ONE of the Greatest Prejudices against the Preaching and Publishing of the Word of God is, in that so very few are converted by it, and do Obey it. Let Men Preach till their Hearts ake (as the common Proverbi­al Speech is) and tire out their Lungs, spend their strength, yea, Seek out acceptable Words, as Ecclesi­astes did, and do all that ever they can in the work of the Ministry, both by studying in Gods Statutes as Davids Pra­ctice was, and also by Prayer and Diligent Labour; yet still the World will not be Reformed, nor brought off from their lees of Corruption and Iniquity. They will go on in their old former ways, Ungodliness and Wicked­ness, let the Ministers and Servants of God say and do whatever they can. Therefore it is, that the Word is cal­led, the Weakness of God, 1 Cor. 1. 25. In that it is deem­ed to be unable and insufficient to effect the very thing it doth intend at, that is, to bring People over unto the obe­dience of the Law of God, and to Regulate their lives and manners.

The Commandment is Holy, Just and Good in it self; Thy Precepts concerning all things are Right, Yet here lies the great stumbling Block and Rock of offence, which quite keeps off the ungodly and mixt Multitude from [Page 4] getting over it, and the steps of Good and Faithful Peo­ple do well nigh slip thereat, In that, Notwithstanding it is so little obeyed, and so very little heed is given unto them by the Generality of People. They will indeed talk of the Commandments of God, and make a shew as if they had performed 1 Sam. 15. 13. And were guided thereby, but all along and in the mean while, They do walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts, Isa. 65. 2. And according to their own Will, Humour, Incli­nation and Imaginations. It is a common saying, that People will have their Will whatever it cost them: And it is to be feared (as there is real Ground for this Surmise, from the Word of God) that too many are bent and re­solved upon their own Will though they should be dam­ned, or condemned for it at the Day of Judgment, and it cost them no less than the Loss of their precious Immortal Souls.

VVe read in the Old Testament, of the Lords Contro­versie with his people; and this is the Controversie which he hath with the Inhabitants of the Earth, VVhether they shall do according to his VVord and Commandments, and be led by the silent and inward Dictates of his Spirit. Or they think, speak and practice, for the heart of every one of them is deep: Our Lips are our own; VVho is Lord over us? Thoughts are free, according to their own Sup­posal and Imagination. And so it is of the Words and Actions in the Children of Disobedience, They speak and do as they list. This is a Controvercy which at the last will be decided to the Creatures Punishment and Misery.

The Psalmist doth speak further of the people of his Generation; They corrupt others, and speak of Wicked Blasphemy; Their Talking is against the Most High. There is indeed that Knowledge, and Outward Worship, and inward Reverential Esteem, Universally received amongst the people of this Nation, that hardly any, unless some very few Debauch'd, and Ignorant Young Men of the Richer sort, do talk directly and immediately against God himself; For this would be so odious and detestable, that even the Common Multitude would not bear it. But if they do not speak out, because that they profess that [Page 5] they know God, but in Works they deny him. But they think and Act to the very same purpose. God sees and knows the thoughts all one, as if they were wrote in Great Let­ters upon the Foreheads of those who did conceive them. And he doth make alike construction of their Actions, as if they did speak out the same what those Actions do Import.

Things are confused and seem perplex through the do­ings of Sinners and Hypocrites. By the former of which, I mean those who are open Barefaced and Manifestly Sinners; Who will own that they Commit Sin and Transgression, and make excuses for it; and cry out. Lord have mercy upon us, or the like. By Hypocrites, I intend such who observe all the Parts and seasons of the Worship of God, and other things pertaining to Religi­on; and yet they live in the Breach and Neglect of some of the Commandments of God. But whilst they seem to be Righteous and Religious when they are not; And they justify themselves before Men, whereas God knoweth the heart; And what is highly esteemed amongst Men, is an Abomination in his sight; Whilst they com­mend themselves and call themselves Godly and Lean on the Lord, Micah 3. 11. As Counterfeit Gold doth sometimes Shine and Glister more then true: So they Profess more Honour and Obedience to God then perhaps his very Elect and Real Servants, Hence our way is the more intricate to trace and find them out, then those who are downright Sinners and Ungodly. What­ever are the doings of all the Children of Men, the Word of God doth find them out; And however the Rebellious and Disobedient would render it ineffectual and useless, that is not binding and obligatory to them, and that it should be rather falsified then ful­filled, when it speaks of Mens obedience unto Righ­teousness; for as for their Part, they will not yield it. As we see and observe these things in the World, we are not thence to doubt in our own Mind; But it these and such like things, still we may have Recourse to this great Assertion of the Apostle, Not as tho the Word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. That is, They are nor all the [Page 6] Servants of God, who have the Name and pretend to be so, or do herd themselves in their Number.

I did therefore choose and thought Good to insist upon these Words, chiefly, if not for the Removal (for it will still abide and remain) yet for the right understanding of that first Prejudice, which in the very beginning lies against the Word of God; In that so very few are converted by it and do obey it; That ye who do believe and obey to the saving of your Souls, be not soon shaken in Mind, by the Disadvantages which arise thereby; for it may anon appear, that this is yet a greater fulfilling of the same Word.

As the Apostle Paul doth record of himself, That after the manner of Men, he had fought with Beasts at Ephesus: So both in the beginning, entrance and course of our Ministry (which is more advanced and carried on by Writing, Printing and Publishing then by speaking with a living Voice; For whereas the Voice Perishes in the utterance and the matter is soon forgotten by the Hearer, that reaches to the People afar off and to after Ages) I say again, that both in the beginning and course of our Ministry, we have met with Scoffers, who with their several kinds of sayings, did endeavour either to turn us aside from our intended Ministry, or to defeat the design thereof. As it was said to Ezekiel, Thou art not sent to a People of strange Speech and of an hard Language, but to the House of Israel. Not to many People of a strange Speech and of an hard Language, whose Words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened to thee. But the House of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me. For all the House of Israel are impudent and hard hearted, Ezek. 3. 5, 6, 7. So if I should recount my manifold Experiences, I should make known that I have met with more per­verse and contrary usage, Evil entreaty, contradiction and false Reproaches from Formal and Nominal Chri­stians, and from outward Worshippers, then ever I did from open Sinners and the manifest Ungodly: Tho' I have spoken equally against their Sin and Ungodliness, as [Page 7] I have laid open the Hypocrisie and Foolish vain de­ceits of the others. And yet all this doth nothing shake me in Mind, nor yet doth it at all abate or lessen from my present Comfort in the well grounded hope of my future acceptance from the Lord. But rather it doth increase and confirm me therein, That I may have boldness in the Day of Judgment, because as he was, so are we in this present World. For the like did happen to him also, to be thus opposed and contradicted in his Ministry by the Scribes and Pharisees (who were the then Teachers and Expounders of the Law) and by the Jews, who were as exact and constant in all the Parts and Times of the outward worship of God all the same while, as the People of this Nation do go continually to their Parish Churches, or other Congregations and As­semblies.

Where the most good is either done or intended, there the Devil doth raise the greatest opposition; and the old Serpent doth never shew himself more subtle then when he Acts through those who seem to be Religious and to make a fair shew in the flesh. So that when the Spirit of Lying and Falshood or Reproach doth proceed forth through them, it hath a greater Appearance and Likeness unto Truth; and so it passes down glib with them, who judge according to Appearance and not Righteous Judg­ment.

The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness sake, He will magnifie the Law and make it Honourable, Isa. 42. 21. And as the Ministration thereof is more worthy and ex­cellent then the Business and Employment of the Great­est Kings or wisest States-Men. Nevertheless Ignorant and Ungodly Minds, like as when Michal saw David Dancing before the Ark, she despised him: So they will lessen and have a low esteem of such a kind of Office. Or as they Proudly and Disdainfully think, that it is not consistent with a Good Birth and Education. Alas! All these and such like are but foolish and false Imaginations, which Satan suggests and keeps in the Minds of some People for to uphold his Kingdom. It is all but Imagi­nation and nothing of reality therein, for as it is said in the Book of Job, I am also formed out of the Clay. Ne­hemiah [Page 8] the Governour of the Province speaks in the be­half of the Poor, Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our Brathren, our Children as their Children, Neh. 5. 5. God hath made of one Blood (observe that) all Nations of Men, for to dwell on the Face of the Earth, Acts 17. 26. Where­in then doth one differ from and excell another, even in respect of these vile Bodies, whilst we are in the midst of Life and carry them about us, all one as when they come to be in the place of Skulls, where the Poor and Rich are all alike. And whereas the Richer sort now a-days call themselves a good Family, I wish that sin and con­tempt of God, and that shame which is among them of coming down to the Plainness and Simplicity of his Wor­ship, or to the place where his Word is Preached, did not manifest and demonstrate the contrary. He that over­cometh, shall not be hurt by the second Death. And this is overcoming that Corruption which is both within our own Nature, and also that which is in the World through the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life. And truly, if the Pride of Life was overcome and rooted out of the minds of any one, as it is out of every one who is indeed the Child and Servant of God and an Heir of Glory; then all those things that Savour of Men; All those Imaginations and Sayings which arise up from the Pride and Fashion of this World, or from the chief that is from the Rich People thereof, will all sink and fall to the ground, and be as dung in Compa­rision of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ, or what may further his Gospel in the World.

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, Rom. 1. 16. What need had the Apostle to say this? But only in Relation and Answer to those who would imagine and fasten shame thereon, in order to disswade from what was Good and Praise worthy. The Devil Acts in the minds of People to endeavour to beat off, or let and hin­der one who may be a proper Instrument and Labourer in the Work and Vineyard of the Lord. But the shame wherewith they would reproach that, shall at last return upon their own heads, when themselves shall at last rise up to Shame and Everlasting Contempt; And they who were a shamed of Christ in this Adulterous and Sinful [Page 9] Generation (It is not said, Jewish or Heathen, but in E­pithets proper and sutable to this Countrey of England at this Day) of them shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the Glory of his Father with the Ho­ly Angels.

People are commonly ashamed of that whereof a great stir and clutter is made before-hand and nothing comes of it. And hereupon it is, that Ignorant Persons and Unbelievers would endeavour to fasten shame on the Preaching of the Gospel. For as they think and object, the Gospel imports good tidings and talks of great, yea, the greatest things in the World, and nothing hereof is seen to them nor presently had. That Reason which Paul gives in Rom. 1. 16. Seems to Answer all this to two sorts of People, the Jews and Gentiles, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the Power of God unto Salva­tion to every one that believeth (Observe and Attend well to that) To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. It is therefore said, To be the Power of God unto Salvation, unto the Jew first. This was to instruct and rightly inform him, who did expect Salvation by Moses and the Prophets; as to which they did both come short, which the Gospel of Christ doth supply and make up. The Jews were not so much Ignorant in Part, as Unbelievers in Part; But the Greeks or Gentiles were altogether Unbelievers in the whole. And take them as such, they can no more un­derstand what this Power of God unto Salvation is, then if you talk the same unto a Brute Beast. And therefore it is fitly put before, To every one that believeth. For put the case, you should talk of Salvation to an Infant or to a Child of a twelvemonth old, Will He understand what thou sayest? In no wise. So it is, if you talk to a Sa­vage Indian, who knows nothing of God or Futurity; and when such an one is in good Plight and Health and hath none but Friends about him, then talk to him con­cerning Salvation, which signifies Safety and Preservati­on from Danger, whereas he sees and perceives no danger at all. And He will think that the Man is Idle or Mock­eth, or is Foolish, who talk and discourses thereof. It would be near the same to acquaint some Poor Ungodly Beggars about Salvation; If they are Healthy, Lusty and [Page 10] Strong, if they have before them a Meal of Good Victu­als and they know where to have another, they do not apprehend much more or besides this. But they think such an one speaks Parables, or Nonsensical things unto them.

It is very observable, how it is Ushered and brought in, A Brutish Man knoweth not, neither doth a Fool understand this. When the Wicked Spring as the Grass, and when all the Workers of Iniquity do flourish, It is, that they shall be destroyed for Ever, Psal. 92. 6, 7. So it is, though it be besides their Opinion and Expectation. In like manner when any of the other Truths of God, or of the things pertaining to his Kingdom come to be declared and spoken of, the same Preface may be used and put before, A Brutish Man knoweth not, neither doth a Fool understand this. So it will be of the things whereof we shall by and by speak, A Bru­tish Man knoweth not, neither doth a Fool understand this: It being usual with the Holy Ghost, when He comes to make known things which will hardly meet with Credibility and Reception, to Anticipate and take notice of the same before-hand. As Isaiah 53. Be­gins after this manner, Who hath believed our Report? Importing that very few or none would, until after­ward they should see it fulfilled.

It is properly and truly expressed when such are Termed Brutish Men and Fools; For tho' they have the shape of Men, yet they understand no more of the things of God; And thereby also we are given to apprehend (for 'tis the Wisdom and Knowledge of God which gives them this Character) that if they do not use that Image of God which he had Im­planted in them, towards the Knowledge of God and of the things pertaining to his Kingdom; They lose it again, and Notwithstanding they retain the same out­ward shape with his Saints and Servants, yet in in­ward likeness they are very Brutes. And so whate­ver or how much they know besides if they have not this knowledge also, they are in very deed Fools, be­cause hereby and for want thereof they become Subject and Liable unto Loss and Punishment.

Now if I had altogether to do with Brutes and Fools, I should be ashamed of Preaching the Gospel, unless there were some Spiritual People who know of the things whereof we speak; Or unless their understandings were somewhat opened that they could a little conceive there­of. But if the Mystery of the Gospel be a little opened and made known unto ye, then neither will ye object shame, nor yet shall I incur shame in the Preaching thereof. And in the mean while this is no running a­way or besides from the Text, but it shews and confirms all along that the Word of God hath some effect and reali­ty. For whereas People are commonly ashamed of that, whereof a great clutter and stir is made and nothing comes of it. But the Gospel is in Word, and that is not so much as in things. But yet the Gospel come not to you in Word only, but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, 2 Thes. 1. 5. It is much more then in other Words, for thus much is evident and sensible, that they have not so much Power over the Hearts and Con­sciences of Men as this Gospel hath. Neither were any other Words under Heaven, Accompanied with so, many Signs and Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost, where­by God himself did bear Witness to the certainty and re­ality of the things contained in this Everlasting Gospel. And then it is in much Assurance that it shall be all ful­filled and found true.

This is the very Reason why things so go on as they have and do now in the World, That the Scriptures might be fulfilled; And therein the Word of God hath its effect, Which speaks of things exactly as they are. But here this is to be attended unto, that the Things and Words of God are to be performed and fulfilled in their Season, Luke 1. 20. That is according to the Order and Successi­on of Time, some have been already fulfilled, others are now at this Day fulfilling; But the greatest and most things of all are yet to be fulfilled, as in the future State, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Day of Judgment and the Succeeding Eternity. The thing is certain, tho' the time appointed for it is long. For the Vision is yet for an Appointed Time, but at the End it shall speak and not lie, tho' it Tarry, Wait for it; Because it will surely [Page 12] Come, it will not Tarry, Hab. 2. 3. Gods work as to the Inhabitants of the Earth is a work of six or seven Thousand Years continuance, which is a going and car­rying on ever since He first Created Man on the Earth, during all the while, He who hath called the Generati­ons from the beginning, hath ordered them to pass through, all which is but a short time in respect to God, to whom a Thousand Years are but as one Day, tho' it be long to us. And accordingly the Scripture speaks of it thus differently both these manner of [...] That is, It is short as to God, and long as to us Imperfect Creatures. For the Lord is not slack as concerning his Promise, as some Men count slackness for a Thousand Years, is as one day with the Lord, 2 Pet. 3. 8. For he will finish the Work and cut it short in Righteousness; Because a short Work will the Lord make upon the Earth, Rom. 9. 28. Yet as to us, the time appointed is long. Return, O Lord, How long? Psal. 90. 13. And shall not God avenge his own Elect, which cry Day and Night unto him, tho' he bear long with them, I tell you, that he will avenge them speedi­ly, Luke 17. 7, 8. How long, O Lord, Holy and True, Dost thou not iudge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth? Rev. 6. 10. Tho' it was said sixteen hundred years ago that God would avenge them speedily, it is not done as yet; But tho' it be somewhat long as to our Expectation and Desire, yet it will be sure at last, and it will be all done together, as may be understood from the following Verse here, And white Robes were gi­ven unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little Season, until their fellow Servants also and their Brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. And so the Destruction of Sinners and Transgressours shall be together, Isa. 1. 28. Even of all Generations and Countreys. So that such being the Decree and Order of God, ye are in no wise to think, Not as tho' the Word of God hath taken none effect, For it will be all found true in its Season. Not one jot of the Law shall pass away, until all be fulfilled. And not one of the sayings therein as to future things, shall fall to the Ground till it shall indeed so come to pass. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my Words shall [Page 13] not pass away. The Grass withereth, the Flower [...]ad­eth, but the Word of our God shall stand for Ever, Isa. 40. 8.

Hereby also it may be understood, that Unbelievers and the Ignorant Multitude are certainly deceived in their Imaginations. For whereas they Judge very much by Events; And because they see no such dreadful Judg­ments poured down upon Sinners, That all things happen alike to all, and continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation: Men and Women fall asleep, and dye as People usually do, they think falsely, They may therefore do as they will; It is the Preachers Trade to cry out against sin, but they are vain Words for they come to nothing. Whereas we speak of future Rewards and Punishments, and the Time of Decision is not yet come. Son of Man, What is that Proverb that ye have in the Land of Israel? Saying, The Days are Prolonged, and every Vision faileth, Tell them therefore, thus saith the Lord God, I will make this Proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a Proverb in Israel; but say unto them, the Days are at hand and the effect of every Vision, Ezek. 12. 22, 23. This Answers to the very Words of my Text; For it shews that the Word of God hath some, and will have yet a greater Effect. As the same is again Affirm­ed, But the Word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God, Ezek. 12. 28. And tho' the Vision which we see (With the Eyes of our Ʋnderstanding being enligh­tened) is yet for many Days to come, and we Prophecy of the Times that are afar off, yet they will be present and near also. And it is therefore thus ordered by the Wisdom of God, to prove the Children of Men these forty, fifty, or sixty Years, To know what is in their Heart, whither they will keep his Commandments or no, Deu. 8. 2. And He said I will hide my Face from them, I will see what their End shall be; for they are a very froward Generation, Children in whom there is no faith, Deu. 32. 20. According to the Revelation of the Mystery (Mark that) which was kept se­cret since the World began. But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the Prophets, according to the Command­ment of the Everlasting God, made known to all Nations for the Obedience of Faith, Rom. 16. 25, 26. Here is the [Page 14] Mystery of God Revealed and Manifested (which same Mystery of God at length will be finished as He hath declared to his Servants the Prophets, Rev. 10. 7.) For things were purposely so ordained to prove all Nations, whither they would yield an Obedience of Faith. That they might walk by Faith and not by Sight. And herein the other Scriptures agree and have Relation, He that be­lieveth, shall not make haste, Isa. 28. 16. Which being twice Quoted by Paul, in Rom. 9. 33. Rom. 10. 11. The latter Words instead of, shall not make haste, is, shall not be ashamed. Both put together make up near the same Sence and Meaning, and exactly Pertinent to the matter in hand. That is as much as to say, That whosoever doth know and really believe the things of God in the very order as they stand and are Determined, He shall not make haste; As to think, or go about to get them fulfilled sooner then their appointed Time. And whoso is fully perswaded of and doth embrace them by Faith, He is not ashamed in this World for following after invisible and future things; but more especially, He shall not be ashamed (it is spo­ken in the future tence) in the World to come, for they shall be Actually given and made Good to the Soul that seeketh them.

By Faith we apprehend and lay hold on these Encou­raging Promises, And they that be Wise (In the Margent it is, Teachers) shall shine as the Brightness of the Firma­ment; And they that turn many to Righteousness, as Stars for Ever and Ever, Dan. 12. 3. Brethren, if any of you do err from the Truth and one Convert Him. Let him know that He which Converteth a sinner from the Errour of his way, shall save a Soul from Death, and shall hide a Mul­titude of Sins, James 5. 19. Here it hath been Scoffingly and Sarcastically objected unto us, What, you Convert Sinners? They will not be Converted by thee, Go and Convert those at your own House. But Jesus said unto them, A Prophet is not without Honour, but in his own Countrey and among his own Kin, and in his own House, Mark 6. 4. And He commonly doth the least good a­mongst them. Like as the light of a Candle on a Can­dlestick, gives light to those further off, but casts a dark shadow next round about it self. Moreover, ye are to [Page 15] know. Not as tho' by our own Power or Holiness, we can make this Lame Man to walk, Much less to run in the way of Gods Commandments. Nor yet by our own Know­ledge or Wisdom can we bring any one back into the right way who was gone astray. We do utterly Dis­claim and Renounce whatsoever is of self, or our own. But yet when He that Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings hath ordained strength, Psal. 8. 2. He that maketh the Dumb, Exod. 4. 11. And the Stammering Lips, Isa. 28. 11. to serve for his own Glory, doth appoint such a weak Ves­sel and Unworthy Instrument, for the Ministration of his Word and Truth; Although the Person himself cannot effect any thing, yet the Word and Truth of God which appears forth through him, will have its effect, one way or another, either to Salva­tion or Condemnation, either to make People par­takers of the Mercy of God, or to Load them with more Guilt and Ill deserving, if they will not obey the Word of Life. And tho' this last seems to be an hard saying, yet it is grounded on those Words of the great Preacher of Righteousness, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now they have no Cloke for their sin, John 15. 22. And so the Apostle Paul Wit­nesseth in behalf of himself and of the other Ministers of the Gospel, For we are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are Saved, and in them that Perish. To the one, are we the Savour of Death unto Death, and to the o­ther the Savour of Life unto Life, and VVho is sufficient for these things, 2 Cor. 2. 15, 16. As himself doth Answer this last in the fifth Verse of the following Chapter, Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves, but our sufficiency is of God. And if we are not sufficient to think, neither are we sufficient to speak or to do: We are meer Creatures in the hands of God. As in him we live and move and have our Being. So whatever Good Words and True Words do proceed forth from any one, It is what before he had put into our Heart. It is agreeable unto his method and manner of Dispensation, to Publish and make known his word and will unto the Inhabitants of the Earth; By Men of the like Passions and of the same Flesh and Blood with our selves. And [Page 16] it hath so came to pass, that who have been the greatest Instruments of his Glory, and have received most from God of any in their several Generations; The World hath not known them, but despised them. Which hath happened not only as to the Ungodly and common sort. But even so it hath been with the Multitude of outward Worshippers, and who called themselves the Servants of God. The truth of this observation appears from the History of the Prophets, Christ and his Apostles, and of his Faithful Ministers ever since, who have been Workmen approved of God, and not Men pleasers. That is to say, such who have Fashioned the Word of God according to the Will and Lust of the Rich and Mighty People. Which if they had been indeed the Servants of Christ, they would not have so Learned of him their Ma­ster.

For as the Rain cometh down and the Snow from Heaven, and returneth not thither, but Watereth the Earth, and mak­eth it to bring forth and bud; that it may give Seed to the Sower and Bread to the Eater, so shall my Word be that goeth out of my Mouth: It shall not return unto me Void, but it shall Accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it, Isa. 55. 10, 11. It shall Accomplish either the Salvation or Condemnation of People; It shall thus Prosper in the thing whereto God sends and intends it. That if it doth not reform them, it will leave them more without excuse. The same Word, which now warns them of both, will pass upon their several and respective Lives and Deaths for all Eternity. Tho' when the Word of God is laid before People and they obey it not, nor do accordingly, then it is thought to be vain, weak and ineffectual; Yet God Himself here saith, It shall not return to him Void; But whither they will hear, or whither they will forbear, it shall be known that there hath been a Prophet among them, Ezek. 2. Such Words have been made known, or such things have been Written; That they might have turned from their Iniquities, and from the Evil of their doings, which however they were Stifled or Disregarded in the mean while, shall rise up again at the Judgment of the Great Day. They were warned and testified against, and his [Page 17] Laws were set before them; but when they would not take warning, nor yet yield unto him, who by his Word Spirit and Ministers testified against them to bring them again to his Law; All these and such like are Signs and Prognosticks that such People will Perish. It here so comes to pass. As when Paul expounded and testified the Kingdom of God, some believed the things which were speketh and some believed not, Acts 28. 23, 24. So it is of Preach­ing every Sermon out of the Word of God, or hearing forth every Testimony of Divine Truth, Some obey and give heed unto it, and some do not. Then Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the Son of Josedech the High Priest, with all the Remnant of the People obeyed the Voice of the Lord their God, and the Words of Haggai the Prophet (as the Lord had sent him) and the People did fear before the Lord, Hag. 1. 12. And so we read in Ezra. 10. They did obey the Commandment of the Lord, in Putting away the strange VVives. But we Read more of­ten in the Book of Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah and in the Evangelists; That the Chief and Multitude of the People did not obey, then that they did obey. And yet it was the Word of God which was Preached unto them also. But it so came to pass, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled which speak of their Destruction. When the Prophet came to Ananiah with Words from the Lord, and met with a rough Answer from Ananiah. He said, I know that the Lord hath Determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my Counsel, 2 Chron. 25. 16. And so it was remark­ably Noted of those that came out against the Children of Israel to Battel, For it was of the Lord to harden their Hearts, that they should come against Israel in Battel, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour; but that He might destroy them as the Lord Com­manded Moses, Josh. 11. 20. And so it was Emphatically remarked after that gentle Reproof of Eli unto his Sons; Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the Voice of their Father, because the Lord would stay them, 1 Sam. 2. 25. It is just the same, after all the Preaching and Good Admo­nition and Counsel, warning after warning. Line upon Line, Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept, Precept upon Precept, here a little and there a little. Notwithstanding all the things which are contained in the standing writ­ten [Page 18] Word of God in the Bible; Notwithstanding all that is Preached and Alledged out from thence every Sab­bath and Week Day, throughout the several Congregati­ons and Places of this Island; Notwithstanding all the Reproof and Admonition of Christian Friends and Ac­quaintance. And what is yet more and nearer and closer unto them, Notwithstanding all the Accusings and Di­ctates of their own Conscience (which is Gods Witness in Man or Woman) yet still, There are a People in the World who will not hearken unto the Voice of all these. Tho' it must be carefully said as to Temporal Judgments, that they therefore Refuse and Disobey, because the Lord would slay them. But as to futurity, The Lord is not willing that any should Perish, but that all should come to Repentance, 2 Pet. 3. 9. However, He affording them the means thereof after continued and repeated Provocation, as to that he gives them up at length to themselves, to their own Hearts Lusts and to walk after their own Counsels, in which they going on will Perish Everlast­ingly. God hath suffered it so to be, That Satan works with all Deceivableness in them that Perish, which comes upon them through his continued Temptations and Sug­gestions.

I have oftentimes thought that People would never do so of themselves, as now they do in Offending, Dis­pleasing, Despising and Provoking of God, but that an unseen Enemy doth stir them up. Like as it is recorded, But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work Wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jesabel his Wife did stir up, 1 Kings 21. 25. In the Margent it is Incited. So tho' there is a great deal of Wickedness in the Heart of Man, by Reason of original and inbred Corruption (for Flesh and Blood will Imagine and Pra­ctice Evil) Yet this Corrupt Nature would never pro­ceed and tend so far (especially in immediate Rebellion against, and Provocation or Despising of God; for what is shewed forth against his Word, is against God him­self, as it will be found by his Interpretation and Judg­ment at the last, tho' perhaps this may be now besides, and out of the Mind and Intention of the Creatures) un­less this Infernal Jesabel, whose Right Name is Belzebub did stir and incite them up. Now the Serpent was more subtle then any Beast of the Field, which the Lord God had [Page 19] made, Gen. 3. 1: He is more cunning then all, or any of the Sons or Daughters of Men (as they are merely such without the assistance and direction of Gods Word and Spirit) He tempts, suggests and doth whatever He can, that each one in particular may lose Heaven, and fall in­to Hell, He walketh about seeking whom He may de­vour. It is his continued Business and Employment.

So that it is not altogether so much to be wondred at, tho' indeed it is a matter of Horrour and Grief, Psal. 119. 53, 158. and Sighing, Ezek. 9. 4. That when God hath made such very severe Declarations from Heaven against all manner of Sin and Transgression, and against all Ʋn­godliness and Ʋnrighteousness of Men. Which also will be Executed upon and sensibly felt by them after that their Breath is out of their Nostrils, and their Souls are de­parted from their Bodies; Yet Nevertheless in this Time of Provocation and in this Day of Temptation or Trial in this Wilderness of the Earth, still People go on there­in and do the same. Yea, rather more Greedily and Earn­estly then they would have done, if God had revealed no wrath and future Punishment against the same. I knew a Man, who after he had been convinced of the Sin of Unrighteousness, and after He had heard the Word of God declared against it; Yet the next opportunity after­wards, He would more eagerly Practice the same. And so when the like hath been done to Harlots and Unclean Persons, the Sin and Danger of their course hath been laid open and made known unto them by my Ministry of [...]e Word, it hath been told unto me, that at the very [...]e moment, they would for all Practice the lesser Acts of Lasciviousness: This sheweth after what manner the Spirit of Disobedience doth work in the Children there­of; And when they will of set Purpose Transgress yet more and more, in plain and downright opposition to the Word of God, and to the Preaching and Ministration thereof. When they will run greedily after the Errour of Balaam for Reward, Jude 11. Or to the Errour of any of their own ways, any Law or Ordinance of God to the contrary Notwithstanding; VVhen they will break these Bands asunder, and cast away these Cords from them; And they will do it the rather, because the Lord by his Word, and Ministers hath forbidden it. This and such like in the very Truth, seems to be that Sin of Presumption, or [Page 20] that Sinning with an high hand, whereof it is written, The Soul which doth Presumptuously, shall be cut off from my People saith the Lord. Ay, But the People of the World do not value nor fear that Threatning, for such Persons who do Presumptuously and Sin with an high hand do commonly live out their appointed Time in Health, Strength, Wealth and Prosperity, as other People do. Yet Alas! In this they are Ignorant or Unmindful, that God hath another Place besides this Earth, and another time besides this Life, wherein He will fulfil and make true his Word, For tho' a Sinner doth Evil an Hundred Times and his Days be Prolonged, yet it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him, Ecles. 8. 12. But the sinner being an Hundred Years Old, shall be Accursed, Isa. 65. 20. By which Phrase of Accursed, we are given to understand that the Word of God doth speak Evil of him now (for so Maledictio the Latin Word for a Curse, doth signify) and it shall go Evil with him at the last. VVhen all the Curses that are written in this Book shall be upon him, Deu. 29. 20. And shall be also Excuted, and the Lord also shall Blot out his Name from under Heaven, so that Himself shall not go there. This is to be cut off from Gods People, when they shall be Blotted out of the Book of the Living, and not written with the Righteous, Psal. 69. 28. So that tho' when He heard the Words of the former Threatning, He blessed himself in his Heart, saying, I may live as long as other Men and VVomen, tho' I walk in the Imagination of my Heart, to add sin to my Law­ful desires. For that is, Adding Drunkenness to Thirst. [...] asmuch as Thirst is a Lawful and Necessary desire, wh [...] as Drunkenness is a Sin. So the Course of the World goes on, that whereas such and such Thoughts, Words and Actions are Lawful and Necessary, People go on to graft and add thereto Vain Thoughts, False Words, and Sinful Actions of their own, whereof there is no need. For as Thirst may altogether as well, or rather be better quenched and satisfied without Annexing Drunkenness to it. So People might think, speak and Act altogether as well, yea better, then by conceiving Vanity, speaking forth Falsehood, or Acting of Evil. It is yet seven time [...] a greater Sin, and will make the Oven or Furnace seven Times yet hotter, which shall be for their Punishment [...] when they Tag or Link on an Oath, or Speech of Vain [Page 21] Swearing to an Expression, when the sentence which they speak would be more perfect and entire without it; Or if to their Actions and Doings, they Annex Iniquity and Transgression. Nevertheless so it hath been, so it is, and so it will be, during the Time of this Generation. Al­tho at length there will be an End of Transgression, And the Wicked shall be no more, Psal. 104. 35. For in what Prayer the Spirit of Truth doth dictate, is included a Promise that so it shall be. Yet until these latter Days and that Time is come, the World will go on in Sinning, let what will be spoken or declared against it.

Herein the VVord of God hath its Effect; For hereby it is confirmed, I had almost said, seen, but I am sure it is perceived, that there is a Devil, VVho deceiveth the Nati­ons, and deceiveth the whole World, Rev. 12. 9. For these be the Days of Vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled, Luke 21. 22. So it is as to the foregoing Sin and Transgression, which bring these Judgments on the Earth; It must needs go on in its course, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, which say, in Mat. 7. 13. and Mat. 25. That some, yea, and the greater part of Mankind shall go away into Everlasting Punishment. But as our Lord said concerning offences, It must needs be that offences come. But Wo unto that Man by whom the offence cometh, Mat. 18. 7. So in like manner it may be here applyed, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled; It must needs be that the greater Part of Mankind shall go away into Everlasting Punishment. But Wo unto those Particular Souls, who shall have their Lot and Portion in this matter; For they can no more cease to be miserable, then they can cease to be. This is as certain, tho' as yet it is not altogether so evident and visible, then that there is a World which we behold, or an Earth which we tread on: For saith the same Word, by the which the Heavens and the Earth were Created, and the same Truth by the which they are now upheld, and the things therein are Connected together, Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my VVords shall not pass away.

Tho' it is imagined and said, that seeing is believing. It is an improper Expression, For faith is the evidence of things not seen: And that which a Man seeth, He doth not so much believe as know, yet for my Part, when I think of Heat, or Read the 25th Chapter of Matthew, How that [Page 22] all Nations shall be Gathered, and Christ shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his sheep from the Goats, and he shall set the Sheep on the Right hand and the Goats on the left, and shall say to the one, Come ye Blessed, &c. And to the other, Go ye Cursed, I say, All this is as evident and manifest to me, as i [...] I did now see that Great and Terrible sight with my outward Bodily Eyes. And truly, if we did see that vast and doleful herd of Condemned Criminals, as they are going to the Place of Everlasting Punishment, we should fear. For it is a thing Infinitely more to be Pitied, then now a little Commiseration doth arise, as we behold Sheep or Cattle going to the Shambles and Slaughter House. What God hath said by his Son Jesus Christ, shall certain­ly come to pass: So that this will as certainly be as if we now saw it with our Eyes. For it will as certainly be in the appointed Time, as that we now present, were once living on the Earth. What can be more forcible to make us take the utmost heed that our selves be not among them?

It would be an hard Case, if there was not one in such a Parish or Neighbourhood, who should go to Heaven. But I trust that several will, as I am assured from the Scriptures of Truth, That all those will who have a Good Conscience, and are willing to live honestly in all things, Heb. 13. 18. So it would be Melancholly and Dismal to suppose. But yet it is justly and truly to be feared, that some in this Neigh­bourhood, I do not know one of them, but the Lord knows who the very Persons be that are in such a place now; Who shall be found amongst those Goats, at the very last Day. But either to convince them thereof, or to make it known unto them, would make their Life hang in doubt, and fill them with a fearful Expectation, and give them a trembling heart: So to point them out by their Names and Distinct Persons, it would make all Christians, Note that Man or Woman, and have no Conversation with them, If he or she should prove certainly a cast away, or a Con­demned Creature at that Day. But every one would be a­fraid or shy of them in the mean while (as now they are of a Man that is to be hanged or put to Death) I do here somewhat allude to those Words of the Apostle, If any Man obey not the Word of this Epistle, Note that Man, and have no Conversation with him that he be ashamed. So if [Page 23] any Man or Woman amongst ye do not obey those things, which have been here alledged unto ye from the Word of the Lord; If there be any who will despise and go frow ardly in the way of their heart. And further, if there be any who shall do Presumptuously and Sin with an high hand, as of set Purpose, to Sin and Transgress more and more, because such things have been spoken against that, and all manner of Sin and Transgression; Truly, my Bre­thren, Partakers of the same Flesh and Blood, these and such like are sad Signs and Prognosticks, that such very Persons will be indeed found among that Number of Goats at the last Day, and to them I am now sent with heavy Tid­ings, It would be good for them if they had never been Born; And upon them this Word Preached and Published will have its effect (like the Sun which doth melt Wax, but harden Clay) for Evil, but not for Good. And here People should not so much as keep Company with such, so as to Encou­rage them in their Evil Deeds, or so much as barely to Coun­tenance them in their Rebellion, Transgression, or even in their Contempt of the Lord God; But only to warn, ex­hort and testify, that they seeing themselves as it were cut off from the Society of Mankind, by perceiving the Incon­venience and Misery thereof, may understand the ten Thousand Times greater Misery to be cut off and depriv­ed from the General Assembly and Church of the first Born which are Written in Heaven; And from God the Judge of all, and the Spirits of just Men made Perfect. And this would be some means for them to turn out of the wrong way which leads unto Destruction; And they may be asham­ed of Transgressing without a cause, Psal. 25. 3. Or, that they should ever despise the Lord their God.

It was aforesaid, that the foregoing Sin and Transgres­sion which bring these Judgments on the Earth must needs go on in its Course that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. What are these Judgments? They are declared in Math. 24. and Luke 21. Rumors, stirs and commotions of Wars, Nation against Nation, and Great Earthquakes shall be in Divers Places, Luke 21. 11. And there was a Great Earthquake in Jamaica, in June or July, 1692. There was an Universal shaking of the Earth throughout most Parts of Europe in September, 1692. And in January, 1692. There was the Greatest Earthquake in the Islands of Sicily, and Malta, so as to swallow up an Hundred and [Page 22] [...] [Page 23] [...] [Page 24] Six score Thousand Inhabitants, then ever I heard or read of in History since Man was Created on the Earth. These are Great Earthquakes in Divers Places, and Fearful Sights, and Great Signs there have been from Heaven; As the Great Comet about eighteen Years ago, which is no long Time according to the Course and Reckoning of Time in the Decree of God, and according to Scripture Account. And for ought we know, that gentle Universal shaking of the Earth in England, France, Holland, or the Low Countreys; Wherein it is more observable, and shews that the Hand of God is somewhat more in it, then the ordinary Course of Nature: Because it happened thus at the very same Minute of Time in other Places, which were distinct and separated one from another by the Great and Wide Sea; All this may be a forerunner of a much Greater Earthquake, from which we are no more secured and absolutely preserved by the Advantage of our Countreys Scituation, and because such things have not been so usually among us as among others, For the Pillars of the Earth are the Lords, and he hath set the World upon them. For He who stretcheth the North over the empty Place, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing, Can find out this way to Punish us if he please. As it is yet more certain, that tho if the Earth should not swallow us up alive, yet it is but a very little while, and it will receive and devour our Dead Bodies, as also it gives Assurance of what he hath promised, which hath been in some measure already, and is yet to be fulfilled, Saying, Yet once more I shake not the Earth, but also Heaven, Hag. 2. 6. Heb. 12. 26. Which is not only set forth by way of Greatness of Expression, or to signify only the Men and Women contained therein; but it shall reach and affect even the very Elemental Bo­dies, even the whole Creation according to 2 Pet. 3. As our selves shall one Day see; All one as we now hear, that those foregoing signs are fulfilled. And as at such a Season of the Year, we behold all the Trees shoot forth and the Grass doth grow, then we know of our selves that Summer is near at hand; So likewise when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Now it is nearer then ever it was yet. But we are given to understand farther, that by the more then ordina­ry appearance of these foregoing signs, we are just entring upon, if not falling into those Great and Glorious Times. [Page 25] Whereof the Scriptures do abundantly speak that it shall be in the latter Days, that the Great Things of God shall be fulfilled. And tho' Christ said Sixteen Hundred Years ago, This Generation shall not pass away till all these things shall be fulfilled (By which kind of Expression faith is ex­ercised and proved, as also the understandings of Men are somewhat Puzzled) yet take and include Christ himself into that Generation (for he was then in the Days of his Flesh, and a Generation includes all that are living there­in) and it holds literally true in that sence, for He the Son of God hath not passed away, But was without begin­ning of Days or End of Life, but abideth continually. But I do verily believe, That tho' there is never a Christ now on Earth, nor an Enoch, nor yet any such of whom there is a saying, That any now living shall not die; Yet before all the Young Men and Children, and Infants, that are now Breathing on this Earth are gone off from it, there will be yet somewhat a Greater and more extraordinary Manifestation concerning the Kingdom of God, then hath been in all the mean Generations, since Christ and his Apo­stles were on the Earth. And this I do assuredly gather, because the Time of the Promise draws nigh, Acts 7. 17. As is Manifest from the yet greater Appearance and Con­spicuousness of those foregoing signs here mentioned.

All this put together should induce us to lay these things to heart, and to tremble and fear continually be­fore the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, for what he hath already done on the Earth, as also out of Expectation of what he will do yet further. Which Expectation our hearts should be always very full off, and in no wise Choke and Stifle the sence thereof with Gluttony, Drunken­ness, and the Cares of this Life, and so that Day come upon you unawares, Luke 21. 34. Which is brought in upon this occasion. As Moses said upon that terrible sight at Mount Sinah, I exceedingly fear and quake: So the same mind should be at all Times and in all Places, in all the Servants of God, as to what they have heard or seen, He hath done more lately, is now a doing, and will shortly bring yet greater things to pass, then all these in this Earth, the lower Part of the World.

As God at first made all things, and doth now uphold them by the Word of his Power: so some of them do move and go on according to his Will, Appointment and [Page 26] Decree. Known to God are all his Works from the begin­ning of the World, and so it is as to what He will do to­wards the End thereof, as our selves know what we intend to do at such a Time hereafter, if we have the same Mind and Will, Strength and Opportunity, Life and Power of Action, or such like. The want of any of which do often cause a neglect or failure of the same. But now with God, there is no variableness nor shadow of turning, He is Al­mighty and Eternal. What He once Decrees, Purposes or Wills, he doth certainly bring to pass; and he speaks of things before they are done, While they are yet Springing up do I tell you of them. And so it is, when he speaks of things before-hand, and they do afterwards come to pass in like manner, then it is, that his word is fulfilled. There are a Thousand Instances of this in Scripture, and so very many, for the whole is but an orderly Declaration of such things, that it is superfluous to mention Particulars.

Those who know somewhat more of God, then the or­dinary and common Multitude, do apprehend, perceive and observe, that as all things are Gods, from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyssop on the Wall, from the greatest to the smallest; for his Providence and Government of things is comprehensive of and extensive, even unto spar­rows and the hairs of our head, the more inconsiderable Creatures, and every least thing that belongs to us; All one as to Angels or Men, or to the yet greater Works of the Crea­tion. So as that same Word in Scripture doth speak of all things that are done on this Earth: So Reciprocally what­ever is done or comes to pass or happens here, it is all a fulfilling of the same Word. There is hardly any thing whatever, be it of greater or less moment, but some Pla­ces in the Book of the Lord do speak thereof either in ex­press Words, or near to the same purpose. There shall the great Owl make her Nest, and lay and hatch, and gather un­der her shadow: There shall the Vultures also be gathered e­very one with her Mate. Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and Read, No one of these shall fail, no one shall want her Mate; for my mouth it hath Commanded, and his Spirit it hath gathered them, Isa. 34. 15, 16. As the Apostle saith, Doth God take care for Oxen? So doth his Word speak of Cormorants, and Bitterns and Ravens, Wild Beasts and Satyrs, Schreech Owls and Great Owls, and Vultures and Thorns, and Nettles and Brambles? Yes, verily it doth, and [Page 27] of all the things in the Earth, and even of the very Times and Seasons of the Year, How Grass doth grow upon the Mountains and Herb for the use of Man. Observe this last, which leads again towards our Subject and Intended mat­ter. For as the same Apostle Paul goes on to add, Saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this is VVritten, 1 Cor. 9. 10. So as there is a certain Connexi­on and Linking on together of all the Creatures and Works of God (whither Living or Inanimate) So they have each severally, and all together a yet greater Con­nexion, Tendency and Relation to us Men and Women. It is so Written of them, and so Gods speaks of them in his word, for our sakes, in order to us, as they are somewhat concerned, and do belong unto the Exercise and Admini­stration of his Kingdom and Dominion over Men: He be­ing the God unto whom we and all the other Creatures be­sides, have to do. It is but a small matter as to these out­ward visible present things, But the Kingdom of God is within you; And the chief and only matter is as each stands in Subordination, Subserviency and Tendency to the invi­sible and future State of things; and that is Branched out only one of these two ways, Salvation or Condemnation, Happiness or Misery.

The Word of God hath its effect, upon all Men and Women of e­very Countrey, Nation and Language, from the beginning of their Generations unto the End thereof, one of these two ways, Go ye into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature. He that be­lieveth and is Baptized, shall be saved; and He that believeth not, shall be Damned, Mark 16. 15, 16. He that obeyeth all the whole Word of God shall be saved; but He that obeyeth not the Word of God shall be Damned. He that observes all things whatsoever Christ hath Commanded, Christ will be a Saviour unto him, But He that doth not observe all things whatsoever Christ hath Commanded, He is without the Covenant and Benefit of a Saviour; and He shall Per­ish. For the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming Fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gos­pel of our Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall be Punished with Everlasting Destruction, from the Presence of the Lord and the Glory of his Power.

It is Reported of Chrysostome, who was in his Generation a Preacher unto a very Numerous Auditory in the City of Antioch. (Where the Disciples were first called Christians, And I would to God, they had never been called any thing else since) that He should say, that if He was to Preach before all the Men and Women liv­ing upon the Earth, and such a thing were possible for them all to be gathered together, and his Voice could reach them all (as [Page 28] such a thing might be now effected by Printing and an Universal Publication of the several Copies, which would be a very good work if it were so done) He would choose for his Text these Words, O ye Sons of Men, How long will ye turn my Glory into shame? How long will ye Love Vanity and seek after leasing? Selab, Psal. 4. 2. So if the like was here to be supposed, as indeed it might be of good effect if it were so done, there could not be a more proper Subject chosen then what hath been here insisted on, To shew, How that the Word of God will have its effect, upon those Multitudes, Multitudes in the Valley of Decision, Joel 3. 14. So as to decide their future State and Condition one way or another. As the Proverb is among the Latins, Ye may guess at the Bigness of Hercules by his Foot: So we may make some estimate of this Generation of Men and Women now living upon the Earth, by such a mixt Multitude Assembled together of Saints and Sinners. As there are probably of both sorts, so it is abroad in all Parishes of this Nati­on, and also in all the other Habitable Parts of the Earth. Some will believe the things that have been spoken, and some will believe them not. Some will obey these Words, and some will obey them not. And Perhaps, of this latter sort, some will be found, who will sin yet more Violently and Earnestly, and Gree­dily, because such Words of Soberness and Truth, have been de­clared unto them. They will make (if they can) the Preacher a Liar; and what lies in them, the Word of God of none effect. As if it was not able and sufficient to Convert Sinners from the Errour of their ways, in that themselves are resolved not to be Converted by it. There be those abroad in the World, who do not Hear or Read this; and if they do not altogether so perversely and obstinately against the Word Preached, for they hear little or none at all; and it may be out of a secret Consciousness, that their own Lives are not Answerable thereunto, nor yet will they Regulate their Life and Manners according to it; and they ima­gine that then to Hear or Read the Word of God, will but so much the more increase their Sin and Guilt. These do not consi­der, how that the Height and Abomination of Iniquity is set forth throughout the Old Testament; In refusing to Hear Gods Words, The Spirit it self calleth them, This Evil People which refuse to hear my Words, Jer. 13. 10. (Which I would, were more attended unto even by the very Worshippers of God) that when an opportunity is given, or Door is open to hear the Word Preached, they count it a matter indifferent, they may hear or let it alone. But let such know, That when the Dead small and great, shall stand before God, They shall remember, and find that it was matter of Duty for them to have heard, and not as a thing of Indifferency, which carries along with it a Contempt and Neglect of the things per­taining to his Kingdom. It will be then seen which way doth most please and shall find Acceptance with God, as also whither the [Page 29] Presumptuous sinner doth not yet more displease and provoke him by those his Imaginations. But even in those who are most Ignorant and keep away from the sight and hearing of his Word; Never­theless, God hath not left himself without Witness, for they have a certain Rumour and Notion, or rather an apprehension of the things contained in the Bible. They have many silent and serious thoughts within themselves; and when these do reprove, warn and Testify, they do in like manner Presumptously against them, as others do immediately against the word Preached. But where is that degree of the Spirit of Contradiction, and that utmost Height of Disobedience, To do after their own Lust and Will, any Law or Ordinance of God to the contrary Notwithstanding. For the Language of Stubbornness speaks on this wise, I have Loved strangers, and after them I will go. This makes their sin to be ex­ceeding sinful in the mean while, and such shall be beaten with more stripes, and Inherit a greater Condemnation at the last.

The Prophet doth intend somewhat alike to what it afore men­tioned, when he useth that Phrase and kind of words. Hearken unto mee ye Stouthearted that are far from Righteousness. Isa. 46. 12. Stout­hearted, such as will not submit as it were out of a Piece of Pride and Bravery, and they do of set purpose keep off. I bring near my Righteousness, it shall not be far off and my Salvation shall not tarry. Vers. 13. But they will go further off and stand more at a distance and delay yet more that they may not see it. A perverse and contrary manner of Acting, which God doth behold and will re­compense upon them.

There are some who let God do what He will, send forth his Light and make further Manifestations of his Truth, give more Pressing Motives and Arguments, send his several sorts of Judg­ments, yet they will not return unto the Lord. And so Not­withstanding all his methods of Mercy and Truth, when there are Great Multitudes already brought over and Converted, yet they reckon it as it were a greater Piece of Gallantry and Honour, that for all this they will not be perswaded. Who in the Land of uprightness will deal Ʋnjustly, and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord, Isa. 26. 10. In that exceeding Glory of the Church, by the vast Multitude of the Gentiles coming in, yet still some will be Rebellious, yea, and refuse to come. And therefore is that De­nunciation and Threatning put as it were just in the middle of all those Blessings and Promises, For the Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall Perish; Yea, those Nations shall be utterly wasted, Isa. 60. 12. If that be their Humour and Resolution, so it may be to kick against the Pricks, to run their Head violently against a Brass Wall, to set themselves as it were against their God. When He hath Prophesied and Foretold of such an Universal Reforma­tion, they will what lieth in them, make God a Liar, for them­selves will still refuse to be reformed. O Wicked Fools! Poor [Page 30] Ignorant Souls! This ye cannot do, but confirm his Word the more, for his Holy Spirit doth foresee this Stubbornness and Re­fractinoriness of Yours, and speaks of it some Thousand Years before your selves Practice it, That the Purpose of God might stand, And what Himself hath said shall be fulfilled. Nevertheless, for your Evil Intent and Malice of Heart, you shall smart and be Punished for the same. They shall Perish and be utterly wasted; And then themselves shall know whither it would not have been better for them to have served God, (then as they did) to have went on in their own Perverseness and Opposition.

After all, What shall I say? God hath spoken thus, and himself shall do accordingly. I shall go softly, all my Years in the Bitterness of my Soul. As often as I do seriously and throughly reflect thereon, I have great heaviness and continual Sorrow of Heart. I do not speak this in Words of Course, or only in Scripture Phrase; But from an inward feeling of the same, and from the very Truth of the matter. For tho' I could never wish my self Accursed from Christ, rather then that my Brethren and Kinsmen according to the Flesh should Perish. I have had yet a much greater concern for my nearest Kindred according to the Flesh (Altho' herein, They have Rewarded me Evil for Good, and Hatred for my Love, Psal. 109. 10.) Then for the rest of my Brethren and Sisters of the common stock of Mankind. Yet herein, I say the Truth in Christ I lie not, my Conscience also bearing me Witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have several times wished that my self had never came forth into Being, rather then I should know and see so many of my fellow Creatures, who are Flesh of my Flesh, and Bone of my Bone, go away into Everlasting Punishment and Misery. I have had that greatest Compassion and most Earnest sensible concern for them. For as it is Proverbially spoken of very ill weather That one would not then have a Dog abide out of Doors: So Eternal Damnation is such a Terrible and Miserable thing to them, who believe and apprehend it throughly, that one would not wish it to the greatest Enemy one had. I must confess again, that this great Compassion and Earnest concern, which I have formerly had for others, doth now go off and lessen with me. And what may seem yet more strange, It doth so even as I behold their continued Provocation and Repeated evil doing; which will more certainly seal them over unto the Day of their Destruction.

In this Temper of Mind I come yet more near to that of the Spirit, which saith on this wise, Yet behold therein shall be left a Rem­nant that shall be brought forth, both Sons and Daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way, and their doings: And ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jeru­salem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you when ye see their ways and their doings: And ye shall know that I have not done without cause, all that I have done in it, saith the [Page 31] Lord God, Ezek. 14. 22, 23. There is so very much Malignity and Evil deserving in Sin, that when God Himself (which the Ministers of his Word do very faintly and imperfectly now) shall lay it open before his Saints and Servants, As that they shall see their ways and their doings, As we behold Dirt and Mire now, even they shall be Comforted concerning all the Punishment and Mise­ry which he will lay upon the Inhabitants of the Earth, tho' it be upon their own Father, Mother, Brothers, Sisters, the Wife of their Bosom, the nearest Kinsfolks and Dearest Friends according to the Flesh. So that they shall not Pity the tender and delicate Man, who was most set out with Riches, Beauty, Good Breeding, or common good Nature (if it was mixt with Ungodliness or Contempt of God) Nor yet the tender and delicate Woman, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for De­licateness and Tenderness, Deut. 28. 56. And How then will she un­dergo so much Pain and Fire? And ye shall know that I have not done without cause (without their deserving of it) which we shall more clearly perceive then tho' we cannot now; but we are apt to think it hard that Mankind should dye Eternally for tasting a lit­tle Honey, or for the Pleasures of Sin for a season) all that I have done in it, even in his utmost Vengeance and Everlasting Punish­ment, saith the Lord God, Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the Days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spok­en it, and I will do it, Ezek. 22. 14. By the former Part of which Expression is shewh forth, that God will overcome their former Stubbornness and Presumption, By the Punishment He will in­flict, that He will get the Victory and make them to yield. In the latter part is the Ratification and Confirmation of it, I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. As to all that foregoing Wicked­ness and Rebellion of the Jeres, Wherein they denied the Holy one and the just, and desired a Murtherer to be granted unto them and killed the Prince of Life, How doth Peter lay it before them and Assign the cause thereof? And now Brethren, I wot that through Ignorance, ye did it, as also did your Rulers. But those things which God hath shewed by the Mouth of all his Prophets that Christ should suffer, He hath so ful­filled, Acts 3. 17, 18. When Himself was in the midst of his suf­ferings, He saith, Thinkest thou that I cannot Pray my Father, and He shall presently give me more then twelve Legions of Angels. (Who would have preserved and defended him from all those Wicked Men that were his Crucifiers) But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled; that thus it must be, Mat. 26. 53, 54. In like manner as to all that sin, Iniquity and Transgression, which God hath spoken of by the Mouth of all his Prophets, Evangelists and Apostles; It must needs go on in its Course, That the Scriptures might be fulfilled, Both as to that and also to the further end and consequent thereof, When He shall Punish the World for their Evil, and the Wicked for their Iniquity; And that will be found true also, Which speaks of the [Page 32] Wide Gate and Broad way that leadeth to Destruction, and many there be who go in thereat, Mat. 7. 13. Amalek, was the first of the Nations, but his latter end shall be that he Perish for Ever, Numbers 23. 20. Tho' they are in the first, highest and most prosperous Wordly State, thss hinders not, but rather sooner occasions, that they be mise­rable for ever, as we Learn from sundry other Places of the Word of Truth.

The Scripture doth stand Checquer wise, if I may so express it. It is made up of black and white, for therein is an intermixture of Promises and Threatnings, Good and Evil things, Blessing and Cursing, Life and Death. It is so almost in every Chapter. I shall instance in one, and mention the same use thereof that is there macle. And as the Spirit of God doth make mention of the Elo­quent Orator, Isa. 3. 3. It is a necessary part of Oratory to leave something with the Hearers at last, that it may surely stick and he remembred by them. At the close of this Discourse, I would observe unto ye, how, that in the Tenth Chapter of the Hebrews, there is an intermixture of Threatnings and Promises, Good and Evil things, for there is mention made, Of a fearful looking for of Judgment and of Fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversa­ries. Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompence, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his People, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. After all these terrible things to the Wicked and Ungodly, The Apostle speaks in a more mild strain unto the Christians, Knowing in your selves, that in Heaven ye have a better and an enduring substance, and of a great Recompence of reward, ver. 35. After ye have done the Will of God, ye might receive the Pro­mise, ver. 36. But amidst and in the conclusion of all, He shews himself to be a faithful and skillful Workman, dividing the Word of Truth aright, and giving to every one his Portion, for he saith, Now the just shall live by Faith, but if any Man draw back. My Soul shall have no Pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back into Perdition, but of them who believe unto the saying of the Soul. So People are to take and receive in by Faith, all the things that have been afore-written. They must live by Faith, if they will be justified and saved. But if any of ye draw back, that is, go off and recede from his Truths, neither God, nor yet any of his Saints and Servants will have any Pleasure in that Man or Wo­man. But by the Divine Grace and Assistance, it shall be my con­stant and continued endeavour throughout all the remaining Days of this Life of Vanity, as I hope, and do hereby exhort that it may be of others also, that we be not found amongst them, upon whom the Word of God will have its effect to Con­demnation, but not to Salvation; But rather that ye and my self (there is nothing in the World which I so much desire) may be found amongst them, who shall believe to the saving of the Soul.