Spiritual Whoredom Discovered, Sermon
SPIRITUAL WHOREDOM Diſcovered in a Sermon ON HOSEA 9.1. Rejoyce not, O Iſrael, for joy, as other people; for thou haſt gone a whoring from thy God.
CALVIN conjectures that this Propheſie of Hoſea, as we now have it (as the reſt of the Propheſies) was but the ſummary or brief heads of certain Sermons, which at ſeveral times and upon ſeveral occaſions were preach't unto the people of Iſrael and Iudah, collected by himſelf, and regiſtred for the uſe and benefit of the Church of God.
This Sermon he conceives begins at my Text, but the diſtinct time when it was preach't, neither himſelf nor any other Expoſitor do hint; That it was before the Babylonian Captivity, is clear from the date of the Propheſie, Chap. 1. Verſ. 1.
Certain it is, and that may content us (ſaith he) that the Prophet doth here bitterly reprove the extream obſtinacy and deſperate ſecurity of the people,Calv. in locuen. who by all the pains and unwearied labours of the Prophets could not be brought to repentance, although their rebellions and apoſtacy were ſo viſible that all the world might take notice of it.
However their incorrigibleneſs muſt not cauſe the Prophet to deſiſt his duty: therefore upon all occaſions (when call'd to preach before them) he ceaſeth not to reprove, to convince, to exhort, if by any means, he might happily awaken them to a timely diſcovery of their ſin, and prevention of approaching ruine and deſtruction.
Peoples obſtinacy muſt not ſilence the Prophets fidelity;Obſerv. paſſion and ſhort-ſpiritedneſs, of all men in the world, doth ill become them: In meekneſs inſtructing thoſe that oppoſe themſelves, if God peradventure wil give them repentance, &c. 2 Tim. 2.25.26.is the Apoſtles cannon to all the Miniſters of the Goſpel.
In the words therefore the Prophet doth call them to ſerious and ſeaſonable humiliation and repentance; for though the words ſeem to ſpeak only a bare prohibition of joy and rejoycing; yet,
1. That was to convince them of, & reprove them for their unſeaſonable mirth and jollity, that they ſhould rejoyce when their God was ſo highly diſpleaſed with them for their manifold apoſtacies; and the repetition of the words rejoyce not for joy, or as the*foreign Hebrew, rejoyce not to exultation, is for the greater*Habet haec repetitio emphaſin quandam, i. e. majorem increpationem intempeſtive laetitiae Ribera in locum. aggravation of their ſin and the Prophets reproof.
2. And again the words have a foreign in them, they mean and import more then they ſpeak out (as it is uſual in Scripture Rhetorick); and ſo while they forbid joy, i. e. carnal ſecurity and ſenſual rejoycing in creature-comforts, they enjoyn the contrary; ſc. mourning and weeping, girding with ſackcloth, and rolling themſelves in duſt and aſhes;averſus es a deo, ergo tibi lugendum eſt Jugiter, non exultandum. Corn. a Lap. in locum. a conſtant and conſcionable humiliation, and walking humbly before their God.
And this is preſt from a double Conſideration
Sin.
Wrath.
Their ſin againſt God.
Gods wrath againſt them.
The one expreſſed: The other implyed.
Their ſin expreſſed, thou haſt gone a whoring. And Gods wrath implyed, if thou haſt gone a whoring, God cannot chooſe but be highly diſpleaſed with your ſin, and yet more diſpleaſed with them for their ſecurity then for their ſin.
And both theſe are yet further aggravated from the Relation which Iſrael had to God, thy God; which relation is ſet forth
1. Poſitively.
2. Comparatively.
1. Poſitively, The relation of a ſpouſe or wife; and that is implyed in the ſin, which is called whoredom: Whoredom or adultery, you know, is properly the ſin againſt the marriage-relation. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God wil judg. Heb. 13.4.Adultery is the defiling of the marriage-bed; and therefore ſome do etymon Adulterium, quaſi ad alterum, the departure of the husband or wife into the bed and boſom of a ſtranger: Here, I ſay, is the conjugal relation into which God had taken Iſrael, implyed, to the aggravation of her apoſtacy; whereby her ſin came to be Whoredom and Adultery againſt the Lord.
2. Comparatively, With other Nations; rejoyce not as other people: Why? Becauſe though they have the relation of creatures unto God, and of men and women, yet they have not the relation of a spouſe or wife: Ye only have I known of all the families of the earth, ſaith God to Iſrael:Amos 3.2. i. e. with a conjugal knowledg; other Nations may cal God Baali, but they cannot cal him Iſhi; i.e. they may cal him my Lord and my Maker, but not my Huſband and my Redeemer; they are his by Creation and common providence, but not by Covenant and conjugal relation.
So that now here is the aggravation: Other Nations may ſin againſt God, but they cannot commit adultery againſt God; other Nations may rebell againſt the Lord, but they cannot go a whoring from him: This was Iſraels ſin and the aggravation of it.
And as it was the aggravation of her ſin, ſo it was the aggravation of Gods wrath too; that, as I ſay, is implyed; for if Iſraels ſin be the ſin of adultery, then Gods wrath muſt needs be the wrath of jealonſie; and jealouſie as it is the rage of a man, Prov. 6.34, 35ſo it is the rage of a God; anger red-hot, wrath ad octo, in the higheſt degree; Therefore he wil not ſpare in the day of vengeance; he wil not regard any ranſom, neither wil he reſt content though thou giveſt many gifts.
Jealouſie is as cruel as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a moſt vehement flame, &c. Cant. 8.6.This therefore you ſee is the aggravation both of her ſin and danger: By all which the Prophet calls Iſrael now to ſence of ſin, and humiliation for ſin; to be affected with, and afflicted for her grievous departure from the Lord.
And now the words thus opened would afford many ſerious and ſeaſonable obſervations. I ſhal reſolve all into 4 Doctrines.
1. A Nation or Kingdom in external Covenant with God ſtands in a conjugal relation unto God.
2. A people thus related unto God may (poſſibly) go a whoring from him, commit adultery againſt him.
3. Sometimes it comes to paſs that Gods Iſrael whilſt ſhe lieth under the guilt of whoriſh departure from her God, in ſtead of being affected with, and afflicted for her whoredom; in ſtead of mourning, and judging her ſelf before the Lord, doth ſecurely and ſinfully let out her heart to carnal comfort and rejoycing.
4. An Iſrael, under adulterous departures from God, hath leaſt cauſe to rejoyce; and more cauſe to mourn and lament then any nation or people under heaven.
In theſe 4 Doctrinal Obſervations you have the ſence and ſoul of this Scripture.
I begin with the firſt, intending but a brief tranſition through the 3 former, that I might ſit down and enlarge my ſelf upon the fourth and laſt. I begin with the firſt.
Doct. 1 A Nation or Kingdom in external Covenant with God, ſtands in a conjugal relation unto God.
Thy God;] There you have the Covenant, ſo it runs, I wil eſtabliſh my Covenant between me and thee, and thy ſeed after thee, &c. To what end? To be a God unto thee and to thy ſeed after thee. Gen. 17, 7.And ſo again v. 8. I wil be their God.
Where ever the Scripture ſaies thy God, it implyes a Covenant. Fallen man having loſt his God, can never come to ſay [my God] again, but it muſt be by vertue of a Covenant.
Thou haſt gone a whoring] that implyes, as I have ſhewed you, the conjugal relation unto God. Wheredom being the ſin of wedlock, the violation of the ſacred bonds of marriage.
Into this neer relation doth God take a nation or people, when he brings them into the bond of the Covenant.Ezek. 20.37.
So run the words of the Covenant.
I wil betroth thee unto me for ever.
I wil betroth thee unto me in righteouſneſs.
I wil betroth thee unto me in faithfulneſs.Deſponſabo. Hoſ. 2 19, 20. They are, I ſay, the words of the Covenant, which God ſpeaks not only to*Rom. 9.26. old Iſrael, when the vail ſhal be taken away from their hearts, but to the Goſpel-Iſrael alſo, even to whatſoever nation or people, God ſhal ſay,*Hoſea 2.23. Thou art my people, and they ſhal anſwer thou art my God Witneſs the Apoſtle S. Peter, who in his firſt Epiſtle. 2. Chap. 9.10, verſes. applyes it to the Gentiles as wel as the Jews.
*1 Pet. 2, 9, 10But ye are a choſen generation, a royal Prieſthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye ſhould ſhew forth the praiſes of him, who hath called you out of darkneſs into his marveilous light: Which in time paſt were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Speaking to the*Chap, 1, 1. ſtrangers, i. e. ſtrangers by nature, though not by grace; by generation, (not being of Abrahams ſeed) though not ſtrangers by regeneration, (being of Abrahams faith) for ſo it follows. Scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Aſia, Bythinia.
I But there is no more national Churches, ſince Abrahams ſeed ceaſed to be a Church; Say ſome.Object.
There is not indeed a national Church, in that ſence that Iſrael was a national Church. And truly if this were but wel obſerved,Anſw. it would cut off a great deal of needleſs Controverſie, whereof comes nothing but ſtrife and contention. I ſay there is not a national Church, as Iſrael was a national Church; that is to ſay.
1. Quà, ſuch a mans ſeed, they were a Church as coming out of Abrahams loynes; for if there were any Proſolites among them, they were reckoned unto Abraham for a ſeed. So, we know no national Church in the times of the Goſpel.
2. Nor (which follows upon the former) quà ſuch a nation, Iſrael was a Church quà Iſrael; England is not a Church quà England, nor Scotland quà Scotland &c.
3. Nor, thirdly, do we aſſert or know a national Church excluſive, as Iſrael was; Iſrael was a Church, ſo that there was none elſe in all the world beſides. In Iudah was God Known, Pſa. 76.1, 2.his name was great in Iſrael, In Salem was his Tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Sion, i.e. So, as he had no dwelling place elſe, it is by way of excluſion to all the world beſides.
Thus I ſay, and in this ſence, we own no National Church under the Goſpel.
But now take a Nation or people as in external Covenant with God. h.e.
1. As God offering to them his Covenant of life and gráce by Ieſus Chriſt, revealed in the Doctrine of the Goſpel, and ratified by the Seals thereof affixed.
2. And ſecondly, ſuch a Nation or people as generally accepting of, and cloſing with this Covenant thus revealed and Sealed, and profeſſing faith in, and obedience to this Covenant thus offered. And this offer on Gods part, and acceptance on theirs, makes them a National Church in a Goſpel-ſence; yea, notwithſtanding ye ſhould ſuppoſe, all in that Nation do not profeſs it, and but very few do ſavingly embrace and beleeve it. For what if ſome do not beleeve, ſhal their unbeleife make the faith of God. i.e.*Fidei nomen hic propria et omnibus ſcriptoribus uſitata ſignificatione accipitur pro dictorum conventorumque constantia et veritate. Beza in loc. The Doctrine of faith, or of the Covenant without effect? It is the Apoſtles argument in a like diſpute; it is general Reformation, not perſonal ſaving converſion which makes a National Church.Rom. 3.3.
If any man ſhal demand of me to ſhew a National Church in the N.T.
1. Though I might as wel demand of him, to ſhew me ſuch a thing as a Nation in Adams family; (we cannot ſhew things til time bring them forth.)
2. Yet whoſoever wil impartially conſult theſe Scriptures, (*Pſa, 22.27. All the ends of the world ſhal remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations ſhal worſhip before thee. *Iſ, 19, 24, 25In that day ſhal Iſrael be the third with Aegypt and with Aſſyria, even a bleſſing in the midſt of the land. Whom the Lord of hoſts ſhal bleſs, ſaying, Bleſſed be Aegypt my people, and Aſſyria the work of my hands, and Iſrael mine inheritance. *Iſa. 52.15.So ſhal he ſprinkle many nations, &c. *Iſa. 55,5.Behold, thou ſhalt call a nation that thou knoweſt not, and nations that knew not thee, ſhal run unto thee, becauſe of the Lord thy God, and for the holy one of Iſrael, for he hath glorified thee. Rev. 11.15. And the ſeventh Angel ſounded, and there were great voyces in heaven, ſaying, The kingdomes of this world are become the kingdomes of our Lord, and of his Chriſt, and he ſhal raign for ever and ever,) and the like, may find ſuch a thing as a national Church in the Propheſy. And if the hiſtory of the Goſpel reach not far enough to ſhew the accompliſhment, ſurely the progreſs of the Goſpel doth.
3. In the mean time, as it is no abſurdity to ſay that Adams family was both a family, and a nation, and a world, and all vertually: ſo neither is there any falſe Doctrine in it, to ſay, that the firſt Goſpel-Church, was both Congregational and national, and Catholique or Ʋniverſal.
4. Surely, a national Church (in our ſence) hath bin a truth, about which there hath bin little diſpute among the Reformed Churches; even among them that have oppoſed Epiſcopacy, there are many that have not ſo much as queſtioned a national Church. Mr. Cartwright not only dedicates part of his labours, againſt the Hierarchy, to the Church of England, but in his Catech. Ch. 3. Which treats of the Church, having ſpoken of the Ʋniverſal Church, propounds this queſtion. What is the Church of one nation? and anſwers it thus. It is that which is gathered under one politique or civil government.
Mr.*He dedicates his whole book on the Rev. Sanctis, Reformatis, Britannicis, Germanicis, Gallicis Eccleſiis. Brightman in his expoſition upon Revelations 3. in his application of the Church of Laodiàea to the State of our Church, ſpeaks of it as one, Eccleſia noſtra Anglicana.
But time wil not ſuffer me to engage further in this controverſie, nor need I ſtand to make conjectures, why ſome of later times do ſo ſtrenuouſly deny ſuch a thing as a national Church, the reaſons begin to diſcover themſelves every day more apparently then other to all the world.
5. And laſtly, This is plain enough to any that are not wilfully blind, that where the partes conſtituentes of a thing do meet, there you have the thing it ſelf; where God holds forth his Covenant to a Nation or Kingdom and they generally embrace, and profeſs it: there is a Church in a Goſpel-ſence: and a Church thus covenanted, ſtands in conjugal relation unto God.
1. The greater is the honour which God doth put upon ſuch a Nation or People;Ʋſe. He hath not done ſo with any Nation, Pſa. 147, 20.ſang David once of Iſrael, before Chriſt; he hath not done ſo with every Nation, may England ſing, and what ever other Nation God hath, or ſhal cauſe to approach ſo neer unto himſelf, ſince Chriſt.
2. And ſecondly the more ſacred and invincible obligation lieth upon ſuch a people to maintain spouſe-like affection, and to yeeld spouſe-like obedience unto God; to ſtir up and provoke themſelves to be faithful in Covenant with the Lord: to take heed leſt there ſhould be any root of bitterneſs ſpringing up; an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; Deut, 29.which was the ſin here charged upon Iſrael: Heb, 3, 12.She went a whoring from the Lord: And brings me to the ſecond Doctrine.
Doct. 2 A Kingdom or people thus related unto God may (poſſibly) go a whoring from him, commit adultery againſt him.
Witneſs the complaints of God concerning this people (thus in Covenant with him) in this Propheſie. Chap. 4.12. Chap. 5.3, 4. Chap. 7.4. with divers other, per totum.
Yea all the Prophets bring in their inditements againſt this people under this notion and metaphor of adultery and wheredom: There were no end of quotations.
Two things I would briefly ſpeak to.
1. What this whoredom is, of which they ſtand indited.
2. How it comes to paſs that a people ſo neerly related unto God, may become guilty of ſo great a wickedneſs.
For the firſt.
1. All manner of ſin is a kind of ſpiritual adultery againſt God:What whordom againſt God in Scripture-ſenſe is. ſin qua ſin, hath the nature of whoredom in it: ſin being nothing elſe (as the Schools define it) but a turning away from God, and a turning to the creature; Peccatum eſt everflo a deo et converſso ad creaturam. Gen, 1. ult. Rom, 6. ult. Heb, 3, 12.a taking of that love and affection which is due to God, and beſtowing it upon the creature, yea the Devils creature: for ſin is none of Gods creature: God made neither ſin nor death; (all that he made was very good:) but the Devil brought in ſin, and ſin brought in death. Sin, I ſay, is a departing from God to the the creature, to a baſe luſt: Surely as a wife treacherouſly departeth from her huſband, ſo have you dealt treacherouſly with we,Ier, 3, 20 O houſe of Iſrael, ſaith the Lord. It is an inditement layd in, in reference to their ſin and apoſtacy in general. And thus corporal whoredom againſt the Covenant of marriage, is alſo spiritual whoredom againſt the Covenant of God; and pride is whoredom, and drunkenneſs whoredom, (indeed they ſeldom are ſeparated in the very letter) and Sabbath-breaking is whoredom, and all manner of prophaneſs is whoredom againſt the Lord.
So it runs in this peoples charge by this Prophet;
*Hoſea 4.11.Whoredom, and wine, and new wine take away the heart: The spirit of whoredoms hath cauſed them to err in the very next verſe.
*Chap, 5, 5.The pride of Iſrael teſtifies to his face: that's branded with the infamy of whoredom too, verſ. 4.*Verſe 4. The spirit of whoredoms is in the midſt of them: All manner of prophaneſs are but ſtreams that flow from the poyſoned fountain of an whoriſh heart, an heart turned away from God, and refuſing to turn unto him again. And therefore in reference to all theſe and more, it is demanded with aſtoniſhment;Iſa, 1, 21, 23. How is the faithful City become an harlot? Wherein? It follows, it was full of judgment, righteouſneſs lodged in it, but now murderers: Thy Princes are rebellious, and companions of theeves; every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards; they judg not the fatherleſs, neither doth the cauſe of the widdow come unto them. See perverting of juſtice, rebellion, robbery, covetouſneſs, bribery, mercileſneſs, all theſe are Whoredom.
But there are ſome ſpecial ſins,Special ſins called whoredom in Scripture which eminenter and above all other, are branded with this mark of whoriſh departure from God.
Firſt,1 Idolatry. Ier 20, 20. Ezek, 16, per tetum. Idolatry is all over the Prophets ſtigmatized with the infamy of Wheredom and Adultery againſt the Lord; not only becauſe (for the moſt part) they go together, but eſpecially as this is indeed a proper whoredom againſt the Lord, in as much as it is the taking in of another lover into the boſome; the ſetting up of a Rival God: thoſe expreſſions have much of the metaphor in them; where the Lord, ſpeaking of their Idols, lays this to their charge, Thou haſt diſcovered thy ſelf to another then me, Iſa, 57.8.thou lovedſt their bed; and thou haſt opened thy feet to every one that paſſed by, Ezek. 16, 25.and multiplyed thy whoredoms: i. e. Committed Idolatry with all the falſe gods of the heathen round about. Idolatry is the taking in of a ſtrange god (as it were) into the bed of loves: therefore hath God ſet his name of jealouſie upon that Command which forbids Idolatry, 2 Command.becauſe it is the proper paſſion which is irritated by the adulterous departures (or the ſuſpition of it) of the yoke-fellow from the other party in conjugal Covenant and relation.
The ſecond ſin branded with whoredom in Scripture is,2 Sin; Refuſing and oppoſing of Reformation. Hoſea 7.1. the refuſing and oppoſing of Reformation: When I would have healed Iſrael, then the iniquity of Ephraim was diſcovered, and the wickedneſs of Samaria: i. e. In a time of reformation they were worſe then ever. What are they called for this? See verſ. 4. They are all adulterers, &c. Idolatry is whoredom, in as much as it is a turning away from God: and oppoſition to reformation is whoredom, becauſe it is a refuſing to return to God: They wil not frame their doings, or (as the Hebrew may be rendred) their doings wil not ſuffer them to return to their God: foreign Non ſinent opera corum ut revertantur. Hoſea 5.4.i. e. Reformation was not conſiſtent with the deſigns they drave, it was not compatible with their luſts and private intereſts: What follows? The spirit of whoredoms is in the midſt of them.
Oppoſition of Reformation is ſpiritual adultery.
So are falſe doctrines and heretical opinions taken up and maintained by a people or perſon;2 Sin; Falſe doctrine they are ſpiritual wickedneſs and whoredom againſt God: The falſe Prophers propheſied lyes in Jeremiah's time,Ier. 23.26, 31 32. they are cenſured as Adulterers for it, Verſ. 14. I have ſeen alſo in the Prophets of Jeruſalem an horrible thing, they commit adultery and walk in lyes: And ſo in this Propheſie.Hoſea 7.3, 4. They make the King glad with their wickedneſs, and the Princes with their lyes: i. e. They found our falſe doctrine to palliate and juſtifie Jeroboams and his Princes falſe worſhip (of which you may read 1 King. 12.26.—) it follows verſ. 4. They are all adulterers &c.
The truth is, indeed, falſe doctrine is the pander to all manner of prophaneſs; it is the cover-ſin in the world: Antichriſt himſelf had never been a man of ſo many errors and blaſphemies, had he not been firſt the man of ſin.
Vain man would fain ſin by Authority, and therefore finds out falſhoods and lyes, and then fathers them upon the Word, that he may ſin by Scripture.
And that would make Error to be whoredom if there were no more (in a people that have known and embraced the truth as it is in Jeſus) in as much as it is the Cord to keep a people down in the bed of Whoredoms, of all manner of wickedneſs; for ſo it is added in the inditement of the falſe Prophets: They walk in lyes; they ſtrengthen alſo the hands of evil doers, Ier, 23, 14.that none doth return from his wickedneſs: for this, they commit adultery.
But that is not all: It is not only whoredom by conſequence, but perſe, in its own nature: God is the God of Truth, and Scripture is the Truth of God: They therefore that depart from God and his Truth, to embrace and beleeve lyes, ſtand guilty of whoredom in words at length, and not in figures only.
Inordinat love of the world, 4 Sin.is ſpecially pointed at by the finger of Gods ſpirit, as an Adultery.*Iames 4.4. Ye Adulterers and Adultereſſes know ye not that the freindſhip of this world is enmity againſt God &c. This is ſo apparent an whoredome, that the Spirit of God makes it matter of ſhame and aſtoniſhment, that any man ſhould be ignorant of it: know ye not?
Therefore is the covetous man ſayd to be an Idolater, becauſe he adores every Croſs of his corn: i. e. Eph, 5, 5.He layeth out that love, and zeal, and confidence, and truſt which is due to God, upon his Caſh, he ſayth to*Iob 31, 24. Gold thou art my hope, and to his fine gold, thou art my confidence.
That is the laſt ſin, (the laſt I ſhal name) which Scripture makes Adultery againſt God:5 Sin. Gornal confidence, truſting in the Creature. It is the ſin immediatly going before my text. Iſreal buildeth Temples, ſo in Dan and Bathel, Hoſea 8, ….for the worſhip of the Calves: And*Calv, in loc. Non quod per ſe hoc coram deo ſit damnabile ſed quia videbat propheta tranferri in illas urbes populi fiduciam, Ier, 17, 5. Iudah hath multiplyed fenced Cities; both for the ſecuring of themſelvs againſt danger: it is called a forgetting God, Iſrael hath forgotten his maker in the beginning of the verſe. When a people truſt in man and make fleſh their arm, their heart is departed from God, they are gone a whoring from him.
And thus you ſee what whoredom againſt God is. Firſt all ſin in general, lived in and allowed: but more eſpecially; 1. Idolatry. 2. Oppoſing of Reformation. 3. Hereſie. 4. Inordinate love of the world. 5. Carnal confidence, all theſe are whordome foreign, Adultery of the firſt magnitude.
Breifly now,2 Queſt. How comes the faithful City to be an Harlot? how comes it to paſs that a people ſo neerly related to God, may become guilty of ſo great a wickedneſs?
For is there indeed ſuch a thing in Scripture as falling away from grace, and the Divines of England would never let us know of it?
Is there indeed ſuch a thing as the diſſolution of the marriage knot between God and his people?
Surely no.
But 1.Anſw. we are ſpeaking here but of a viſible Church, a people or kingdom in external Communion with God, a mixt multitude of profeſſors, the major part whereof for want of root in themſelves, (with the ſtony ground) may make a total and final Apoſtacy from the worſhip, truths, and commands of the living God, to Idolatry, Hereſie, and Prophaneſs; and go a whoring from God, ſo as never to return to him again.
Formal and ungrounded profeſſion is the road to final defection and Apoſtacy.
2. Yea ſecondly, even of them who are living members of the inviſible Church, who are betrothed unto Ieſus Chriſt in an everlaſting Covenant, even among theſe may be ſome, who for want of a diſcerning eye, of Spirituall watchfulneſs, may for a time, and in ſome degree, be carried away with the error of the wicked, Epheſ, 4.14, foreignand by the cunning craftineſs, (the ſleight of hand or cheatry) of them that lie in wait to deceive, be carried down the ſtream and torrent of error and the Apoſtacy of the times. Oh, Chriſtians had need of good eyes, and critical inſpection and circumſpection, to diſcern the fallacies and frauds of ſeducers, for want whereof they may be I ſay greatly, not unſetled only and troubled, but even enſnared and miſled into dangerous principles and ways; but there is a Spirit of truth and love that acts and animates them (at the bottom) which ſhal preſerve them from total and final Apoſtacy, and recover them to the acknowledgment of the truth, and into the chaſt and ſpouſe-like embraces and obedience of their firſt Huſband. Hoſe 2.8.
Ʋſe.However the Contemplation of both theſe may be.
1. A Startling and an awakening Conſideration to all Chriſtian Magiſtrates and governours, to look about them that they do not ſuffer Churches and ſtates under their hand to turn Apoſtate, and go a whoring from their God, as much as in them lies.
2. A Caution to all, in the words of the Apoſtle,1 Cor, 10, 12. He that thinketh he ſtandeth, let him take heed leſt he fall.
But I ſhal have more ful occaſion to ſpeak to both theſe in the fourth Doct. And therefore I ſhall leave this, and haſten in a word to the third Doctrine.
Doct. 3 Many times it comes to paſs that Gods Iſrael lying under the deep guilt of whoriſh departures from her God, in ſtead of being affected with, and afflicted for her whoredoms, doth ſecurely and ſinfully let out her heart to carnal jollity and contentments.
It was the condition of Iſrael here which the Prophet doth ſeverely reprove and condemn; and this was not the firſt time they did ſo, was it not the complaint of the Prophets,*Iſa, 22, 12, 13. Iſaiah, and*Amos 6, 3, 4, 5, 6. Amos?
And laſt of all,Luk, 17, 26, Reaſons. the complaint of the Lord of the Prophets, Ieſus Chriſt himſelf?
What might the Reaſon be?
1. Surely, firſt there is deſperate ſecurity at the bottom of it, people in this caſe do wilfully ſhut their eyes againſt the diſcoveries, and convictions of ſin and wrath. They lie in a deep ſleep of ſecurity, and take no notice how the things of their peace are paſſing by them.Luke 19, 42.
2. There is a mixture likewiſe of deſperate unbeleif. Behold I work a work in your days which you wil not beleeve, though it be told you:Hab, 1, 5. people do harden their hearts againſt all the predictions and intimations of approaching ruin.
3. People do flatter themſelves extreamly, with their preſent proſperity and deliverances. It was the Lullabie of this people here, as Interpreters obſerve; becauſe garners were ful, and wine-fatts ran over; becauſe they had great peace, and rich plenty, therefore they thought all was wel, As long as people heare not from God in thundring and lightning, they reckon themſelves ſafe enough. Wil ye ſteal, murder, and commit adultery, Ier, 7, 9, 10.and ſwear falſly, and burn incenſe to Baal, and walk after other Gods whom ye know not, and come and ſtand before me in this houſe which is called by my name, and ſay, we are delivered to do all theſe abominations?
Behold, theft, and murder, and adultery, and perjury, and Idolatry, all put upon the ſcore of deliverances. Thou haſt found the life of thy hand, Iſa, 57, 10.therefore thou waſt not greived. As long as people can live of themſelves, they wil lay neither ſin nor wrath to heart. Carnal minds take Gods ſilence for Gods conſent, his patience for his approbation. theſe things haſt thou done, Pſa, 50, 21.and I kept ſilence, thou thoughteſt that I was altogether ſuch a one as thy ſelf.
4. A fourth ground or cauſe of it, may be, truſting to outward Church-priviledges; placing confidence in the very being in external Covenant with God. Behold ye truſt in lying words that cannot profit; Ier, 7, 10, verſ, 4.what were they? why, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are theſe.
Fooliſh people content themſelves to hang on the outſide of the Ark, and think that ſhal ſave them from wrath both preſent and to come. There is a dreadful Catalogue of ſins brought in by the Prophet Micah, againſt the Rulers and Teachers of this people. They build Zion with bloud, and Jeruſalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judg for reward, and the Prieſts thereof teach for here, Mic, 3, 10, 11,and the Prophets thereof divine for money: horrid Apoſtacy! And could they hold up their heads under all theſe abominations? yes, as high as ever, and overlook and ſcorn all the threatnings of the true Prophets, no evil can come upon us; they may tel us ſtrange tales to make us afrayd if they could, but we are ſafe enough, evil wil not, evil cannot come upon us; why? they lean upon the Lord, and ſay is not the Lord among us? Mark I beſeech you, becauſe they had yet the preſence of the ordinances of God, they concluded they had alſo the preſence of the God of the ordinances, and thus they deceived and couſen'd themſelves.
Ʋſe.Is not here more ſoul-humbling work for us? Lord what is man left to himſelf? But of this alſo in the next Doctrine, which is the fourth and laſt Doctrine.
Doct. 4 Gods Iſrael under adulterous departures from him, have leſs cauſe to rejoyce, and more cauſe to morn and lament, then any people or nation under heaven.
Rejoyce not O Iſrael for joy as other nations for &c.
There is a two-fold ground of it.
1. In reference to their ſin,
2. In reference to their danger.
There is no people under heaven that can ſin as Iſrael ſins; no people under heaven that can ſmart ſo for ſin as Iſrael may ſmart.
firſt for their ſin.
Iſraels ſin hath more aggravation upon it then the ſin of all the world beſides.
There is a two-fold aggravation upon Iſraels ſin, of which the ſin of other nations is not capable.
1. An aggravation of light.
2. An aggravation of love.
Gods Iſrael ſins againſt more light, and Gods Iſrael ſins againſt more love, then all the earth beſides.
Firſt, Iſrael ſins againſt more light, they know more then all the world knows.
1. Of God. God reveals more of himſelf unto his Church,Iſrael knows more God. then he doth to all the nations upon the earth. In Iudah is God known &c.Pſa, 76, 1, 2. His attributes. They know more of his names and attributes then the reſt of the world do, his name is great in Iſrael: his holyneſs, his juſtice, his mercy, his faithfulneſs, his omnipotence, his omnipreſence, his omniſcience &c. Theſe he makes known to and in his Church, more then to any of, or all the nations in the world. God mentions it as an high favour unto Abraham, Iſaac, and Iacob; I appeared unto them, by the name of God Almighty: an higher favour, that he made himſelf known to his ſeed by the name Iehovah: Exod, 6, 3.God ſhines forth in his Church in the brightneſs and deerneſs of all his glorious attributes: and this is an high aggravation of Iſraels ſin and Apoſtacy. Howbeit then when ye knew not God, ye did ſervice to them which by nature are no Gods. Gal, 4, 9.But now after that ye have known God, how turn ye again? &c. This was a defection for which there could be no Apology made: for if the knowledg of God by the book of the creature, where Gods name is to be ſpel'd out but by dark and broken Characters, be ſufficient to leave the Gentiles foreign without Apology or excuſe,Rom, 1, 20, how much more wil that knowledg of God held forth ſo diſtinctly and fully in the Church, leave Iſrael without a word to ſpeak for it ſelf in the day of her Apoſtacy and revoltings from the Lord her God?
2. Iſrael hath more knowledg of Gods wil: His wil, Rom, 12, 2,Iſrael knows or may know what that good and acceptable and perfect wil of God is; Iſrael is the ſervant that knows his maſters wil, if he do it not, this aggravates deeply.
3. Iſrael knows more of the evil of ſin, The evil of ſin Rom, 3, 20. Rom, 7.by the law is the knowledg of ſin: yea the law makes ſin appear exceeding ſinful; the Gentiles ſcarce know what ſin is, but in ſome very obſcure and confuſed notions; and yet ſin is ſin in them, ſurely where it appears exceeding ſinful, there it muſt needs be exceeding ſin.
4. Iſrael knows more of Gods hatred of ſin, Gods hatred of ſin. Ier, 44, 4.how much his ſoul loaths it: oh! do not this abominable thing (ſaith God to Iſrael) which I hate. And therefore if Idolatry be a ſin in the Gentiles, who think it to be a worſhip which God loves, what is it in Iſrael to whom God hath expreſly ſayd, my ſoul hates it? If any man draw back, draw back from my truths, draw back from my worſhip, draw back from my Commands, &c. my ſoul ſhal have no pleaſure in him.Heb. 10, 38.
Now Iſrael to the attaining of this knowledg of God hath a three-fold advantage.Iſrael hath the book of the Word Pſal, 19, 1. Verſe 7, Pſ, 147, 19, 20 Pſal, 19, 7, 8.
1. Whereas other nations have but what knowledg the book of * works can dictate to them, Iſrael hath the book of the * word; He ſheweth his word unto Iacob, his ſtatutes and judgments unto Iſrael. And the teſtimony of the Lord is ſure, making wiſe the ſimple, the Commandement of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes. The word doth not only give light, but gives eyes too. He hath not dealt ſo with any nation. And if God hath not dealt ſo with any nation as with his Iſrael, in diſpenſing light, then can no nation deal ſo with God as Iſrael in ſining againſt it.
2. A ſecond advantage that Iſrael hath above nations to know God, is his works, his works of ſpecial Providence. The book of ſpecial Providence.In Iudah is God known, &c. how? by what mediums? Why, there brake he the arrows of the how, the ſheild, the ſword and the battel. All the power,Pſal, 76, 3. and artillery of the enemys that came againſt his Church, though upon mighty advantage. There is more of God manifeſted in the goings forth of his power and wiſdom, for the preſervation of his Church, and the ruin and deſtruction of the enemys thereof, then in all the world beſides. So that in reference to this, the Pſalmiſt ſings,Pſal, 31, 19. oh how great is thy goodneſs which thou haſt laid up for them that fear thee, which thou haſt wrought for them that truſt in thee, before the ſonnes of men! what goodneſs? why his preſerving goodneſs to his Church and people,Verſe 20. thou ſhalt hide them in the ſecret of thy preſence from the pride of man, thou ſhalt keep them ſecretly in a pavilion &c. Oh the ways of God in preſerving and hiding his Church from the pride and power of men, are ſecret myſterious ways, which the world cannot diſcover.
3. And then the third and laſt Advantage is. The Spirit as an Interpreter.Iſrael hath an Interpreter (greater then one of a thouſand) to expound both theſe books unto her, even the Spirit of God which the world knows not. We have received, 1 Cor, 2, 12.not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given unto us of God. And again eye hath not ſeen &c. i.e. the natural eye, Verſe 9, 10.the natural eare &c. But God hath revealed them to us by the Spirit.
Indeed, the word expounds the works; and the works of God do interpret the word: it is a fine skil to make works and word face one another, and anſwer over one to another; but this cannot be done without an Interpreter, that is a ſecretioribus dei, Gods privy-Counceller; and that is the Spirit which the world knoweth not, and receiveth not; and therefore is both the book of the word, ſome fragments whereof the Gentiles light upon ſometimes) and the book of the works a ſealed book, which they cannot open, or not read, if they could open.
Now therefore the Church and people of God, having this three-fold advantage to a more cleer and ful diſcovery of God, and his wil, of ſin and his hatred thereof, then all the world beſides; Iſraels ſin hath hereby an aggravation upon it, of which theirs is uncapable, an aggravation of light. If ye were blind ye ſhould have no ſin, Iohn 9.41.no ſin Comparative: but now ye ſay, we ſee: therefore your ſin remaineth, i.e. it remaineth inexcuſable, it remains aggravated. And this is the firſt aggravation.
The ſecond aggravation that Iſraels ſin is Capable of, is
An aggravation of love, a manifold love.
Firſt, Iſrael ſins againſt Gods diſtinguiſhing, his ſeparating love. Members of the Ʋiſible Church, they ſin againſt that love of God, which diſtinguiſh'd them from the reſt of the*Deut. 32, 7, 8 world, members of the inviſible Church, they ſin againſt that love which diſtinguiſh'd them from the reſt of the Church; his electing-love, his Adopting-love, his effectually-calling-love: Oh this muſt needs go deep in ſin: You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Amos 3, 2.i. e. Known with a Conjugal diſtinguiſhing knowledg: I have known you of all the families of the earth; to diſtinguiſh you from all the families of the earth: this makes their ſin become exceeding ſinful; it is the other branch of the Apoſtles argument,Gal, 4, 9. or rather are known of God: Know God, there is their light; known of God, there is Gods love; his diſtinguiſhing love; ſins againſt diſtinguiſhing love, are diſtinguiſhing ſins.
2. Iſrael ſins againſt his correcting love, which is allways managed with the wiſedom and moderation of a father; In meaſure &c. And for profit, Iſa, 27, 8. Heb, 12, 10.that we might be partakers of his holyneſs. The thought of ſinning againſt this love melts down holy Ezra to the very bottom. And after all this is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great treſpaſs; Ezra 9, 13, 14ſeeing thou our God haſt puniſh't us, leſs then our iniquities deſerve, ſhould we again break thy Commandements? &c. And ſo it ſhould do with every ingenuous heart.
3. Iſrael ſins againſt Gods repenting-love. Pſa. 106.45. He remembred for them his Covenant, and repented &c. Amos 7.3, 6. The Lord repented for the plague of graſhoppers: And the Lord repented for the fire: Yea, how often is it repeated Ezek. 20. I lifted up my hand; i. e. as if he were fetching his blow to ſmite them, and to ſmite but once; or as if he had ſworn their deſtruction; (lifting up of the hand ſignifies both;) But I wrought for my name, Ver. 14. Mine eye ſpared them from deſtroying them, Verſ. 17. I withdrew my hand, Verſ. 22. &c. Now brethren to ſee a God repenting over a people, and to ſee a people not repenting before their God; to ſee God repenting of the evil of puniſhment, and a people not repenting of the evil of ſin; Gods repentings are Iſraels revivings, Ezra 9.8, and when he revives comforts to their spirits, for them to revive grief to his spirit, oh who can take the demenſions of this aggravation?
4. Iſrael ſins againſt Gods pardoning love; Mich, 7,18.He pardons the mixt multitude in the Church with a paſſing-by-pardon, a pardon of forbearance: he pardons his own in Covenant of grace with a blotting-out-pardon, a pardon of forgetfulneſs, I wil be merciful to their ſins, and remember their iniquities no more: Ier, 31, 34. Pſa, 78, 38.But he being ful of mercy forgave their iniquity: Oh now to ſin againſt this love; while God is ful of mercy, for Iſrael to be ful of ſin; God pardons and they ſin, they ſin and God pardons, and again pardons, and they again ſin:foreign Multiplicabit ad parcendum. Iſa, 55, 7. For God to add to multiply pardons, and they to add to multiply ſin; for this indeed, rejoyce not, Oh Iſrael with joy as other nations, They, ſin not againſt Gods pardoning love.
5. Iſrael ſins againſt Gods parental love: Ier, 31, 20.Is Ephraim my dear ſon? is he a pleaſant child? Thereſt of the world ſin but in the capacity of baſtards, ſlaves, creatures at beſt: Ephraim ſins in the capacity of a child, a ſon, a dear ſon, a pleaſant child; the child hath more cauſe to mourn and lament then the ſtranger: this is an aggravation that heaven and earth muſt hear of:Eſa, 1, 2, Hear, O heavens; and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath ſpoken; I have nouriſhed and brought up children, and they have rebelled againſt me.
6. Yea Iſrael all this while ſins againſt Gods conjugal love: Turn,Ier, 3, 14, O back-ſliding children, for I am married to you, ſaith the Lord. Behold a Father married to his Children; behold God ſtands to his Church in relation of both Father and Huſband, and yet ſhe rebels; hath any Nation ſuch cauſe to mourn?
I could tell you moreover of
7. Gods protecting love:
8. His providing love, he provides like a Father, like an Husband for his Church and people, &c.
Againſt all which Iſrael ſins: But I muſt haſten.
Conſult in the ſecond place the Danger, The danger of Iſraels ſin.and that alſo will tell you Iſrael hath more cauſe to mourn for her adulterous departures from God, then any nation upon the earth.
What Danger?
Why Brethren, Iſrael playing the Harlot is in danger of God: jealouſie. 2 Command.I the Lord thy God am a jealous God: other nations ſinning are in danger of Gods anger, but Iſrael of Gods jealouſie: And jealouſie is the rage of a man, &. vt ſupra. Is it nothing, my Brethren, to have a God angry, yea even to Jealouſie? Conſider I beſeech you:
Gods Jealouſie is,
1. A ſtripping-jealouſie;Ezek, 16, 38, I wil, judg thee as women that break wedlock, (ſaith God to adulterous Iſrael) how is that? Verſ. 37. I wil diſcover thy nakedneſs to thy lovers, and they ſhall ſtrip thee of thy clothes, and take away all thy jewels; all her Church-ornaments, all her Bride-glory and bravery, not only her ſilver and gold, peace and plenty, but Word and Sacraments &c. Alas! the Nations have none of theſe to loſe.
2. It is a withdrawing-jealouſie; the husband withdraws from the wife when he is jealous of her; and wo unto thee, ſaith God, when I depart from thee.Hoſe, 9, 12,
3. It is a divorcing-jealouſie; a diſcovenanting-jealouſie: God ſaid here to this whoriſh people, Lo-ammi and Loruhamah, Hoſea 1, 6, 9,not my people, not having obtained mercy: they diſcovenanted God, and God diſcovenanted them: they caſt off God, and God, and God diſcovenanted them: they caſt off God, and God caſt off them.
Many more particulars might be added, but theſe muſt ſuffice.
And now tell me, I beſeech you, hath not Iſrael, think ye, under whoriſh departures, more cauſe to mourn and lament then any people under heaven? Do any of the Nations ſin againſt ſo much light? Do any of the Nations ſin againſt ſo much love? Hath any Nation under heaven ſo much to forfeit by their ſin as Iſrael hath? They may feel his wrath, but they are not liable to his jealouſie. The Nations may loſe their flax and their wool, their ſilver and their gold, but they have no Ordinances to loſe, they have no Goſpel to loſe, no Word, no Sacrament to forfeit. The Nations have no God to loſe, at leaſt no God-a-father, no God-an-huſband to loſe: they may be unpeopled, but they cannot be unchurched: They may know what ſword and famine is, but they cannot know what it is to be divorced. Rejoyce not, O Iſrael, for joy, &c.
I but Gentiles are capable of hell, are they not, and is there any ſtate worſe then that?Object.
1. We ſpeak of Iſrael eſpecially in reference to her Church-ſtate and condition of which ſhe is capable in this life.Anſw.
2. If we ſpeak of hell, Iſrael, that is the generality of the viſible Church are in as much danger of that as the Gentiles: yea more; tribulation and anguiſh, Rom, 2, 8, 9.indignation and wrath to the Iew firſt, and alſo to the Gentile. Yea certainly a deeper place in Tophet is reſerved for apoſtate Iſrael, then for the poor pur-blind Gentiles: when the Gentiles ſhal but ſwim upon the ſurface of that burning lake, Iſrael ſhal be ſunk into the midſt of thoſe devouring flames: It ſhal be eaſier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment, then for Capernaum.
3. And laſtly, Even the very Elect of God, Iſrael according to the spirit and promiſe, if they be defiled with the pollutions and whoredoms of the reſt, and carryed down the ſtream of apoſtacy, whether in Doctrine or Converſation, it may coſt them dear; God may put ſuch a cup into their hand to drink; a cup of trembling and spiritual deſertion, which, for a time, may be worſe then all the plagues of Aegypt, and as it were the very skimmings of the bottomleſs pit.
ƲSE.Firſt, It may inform us what an horrid and hateful ſin Adultery is before God, in as much as of all ſins, the wiſdom of God hath made choyce of that ſin for a type and metaphor of the great ſin of apoſtacy from God, the greateſt of ſins next the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt; and is not only a degree to it, but a spice of it: In all the bed-roll of ſins there is none found vile enough to make a ſhadow or repreſentation of departing from God, but this ſin of whoredom, the fitteſt emblem for that purpoſe, in as much as it is a baſe and treacherous apoſtacy from the marriage-bed and the Covenant of God: for ſo is the adultereſs deſcribed:Prov, 2, 17. She forſaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the Covenant of God. Oh, that as God hath ſet ſuch a brand of abomination in the forehead of this ſin, this peccatum non nominandum, this ſin that ſhould not be ſo much as named among Chriſtians (i. e. with complacency or delight,Epheſ, 5, 3, there ſhould not be ſo much as word-obſcenity among Chriſtians:) I ſay, oh that as God hath ſet his brand upon it, ſo Authority would ſet their brand upon it too, and make it as odious and formidable in the puniſhment, as it is and ſhould be to us in its own nature! When the government was immediately in Gods hands, he puniſh't it with death; and why it ſhould not be ſo in our polity, I know not: I am confident that law, as it hath been often propounded, ſo it had been long ſince eſtabliſhed in this Kingdom, had not guilt and love of that abominable filthineſs ſtood in the way.
But 2. Hence we have to confute that lewd opinion, that the Saints (according to the new ſtile, which all new opinions do write) need not mourn for ſin, need not be humbled for, nor troubled with any ſin, (if at leſt they can ſin) which is improved to that height, that conferring of ſin and mourning for ſin, is the greateſt ſin a Saint can be guilty of. When alas, the Spirit of God tels us here, that no people in the world have ſo much cauſe to mourn and lament for ſin, as they have; and you have ſeen the Doctrine made good by Scripture grounds and demonſtrations.
As for thoſe that can wipe off all this with the jeer and blaſphemy of an old Teſtament Spirit, I dare be bold to ſay, and fear not the breach of charity in it, let them be who they wil, whether Teachers or Taught, Doctors, or Diſciples, they be of the number of the Apoſtles Separatiſts Iude 18.mockers, walking after their own luſts, ſenſual, having not the Spirit; they have not the Spirit, neither old-Teſtament-Spirit, nor new-Teſtament-Spirit; for it was but one and the ſame Spirit of God that dictated both Teſtaments to the pen-men thereof: all Scripture is foreign given by inſpiration, 2 Tim, 3, 16,the breathing of God, even the old as wel as the new. For Propheſie came not of old time by the wil of man, but holy men of God ſpake as they were inſpired by the holy Ghoſt. As for them that can wipe out an whole Teſtament of divine truth, 2 Pet, 1, 21,with a wet finger (without which the other may wel ſuffer a deleatur alſo) the puniſhment of their blaſphemy, is Propheſied before hand (without repentance) God ſhal blot out their name out of the book of life.Rev, 22, 19,
I ſhould talk more with theſe men, who thus boldly and blaſphemouſly deny humiliation for ſin, but that it would keep us too long from the work it ſelf, (which is the work of the day) and the
Third Ʋſe.An uſe for humiliation.3. Ʋſe. Hunuliation,
Have not the Prophets of England as much cauſe to cry in the eares, not of this Congregation only,Englands Whoredoms. 1. All ſin, and the improvements thereof, whoredom, drunkenneſs, ſwearing, Sabbath prophanation. but of the whole nation: Rejoyce not oh England for joy as other people, for thou haſt gon a whoring from thy God? Surely they have: witneſs firſt, not only the continuance but the monſtrous improvement of all manner of ſin among us; whoredom and drunkeneſs, and ſwearing, and Sabbath breaking, and all kinds of prophaneſs is broken in upon us like another deluge; and a worſe deluge then that of water: for better it is a thouſand times better to ſee a people lie drown'd in waters, then to ſee a people lie drown'd in ſin; yea better to ſee a people lie weltring in their blood, then to behold them lie wallowing in their luſts.
Did the pride of Iſrael teſtifie to his face, and doth not the pride of England teſtifie to its face?Pride of Men Surely it teſtifies to the faces of men in that gallantry and bravery, ſumptuouſneſs and gaudineſs of apparrel, that ſcurrility of hair, (I may truly call it) loftineſs and wantonneſs of geſture, and that in theſe ſad times of Jacob-troubles, that England never equall'd in her moſt peaceable and proſperous days: I ſay it teſtifies to the faces of men: Women.And it teſtifies in the faces of our women, the Gentry and Ladies of our times. I cannot ſay they are Black-Mores or Ethiopians, Ier, 13, 23.for they can change their skins, they can change their skins by painting; but I may juſtifiably cal them Leopards, for they wil not change their Spotts: Spotted beaſts they are, and are not afrayd to come with their Spotts into the Congregations of God: yea to bring them to theſe days of ſolemn humiliation, wherein they ſhould rather come Sprinckled with aſhes, and girded with Sackcloth; Surely as an ancient Divine was wont to ſay, they cannot expect that God ſhould know them, they do ſo un-make themſelves from what he made them: and if God ſhal ſay to them hereafter, depart from me I know ye not, (theſe are not the faces which I made) they are undone for ever; Interim, God may in a juſt judgment ſmite them with a Spot that cannot indeed be changed, or healed with all the art of the Phyſitian; and rend their faces and skins with an incureable ſcab, as they now rend their faces with painting. It is threatned by a God able to make his Word good, for this ſin of pride, Iſa. 3.17. Therefore the Lord wil ſmite with a ſcab, the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will diſcover their ſecret parts. And what ſhal we ſay for other ſins, doth not robbery and oppreſſion, cruelty and injuſtice cry in the ears of the Lord of Sabbath!Iames 5, 4.
Surely there is ſuch an increaſe of all manner of ſin and prophaneſs as if the windows of hell were opened, and the floodgates of the bottomleſs pit were pull'd up; hell it ſelf broke looſe. But alas! if we look upon thoſe ſins which more properly and peculiarly are branded in the ſhoulder with the mark of whoredom: How may we take up the Prophet Iſaiah's lamentation, and wonder, How is the faithful City, the faithful Kingdom, become an harlot?Iſa. 1.21.
She that was accounted the chaſteſt among the Churches, for fidelity to the worſhip and doctrine of the Lord Jeſus, how is ſhe degenerated into an Adultereſs!
For 1. is there not Idolatry found among us? Ye have pul'd down Idols in the Churches,Idolatry. (and ye have done wel) but oh, Idols are multiplyed in the Land; every mans opinion is become his idol which he adores and worſhips with higheſt veneration: we have cauſe to be humbled for our old Popery, and our old Popiſh Ceremonies; (You our Honourable Senators told us ſo once in an Ordinance of Parliament, and ye did wel) but Popery was but one way of falſe worſhip: There be a generation of men in the Land that ſtand up for all kinds of falſe worſhip; that every man may worſhip God after his own conſcience; or if they wil not own it in words at length, they wil have it in figures: And if they may not, are ready, not only to cry, but to act perſecution, and that to purpoſe: for while they cry perſecution, gladio oris, they are ready to act perſecution, ore gladij: I pray God it may never be Engliſh'd.
In the ſecond place, Is there any thing refuſed and oppoſed ſo much as Reformation? Oppoſing of Reformation.Oh that Popery were ſo much oppos'd as Reformation! Oh that Blaſphemies were ſo much oppos'd as Reformation! Oh that Antichriſtianiſm and Atheiſm were ſo much oppos'd as Reformation! Happy we then. Would ye know when all theſe abominations are broke out in England? Oh it is in a time of Reformation! In a time of the breaking out of Goſpel-light and liberty; ſuch as the world never ſaw ſince it was Chriſtian. In a time when we had ſworn our ſelves to God by Covenant to extirpate Popery, Prelacy, Superſtition, Hereſie, Schiſm, Prophaneſs, and whatſoever ſhal be found to be contrary to ſound doctrine and the power of godlineſs. Alas we run in ſuch a contrary motion that a man might almoſt think there was a word in the Covenant miſ-printed, and the next errata ſhould bid the Reader read eſtabliſh in ſtead of extirpate. Oh! God may ſay of us, when I would have healed England, then the iniquity thereof was diſcovered! England was never ſo bad as in a time of a Reformation.
Witneſs thirdly,Hereſies. the numerous and numberleſs increaſe of errors and heterodox opinions even to blaſphemy among us.
Hereſies even …o blaſphemie.The world once wondered to ſee it ſelf turn'd Arrian: England may wonder to ſee it ſelf turn'd Anabaptiſt, Antinomian, Arminian, Socinian, Arrian, Anti-trinitarian, Anti-ſcripturiſt, what not! Alas! what were Ceremonies to theſe things, but (as Calvin once call'd them tollerabiles ineptia, childrens sport in compariſon, how much leſs an evil was it (think ye) to bow at the Name of Jeſus, then to deny, to blaſpheme the Name of Jeſus? 2 Pet. 2.1.
If any man ſhal demand a proof of theſe things, I ſhal ſay nothing elſe but this, that is to be feared that man himſelf is a proof, Hereticorum eſt omnia dubitare, Arnobius.It is the trick of Hereticks to beleeve nothing, no not that there is ſuch a thing as Hereſie. Oh England! Is this of thy whoredoms a ſmal thing! that thou ſhould'ſt ſell the pretious truths of Jeſus Chriſt ſo cheap which our fathers and we our ſelves, yea the Lord Jeſus Chriſt bought ſo dear, even at the price of blood!
As for covetouſneſs and worldlineſs, Coveteouſneſs.alas it is death to conſider after a little ſuſpenſion of trading and ſtraitning of our eſtates, a little blood-let in our ſuperfluous abundance, whereby God would have taught us that leſſon, that riches have wings and fly away; Prov. 23.5.and thereby would have weaned our hearts from the world, and have winged our affections for an higher flight, even the purſuit of more excellent treaſures, the things above: I ſay it is death to ſee and conſider on the contrary how people do with the Iſraelites (after they had faſted an whole day) fly upon the spoil, and eat with the very blood running about their lips, the blood of the widdow, the fatherleſs and oppreſſed! What feathering of neſts, what heaping of preferments and places: What ſcraping for the world, as if the duſt thereof would not ſerve every man for an handful! What enriching of menſelves upon the poverty of the Kingdom? What building (as of old) houſes with blood, and raiſing of families with oppreſſion?
And can all this go without creature-truſt and carnal confidence? Carnal confidence.Wo unto us for ſurely we make fleſh our arm, and our heart is departed from the living God; we have made any thing our God but God. Alas Fathers and Brethren, my ſpirit doth fail me in relating theſe things! Did I ever think I ſhould have had occaſion to have made ſuch ſad complaints in England of England? Who could have beleeved that England could ſo ſoon have made an Apoſtacy from her God! Who could have beleeved that England could have ſo ſoon forgotten her Bridegroom the Lord Jeſus Chriſt? Eſpecially having ſo lately re-eſpouſed her ſelf unto him by Solemn Covenant! Jer. 2.12, 13. Be aſtoniſhed, O ye heavens, at this, Jer. 2.12, 13.and be ye horribly afraid, be ye very deſolate, ſaith the Lord: For England, Gods people, the ſpouſe of Ieſus Chriſt, hath committed two evils; they have forſaken me, the fountain of living water, and hewed them out ciſterns, broken ciſterns that can hold no water. Verſ 10.Verſ. 10. Paſs over the Iſles of Chittim, and ſee; and ſend unto Kedar and conſider diligently, and ſee if there be ſuch a thing. So may I ſay, go over to Spain and France and Rome: Yea paſs ye over to Conſtantinople and Aegypt, &c. Have any of theſe Nations changed their religion which was no religion; and forſaken their gods which were no gods? But England hath changed her glory for that which doth not profit. Theſe are ſome of the whoredoms that are found in England, but what are the aggravations?
Aggravations of Englands Whordomes.Are Iſraels whoredoms ours, and are not Iſraels aggravations ours too? Yes, Iſraels aggravations are aggravated among us.
Did Iſrael ſin againſt more light then the Nations? England ſins againſt more light then Iſrael: Light exceeding Iſraels light.Goſpel-light doth as much exceed that of the Law as the light of the Sun doth the light of the Moon, as the light of ſeven days exceeds the light of one. They ſaw in types, and vails, and curtains; Iſa 30.26. 2 Cor. 3.13. Heb. 10.1. 2 Cor. 3, 18.ſo that they could not ſee things for ſhadows: We ſee with open face the glory of the Lord. It is eminently obſervable, look with what expreſſions the Apoſtle doth commend and celebrate the viſion of glory above the viſion of the Goſpel, 1 Cor. 13.12. In the very ſame language doth he commend the viſion of the Goſpel above the viſion of the Law, in this 2 Cor. 3.18. Doth not this aggravate their aggravation of light? I am ſure above all this we have one book which they had not, the Book of the Revelations, wherein ſpecially the whoredoms and plagues of the Antichriſtian ſtate are clearly diſcovered; that ſo Gods people might come out of her, Rev. 18.4. & the spirit of God, the Interpreter of al Gods works and Gods Word,Ioel 2, 28. poured out in greater abundance to expound his riddles. Again, did Iſrael ſin againſt greater love then other Nations, and doth not England ſin againſt greater love then Iſrael?Love exceeding Iſraels love.
Surely there be two kinds of love which Iſrael had not, at leſt not in ſuch a revelation of them as we have: And they are, 1. Gods-Chriſt-giving-love. 2. His-glory, his Heaven-giving-love.
Alas Chriſt and Heaven were but obſcure notions, dark riddles among them, hardly underſtood of one of ten thouſand among them, unleſs it were their Heroes, the Patriarchs and Prophets: and yet even of them, ſays our Lord Ieſus, He that is leaſt in the Kingdom of heaven, i. e. in the Goſpel, Mat. 11, 11.is greater then He that was greater then the greateſt of them, then John the Baptiſt, ſc. in regard of the full and cleer diſcovery of Chriſt and glory. Alas, an earthly Canaan and a temporal Meſſiah, one that ſhould king it over them in terrene ſtate and greatneſs, was the top of their ambition (witneſs the very Diſciples themſelves,Acts 1.6. even when Chriſt was aſcending to take poſſeſſion of his heavenly Kingdom): As for a ſaviour of ſouls and a Kingdom of eternal glory, theſe were things which few of them could hardly ſpell out; but clearly and with open face revealed to us in the Goſpel. Life and immortality are brought to light in the Goſpel. 2 Tim, 1, 10. Englands danger for her adulteriesAnd to be guilty of all theſe treacherous departures from God and Chriſt under ſuch a glorious revelation of Light and Love, what may we expect; But even that the jealouſie of the Lord ſhould break forth like a devouring fire (and I pray God it be not already kindled) which ſhal burn down to the very foundations of the Land: Even,
1. A ſtripping-jealouſie that ſhal ſtrip us not only of our corn and wine, but of Word and Sacraments, even of all our Goſpel-ordinances, and turn our garden of Eden into a deſolate wilderneſs.
2. His withdrawing-jealouſie; that God ſhal ſay of England as once of Iſrael, Ier. 12.7. I have forſaken mine houſe: I have left mine heritage: I have given the dearly beloved of my ſoul into the hand of her enemies.
3. His divorcing-diſcovenanting-jealouſie; that God ſhould call England, as once he did Iſrael, Lo-ammi and Loruhamah: and caſt us out of his houſe and out of his preſence for ever.1 Theſ, 2, 16. You ſee the wrath which he threatned upon Iſrael and Judah, he hath poured it out to the uttermoſt: What he ſpake with his mouth, he hath fulfilled it with his hand, as at this day.
But let me tel you this, when ever the Lord ſhal enter into controverſie with England for her whoredoms, the furnace will be heated ſeven times hotter then it was for Iſrael: the judgment wil be much more intolerable on us then it was on them: By how much our light and our love hath been more tranſcendent then Iſraels, by ſo much wil our condemnation be greater. Oh for an England, a people that have been clothed with ſcarlet, and adorned with jewels to be ſtrip'd naked as in the day wherein ſhe was born! For a people that have known the joyful ſound and have walked in the light of Gods countenance all the day along, that have ſate (as it were) in the boſome and embraces of the Lord Ieſus, for God now to be a ſtranger in their land, and as a way-faring man that turns in but for a night: For a people that have ſat at the top of heaven in Goſpel-viſion, to be caſt down to hell into a kind of utter darkneſs! For a people that have been in the bed of divine loves; feaſted at Gods table, ſate as a Queen in the Pallaces of Ivory, to come to be divorc'd, kickt out of doors, and a Cains mark (as it were) ſet upon them to wander up and down, to be a ſhame and a Curſe and a Proverb among the Nations, as it is with Iſrael at this day: The tongue of man is not able to expreſs, the heart of man is not able to conceive the miſery and anguiſh of ſuch a condition.Prognoſticks of dicovenanting wrath. Gentiles and Pagans are not capable of ſuch a judgment as this is.
Truly there be many ſad fore-runners and Prognoſticks of this approaching jealouſie amongſt us: ſcil.1. Taking off of our wheels Exo, 14, 24, 25
1. God begins to trouble us; our wheels ſeem to be taken off; we drive heavily: In all our motions we drive heavily, and ye know when it was ſo with the Aegyptians, wrath was neer.2. Contempt.
2. God hath poured out contempt upon us; the Lord make us ſenſible of it: unſpeakable contempt upon the Parliament: Contempt upon the faithful Miniſtry of the Land: Contempt upon the City: Contempt upon the whole Kingdom: England once not only a terrour among the Nations, but the glory of all the Churches; now the ſhame of Chriſtendom and the ſcorn of al the world: Ier, 2, 16.It was one of the fore runners of old Iſraels rejection and divorce.
3. A Spirit of diviſion and confuſion let looſe upon as, Councels divided,3. Diviſion. Divide & impera, An houſ divided cannot ſtand. and Miniſters divided, City divided, and Kingdom divided: not one limb hardly hanging to another, the envious man hath done this; through the wrath of the Lord the Jeſuit and the Divel have almoſt attained their deſign ſo that without infinit mercy we are like water ſpilt upon the ground that cannot be gathered up again, we are broken all to pieces.
4. All the four great plagues and judgments threaten us,4. Gods four ſore judgments. Ezek, 14, 21. ſword, plague, famine, and euil beaſts.
5. Yea that which is a thouſand times worſe, God ſeene to be departed from the ordinances: the conuerting preſence of God is gon from the word, It was the ſad emblem and ſymptom of Gods departure from Iſrael.5 God departed from the ordinances. Ezek, 10, 4. Chap, 11, 23. Ezek. 10.4. The glory of God fil'd the houſe, but God was upon the threſhold; And the next news we heare of him, he was upon the Mountains: It is ſad and ominous when God begins to recede by degrees from a people or perſon.
6. The power of godlines is departed from the generality of profeſſors. 6. The power of godlineſs is gone.Alas that ſavour & ſweetneſs, that life and activity, which was wont to be in the people of God and in their Chriſtian meetings, wherein they did admoniſh, and comfort, and exhort, and ſtrengthen one another in the Lord their God, comparing their evidences, and communicating their experiences, praying with, and praying for one another; alas where are theſe things to be found? is not this a ſad fore-boding of Gods jealouſy.
7. Spiritual plagues.7. And then in the laſt place: Spiritual plagues begin to ſucceed and overtake temporal judgments. Unbeleif hardneſs of heart, contempt of the word and ordinances, mocking of the meſſengers of God &c. When ſo it was in Iſrael, the text tels us, there was no remedy: a Spirit of deluſions to beleeve lies; and that which is the perfection of all,2 Chron, 36, 16 2 Theſ, 2, 10, a Spirit of ſlumber, a deep ſleep of ſecurity doth poſſeſs us: who is there that fears and trembles? who is there that takes notice of theſe things to lay them to heart: the whole nation is a ſleep with the kingdom on ſire about their eares. Wel Honorable, Iſ, 42, 1.and Beloved Chriſtians, this is our eſtate; I may ſay to you as Ioſiah did once to Iſaiah: Enquire of the Lord for us, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is gon out againſt us. What is to be done?
1. Why rejoyce not O England i. e. Weep and mourn, it is the work we are about this day, O that we would do it to purpoſe. O that this day we could do as Iſrael did,1 Sam, 7, 6. draw water and powre it out before the Lord. O that we could make the place where we are a Bachim: And oh that the Lord would powre out upon us a Spirit of grace and ſupplication, that we might look upon him whom we have pierced and mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only ſonne, Zech, 12, 10,and be in bitterneſs for him, as one that is in bitterneſs for his firſt born. We have trflied with God in theſe days of publick Humiliation, ſo that we may fear he takes them us more with good wil at our hands. Mal, 2, 13,Truly we may fear leſt our ſolemn humiliations be not become ſolemn provocations, and our very prayers turned into ſin. Our faſts have not bin altogether ſo good as Iſraels bulruſh humiliations: Iſa. 58.5. We are impatient of bowing down our heads for a day. O let us cry mightily to God, and with Iacob-like importunity, reſolve not to let him go, til be bleſs us
2. Yea ſecondly, let us mourn in ſecret as Ieremiah did. I ſate not in the aſſembly of the mockers, nor rejoyced; I ſate alone becauſe of thy hand, for thou haſt filledme with indignation. O that God would teach us to make good that Propheſy, ſurely it hath an eye to Goſpel-times. Zech. 12.11, 12 13, 14. In that day ſhal there be a great mourning in Jeruſalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land ſhal mourn, every family apart, the family of the houſe of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of of the houſe of Nathan apart, and their wives apars: The family of the houſe of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart: All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. The family of the houſe of David: i. e. the royal family, the houſe of the Prince. The family of the houſe of Nathan: i. e. the Prophets families. The family of the houſe of Levi, i. e. the Preiſts families: the family of the houſe of Shimei, i. e. the families of private men in their ſeveral callings. O that God would indeed poure out from on high ſuch a Spirit upon England; that the King and Queen, might humble themſelves, ſit down, Ier, 13, 18.and lie in the duſt before the Lord; that the Princes and Nobles, Magiſtrates and Miniſters, with the whole people of the land, from the higheſt to the loweſt, would humble themſelves greatly before the Lord, and cry mightily to him; every family apart, and their wives apart; who knows whether the Lord might not repent of the fiereneſs of his wrath, Ioel 2, 14.and return and leave a bleſſing behind him?
3. Labour to poſſeſs a mourning frame of Spirit, take heed of letting out your hearts to take your fill of creature-comforts: take heed how you give up your ſelves to carnal mirth and rejoycing: It was Iſraels ſin here in the text, and a poſture ill becoming a people that have gone a whoring from their God.
It is a ſin at any time to feed our ſelves without fear, much more when God is angry. Jude 12.It was a ſeaſonable and ſevere check God by the Prophet Ezekiel gave unto the unſeaſonable mirth of that beſotted people. Ezek. 21.9, 10. Thus ſaith the Lord, ſay a ſword, a ſword is ſharpned and alſo fourbiſhed, it is ſharp to make a ſore ſlaughter, it is fourbiſhed that it may glitter: ſhould we then make mirth? And I could wiſh that (as Jerome ſayd of his ſurgite mortui &c. ſo) this voyce might ſound continually in our eares; to check and reſtrain our vain and unſeaſonable rejoycings in the creature, yea in our ſins: for what doth the Lord require at our hands but to do juſtly and love mercy, Mich, 6, 8.and walk humbly with our God? Elſe wicked*1 King 21, 27. Ahab and heathen*Ionah 3, 5, to the end. Nineveh ſhal riſe up in judgment with this generation and ſhal condemn it. The Lord awaken us, and teach us to behave our ſelves as a people whoſe God is angry, angry even to jealouſy, & to know in this our day the things which belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes.
2. Ʋſe, Exhortation. Ʋſe, Exhortation.There is a word of Exhortation behind, and I beſeech you ſuffer it.
Firſt. to you Honorable and Noble Patriots, 1. Branch. to the Honorable Parliament.who are called to be the Reformers, and Healers of a poor broken kingdome, I would humbly move theſe 2. things.
Firſt, that you would exert that power and authority which God hath given you, to the puniſhing and ſuppreſſing of the Adulteries and whoredoms of the land, which do ſtare heaven and earth in the face, and do provoke the jealouſy of God, even to give England a bil of divorce and put us away: ariſe I ſay, oh ye Rulers and Governors of England,Pſa, 45, 4, gird your ſword upon your thigh, and ride on proſperouſly becauſe of truth and righteouſneſs, and let your right hand teach you terrible things. You know what Phineas did in the caſe of Corporal whoredom, committed in the face of God and the Congregation.Pſa, 106, 30, Then ſtood up Phineas and executed vengeance or judgment; and you remember how wel the Lord took it at his hands: The plague was ſtayed, and it was imputed to him for righteouſneſs; 31,Oh that the Spirit of Phineas may come upon you; that you may ſheath your ſword in the bowels of theſe monſtrous whoredoms of all ſorts, Corporal and Spiritual, which are committed in the ſight of all Iſrael, yea in the ſight of all the Churches round about us: that the bleſſing of Phineas may come upon you, and the plague may be ſtayed.
Doth not indeed the puniſhing and ſuppreſſing of Spiritual whoredoms againſt God, Idolatry, Hereſie, Blaſphemie, and the reſt: doth it not belong unto you, as welas the puniſhing of bodily whoredoms, theft, murder &c.? Doth it indeed belong to you only to look to the Civil peace, and to let Religion, and truth, and the worſhip of God, ſtand or fall to their own maſter? fight God, fight Divel, fight Chriſt, fight Antichriſt; catch that catch can; you have nothing to do but to ſtand by, and look on! Say ſo then; ſpeak out, publiſh it in your declarations to the world, and let the people of England know, that it is the right and liberty, to which the ſubjects of England are born, that every man hold what he pleaſe, and publiſh and preach what he holds: that it is the birth-right (as ſome would have it) of the free-born people of England, every man to worſhip God according to his own Conſcience; and to be of what religion his own Conſcience ſhal dictate: do ſo, and ſee (fathers and brethren) how long your Civil peace wil ſecure you, when religion is deſtroyed; how long it wil be ere your Civil peace, be turned into Civil war! for no doubt if this once be granted them, but they may in good time come to know alſo (there be them that are inſtructing them, even in theſe principles too) that it is their birth-right to be freed from the power of Parliaments, and from the power of Kings; and to take up arms againſt both, when they ſhal not vote and act according to their humours: Liberty of Conſcience (falſly ſo called) may in good time, improve it ſelf into liberty of eſtates, and liberty of houſes, and liberty of wives, and in a word, liberty of perdition, of ſoules and bodies.
Right Honorable, and worthy Gentlemen: I cannot ſtand to diſpute, this only would I know of you; are Idolaters and Heretiques, and Blaſphemers and Seducers, are they evil doers? if ſo, then look to your Charge. Rom. 13.3, 4. Rulers muſt be a terror to evil doers, unleſs ye mean to bear the Sword in vain. verſe 4.And if you wil, God wil not; and if God take the Sword into his own hand once (as he ſeems to be a doing of it) he wil ſmite to purpoſe; he wil execute vengeance throughly: both upon the evil doers, and upon you that have not bin a terror to them. Oh therefore up and be doing, that you may deliver the kingdom out of the hand of the Lord; for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb, 10, 31.O let not your patience (I hope it is no more all this while) be interpreted a Connivence, and your Connivence be taken for a tolleration, it may be the kingdoms ruin, but it wil be your ſin.
2. As you ſhould puniſh the whoredoms of the land, ſo I humbly call upon you in the name of the Lord this day, that you would awaken and ſtir up your ſelves, to prevent the further whoriſh departures of this our Iſrael from the Lord.
And that firſt, by ſetting up your government, do it, I beſeech you, and do it to purpoſe; do it, and do it ſo, as it may be able to anſwer the ends for which you ſet it up. That it may not be mock't out, by prophane perſons on one hand, nor by Sectaries on the other, (as it is at this day) fill your government (if you are in good earneſt) with a life and ſoul, power and ſtrength: whereby it ſhal be able to act, as wel as to ſpeak.
And Secondly, prevent the further departure of the land from God, by keeping out Seducers: thoſe Seducing, Malignant, Popiſh, Prelatical Prieſts, whom you have caſt out: who have bin one great cauſe of the Apoſtacy of England. The ſins of the teachers, have bin the teachers of ſin; they are the men who (with Hananiah and Zedekeah) have taught rebellion againſt the Lord.
Certainly, if ye did wel in putting of them out, ye wil do extreamly ill in taking of them in again. Hath the Kings army bettered them? hath Oxford changed their principles? I call heaven and earth to witneſs this day, that if ye ſuffer them to recover their ſtations again, or who ever of you ſhal for favor, reward, relation, or any other reſpects whatſoever, uſe your intereſt to re-inveſt them again into their places,Gal, 2, 18. you deſtroy what ye have builded, and wil be found tranſgreſſors: and tranſlate the bloud of poor ſouls upon your own heads.
Wel, ſtrengthen your hands (Honorable and much Honored Patriots) ſtrengthen your hands in God, thus to ſuppreſs and prevent the Adulteries and whoredoms of the land.
If you ſhal not; give me leave to tel you ye wil bring a ſix-fold aggravation upon your neglect.Aggravations.
Firſt, All the Sermons which have bin preacht before you, and by your command, have bin publiſht to all the world,1. Sermons. wil riſe up in judgment againſt you: for they wil teſtify to the preſent and to after ages, to the coming of Chriſt, and in that day, that you have had Prophets among you, who have not ſeen falſe viſions and cauſes of baniſhment: Lam, 2, 14.but have dealt faithfully with you,Acts 20.27. in declaring unto you the whole Councell of God.
2. All the bleſſed and glorious opportunities loſt: when the poor kingdom neer giving up the Ghoſt,2. Opportunities ſhal groan out her laſt complaints thus; the harveſt is paſt,Iet, 8, 10. the ſummer is ended, and we are not ſaved. What opportunities?
Why, 1. rare abilities and parts, both of learning, and grace among your ſelves. I dare ſay a riper harveſt was never gathered into thoſe walls.
2. Strange and excellent impreſſions many times upon your Spirits.
3. Ʋictorious armies ſubduing and conquering the kingdom before you.
4. A Miniſtry, neither ignorant, nor unfaithful, nor driving their own intereſts, to ſerve you; to bring in the hearts of the people to you, which (till ſome taught them otherwiſe) they did, with ſuch ſucceſs, that;
5. Your intereſt in the affections of the Subjects was ſuch, that you commanded their purſes and their perſons, their lively-hoods and their lives, with as much freedom as ye did the wives of your boſoms, or your hired ſervants. Oh that is were with you as in the days of old!
6. The prayers of all the faithful at home, and of all the Churches abroad; which were round about you as an army of banners. Oh, to have all theſe come in againſt you, wil be an Aggravation indeed.
3. So wil (in the next place) the deep obligations which God hath laid upon you: 3. Obligations from God.your plenty, peace, preſervations, even miraculous, both Publique and perſonal; I hope you have not forgot them. Admirable ſucceſſes in your own kingdom: ſeaſonable and honorable aſſiſtance from the neighbouring kingdom of Scotland, in a brotherly league and Covenant with you. Your malignant neighbours abroad, God hath found them Work of their own, that they have not bin able to diſturb you: nor hath he ſuffered the Plague at home in ſeven Summers together to ſcatter you. There hath not an hair of your heads fallen to the ground. Are theſe ſmal things in your eyes?4. Self engagements. Surely they cannot.
4. What ſay ye to the Engagements which you have layd upon your own ſoules, by your enquiry at Gods oracles; Declarations, Sacraments, vows, the Solemn league and Covenant! Oh wilnot theſe ſpeak lowd in Gods eares? I, and in your eares one day, in caſe of neglect.
5. Iuſtice executed on delinquents.5. The judgment of God executed by you upon offenders, for their delinquencies againſt the ſtate, againſt religion: I ſhould be ſorry, their bloud ſhould ever cry againſt you. Yet I muſt tel you, Jehu carryed the matter ſo in deſtroying the houſe of Ahab, (though God commanded it) that while Jehu writes Juſtice, God writes down murder. I wil avenge the bloud of Jezreel upon the houſe of Jehu. Hoſea 1, 4.Jeroboam reſcues ten tribes and an half out of the Tyranny of Rehoboam, and then betrays them to Idolatry: he ſins, and makes Iſrael to ſin. Amaziah deſtroys the Edomites for their Idolatry, and then worſhips their Idols. 2 Chro, 25, 14.In all theſe you ſhal find, it was not love of juſtice, that did edg their ſword, but ſelf-intereſts: Reformation was not indeed their end, but the ſetting up of themſelves upon the ruin of an oppoſite party: ſo dangerous a thing is it to dally with God.
6. And laſtly, What ſay ye to your prayers, 6. Prayers.and in ſpecial to your late day of Humiliation for the spreading of Hereſies and Blaſphemies, in Print now to all the world? Wil ye faſt for Hereſies and spare them when ye have done? Wil ye humble your ſelves for Blaſphemies againſt God and Chriſt and the whole bleſſed Trinity, and ſuffer men to blaſpheme on? What wil this be when it is interpreted? Surely though fear may make men mince it at home, the Churches abroad wil not be afraid to call it hypocriſie and mocking of God.
And be not deceived, ſaith the Apoſtle, God is not mocked: Not mocked? What is that? That is, 1. Not undiſcovered: Gal, 6, 7.There is neither clouds nor darkneſs wherein treachery or prevarication can hide it ſelf from the piercing eye of God: There is no impoſing upon the Almighty.
And 2. God is not mocked impune: No man ſhal mock God and ſcape ſcot-free: What a man ſows that ſhal he reap; it is the Apoſtles own expoſition of the place.
Fathers and Brethren, let me not be miſtaken; I come not this day as your Accuſer, but as your humble remembrancer: I am jealous over you with a godly jealouſie; the Lord knows you are dearer to me then that blood which runs next my heart; and might it do Chriſt and you any ſervice, I could (I hope) as freely ſacrifice it, as eat my bread when I am hungry.
I know you have had many obſtructions and hinderances; But now I beſeech ye, gird up the loyns of your mind; ſet your ſelves, with all your counſel and ſtrength, to the ſtaying and ſtoping of the grievous apoſtacy and whoriſh departure from God in the Kingdom, and to reducing of it back again to the Commands, Worſhip, Truths and Government of the Lord Ieſus: Conclude this with your ſelves, there is no work lies upon your hands of ſuch concemment as this: And for your encouragement know, that though your troubles and diſtractions be great; yet you have a mighty God to ſtand by you, who hath promiſed that Jeruſalem ſhal be built, and the wall ſhal be raiſed,Dan. 9 25. even in troublous times. It relates as wel to Goſpel-Reformation, as to the full and final return of the Jews: and the Lord make it good to you, and by you.
2 Branch of Exbortation to Miniſters.I would ſpeak a word in the ſecond place to the faithful Miniſtry of England.
Do you ſet your ſelves (with the Prophets of old) to the bringing back of this poor Kingdom ſo fearfully gone a whoring from God: To that end,
1. Take heed of healing the hurt of the daughter of this people ſleightly, by crying peace, peace, where there is no peace: Take heed of daubing with untempered morter: Take heed of falſe viſions and cauſes of baniſhment: but be faithful in diſcovering the iniquities and whoredoms of the Land. If they had ſtood in my counſel, and had cauſed my people to hear my words, Ior, 23, 22.then they ſhould have turned my people from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Behold this is the way to ſave the Land, ſpeak while ye may ſpeak; and I pray God it be not ultimus ſingultus morientis libertatis.
2. Stand in the gap with Moſes, plead with Elijah, pray and cry with Jeremy: God hath not yet ſaid to us, pray not for this people, if he had; ſurely (with reverence be it ſpoken) we ſhould not beleeve him: Jeremy would not; but even after the Lord had enjoyned him ſilence,*Ier, 14, 11. pray not for this people, he is at his interceſſions again and again, in the 13.19, 20, 21, 22. Verſes, and all over his Propheſie. Oh therefore, Ye that make mention of the Lord, ye that are the Lords remembrancers (by ſpecial office and deſignement) give him no reſt till he eſtabliſh and make this our Jeruſalem a praiſe in the earth.
Thirdly and laſtly,3 Branch of Exhortat. to all Here is a word of Exhortation to all the people of the Land; and that in the language of the Apoſtle: Take heed, brethren, leſt there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, Heb, 3, 12,in departing from the living God.
In departing from the living God, in his
Truths.
Worſhip.
Commands.
Promiſes.
But in all theſe reſpects let us ſay with repenting, returning Iſrael: I wil go and return to my firſt huſband, for then it was better with me then it is now.
And for the encouragement of
Parliament.
Miniſters.
People.
let me remember you of that gracious invitation and promiſe: They ſay, if a man put away his wife, and ſhe go from him, Ier, 3, 1.and become another mans, ſhal not that land be greatly polluted? but thou haſt played the harlot with many lovers, yet return unto me, ſaith the Lord. There is much treaſure in the place, but the ſumma totalis is this; God wil accept of a returning people or perſon upon thoſe terms that the deareſt huſband in the world wil not. It is very obſervable that when Chriſt was withdrawn from the spouſe, Cant. 2.17. ſhe cries but once to him, Turn my beloved; but when ſhe was gone from him, he cries four times return to her, Chap. 6.13. Return, return, O Shulamite, return, return: Chriſt is four times as deſirous and glad of our return to him, as we are or can be of his return to us: The Lord ſpeak effectually to us, that we may know, and all the Churches may know that he is the Lord God, 2 Kings 18, 37and that he hath turned our heart back again. Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Case, Spiritual Whoredom Discovered (1647)