Two Sermons, Sermon 2
II. SERMON. The Fatal Consequence Of a PEOPLES Persisting in SIN: Preach'd To the very Reverend Dr. MATHER'S Church, on a Publick FAST, in the Time of the Measels, Ianuary, 14. 1713/14.
EZRA IX.13, 14.
After all that is come upon us, for our Evil Deeds, and for our Great Trespass; Seeing that Thou, our God, hast Punished us less than our Iniquities deserve, and hast given us such Deliverance as This; should we again break Thy Commandments, and joyn in Affinity with the People of these Abominations! W…uldst Thou not be Angry with us, till thou hast Consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping.
THE History of the Jewish Nation is very Entertaining and Instructive, Presenting us with a fair view of the various Scenes of Providence, and the Methods of the Divine Proceedings, with a People that stand peculiarly related to God; at once shewing us the Happiness of that People, whose God is the Lord, while they faithfully adhere to His Covenant, and maintain their Loyalty to their Sovereign; and giving us a Prospect of the Unspotted Holiness and Righteousness, and the burning Jealousy of God in Punishing of them, when they forsake His Ordinances, and Disobey His Commandments.
IF we trace that People, from their first Infant State, to their very Consummation, we shall find they Prospered in all their Designs, grew Great and Flourishing, or were brought Low and Abased with various Calamities, according as their Religion was Upheld, and they were found faithful to their God, or as Profanness and Vice prevailed among them.
WHILE they were careful to Walk in all the Ordinances of the Lord blameless, to observe His Statutes and Judgments to do them, what amazing Instances of the Divine Power, Wisdom, and Care, exerted for them, do we meet with in the Sacred Story? How is the Almighty Arm made bare for their Support and Deliverance, and the overthrow of their Enemies? Their Increase and Flourishing in Goshen; their Miraculous Redemption from their Egyptian-Bondage; the Conduct afforded them in their Long Travels; the Amazing Supply of Manna and Quail…, and the Stream from the Rock that followed them in the Desert for their Refreshment; the Wonders wrought by the hands of their Judges; their Subduing the Land of Canaan; their State and Magnificence in the Reigns of David and Solom…n, and some other of their Good Kings; these are all Lasting Monuments of the Divine Care, and Evident Demonstrations, what God will do for His People, while their Hearts are Perfect towards Him.
ON the other hand, their Plagues and Distresses, their Intestine Jarrs, and Repeated Wars, their Captivity in Babylon, and their final overthrow by the Romans, are as full Prooffs, that tho' God has known a People above all the Families of the Earth, yet He will Punish them for their Iniquities.
AND we may observe throughout the Sacred History, that God is wont very much, to Proportion His Judgments according to the Degrees of His Peoples Crimes; that He layed His Inflictions upon them more heavy and severe, as His People were more Obstinate and Incorrigable, and by their repeated Trespasses filled up the Measure of their Iniquities.
MY Text and Context leads me a little to Consider their Captivity in Babylon, and their Deliverance there from. When the Wicked Reigns of Ahas, Menasseth, Iehojakim, and Zedekiah, filled with Idolatry, the Contempt of Gods Sabbath, House and Ordinances, with Oppression, Injustice, and every Evil Work, had fully ripened them for the Desolating Judgments of God; Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon comes up as a Devouring Scourge▪ and compleats their over-throw, in the Destruction of Jerusalem their Royal City; burning their Palaces and their Temple; Slaying their Young Men, their Flower and Hopes; scarce sparing Age or Sex, and carrying the Remnant that had Escaped the Sword into Babylon, where they remained Vassals for Seventy Years, till their Land had fulfilled its Sabbath.
IN this their Distress, there were a Remnant that Feared the Lord, and sought Him with their whole Heart, and the Lord stirred up Cyrus, King of Persia, to issue out a Royal Proclamation, giving Liberty to the Jews, to return to their own Land, and Re-build their City, and the House of their God; at which time their Seventy Years Captivity Expired; tho' they still met with many Difficulties and Hindrances from their Enemies, in the Reigns of Cyrus, Cambyses, Artaxerxes, Darius Hystaspis, till it was finished in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Darius, or Artaxerxes Longimanus.
EZRA a Priest and Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, who had peculiarly set his Heart towards the House of his God, probably had tarryed at the Court of Babylon, to take such measures there, as might be necessary for the furtherance of the work; after the House was finished and the Wall of Ierusalem, he leaves the Persian Court, in the Seventh Year of Artaxerxes, and brings up the remainder of the People with him, and the Vessels of the House of the Lord, giving them into the hands of the Priests and Levites, to whom he appoints their several Charge, and they offer Sacrifice with Joy and Thanksgiving before the Lord.
WHILE these things were doing, Ezra is informed, that Contrary to the Divine Commandment, many of the Princes and Priests with the People had taken Wives, for themselves and their Sons, of the Babylonish Women, whom they had brought with them to Ierusalem; which as it was expressly forbiden, least thereby their Hearts should be drawn away to Idolatry, so was it extreamly Provoking to God.
UPON the hearing hereof, Ezra s…ts down filled with Astonishment and Indignation, and under the black Apprehensions he has of the fatal Consequents of it, he humbles himself before the Lord, and pours out a Prayer; as in this Ninth Chap. whereof my Text is a part: And after all that is come upon us, for our Evil Deeds, &c. Wherein I shall only Remark.
1. HIS acknowledgment, that it was for their Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, that God had brought those heavy Judgments upon them, which they had laboured under; All this that is come upon us, for our Evil Deeds.
2. THE Aggravating Circumstances that Attended their present Transgression; first, in that it was after all that had come upon them, and so a Contempt of former Judgments; and then, it was notwithstanding God had punished them less than they deserved, and had now granted them a very great Deliverance, and so it was base Ingratitude, and an abuse of the Divine Lenity and Mercy.
3. HIS Just fears least, if they persisted in their Transgression, it should prove their utter Ruine and Confusion: After and Notwithstanding — Should we again break thy Commandments, in Ioyning Affinity with the People of these Abominations, wouldst no… Thou be Angry with us, till Thou hast Consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping. Certainly, the bold Transgressions of a People, so Circumstanced, so …ighly Aggravated, after Judgments to Deter them, notwithstanding Mercies to Allure them▪ are very Provoking, and lay such an Incorrigible People … to the Amazing Effects of the Divi… Displeasure. From which Words we may gather this Doctrine, Viz
DOCT. THAT for a People in Covenant with GOD to Persist in their Evil Deeds and Great Trespasses, after former Iudgments GOD hath brought upon them therefor, and notwithstanding the Merciful Deliverances He hath favoured them with, is the most ready way to utter Ruine and Confusion.
IN the handling of this Doctrine, I shall Endeavour these things:
I. TO shew, That GOD does and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His Covenant People, by Iudgments upon them in this Life and World.
II. I shall just hint, That the Iudgments GOD Inflicts upon His People, ordinarily rise in Proportion to the Nature of their Crimes.
III. I shall Endeavour to Prove, That for GOD'S Covenant People to Persist in their Evil Deeds, after Iudgments, and notwithstanding Deliverances, is the most ready way to Ruine.
IV. AND then I shall make some Improvement, suitable to the Solemnity of this Day.
I. THE first thing then is, to shew, That GOD does and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His Covenant People, by Iudgments upon them in this Life. This appears plain from these things.
1. THE Covenant between God and His People considers them as a Collective Body. That there is a Covenant between God and His Professing People, is too evident in the Sacred Pages to make any Question of. His Israel ever stood in a Covenant Relation to Him, from the Days of Abraham, to the Dayes of the Messiah; and His Spiritual Israel have done so, from Ad…m to this Day. All the Difficulty lies in Understanding the Nature of this Covenant. And I freely Acknowledge, that I take it to be none other, than what we call the Covenant of Grace, Diversifyed with respect to the Parties, and the Sanctions of it. As the Covenant of Grace respects a Particular Person, so it considers him Singly and by himself, and the Sanctions of it are Eternal Rewards or Punishments: But as the same Covenant respects the People of God in the General, so it considers them as a Collective Body, all as One, and so its Sanctions are Temporal Rewards and Punishments.
THE Covenant between God and His Professing People is, their Mutual Engagement to each other, to perform something or other Specifyed in that Covenant. The very Notion of a Covenant carries Obligation in it: and this Obligation must be Mutual, and the Covenant binding upon both Parties; or the One, being under no Obligation, is at Liberty whether he will perform his Part or no, which necessarily leaves the other at as great a Liberty by reason of his Uncertainty; and so that which is Designed for the Strongest Tye and Bond, becomes Weaker than Sampson's Withs, having no force at all. And then the Terms of the Covenant, or Articles upon which the Two Parties agree, must be Specified in the Covenant; otherwise 'tis altogether uncertain what is to be done on either Part, and so no Obligation can lye upon either to the Performance of any thing at all; a Covenant binding no further than it expresses.
THUS God and His People stand engaged in Covenant unto each other; the Sum of which is expressed in, Jer. XXXI.33. I will be their God, and they shall be my People. That which is re…uired on Mans Part is, all Possible Homage and Obedience to God, as He has fully set their Duty before them in His Word, which is the Book of the Covenant; and God has been graciously Pleased to come under Covenant Obligations, to bestow upon His People all the Blessings expressed in that Covenant, if they be Faithful to Him therein. Now this Covenant is Mutually Obligatory, upon the Divine Majesty and His People; only Man being to receive the Benefit of the Covenant, it stands him in stead to see to the Performance of his Part, e'er he can Challenge the Blessing, or indeed so much as hope for it. And this is still the Covenant of Grace, in that 'tis an high Act of Grace, for the Great GOD thus to Condescend, to come under Covenant Engagements to a Worm; and in that the Covenant is still founded in Christ Jesus, as Head and Mediator of it, without whom there could be no Possibility for a Sinful Creature, to come into so near a Relation to a Holy God; nor would the Duty Performed by Man, be sufficient to entitle him, to the Blessings engaged by God, were it not for the Merits of Christ; even Temporal Blessings being more than Man can Deserve. And besides, in this Covenant there is sufficient Room for the Suspending, at least for a Time, the Threatenings denounced in case of Disobedience, and the utter averting of Impending Judgments, upon a Sincere and Hearty Repentance and Reformation.
NOW this Covenant, between God and His People, ever considers them as a Collective Body, being made with the Whole Congregation of His Professing People; and therefore where-ever we find it mentioned in the Sacred Pages, it always ru…s in such Terms, as evidently manifests, that it respects the People Collectively and Together, all of them as One Party concerned in it. So it was at the first more evident Ratifying of it on Mount Sinai; and therefore when Moses had received all the Statutes and Ordinances for the Children of Israel; sayes God to him, Exod. XXXIV.27. Write thou these words, for after the Tenor of these words I have made a Covenant with thee, and with Israel. i. e. with the whole Body of the People, whom Moses represented. And this more plainly appears at the renewing of the Covenant in the Land of Moab: for thus runs the Preamble to it, Deut. XXIX.10. Ye stand this Day all of you before the Lord your God, your Captains of your Tribes, your Elders and your Officers, with all the M…n of Israel, your Little Ones, your Wives, and the Stranger that is within your Gates, from the Hewer of Wo…d, to the Drawer of Water, that thou shouldest enter into Covenant with the Lord thy God, and into His Oath▪ which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this Day, that He may Establish thee to Day for a People unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee a God. Than which▪ nothing can be more full and pertinent to the purpose; and it evidently shews▪ that the Covenant is made with the whole Body of the People▪ considered as a People.
2. THE Sanctions of this Covenant between God and His People are Temporal; Temporal Rewards, and Temporal Punishments. Far be it from me, to say any thing that shall take off the Edge, and a…e the Force of those Eternal Rewards and Punishments, by which the Covenant is Established with Particular Persons. Every Visible Professor in a Christian State stands related to God in a Double Capacity, both as a Private Person considered by himself, and as a Member of that Collective Body of which he is but a Part. As a Private Person, he is by his Baptism Personally in Covenant with God; and tho' the Dispensations of Providence towards him here are not Proportioned exactly according to his behaviour, but as God in Infinite Sovereignty sees meet, yet the Eternal Rewards and Punishments of the future World will be Dispensed to him, according to his Fidelity or Unfaithfulness in the Covenant.
BUT then, as a Person stands related to the Body Politick, so he is but a Part of that Body, or Community with whom the Covenant is made; and this Society or Body of Men, of which each Person is but a part of the whole, have the Covenant Ratifyed with them by the Sanctions of Temporal Rewards or Punishments; and accordingly they are National and Publick Judgments that are Inflicted on such a People, for their Sin; And Publick Blessings that are Conferred upon them, when they are a Righteous People. Hence every Member of the Common-Wealth has some Part in the Allotments of Providence; and the most Righteous Person has his share in the Common Calamity brought upon such a People; and tho' a very Profane and Vicious Person may happen to escape a Personal Suffering, under the heavy distresses that may be Inflicted upon the Nation or State of which he is a Member, yet have they all their common Interest bound up together, and every Part of the Body feels something of the Wounds that are given to it, and rejoyces in it's Health and Prosperity.
AND indeed throughout the whole Bible, where-ever we find the Covenant made with a People as such, we shall also find, that Outward Prosperity is the Blessing engaged in Case of Obedience, and Outward Afflictions and Chastisements are the Punishments threatened in Case of Disobedience.
THUS it was when the Covenant was made with Abraham, who was considered as the head of a Family and Nation: Gen. XVII. begin. The Lord appeared to Abram, and said, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou Perfect; and I will make my Covenant between Me and thee, — and thou shalt be a Father of many Nations. — Thy Name shall be called Abraham, for a Father of many Nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceeding Fruitful, and I will make Nations of thee, and I will establish my Covenant between Me and thee, and thy Seed after thee; — and I will give unto thee and thy Seed after thee, the Land wherein thou art a Stranger, all the Land of Canaan, for an Everlasting Possession. — And God said unto Abraham, thou shalt keep my Covenant therefore, thou and thy Seed after thee. In all of which 'tis plainly Evident, that tho Covenant here was not made with Abraham meerly as a Single Person, but as including a Great People in his Loyns, and respected that Unborn People together with him; 'Tis Evident also that the Blessings of this Life are the Favours engaged in the Covenant, if Abraham and his Seed keep their Covenant; and their Temporal Punishment, in Case of Disobedience, is inferred by the rule of Contraries, and is fairly pointed at by the Word therefore: Thou shall keep my Covenant therefore, thou and thy Seed, Q. D. if you do it not, you shall not be so blessed, but on the Contrary Afflicted; and we see by the Event it was so, in the many bitter things they met with e'er they came to the Possession of the Promised Land of Canaan.
AND this Ratification of the Covenant by Temporal Rewards and Punishments appears in a clearer Light, when after the Seed of Abraham, by Isaac, came to be a Great Nation, and the Covenant was more fully and openly made with the whole People; as is to be seen, Levit. XXVI. Chap. Where after all the Articles of the Covenant had been expressed, Moses layes down the Sanctions from Verse 3d. If ye walk in my Statutes, and keep my Commandments to do them, then I will give you Rain in due Season, and the Land shall yield her Increase, and the Trees of the Field shall yield their Fruit; and your Thr…shing shall reach unto the Vintage, and the Vintage shall reach unto the Sowing Time; and ye shall Eat your Bread to the full, and dwell in your Land Safely: And I will give Peace in the Land, and ye shall lye down, and none shall make you affraid; and I will rid evil Beast out of the Land, neither shall the Sword pass thro' the Land; and ye shall Chase your Enemies, and they shall fall before you by the Sword. — And I will have respect unto you, and make you Fruitful and Multiply you. — And ye shall Eat old Sto…e, and bring forth the Old because of the New, &c. But (on the other hand) If ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these Commandments, if ye shall Despise my Statutes, or if your Soul abhor my Iudgments, so that ye will not do all my Commandments, but that ye break my Covenant; I also will do this unto you▪ I will even appoint over you Terror, Consum…tion, and the Burning Ague — And ye shall Sow your Seed in vain, — And ye shall be Slain before your Enemies. Thro'out the whole of which it plainly appears, that Temporal Rewards or Punishments are the Sanctions of the Covenant between God and His People.
AND indeed it seems natural that it should be so; for a People in Covenant with God are more Peculiarly under a Theocratical Government, having Chosen the Lord for their Head and King, and are become in a special manner His Common-Wealth; and tho' His Power over them is Monarchical and Absolute, yet He proceeds by the Rules of Rectoral Holiness and Relative Righteousness, and accordingly favours them with Outward Prosperity, or punishes them with Outward Adversity, according to their Manners, as they behave themselves with a steady Loyalty, or prove Treacherous and Disobedient to Him.
3. THE Evil Deeds and Trespasses of Gods Covenant People are Provoking to Him, and Deserve Punishment. God is a Holy and Jealous God, of Purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity; and all Sin must needs be offensive to the unspotted Holiness, and unerring Rectitude of the Divine Nature: 'tis the Abominable thing which He Hates, (Jer. XLIV.4.) And which He will sooner or later, one way or other, certainly Punish where-ever 'tis found.
WHEN therefore this hateful thing is found in a Particular Person, the Holy and Righteous God will either Punish for it, by inflicting the Just Wages of Sin upon the Offender in his own Person; or accept of what his Surely has Suffered for him, as a Sufficient and Satisfactory Punishment.
BUT when a People are found Guilty, we may rationally Conclude, that as the Covenant is made with them as such, and the Sanctions of tha… Covenant threaten Temporal Afflictions, that accordingly their Crimes, which are provoking to God, shall be Punished upon them as such a People.
FOR Sin is not the less Offensive and ill Deserving, for its being found among a People in Covenant with God, but rather the more so; because such a People know better, the Law of the Lord their God is among them; and besides they have Sworn Alleigance to God as their Righ…ful Sovereign: so that their Evil Deeds must needs be Peculiarly Offensive and Provoking, being against the clearest Light to the Contrary, and the addition of Perjury to their Disobedience.
HERE then I might properly enough Inquire; When may a People considered as such be Looked upon as Guilty? For 'tis very certain, that some particular Acts of Sin and Disobedience, found in particular Persons, among a Covenant People, don't alwayes involve that People in the Guilt thereof. But all I shall attempt to say in Answer hereto (having no time to be larger) is, that when the Sins of Particular Persons are allowed and abetted by the generality of a People especially their Heads and Rulers, without providing proper Laws against them, or neglecting the Execution of those Laws; and when any Sin becomes the general practice of a People and Epidemically rages among them; and much more when all kind of Sins prevail among a People: I think under these Characters they may be accounted the Sins of the People, for which they lye exposed to the Divine Chastisements. For You only have I known (says God) above all the Families of the Earth, therefore will I punish you for your Iniquities, Amos III.2. So that Sin is not lest Offensive and Provoking for being found among His Covenant People.
4. THIS Life and World is the only suitable Time and Place for a People considered as such, to be Punished for their Evil Deeds. For the Covenant being made with a People considered as a Collective Body, and the Sanctions of that Covenant respecting them as such, and accordingly threatening them with Temporal Punishments, when therefore by Sin they become Obnoxious to the Penalties contained in the Sanction, what of Punishment is inflicted on them as a People therefor, must be while they are such a Collective Body, and so considered. Their Evil Deeds and Trespasses are considered, not as the Acts of this or that particular Person, but when they are op…ly Tollerated, and Epidemically prevail among …em, they are looked upon as the Evil Deeds of the whole Body of the People together; and therefore while they are such a Community, which is only in this Life and World, they are to be Punished therefor.
IN the General Judgment▪ then every particular Person shall stand or fall by his own Deeds, he shall be Tryed, Condemned or Acquited, Rewarded or Punished, according as his Deeds in the Body have been: But then, in the other World, a People don't appear as a Body, a State or Kingdom, to be Tryed and Judged for what their Behaviour has been as such a People; nor indeed is there Room for such a Tryal▪ the Perpetual Mutation and Succession of Generations forbids it.
SO that since the future World is no proper Time and Place for the Rewarding or Punishing a People, considered as a Collective Bod… ▪ it remains▪ that this Life and World, wherein only they are so, is the only fit Time and Place of their being Punished for their Evil Deeds and Trespasses. And accordingly this we find the Method of the Divine Proceedure; if we examine the Sacred History both of the Old Testament, and the New.
FROM all which it appears plain that God does, and will Punish the Evil Deeds of His People, by Judgments upon them in this Life and World: for the Covenant between God and them considers them all as one Body, the Sanctions of that Covenant are Temporal Inflictions, the Sins of Gods People are displeasing and deserve Chastisement, and this Life and World seems to be the only suitable Time and Place for it. I proceed to the Second thing I Proposed, which I shall but just touch upon: viz.
II. THAT the Iudgments GOD inflicts upon His People, Ordinarily rise in Proportion to the Nature of their Crimes: The Punishments brought upon them are greater or less, more gentle, or more severe, according to the Degrees of their Provocations. For God is a Righteous Lord; Psal. XI.7. And He Rules and Governs the World according to the strictest Rules of Righteousness, in Conjuction with His other Perfections.
WITH respect to a particular Person, there is no necessity that the strict Rules of Justice give Law to the Divine Dispensations here, and that therefore he should never be Afflicted but Meerly upon the account of some Sin or other deserving it; for God may have Wise and Holy Ends, and Gracious Ones too, why He deals so or so with a particular Person; and yet Righteousness and Judgment is the Foundation of His Throne, when His Providences are Dark and Mysterious: but with respect to a People or Nation, 'tis more peculiarly an Effect of Divine Justice that He Punishes them; nor do I know any one Instant in the whole Bible, where National Judgments were not inflicted purely upon the account of National Sins. Now the same Justice that leads to the Punishment Proportions out the several Degrees of it, answerable to the various Degrees of the Malignancy and Provocation of the Crimes; that lesser Sins shall have a lesser Punishment, and greater Sins a more grevious one. For 'tis equally an Effect of Justice, to Proportion the Degrees of the Punishment to the nature of the Crime, as to Punish for it at all. Sometimes also the Divine Justice is seen so to Proportion the Punishment, as that the greatest share of a Publick Calamity shall fall heaviest on those, who have had the chiefest hand in the Trespass.
'TIS true, the Justice of God does not necessitate, that immediately upon the Commission of the Sin the People should Suffer the Punishment of it▪ for God is their Sovereign, and there is sufficient Room for the Exercise of Mercy, Patience, and Long-suffering; and therefore the Lord has Proclaimed His Name to be, The Lord God Gracious, and Merciful slow unto Anger, — And yet, that He will by no means clear the Guilty: For tho' God may forbear to Punish for a while, and bear a long time with the ill Manners of a People, yet He will take a time to Visit for their Iniquities▪ and when He does so, their former Trangressions▪ which remain Unpunished, shall come into Remembrance with Him: Exod. XXXII.34. Nevertheless in the Day when I visit, I will visi… their Sin upon them. And when He does thus … for Sin, He will Proportion His Judgments, according to the Demerit of their Sins, as one Sin holds in Proportion to another.
IF we take a view of the History of the Church of God, we shall see this Proceedure Plain and Evident: And in such a Method God before hand declares He will deal with His Covenant People: as may be seen in Levit. XXVI.14. v. and on. But if ye will not hearken unto me — I will appoint over you Terror, Consum…tion and the burning Ague. — And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me, — then I will Punish you Seven times more for your Sins, and I will break the Pride of your Power, and will make your Heaven as Iron, and your E…r…h as Brass— And if you walk contrary unto Me, — I will bring Seven times more Plagues upon you according to your Sins. — And if you will not be Reformed by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me, then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will Punish you yet Seven times for your Sins; and I will bring a Sword upon you, that shall Avenge the quarrel of my Covenant. — And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary to Me▪ then I will walk contrary unto you also in Fury; and I, even I will chastise you Seven times for your Sins. — And I will Scatter you among the Heathen, — And your Land shall be desolate, and your Cities Wast; then shall the Land Enjoy her Sabbaths, &c. Which last finishing Judgment particularly Points to the Babylonish Captivity, under which their Land was desolate, and their Cities waste, for Seventy Years, till the Land had fulfilled it's Sabbaths.
THUS we see a very remarkable Gradation, in the Punishment inflicted, answerable to the Nature of their Crimes; by lesser Judgments God Chastens them for their Amendment, but if these will not Reclaim them, the Rod shall be turned into … Sword, and His Anger become heated Indignation; and as their Sins rise higher, proportionably will the Divine Displeasure encrease till His Jealousy Smoak against them, and His Anger burn like Fire.
I pass, to the Third Head. viz.
III. TO prove, That when a Covenant People Persist in their Evil Deeds and Trespasses, After former Judgments, and Notwithstanding Merciful Deliverances, they take the most Ready Way to utter Ruine and Destruction.
THIS will appear from these things:
1. THIS Temper and Frame in a People, Naturally opens the Door to utter Ruine. For a People to go on in Sin, violating the Covenant of their God, after He has Punished them therefor, and notwithstanding the Deliverances and Mercies that have been mixed with Judgment; it argues that they have a fixed Love and Delight in the Wayes of Sin: and when this comes to be the Epidemical reigning Distemper of a People▪ that they Love to do Evil, and will not be Reformed▪ it naturally sets open a Wide Door to all sorts of Miseries and Desolations. For if the Laws of God, which are of the strongest Obligation▪ loose their Efficacy▪ and become of no force at all; if they can easily break His Bonds▪ and cast His Cords from them▪ of how little force will Humane Laws be to restrain them, to cirb their Passions▪ and subdue their Lusts? These however well concerted, will be but like Tow and Fla… with them▪ which their Mo… Lusts will easily snap asunde… And certainly while there are no sufficient restraints upon them▪ to keep them within the Circle of their Duty, they will of themselves rush into utter Ruine and Destruction.
HENCE GOD sayes of Ephraim, Hos. IV.17. Ephraim is Ioyned unto Idols, let him alone: Which is not barely a giving him up to Sin, as a Punishment for Sin; but is Designed to shew, that thereby he will himself make his Drink to become Sour; Let him Alone, leave him to his own Counsils, they are so perverse, that his Ruine will be the Natural fruit of his Doings. As our Saviour said of the Pharisees, Math. XV.14. Let them alone, they are Blind Leaders of the Blind; and if the Blind lead the Blind, they both shall fall into the ditch.
LOOK among all the Barbarous Nations of the World, and see if their Ignorance of the true GOD does not involve them in sufficient Misery: Yet wide is the Difference between them and Gods Covenant People. For as their Guilt is greater, and so provokes God to deal more severely with them, and Punish them by Confounding their Counsils, and hiding from them the plain Path; So their Passions and Lusts, which have heretofore been under some Restraint, now break forth, like pent Rivers, with greater force and violence, with Impetuous Rage and Fury, and carry all before them. Now Tyranny, Injustice, and Oppression in Superiours; Insolence, Murmuring, and Sedition in Inferiours, Wrack their Civil Constitution, and sap the very foundations of their Government; on the Good Settlement whereof, very much of the Prosperity and Flourishing of a People does depend. Besides Fraud and Couzening, Falsehood, Hatred, Malice, and Envy, and every Evil Work, will now Prevail among Private Persons; who having …st off all restraint, and make a Pish at the Laws of God and Man, each One will set up for himself, resolving to promote his own Interest, right or wrong; and will stick at nothing, how base and unjust soever, to accomplish their Designs. And what a Mortal Consumption must this needs thro' a State into? So that this Frame and Temper in a People, naturally runs them into Ruine and Destruction.
2. THIS Persisting in Sin Gives the highest Provocation to God, For,
[1.] BY this means they make a New Addition to their Old Guilt. Tho' a People may have had National Judgments inflicted on them, and have been sorely Punished for their former Transgressions, yet by their Continuance in their Sins, and their resolved Persisting in their Rebellions against their Sovereign, their Old Guilt returns upon them; because by their a-New Transgressing the Law of their God, they Approve and Vindicate all their former Disobedience; which equally involves them in the Guilt of it, as if it were but just now committed, and had never been Punished upon them. Hence our Blessed Saviour tells the Jews, Math. XXIII.35. That, upon that Generation should come all the Righteous Blood shed upon the Earth, from the Blood of Righteous Abel, to the Blood of Zacharias the Son of Barachias, whom they slew between the Porch and the Altar. For by their Sinful Deeds, and especially by their Slaying …he Messias, they Vindicated the vile Murders that had been committed upon those of His Prophets, whom their Fore-Fathers had, slain; and so they took upon themselves the Guilt of it all: and accordingly all that Righteous Blood, that had been so unjustly shed, fell v…ry heavy upon that Generation, upon them and their Children, as they Imprecated on themselves.
AND as their Old Guilt thus returns upon a People, by their Persisting in Sin; so by their continual repeated Acts of Sin, they contract New and Greater Guilt: As every New Transgression adds to the Pile of their Iniquities, so it encreases their old Debt, and adds to the Weight of their Guilt. And besides, as the first Act of Rebellion is a Crime, provoking to God, and exposes to Punishment; so the repetition thereof encreases their Guilt, not only as 'tis a New Crime, but as 'tis of a deeper Dye, and of a more heinous Nature; because it Argues a fixed Malignity against their Sovereign, and a resolution to do all they can to Affront Him, since they cannot depose Him: So that by this Means God is more highly Provoked. Hence 'tis reckoned as an encreased Provocation in the Children of Israel, that to all …heir other Sins, They added this, to ask for them a King, … Sam. XII.19. And God expresses His Anger, and … His Woes against them that thus go … to add Sin to Sin. Isai XXX 1 Wo unto the Rebellious Children (saith the Lord) that take Councel, but … of Me, that they may add Sin to Sin. And 'tis uttered as one of the heaviest Curses upon a People, Psal. LXIX.27. Add Iniquity to t…eir In…quity So that by this Persisting in Sin there is an Addition of New and Greater Guilt, and so encreased Provocation given to God; and certainly this must need… b… the …eady way to Ruine.
[2.] THE Peculiarly Aggravating Circumstances that Attend a Peoples Persisting in Sin, renders it more highly Provoking to GOD Here I shall distinctly, tho' but briefly, touch upon those Aggravations mentioned in my Text. As,
(1.) THEIR Sin is peculiarly Aggravated▪ in that they go on and persist in their Evil Deeds, After all the Iudgments GOD has brought upon them therefor. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds and our Great Trespass — Should we again break thy Commandments! — What, after God had so severely Punished them! — Had driven them out of their own Land! — Had laid their Cities waste, and left their Land Desolate! — After the Sword had devoured their flourishing Youth! — After Seventy Years Ca… tiv…ty and Bondage to the King of Babylon! — And when they k…ew too, that this Desolation befell them as the Punishment of their Sin! — After all …his! — To go on Sinning Still! — What can be more Provoking to Heaven?
THIS was that A…az's peculiarly Aggravated Guilt, that, in the Time of his Distress, he Sinned yet m…e, II. Chron XXVIII.22. And so was it Iudah's, Isai. XLII. ult. Because they have not walked in my Wa…es, (says God) and would not be Obedient unto my Laws, therefo…e He hath Poured out upon them the Fury of His Anger, and the Strength of Battle, and it set him on Fire round about, but …e knew it not; it burned him, but he laid it not to Heart. It did not reclaim him, but he went on Sinning still: and this Provoked God to bring yet heavier Judgments upon them. Jer. XLIV.10, 11. They are not humbled even unto this Day; therefore, (thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel) Behold, I will set my Face against you for Evil, and will cut off all Iudah. He did so, and but a small remnant Escaped, to return from their Babylonish Captivity to Jerusalem; and yet; After all this! — Should we again break thy Commandments! — What could they expect should be the fruit of such highhanded Provocation, but their total Ruine and Destruction.
(2.) THEIR Sin is peculiarly Aggravated, in that Notwithstanding the great Me…cies and wonderful Deliverances they have Experienced, they still Persist in their Evil Deeds. Seeing thou, our God, hast Punished us less than our Iniquities do deserve, and hast given us such Deliverance as this! — Should we again break thy Commandment! — This must needs be a Mighty Aggravation of their Crime and Guilt, and highly provoking to God; that God in the midst of all the Judgments He had brought upon them, had Remembred Mercy for them; He had not poured out upon them all His Indignation, had not so strictly marked all their Wayes, as to Punish them to the height of what their Iniquities Deserved; but had shewed Compassion to them, and endeavoured by lesser Judgments to Reform them; and now had wrought such a great and surprising Deliverance for them; had stirred up the Spirit of a Pagan Prince, whose Vassals and Tributaries they were, of his own accord to Propose their Deliverance, and encourage them to return to their own Land, and build the House of their God; and Successively thro' several Reigns had still preserved the Hearts of the several Princes in their Interest, notwithstanding the many Subtle Contrivances, and Powerful Endeavours of the Politick Courtiers and Great Men of Persia, to frustrate the Good Design; and at last had enlarged the Heart of Artaxerxes (probably Longimanus) to Contribute so largely towards the Defraying the Charge of the Work, and had enabled a handful of the Jews to go thro' and finish the Work, Maugre all the Opposition they met with from their Malicious Enemies! — After all these Mercies! — So Great and Signal a Deliverance as this! — Should we again break Thy Commandments! Wouldst not Thou be Angry with us, till Thou hast consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping. Verily such their Persisting in Sin would have been the blackest Ingratitude, and the most Intollerable Abuse of the Divine Goodness, and Extreamly Provoking. And so God resents the vile Ingratitude and Baseness of those that trample upon His Goodness, and spurn at the Bowels of Mercy, who are so Disingenious as to Conspire against His Crown and Dignity, at the same time that He is loading them with His Benefits, that can rise up in Rebellion against the Breast that gave them Suck. 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; the Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib, but Israel doth not know, my People doth not consider: Ah, Sinful Nation, a People laden with Iniquities, a Seed of Evil Doers, Children that are Corrupters, they have forsaken the Lord, they have Provoked the Holy One of Israel unto Anger, Isai. I.2, 3, 4. And who cannot see, that such Increased Guilt, such Aggravated Impiety, such a Contempt of the Divine Arm, and Abuse of the Goodness of God, which should lead them to Repentance is the most direct and ready Way to Ruine and Destruction.
TO Proceed,
3. BY this Pe…sisting in Sin a…er Judgments and M…r…ies, a People Ripen … for Utter Ruine: When God Chastens a People …y lesser Judgments, His Corrections are designed to Amend them; By this shall the Iniquity o… Iacob be Purged, and t…s is all the Fruit to take away Sin, Isai. XXVII.9 When He confers Mercies and Deliverances on them, 'tis to draw them by the Cords of a Man, and the Bands of Love, Hos. XI.4.
BUT if they remain Incorrigable; If Judgments will not teach them Righteousness, nor Mercies lead them to Repentance; If the proper Methods to work upon their Hopes and Love, their Fear and Aversion prove Ineffectual, and they can contemn the Rod, and despise the Riches of His Grace, shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? Saith the Lord. GOD is as it were wearyed with their Iniquities, and with useing Means to reclaim them; why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: by this Means they fill up the Measure of their Iniquity; and when their Ephah is full, what can they Expect? but the Tallent of Lead to be let down upon them: since all the Divine Cultivations have been bestowed upon them in vain, and they remain barren and unfruitful under all; the next thing is, Cut them down, why Cumber they the Ground?
THIS was Gods last Resolution concerning Iudah, in the Song of the Vineyard, Isai. V. begin: He had Planted a Vineyard on a fruitful Hill; had Fenced it, and gathered out the Stones thereof, and Planted it with the choicest Vine, &c. And what could have been done more, that I have not done in it (saith God) but since after all this pains, it brought forth only wild Grapes; I will take away the Hedge thereof, and it shall be Eaten up; and break down the Wall thereof, and it shall be troden down; and I will lay it waste, Unpruned, Undigged, and it shall be full of Briers and Thorns. And thus we find it, in that fore-mentioned, Lev. XXVI.14. — If you will not hearken unto me, I will do this unto you, — and if you will not for all this hearken unto me, I will Punish you yet Seven Times. —. Observe the Gradation in the Judgments inflicted, and then as the last result of all, if they would still Persist in their Sins, If ye will walk contrary unto Me, I also will walk contrary unto you in Fury, and I will Obhor you, and make your Cities waste. By this obstinate irreclaimable Temper, the Harvast grows Ripe, and it is time for the Sickle to be thrust in; by this great Wickedness, the Press becomes full, the Vats overflow, and now the Wine-Press of the Wrath of God shall be trodden down▪ till they are bruised to Pieces, and made an utter Desolation.
4. WHEN a People resolvedly Persist in Sin, the Honour of God seems to call for their Utter Ruine. The Honour of God is more peculiarly concerned in a People that are in Covenant with Him; for the Nations round about them will be apt to Judge of their God▪ according to the Behaviour of such a People, and His dealings with them: and as their Obedient Walk manifests their God, to be a God Glorious in Holiness; and it gives a forcible Invitation to the Heathen World, to bow down and joyn in His Praise, when they see how peculiarly favoured they are with Prosperity; so their Disobedience reflects most dishonourably upon Him, as tho' He were a God that had Pleasure in Wickedness. If therefore they will not take Care to give Him the Glory due unto His Name, and make His Praise to be known, by their Fidelity to His Covenant; 'tis time for Him to arise, when Men make void His Law, and vindicate the Glory of His Own Name; by Punishing their Bold Transgressions with a Rod, and their Iniquities with Stripes: and if they prove Irreclaimable, and will go on still in their Rebellions against their Lord, the Honour of His Name seems to Demand, that He appear a Righteous Judge in the Earth, that all Nations may fear before Him, and give Praise at the Remembrance of His Holiness.
SO the Honour of the Divine Sovereignty seems to demand, that those Rebels, that will not by any Means be brought over to their Obedience, should no longer be born with, but have the Penalties of the Law Executed upon them.
SO the Glory of the Divine Holiness, which now has the last and highest Abuse and Indignity cast upon it, seems to demand the fullest Evidence of its Unspotted Purity, and that therefore the highest Testimony should … against such workers of Iniquity.
SO the Glory of the Divine Faithfulness, which stands bound by the Sanctions of the Divine Law, and the Covenant between God and His People, that if they will not fear the Glorious and Fearful Name of the LORD their GOD, that their Plagues shall be Wonderful, calls for the Accomplishment of it.
THUS the Injured Patience, Long-Suffering, and Mercy of God, which has been abused and trampled on, … into Wantonness, and Improved against Him, seems necessarily to withdraw and bear no longer with such hardened Rebels, but leave them to their Deserved Punishment.
INFINITE Wisdom, which Concerts the Best Me…thods of Government, for the Attainment of the true Ends thereof, seems to bespeak it, that such a Nation be delivered up, and made an Example▪ that others may hear and fear and do no more so Wickedly.
AND certainly Divine Iustice urges for a speedy Execution of all the Curses written in the Law▪ upon those that are resolved not to do the things contained therein, but will go on in their high-handed Violations of the Divine Commandment.
SO that the Glory of the Divine Name, the Asserting and Vindicating the Honour of His Glorious Perfections, all of which have the last Contempt and Indignity cast upon them▪ by a Peoples irreclaimable Pursuit of Sin, seem to call upon God to Arise and Scatter His Enemies▪ that He no longer keep Silence, least Men should vainly Imagine Him to be, One Ignorant and Weak like themselves, but that He set their Sins in Order before them, and reprove them; that they that Hate Him, and lift up their Heads in Contempt of Him, may be Confounded and Trouled for ever, that they may be put to Shame and Perish; that Men may know▪ that Thou, whose Name Alone is JEHOVAH, are the Most High over all the Earth. … Psalm L.21. And, LXXXIII.1, 2▪ — 17, 18▪
5. LASTLY; Such a resolute Persisting in Sin, notwithstanding Divine Judgments and Mercies, has proved the Utter Ruine and Destruction of a Professing People. I will not attempt, under this head, to present you with the Sorrowful History of what has befallen any part of the Christian World; who have felt the weight of the Divine Displeasure for their Stubborn Rebellion: but I …hall close this Proposition, with a short view of the Methods of Gods Proceedings with the Jewish Nation; in which we have a plain and full Confirmation of what is Asserted.
THEY were once a People Peculiarly dear to God, among whom only, of all the Families of the Earth, He had caused His Name to be known, and had Established them for a People to Himself: And if you take a view of them in their Infant State, while as yet the Name of Jews was not known among them, from the Days of their Great Father Abraham, under their Theocratical …, and under their Judges, You will find, That when they Rebelled against the Lord, and forsook His Commandments, God Punished them for their Disobedience: they Repented while under His Hand, and Reformed for a Time; but soon forgot their God and Saviour, and returned to their former Courses; and were again Punished therefor. The same you will see, if you consider them under their Kings, after the Distinction of Jews and Israelites had obtained among them; till their Crimes grew so Great, and were so frequently repeated, and they become so hardened in them, that the Lord was Provoked to deliver them into the Hands of the King of Babylon, and laid them waste for Seventy Years together. And after all this, that had come upon them for their Evil Deed▪ and tho' God had granted them a Revival, tha… they return'd to their own Land, built their City and Temple, and Planted Vineyards, and …at the fruit thereof; yet they soon forgot it all, and returned to their old Idolatry and Prophanity▪ grew incorrigible in their Wickedness; hated and slew the Lords Prophets, and the Son of God Himself; that Warned and Advised them; … Judgments, no Mercies would reclaim them: … then the Lord was Angry with them, till He …ad Consumed them; till by their own Feuds, their dreadful Intestine Broyls, and unheard of Cruelties upon one another, and the Roman Invasion (which brought them into such miserable Distresses, that the very Relation of them by Iosephus is enough to shock the most resolute Mind, and overwhelm the Heart with fainting in the midst of the Bowels) had utterly Consumed them, and destroyed them from being a People: under which fatal Destruction they remain to this very Day.
SO that we see, that such a Professing People as resolve to go on in Sin, notwithstanding former Judgments, and the Merciful Deliverances God has favoured them with, are in the ready way to Utter Destruction; for this their Persisting in their Sinful Courses, naturally opens a Door to their Ruine and Confusion, is highly Provoking to God, ripens them a-pace for Desolating Judgments, which the Honour of Gods Name now seems to call for, and which has been the Sad and Lamentable End of such an Incorrigible People.
AND so I have Passed thro' the Doctrinal handling of my Text; I shall proceed.
IV. TO make some IMPROVEMENT of this Discourse.
I must wave many Inferences which this Subject would afford us, and only Select a few that seem proper to the Work and Solemnity of this Day.
I. HENCE then; It concerns us to take a View of the Methods of Gods Dealings w…th us.
THAT we are a People in Covenant with God is readily Confessed; we have His Name called upon us, His Statutes and Ordinances, the Laws of the God of Israel among us; we call our selves His Servants, and openly wear His Mark and Livery. Now by a View of Gods Dealings with us, we shall be helped to form some Judgment of our true State and Frame. For if this Life and World be the only proper Place for a People as such to be Rewarded or Punished, then by the Tenour of the Divine Dispensations, we may be helped at least to see what Terms we are in with God. With respect to particular Persons indeed, there is no Knowing Love or Hatred by all that befalls them: For there is One Event to the Righteous and the Wicked, Eccl. IX.1, 2. But the Reason is otherwise with respect to a People, with whom God always proceeds with a strict Adherance to the Rules of Relative Righteousness; so that they may make some Rational Conjecture, what Interest they have in His Favour, by a view of the Methods of Providences towards them. So Moses urges Obedience upon the Children of Israel, from this Consideration, That their Flourishing would be so conspicuous, that the Nations round about them would rightly conclude; What Nation is there so Great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is, in all things that we …all upon Him for, Deut. IV.7. And certainly 'tis a M…tt…r of very Considerable Importance, for a People to be well Acquainted with their State, to know what Interest they have in the Divine Favour; that they may take the Comfort of it, and Worship before the Lord with the Voice of Joy and Praise, or be put upon Searching out and Removing the Accursed thing, which Separate, between them and their God.
NOW I freely confess, I have alwayes thought that if there has been any People in the Wo…d▪ whose History has run Parallel with that of the Ancient Israelites, 'tis the People of New-England. GOD delivered our Fathers out of the hands of those who Imposed heavy Yokes and Burdens upon them, Conducted them thro' the Paths of the Sea, and brought them into a Strange Land; and tho' some Unpromising Accounts and Circumstances, relating to the Land and its Native Inhabitants brought a Discouragement upon the first Attempts for a Settlement here, yet our God has given them Possession of this Good Land, as Canaan, a Land flowing with Milk and Hon…y▪ He drove out the Heathen before them also, tho' not all at Once, or in one Year, least the Beasts of the Field should Multiply against them, and the Land become desolate▪ but by little and little did He drive them out from befo…e the…, till they were encreased to Inhe…i… the Land▪ so did He make room for them … up His Tabernacle also among … them: yet did He … to be as Thorns in their Sides, and a Scourge to them and their Children, when they decline from the Path of His Commandments.
AND since the Settlement has been made, how various have been the Judgments of God upon us, as upon Israel of Old. What Desolations has the War with the Salvages, once and again, brought upon several Parts of the Land, tho' God has not suffered them wholly to prevail against us? Has not God often sent Blasting and Mildew, the Locust and the Caterpillar, to devour the Fruit of the Ground, and eat up all most every Green Tree? Has He not often reduced us to a great Cry for Bread, that the Poor of the Land especially have sought it, and been ready to part with their Desirable things for it? Has not He sent Pestilential Diseases that have Multiplyed the Slain among us? So has God been often Punishing of us.
AND yet He has Punished us far less than our Iniquities do deserve, and has granted us great Deliverances out of our Afflictions, and from those Evils that Threatened us; as now at this Day, in Sheathing the Devouring Sword of the Wilderness; in Delivering this Great Town from the distressing Famine, which we had so near a Prospect of, by sending in Sufficient Supplies, in the only Opportunity and Season, the Roughness of the Weather would have allowed for it; as also in carrying the Town almost through the Dangers of that Common Distemper which so lately invaded us, and so swiftly and fatally spread among us.
NOW certainly 'tis for our Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, that the Lord our God has been Chastening of us in so many Instances. He would not have blasted our Hopes, frustrated our Undertakings, and confounded our Best laid Designs; as when He break to Pieces our Gallant Navy, and Scattered them in His Anger, and so defeated the Attempt of 1711. He would not have Delivered our Substance into the Hands of the Spoilers; that when we went out Full, we returned Empty, and when we looked for much, Lo, He had blown upon it, that it came to little: He would not have reduced our Ordinary Food to so Scanty an Allowance, and Greviously Distressed and Impoverished us with the Scarcity and Dearness of the Necessaries of Life: He would not have sent raging Sickness among us, and given a Commission to the Destroying Angel to Smite and Cut down so many, as we have seen in the Latest Months: Our God would not have brought all these Evils upon us, if He had not a Controversy with us, because of our Great Trespasses against Him; for He does not willingly Afflict nor Grieve the Children of Men, but thus Punishes His People for their Iniquities.
II. HENCE; It concerns us to Examine what are those Sins amongst us, which Provoke the Lord to Anger. If all this is come upon us for our Evil Deeds, it concerns us to get the Cause Removed, as ever we would have the Effect to cease: And how shall we get rid of those Malignant Influences, if we remain Strangers to What and Where they are? Had Ezra continued Ignorant of the present Crime of the Jews, to which my Text relates, their taking Strange Wives to themselves, and Joyning in Affinity with an Abominable People, he would never have been able to have taken the proper Methods to Purge away that Iniquity, and so divert the threatened Ruine. It therefore becomes a People, labouring under the Afflicting hand of God, to say with Iob, Job X.2. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. This is what God calls us to this Day, even to Search and Try our Wayes.
THEN let this whole People Set upon Examining, What are those Evils Prevailing among us, which enkindle the Divine Displeasure, and pull down His Judgments upon us. Alas! Alas! Are there not many and great Impieties to be found in our Land? Is not God Himself too much neglected, our Loyalty to Him forgotten, and a bare Formality, without the Power of Religion, the Guise of many High Professors? Is not His most Dreadful and Sacred Name greatly Dishonoured and Blasphemed, by the most Hideous and Execrable Oaths and Cursing? Is not His Holy Day Prophaned? And does not His House too much lye waste, by Multitudes forgetting the Assembling of themselves together; by a Contempt cast upon the plain Ordinances and Institution of Christ, to Remember Him in a Serious and Worthy Approach to His Holy Table? Is not Love and Charity, the Christians peculiar Badge, grown Cold? Is there no Oppression and Injustice, no Levelling and Seditious Spirit, crept into the several Orders, wherein we … …elated to one another? Are there no raging Boisterous and Contentious Passions flaming among us, and Consuming the Peace and Good Order, even of the Churches themselves? Are there no Rampant Lust Tyranizing over none of us, and Intemperately hurrying the Possessed thro' the Dark and Miry Places that Pollute and Defile them? Are there no such things as Fraud, Couzen and Deceit, as Falshood and Evil Speaking, to be seen or heard of in our Land? Has not the Spirit of this World gain'd the Ascendant over the Thoughts and Actions of the Generality of Men? And, to have done, Is there not an Impious Spirit of Murmuring and Complaining of Divine Providence, and instead of Thankfully receiving the many Blessings the Divine Bounty Yearly confers upon us, a Piteous Lament of the Thinness of them, Murmured out by many, that under the Covert thereof they may make their Advantage to Oppress their Neighbours? It were most heartily to be wished, that none of these things were to be found in the midst of us.
BLESSED be GOD; We have as yet Pious Rulers, and many wholsome Laws; Faithful Watch-men, and bright Examples too of Vertue and Religion: Yet if such things as these should grow Common among us, and pass freely without proper Endeavours to Suppress them, they will certainly be Imputed as the Sins of the People, and accordingly expose us to the Righteous Judgments of God.
III. HENCE: We may Learn, What we have to Fear, if we will still go on in our Evil Deeds and Trespasses. GOD has been dealing with us in much Tenderness and Compassion. We have Sinned, and He has been Angry with us, and Punished us▪ but far less than our Iniquities do deserve. He has been Shaking His Rod over us, to Warn us of our Sin and Danger, has been giving us more Easy and Gentle Stripes, mixing many Mercies with His Judgments, and trying by the Mildest Exercise of His Sovereign Authority to Reclaim us, and bring us to a Steady Obedience. His Patience has been Lengthened out to Long-Suffering, and the Tenour of His Dispensations has Spoke the Tender and Gracious Language, that was uttered to Israel and Ephraim: Hos. XI.8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine Heart is turned within me, my Repentings are kindled together.
BUT if we should be a People bent to back-slinding; If we harden our Hearts, and go on in our Evil Wayes; If we are not afraid of His Tokens, nor tremble for fear of His Judgments; if we refuse to be drawn by the Cords of Love, and the Bands of a Man; What can we Expect, but that more Severe and Heavy Judgments than ever yet we have felt shall over-take us! For thus we are assured; Isai. IX.13, 14, & 17. The People turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they Seek the Lord of Host; therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel, Head and Tayl, Branch and Rush, in one Day; — for His Anger is not turned away, but His Hand is stretched out still. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds, and for our Great Trespass, seeing that Thou, our God, hast Punished us less than our Iniquities Deserve, and hast given us such Deliverance as this; should we again break Thy Commandment — Wouldst thou not be Angry with us, till Thou hast consumed us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping.
IV. LASTLY; Hence then, We see the Way to Prevent our Ruine, and Obtain the Divine Blessing: viz. By a Sincere and Hearty Acknowledgment of our Sins, and turning there-from; by a Steady, Constant and Universal Obedience to the Commandments of our GOD, and the Institutions of JESUS CHRIST; and our Fervent and Incessant Prayers to Heaven thro' our Glorious Mediator.
THUS then, Let us Sincerely Confess and Bewayl, and Turn from all our Transgressions, where-with we have been Transgressing the Law of our GOD. For this we are called together this Day, TO MAKE AN HUMBLE PENITENTIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR SINS. Let this then be heartily attended by us, not only in the Publick Services, but in our Private Retirements, Mourning before the Lord, that we have been a People so void of Understanding, as to Sin against our GOD, and Provoke His Holy Displeasure; And, ACKNOWLEDGING THE HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Chastening of us for our Sins, Saying before Him, Righteous art Thou, O Lord, in all Thy Wayes, and Holy in all thy Works. And then take care to break off from our Sins by Righteousness, and from our Iniquities by shewing Mercy to the Poor. Thus does Pious Ezra. For our Evil Deeds and Great Trespass, all this is come upon us; And, v. 15. Behold we are before thee, in our Trespasses: And, with what Humiliation and Abasement of Soul, — O my God, I am Ashamed, and Blush to Lift up my Face to Thee, my God; v. 6. And then we find him (as in the Tenth Chapter) Putting away the Provoking Evil, and Separating themselves from their Strange Wives. And if we thus turn from our Evil Wayes, the Lord will Repent of the Evil that He thought to do unto us. Vid. Jer. XVIII.8.
AGAIN; Let us Evidence the Sincerity of our Repentance by a Steady and Universal Obedience to all t…e Divine Commandments. Turn ye unto Me, even unto Me, saith the Lord; If ye be Willing and Obedient ye shall Eat the Good of the Land, Isai. I.19. Let us then Search and See what is amiss, that we may cease to do Evil, and learn to do Well. And let every One begin this Work with himself; for there never will be a General Reformation, but what is founded in Individuals. Let it not be said of us, No Man Repented, Saying, What have I done? But let every One consider what are the Personal Evils I have been Guilty of, that have helped to pull down the Divine Judgments upon the Land. And now Immediately, Set upon the Practice of all known Duties; Faithfully Performing all that we stand engaged to in the Covenant of our God; Expressing our Unfeigned Love to God; and our Neighbour, by an Universal Conformity to all the Particular Instances of our Duty, to our Creator, and our Fellow Creatures; which are but so many branches of that Royal Law of Love. Let every One, in his Station and Capacity, do what he can, for the Suppressing of Vice, and the Encouragement of Vertue: And at least, by the Powerful Influence of a Good Example, dash Prophaneness and Immorality out of Countenance, and Revive and Support declining Vertue and Religion; that Pure Religion and Undefiled may yet appear Shining in its Native Lustre among us. O that my People had hearkened unto Me! (sayes God, Psalm LXXXI.13, 14, & 16.) and Israel had walked in My Wayes! I should soon have subdued their Enemies; — He would have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat; and with Honey out of the Rock should I have Satisf…ed thee. And, If thou wilt diligently hearken unto the Voice of thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His Sight, and will give Ear to His Commandments, and Keep His Statutes, I will put none of these Diseases upon thee, — for I am the Lord that healeth thee, Exod. XV.26.
TO draw to a Close; To these let us Ioyn our Earnest Prayers in the Name of our Blessed Mediator, for the Removal of Divine Judgments, and the Obtaining a Blessing. This is a Day for us to bow down before the Lord our God, and Implore His Pardoning Mercy, and to Seek His Favour and Blessing.
MY Text is found in the Prayer of Ezra, under the Apprehension of what God might inflict upon them for their Sin▪ And this is the Way God Himself has been graciously Pleased to direct us; For this, I will be Enq…ired of to do it for them, Ezek. XXXVI.37. And for our Encouragement He has Mercifully assured us, That He has not said to the Seed of Iacob, Seek ye Me in Vain. Let us then be found Faithful and Hearty in this Duty this Day, with the greatest Earnestness and Importunity Pouring out our Supplications before the Lord, both in Publick and Private. And let all our Prayers As…end in the Name … CHRIST JESUS, our Blessed Advocate with the Father, who ever Lives to make Intercession for us▪ That Perfumed with His Sweet Incense, they may go up with a Pleasant Savour into the No…rils of our God, and find Acceptance …ith Him▪
SO let us Earnestly Supplicate at the Throne of Grace, for the Pardon of all our Many and Great Sins; for the Removal of those Judgments which we feel, and for the diverting those which we fear; for Suitable and Seasonable Supplies to the Wants of the Poor and Needy, as well as our Own; that the Angel of DEATH may not pass in Triumph thro' our Land; that GOD would be Attoned for our Land, and Vouchsafe His Merciful Regards to us, for the Sake of His Dear SON, our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST.
AND let us Remember in this our Day of Supplication, Humbly to ask for the Guidance and Direction of Infinite Wisdom to our Royal Sovereign, that Her Majesties Councils may be as tho' we had Enquired of the Oracles of our God; for the Flourishing and Peace of Her Dominions; and for the Prosperity and Deliverance of the Church of God in the World.
THUS let us Attend the Work of this Day, with all Possible Sincerity, and with true Devotion of Soul; and who knows but the Lord will Return to us in Mercy, and not only grant us a little Reviving, but Establish us a Quiet Habitation, and make us a Praise, and a Joy in the Earth. I will Conclude all with, Jer. VI.8. Be thou Instructed, O Ierusalem, lest my Soul depart from thee, lest I make thee Desolate, a Land not Inhabited.
FINIS.