
I come to the other, the meanes by which he got it revoked, hee ſtands in the breach; had not Moſes his choſen ſtood in the breach.
A military phraſe, a phraſe taken from the wars. If a City be beſieged, and if the enemy without, by a ram, or any other warlike Engine, hath made a breach in the wall; all that are men of courage and valour runne to the wall, runne to the breach, and ſtrive by all meanes poſsible to keepe the enemy from entring in at that breach chat hee hath made.
This fearefull ſinne of the people had made a breach, by which divine juſtice might have entred, and have brought an utter deſtruction upon them all: Moſes runnes to the breach, and ſets himſelfe between God and the people, that God ſhould not proceed further to their deſtruction.
Now, you muſt note, he ſtood in the breach two waies:
Firſt, by a due execution of juſtice.
And then by an earneſt, importunate interceſsion for mercy.
Firſt, I ſay, by the execution of juſtice. Doth the wrath of God at any time burne like fire againſt a ſinfull people? There are two things whereby it may be quenched; A man may quench the wrath of God in regard of any temporall calamity, the fire of Gods wrath, with two things, two liquors:
The one is blood.
The other is teares.
The blood I meane, is the blood of malefactors, principall malefactors, that ſhall be ſhed with the ſword of juſtice.
The teares I ſpeake of, are ſuch teares as are ſhed by principall men, by the Favourites of heaven in their prayers for mercy. Moſes doth both; he pleads Gods cauſe here againſt the people, and he pleads the peoples again with God.
Firſt, Cauſam Dei apud populum gladio, he pleads Gods cauſe againſt the people with a ſword of juſtice; hee pleads the peoples cauſe againſt God with teares, and prayers: in both hee ſhewes himſelfe a zealous Magiſtrate; and I cannot tell whether hee ſhew himſelfe more zealous to the glory of God in the one, or more zealous of the peoples good in the other.
For the firſt, his execution of juſtice. There is a way to ſtand in the breach. Moſes is ſaid to be the mildeſt man that was upon the earth; but, I pray, marke what this mild man did, when hee ſaw the glory of God beſtowed upon a baſe, filthy, inglorious abomination. Firſt hee comes from the Mount, and brings the Tables of God in his hand, and caſts down the Tables, and breakes them; I doe not thinke hee did it through impotency of paſsion: Mark his words, Deuteronom. 9. ver. 17. mee thinkes, hee did it adviſedly; but with ſome ſecret warrant from God. Hee ſaw the people had broken the Covenant, and hee, before their eyes, breakes the Tables of the Covenant, the moſt precious monument that ever the world had. This was the firſt thing hee did.
Hee ſtayes not here, hee goes to the Calfe, the ſinne that they had made (as hee calls it) he takes it, and breakes it to pieces, ſtampes it to powder, hee beats it as ſmall as duſt and caſts it into the brooke, and makes them drink the water of it; theſe are the Gods that ſhall goe before them. Let them looke their god in their urine.
He is not yet content, but cries, Who is on the Lords ſide? And the Tribe of Levi come, and gird their ſwords on their ſides, and run from one ſide of the camp to the other, and ſlay every man his brother, and every man his Father, and every man his companion. They ſlew at that time three thouſand, and with the blood of theſe three thouſand hee ſlacked the wrath of God. The ſonnes of Levi never offered a ſacrifice of the fleſh of beaſts, that was a ſacrifice of ſo ſweet a ſmelling favour in the noſtrils of God, as this ſacrifice of their brethren.
When a ſinne is committed, wherewith earth is annoyed, and heaven provoked, the juſtice of God ſets out preſently againſt that ſin; but goes on ſlowly, very ſlowly: hee will ſee whether mans juſtice will follow after it, or no; if mans juſtice overtake it, Gods juſtice purſues it no further, there is an end.
There may be eaſily an unmercifull cruelty in the ſhedding of blood, and there may be an over-cruell mercy in the ſparing of it. Jonah was no ſooner caſt out of the ſhip, but the ſea was quiet. Achan, and his family were no ſooner ſtoned to death, and burned with fire, but Iſrael prevailed. The ſonnes of Saul were no ſooner hanged, but the famine ceaſed. Phineas ſtood up, and executed judgement, and the plague was ſtayed, in verſe 30. of this Pſalme. As ſoone as this blood of three thouſand men, that were principall offenders in this Idolatry, as ſoone as that was ſhed, as ſoone as that blood was throwne upon the fire of Gods wrath, the fire ſlacked preſently.
But yet it was not quenched till his prayer came. There is the ſecond way, his prayer; Jam. 5.16.The prayer of a righteous man prevaileth much, if it be fervent. Can you finde a more fervent prayer then this that Moſes made for this people? Mark the prayer, you ſhall finde it Exodus 32. where this ſtory is ſet downe.
Firſt hee puts God in mind of his propriety in this people, It was thy people, O God, &c. God before called them Moſes his people, as you may perceive, when God bids him goe downe; Goe downe, for thy people that thou haſt brought out of Egypt, &c. Moſes diſclaimes them, as if he ſhould ſay, Lord, they are none of my people, they are thy people: Wilt thou loſe any thing that is thine? There is his firſt argument.
His ſecond argument is from Gods great workes; Lord, thou haſt brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Wee love not to loſe our former benefits; our former benefits are loſt, if they be not ſeconded with new: Lord, wilt thou loſe thy former favours done to this people?
The third argument is, hee puts God in mind of his glory; Lord, what will the Egyptians ſay? Thou haſt brought them forth with a mighty hand, and an out-ſtretched arme. Why is it? To kill them in the mountaines? To conſume them from the earth? Lord, how will thy glory be eclipſed?
Then, fourthly, hee puts him in mind of their progenitors, Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob: Lord, theſe be the children of thoſe Fathers; Didſt thou love the tree, and wilt thou caſt away the fruit? Didſt thou love the Fathers, and wilt thou caſt away the children?
Then another is from the promiſe of God, confirmed with oathes: thou ſwareſt to them that thou wouldeſt give them the Land; ſhall not thy promiſe hold? Not thy promiſe confirmed with oathes? Here is his pleading for the people: as before you heard how hee pleaded Gods cauſe with the ſword, yea, how earneſtly hee pleaded Gods cauſe, in that very day that hee brake the Calfe. Yet, notwithſtanding all this, the good man feared: though God might repent of the evill; yet, it may be, he will not be thorowly reconciled to the people, there will not be a thorow reconciliation; therefore he goes to God againe, Lord (quoth hee) If thou wilt pardon this people! It was a vehement pathos; If thou wilt pardon it! hee ſaith no more: but, if thou wilt not, put mee out of the booke of life. So deſirous was hee of Gods glory, together with the ſalvation of the people, that hee was careleſſe of the ſalvation of his own ſoule; Lord, either forgive them, or blot me out of the book of life. Here is a vehement prayer, and with this he ſlacks the wrath of God, & quencheth it. It was ſlacked with the bloud that he caſt on it, it was quenched with the teares.
Wee reade of many more in Scripture that ſtood in the breach; Samuel; God is wont by Jeremy to joyne him and Moſes together, If Moſes and Samuel ſtood before mee. Then Ezekiel ſtood in the breach another time: Joſiah, another time. And, not to heape other examples, God complaines, Ezek. 13.5. that the Prophets would not ſtand in the breach, the falſe Prophets. But there is an excellent place, worth your obſervation, in Ezek. 22. ver. 30. God had ſpoken of the ſins of the people thorow that Chapter, and ſhewed how thoſe ſins had made way for Divine juſtice to breake in among them: Then, in verſe 30. marke what hee ſaith; I ſought for a man among them that would make up the hedge, and ſtand in the gap before mee for the land, that it ſhould not be deſtroyed: I found none: ſee, I ſought for a man.
When our ſinnes have opened ſuch a gap, whereby divine juſtice may come in to the deſtruction of a whole land; then God looks for a man, he looks about to ſee if he can find a man that will come and ſtand in the gap, to keep him that he might not deſtroy them. Brethren, hee that doth not ſee what a wide gap, what a wide breach the manifold ſins of this land have made, whereby divine juſtice may breake in, and hath begun to breake in already; hee that ſees not this gap, this breach, ſees nothing. I pray you, brethren, doe but remembet, Did not God, a few yeares agoe, make us turne our backes twice or thrice upon our enemies? Did hee not make us a very deriſion, and ſcorne to them that are round about us? Doth not God come in now among us, as the Prophet Habakuk ſhewes his manner of coming, when hee comes to judgement; to wit, with the peſtilence before him, and burning coales going forth at his feet? Hab. 3. verſe 5. Doe you not ſee, beloved brethren, what a number of new upſtart hereſies there be in the world? It bodes no good, ſurely; new hereſies broached every day, and old hereſies renewed. Doe you not ſee what miſerable rents and ſchiſmes there be in the Church, while ſome hold of Paul, ſome of Apollo, ſome of Cephas, ſome of all of them, and ſome of none of them? Doe you not ſee the aſpect one upon another, is like the aſpect of malignant planets? Is not Chriſt divided? Then doe you not ſee what jealouſies and diſcontents there are in the ſecular ſtate? Brethren, ſurely God is looking for a man to come to the breach.
Help, men, fathers, and brethren, come to this breach; help, Magiſtrates: it is not enough for you to looke upon our miſeries, though with teares in your eyes, unleſſe your hands be put to the redreſſe of it. Are there no houſes of correction for theſe vagrant perſons that live under no Magiſtracy, under no Miniſtry? Have you no carts for bauds? No whips for harlots? No pecuniarie mulcts for others? No puniſhments for tranſgreſsors?
It is for us too, that are Miniſters, to runne to this breach. If ever wee did preach with power, and evidence, and demonſtration, not of nature, or art, but of grace, and of the ſpirit, it is time for us now to preach, and to preach againe, in ſeaſon, and out of ſeaſon. O, that wee could be Boanerges, ſons of thunder, and crie downe thoſe ſins that crie for vengeance. And hearken, Maſters, Fathers, and Governours of families, run to the breach. In cleanſing of the City, if every man ſweep before his own door, the ſtreets will be kept cleane. Why doe you ſuffer revelling, and ſwearing, and quarrelling, and drinking in your families? Your houſes ſhould be Churches for God. Where be your old exerciſes of Religion in your houſholds? Where be your prayers, and your reading of Scriptures, and your ſinging of Pſalmes? Where is your catechiſing? I ſay no more, but, high and low, rich and poore, let us all run to the breach, by earneſt interceſsion to God privatly, by continuall teares of repentance. I conclude now as I did the laſt day, Who knowes yet whether the Lord will have mercy on us, and turne from his fierce wrath, that wee periſh not?
FINIS.