Hamans Vanity, Title page – Dedication
Haman's Vanity, OR, A SERMON Diſplaying the birthleſſe Iſſues of Church-deſtroying Adverſaries.
Preached to The Honourable Houſe of COMMONS At their late ſolemne Thankſgiving, being on June 15. 1643.
BY OBADIAH SEDGWICK, Batchelor in Divinity, and Paſtor of Coggeſhall in Eſſex.
Publiſhed by Order of that Houſe.
PSAL. 2. 1. Why doe the Heathen rage, and the p…ople imagine a vaine thing?
London, printed by R. Biſhop, for SAMUEL GELLIBRAND at the Brazen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard, 1643.
To the Honourable Houſe of COMMONS aſſembled in PARLIAMENT.
SIRS,
He trembling period of time (wherein we now breath) is very like that Day ſpoken of by the Prophet Zachary in cap. 14. v. 6. & 7. In that Day the light ſhall not be cleare nor dark, but it ſhall be one Day known to the Lord, Not Day, Nor Night.
With ſuch a ſtrange myſteriouſneſſe doth Divine Providence ballance the Scales of the Church and her Adverſaries attempts, that oftentimes the moſt criticall Believers ſtand amaz'd and unreſolved: For the light is not ſo cleare that we can infallibly foreſee what God will preſently doe; Nor yet is it ſo dark that wee can peremptorily conclude, God will doe no more; Such a mixture, ſuch a variation there is in Gods preſent diſpenſations, that we are like a Ship which is no ſooner freed of one wave but is as immediately lifted up by another: This one Day (as that Scripture ſpeaketh,) Is Not a Day (i) Not ſuch a time o… perfect ſucceſſe as that wee can long rejoyce, and ſay, Now there is an end of all our Feares; Nor yet is it Night; (i) ſuch a time of palpable loſſe, as that we need to diſpaire and cry out, Now there is an end of all our Hopes.
And verily through ſuch Dubious Methods doth that deep and unſearchable providence wheele and drive on his own great counſels and deſigns (perhaps) for theſe Reaſons, That his minutes of vengeance might glide unexpectedly on his Adverſaries, And the ſeaſons of deliverances might be moſt welcome to his Servanrs, And the deciſive events be moſt properly glorious to himſelfe; There being no other Hand of good mens preſervation and of wicked mens confuſion, then that, which to our ſhallow ſenſe, ſeemeth to neglect both.
In ſuch wavering and likely-unlikely times, two duties doe chiefly concerne us; One is a conſtant reſpect to divine commands: The other is a fixed reſting on divine promiſes: Whatſoever the Temporary events may be, wee muſt be carefull to doe our work, and then bee confident that God (in due time) will finiſh his: Perhaps the Churches of Chriſt may ſuffer yet longer, but they ſhall not thus ſuffer for ever; For that mighty Angel which came down from Heaven in Revel. 10. 1. though He was cloathed with a cloud, yet He was cloathed with a Raine-bow too, which ye know was Nuncius faederis & Serenitatis.
And (Right Honourable) if you will once more caſt your eyes on that place in Zachary, peradventure you may finde as ſtrange an Evening-time, as juſt now you did a Day-time; (It ſhall come paſſe, ſaith the Prophet there, That at Evening-time, it ſhall be light;) O the wonderfully ſuperlative thoughts and acts of God! How high and contrary are his times of working to weak mans times of expecting? When we are moſt confident of good, then behold evill is upon us! And when we are expecting nothing but darkneſſe; (for what is the evening but a Sepulcher prepared for the light?) Then behold at the evening time it ſhall bee light: So wiſely doth the great Soveraigne of the world reſerve himſelfe, and times; that yet he can and will create the light of cleareſt mercies, even then when his Church is ſetting into the evening of darkeſt miſeries.
All this is truth, and your ſelves have lived to handle much of it by experience: which therefore ſhould oblige and excite every Member of your Houſe to be more thankfull, and more faithfull, and more ſeriouſly Active for the lamentably Maſſacred Churches of England and Ireland; Be confident of it, that whoſoever may be the enemies, and whatſoever may be the hazards; yet Chriſt and his Church will be the Conquerours: Him and his Church and his cauſe I ſtill commend to the utmoſt of your cares and ſervice; How much and how farre you are for theſe, ſo much and ſo long God will be for you. Whoſe eternall wings for ever ſhadow your perſons, and proſper all your pious endevours, So prayes
Yours and the Churches, Servant, OBADIAH SEDGWICK.