The Context runs thus.

THe words indeed are a Prophecy con­cerning Judah and Jerusalem Esay 1. 1. ver 1. but fitted and calculated for every Me­ridian and Countrey, where God has a Church. 1 Cor. 10. 11. These things, saith the A­postle, happened to them for ensamples, and were Rom. 15. 4. 1 Cor. 9. 9, 10. 1 Cor. 10. 11. writ­ten for our instruction.

And though this be Gods constant Method, yet no Nation under Heaven has had a more signall ex­periment of the Accomplishment of this Prophe­cy in the first, and most eminent parts of it, then our selves. We have sensibly been [...]aught by our late afflictions and miseries, and the now happy Restauration of our former Judges and Counsellors, that it belongs to us, as well as to Judah and Jeru­salem. And God grant, that as our late miseries and judgements have not been to devoure, but one­ly to refine us, so we may have a share in the Issue and Event of the Prophecy, and that our Magistrates and Ministers, that God has restored to us, may have a powerfull influence on our true Reforma­tion; that our Zion may be redeemed with Judgement, and her Converts with Righteousness. Esay 1. 27.

You see the Text exactly squares with the Times, [Page 3] and this Occasion. For here the Prophet repre­sents to you Gods dealings in the Reformation of his people under the Metaphor of a Founder, as it were melting and dressing them to be fit vessels of his Sanctuary. And I will turn mine hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, &c.

Wherein observe a double Work or Operation of this All-wise, Almighty Artist, with the Issue and E­vent of it.

In the first work, we have God like the Goldsmith laying his hand upon the Metall, which he finds cor­rupted and embased beyond all possibility of scour­ing, and then breaking it in pieces by his judgements, and casting it into the Fornace of Affliction to purifie it from its dross, and refine it from the Tin. And I will turn mine hand upon thee, &c.

In the second, we have Gods dealing with the Metall now purified and melted. He brings it to the Wheel, and the Anvile, the Hammer and the File, the Putty and the Oile to shape and fashion, dress and po­lish it for the great Masters use. He restores unto them good Magistrates, and good Ministers Calvin, Ju­nius, and o­thers after them, by Counsellors, here also un­derstood Ci­vil Magi­strates, that were assistents to the Judges; but Jerom, Haymo, Lyra, Alapide, Brentius, the ordina­ry Gloss, and others understand it of the Restauration of the Priests and the Prophets; such as Ezra, Josuah the son of Josedeck, and the Apostles and Ministers of the Gospel. But it seems; to me at least, to have been literally and primarily fulfilled under Hezekiah, who restored the Priests and the Levites to the service of the Lord; though secundatily, and in type, it referrs to all such future Restauration in the Church. Compare 2 Chron. cap. 29. 30, 31. and 2 Kings 18. and the stories of Ʋzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, with the first Chap. of Isaiah. men of lawfull Authority for Commission, and of solid In­tegrity for Execution; such Judges as they had at first, and such Counsellors as at the beginning: the one to shape and dress them by Judgement and Justice in [Page 4] punishing offenders, and Psal. 101. 8. cutting off all evil doers from the city of the Lord; the other to scoure and po­lish them by sound doctrine 2 Tim. 3. 15, 16, 17., and seasonable re­proof, by wholesome correction and instruction in Righte­ousness. And I will restore unto thee thy Judges, &c.

And then the Issue and Event is (which is the third Branch of the Text) the vessels of Gold and Silver thus purified and fashioned become sanctified indeed and vessels unto honour. Afterward thou shalt be called the Citie of Righteousness, the faithfull Citie, or accor­ding to the Hebrew Idiome, thou shalt really be, as thou art called, or, as Calvin, thou shalt be so e­minently a just and religious people, that all Na­tions round about shall take notice, and speak of it, and call thee, as thou art.

Of these in the Order proposed. And first of the first, Gods purifying of his People from their dross, and their Tin by the fire of Affliction.

It beginns with a Copulative. And this shews the [...] LXXII. Connexion and dependence of this Act and Ope­ration on the former, at the same instant, that God will avenge himself upon his Adversaries, he will turn his hand on Zion. Whence observe, That when the sins of a Nation are at the height, God brings a nationall Judgement.

He kindles a fire in Zion, and it devours the very Lam. 4. 11. foundations thereof. In common Calamities all suf­fer alike. The Plague, the Sword, the Famine (Gods National whips and scourges) make no di­stinction. The Good and Bad are equally exposed [Page 5] unto their fury. The fire in the Fornace as well fu­riously scorches the precious metall, as the Tin, and dross. The onely difference is in the issue of the work, and the design of the Artificer: and God with the self­same Judgements, wherewith he eases himself of his Adversaries, refines and melts his people, that are in covenant with him.

Whence learn we not to pass censure on private persons in common Calamities. Let us not think them worse, on whom the Tower in Siloe fell, then the Luke 13. 4. rest of Jerusalem that escaped: or that those were Luke 13. 2, the very worst and most seditious of all the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, and so perished in their Rebellion. But consider we what our Saviour has told us Luk. 13. 3. 5. against such Censurers, I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. He that sinks in a common Calamity, may be better then any that are spared: nay sometimes the best and chiefest in a Nation fall soonest under the Burden.

But then many times this happens not for their own, but others sins, even of those that are often spared in the Judgement. When the People murmu­red Psal. 106. 32 against God, he was angry, saies the Psalmist, with Moses, (their Ruler) for their sakes. A pious K [...]ng may be destroyed by, and for the sins of those, that conspire his destruction. Or secondly, God some­times takes away the Goodman from the evil yet to come, when he has greater plagues in store. Or third­ly, that the wicked may have no Mediators, no Inter­cessors left, to bind his hands, and wrestle with him in Prayer, as Exod. 32. 10, 11. Psal. 106. 23. Moses did, when he resolves to de­stroy them. We do not Gen. 18. 32. find ten righteous persons [Page 6] in the foure Cities of the Plain, though Lot and his Family dwelt in Sodom, lest it might have been spa­red for tens sake.

And no injustice at all in this. For as the best men have their sins, and he that is least guilty in a Nation has some way or other helped to add to the publick Banck: so the worst may, through Gods mercy to them in Christ, be reprieved in National Judgements, to give them space to repent (it was wicked Jezabels case Revel. 2. 21.) or he may re­serve them for whips and scourges to punish an hy­pocriticall people, as he saved the 1 King. 11. 26. 40. 2 Chron. 13. 6 Traytor Jero­boam from the sword of his Prince, that so he might be the 1 Kings 11. 31, 32, 33. compared with vers. 9, 10. 11. scourge to Rehoboam the son of a 1 King. 11. 1, 2 &c. to the 11. Quis­quis ille Con­fessor est, Sa­lomone major aut melior, aut charior non est, qui tamen quamdiu in viis Domini ambulavit, tamdiu gratiam, quam de Domino fuerat consecutus, obtinuit. Postquam dereliquit Domini viam perdidit & gratiam Domini. Et ideo scriptum est, Tene quod habes ne alius accipiat Coronam. Cypri­an de Eccles. Unitate seu simplicitate Praelat. p 171. edit. Froben. Basil. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins, that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right. he shall surely live, he shall not dye, Ezek. 18 21. And that Solomon repented of his evil wayes, I have reason to imagine, and that Ecclesia­stes was the signal fruit of his Repentance. wicked Father. And if they make not good use of this Re­prieve, God has greater Judgements in store (as he had for impenitent Jezabel, Revel. 2. 22, 23.) and when the discipline is ended, then the Assyrian the Esay 10. 5. 12. Rod of his Anger, must be thrown into the fire, and Esay 10. 5. 12. another nation shall visit and ruine them, for the evil of Gods People, to which they were instru­mentall.

Let not then the Esay 10. 15. Axe boast it self against the wood, that is hewed, and say, I am better then thou, much less against him that heweth therewith: nor let him, [Page 7] that has escaped a common Calamity, think it was for his own goodness, that he fell not, as other men. Gods Judgements as we read in Dan. 12. 4 9 Revel. 6. 3. & 10. 4. Isai. 29. 11. Daniel and the Revelation, are still sealed. They are secret hidden things to us, and we know not the Causes nor the Justice of them. Nevertheless, as the Apostle 2 Tim. 2, 19 2 Tim. 2. 19. the foundation of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them, that are his. And let every one that but nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. That is Deut. 29. 29. our business at all times; espe­cially in publick Calamities. † But secret things (his winding intricate Paths of Providence and Judge­ment against an hypocriticall People) belong unto the Lord. We may see indeed who suffers, and what scourge falls upon him, but then we know not the end, or reason of the stroak.

It is not then for us to pry into Gods Counsels when he is at his work of Judgement▪ When the Founder sits at the Melting pot, none can know, but himself, why this piece of Metall first goes into the flame, or why that other is reserved. Gods Judgements, sayes the Psal. 36. 9. Psalmist, are a great deep, not to be fathomed by us.

No rather, let it humble us under his sin-aven­ging hand, and make us tremble at the severity of his wrath, and abhor our own vileness, that makes him spare none. Good, bad, all alike, we see, lye under a common Calamity: and the best are either first taken away, or are the most eminent in suffer­ings. Let it teach us to adore his Justice in Wonder and Silence, and make us lay our hands on our lips, as Psal. 39. 9. David did, and be dumb, and open not our mouth, because God did it. Or rather let us lay our hands on [Page 8] our hearts, and judge not others, but our selves, and say as Nathan did to David, we, we are the men; 2 Sam. 12. 7. We have brought this destruction on our Princes, and on our Brethren. Let it make us lift up our Prayers for the remnant that is left. As the Judge­ment Esay 37. 5. has been National and Publick, so let all the Joel 2. 16. 17. Congregation, the Elders, the Sucklings, the Bridegroom, the Priests, all cry out, spare thy People, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach. Let our Prayers and our Repentance be as large and publick as our Sins and Miseries have been. Alas! let us not con­sider who was struck, or who spared, or who threat­ned in the desolation, but the hand, that did strike us. The Author of the Punishment, the next thing considerable.

And that is one sufficient enough for such a work. For he wants nor Power, nor Skill, nor Authority to effect it, because he is the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, Esay 1. 24. the mighty one of Israel, as he describes himself in the verse before the Text, to shew his own strength, and our weakness, and affright the sinner to Repen­tance.

For his Power, he is the Lord of hosts, the mighty one: Job 25. 3. and is there any number of his Armies? as it is Job 25. 3. And certainly methinks this alone should hum­ble us, were we rationall Creatures. For do we pro­voke the Lord, the Lord of hosts, to Jealousie? Are we 1 Cor. 10 22. stronger then he, that is, the mighty one of Israel? Are any of us able to dwell with his Everlasting burnings? Esay 33. 14. Are we sufficient to meet him with our ten thou­sand Weaknesses, that comes against us with his twen­ty thousand Judgements? Me thinks when a Natio­nall [Page 9] Plague is broke in upon us, it should humble and terribly amate us, that it is the King of Kings, and Lord of hosts, one higher, one stronger then all, that smites us, that can consume us with the very breath Psal. 18. 8. Esay 5. 24. Esay 31. 3. of his nostrils; us, that are as stubble before the flames, and chaff before the wind, that like Aegypts horses, are flesh and not Spirit?

Though in our Brave, with Esay 37. 24. 25. Sennacherib, we talk high, and threaten what we will do against the enemy at home, or abroad, yet Vers. 29. Leviathan has a hook in his Nostrils, the war horse hath a bridle in his lipps: he shall go, but to the compass of his Line, and whether A notable example of Gods Provi­dence in this kind we have Ezechiel 21, 19, 20, 21, 22, &c. Vid. Grot. in loc. God himself by his all wise Provi­dence shall guide him to destroy. Esay 37. 33, 34, 35. Esay 54. 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the King of Assyria, He shall not come into this City, nor shoot an Arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a Banck against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this City saith the Lord. For I will defend this City to save it for my own sake, and for my servant Davids sake. So again, Esay 54. 16. Behold, sayes God, I have created the Smith that bloweth the coles in the fire, and that bringeth forth his Instruments for his work, and I have created the Waster to destroy. But can he go further then God pleases? No. It fol­lows v. 17. No weapon that is formed against thee, Vers. 17. shall prosper: and every tongue that shall rise against thee in Judgement, thou shalt condemn: this is the heri­tage of the servants of the Lord.

And therefore, Esay 49. 9. Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker: Let the Potsheards strive with (their equals) the Potsheards of the Earth: Shall the Clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou, or thy work, he hath [Page 10] no hands? No, consider we what he sayes a little before to this purpose of Cyrus, Esay 49. whose right hand he had holden to subdue Nations before him, Esay 54. 5. Vers. 5. I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God besides me: I have girded thee with strength, though thou hast not known me.

This for the consideration of Gods Power to hum­ble us, in a common Calamity. None so strong as he; none so weak as we are.

But then not onely strength and might are his; but wisdome, and counsell too, to effect, whatsoever he pleases. He stiles himself the Lord, for that. Ah Lord God, sayes Jeremy c. 32. 17, 18, 19. behold Jer. 32. 17, 18, 19. thou hast made the Heaven and the earth—and there is nothing too hard for thee—Great in Counsell and mighty in work; for thine eyes are open upon all the wayes of the sonnes of men, to give every one according to his wayes, and the fruit of his doings.

We when a Judgement comes, may strive and plot and labour what we can to prevent it. What Rabshaketh spake falsly concerning Hezekiah, is of­ten 2 Kings 18, 19, 20. too true of our Policies and Stratagems. What confidence is this, wherein we trust? We say (but they are but vain words) we have Counsel, and strength for the warr. But talk, and think, what we will; No Counsel shall prosper against his determination to punish a rebellious People. For what sayes he in Esay 46. c. 10, 11? My Counsell shall stand, and I will Esay 46. 10. 11. do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my Counsel, from a farr Country; yea I have spoken it, and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also do it.

We are apt on all sides to lay the blame on evil [Page 11] Counsell. How readily do we charge our Miseries on this mans Treason, or the others Folly? If such a one had been wise, or honest, to have advised the Prince in good time, or such an one had not been false, to reveal his counsels, or conspire against him, none of these Calamities had followed. But fools as we are, not to think of our own sins, that are the true causes of all our miscarriages, the rest are but Occasions. When God is resolved to visit a People in Judgement, he catches the wise in their own craft, and turns the counsels of the Sages of the Nation, like those of the Oracle, Achitophel, into foolishness. 2 Sam. 15 31. 2 Sam. 16. 23 2 Sam. 17. 5, 6 7, 8. And by his Providence he blasts the best directions; either making wise advises to be rejected as vain, or raising up a Hushai to match Achitopbel, a Craftyer Vers. 14. then they, to counterwork all their Plots, and bring them to confusion.

This should teach us not to look on any kind of Instruments, evil Counsellours, or others, that God makes use of, for our chastisement. How apt have we all along been to complain, (and yet this Mis­take is not purged out of us to this day) against this mans Craft and the others Folly; against this mans Rashness and the others Treachery; this Laymans Fa­ction, and that Priests seditious Rhetorick; this Trades­mans Covetousness, and that Gentlemans Malice; this Citizens Pride, and that Courtiers Ambition? But have we thought of our sins, and of our God, whose Providence and Wisdome has overruled our own sins, to be our own Punishments? Sure things had been far better, if we had looked up to God, and adored the strange Abyss of his wisdome in all our Punishment, and had not fallen on Inferiour Agents, [Page 12] that can do nothing of themselves, but onely as he directs.

For as he has Power and Wisdome, so he has the onely Right to chastise. He is not onely the Lord of hosts, but the mighty one of Israel too, to shew his Right and Authority to punish: none can do it, but He. for as the Prophet asks the Question Amos 3. Amos 3. 5, 6. vers. 5, 6. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no ginne is for him? Shall there be evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it? He it is, that hisses for the Fly (the Horsemen) in the uttermost parts of the Ri­vers Esay 7. 17. of Aegypt, and for the Bee (the spear and arrow) that is in the Land of Assyria, Esay 7. 17. And he usually rewards them with unexpected success, whom he raises for vengeance. O Assyria, the rod Esay 10, 5, 6. of mine Anger, and the staff in their hand is my Indig­nation. I will send him against an hypocriticall Nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like mire in the streets. Hence it is that God compares him to a Rasor that is hired for this purpose, Esay 7. 20. And for this cause he calls Esay 7. 20. Esay 45. 1, 2, 3. Cyrus his anointed, whom he had raised up unexpe­ctedly to the throne, and prospered him to beat down the Gates of Brass, and loose the loynes of Kings, and receive the Treasures of Darkness, Esay 45. v. 1, 2, 3.

The Instruments of all our Miseries, could ne­ver have been able to have done any thing against us, unless God had not onely given it them in charge, but assisted them to do it. We blame their Pride and and Covetousness and Ambition; and we do not a­miss. But our spoyles and Plunder were the wages, God bestowed upon them for their service. [Page 13] And they were Gods Hirelings, when they knew it not, and onely designed to serve their lusts, and o­bey their own ambitions. Even heathen Cyrus was Esay 45. 1, 4▪ Gods Anointed, though he was ignorant of him. And the Assyrian was his hired servant, howbeit, as it is in Esay 10. 6, 7. our Prophet, that he meant not so, but onely to destroy and cut off Nations not a few.

This should help to bury our Animosities on all sides. Consider we, that they have been Gods in­struments, his Fire and Hammer to break us for the Fornace, and melt us from our dross and Tin. The Di­vel, Gods Executioner, and wicked men his sub­stitutes, are all but in a chain. They could not fall on Jobs cattel, or substance, or touch his Person, Job 1 9, 10. 11. Mark 5. 12, 13 till God gave them leave. Nay they could not en­ter into the Gadarens Swine, without Christs permis­sion.

And yet God, in this, is not the Author, nor A­better of their sin, no more then the Apothecary begets the Scorpion and the Viper, which he makes into an Antidote; or the Goldsmith Creates the Fire, whose Fury he makes use of, to refine his Metall. The Sinner is a Sinner still. Judas was ne­ver a whit the less Traitor, or the Jews less Parricides, the one in betraying, the other in murdering the Lord of life, because by their malice God brought re­demption to the world, by the death of his Son. And herein appears, as well the strange wisdome, as the Power of God, that he can make use of the sins of men to punish a wicked People, and yet himself be just and innocent.

Truth is, God need not be the Author of sin (if it were possible) that so he may become the Author [Page 14] of Punishment. If Sathan, the Executioner of Gods Vengeance be but loosed, he will do it fast enough. If God but once remove his hedge of Providence a­bout Job 1. 2. us, he will bring Chaldeans and Sabeans, winds and tempest, fire and brimstone, botches, plagues and diseases more then enough for such a purpose. Nay if the Divel were not a roaring Lyon, still running up 1 Pet. 5. 8. and down to devour us, yet wicked men have sinns e­nough to devour one another, to punish themselves while they refine others. The fire in the Fornace, whilest it melts the Metal, consumes it self. The ap­per and the nether Milstone, as they grind the good Corn between them, so they wear out one another.

The [...]. Arist. Eth. Nicom. l. 2. c. 8. Moralist observes of the two opposite vi­ces, that they are more Enemy one to the other, then to the middle vertue between them. And we had too sad experience of this in our late unnatural war. Had we any need to prompt on the debauched Cavalier against the hypocriticall pretender? or of Curse ye Meroz to stir up the Zelot to come in to the help of the Lord against the Mighty? Their own contrary humours and passions would make them fight, and with eagerness enough, to one anothers de­struction.

The time will not give me leave to shew you ho [...] God makes use of the sinner for the punishing his servants, and purifying them from their dross. Suf­ficient it is for the present Point, that he does it, and onely for his Peoples sake. And this hints unto us the Persons melted, his People, his Chosen; the next Cir­cumstance.

And it is Thee Judah and Jerusalem, his own Peo­ple. [Page 15] God will not lose his Art and Pains on those, that are without the Pale of the visible Church. You onely, sayes he in Amos 3. 2. Amos, have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities, Amos 3. 2. This was a Philip. 1. 29 Priviledge God granted them, when he promised Abram that the Church should spring out of his loines. Thy seed shall be strangers in a forreign land, and Gen. 15. 13, 14 afflicted for foure hundred years together. A long time this to be in the Melting Pot! But the silver must not out till purified. The same Promise he renews to David, 2 Sam. 7. 14. I will be his Father and he 2 Sam. 7. 14. shall be my son: if he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men, but my mercy shall not depart from him.

Though this may seem somewhat unworthy the generousness of Faith, that the Christian should, as it were, be dragged and haled unto Goodness, because the Whip is for Slaves, and the Rod for the back of Fools, Prov. 26 3. &c. 10. 13. c. 29. 15. as Solomon speaks, yet this is Gods usuall Method, and which seldome fails of success. The best of all Gods Saints, from him that sitteth on the throne, to Act. 14. 22. him that grinde [...]h at the mill, must through much tribu­lation enter into the kingdome of God. The Ram, the Gen. 22. 13. embleme of our Saviour, that saved Isaac from the slaughter, was caught in a Thicket. The Church, though she be a Lilly, is planted among thorns. And Cantic. 2. 2. Heb. 2. 10. Rev. 21. 4. the Captain of our salvation, because a Surety for sin­ners, was made perfect through sufferings.

It is in heaven onely, where the Saints are with­out sin, that they are without sorrow. Where no dross or rust can corrupt, there needs no Fornace, no Mat. 6. 10. Scouring.

But here the case is otherwise, we are all an un­clean Rom. 3. 11. thing: and Adam's Curse, and his Sweat and his Labour and Sorrow, are together with his sin entayled upon us. The best of us all 2 Cor. 4. 7. have our trea­sure but in earthen vessels: and though our James 1. 17 Rectè Metal­lorum ortus tribuitur Coe­lesti calori, etsi consisten­tiam à frigore recipiant. Va­les. Philos. sac. c. 49. p. 239. Gold and Silver be begun and perfected by the † Influences of heaven, yet because they are begotten in the Metalla omnia generantur sub terrâ. Vales. ibid. pag. 237. vid. Georg. Agricol. dere Metall. l. 3. p. 54. & de subterr. ortu & caus. l. 5. Bo­wels of the Earth, they are earth too, and the rich Vide Va­les. philos. sac. pag. 23 8. Ore must be brought to the Fire, and the Melting Pot before it can be cleansed from the dross.

And therefore it is the less to be wondered at, that we can not any where turn in this book of God, but we shall find eminent Examples of it. Even Abraham the Father of the Faithfull, before he can be Gen. 11. 28. vid. Ainswer. in loc. called the Friend of God, he must leave his Native Country, and his Fathers house, and pass through Ur of the Chaldeans: that is, say the Vid. Tar­gum Jonathan Ben. Uziel. c. 11. v. 28. Rabbins, he must be cast into a fiery Fornace by that Idolatrous People from whence he escaped by Miracle, that he might flee from their Pollutions. But be the story what it will, yet [...] cujus ignis est in Sion. Esay 31. 9. Psal, 34. 19. Num. 12, 3. Exod. 7. 1. Exod. 3. 10. Acts 7. 35, Acts 7. 30. 1 Sam. 13. 14. Ur, in that language signi­fies fire, and shews us this lesson, that many are the troubles of the Righteous, though the Lord delivers them out of all. What think you of Moses the meekest man alive? Before he can become a God to Pharaoh and a Leader of Israel, he must be weaned for forty years together from the vices of Aegypt and the dallian­ces of Pharaohs Court. What say you to David, the man after Gods own heart? Take him from the sheep­cote [Page 17] to the Throne, and you shall find him either 1 Sam, 17 36, 37, 50, 51. 1 Sam. 19. 10. in the Jaw of the Lion, or the Paw of the Bear, or the Sword of Goliah, or the Spear of Saul; in deaths and perils often. His enemies mighty for their Power. Psal. 38. and more then the hairs of his head for num­ber Psal. 38. 19. Psal. 69. his troubles at home, abroad, in Jewry, Psal. 69. 4. Palestine, in Gath, in Jerusalem, in the Cottage, in the Throne, in the Court, in the Camp, so many I cannot count them: for he himself, that suffered them, sayes that they are innumerable, Psal. 40. and Psal. 40. 12. Psal. 38. 8. these, many of them so sharp, that they made him rore through the very disquietness of his Soul. Mark the good man and the Perfect, Job, and you shall find Job 1. 1. &. c. 2. 3. Psal. 37. 37. Job 2. 8. Job 7. 11. him on a Dunghil, and in the middest of the Ashes with a Potsheard in his hand, to scrape his sores. And so great was his afflictions, that this miracle of Pa­tience will not refrain his Mouth, but he will speak in the anguish of his spirit, and complain in the bitterness of his soul.

And therefore, beloved, think it not strange con­cerning 1 Pet. 4. 11. the fiery tryalls, that have tryed us. You see no new thing happens unto us. The best of Saints have had their meltings, as well as we of this Na­tion. The Excoquam igne tribula­tionis, sordes & vitia pur­gando, ut so­parato stann [...] purum rema­neat argentum; quod absque igne fieri non potest: unde qua­si ignis conflans. Malach. 3. Gloss. Ordinar. in Esa. 1. 25. dross and Tin cleave so close to their best and purest Metall, that there is no taking it a­way, nor purging it out, without the Crucible and Mel [...]ing Pot.

Nay it is the greater wonder, if we were not truly Gods People, that he should turn his hand upon us. If we were Reprobate Silver, God would throw [Page 18] us to the durt of the street, and not into the Melting Pot. The Refiner will not put the Dantur quaedam mixta, quae, metallicam naturam utcun (que) ae­mulantur, plenè non assequun­tur; simul enim ad lapidum na­turam deflectunt. Haec duorum ordinum. Priora Marchesitae no­men obtinuere. &c. Mocenic. p. 336. Marchesite into the Fornace, be­cause though it glisters like Gold, yet it is but a stone. God will not lose his Art and Pains on such adulterate ware. For what sayes he in the Pro­phet of these, Jer. 6. 28, 29, 30. They are Brass and Iron, they are all corru­pters Jerem. 6. vers. 28; 29, 30. (and have nothing of precious Metal in them.) The Bellows are burnt, the Plumbum in examine perfe­ctorum (metallorum) adhibi­tum, imperfecta absumit, & una per sumum abripit, aut in scori­as convertit Sennert. Institut. Phys. l. 5. c. 5. p. 401. Lead is consumed of the fire, the Founder melteth in vain. For the wic­ked are not plucked away. Reprobate sil­ver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. Such Revolte [...]s as these, not­withstanding their gilded outsides are unworthy of his skill. And therefore he cryes out, why should ye be stricken any more, ye will revolt more and more? Since Esay 1. 5. it is not in the Power of his Art to refine them, he withdraws his hand, and lets them alone to prosper in their wickedness, that they may be scourges to the Psal. 73. 3. Psal. 85. 8. Psal. 73. 5, 6, 12. Saints, least they return again to Folly. Behold these are the ungodly that prosper in the world; they are not in trouble as other men; therefore Pride compasseth them. But this their way is their folly, their happiness is their Psal. 49. 13. Psal. 73. 18 Vers. 19. curse. They are in slippery places. And O how suddenly do they consume? How are they brought into desolation as in a moment? they are utterly consumed with Terrors.

And therefore, beloved, this should be our re­joycing, that we have been in the Melting Pot; and we should count our selves happy, that God has turned his hand upon us. This shews that as we have [Page 19] been under his Artifice, so we are with him in esteem, otherwise the Founder would not melt us. What­soever our Enemies scandalously say against us, it seems there is something in us of his Grace and Goodness left. The Dross and the Tin have not ea­ten out all our precious metal, but to the glory of his Grace be it spoken, we retain something (as I hope our lives and conversations and future amend­ment shall testifie) something of that Treasure, which the workman at first founding did put into the vessel. As we have been a long time in the Cru­cible, and under the Hammer and the Cross, so we have been under his Art and his Care and Protecti­on too.

And this, as it may argue us to belong to the hous­hold of faith, so it may assure us of Gods love and respect towards us. If he were not our Father that begat us, he would not trouble himself thus to di­scipline and correct us. Whom the Lord loveth he Heb. 12, 6, 7. chastneth, sayes the Apostle, Heb. 12. 6. and he scour­geth every son, whom he receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are Partakers, then are ye Ba­stards and not Sons.

Away then with those that Censure the Church or Good men, when they are under the Scourge, and cast into the Melting Pot. Those that seem [...] 1 Cor. 4. 13. vid. Bezam, in locum. [...] as the filth of the world, and off-scour­ing of all things, fit for nothing in the eyes of men, but to be burned and destroyed, are now in Gods more immediate custody, when they are in the For­nace. Now they are the Objects of his Art and Skil, his Care and Love. Now the Founder is about his busi­ness and Trade; and he more immediately attends [Page 20] upon them, to purifie them from their dross and their Tin, and cleanse and new fashion them. Though carnall men looked on us, as cast away by God, yet the issue hath shewed that all our crosses and afflictions have been onely in order to our scour­ing, and as we have been under Gods Protection, while we were in the Crucible, so we were in his ac­count in the readiest way to honour. And this hints unto us our next circumstance, the manner how God refines his People: it is by fire and melting. And [...]. LXX.—Excoquet omnes sordes—ut separa. to sta [...]no pu­rum argentū remaneat, quod absque igne fieri non potest, per quod signifi­cat eos passu­ros esse tor­menta. Hier. in loc. vid. Ly­ram in loc. I will purge, and take away.

And though the Method be sharp, yet it is for all that necessary. Dross and Tin will never be got out with all the washing and scouring in the world. There is nothing but the Fire can do it. Who sees not but that our Corn must pass under the flaile and the Mill, before it can be cleansed from the Chaff, and dressed from the Bran to be Shewbread for the Sanctuary? The Grapes must be tred in the wine­press, and boil and work in the Fatt, the Juice must be racked and drawn, and imprisoned in the Cask, be­fore the Wine will be fully purified from the stone and the Husk, the Must and the Lees, and fitted for our Saviours drinking in his Fathers kingdome. Though Israel be Gods chosen vine, a plant which his Esay. 5. 2. Jer. 2. 21. own right hand hath planted, yet the luxuriant Branches must come under the discipline and stroke of the Pruning hook, before it will be fruit­full.

And therefore God in Scripture is compared to a Vine-dresser, a Gardener, that is nothing without Esay 5. 1. the Spade, and the Hough, and the Pruning-knife; to a [Page 21] Husbandman, that must tear the bowels of the Earth Joh. 15 1. 1 Cor. 3. 9. with the Plough and the Harrow, before he can kill the weeds, and fit the soyle for the seed; to a Refi­ner, as here in the Text, that is nothing without his Aqua fortis, and Melting pot, his fire, and waters of Separation.

And this as it serves to represent the Sharpness of the Affliction, that God often brings upon his Peo­ple, so it shews the deepness of their sinne and Pol­lution.

God sends not Nationall Judgements for ordina­ry common sins. Those he leaves to the Sword of the Magistrate. It is for the dross and the Tin, notori­ous debaucheries, and grosse and scandalous sins, and gilded Hypocrisies, that have imbodyed them­selves in the pretious Metal, and have run through the whole substance, and overspread the whole Na­tion, and are too big for the Law.

If you read in the foregoing Part of the Chapter, you shall find the Princes rebellious, and companions of Esay 1. 23. Thieves, the Courts of Justice made Exchanges and Mercates to sell the Causes of the Poor for the Bribe­ries of the Rich; nothing but following after gifts and rewards; no Judging of the Fatherless, nor the Cause of the Widdow regarded. The faithfull City vers. 21. was become an Harlot, and instead of Judgement and Righteousness, nothing now but Murderers to be found in it. The hands full of blood, the mouth full of blasphemies and cursing and lyes, the head full of covetousness and projects to gain Estates, and the heart full of hypocrisie, and dissembling with God and Man.

For still they are for the outside and cheap forms of v. 11, 12, 13. 14, 15. [Page 22] devotion. Much treading Gods Courts, and sanctifying the Sabbaths, and calling solemn Assemblies, and mul­titude of Sacrifices, and spreading forth the hands, and making many prayers.

Their silver, as it is verse the 22. was now become so drossy and embased, that no Lotion was sufficient, though of Fullers sope, or Nitre; no scouring or cleansing, though of Putty and Oyle, will serve the turn. The Laws and Punishments of the Nation are too weak, and the Preachings of the Prophets not re­garded. None but such active Instruments as the fire and the flame, that pierce into the very substance, and dissolve the Metal, is sufficient for the work.

And this should teach us, not to repine at Gods Judgements, but to be angry with our sins, that force as it were, the Almighty against his own gracious in­clination to wound and chastise us. Wherefore, sayes the Prophet Jeremy, Lament. 3. 39, 40. doth a living Lam. 3. 39. 40 man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our wayes, and turn unto the Lord our God.

For to our Comfort it is, God will not cast us off, his mercies are not clean gone, even in the very midst of our Afflictions. Though, as it is Lament. 3. 32, 33. he cause grief, yet will he have compassion ac­cording Lam. 3. 32, 33 to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. We Esay 1. 24. see he sighs and laments and cryes [...] Ah, when he rouzes himself to ease him of his Adversaries, and a­venge Plangitautem clementissi­mus Pater Principes de­linquentes, &c. Hieron. in loc quem vid. & Lyram. him of his enemies: and therefore when he turns his hand upon his People, we may be well assu­red, that his strokes are onely the disciplines of a Father, and the launcings of a Surgeon, not the wounds [Page 23] of an Executioner. And though he kindle a Fire a­bout us, yet it is onely to melt and refine us from our dross and our Tin, and not to destroy us. Which hints unto us the end of Gods Judgements, the next Cir­cumstance.

It is, I will purely purge away thy dross, and take away [...]. LXX. secund. M. S. Angl. [...]. Symmach, in Drusii Fragment. Veter. Interpr, Grae. in Esai pag. 286. all thy Tin.

Though their sinful Condition requires this sharp Artifice; yet is there mercy in this fiery tryal. Though it purge out the dross and Tin, yet the fire is a kind of Lambent flame to purifie the precious Metal, not consume it. The Gold, like that of Exod. 32. 24. Aaron, is cast into the fornace, that it come forth a statue: but not like that which vers, 22. [...] Moses cast there (that by a strange [...]. Arist. l. 3. Meteor. c 6. unheard of Chymistry was calcined and ground to Powder) for a final abolition. I know O Lord, sayes David, Psal. 119. 75. that thy Judgements are right, and that thou in faithfullness hast afflicted me. Whatso­ever Carnal men may think, it is a mercy to be in the Melting Pot. Afflictions make us know our selves, our sins, our God. Before I was afflicted, I Psal. 119. 67. went wrong, sayes David, but now have I kept thy word. And he observes it of Israel, a whole Nation, Psal. Psal. 78 34. 78. 34. When he slew them, they sought him, and return­ed, and enquired early after God.

And therefore sayes Solomon, the fining pot is for Prov. 17. 3. silver, and the fornace for Gold, and the Lord tryeth the heart. And how is that? Let Malachi tell you, Mal. 3. 3 [...]. c. 3. 3. For he is like a Refiners fire, and like Fullers [Page 24] sope, and he shall sit as a Refiner and a Purifier of Sil­ver. And we know by experience, that the Ham­mer of the Goldsmith, and the flame, and the Crucible is not to destroy the precious Metal, but to cleanse and fashion it. And what it looses of its dross and Tin, it gains in lustre and brightness, in purity and worth.

For that is the end of Gods Artifice and Pains, that being purified, he might put us into the mold, and fashion us to be vessels unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Masters use, and prepared unto every good 2 Tim. 2. 21. Malachi 3. 3, 4. work. For it follows Malachi 3. v. 3, 4. And he shall purifie the sons of Levi, and purge them as Gold and Sil­ver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in Righteousness. Then shall the offerings of Judah and Je­rusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the dayes of old, and as in former times. And that we may be sure that this is Gospel-m [...]thod, and disciplines of Grace, the Baptist will tell you, Mat. 3. 27. that the great Mat. 3 27. Founder and restorer of his Church shall baptize with the holy Ghost and with fire; that his Fan is in his hand, and that he will throughly purge his Floore and ga­ther his wheat into his Garner, and burn up the Chaff with unquenchable fire.

This made the good Father S. Austin cry out, hic ure, hîc seca, Domine, ut in aeternum parcas, Lord let me have my hell here upon earth, that I may have my heaven and happiness hereafter. I care not, how sharp my A [...]flictions be, since they are for my a­mendment: if what I lose in my Estate, and my Liberty and good Name, I gain in Christian Puri­ty, and Meekness and Patience; if I dye at the stake, or on a Gibbet, or a Scaffold, if that death prove a Martyrdome, and I be delivered unto Sathan for the de­struction 1 Cor. 5. [...] [Page 25] of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Oh beloved! me thinks there cannot be a grea­ter comfort to believers, nor a stronger support to them in the middest of their afflictions, then to consider, that when they are in the fining pot, they are in the way to spirituall advancement; that God delights not in the tormenting of their bodies, but aims at the salvation of their souls. Gods end in these sharp Methods shews his Love and respect towards them. The care he takes in Melting, and purely purging out our dross, and taking away all our Tin, manifests, that he then most prizes us, when to Carnall worldly men, that triumph in our miseries, we seem as lost and gone in the fire of Indignation. And therefore the Apostle sensible of the love of God, even in the middest of our tryals, cryes out in behalf of believers, 2 Cor. 4. 8, 9, 10. We are 2 Cor. 4. 8, 9, 10. 11. troubled on every side, yet not distressed, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, alwayes bear­ing about in the body the marks of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Je­sus sake, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Let then the Atheist and the prosperous sinner boast of Providences and success, whilst we, when good men are oppressed and slain, and the blood of Princes and of Nobles is poured out like water in the streets, do glory in the cross of Christ, that fits us for a Crown.

But then as the Consideration of the Cause Pro­egoumenal and Final, Gods love to us in Christ, that [Page 26] alone inwardly moves him, and his great end and aim, the purifying and saving of our souls by these sharp disciplines, should serve to support us in the middest of our Calamities: so it should serve to humble us under his hand, when we consider the Procatartick and Meritorious Cause, that from with­out stirs up God to cast us into the Melting Pot, our dross and our Tin, that have corrupted and embased our precious Metall. And that is the next thing con­siderable.

And happy it is for Judah and Jerusalem that God promises to purge out their dross and Tin. For no greater enemies to Gold and Silver then these. They corrupt and embase the precious metall, and make it cheap and contemptible. Nothing so vile in Gods esteem as the Sinner. This dross and Tin, this pollution that is in him, makes the great Artist not delight in the work of his own hands, nor va­lue that Purchase, which he bought with his own blood.

It is true, as the Est Obriza examen seu pro­batio per ignem acerrimum, qua omnis fere alienae materiae ad­mixtio excernitur. Vid. Budae. l. 3. de Asse. dixi (ferè) nam e­ousque excoqui aurum posse, ut caractae unius quadrans tantum relinquatur materiae alienae, &c. Brerewood de Ponder. & Pret. cap. 22. Refiners have observed, the finest Gold, let it be purified seven times in the fire, will still retain some mixture of Alloy. Grace, though it sanctifie nature ne­ver so much, yet so long as we are in the flesh, we shall have a touch of our fleshly corruptions. As the best man that is, Prov. 24. 16. falls seven times a day: so is it true of Nations and Churches. The Mat. 13. 39, 40. Corn and Tares, and Chaff will be mixed in the threshing-flore, till the winnowing [Page 27] day comes. The 47, 48, 49. net of the Gospel catches the Fish of all sorts, the bad as well as good, and no sorting them as yet, till the Net comes to shore. There will be sinners as well as Saints, in the Pale of the visible Church, till the day of Separation of the Sheep from the Goats. The onely Church with­out Eph. 5. 27. Gal. 4. 26. spot or wrinckle, is Jerusalem, that is above.

And therefore when God promi­ses he will purely purge away the dross, Purgatio ad liquidum ut nulla scoria maneat, non ita debet in­telligi, quasi Deus Ecclesiam su­am in hoc mundo penitus un­quam abstergat ab omni labe (sed) ut instar mundi argenti reluceat. Vera pietas notatur, cum ante Judaei sibi in faecibus suis nimium placuissent. Calvin. in loc. and take away all the Tin, it is not to be expected that any single Saint should arrive to an absolute sinless perfection in this life, much less that a Nation should. For then there would not be work for Mortification, Repentance, and godly sorrow for sin, and the Magistrate would be useless, and truly bear the sword in vain; Our Purity consists, in not suf­fering sin, as the Apostle advises, to reign in our Rom. 13. 4. Rom. 6. 11. mortall bodies, that we should obey it in the lusts thereof, that the dross and the Tin be so purged out of a peo­ple, that its brightness may appear, that the sinner may be every where discouraged, and vertue and Godliness eminently advanced.

As then it is not to be expected that the Artist should purifie his Gold and Silver, till it be wholly without Alloy; so such Purity as this, is not the Ob­ject of the great Founders skill and Pains. For in the next verse he promises to restore our Judges as at the first, and our Counsellours as at the beginning; and this supposes that still there will be business for the private Christian, and the publick Magistrate. They are Publick, Scandalous, Open sins, of a Crimson die Esay 1. 18. [Page 28] and a spreading nature, that as they corrupt, and embase, so they run and diffuse themselves through all the good Metal, that here God promises to purge, and take away. They are Nationall sins, which are too big for the Law, that call for Nati­onall Judgements.

And these the Prophet elegantly describes under the Metaphor of Some by dross understand gross iniquity: by Tin glittering Hypocrisie; or persons openly prophane by the one, inwardly unsound by the other. Which may well be, for that Tin car­ryeth an outward resemblance of silver. &c. Assemb. Not. in loc. Confer. Calvin in Isa. cap. 1. v. 22. dross and Tin. The dross: what's that? It denotes the gross and palpa­ble impieties, that are open to every eye, that Nature as well as Grace discovers and condemns. The weak­est sight that is can discern the dross, from the Silver. And therefore saies the Apostle Gal. 5. 19, 20, 21. Esay 1. 4. 16, 17, 21, 23 the works of the flesh are manifest.

And this was Jerusalems Pollution. Abundance of dross in it: Rebellions, Thievery, Plunder, Bri­bery, Oppression, Murder, Blood, what not? and this from the sole of the foot even to the head, the cor­ruption vers. 6. was universal. And yet though her impie­ties were so grosse and palpable, the more to em­base her precious Metal, she adds Tin unto her dross, and masks her [...]o [...]orious wickedness with the veyle of Religion. Much treading Gods Courts, and vers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. making many prayers, and sanctifying of Sabba [...]hs, and calling solemn Assemblies, and heaping Sacrifice up­on Sacrifice, while the hands are full of blood.

And this was the Aggravation of their sin, that they added Hypocrisie to Prophaness, that they fasted for strife and debate, and striking with the fist of Wicked­ness▪ Esay 58. 4. that they had much pretence of Religion and Godliness in the face and tongue, when rapine and [Page 29] sacriledge, and bribery, and Covetousness, and Re­bellion was in the heart. The Divel is never more a Divel then when he puts on the shape of an Angel 2 Cor. 11. 14. 1 Kings 21. 9 of light. And it was the height of Jezabels impiety, that she sanctified a fast, and counterfeited Religi­on to hide her Bloodshed and Perjury, and Injustice and Rapine. By this the sinner gains him not onely security, but Reputation to his highest crimes, and Multitudes to follow him. And this makes Hypo­crisie, of all others, to be the most hatefull thing to God; and our Saviour so often and so passio­nately to cry out, Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees, Mat. 11. 13, 14, 15. Hyppocrites.

The Prophet excellently describes the Nature and Property of this Vice, under the Metaphor of Tin.

For first, Tin is very Ex stanno va [...]a [...]omesti­ca ducta in mensaru [...] u­su argent [...]is fulgor [...] com­parantur C [...]mbden. Britan. in Cornub. Quamvis autem stannum aemuletur quodammodo [...]r­genti splendorem, tamen longe est melius & ab igne magis exeditur▪ Magir. [...]hvs l. 5. c. 1. in comment 1. Convenit argentum cum stanno in albedine, magis tamen al­bum est, quoniam ipsius terrestre est magis [...]enue, magis lotum, ae [...]gis digestum. Phil [...]p Mocenici univers. Institut. contemp 4. p. 2 c 6. p 334. Propter [...]rudita­tem & volatilitatem dicitur imperfectum: verè quidem cum incoctum ratione crudita­tis imperfectum dici mereatur. P. Io. Fabri Panchym. vol. 2. l. 4. sect. 7, c. 27. like to Silver in colour, though i [...] hath nothing of the substance of it: so the Apostle tells us of Hypocrites, that they have the form of Godliness, but deny the power of it, 2 Tim. 3. 5.

Secondly, the Naturalists tell us that Tin is never Stannum dif­fert ab albo plumbo, quod hoc per se oritur, illud autem semper cum argento. Magir. loc. citato. Inve­nitur & in aurariis metallis, quae elotia vocant Plin. Nat his [...]. l▪ [...]4 c. 16. Plumbum aut suâ provenit venâ nec quicqu [...]m [...]lind ex se parit, au [...] cum arg [...]nto nascitur, mistisque venis conflatur. Ejus, qui primus fluit in fornacibus liquor, stannum appellatur; qui secundus, argentum. Plin. ibid. found to grow by it self as all other Metals do, but [Page 30] onely in Mines of Gold and Silver: so the Hypo­crite wil never put on the shape of devotion among a company of Atheists. He will be sure to act his part to the purpose, where the true religion is pro­fessed; there he is a Pharisee to the height; still at his Esay 65. 5. touch me not, I am holier then thou, there and in the Luk. 18. 10, 11, 12. Temple, still at his Lord I thank thee I am not as other men, no not as this Publican, though never so humble and penitently devout.

Thirdly they observe, that Tin by reason of the thinness, and rarity of the Constat stannum substantiâ ra­riore, & minus excocta; quare—& liquores subtiliores trans­mittit, ut vinum destillatum, & medicamenta pretiosa. Magirus loc. citat. substance, will not hold spiritous bo­dies, and that pretious oyles and rich spirits evaporate away through it: so though the Hypocrite pretend much to the spirit, yet the rich graces of the spirit dwell not in him. Saint Jude will tell you that these mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts, separate Jude vers. 19. themselves having not the spirit.

Fourthly, the Mineralists observe that Tin is of a Stannum balbutientem com­plexionem habet, caeteris metal­lis admixtum ea similiter balbu. tire facit, ab illisque ductibilita­tem aufert. Mocenicus loc. citat. Tin is said being mixt with gold and silver, to make them harder or shorter and more brit­tle. Assembl. notes in loc. Plumbum inimicitiam gerit cum omnibus metallis, praeser­tim cum sit album, auroque & argento vel centesima parte ad­ditum, fragilia ea reddit. Magir. loc. citat. stubborn nature, and that if mixed with gold or sil­ver, it makes them harder and less ductile and pliable; but apt to cracks and flaws; more short, and brittle. And S. Jude and S. Peter and S. Paul will tell you that the Hypocrite is never good subject, but one that Jude v. 8. 2 Pet. 2. 10. de­spises dominion, and speaks evil of dignities; that they are 2 Tim. 3. 4. Traitors, heady, high minded, that though they know not how to rule; yet less know how to obey, 2 Tim. 3. 6, 7, 8. 2 Pet. 2. 1, 2, 3, 18, 19. crumbling the Church [Page 31] and State into Schisms and Factions, making the Peo­ple hard-hearted, and uncharitable, and disobedi­ent and stubborn.

Fifthly, they that write of weights Stannum est metallorum omni­um levissimum, sicut aurum gra­vissimum, ex experientiis Nic. Tartaleae in appendice ad lib▪ Jordani de Ponderofitate & Francisci Euxei Parisiensis. Brerewood. de ponder. & pret. c. 23. Stannum—est facillimae fusio­nis & sub malleo facilis extensio­nis——Copia humidi, & vis­cosi aeris & aquae——▪ effi [...]i [...] ef­fusionem facilem & extensionem. P. Jo. Fabr. Panchym Vol. 2. l. 4. sect. 7. c. 27. vid. Mocenicum loc. citat. and measures tell us, that Tin is the most light and fluid metal of all; and S. Jude observes of the pretenders to Godliness, that they are of an aerie flitting complexion, waves of the sea, foming out their own shame, wandring Starrs, Clouds without water, carried a­bout with every wind of Doctrine, v. 19. ever learning, as S. Paul speaks, but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth. 2 Tim. 3. 7. He can be Pha­risee, Saducee, Gaulonite, Herodian, a­ny thing. The double minded man is unstable in all his wayes. S. James 1. 8. it is no matter what the reli­gion be, if it will serve his advantage. And if he can make a Trade of Godliness, you shall be sure to have enough of the form, though he denies the po­wer of it.

For Sixthly, it is observed that Tin has this property, that it will cleave to any Metal; Vasa non solum ex re domesti­ca in cisternas, caldaria, lebetes, despumatoria, sed etiam arma è re bellica, ut manubria sive capu­los gladiorum & sicarum, par­mas, & thoraces, sive ex ferro; aut chalybe, sive ex aere, aut cupro conficta Stanno obduci­mus &c. Angel. Sal. Oper. Chy­mic. in sept. Planet. Ter. Spagyr▪ recens. c. de stanno. p. 119. Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, Lead, indeed it matters not what, if you dress with Tallow, or Ro­sin, or any other fat or † unctious bo­dy; and then it will be sure to cleave so fast there will be no ungluing it it again, till you bring it to the ‖ Jungi inter se plumbum nigrum sine albo non potest, nec hoc fine oleo▪ Plin. Nat. hist. l. 34. c. 16▪ [Page 32] Stannum est facillin [...]ae fusionis—nam abundantia humidi efficit effusionem facilem,—cum autem crudum sit, & non perfe­cte coctum, ideo non est fixum & permanens in igue, sed peren­ni igne & [...]orti evaporat, & in auras convertitur. J. P. Fabr. Panchym. loc. citat. vid. & Mo­cenic. loc, citat. fire: such is the pretender of reli­gion, you shall be sure to have him of the thriving side still: no get­ting him from thence without fire. And if it once comes to that pass, if he be but in any danger of that, he melts and drops away from the Par­ty, whatsoever it be; as soon from the gold, or silver, as the Brass, or Iron, or Lead, the good, as the bad cause. And therefore sayes our Mat. 18. 7. Saviour, it is necessary that offences (and per­secutions) should come; and S. 1 Cor. 11. 19 Paul, that heresies and sects and divisions should come, that they which are approved (that are gold and silver indeed, and can endure the Fire, and the Touch) may be made mani­fest among you. The Hypocrite will be sure to be a weather-cock, a turn-coat, and you may know him by that; and he will never be a Martyr, for Tin and he cannot endure the Fire. The least danger makes him wagg; and therefore S. Peter, 2 Pet. 2. 17. 2 Pet. 2. 17. compares him to clouds, that are carryed with a Tem­pest, and our Saviour to corn sown upon stony ground, Mat. 13. 5, 6, 20, 21. which though for a while it may in calm and thri­ving times sprout up, and flourish, yet no sooner does the scorching summers heat of persecution beat upon it, but it instantly decayes and withers.

Again it is observed that Tin, if it be mixed with Brass and Copper or Silver, it makes Bell-metal, that is excellent for sound and Noyse; indeed onely use­full for that: so if hypocrisie and pretence to reli­gion meet with some subtill crafty dispositions, and of fit and popular Tempers, they are excellent for Pulpits and Declamations: and with their noise [Page 33] will soon draw whole Maltitudes together. Their fair speeches and language chain a Nati­on to their Tongues, as it is storied of the Gal­lick Hercules, and make them follow to what place they please. And therefore sayes Saint Paul, Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause Rom. 16. v. 17, 18. divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine, which ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple.

Lastly, it is observed of Tin that it is of a Si dubites an sit venenum in stanno, quaere ab iis qui embryo­nem fundunt, ac purgant, aut abiis qui calcinant stannum, magno cum suo malo dicent: Frigidus, O pueri, fugite hinc, latet anguis in herba. Angel. sal. op. Chym. loc. citat. very poysonous nature, infecting the Brains, and distorting the Limbs and Sinews of those, that melt, and work in it, by a deadly fume, that arises from it: so it is also true of Hy­pocrisie, nothing so fatall to the brain and understanding, as that, corrupting the spirit, distorting the face with strange seem­ingly sanctified spasms and convulsions. When ye fast, sayes our Saviour, be not like the Hypocrites 2 Tim. 3. 5. 6. Mat. 6. 16. of a sad and mortified countenance: [...], for they rack and crucifie, or vanish into a vizard, or a Fucus, they corrupt and disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast, and be the one­ly religious, when the heart is infected with di­vers lusts and abominable impieties, which makes them resist the truth, and become men of corrupt minds, 2 Tim. 3. g. reprobate concerning the Faith. But you shall know them by their faces, for they look not as other men.

And therefore since this is the true Nature of Hypocrisie, since the whited sepulchre hides nothing Mat. 23. 27. but rottenness and dead mens bones, was it not a great blessing for Jerusalem, that God now brought them to the Fining Pot? For whatsoever the Fury and the sharpness of the Flame be, yet since by these God purifies them from the dross and Tin, and Nationall sinns be purged out by National Judgements, there is mercy even in this Judgement. And though whilest the rod is on our backs, the Caustick to our wounds, and the Metall in the Flame, the Chastising is not joyous but Heb. 12. 11. grievous, Nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peace­able fruit of righteousness to them that are exerci­sed thereby, and now being made free from sinne, and become servants to God, we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Rom. 6. 22.

But especially since God turns his hand upon a Nation, and melts them by Judgements to purge out the dross and take away the Tin, we should do well to consider, whether we have answered Gods Artifice and Labour upon us, how we are bettered by our Judgements, least, if we prove Reprobate silver, he casts us out of his favour, and reserve us for desolation.

For let us not flatter our selves, beloved—God hath lately turned his hand upon us, and he never brings Nationall Judgements on a Land, but for National sinns. We have had a long time much dross and Tin in all our holy things.

That you may not think me a Satyrist, behold God loudly proclaims your sin in your Pu­nishment. [Page 35] Does not Blasting and Meldews in our fields shew us, that God is angry with the Ryot of our Tables? Does not he by our late Malignant Feavers in all places shew us, that we are truly Ec­clesia Malignantium, all every where malignant? And does he not send unknown diseases to punish un­known sins?

What dismal noysome pestilences did God not long since send among us, to sweep away a Mul­titude of noysome gross impieties? They provoked Psal. 106. 25. him to anger with their Inventions, sayes David, and so the Plague brake in upon them. And what a multitude of new Inventions had we? in Apparel, in dyet, in building (alas this was nothing!) in our shops, in our Trades, in our Cities, in our Towns, in our Schools, in our Courts, in our Pulpits, and Churches, nay in our Parlors and Conventicles too; and all for our Pride, and our covetousness and lust?

And this made way for the Bloody Horse, Warr. Revel. 6. 4. They chose new Gods, then was warr in the Gates. Judges 5. vers. 7. And this was just our case: Much longing and stirre about new Religions, and Ceremonies, and then the Warr brake in upon us.

And now when destruction overtook us like an armed man, our sinnes and debaucheries did multiply with our miseries; execrable and cur­sed Oaths outroaring the mouth of the Cannon; Souldiers pouring out their blood and their wine at the same wound; Oppression, rapine, Murder, Calumny, Perjury of all sorts, but above all the most damnable Hypocrisie and Lying in the world.

And now triumphantly marches in the Pale Rev. 6. 8. Horse Famine. We lusted for Warr, and we had all the Plagues and Miseries of Want and De­vastation that attend it. When Israel would not be contented with Manna, but they must have blood and flesh too, then sayes David, he gave them their desire: but he sent leanness into their souls. Psal. 106. 16. And what a Famine of all things instantly came upon us? Unusual blights on our Corn; and then the poor wanted work, as well as bread, decay of Trade in our Shops, and of Merchants on the Exchange, of our Ships on our Seas, and our strengths by Land. Our Gentry wasted, our Nobility degraded; our Universities ruined; our Clergy vilified, and silenced; our Laws, and Law-givers and Parliaments trampled on; and our Kings dethroned, and a new Turkish Grand-Signoirship built and cemented with their blood. So that now the whole nation with the Prophet be­gan to cry out My Leanness, my Leanness! Wo un [...]o Esay 24. 26. me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherous­ly, yea the treacherous dealers have dealt very trea­cherously!

And now we were in the Melting Pot indeed! The fire fell upon all; the dross and Tin, as well as the Gold and Silver. But all this while we were the worse for the Founders Art. Our sinnes increased, and so did Gods Judgements. A great deal of Zeal in the Pretext, but in the Issue sacriledge, Blood-shed, Devouring Widdows Houses, while for a pretence we made long Pray­ers. Much adoe about Gifts, and setting Christ [Page 37] upon his Throne, but that we might be his Deputi [...]s, and take the houses of God in possession.

And then what was the Issue? we that were not content with a Religion, the purest and best established in the Christian world, had instant­ly a thousand severall Sects let in upon us. Our Tin had made our Silver so brittle, that the more it was beaten, the more it cracked and flawed; and no sooner was one Faction grown into Power, and began to set up for it self, but instantly an­other like a Mushrom in a night, sprung up and pretended greater Purity, and as they had damned their Predecessors of Antichristianisme and Popery; so did these by the same Arts ruine those, that had ruined others. Religions eve­ry day multiplyed, as the Factions did, till at last we had so many, that many doubted we had none at all.

And as it was with our Religion, so it was with our Government. God suffered our best of Princes to be taken from us for our sinnes: and because we surfeited with that Plenty and Peace, that his own and Ancestors wisdome, under God had poured upon us, but we scorned his gracious easie reyne that he had laid upon our Necks, and like wild, resty horses, that have got the Bitt into their mouthes, kicked to throw off the rider, God then suffered us to be exercised and ridden by all sorts of Masters; Aristocracy, Democracy, Oligarchy, Anarchy, Oplarc [...], Tyranny, (though masked un­der the gracious name of a Protectorship) the most absolute of any.

By this God exercised and melted us so long, till he made us sensible of our own Follies; and we had nothing left to pray for, or hope or endeavour, but onely to recall that blessing, we had so unwor­thily squandred away.

And now to prove whether we were purified indeed, God poured us out of the Melting Pot, Jer. 3. 7, 14. &c. 31, 18, 19. and to see whether we truly turned to him, and not to our selves, by a Miracle, without our own Counsell or Conduct, or Valour or Forces, nay with­out a Blow struck, or almost so much as a word spo­ken, he restored to us our old Religion, and Laws, and Church-discipline, and State-government, our Judges as at the first, and our Counsellours, as at the beginning, our Magistrates, and Ministers, and Bishops, and Nobles, and Princes, but above all our good King, whom we prayed for, we longed for, as the onely healer of our Breaches.

And what does he now expect, but that we thankfully embrace his Mercies, and truly value those blessings? That this Grace of his, which has brought this Salvation, may teach us, that deny­ing Tit. 2. 11. 12. ungodliness and worldly lusts, we live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world, that so we may be called by all Nations round about us, a Nation of Righteousness, a faithfull Nation? And I humbly beseech God, that it may prove so in the issue.

But I fear me that many, many of us at least, Hos. 7. 16. are like a deceitfull Bowe; that we have returned indeed, but not to the most high that we have not cry­ed Hos. 7. 14. [Page 39] unto God with our hearts, when we howled upon our Beds, and that we assembled for Corn and for wine, but not to the most High, as it is in Hosea 7. 14. 16. For else what meaneth this bleating of the sheep, and 1 Sam. 15, 14. the oxen that I hear? To what purpose this mur­muring and repining at the Kings Grace and Good­ness, and unparalled Act of Mercy? Why are we so unwilling to forget, and forgive pet­ty private injuries, done unto us by our Brethren, when God hath so wonderfully passed by the grosse impieties of the whole Nation, and so mi­raculously spared those, as well as our selves, whom we grudge to Pardon? what means this re­viving of our old fears and Jealousies, and Popu­lar Declamations in our Pulpits and Presses against the Kings evil Counsellours, and the Persecution of the Godly Party that's approaching? the Antichristia­nisme and Popery in our Religion, and Discipline, and Liturgy, first up, and approved by the most eminent P. Martyr. Bucer, Cran­mer, Ridley, Taylor. Reformers, and then sealed by the blood of the most learned of our Martyrs? Have we a mind to revive our old Miseries and blood by our old Animosities and scandals? such which time and experience, and the faith and Patience and steadfastness of our Confessors have confuted even to any ordinary understandings?

But consider I beseech you, beloved; will it not be a sad thing, if God after all this mercy, should say to us as he did to his People in the Pro­phet Zachary c. 7. v. 5, 6, 7. When ye fasted and mourned this many years, did ye fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat,, and ye did drink, did you Zach. 7. 5, 6, [...], [Page 40] not eat for your selves and drink for your selves? Should ye not hear the words, which the Lord ha [...]h cry­ed by the Ministery of the former Prophets, When Je­rusalem was inhabited, and in prosperity, and the Cities thereof round about her?

O then, beloved, in time consider, before it re­pent God of his Mercies. Esay 21. 12. If ye will return, re­turn, return to purpose: to him, not to our selves. If there be any Contention, let it be to shew who is most thankfull to God, and Loyall to the King, who most Zealous against vice in our selves or in others; who most endeavouring to keep the u­nity Eph. 4. 3. 2 Cor. 7. 1. of the spirit in the bond of peace, and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. As God has turn­ed his hand upon us and from us, so let us turn our hands to him. Since we have been melted by his Judgements, let us by his Grace, and for his mercy purge out our dross and Tin. Let not this wise Foun­der lose his pains and his Art, but let us answer his expectation; you my brethren of the Cler­gy, especially, that have been in the very bottome of the Fornace,

Let your Patience, and Meekness, and readiness to forgive, your holy lives and conversations, and Zeal and diligence in your callings shew, that 1 Per. 3. 15. you did not suffer as evil doers. And though God put you into the Crucible and Melting Pot, yet it was not your just crimes, but your steadfast­ness and Constancy in your adherence to the King and the Laws, and the Primitive doctrine and di­scipline of the Church, threw you out of your pla­ces and callings. And if as you have suffered as [Page 41] Confessors, so you shall live as Confessors too, it shall appear to your very adversaries, that you have been in the Mel [...]ing Pot to your advantage, and you shall recover your Reputations as well as Legal Possessions.

But if any of you justly have suffered as evil do­ers, though not according to a due course of Law, let it appear by your future amendment, that you have been bettered by your sufferings, and though the flames have been sharp, yet they have purely purged out all your dross, and your Tin.

Then shall God and Men be delighted in you, and Righteousness and Peace break in upon us like an overflowing mighty stream. Then shall your of­ferings and services be acceptable to God, and Moses hands lift up in prayer shall strengthen the Exod 17. 11. 12. 13. hands of our Josuah's and Rulers, and Magi­strates, while they lift up the sword of Justice a­gainst the Amalekites. When Phineas the Priest prayed, as some render it, and Phineas the Magi­strate Psal. 106. 30: [...] Oravit. Pa­raph Cal­daic. Vers. Syriac. Dijudicavit. Pagnin. Junius. executed Judgement, as others, then the Plague was stayed.

But, my Lords and Gentleman, the Justices of the Peace, I need not mind you of your du­ties, if the Time would give leave. As you have eminently suffered by the sinns of the Nation, so I hope your sense of your miseries, which those sins have brought upon you, will make you friends to Justice and the Laws, without any other Monitor. And if as Gods Name is called upon you, so you Psal. 82. 6. [Page 42] shall Judge for God too, and carry your selves as in his sight, who still standeth in the Congregation of the Gods, to mark and judge them, then shall it appear, that you are the Ministers of God to us for good, and that you bear not the sword in vain. Then shall the People speak of your wisdome, and the con­gregation shall shew forth your praise; then shall you make them sensible of the evil of our former Governours, and bless God, that has restored us our Judges as at the first and our Counsellors as at the beginning. And you shall be the happy Instru­ments of repairing our Breaches, and building, and establishing our Jerusalem in Righteousness and Peace, and we shall again be called a City of Righteousness, a faithfull City. Which God of his infinite mercy grant for Jesus sake Amen.