THe first verse plainly sheweth us who are meant here in the second, even the children of Israel, and the whole family that came out of Egypt. Neither are these last words to bee counted a tautalogie; for after the revolting of the ten tribes from the house of David, Israel was one King­dome, Iudah was another; wee'l goe no farther back to cleare it, then the title of this prophecy, which runneth thus; The words of Amos, which he saw concerning Israel (that is Israel and Iudah) in the dayes of Uzziah King of Judah, and in the dayes of Jeroboam the sonne of Ioash King of Israel. Now though but ten tribes were revolted from David, yet all twelve tribes were revol­ted from God, the children of Israel, and the whole fa­mily that came out of Egypt.

[...], as Caesar once said to Brutus; will Gods children of Israel and Iudah be such rebells? ingratum si dixeris, &c. so an heathen could conclude, that ingrati­tude was the abstract and abridgement of all sinne, as if it had been [...], the great offence. And even un­reasonable creatures will not be guilty of unthankfulnes, the oxe knoweth his owner, he will not gore him, and you remember the gratitude of that Roman Lion in the story. Nay to goe one step lower, non ingratus ager, that which hath not so much as sense is not unthankfull, the earth doth not entomb, or alway keep the seed close [Page 2]prisoner, but most thankfully returneth it to the sower with increase. Yet the land of Israel proved a barren common, whereon nothing but weeds, nothing but un­thankefullnesse would grow; whereas the inhabitants should not so much as have rendred evill for evill, they continually rewarded God evill for good, he did not fa­ster multiply his benefits upon them then they did their transgressions and rebellions against him. And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord shall not my soule be avenged on such a nation as this? Yes, seeing faire meanes will worke no good on them, I will trie what foule will doe, forasmuch as they have forsaken me, and not walked in my judgements, having broken my Statutes, and not kept my commandements, I will therefore visit their offences with the rod, and their sins with scourges. You only have I knowne of all the fami­lies of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquityes. In which words any one will say there are two generall parts, Cōmemoratio beneficii, the rehearsing of a former benefit, You only have I known of all the fa­milies of the earth, and Comminatio suplicii, the threat­ning of a future judgement, Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities, And of these with all the brevicy and plainnes that I can. But before I come to handle the parts in their order, it will not be amisse to premise some brief explication of the words. First then you only have I knowne; I thought that God had been ommniscient till now, but the Text seemeth to deny it, in Jury is God knowne, and God knoweth none but Jury, You on­ly have I knowne of all the families of the earth. But we must observe that this word, Know, hath divers ac­ceptions in holy Scripture. I shall instance but in three. First, to know, is to behold, to overlook, or to discerne. Thus God knoweth the whole world, and all that there in is, he knoweth all the foules upon the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are in his sight, there is not a word in our tongue, nor a thought in our heart, but he knoweth it altogether, and before we knew it, before [Page 3]we either spake or thought it. Secondly, to know, is to give approbation, and to allow of. Thus the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, that is, he approveth of it. Psal. 1. ult. As for the ungodly (such as are the re­formers of our age) it is not so with them, our Savi­ours word to these will be [...]. I never knew you, that is, I never liked your doings. Luke. 13.27. Thirdly, and lastly, to Know, is to blesse, to pitty, or shew mer­cy to. And the phrase seemeth to be borrowed from a custome among men, who seldome shew any kindnesse; but to persons that they know, Ig [...]ti nulla cupid [...], a stranger can scarce get any thing, but ill words; Da­vids servants were strangers to Nabal, and therefore the churle would give them nothing, Shall I take my bread, saith he, and my water, and my flesh, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? 1. Sam. 25.11. No, few or none will relieve any but only such as are well knowne to them. And to this custome God seemeth to allude here in our text. You onely have I Knowne, that is. I have blessed you only, on you have I multiplyed my favours, and loving kindnesses, on you only, or at least chiefly of all the families of the earth. And in this sense is the word knowne used Psal. 31.7. I wil be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy, for thou hast consi­dered my trouble, et cognovisti, and hast knowne my soule in adversities, thou hast known, that is, thou hast pittied, thou hast had compassion on my soul, Cognoscere est mise­rari, so Agellius expoundeth the place. And Solomon hath a passage that may be referred to this purpose, Pro. 12.10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beasts. Novit justus, so, it is in the Latine version, a righteous man knoweth, but [...], so it is in the Septuagint, a righteous man is mercifull to the lives of his beasts. If now we put the Latine and Greek together, we shall find that to know, is to shew mercy to. In which sense the word is likewise used here in our text, You onely have I knowne of all the families of the earth.

But if the Commemoration must be so construed, why followeth there a Commination? because God had been [Page 4]so good to Israel, is it therefore that hee threatneth them? this seemeth somewhat strange. But if wee take middle and both ends, this will soon be reconciled; You onely have I knowne of all the families of the earth, we must halt here a while, Desunt nonnulla, there seemeth to be somewhat wanting, but it commeth in at the end of the verse, wee may paraphrase therefore upon the Text after this manner, the words are in effect, as if Almighty God should have said, I have nourished and brought up children, and (like our pretended Parlia­ment) they have rebelled against me, destruction and unhappinesse is in their way, and the way of peace have they not known; I have known them, but they have not known mee, the oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his masters crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth [...]ot consider, I threaten them not for the good I have [...]one to them, but for the notorious evill they have done [...]o mee; You onely have I known of all the families of [...]he earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniqui­ [...]ies. Idcirco therefore. Sinne is the causa impulsiva, that which moveth and as it were, compelleth Almighty God to punish. The Prophet Jeremy putteth the question, Lam. 3.39. Wherefore doth a living man complain? and he giveth an answer to it before the verse be out, A man for the punishment of his fins, that is, a man is punished for his sins and therefore our old translation readeth it thus, Let him murmure at his own sins, this, this is the only cause of all his sufferings idcirco therefore. There­fore I. Shall there be evill in the City, and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3.6. Siracides telleth us indeed of spi­rits that are created for vengeance, and these evill spirits many times lay on sore strokes; but they have Gods commission, at least permission for what they doe, they doe this to pacifie the wrath of him that made them Ecclus. 39.28. As all punishment is for sin, so it is from God. But how can this consist with his good­nesse? Yes, the very next particle will shew us, for hee speaketh not in the present, but the future tense, hee giveth Israel warning of his intention, before hee proceedeth to execution, that, if they had any grace, [Page 5]they might repent and so prevent the judgment threatned; and he threatneth them but after a milde & gentle manner, he threat­ned not to ruine and consume them, but onely to visit and cor­rect them; You onely have I knowne of all the Families of the earth; ther­fore I will punish you for all your iniquities. And so much for the co­herence and explication of the words. It is now high time to come neerer to the parts. I begin therefore with the first; which is Commemoratio beneficii, the rehearsing of a former benefit; You [...]ely have I knowne of all the Families of the earth. There are many other Scriptures very like this Text, I will give you but one or two, the first shall be Deut. 4.8. What Nation is there so great, saith Moses, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? The second shall be Psal. 147. ult. He hath not dealt so with any Nation. And that we may know how well God dealt with the people of Israel, we may observe, that he bestowed upon them two sorts of blessings, Privative and Po­sitive ones. I begin with the first, Gods privative blessings. The children of Israel were for a long time bound Apprentices in Egypt, where they were grievously oppressed by Pharaoh and his Task-masters, who compelled them not onely to make Bricke, but, it should seeme by the story, they would have had them make straw too. From which intolerable servitude God set them free at last, he eased their shoulders from the burden, and their hands were delivered from making of Pots, He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladnesse, and gave them the Lands of the Heathen, and they tooke the labours of the people in possession. As for Pharaoh and his host they were overwhelmed in the red Sea, they sunke downe to the bottome as a stone. After this, God made good his word to Joshua, not suffering a man to stand before him all the dayes of his life. And what shall I more say? for the time would faile me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Sampson, and of Jephthah, and of Da­vid, what mervailous deliverances God wrought for his people, discomfiting their enemies both by those Worthies and by o­ther Champions; the Sunne, Psal. 19. is compared to a strong Champion, and rather then Israel shall be worsted, insensible Champions shall fight for them, the Sunne shall stand still in [Page 6]the midst of heaven, the Stars in their courses shall fight against Sisera; so mightily did God deliver his people, even the sonnes of Jacob and Joseph: You onely have I knowne of all the Families of the earth. And as God bestowed many Privative blessings upon Israel, so many Positive blessings too. And these were of two sorts, Temporall and Spirituall. I begin with the first, Gods temporall blessings, which are recorded Is. 5.1, 2. My beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill; and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choycest Vine, and built a Tower in the midst of it, and also made a Wine-presse therein. It will be no digression to touch briefly upon each of these particulars; the situation of the Vineyard meeteth us first, which was in clive u­berrimo, in a very fruitfull hill. The hill of Sion was a faire place, and the joy of the whole earth. Israel had a goodly heritage, Ca­naan flowed with milke and honey. And the fruitfulnesse of it is described at large Deut. 8.7, 8, 9. Next to the fruitfull situati­on, Gods fencing of the Vineyard followeth. He made a wall a­bove it, saith the Margin, and Mat. 21. it is said he hedged it round about. And you know that an hedge secureth for two uses; for distinction, and for conservation. Israel was hedged about both wayes; for distinction they had the Law, by this they were dis­cerned from other Nations. What Nation is there so great, saith Mo­ses, that hath Statutes and judgements so righteous, as all this Law which I set before you this day? Deut. 4.8. Other Nations dwelt, as it were, in a Champion Countrey, without any hedge, without a Law, but Israel was inclosed, and hereby distinguished from all other people, God dealt not so well with any other Nation, neither had the Hea­then knowledge of his Lawes. And as Israel had an hedge for distin­ction, so they had another hedge for conservation; which was the providence of God, and the protection of his Angels; The hils, saith the Psalmist, stand about Jerusalem, even so standeth the Lord round about his people from this time forth for ever more.

In the next place, God gathered the stones out of his vineyard, whereby we are to understand the wicked Nations, according to that of the Psalmist, Psal. 80.8. Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egipt; expuleras gentes, thou hast cast out the heathen; God gave away their land for an heritage, even for an heritage unto Israel his [Page 7]people; that is the next thing presented to us, he planted it with the choicest Vine, the Vineyard of the Lord of hosts was the house of Israel, and the men of Judah were his pleasant Plant. The next observable is, Gods building of a Tower in his Vineyard, and Turris, authoritas est Sacerdotalis, saith Aretius, the Tower in Gods Vineyard, is the office and authority of Gods Ministers; for as watchmen from a Tower overlooking all the coast, give notice when any corporal enemies are approaching; so Gods Ministers who are [...], the watchmen of his Church, these give her warning of her ghostly enemies; so that neither the Boore of the wood can waste her, nor yet the wilde Beast of the field devour her. In the last place, God made a wine-presse in his Vineyard; and by this some understand the discipline of the judiciall law, whereby the juice of good living was to be, as it were, pressed out of the people. But to explain all this in three words, by the fence, by the Tower, by the wine-presse, by all this care and cost bestowed upon the Vineyard, there is signified Gods abundant love toward his people Israel, so that he could not possibly do a­ny else for them, having done more for them already, then for all the world besides; You onely have I known of all the families of the earth: And as God bestowed upon Israel many temporall, so ma­ny spiritall blessings, which are mentioned by the Apostle, Rom. 9.4, 5. where speaking of the Israelites, he telleth us, that to them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the Covenant, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promi­ses; theirs were the Fathers, and of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. It will not be amisse likewise to examine briefly these particulars: and first, to the Israelites pertained the adopti­on, they were culled out of all nations to be Gods peculiar peo­ple: the quotatiōs to this purpose, are almost innumerable, I shal cite but onely one, which is Isa. 43.1. Thus saith the Lord that cre­ated thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Called thee by thy name? nay, I have thee by mine own name, so it is 2 Chron. 7.14. my people, which are called by my name. And Dan. 9.19. Thy city saith the Prophet, and thy people are called by thy name. Whence we [Page 8]may observe, that there was a twofold relation between God and I [...]rael, of father and children and of husband and wife: first, they were related as father and children: children bear their fa­thers name: God therefore calling Israel by his own name, this sheweth, that he was their father, they his children: And the Prophet in their name, testifieth as much, Isa. 63.16. Doubtlesse thou, O Lord, art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Is­rael acknowledge us not. Secondly, God was related to Israel as an husband to his wife; the wife beareth her husbands name, it hath been thus ever since Isaiahs time I am sure, for God threat­ned by him to send a sword upon Judah and Jerusalem, which should make so great a slaughter and dearth of men, then seven women should take hold of, or should come a wooing to one man, saying, We will find our selves meat and cloathes, we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparell, onely let us be called by thy name, Isa. 4.1. Called by thy name? what do the women mean by this? why the very next words will shew us, which are, to take away our reproach: a [...], that is, barrennesse was a reproach among the Jewes; let us be therefore called by thy name, to take away our reproach; that is, let us be married to thee, be thou our hus­band: God then calling the people of Israel by his own name, this sheweth that he was, as it were, their husband, they his wife: and God maketh them a promise of marriage in one place, where the Banes, as it were, are asked twice betwixt them in one verse, Hos. 2.19. I will betroth thee unto me for over, yea I will betroth thee unto m [...] in righteousnesse and in judgement, &c. And in another place, the match seemeth to be consummated, for God speaketh in the present tense, I am married unto you, saith the Lord, Jer. 3.14. God was to the Israelites both a father and an husband, as a fa­ther he nurtured them, as an husband he nourished them; never did any one hate his own flesh: God therefore must needs be loving unto Israel, they being, as it were, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, they were his Spouse, they were his sons, to them pertained the adoption; and the glory, saith the Apostle, that is next, which glory some would have to be a consequent of their adoption, and indeed to be Gods own people was no small [Page 9]dignity: But this glory may be taken rather for the glorious presence of God amongst them, w ^ch he manifested most espe­cially from off the Mercy-seat, that was upon the ark, and therefore when the Israelites had lost the ark, Phinehas his wife concluded, that they had lost the glory too; the glory, saith she, is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken, 1 Sam. 4. ult. And as the adoption and the glory pertained to Israel, so the Covenants too; for the covenant that God made with Abraham runneth thus, Gen. 17.7. I will establish my Co­venant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their genera­tions, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

The next priviledge that Israel had, was the giving of the Law; that is, the morall Law was given to them, and almighty God himself was their Law-giver: The Promi­ses were theirs too; the promise of long life here, and of eternall life hereafter, of the life that now is, and of that which is to come; to Abraham and his seed were these pro­mises made, Gal. 3.16.

And as the Promises were theirs, so theirs also were the fathers, that is, the Promises were made as well to their fathers as to them, according to that of Saint Peter, Acts 3.25. Ye are the children of the Prophets, and of the Co­venant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. In thy seed, that is, in Christ, who was the Israelites own Countryman, which is their last prerogative recorded by the Apostle, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.

Thus you have seen how God loaded the Israelites with blessings, with privative and positive, with temporall and spirituall; You onely have I knowne of all the families of the Earth. And now Israel, as MOSES once said, Deut. 10.12. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his wayes, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God [Page 10]with all thy heart, and with all thy soul? But alas, the God of Israel is here forced to complain, that notwith­standing all the cost he had bestowed upon his Vineyard, whem he expected grapes from it, it brought forth wilde grapes; notwithstanding those many benefits he had be­stowed upon his people, they continually rewarded him evill for good; they thought not of his hand, nor of the day when had delivered them from the hand of the enemy, how he wrought his miracles in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan; neither destroyed they the heathen, but learned their works; for they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sonnes, and of their daughters, whom they offered unto the Idols of Canaan, and the land was de­filed with blood.

In generall termes, their sinnes are set down, Deut. 9.6, 7. but they are more particularly described in the third and fifth chapter of Isaiah: in the third chapter you may see their womens sinnes, the Prophet bringeth you, as it were, into the Exchange, he sheweth you the pride and vanity of their womens dressings, he giveth you such an inventory of their toyes, as is able to make a very Ca [...]o change his countenance: In the fifth chapter the Prophet sheweth you their mens sinnes; after the catalogue of God's benefits, he giveth you another catalogue of their sinnes; at the seventh verse he sheweth you their op­pression and injustice; I looked for judgement, but be­hold oppression; for righteousnesse, but behold a cry. At the eighth verse, their encroaching covetousnesse in joyning house to house, and field to field, untill there was no place, that they might be placed alone in the middest of the earth. At the eleventh and twelfth ver­ses, their drunkennesse and riot in rising up early to follow strong drink, and continuing untill night, till wine enflamed them, having the Harp and the Viol, the Tabret and Pipe, and wine in their feasts. At the eighteenth and nineteenth verses, their contempt and slighting [Page 11]of God's Word; in defiance of this drawing iniquity with coards of vanity, and sinne, as it were, with a cart-rope; saying, let him doe his worst, let him make speed and hasten his worke that we may see it, and let the counsell of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it. At the twentieth verse, their Hypocri­sie, in calling evill good, and good evill; in putting dark­nesse for light, and light for darknesse; in putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. At the one and twentieth verse, their selfe conceit, being wise in their owne eyes, and prudent in their owne sight. At the two and twenti­eth verse, their Pot-valour, in that they were mighty to drinke Wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drinke. At the three and twentieth verse, their bribery and cor­ruption, in justifying the wicked for reward, and in ta­king away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him. And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord; shall not my soule be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yes, the wrath of God was kindled against his people, inso­much that he abhorred his owne inheritance; for three transgressions of Judah and for foure, he resolveth that he will not turne away the punishment thereof. And so I am fallen upon the second part of the Text, which is Comminatio supplicii; the threatning of a future judgement; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You have heard that God bestowed upon Israel two sorts of bles­sings; both which he threatneth to withdraw for their unthankfulnesse.

First, his private blessings; they must expect no more deliverances from him. He brought them forth out of the Iron Furnace, even out of Egypt; but they had so provoked him, that he threatned to binde them Ap­prentices there the second time. Apprentices? nay worse, he threatned to make Slaves of them, so wee read Deutr. 28. ult. The Lord, saith Moses, shall bring thee into E­gypt againe with Ships, by the way whereof I spake un­to [Page 12]to thee; thou shalt see it no more againe; and there shall yee be sold (offer your selves at least) unto your enemies for Bo [...]d-men and Bond-women, and no man shall buy you. God threatneth to sell his people for nought, and to take no money for them. And whereas the Israelites were wont to have the better of their Enemies, they had so angred the Lord of hosts, that he threatned to give their Enemies the victory, so we read Deutr. 28.25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies, thou shalt goe out one way against them, and shalt flee seven wayes before them, and shall be removed into all the Kingdomes of the earth.

And I am sure they have beene thus dlspersed for many hundred yeeres; they are strangers in all Countries; they have lost both their place and Nation.

Secondly, God threatneth to withdraw his positive bles­sings from them: We have a plaine Text for this, Isa. 5.5, 6. I will tell thee, saith God, what I will doe to my Vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will breake downe the wall thereof, and it shall be troden downe; and I will lay it waste, it shall not be pru­ned nor digged: I will also command the Clouds, that they raine no more upon it. So true is that of the Psalmist, Psal. 107.34. A fruitfull Land maketh he barren, for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein. For though the Land of Canaan were as the Garden of Eden, yet for the iniquitie of the Inhabitants, it shall be turned into a Wildernesse; and though the Israelites had the bles­sings of the right hand, and of the left, yet for their ingratitude and disobedience, God threatneth to with­draw both; You onely have I knowne of all the Families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your ini­quities.

Therefore I will punish you; You that were my darling, mine owne peculiar people; you that were as deare to me as the apple of mine eye; because ye have broken my Cōmandemēts [Page 13] and been unmindfull of my loving kindnesse, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

And the observation from hence for our instruction is most obvious; Gods hatred against sin is such, that he will not let it go unpunished in his dea­rest children. Adam was the master-piece of all Gods workmanship, and highly in favour with him at the first, and yet as soone as ever he had tasted of the forbidden tree, God banished this same Adam out of Pa­radise. Moses is often stiled the servant of God, but indeed he seemeth to have been more, with reverence be it spoken, to have been Gods fami­liar acquaintance, for Exod. 33.11. the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. Yet as great, and gracious, and familiar as Moses was with God, for one sin of infidelity God fell out with him, as we read Numb. 20. where when the people murmured for water, God bid Moses but onely speak to the rock, and it should give forth water: But Moses thought that speaking would not do it; not a word therefore, but a blow, two of them for failing, he smote the rock twice; And for this he had his doome immediately, that he should not en­ter into the land of promise. He that Prophesied against the Altar at Be­thel was Gods favourite, a man of God. Yet forasmuch as he disobey­ed the mouth of the Lord, in going back to eat and drinke with the old Prophet, his carkase must not come to the Sepulcher of his fathers. I shall give you but one example more, which is without example, our Saviour himself, that Lambe without spot, the onely righteous person that ever lived upon the earth. Though he were. Gods bosome Son, and had not the least sin of his owne, onely took ours by imputation, yet how harsh­ly did his father handle him, never was there any sorrow like unto his sor­row, wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger. And if these things be done in a greene tree, what shall be done in the dry? Luke 23.31. The righteous shall be recompenced in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner, Prov. 11. ult. If judgement begin at the house of God, what shall the end be of those men that obey not the Gospell of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Pet. 4.17, 18. If an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile, if this man shall be recompenced, shall be punished in the earth; with whom shall hypocrites have their portion, that are full of deceit and fraud, and under whose tongue is ungodlinesse and vanity? If a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and striveth to eschew evil, if this man shall be recompenced, shall be punished in the earth, what will become of [Page 14]him that hath no fear of God before his eyes, but liveth as if there were no God, committing all uncleannesse even with greedinesse? If a man of a strict life, and a tender conscience must be punished, what will be­come of the rebellious reformers of our age, whose consciences seeme to be feared with an hot iron? If Jerusalem the holy City must be puni­shed, Lord, what will become of London and Westminster, places every whit as sinfull as Sodome or Gomorrah? If God go so roughly to worke with them he knoweth, oh how will he handle strangers without mit­tons? if he execute his judgements upon Jury where he was known, oh what fiery indignation will he powre out upon the heathen that have not known him, and upon the Kingdomes that have not called upon his name?

This teacheth us to flee from sin, as from the face of a Serpent, consi­dering how odious and abominable it is in the sight of God, though Co­niah the son of Jeboiakim King of Judah were the signet upon his right hand, yet, for sin God threatned to pluck him thence, Jer. 22.24. The King of England will not pardon wilfull murther, though his chiefest favourite should commit it. The King of heaven will let no sin go un­punished, no not in his favourites, in his owne people. And he will ne­ver connive at sin in us, that threatneth here to punish it so severely in Israel, You onely have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.

And so I have gone through the parts of the Text; a few words now of Application, and I have done.

Truly God, saith the Psalmist, is loving unto Isael, and truly he hath been as loving unto us, he hath bestowed many private, and many posi­tive blessings on us. First private, many late deliverances, I will Instance but in three.

The first was from Popish tyranny and superstition, a tyranny more then Aegyptian, an Antichristian tyranny. The damned glutton Luk. 16. desired onely a little water for his thirst, But water will not quench this thirst of Babilon, the whore must have blood, till she hath made her selfe starke drunk with it, no blood of Beasts, it must be blood of Men, no blood of sinners, it must be the blood of Saints, and these Martyrs none of Mahomets, they must be Martyrs of Jesus. Rev. 17.6. Sad experience of this tyranny we had in Queen Maries daies. Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo, the Romish horseleach would not give us over, till she had full gorged herself with our blood. Or indeed [Page 15]it is a question whether she would ever have been fatisfied, had we not been strangely delivered from her tyranny, by the Queen of Queens, or rather the King of Kings, You o [...]ely have I known of all the fam [...]lies of the earth.

A second deliverance was from the Spanish Armado in the year 1588. Which Fleet had it prevailed, our Thames had been named Tyber, Ro­mish superstition had invaded us once more, and then by the waters of Ba­bylon we might have sate downe and wept, as often as we remembred this our Sion. But God brake the ships of the sea through the East wind, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.

A third deliverance was from that horrid Powder-treason, Novemb. 5. 1605. which was carried on with so great secrecy, that it made the man of sin insult — Te (que) his, ait, eripe flammis, who is that God that shall deliver them out of my hands? But he that dwelleth in heaven laugheth the Bishop of Rome to scorne, and pluck't us as it had been fire-brands out of the burning, You onely have I known of all the families of the earth.

And as God has befriended us by his private, so by his positive bles­sings, answerable to those which he bestowed upon his Vineyard. And first we may compare with Israel for a fruitfull scituation, being neither under the torrid nor the frozen Zone, neither burned away with par­ching heat, nor benummed away with pinching cold, but seated in a tem­perate climate & afertile soile; our folds are ful of sheep our vallies stand so thick with corne that we may laugh and sing. God hath also fenced us about, like the Israelites in the red sea with a wall of water, the wa­ters are as a wall unto us on our right hand, and on our left. But espe­cially God hath fenced us by his protection, salvation hath the Lord ap­pointed for wals and bulwarks. He hath likewise gathered the stones out from us, he hath cast out the Romish rabble, and hath planted our Land with the choicest Religion, that of Protestants. And he hath builded a Tower among us, he hath set up Episcopall authority. Some thinke this Tower too high, and would faine have it quite demolished, downe with it, downe with it, say they, even to the ground. But these are an Assembly of birds that would faine build in others neasts; there are Presbyterian Levellers as well as Independent; but let them both do what they can, I hope I shall never see the day wherein these Towers fall. God hath made, as it were, a winepresse among us too, no Nation under heaven hath better Lawes then we, many of them or these seven years have [Page 16]been cast into a deep sleep, but I trust that within few moneths they will be wakened. And that in telling you of one blessing more I may shew you all the rest, God hath set over us a prudent, and most pious Prince, a King for His faith and life unspotted from the world, a Patron and a Patterne of good men and goodnesse, a maintainer of His Countries Laws, and, however Rebellion hath traduced Him, a zealous professour and Defender of the Christian Faith. O fortunatos nimium, bona si sua nôrint, Augligenas! Happy Nation we to be in such a case, happy Na­tion we to have the Lord for our God, to have him as kind and good to us, as he ever was to Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. And now, England, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walke in all his wayes, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul? But here God may as justly complaine of us as he did of Israel, that when he looked for grapes from us, we have brought forth wilde grapes, there is not a sin Isa. 5. charged upon Israel, but we stand guilty of it. I have not time to arraigne all the sins that reigne among us, the time would faile me to reckon up the oathes and imprecations. Our sins therefore being as many, nay, more, I doubt, then those of Israel; of two things one we must either plead more priviledge to sin then they had, which I am sure we cannot, or else without great mercy we must looke yet for grea­ter judgements, at least to have God so threaten us, as here he threatens the people of Israel, You onely have I knowne of all the familes of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities. I will punish You. You that have seven years sate in Councell, been in Covenant for, yet armed your selves against, and have at last most trayterously imprisoned the Lords Anointed, you that have turned judgement to wormwood, you that have turned our still waters into blood, you that have turned the Kings house, nay, the house of God into a den of theeves, you that imagine wickednesse and practise it you that have set your selves in no good way, you that dare do any thing, but justice, you that dare rob your Sove­raigne, nay, even God himselfe, you that are made up of cousenage and contradictions, you that have no Religion but rapine and Rebellion, you that are against Papists in practice, though ye will not owne that name, you that neither fear God, nor honour the King, you that would begger all that refuse to be such Rebels as your selves, you that, with Herod, are deepely died in bloud of Innocents, that make no more of cutting off a mans, then of cutting off a dogs neck, you that have filled [Page 17]the grave with bodies, and hell with souls, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities.

You likewise of the silly Schismaticall Assembly, that, out of meere op­position, preach in Cloaks; you that are no legall Synod, but rather the Synagogue of Satan; you that for a pious Liturgy, would give us a pure piece of non-sense; you that would banish the Lords Prayer, and the A­postles Creed; you that call evill good, and good evill; you that teach for doctrines the commandements of wicked men; you that preach up Rebellion for foure shillings a day; you that would be more then Deanes or Bishops, though you dislike their Titles; you that are greedy dogs, never thinking ye have enough; you that serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but your owne bellies, Therefore I will punish you for all your ini­quities.

And you of the Court, for your flattery, and your prodigality; and you of the cowardly City for your disloyalty; you that dare fight a­gainst none but your King: and you of the Country for your stupidity and sottishnesse, in suffering your fellow-subjects so long to enslave you: you of the Clergie likewise for temporizing, for fearing the face of man, for not daring to speak truth: You of the Laity for tenebrizing, for your Conventicles: You that are rich, for your Covetousnesse: You that are poore, for your idlenesse: You that are men, for your day-sins, gluttony, and drunkennesse: You that are women, for your night-sins, chambering and wantonnesse: All you that are against the King, for for­swearing of your selves: Some of you that are for the King, for swea­ring; you that sweare not, as Joseph did, By the life of your King, but By the life of your God, and By the Prince of life, whom ye sweare over once aday from top to toe, as if ye would sweare Christ in pieces, or God out of heaven, Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Ye have been told of this sinne often, and if I now told you of it rightly, I should tell you weeping, that they who thus mouthe their Oathes and their God Damne them, they are no better then the very enemies of the Crosse of Christ. Nor are they Enemies to him only, but also traytours to their King & Country, as arrant traytours as those that have imprisoned Him, let them never tell me they are the Kings friends, for they are the worst of enemies, because of swearing the land mourneth, Jer. 23.10. And mourne it will a great deal worse, except this, and many other horrid sins be banished. We have seen hitherto, but, as it [Page 18]were, the morning of mourning, the beginning of sorrows, unlesse we repent, our Land, like Rama, will be filled with bitter mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valey of Megiddon, Zech. 12.11. For in­deed how can we ever hope to have God blesse us, when we are daily at him to damne and confound us? how can we ever hope for peace with men, so long as by oathes and other sins we fight against our God? No, there is no peace to the wicked, their portion is desolation, which though we hope still we out-run, yet in the end it will overtake us, quod differtur, non aufertur, as God hath leaden heeles, so he hath iron hands, though he have spared us therefore a long time, yet he will pay us home at last, he will bruise us with a rod of iron, and breake us in pieces like a potters vessel. If a man will not turne, he will bend his bow. Now the farther back we draw the bow-string ere we shoot, the more forcibly the arrow flieth when we shoot; So the longer God delaieth to punish men for sin, the more harshly will he handle them when once he beginneth with them. He hath long begun with us, I know; but, without repentance, he will not make a full end, if we continue in sin, our sufferings shall be of long con­tinuance; if we keep not the laws of God, the Laws of the Land shall still be kept from us, if we will not suffer Christ to reigne over us, God will not suffer our Lord the King to raign. To summe up all therefore in one word, let us repent and be converted, or if we do not this for our own sakes, yet let us do it for our poor Kings sake, who, in my conscience, hath a long time suffered for our sins. Let not us, brethren, forget God, and he will never forget us, he will speedily remember King Charls, and all his troubles, let us by a new life expresse our thankfulnesse for Gods for­mer loving kindness, and this will encourage him to confer new benefits upon us, he will be our God, we shall be his people, as he hath been good to us in former, so will he be in after ages, to us and our posterity for evermore. He will turn ours and our Soveraignes captivity as the rivers in the South, he will turne our heavinesse into joy, he will take off our sackcloth and gird us with gladnesse, he will put a new song into our mouth, even a thanksgiving unto our God: though the Prologue have been Tragical, yet the Catastraphe shall be Comical, God will make good to us that promise, Zech. 8.19. The fast of the fourth moneth, and the fast of the fift, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to us joy and gladnesse, and chearfull feasts. Which God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to grant unto us, for the mercies of his eternall Son, [Page 19]our blessed Saviour, To whom, with the Father, and holy Ghost, Three persons, one God, be rendred and ascribed, as most due is, all Honour, Glory, Power, Praise, Might, Majesty, Wisdome and Dominion, the residue of this blessed day present, and for ever more world without end. Amen.