Englands Preservation, Part 5
1. To every one of us.
Ʋſe 1 WEE ſtand here (this day) before the Lord, and ſeeme to doe the worke of a ſolemne Faſt-day: We confeſſe Our ſinnes, Wee pray, Wee humble our ſelves, and profeſſe that wee will Repent, and reforme, and obey the Lord! Here hath been much ſeed ſowne (prayers are ſeed, Teares are ſeed, Sermons are ſeed.)
But if all this ſowing ſhould bee but a ſowing amongſt thorns; if all this ſhould be ſo managed by us, that our prayers, that our confeſſions, that our hearings, that our reſolvings ſhould come to nothing, and prove nothing: If after once, twice, thrice, many humblings, we yet ſhould not be humbled; if after all the changes which befall our times, our hearts yet ſhould not be changed, but ſins remaine as ſtrong, and judgements remain as neare. If after all this, God ſhould not be reconciled unto us, our tranſgreſſions ſhould not be pardoned, judgements ſhould not be withdrawn, mercies ſhould not be ſent downe; what a bitter and ſad thing would this be for a man to periſh, though hee prayes, and to bee deſtroyed though he faſts, and a Nation to be made a curſe and an hiſſing, and a deſolation, after it hath ſeemed to meet the Lord by ſolemne confeſſions and humiliations? To periſh in the ſhewes of repentance is a bitter periſhing.
It was a ſad greeting which they found from Chriſt; Lord, ſay they, we have heard thee preaching in our Synagogues, we have eat and drunk in thy preſence; yet ſaith Chriſt unto them, depart from me ye workers of iniquity, verily I know you not: So when we come to die, and then come to judgement, and ſay, Lord, we have heard thy Word, we have faſted, we have prayed, we have afflicted our bodies and ſoules; and yet Chriſt ſhall ſay, depart, I know you not, yee heard my Word indeed, but ye did not obey my Word; ye confeſſed your ſins, but yee never forſook your ſins, ye gave on towards a little good, but ye never became good, you profeſſed obedience, but you never did care to walk in my wayes, and therefore all that you have done ſhall never doe you any good; would not this be a ſad and heavy anſwer to our ſelfe-deluded ſoules?
Nay, put the caſe, that now after all our faſtings, the ſame judgement (or a worſe) ſhould befall us which befalls our poore Brethren in Ireland, that the ſword ſhould break forth among us, and all the unmercifull and ſudden calamities of warre ſhould beleaguer us, that in a moment the Goſpel ſhould bee baniſhed, our liberties ſhould be imbondaged, our eſtates ſhould be exhauſted, our lands ſhould be diſpoſſeſſed, our houſes ſhould be burnt, our coffers ſhould be ranſack'd, our bodies ſhould be tortured, and our lives ſhould be threatned; Good Lord! would we ſay, is all our faſting and humbling come to this? we looked for good, and not for evill, wee looked for peace, and not for deſtruction; why? and the Lord might anſwer us, when did you faſt to me, and when did you pray to me? Indeed you prayed againſt judgements, but you would never leave your ſins, which (I told you often) would pull downe judgements: you would have had mercies, but I could never perſwade you to repent in good earneſt; you would truſt to vaine thoughts of your owne, you would never be humbled to purpoſe, you would ſow among thornes, and ſee now what ye get by it.
O Chriſtian thinke ſeriouſly of theſe things! God hath called to England, once, againe, often, a longer time, repent indeed, turne from your evill wayes indeed, be upright and holy indeed, walk with me once at length in truth; judgements have called, warnings have called, conſciences ſtill call, dangers ſtill call, feares ſtill call, the Miniſters of God (as the Prophets of old) ſtill call, and cry, and beſeech, and weepe; turne yet unto the Lord, turne not feignedly, but with all your hearts, ſow not among thornes; yet Lord! who believes our reports and calls? the Prophet is reputed a foole, and the Spirituall man mad, men will be ſinfull ſtill, they will (perhaps one of ten thouſand) bee ſeemingly penitent; and the iſſue (I feare) will bee this, the deſtruction of the tranſgreſſors and of the ſinners ſhall be together, Iſai. 1. 28. And while they be folden together as thornes, they ſhall be devoured as ſtubble fully dry, Nahum 1. 10
But Sirs let us yet be perſwaded to repent, and to reforme our ſelves to purpoſe; if ever we purpoſe to repent, or would repent to purpoſe, this is the time; all within us, all without us, all abroad, all at home beg it at our hearts: O that God would work all his works in us, that our ſelfe-reforming work may begin, goe on, hold out, and abound, that God may be reconciled to our ſelves, and this ſinfull land.