THis Psalm in general, was a repeatal of the Children of Israel in remembrance of their Captivity, as you my read in the first and second Verses, and hath relation to their weeping and being oppressed for the decays and wastings of Sion, and also their sensiblenesse of their enemys [Page 2]Derision, both in deriding them for their present sufferings, and for their former mentioning of Zion, and that their deliverance should be by the hand of him, who had been manifestly known to them in times past, by the name of the God of Zion. This text was Israels repeatal, and it is, or may be any one mans or any peoples, that can by experience condole these sad essects. I shall not stand to repeat a further rehearsal or Catalogue of the general discourse of the Repeaters of this Psalm: but I shall in perticular insist upon the words before mentioned in my Text, in which I shall only observe these Five perticular heads.

1. The People demanding.

2. The People demanded of.

3. The thing demanded.

4. Their answer to the thing demanded.

5. And I astly, the answer of God to them in the thing Answered.

1. The People demanding were the Babiloni­ans, or men of Babel; for so it is plainly under­stood in the first clause of my text, for there they that carried us away captive, If any one be so scrupulous as to know where it is detracted from, let him but cast his eye to the first words of this Psalm, and he may answer himself, it was by the rivers of Babylon, or the rivers in Babylon, for there was it that these prisoners of hope were carried.

2. The people demanded of was the Jewes, as is instanced in the 5 verse, If I forget thee O Je­rusalem.

3. The thing demanded is mirth, or one of the Songs of Zion, as is plainly instanced in the last clause of the 3 ver. saying sing us one of the Songs of Zion.

4. The peoples answer to the thing demanded, that is plainly understood by these words, How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? or rather as some do read it, How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? judging it an im­possibility so to do.

5. The answer of God to the Jewes in the thing answered; the thing answered you have plainly in the 4 verse, How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange Land? but do but mark the answer of God to these cast down and deject­ed Jewes, in the 5 and 6 verses, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cun­ning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Je­rusalem above my chief joy.

The Doctrine in general will be this, That Gods dearest and choisest people may be left in such a streight, that they may not know how to sing the Lords Song. I say, that those people whom God intends chiefly to make use of to manifest himself to in love and kindness, and to set his [Page 4]name as a pillar in the midst of, may be driven to such a streight, that it may seem impossible in their apprehension to sing the Lords Song.

But before I proceed any further, let us consi­der these 4 particulars.

1. What this Song of Zion signifies, or rather what is here meant by the Lords Song?

2. What it is that disinables or captivates a People from singing this song of Zion?

3. In what Land or state this song of Zion may be said to be really experimentally and truly sung in.

4. By what means a people may be said to be made capable, or learned in this School to sing the Lords song?

1. What this song of Zion is, or what the Jewes enemies might here mean by the demands of Israel? Zion is the City that God doth ac­cept of for the improvement of all those that are of the stock of Ahraham, and the Linage of Da­vid, in that state wherein it is witnessed that A­braham was Gods friend, and David a man after Cods own heart, and therefore God giveth this restimony of it, as he witnesseth, that he would and did delight himself in them, to wit, Abra­ham and David, even so he witnesseth that his dwelling is in Zion, & that He hath desired it for his habitation, Psalm 132.13. and as he hath it Psalm 76.2. Zion is the City of the living God, [Page 5]and Psalm 84. and 7. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth be­fore God. And so the song of Zion ariseth from the occasion of Gods dealing with his people in that dispensation, that he shewes and manifests himself to his people in.

But it is generally observed, that wheresoever there is any mention made of Israel singing of Zions songs, there is mention made that the oc­casion of their song hath relation to some con­quest or other that they had gained, either over moral enemies as men, or spiritual lustful wicked­ness in their hearts, wherein they had experienced Gods love in some way or other more then usual, but I suppose the song that these Baby lonians did require of them, was only that song sung unto God at the time of their deliverance from the Egyptians, and other such like enemies: there­fore I shall not speak of the former in this place, but shall refer it till I come to open my text further, and shall chiefly insist upon this part, because it is most suitable to this our purpose in this particular; for that song that was demanded of Israel, was such a Hymne wherein was mirth to be used, as their enemys did understand mirth, not that they thought that the Israelites should ever again be delivered forth of that servitude that they by conquest had sub­jected them under, as is plainly instanced in Ne­hemiah 4. and the beginning of the Chapter, by [Page 6] Sanbalat and Tobiah the Amonite, who stood and mocked them, saying, What will these feeble Jewes do? will they fortifie themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, that were burnt? Even that which they build, if a Fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall; which words was spoken by the same enemies that Israel is here in this Psalm making mention of, as you may read in the 2d Book of Chronicles the 36 chapter the 5, 6, and 7, verses, and that these were the people that were carried away captive in the time of Jeremiah, and is made men­tion of in the 1. of Ezra, and the 1. that the word of the Lord by the Prophet Jeremiah might be fulfilled. I say, these are the People of whom is required a song.

Now let us search what song it is that Israel had used to sing to the God of Zion, if we do but turn to the 15 of Exodus, we shall find what it is that Israel makes their mirth, and what is the occasion of their mirth or singing. The cause of their song was chiesly occasioned, by their be­ing delivered from the hand of Pharaoh, and the fury of the Egyptians, the song chiefly consists of prayses to their God, whom they owned to be their strength and their salvation, and their deli­verer, as is manifested quite through the whole song: therefore I say the song of Zion that is [Page 7]here made mention of, is praises to their God, for their deliverance from their open and manifest enemies, and in Deuteronomy the 32. there we have Moses singing another song, of the same na­ture as this, praising God for all his mercies in keeping and delivering his people, saying, it was the Lord alone that had delivered them, and that they had not in the least deserved it at his hands. Again we have Debora and Barak singing a song of the same, in Judges the 5. in remembrance of what the Lord had done for Israel, in making use of so mean an instrument as a woman to take a King prisoner, It was God (say they) that went forth to fight the battel, yea, the Stars fought in course against Sisera, yea they fought from Hea­ven. Thus I say, the song of Israel, or the He­brew song as some translate it, or the song of Zion, as is here spoken of, and demanded of these Jewes, is praises to our God for their deli­verance, and ascribing of him the honour; and now they being taken & carried captive by their enemies, was deprived of singing this song, by be­ing deprived of the victory: and so the Egypti­anish or Babylonian deriders might justly laugh at them, and deride them by reason of their re­straint, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion or praises to your God, for your deliverance from us, when God had given them into their hands as prisoners. I will not say but there [Page 8]may be more gathered forth of these words in a higher nature, but I suppose, I may safely avouch this to be the song that was demanded, and so I shall passe it over at this time, I having not time to enlarge my self so far as I could wish I had; or then I should open every particular clause, so plainly as God hath given me ability, but I shall scarcely give a touch to each thing that I have intended.

Secondly, or the second things is this, What it is that disinables or captivates a people so that they cannot sing this song? I shall be very brief in this place, I shall only give you these 3 particulars, and so shall passe to the third parti­cular of my text.

The first and greatest debarment that a peo­ple can meet withal, that may hinder a people from singing this song, is chiefly their sins; this I am sure will hold with the opening the text, to the full scope of these words. I say that sin is the first stumbling block that occasioneth a peo­ples unsufficiency to sing this song of being deli­vered from the hand of their enemies as you have it in the 1 of the Lamentations of the Pro­phet Jeremiah, and the 8 verse, Jerusalem hath grieviously sinned, therefore she is removed, all that honored her despise her; yea this Prophet was the messenger sent oftentimes, to bid and warne these people to teturn from their evil wayes, [Page 9]as you may read at large in his Prophesie, as in the 36 chapter and the 20 verse, and so to the end of the chapter, is very plainly declared, that his love and zeal for Jerusalem, is not a little ma­nifested; for though the King did burn the Role that he had presented, in defiance of his words, yet is he as willing to write another at the com­mand of the Lord, as ever he was to write the first, that if it had been possible to have wrought any good upon them, he would not lack means to intreat them to repent, but all was in vain, the people were altogether bent after their own will­fulnesse, even from the King that sat upon the Throne to the Priest that sat in the Temple, as the Prophet lamenteth sorely in the 2. of Lamen­tations 14. verse, thy Prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, they have seen for thee false burdens, and causes of banishment. It seemed a pleasing and melodious Vision, that these Prophets did see for Israel, as indeed it is too to frequent with most, if not all people, if they once bend their minds to any one vanity, to hear such Prophesies as will secure them, as they think, from being in any guilt if they should practise and follow that vanity: therefore it was the opinion of an ancient. Heathen, that if any man did speak well of any of his practises, that he would ask him what it was that he ask'd him for? for he supposed, that if any man did speak highly [Page 10]of him, it was to deceive him, that he might gain honour or a reward by it: and therefore he had a fervent affection for those that did most seem to envy him, saying, He had none that instructed him more then his enemies, for be sure that if they knew that he did offend, they would not hide it, but would reproach him for it, whereby he came to know in part, how far he did offend in the thing, I wish many Christians have not a worse rule then this.

Secondly, Gods sury is the second cause by which a People are made destitute of singing this song; for as sin is the first motive cause: so Gods fury is the effected cause of their unsufficiency, for when God is moved by sin to afflict a peo­ple, and that he hath waited a long time, it may be day after day, and week after week, and year after year, and yet can see no hope of their re­turn, then his fury is moved, and it may be he will slay some of them with the sword, and give others to the famine, that so he may revenge himself of them for their high provocations, wherewith they have provoaked him to do it, so that they shall know if his sword once be gone forth in fury, it will tot return void of effecting the cause of its being moved: so that whilst God is a taking vengeance upon a people, they cannot in any wise be said to be sensible of singing this song; for the song is praises to God for de­liverance, [Page 11]and no people can sing this song, un­lesse the Lord be reconciled to them as a friend in love and peace.

Thirdly, Or the third thing that hinders a peo­ple from singing this song, is the want of the Lords presence in times of tryal; for though his love may be as great to them in the time of tryal as in peace, yet if it be not manifestly known to them to be so, they are very much disinabled to sing this song, as it is recorded of Job, in the 19 chapter of Job and the 6 verse, and so along, the Lord hath overthrown me (says Job) and hath caught me in his net, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard, there is no judgement. He hath set darkness in my paths, I am destroyed on every side, I am gone and my hope hath he removed like a tree. And as Solomon instances elsewhere, Oppression maketh a wise man mad: so that I say, whosoever doth not see the Face of the Lord to shine victoriously in his sight, cannot experi­mentally and knowingly sing this song, but is (as it were) a stranger to the real and punctual har­mony that the singers sing in, by whom this song is and must be sung by, but I shall speak more fully to this in my following discourse.

The third particular is, In what Land or State this song may be experimentally and really sung in? for this, first we must understand, it is only to be sung in the Land of deliverance; and here­in [Page 12]doth it answer with a perfect coherence to the text, as it is opened, for it is not the place that hinders them from singing this song, but it is the want of Gods power to assist them in any place, that makes the Land seem strange for a people to sing this song. Israel could not account the wil­derness a strange Land, by reason they could sing it there, & though it was as strange a Land as Ba­bylon, as in respect of their acquaintance with the place, but as in respect of their participating of the love & favour of God in the place, the Land of Ba­bel was stranger to them then the Wilderness, for in the wildernesse they were delivered from their enemies, and in Babel they were restrained from their liberty by their enemies, so that they can­not say, but they were restrained from singing this song, so long as they were confind to be prisoners; and therefore did they complain of the decays of Zion, because Zion was the City of their delive­rance, and that being wasted, they were by that means made Heirs of a strange Land, by being stran­gers to the song of Zion, for this song cannot be sung out of Zion, or the Lords fortified City: and therefore saith the Prophet Zachariah, in the 2 of his Prophesie and the 12 verse, And the Lord sholl inherit Judah his portion in the holy Land, and shall chuse Jerusalem again; the Lord is pleased to call Judah his portion, and he will inherit him in the holy Land. Now there is [Page 13]no place that can be said to be unholy, as to what it was made at first, but by a peoples pollutions in the Land, as you have it in the 102. Psalme, and the 19 verse, The Lord hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary, to heare the groaning of the Prisoners, and to loose them that are appointed to death, well, for what pur­pose did he loose these Prisoners; it follows in the next words to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praises in Jerusalem, and as you have it in the 99 Psalm, and the 2 verse, the Lord is great in Zion, and he is Hie above all people, that is as much as if the Prophet should have said the Inhabitants of Zion have set the praise of the Lord High above all people, or the praise of all people, yea even the Lord to Reign in their hearts, and so you have it in the last verse of that 2 of Zechariah, be still or si­lent O all flesh before the Lord, for he is raised forth of his holy Habitation; for when the Lord is raised forth of his holy Habitation, it is to Conquer and subdue, and silence all flesh, that he himself may be lifted up in Zion, in Judah, or in Jerusalem, or in the Inhabitants of those places that are Jews indeed, and in action, and not by being Jews, or Sons of Zion by name, or profession only, for those are the true Jews, and Sons of Abraham, that build up the decayes of Judah, and do the works of Abraham, for as [Page 14] Paul said we desire to know no man after the flesh, yea though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we him so no more, and as you have it more plainly, Romans the third, the 28, & 29. verses, he is not a Jew that is one out­wardly, neither is that Circumcision that is out­ward in the flesh, but he is a Jew that is one in­wardly, and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God, so as I said before, the people that willingly and joyfully do seek to repaire the breaches of Judah, are such as must inherit the promises of God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and shall surely be Inhabitants in this Land, where this song of Zion may be really, and expe­rimentally, and truly sung in; but I shall leave this perticular at this time, and shall desire eve­ry one that is desirous to be an Inhabitant of this Land, to take notice of what his duty must be in Zion or in Judah, to which I shall speak more fully when I come to shew you the Lawes and the Ordinances that are in this Land.

And so I shall proceed to the fourth perticular, by what meanes a people may be said to be made capable or learned in this school to sing this song.

I shall endeavour through Gods assistance to make manifest unto your view these two follow­ing Observations.

First, It chiefly concernes us to search who is the Law-giver in Zion, or who it is that instruct­eth Jacob or Israel.

Secondly, What these Lawes or Statutes are, that are taught or ought to be taught in Israel, and how to be observed.

First, Let us consider, that God is made men­tion of in several places to be the Instucter of Israel, as Psalm 78.5. He established a testimony in Jacob and a Law in Israel, and in Isaiah the 48. and 17. verse, Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth the by the way that thou shouldest go. And in the 51 of Isaiah and the 4. verse, Hear­ken unto me O my people, and give ear unto me O my Nation; for a Law shall proceed from me, and I will make judgement to rest for a light to the people. If any one be not satisfied that it is spo­ken to Israel, the foregoing words will certifie him better, and as you have it in the 40 of Isai­ah and the 9 verse, O Zion and Jerusalem that bringeth good tydings, lift up thy voice and be not afraid, and say unto the Citys of Judah, be­hold your God. I might instance hundreds of pla­ces more to prove this truth to you, but I sup­pose it to be needless; for wherever there is any mention made of the Author of Israels Lawes, and Statutes, God is made mention of in some [Page 16]one degree or other to be the giver of them, if it be mentioned of Israel as Israel, or as I have defi­ned Israel in my forementioning of them, which is not Israel in name or shew, but in truth & ve­rity, it may be some one or other will be inquisi­tive to demand of me What God is? as I have oftentimes had objected against me, but I shall speak very little to that in this place; but in case any one be desirous to know farther, if I find him willing and desirous to be satisfied, in this or any other particular that I shall make mention of, I shall endeavour to satisfie him (if it be possi­ble) at any time or in any place convenient. First, God is said to be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Secondly, God is said to feed his flock and that he is their Shepheard; and in other places to be God of fury to the wicked, it is one thing to look upon him as he is in him­self, and another to look upon him as he is in us, or in his manifestations; but I shall deferr this discourse in this place, supposing the unfold­ng of it would be rather a stumbling block then any thing of edification to many: therefore I shall advise every one whatever, to assure himself that there is no iniquity in him, and that he is a hater of lyes, and a destroyer of all the devices of the wicked. Thus I shall proceed to the second particular, What these Lawes or Statutes are that are given to Israel in Zion, or the Holy [Page 17]Land, as some read it, or Judah, or in Jerusa­lem, and how to be observed.

First, let us consider that as the Law-giver is holy, so are his Statutes and Lawes holy also, as you have it in the 119 Psal. the 137 verse, Righteous art thou O Lord, and upright are thy Judgments, thy testimonies that thou hast Com­manded are Righteous and very Faithfull, and as you have it in the 7 verse of this Psalme, I will prayse thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy Righteous Judgments, so that you see plainly that the Statutes, and Lawes, and Commandements of the Law-givers to these Inhabitants, is Righteousness and Truth, and Equity, and Love, and Faithfulness; and as you have a Righteous Law-giver, and Righteous Lawes, so you must observe to serve him in Righ­teousness, if you intend to be a Subject in this Land, as you have it in the 118 Psalme, and the 19, & 20. verses, Open to me the Gates of Righ­teousness, & I will go into them & praise the Lord, this Gate of the Lord, into which the Righteous shall enter; Thou must not stand to frame a ser­vice to seek the bounty and gifts of men in it, but the Commands of God; happy is that people that is brought to that uniformity, that it may be truly said of them, that the Statutes of the Lord are duely observed in their land: But before I proceed any further, let us consider what danger [Page 18]may ensue upon those that are Inhabitants in this land, if in case they should obey and keep the Statutes and Lawes in this land.

First I say, That no man as man, but is very apt to deserve the being cast forth from inhabi­ting in this land, but the Law-giver is a God of Mercy as well as Justice; but in case thou art as strict an Observer as may be, yet thou canst assure thy self of no constant content in all things; for whilst thou art in this thy decayable and frail Building or House of this world, there will be strivings and turmoilings in the several re­volutions and changes; and whilst we are stri­ving to conquer them by our more high aspiring, the World, the Flesh and the Devil will be stri­ving to shew us their present seeming delights, thinking to intermingle out more serious and reasonable undertakings with those things that have nothing but a shew onely of godliness in them, and nothing of the power: This is the great warfare in which you must engage as a Combitant, if you come into this land; for the flesh will be striving against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and those two are contrary: So that if you will seek after any dutable riches, any treasure that the moth and rust will not de­stroy, but it will abide all trials that are of this life, and will be the purer each time that it is cast into the fire; I say, if you seek to deal in [Page 19]such commodities, you must expect the frowns of these your enemies, nay, your King will be trying you, how your Zeal is agreeable to your Profession.

But least you should think to escape this scourge or correcting hand of God, I will endea­vour to shew you that it is good to bear it, and continue stedfast to the end, though there be a twofold Affliction incident to the peculiar and chiefly beloved of God, yet they shall receive a Diadem at the last, that will cause them to ac­knowledge it was good for them they were Affli­cted.

First, There is an Affliction that God suffers his Children to be exercised withal, as in respect of their having to do or dealing with things of this life.

Secondly, There is an Affliction as in respect of our dejections in things appertaining to our chiefest content, as when we are hindred of our commerse with our God, and ly sighing & com­plaining as Job and several others of his Servants have done, Job sayes, I look for him on the one side, but he is not there, and behind me, but I can­not find him, no he hideth himself. He would not appear to answer Job in what Job did desire, neither would he plead with him till his time was come, Job cryed out of oppression, as you have it Job 23.3. and 19.7. This is the burthensomest [Page 20]Affliction that may befal the Children of God, yea, yea, it seemeth so burthensome sometimes, that they may be brought to question, their con­dition to be worse than meer worldlings, that have no joy in any thing else but what they grap­ple after in this life, as David plainly instances, I said it fareth better with the wicked than with the Righteous, but when I went into thy Sanctua­ry, I found it was better to abide one day within thy Courts than in the presence of wicked men for ever, Psal. 7.73. How doth God see them, say the wicked, though we scourge them? Nay, David sayes, therefore are his People brought thither, and water of a full Cup are wrung out to them.

But let not any man mistake me herein, and think that I speak of Gods withdrawing his affe­ction from his People; but my meaning is only thus, that God withdraws himself in love to us, even as the Apostle hath it, Heb. 12.6. Every son whom I love, do I rebuke and chasten; to keep our thoughts from vain constructions, that all men are very prone unto, to have high thoughts of their own strength, and their own ability, and their own righteousness, and peradventure ne­ver dive into our own hearts to acknowledge to whom we are obliged for it, but forget the foun­tain from whence it flowes and springs to us, as the Apostle Paul sayes of the Romans, They had a zeal to God, but not according to knowledge, [Page 21]Rom. 10. and the beginning of the Chapter, They being ignoraut of Gods Righteousness, went about to establish a Righteousness of their own, and did not submit to that Righteousness that was of God: Even so we are apt to conclude with our selves we have this good qualification, or this good blessing, or I am so Just or more Righteous in such a degree than such and such are, when we do not consider if we are so, that it is Gods mer­cy to us more than our deserving, but rejoice in our selves far above our Sphere, and look not back to him that gave it us; for this take one Scripture more of the same Apostle, 1 Cor. 7. verse, If ye have received it, why glory ye as though ye had not received it? Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord.

Be sure of this, That whosoever doth receive any gift of grace, or any benefit to his spiritual refreshment, or any enjoyment to his Souls hap­piness, or in general any blessing from the Lord, and doth not attribute all the praise, all the glo­ry, all the preheminence and honour to God that gave it him, it had been better that that man or woman had never receiv'd it, for he doth nor here in forget God that gave it him, but robbeth him of that praise and honour that is due to him al­so, or employeth that to his own praise, or the praise of some other thing that is due to God alone; so that that which might through due [Page 22]obedience and thanks to God have been a bles­sing, nay, herein become a curse to him that em­ployes it thus, for to whom much is given, much will be required; and if that servant shall be accounted an evil servant, That laid up his talent in a Napkin, and restored it safe to the owner a­gain, without any loss, Mat. 25.24. What will he be accounted that robbeth his Master and devideth the talent, and takes part of it himself for his own use, and yet hath the face to say, I have improved my talent better than such and such men, and doth not account? But it is well enough with him, & that he hath not been behind with the Lord in giving him what is his due, and if any man make any thing fit for his use, hee will look to have the preheminence of it to himself, & yet he will not render the same to God.

O learn of the Beasts of the Field, and do not envy their service, unless ye will act above pretence, The Oxe knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib, but Israel hath not known me, my People have not known their God, Isa. 1. And as you have it in the eighth of the Prophesie of the Prophet Jeremiah, and the 7. verse, yea, The Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed time, and the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow observe the time of their coming, but my People know not the Judgments of the Lord: And I remember, the Prophet Ezekiel being [Page 23]shewed the transgressions of the People in his time, that the Lord shewed him some that did not let to work abominations in the Temple of the Lord, as you have it Ez. 8.16. And he brought me into the inner Court of the Lords House, and behold, at the door of the Temple between the Portch and the Altar were about twenty men with their backs towards the Temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the East, and they worshipped the Sun toward the East; By the East, as some Translate it in this place, is meant these peoples looking for the chiefest light to consist in the worshipping of the Sun: This is a sad Omen of the stirring or awaking of Gods fury, when a people shall bend their mindes to idolize any imaginary conceit of their own devising, and be­stow that honour to it that is due to God; he will have thy whole heart if he hath any thing of thee, and that in the right worship too, and not in any way that we think is most rare, because it is most harmonious in our sight; but in the exact way of the foregoing Admonishers, even Christ and his Apostles, and the Martyrs that were made to seal it with their blood, & not by praying to Saints and Martyrs, but to observe and do the things that they did; I mean the works that they did, and to praise God in the same way as they did, and in the same thing; and let us seek to press forward toward the price of the high Cal­ling [Page 24]of God, and ascribe honour to whom honour is due.

I desire you my beloved Friends, yea, every one to whom this smal Treatise shall come to, serious­ly consider with your own hearts, how far you are behind with the Lord in this Particular, by reason of our unthankfulness, that we have secu­red our selves with, under the banner of forms and customary services, and have not looked into the inside of things, to eat the kernel of the Nut as well as gather the Husk and the Shell; as the Nut can in no wise grow without the Shell and Husk, so no man can experience the taste of the Kernel by eating and feeding of nothing but the Leaves and the Husk of the Nut; God loo­keth as well to thy heart as to thy tongue, there­fore if thou prayest to God, look that thy heart be joined to thy tongue, and that thy tongue speak no more but the real Symptomes of thy heart, and that thy heart be chiefly bent upon the doing of the Will of God, and not upon the beggerly rudiments of the world; for if thorow practice or custom of others you frame any Prayer only, so learned as by Book and not by heart, you might justly think your selves far short of the receiving any benefit by them from God; I do not say but learning is very good, take it in its place, for we can be no servants of God, but by utterance & manifestation: But this is my [Page 25]end, that no man set a higher price of words than they should do, but consider the word is chiesly to thy self in thy heart, and therefore consider that thy heart be joined with thy tongue, espe­cially in Prayer and Praises to God; for if thy Prayer or Praises to God be builded upon no more durable a Rock than formal or customary uses, it will be in danger of being blown up by the incroaching gusts of covetousness and hopes of worldly honour and preferments of mens ap­plause, and these will get uppermost in thy agi­tations, and so thou wilt cause the more noble and excellent Wheat corn to be choaked by the Tares and Thistles in thy more worthy Land or Vineyard; for if thou hast no deeper root in Religion than this, thou wilt soon be brought and easily be won to leave this upon any small occasion; for if one must be left, then farewell Prosession, for I must leave thee to embrace ho­nour, & riches, & pleasures, I & the good words of men, thou shalt have the name so long as my better Friends can have their free entertainment; but if one must be left, then farewell Prayer, and farewell Praises, for I can Pray as well in another Dispensation, but I shall get nothing but the ill will of men, and the loss of honour and estate if I continue in this way, it was good and honourable, but now it is base, I have have had the company of my Friends wealth, and honour, and applause, [Page 26]but I must now follow them further, or else they will leave me; O it is a sad thing when Religion, sayes God, is one thing to day, and a contrary the next day, onely for money and self-ends: This is one way of worshipping God, so called; but I fear it is no better than a worshiping of thy self, and that in the worst sence too, for thou dost but herein toyl to gather Coals & Faggots to consume thy self in the last day without the great mercy of God, for this manner of serving God or rather thy self; it may be performed in any Di­spensation, or any sort of profession; but if thou ta­kest up thy rest in any such like abess or Centerest thy self in any fabrick of this nature, know as­suredly, God will blast it in the end, if it be builded upon no surer a foundation than self­ends and notional expressions; it may be God may let thee alone for the time that thou hast to spend in this world, but the end will prove the bitterer; the wickedst of men may seem to have a rest, yea, a pleasant one to their minds and desires it may be, but it is not lasting, it is not abidable, as the Prophet hath it, Esay 48. the last verse, There is no peace to the wicked, sayeth my God; That is, no abiding nor continuing peace; therefore value thy future peace beyond any present seeming content in this life, for thou must give an exact account of all thy actions in the end; do but mind what Solomon sayes of it, [Page 27] Eccles. 11.9. Rejoice O young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walk in the wayes of thine own heart, and in the sight of thine eyes, but know thou that for all these things, God will bring thee into Judgement; therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thee: Therefore I say, look well, yea narrowly to thy wayes, lest whereas you think to build a Tabernacle fit to entertain the Holy Ghost in your Professions, you deceive your selves, and build an Altar to sacri­fice to the Prince of datkness, in deceit to thy Souls ruine, and eternal torment: But to­shew you more plainly the description of the Afflictions that Gods dearest and choisest Chil­dren are incident and lyable to in this life, I shall onely give you as brief a definition as I can, onely to give you an introduction into the rest, it being my intention to speak more fully to the duty of a Christian in this life, as well as in other things, how to bear the afflicting & trying scourge of Gods lovely chastisements; but before I proceed any further, give me leave to lay this down as a maxim undeniable, that God never tryeth a Nation or a People generally with such tryals as to deliver them into the hands of their enemies, unless it be for their sins; but these tryals that I intend to enter further into, are such which the Children of God are lyable to in par­ticular, [Page 28]when their Father doth withdraw his presence from them, as in respect of shewing them what he hath done for them, although his love may be as great to them at that time as ever, & these are many times in many things not only struke at, but overturned in their expectation; not that I ever read, that God did ever hide himself to any of them so far, but that ere long time was over, they found it was not in vain to serve him, but that he did appear one way or o­ther to them, to manifest himself a loving and a tender God; as Solomon hath it in the Canticles 5. and the 6th verse, speaking of Gods with­drawing himself from the Church, for their high thoughts of their own Righteousness, as you may read in the third verse, I have put off my Coat, and how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? She thought her self secure enough, and clean enough, yea, too clean to entertain her Beloved, though he told her, That his Head was filled with dew, I but his Locks was filled with the drops of the night; So that his Calls was too dark for her to understand, although his voice seemed to be like the voice of her Beloved, yet she could not think by the drops of the night that hung upon his Locks, but she was too clean to entertain him then; but when Christ had put in his Hand by the hole of the door, then her Bowels were [Page 29]moved for him, and presently her Hands drops with mirh; as soon as Christ put his Hands into the holes of the door, she desired to have more Society with him; but when she opened that door, she could not find him, for he had withdrawn himself, and was gone from her view, and would not appear to her in that dore or manifestation, although she acknowledgeth that her Soul failed her when he spoke; which is as much as if she should think that that Dispensation was not so efficacious to her in which she thought her self so clean in, as that in which Christ did desire admit­tance in, and therefore her Soul failed her, or her confidence, and she sought him but could not find him, she called for him but he gave her no answer; So that she seemed to be at a loss now, whereas before she thought her self to be clean.

The Watchmen found her as they walked a­bout the streets, and they smore her and woun­ded her, and the Keepers of the Wall took a­way her vail from her: This is the greatest tryal that can any wayes befal the Church of God, to want the presence of God to answer them in their Afflictions; and indeed, it is no more but the absence of God, or his not appearing to answer them in what they think to find him in, that causeth this Affliction to be so great; as this Church did not perceive, that she had any [Page 30]need of such guest as Christ, seeing he did not appear in that cleanness that she thought her self blessed in; but when she had smelt of the plea­sant odour that proceeded from him, then she falls to enquiry after him, and chargeth the Daughters of Jerusalem to tell her Beloved if they found him, that she was sick of love; When she had experienced the smell that he left be­hind him, then she could not be satisfied with­out him, and she doth not go to expect him in Babylon, or to bear tidings of him in Egypt or Edom, but of the Daughters of Jerusalem, and there it was that she found him examining her what her Beloved was more than another beloved, as you have her Demonstrating or Anatomizing of him from the 10th verse of that 5th Chapter of Solomons Song to the end; and when she hath set him in as magnificent an Applause as she could well manifest, then she comes to sum all up in one word, He is altogether lovely; But before Christ appeared to manifest himself to this Church to open their eyes, they were laid down to sleep securely, supposing themselves Righ­teous enough, and clean enough, and pure e­nough in that which she had received: Look well to your selves all you that profess your selves to be Actors upon the stage of Religion, that you do not entertain this guest of self-con­ceitedness, and so shut Christ out of doors; for [Page 31]this Church had not long before as high a sight, and as sensible an understanding as any that ever I read of in the Old Testament, as is instanced in the second Chapter of Solomons Song, and the seventh verse, I charge you O ye Daughters of Jerusalem, by the Roes and Hinds of the Field, that ye stir not up nor awake my Love, till he please; And yet now he is awaked, she will not open the door to him, nor give him any entertainment, and all is occasioned by his Locks, being filled with the drops of the night; but when he had shaken them off, then she comes to find the same truth again to feed of, as is in­stanced in the eighth Chapter of that Song of Solomon, and the fourth verse, if you do but mark the third verse, you shall plainly find how she is enabled to let him take his repose, His left hand should be under her head, and his right hand shall embrace her; These words are myste­riously spoken, for the left hand of God is seldom made use of to administer his embraces to the People or Church of God, unless it be such em­braces as he bestoweth upon them when his Locks are filled with the drops of the night; for God doth most gloriously unvail our minds with the strength of his right hand, when he hath laid his left hand under our head, and then he shall not be awaked, till he please: Oh! it is one of the fullest sayings in the whole Scrip­tures, [Page 32]it is as much as if they should have said; not my will, but thy Will be done O God, and yet this Church not to know her Beloved: Now this is a sad and sudden alteration, as I remember the Prophet Jeremiah hath something of this na­ture concerning the Daughters of Zion, Jere­miah the fourth and the last, I have heard a voice as of a Woman in travel, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first born, the voice of the Daughter of Zion, that spreadeth forth her hands and bewaileth her self, saying, Woe is me now, because of Murderers.

Why what is the matter Zion? Why dost thou cry out? What need is there for thee to complain, thou that art the Spouse of Christ? Can the Husband forget his Beloved Wife? No surely, he hath promised great things for thee, look what the Lord thy Redeemer hath promised to do for thee, Esayah 33.5, 6. The Lord is exalted, for he dwelleth on high, he hath filled Zion with Judgment, and Righteousness, and Wisdom & Knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of Salvation, the fear of the Lord is his strength; and in the 20th verse, Not one of her stakes shall be removed, nor any of her cords thereof be broken; and in the eighth of the next Chapter, For it is the day of the Lords vengeance, and the year of Recompences, for the controversie of Zion.

Oh Zion, Zion! what need is there for thee to fear, the Lord is exalted in thee, yea he hath accepted to dwell with thee, and to be lifted up in thee, he hath set the two Pillars of his Name in the midst of thee, yea what greater Pillars is there to manifest his Name upon the earth, than Wisdom & Knowledge, & then to give this Chara­cter of him, The Fear of the Lord is his strength: Oh! what stronger Fortress canst thou have Zion, than the fear of the Lord, than the love of thy God? For thus it is here meant, for this is not a slavish fear, nor a dreadful fear, nor a terrifying fear; no this is such a fear that is here made men­tion of, that may well be compared to that that the Apostle calls love, yea perfect love that ca­steth out all such slavish fears; and God promi­seth further to be her security, No one shall ever move any of her stakes, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken: And he will not only be her safety to keep her secure, but he will take vengeance of her enemies also, and plead her Controversie with those that rise up against her; surely, any one would think that Zion might sleep securely, I but Zion is here spreading forth her hands, crying, Woe is me now, my Soul is wea­ried, because of Murderers; as if she should have said, my Comforter hath left me, my Be­loved is gone, my joy is turned into bitterness, my melody into sadness, my mirth into sighing [Page 34]and sobbing, yea as she plainly expresseth, Esai. 49.14. The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me: Yea, just now was this Prophet a proclaiming her Deliverance, and the opening of her eyes, as you may read in the following Verses, Though a Woman forget the Child that sucketh at her Brests, yet will not I forget thee; No, he then shews her, that He had engraven her upon the palms of his hands, and [...]id her behold it: So that as I said before, the Church of God and the People whom he loveth with an unmeasurable and ever abiding love, may be at such a loss, that many times they may think the Lord hath withdrawn his affe­ction clean from them; but I seldom find, but God stayeth up their hearts so, as to trust in him, that their Deliverance must be through him, though many times he tryeth their fidelity and zeal to him and his Name, and at other times doth afflict them for their backsliding and careless walking, to bring them to a more clear understanding, that so they may walk worthy of such a God, who hath laid up so good things in store for them: I might speak a great deal more to this manner of Gods dealing with his choicest and peculiar people in this life, but I shall forbear to speak any more in this particu­lar, but shall refer what my intention is to speak further, till we come to speak of them, I mean [Page 35]the Children of God, yea those that are dear unto him, jointly in their duty.

There is a second Affliction incident to these beloved ones, but whereas you have them con­quered in the former as it were, you now have them Conquerours and Champions, for now the Captain of their Salvation bids them go on and fear not, so that now neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come is able to separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus: Now here you have the Shepherd leading forth his Sheep into the pleasant pastures of content, and now they know his voice so well, that they will not give ear to strangers, what though they be tempted with all the strangers seeming delights, with his rich rewards according to appearance, with all his promises of preferments, and all the inchantments that he seemeth to present them withal, yet all these will not intice them from those fruitful pastures, nothing can allure them from this contented medow, where they have the presence of their delightful Shepherd, giving them their meat in due season, so that stolen waters do not seem sweet to them, nor bread eaten in secret, pleasant to them; no, they know that the assotiates and resorters thereunto shall have their portion with Unbelievers, in a place or degree far remote from their rest, from their [Page 36]content, from their delight, For their delight is in the Law of the Lord their God; and to mani­fest his praise and his glory in working wonder­fully amongst the sons of men, and to declare unto others what God hath done for them, and for the welfare of their Souls, And all sorrow and sighing will flee away from them, neither the voice of mourning shall any more be heard in the midst of them, for the Lord that is their Redeemer is also their Husband, who bideth them awake and put on their strength their beautiful garment, for the uncircumcised and unclean shall no more come into thee, what though thou hast drunk the Cup of the Lords fury in times past, yet thou shalt henceforth drink it no more, but it shall be taken forth of thy hand, and given to them that spoiled thee, Esa. 52.1, 2. and the last verse of the 51 Ch. So that now thou maist arise from the dust and sit still, for the Lord will redeem you from all your captivities that have been the occasion of your distressedness, that have caused you in times past to howl and weep, you shall be delivered from all your burthens that ye have unjustly born, for the Lord hath taken upon him to plead the Controversie of his People; So that now they need not fear what befals their bodies, for they have a sufficient and satisfactory con­tent, that it shall fare well with their Soul, They fear not him that is able to kill the Body, and can do no more, but him that is able to kill [Page 37]both Body and Soul, and to cast them into Hell: What though the world rage against them, and their neighbours envy them, and their kindred, and chiefest of their Relations here below do make a mocking and scoffing at thee, is it any more than the Captain of your Salvation hath engaged you to by his sufferings? Know you not that if you will be his Disciples, you must wear your Masters Livery? Yea, though it be dyed in as deep a Crimson as his was on the Cross, Is it not sufficient that the servant is made equal with his Master? I am sure, any earthly servant would account it a great favour, that he should be admitted to have a garment made of the same piece of cloath that his Master doth wear himself, even so will all these that have experienced the honour and reward that is laid up at the end of their journey, which no man can prevent or hinder them of receiving.

Therefore I say, these are not at all amazed at these things, no they are no more than the honourable garments that all the guests of the Bride-chamber must put on, yea and that with much willingness too, if it be laid down for you, or tendered unto you; for surely, there is no man but will rather chuse a Diamond than a Cornelian if he hath experience of the worth of both in mens esteem, even so will all those that have experienced the love of Christ Jesus, and the [Page 38]content that is in his wayes, and the reward that shall be received by owning of him in Truth and Righteousness upon the face of the earth, in the presence of all contemners of it, and all contra­riers of it they will shew themselves to be Chil­dren of their Father, and servants of their Ma­ster, and Stewards that will manifest their Master to be one that is not onely able, but willing also to give unto all those that will labour in his Vineyard of the abundance of the pleasant fruit thereof, yea they will tell unto others what a loving and tender God he hath been to them, and what content they have had in obeying him, and what safety there is in his paths, as So­lomon hath it Proverbs 37.7. All his wayes are pleasantness, and all his paths are peace: Yea surely, the way of the Lord is great pleasure to them that know the plainness, and the evenness, and exactness of it aright, to them it is a great pleasure to walk in this way; but the slothfull cryeth out, There is a Lyon & a Bear in the way, and therefore he will not venter, he will lye down and take his ease, and fold his eyes a little more in sleep, or in his dark and obscure rest, I he will ra­ther put things to the hazard, as men had use to say, then he will encounter with this Lyon that will meet him and bereave him of all his lustful desires, and of all his worldly pleasures, and of heaping together the unrighteous Mammon of [Page 39]this world, by couzening and defrauding the simple, and by usurping the just priviledges of the poor, the innocent and the harmless; I but here is something more yet, for here is a Bear also which he must meet, if he will take his pro­gress into this way, that he must encounter with, which at the best will affright and scare him, if not tear him in pieces and devour him.

Whereas those that have been exercised to such a manner of walking in this way, as to enjoy the pleasant Sun-shine of Gods most glorious and unfathomable love, they know after the dimest and darkest night, the morning will pro­duce light again, and dispel the darkness; so that though they see never so dark a cloud of Gods fury in the way, yet this shall not be a Bear to them, no, they know that the Sun will break thorow it, if it be so that they keep constant in this way, and do not run astray from the punctual rules thereof; it is not a Prison or a Dungeon that will fear them. nor any earthly power, that is contrary to the truth, that wil daunt them; no, they know that if the powers of men do not stand, according to the truth of God, I say, their lives will not be dear to them, not so dear but that they will rather part with their lives than part with that portion of truth that they have received, so as to call light darkness, and darkness light, to dishonour him whom [Page 40]they know is able to keep them safe in their evil­lest and worst of dayes, look well to it I beseech you every man and woman, and lay not any bur­then upon one another, by unjust and unrighte­ous walking, for this is the end a Christian, that God shall have no dishonour by his walking, for if you deny God in this particular, pray that he may not deny you before the Angels in Hea­ven.

But before we proceed any further, let us consider what observation we ought to take in the performance of these holy Laws; for as I have shewed you in the forementioned Lawes, you must observe that as the Law-giver is Holy, Just and Good, so are his Lawes Righteousnesse, and Peace, and Love, and Faith, and Truth, and Patience, and Equity, and Justice, and For­giveness, and whosoever doth not observe and fulfil these Lawes, will lye lyable of being cast forth of this land, and from participating of the benevolence and fruition of this Law-giver.

Therefore let us walk wisely in our station, for this short time that we have to abide in this our frail house or fabrick of earth, that when we come to give an account of all our actions, we may approach before his Throne with all bold­ness, by laying fast hold upon him that is our Righteousness, Peace, and Sanctification and Re­demption; knowing nothing of evil by our [Page 41]selves, and yet knowing nothing of Justifica­tion in our works or by our works, as proceed­ing from them that is, there's no one that is an Inhabitant in this land of Zion, but must ob­serve and do the Will, of him that is the Law­giver, and these are the duties of the subjects in this land, the which when Israel did discern, they had broken, and that it was onely the de­cayes of the Statutes and Lawes of Zion, that had been the occasion of their Imprisonment; the which now considered, causeth their grief, yea, and that in such a nature too, that they could not keep it in, but it burst out.

Therefore that all Captives that are in capti­vity, in any respect as to their inward freedom, may know which way to ease and release them­selves, let them observe and keep these follow­ing Invitations, that in case they have broken these Lawes, they may mourn for the decayes thereof, and amend their wayes by walking more wisely, that so they may be delivered, for that is repen­tance to amend your wayes, therefore take my advise, and press forward.

First, let us consider what these Lawes are, that so ye may know how to keep them, the first and greatest Commandment is, to honour the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy Soul; and the second is, To love thy Neighbour as thy self, on these two depend all the Laws instanced [Page 42]in the Law and the Prophets, Mat. 22.37, 38, 39, 40. Not that they are differing, but hold all in one, or both in one; for thou canst not honour God more in any one thing than by lo­ving thy poor Neighbour, it is the poor God as I may so say, or rather the sons of God, that hath need of thy charity, and not he that is the Creator of all things; for Christ says plain­ly, biding them to stand on his right hand, for I was hungry and ye gave me meat, and a thirst and ye gave me drink, and sick and in prison, and ye administred unto my necessities; verily verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it unto these lit­tle ones, ye did it unto me, Mat. 25.34, 35, 36, 40. verses: So that I say, if thou art minded to praise God on the earth, or whilst thou livest here, deal justly with all men, and as near as possible thou canst make that thy direction, to deal the same bread to others that thou wouldst have God deal to thee, for fear thy heart should so far de­ceive thee in doing to others as thou wouldst they should do to thee; I say, that is a Rule of Rules, if truly observed, but beware thy heart do not deceive thee in this, and thou thinkest thou dost it, when thou fallest far short of it, and so deceive thy self.

For I account it the one and onely way to set forth Gods praise, to deal faithfully with all men in all things, especially to them that are [Page 43]without or of another mind, for who knoweth but hereby thou maist gain him to do the like, whereas if thou should do to the contrary, he would not onely be imboldned to do the like, but would reproach and defame thy way of wor­ship, and bring a scandal upon all others that walk in the same profession as thou walkest in, and not onely so neither, but dishonour thy God also; I would desire all professors whate­ver, to be wary in this respect, lest the Hea­then condemn us in that great day of Tryal, and do not enquire concerning the unconstancy of the times, nor the evil of the dayes, but take the Apostles direction, If any man desire to live long, and to see good dayes, let him refrain his tongue from speaking evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.

And as it is beneficial to us, to speak and act the Truth, so as I said before, it is the only way to manifest Gods praise, for as for what is done in private, is done onely upon the account of our Souls, it is onely a conference between God and us, so far as concerns our Souls welfare or reward; but what we do before men, is either to set forth the praise or dispraise of God; and whereas Christ sayes, Give not your Almes before men: He doth not command you to hold up your charity before men, but not to give it only, because men do behold it, we must not make it [Page 44]our chief end, to give it to be praised of men; for if we give it thus, we have our reward; but if we give it before thousands, and could as free­ly give if there were no man by, and give it one­ly to nourish their bodies, knowing that we are but stewards of it, and our Master may take it away from us when he pleaseth, for it is given us but for this intent, to feed the hungry and cloath the naked, and to administer to the necessities of such as are in distress, and in such cases it ought to be as really theirs as ours, for we are but stewards of it, and if the Lord of the Hus­bandry do find that we do not distribute faithful­ly according to his Will, he can take it forth of our hands in a moment, and call us to an account for our stewardship; do but mark what the A­postle John sayes, If any man hath this worlds goods, and seeth his Brother in want, and shutteth up the bowels of compassion from him, How dwel­leth the love of God in him? the first of John 3. Chap. 17.

Not that I conclude, that the love of God must be in every man that doth relieve the needy; but be sure, these are the manifestations of God in his people; there are some it may be will re­lieve the poor, because their fathers have done the like before them, and so they will not have their name decay, but will seek to uphold it a­mongst men.

And others it may be will give to the poor, because they will exceed such and such men that have as great estates as they have, that they may have more praise than their Neighbours: But alas! all this doth not reach the mark of a Chri­stian, for thou maist give all thy goods to the poor, and thy body to the fire to be burned, and yet have no charity, and it profiteth nothing, 1 of the Corinthians and the thirteenth Chapter, and the third verse, no the poor widows mite, Mark the twelfth, and the forty third and fourth ver­ses, is more than all this, and that is as little as may be, if it be so that you cast your gift into this Treasury with any acceptance; there­fore do not stay your selves upon this as any sure foundation, that it is enough to give, but you must give it with all your heart, yea, even as to the Lord, knowing that it is one of the greatest presidents of a Christians verification.

2. And as you must be willing and cheerful, so you must be careful too in your Almes, you must not do it as if you did not care how you did it, or when you did it, or as though you did not care whether ever you did it, or not as there is too many do now a dayes, it is to be feared they do the work of the Lord ne­gligently, Religion is too too commonly lookt upon with too careless an eye, only for outward shews and ceremonial tradi­tions, [Page 46]as I shall shew you more hereafter.

I say, you must study to do good works, yea, how to do them, that you may glorifie God in your doing of them, and advance his Interest, and magnifie his Name, and that he may have the preheminence of all; and therefore Christ bids them, Math. 6. in the beginning, Take heed when you give your Almes, and that you must not let your left hand know what your right hand doth: So that it seems there is a left hand that is contrary to the right, that is prying into thy giving of thy Almes, yea, it seems such a left hand, that is apt to declare thy bounty to be praised of men; and therefore Christ bids thee take heed, as in the next verse he plainly inti­mates so much, That thy Almes may be in se­cret, and thy Father that seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly: This left hand is a member of that body of which you have mention made of the right hand in the former Chapter verse 30, that if it offend thee, you must cut it off, lest it should be the occasion of the whole bo­dy being cast into Hell: I wish that we have not too too many such hands in our professions in these times, that rather administer to our applause in Religion here before men, than to the glory of God, or the relieving of others that are in distress.

Look well into your hearts I beseech you, and [Page 47]examine them thorowly, that you may repent if any such thing be while it is day, for God will find you out in the end; therefore I say, you must be careful in your deeds of charity, if you intend either to glorifie God, or reap any benefit to your selves in it; do it with all diligence and fervency of spirit, even as Paul chargeth Timo­thy, so ought every one to make it his charge and duty to be careful in this particular, lest you deceive your selves and wait for a reward when you have had it already of men, from whom you sought it in your intent of parting with your gift: I must confess, in this thing or particular you may come very near to the mark in your own conceits, for to feed the hungry and cloath the naked, and relirve the oppressed, that is, a very good work, if done to a good end; But how canst thou say, thou dost it to any good end, or aim at Gods glory, when thou settest thy self in the highest and first degree in thy Almes, and hast respect unto thy own praises, that men should adore and praise thee for it?

No no, do not not mistake thy self, for no man can serve two Masters, for either the one or the other must be neglected and not honoured, God will admit of no partners, he will either have all thy service, or else he will not accept of any; I say, he will have no partners, but as he crea­ted and formed all things, so he will have the [Page 48]preheminence of all things, both by thee and all others, either to your eternal happiness, or else by shewing his power upon thee, to thy destru­ction; therefore you must resolve to be careful, if you expect the praise of God, or have any love to his Name, to do his work willingly and zealously, and to be wary that the Devil do not deceive thee in any one thing, and so take away the effi­cacy of it from thee by any of his cunning wiles, for he will watch all opportunities to ensnare thee in thy charity, knowing it to be one of the grand Pillars of a Believers warfare.

3. As you must be willing to give your Almes, and careful how you give them, so you must be ready to give them; for if you say, you are or would be willing that any one that is in distresse, should be relieved, yet many times when your conscience tells you, that such and such poor people are in distress, you are not so ready as to give them that relief that may in any competent measure diminish their grievances, as the Apo­stle hath it, Do all things with all readiness and 2 Cor. 9.2, 3. For I know the forwardness of your minds, therefore I boasted of you to them of Ma­cedonia, that Achia was ready a year ago: The Apostle doth make his boast of their readi­ness, to administer to the necessity of such as were in distress, yea, he urgeth it to others, that they might walk by this Example, as not know­ing [Page 49]any of more use in this life, it being one of the needfullest effigies of a Christian, as Paul saith of it, That your zeal in it had provoked ve­ry many to do the like: Therefore I say, as you profess your selves to have received the love of God, so let your love abound toward your Bre­thren, as Christ sayes, Let your light so shine be­fore men, that they seeing your good works, may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven, Matth. 5.16. For God is the Father of such love, and he will not be ashamed to own those that do this work with willingness, and carefulness, and readi­ness, for we do herein as it were represent him on earth, for he bestoweth his blessings upon us meer­ly of his own willingness and freeness, as it is ex­pressed, Of his own will begat he us in Christ Jesus; and he is also careful of us, And shall not we be careful to serve him? As you have it, The true Watchman of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; and he is also ready no bestow his mercies and blessings upon us, for it is expressed Matth. 6.8. He knoweth before hand what we have need of; as if he studied to know our wants, and to keep those things ready for us against we have need of them, For he that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it is opened unto him, Matth. 7.8. So that if you will but go to the Fountain, you may drink free­ly, it is not locked from you, unless you bring a [Page 50]poysoned Pitcher with you, to destroy your selves & defame the Fountain, & then I hope you will acknowledge his love to be as great in this as in any thing; surely, men would be willing and careful, and ready to serve such a God who is so good to them, if they did or do any waves render their own welfare; I wish you could but experience the Apostles words in this particular, although he was speaking of another when he ut­tered the words, which are these, The love of God constraineth me, yea, I am accursed if I do not do according to his will.

So surely, any one that doth profess himself to have received more than others, he will and must enforcedly man fest it in the sight of men, upon every or the most part of his occasions; I do not put this most part in, to keep any from stri­ving, to walk in the highest and exactest manner that may be, but knowing the choisest of Gods People may be overtaken in a fault, but not that any of them can pass by this fault without great remorse and grief of heart for it, and they could willingly redeem the time, if it were pos­sible, either by a private Repentance, or publick instruction to others; but this is a stile too high to speak of in these dayes I fear, and yet assure your selves, it is no more than ought to be in every professor, for if you do but seriously con­sider in your own hearts, you will find it is not a [Page 51]careless thing to profess Christ, and acknowledge your selves to be his Servants, for you must ex­pect to do his Will, if you will be approved worthy of such a Master as I shall shew you more plainly hereafter.

4. As you must be willing to bestow your cha­rity, and careful how you do it, and ready to be­stow it, so you must be bountiful and liberal, in your deeds of charity you must not lay up in your corrupt treasuries, to buy such a Lordship, no nor such a small Cottage, neither if you see that your poor Brethren are in necessity, or want: It was an excellent Observation of a late deceased Scholar, who when the Officers of the Parish came to him for moneys, they argued the needfulness of mens bounty in such a good work, saying, There was none of more concernment than to repair the Temple of the Lord; he answered them, It was both needful and justifiable before God and man, but he bid them beware they did not respect the dead Temple for the living Temples, and so fail in their intent in both: So I would entreat all those that profess themselves to be religious in their actions here, of obedience to Gods Will, that they do not mistake themselves and adorn the dead Temple with superfluous varieties, when the living Temples wants a sufficiency to keep themselves alive, look well to your selves: I ac­count it my duty to deal plainly with you, I fear [Page 52]it is too too common in our dayes, for that love I beat you in Christ Jesus, I could wish it were otherwise with many of you, for if you neglect the repairing of the living Temples, there is no­thing that will hold in any harmonious tune in religious obedience, it is not enough to say, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, but you must shew your selves to mind the Tem­ple of the Lord, for it is not a fained profession nor a guilded ceremony that will serve your turn, nor mine in the last day, but as we profess our selves to have received more than others, so let us walk more righteously and more faithfully than they do, that we may not condemn them with our tongues seemingly, and condemne our selves in our actions in the sight of God and men, for we may seem here before men to be zealous for the Lord, and it may be think really that we are so; do but mark what Solomon says, There is a way that seemeth right, but the end is the end of death, Proverbs 14.12. And in E­sayah 1.11. Unto what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices to me? I am full of your Burnt­offerings and your Sacrifices, I desire not so much of this manner of ceremonial services without you will work the effects of them; that is, To cease to do evil, and that they would learn to do well, and seek Judgment, and relieve the oppres­sed, and Judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow, and then come unto me and I will reason [Page 53]with you, and though your sins be as red as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, yea, though they be as red as crimson, they shall be made as wool: If we bring these Sacrifices before the Lord, he ac­cepts of them, and will delight himself in us, but if we forget to bring these with us, we had better to stay away than come before God in vain, to expect a Blessing when there is none as­signed for us, it is to as much purpose for a man to think he hath a true Faith in Christ, when he hath not charity, as it is for a Builder to think to build a Tower, when he hath but one stone to build it; do you not mind what the Apostle James saith to such sort of men, James 3. and last, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead: It is true, thou maist have a faith to believe there is a God, even so Pharaoh King of Egypt, Exod. 9.27. He did believe there was a God in Israel, yet he would not obey him, nor leave the worshipping of Idols, till the Lord did overthrow him and his Host into the midst of the Sea; and as you may read of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 3. He did believe that the God of Daniel was the God of gods, and Lord of Kings, Dan. 2.47. yet he did set up an Image contrary to what Daniel did worship, and commanded all people to fall down and worship it: So as I said before, it is not e­nough to have a faith, but you must have a work­ing [Page 54]faith, a living faith, a stedfast faith, and an upright and charitable Faith, for as Paul saith, 2 Cor. 9.6. He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap bountifully, let every man give as he hath purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or of neces­sity for God loveth the cheerful Giver: Not but that God is able to provide a sufficient satisfaction for his Children without your aid or help, but know, he will try thee O man, how far thy cha­rity will extend toward thy weak and helpless Brother, God doth not make use of us for need, but for his pleasure that he taketh in seeing us improve our talents, and that we should mani­fest to all the world, that we are a People that have a God exceeding all other gods, in love, and tenderness, and bounty, and strength, how would all people stand reviling of our God, and disdai­ning our way of worship, if they should see us walk undiscretly and loosly, they would be apt to say, lo, behold how prophane and vain a thing it is for such and such men, who profess they walk in a higher and more clearer light than they have done or than we do, but they can let their Brethren lack bread and cloaths, and can wear such needless tryphles, and build such and such brave Houses that we can live without, and con­tent our selves without; I say, these things may be done, if that thing that is more needful bee [Page 55]not left undone, but if one must be left undone, I say look that you leave the less needful & useful undone, for know the life and body of thy poor Brother is altogether as precious in the sight of God as thine, this thy undiscret and vain carriage doth give thy enemies advantage to revile thee, and to defame thy Brethren, and to blaspheme the worthy Name of our God, whereas if we walk more strictly, more wisely and more chari­tably, the mouths of all such people will be stop­ped, and they will be ready to commend thy way of worship, & to praise those that you do as­sociate your selves withal, and to glorifie the Name of God, by which you are called: So that if you will profess your selves to be Servants of God, you must walk in the wayes of godliness; and think not that it is the performance of your duty, to talke of charity and love, but you must make it your business to administer and distribute your charity to all such as are in distress and want, knowing that if you will manifest your selves to be imployed in his work, you shall receive a re­compence worthy of your labour, For if God spa­red not his onely Son, but delivered him up to death for us, that we might be freed from the power of death: Surely, thou wilt not think thy sa­bout too much, to serve him in thy estate, or ra­ther in his ovvn; I say, thou vvilt not be so unjust a Steward, to let thy Masters servants dye for vvant [Page 56]of food, when he hath provided enough for them, no certainly, thou wilt rather walk up and down from one end of the Vineyard to the other, to see that all thy fellow servants have their meat in due manner and due season, if thou dost re­spect the love of thy Master, and the praise of it will redound so far to thee in the end, if thou performest his Will, as that he will make thee one of his Family for ever, and thou shalt reign in joy and gladness to eternity: Now he which doth this work of charity, must observe that he have not more respect for himself than for God in his heart, for look for it, for the Devil will never leave searching, to find out one tradition or customary self setting up, to find out some one devise or other, if thou take this work in hand, to represent thee unstable in thy underta­kings in one respect or other, knowing it to be one of the greatest Forts that a Christian can acquire, for his unattemtible and unanimous residence, if truly and exactly built, for without this uniformi­ty it is impossible to put on the whole Armour of God; nay, I dare be bold, that no man what e­ver can assure himself, to put on any part of the Armour of God, and not take up this with it; For how can it be said that you have armed your selves with Truth, when you have not obeyed the God of Truth? Or how can any man say, That Righteousness is his Brest-plate, when he [Page 57]hath neglected to do his Masters business, and hath left his Masters Commands unobeyed? Or how can any man say, His feet are shod with the prepa­ration of the Gospel, when he walketh in obscure and dark wayes? If you have your feet shod with the Gospel, you will walk in the path and way of the Gospel: Now Christ is the True and Righteous way, described in the Gospel, and he thought it not too much to sacrifice his life for us, and greater charity thou canst not have, than to yield up thy life in obedience to the God of love, and no man can come to the Father, but by and in him.

And as for thy taking Faith to be thy shield, when thou goest to withstand the Devil, thou wilt be overcome, if thou dost not take love a­long with thee, for the Devil will quickly find out a place to dart thee in, if thou leave charity behind thee; for this take what the Apostle says, Shew me thy Faith by thy works, and then thou maist put on the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, for as he that redeemed you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 1 Pet. 1.13. and elsewhere, hereby shall all men known that ye are my Disciples, if you love one another, John 13.35. And the fruits of the Spi­rit are love, joy, peace, &c. Gal. 5.22. So that I say, it is in vain to think of withstanding the Devil, but that he will wound thee in one respect [Page 58]or other, if thou dost not put on all thy Ar­mour, even the whole Armour of God.

2. He that undergoeth this duel, or maketh war against this enemy, had needs be very studious to know, yea, knowing what it is that he is to encoun­ter withal, for thy enemy goeth about daily to seek to circumvent thee: So that when thou makest war against lying and deceit, beware he doth not o­vercome thee, by imputing a strength to thy self in thy striving, and so get into thy harbour, and weaken thy strength and fort; likewise, when you fortifie your self against unrighteousness, he will be presenting thee with a seeming righteous­ness, that if you are not very watchful, shall give you more content seemingly than any that you have chosen, if you do not know experimen­tally the odour that is in your choise, for he will endeavour either to delude thee that thou art more righteouss than such and such men, and so set thee a judging of others, and a taking Gods Office forth of his hands, that he may bereave thee of the efficacy of thy labour that way, or else endeavour to Sow some tares amongst thy wheat & make you delight your self in embracing, for righteousness for some one self end or other for his tares are many times so like thy wheat, that it is hard to gather them out of it, without it be so that thou art very well insenced of the nature and taste of them; and as for thy ferven­cy [Page 59]for the Gospel of God in opposing all his as­saults, for this likewise he will not want endea­vours to stir up enemies both of thy seeming friends and known enemies, that if he cannot en­tice thee to a false understanding of them, he will endeavour to screen thy mind to abuse thy knowledge in matter of action, if it be possible, and so hid it from thy discerning of it; but in case he finds thee so watchful that he cannot make a conquest of the, according to his will or desire this way, then possibly he will try thee further, if God permit him power, so as to put thee into Prison, nay, it may be to take away thy life also, for thy servent zeal for the Gospel; but know if thou art brought so far, thy God will not leave thee then, though thou maist seemingly have a Cloud for a season, yet the Sun will pre­sently break thorow, and expel the darkness of the time at an instant, yea, in a moment of time; happy is he that overcometh all the rest, to give Testimony of his fidelity in this to all Beholders; but I shall speak somewhat more to that hereaf­ter, so I shall defer it at this time.

But you must press forward still, you are not yet come to discern the difficulty of this your urgent and needful care, for we are now to dis­cuss the grand part of his enmity, in seeking to keep us from believing in the Captain of our Sal­vation, and in relying upon him for all out [Page 60]strength, now he is labouring to deceive us of taking up this Wapon of Faith, so he will en­deavour to fix our minds upon our own strength, and to trust in what conquest we have, it is meer­ly of our own care, and of our own vvatchful­ness, yea, he vvill not leave any corner of thy heart unattempted, if he see that there is any possibility of getting vvithin thy vvalls under a pretended notion of friendship, that so he may deceive and rob thee of this thy Weapon, it be­ing the chief Weapon of our defence, if truly fixed, by vvhich vve are enabled to quench all the fiery darts of the vvicked, and so keep our rare Jevvel from all his demonical delusions, for if he once get this shield of Faith from thee by any de­ceitful contrivance, he vvill make a conquest of thee at his pleasure, for he knovveth it is not for him to assault any that have this shield in their hand to defend themselves vvithal; I say, it is not for him to attempt the overthrovving of these by any ordinary vvay that is contrary to their vvay of vvorship, or to stand in opposition to maintain a pitcht battel against such vvho have their Faith truly grounded and fixed upon the love and strength of Christ Jesus, but he vvill not lack flatteries, such as may seemingly sympathise vvith the true and grand emulations of truth in shew & profession, though it shall differ in the in­tent or end of their doing it; therefore I say, he [Page 61]that is a Warriour in a Christian warfare, must not war onely against known waverings, and un­constancy, and unstability of mind, but against seeming stedfastness, and seeming confidence, and seeming unmoveableness also, for you must stand upon your watch and examine every thought that cometh by you, and try it whether it will a­bide the Touch-stone or not in every particular, before you grant it admittance, for you may be deceived if you do not take great heed, for the Devil may appear in the likeness of an Angel of light, and do many things unlikely it may be as thou thinkest for him to do, for he can be as faithful and as religious as the Scribes and Phari­sees, but he will not be willing that you should attribute any thing to God as proceeding from him, or that you should aim at his glory in the performance of it; but as I said be­fore, though your work of Faith be seemingly, the same in shew or ceremony, yet it will not be the same in event and effect, yet it hath been so like the true Faith, as that the People of old have cryed, Peace, peace, when the Lord hath not said it: Yea, he hath been so subtil in his end, as that he hath deceived both Prophet and People, and he did appear very subtily with these Scribes and Pharisees, for they did give the effigies of true Faith in many respects seemingly, for it was built upon Almes and the fulfilling of [Page 62]the Law and Prayers for their success in it, but they gave their Almes to be seen of men, and therefore they had their reward, for as they gave them to be praised of men, even so they had the praise of men for their gifts, and as for their aim to fulfil the ceremonies and rites of the Law they were very exact in many respects, as to pay Tithes of Mint and Anise, Mat. 23. But to relieve the oppressed, and plead the cause of the needy, they had small care of that, and they would make a conscience sermingly to God, as to pray often to him, that under a pretence of Reli­gion in this they would devour Widows houses; so as they seemed to be exactly religious in the fight of men, they were not religious hardly in any one thing before God.

For it is not so easie and idle a thing as many think it is to be a Christian or a Christ-like man, for if you build your Faith upon any other Rock than Christs Death and Resurrection, I say if you do not war against all other fabricks, you cannot exercise your Faith with any good warrant; I say, if you do not pull down and root up all other appearances that are not one with this, and hold in concurrance in this as proceeding from the same root & center which Christs undergoings have meritoriously crowned us withal, you can in no measure exercise a Faith with any good Warrant, but we shall yoke our selves with bur­thensom [Page 63]impediments in our more higher agita­tions and Divine aspirations, for no clear eye can discern things of so bright and clear an ap­pearance, so Divine manifestation much less be­lieve them, it is not to believe that it is any thing of our own merits that a true Faith must be built upon, but all such thoughts and conclu­sions strike at the original grounds of a true Faith, as and is contradictory an enemy to it as may be; do but mark what the Apostle Paul sayes of the grounds of a true Faith, Rom. 3.24, 25, 26. Being justified freely by his grace, through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood, to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of sin, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time his Righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus: Christ will not look upon you as partners in the grounds of your Faith, for as he hath conquered all such enemies who did lead us captive at their will by his suffering for us, to pacifie the Devine fury of his Father, and to be a propitiation for to interceed with his Father for us, that he might reconcile all differences that did hinder us from having a peaceable and compleat union and ownness with our God, that so he might be our Father as well as his Father, and our God as well as his God, and [Page 64]that he might rejoice in us as Brethren, being united and annexed with him by what had under­gone for us, that so we might jointly declare the manifold love of God, and sing praises to his Name; I say, this was the intent of Christ in his interceeding to the Father for us, onely he would not have us slight his undertakings for us, and so deceive our selves, and dishonour his mockings, and his scoffings, and deridings that he did bear for our offences, when we should have perished to all eternity, had not he stept in be­tween our sin & his Fathers wrath, and did that for us that we were not able to do for our selves; so that he will have us to own him to be the Au­thour and Finisher of our Faith, Heb. 12.2. So as I said before, you must War against every appearance of evil, and every thing that seeketh to oppose this vvay of grounding your Faith; but I shall leave it to your study, to examine how many such guests you have given entertainment to, as thinking them to be your Friends, intend­ing to speak a vvord or tvvo more of it in some of my follovving discourse, if God permit time and leave.

And as you have resisted and must resist all the foregoing invocations of this your invious, yet more subtil enemy, so you must engage against all his extrinsical and seeming vvayes of ensna­ring you in your charity, for he vvill not leave [Page 65]striving to conquer thee by craft, if it be possible, if he see that it is in vain to tempt thee other­wayes, he will promise thee great gain and great content, yea, he will give thee all the inticements and the allurements that the whole world can afford, and he will perswade with thee that thou maist keep all these and be charitable too, he doth not care how fair a pretence thou makest of being charitable, but be sure of this, he will strike at the very root of it, if it be put in practice with any true intent to Gods glory, and that if you are not very exact in your deliberating your selves, he will be too hard for you in one respect or other, for if you war against him in maintaining your deeds of charity, and do not war against his ends in your charity, or against your own pride and self­seeking, you had as good lay your weapons down, and do not pretend to withstand him when you go about to fortifie his strength, for he had as live have you profess and practice both, so as he can but delude you to set up an Idol to offer it to, for it is no better if we offer any praise to any imagined thing that is due to God, for an Image or an Idol is no more nor less than to set up any thing in our Devine worship, and attribute more honour to it, and have more esteem of it than is due to it by Gods appointment; this will be a hard saying for many professors to pass by, and yet it is no more than you will find to be true in [Page 66]the end; the Prophet Jeremiah hath a notable expression to this purpose, Jeremiah 44.25. the people would not be beaten down from offering spiced cakes to the Queen of Heaven; not that you read any thing that they had any formed sub­stance, but an imaginary fancy; and as the Apo­stle said in his time, There are Gods many, and Lords many, bue unto them there was but one God and Father of all things; and as he hath it in another place concerning others, They worship­ped the creature more than the Creator, who is God for ever, Amen, as you may read Rom. 1.25. as he plainly expresseth in the foregoing verses, that they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like corruptible man and birds, four footed beasts, and creeping things; Even as if the Apostle should have said, that they worshipped themselves, and bestowed and attri­buted that glory that was Gods own by due right to themselves, and gloried in so doing, and de­lighted themselves in birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things more than in the Creator, from whence they had their being; and therefore he sayes, God gave them up to un­cleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Besure, that when they came to that degree of apostasie, God would not leave them without pu­nishment for it, but lets them run into all un­seemly [Page 67]behaviour, as you may read the 20, 30, 31. vers. of this Chap. when God gives up a people to their own lusts & desires of their own hearts, they run on from one degree of unrighteousness to another, till at last they are so captivated by their own lusts, that though they come to see that they act contrary to the rules of natural reason, yet they have small or no desire to leave it, but run on still and persist from one evil device to ano­ther, from committing fornication with their own lusts, to covetousness, and malignity, and so to murther and debate, and having no understanding, they become Covenant-breakers; as the Apostle instances, They were without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful: Therefore I say be­ware of Idolatry, and do not make it your busi­ness to worship these and such like Gods, as the Apostle hath it plainly, Phil. 3.19. Whose gods are their bellies, and whose glory is their shame; but fix your Faith aright in Gods prescribed rule, and then you will be able to wage war with the Devil in his cunningest designs, but it will require your fervent care continually to watch, that you may know and be sure to be provided for his co­ming.

For if you seek to do the Will of the Father, which is Holiness and Purity, you must observe what his Commands are, and do not think to se­cure your selves by notional pretences and literal [Page 68]expressions, rudely reasoning with your selves in the worst of sences and the extravigants of courses, accounting it a small sin to offend God, or to walk contrary to his Commandements of Love and Chartly, Peace and Truth; for if you walk contrary to this, you may profess what you please, but if your actions and intentions do not answer what your pretences seem to blaze forth into notional extreams, as I may so account them; I will not value that opinion, though they pretend to be Saints or Angels, for if they walk so loosly as that their own hearts condemn them in their intention, much more may God condemn them, who seeth in secret and knoweth in secret, happy is he that can try all things with Solomon, and yet not be linked in his affection to any thing; I speak as in respect of his serving or idolizing any thing below God, he can rejoice with a Heroick spirit, not onely that Devils are made subject to him, but that his name is written in the Book of Life; he can try and search into the se­condary powers of the world, and yet not like to the Phylosophers of the Heathen conclude, That the Images of them should be worshipped, because, as they say, they represent their Gods to them, and that the reverencing of God is the un­covering of the head, or the sprinkling with holy water, and exterior expiations, and exteriour ornaments for our Devine prayses, as musical har­mony, [Page 69]and burning of wax candles, and light, and ringing of bells, and adorning of temples, altars and images, in which, as they say, is required a special reverence, and comeliness.

This is not a Garden for such to plant their Vine in, who by the Spirit of Jehovah can like the Bee suck Honey out of the Thistle, and yet account the Honey-suckle the more rarer flower; he that is truly grounded in this, will well know what I mean in all the rest, it is not the Sun, Moon nor any inferiour light by which they walk or act, but acknowledge a more supream and splendant brightness to be their guide in all things, and that they can try all these, and make it experimentally appear that they seek the ho­nour of him which governeth and ruleth all things, even as he pleaseth, and when he plea­seth to alter them? They are made subject to him at all seasons, yea, he giveth them a brighter splendor at one time than at another to our ap­pearance, And what is the glory of any thing, but in the manifestation of it? Oh! happy is he that like the Bee can go to Thistles and suck vertue out of them, as well as forth of the sweetest Flowers, though they are more in esteem in their sight, it argues the spirit of discerning as well as the Spirit that tryeth and searcheth, he needs not fear the being deceived that knoweth honey when he tryeth it, much less he that knoweth it by [Page 70]sight, he will not like the Waspe lye prying after the Bees Nest, when he can suck the purest forth of the Flower, and peradventure there may be a more bitter sting in the Nest than he bring­eth power to expel, as the Snake doth com­monly keep both Bee and Waspe away, though they have both stings, yet let this be your ob­servation, that the lesser must be swallowed up of the greater, or else be put to flight, thrice happy is he that is truly conquered by the true Swallower up of all things.

He can plead a true and certain interest with any man or all men, for whatever doth branch forth it self, if really engrafted into this Stock, it will be abidable, although the winter frosts may seemingly eclipses the beauty of our professions, yet it cannot reach our root, but we shall retain so much sap there, as will cause our branches to flourish again in their season; for as the Phylo­sophers conclude, the Sun will not spend all his year in a sign, where he hath his detriment or fall, but will by his progressive motion in his exactness, in his line or circuit go strait forward, and doth not look backward as though he was afraid of those captivating powers, that have, as I may say so, do­minion over him at such times, as is apparent in our Horizon, that that power that he assureth himself of in March, he is deprived of in Sep­tember, and that glorious shew of heat, yea even [Page 71]to scorch us as it were in July, is overswayed by the unequal frequenting of a Januaries approach; yet say they, the Sun doth continue going forward still, notwithstanding all his repulses by the unfor­tunate solicits of his most potent enemies.

Even so he that doth really know the worth of grace, and the benefit of his endeavours, that Christ hath purchased for all them that will be­lieve and lay fast hold upon him in his Death and Resurrection; I say, such a one that is truly sensible of what worth and value Christs Death and Life is to all those that enjoy a portion of it, effectually operating, over all the lets and impe­diments that are in the way to hinder his true discerning of it, he cannot but press forward, accounting himself happy in each step that he ad­deth to his journey, wherein he discerneth that he getteth ground, you need not to urge such a one to be wary, for he cannot but discern when he getteth ground, and when he hath lost, for if all men speak well of him and assure him of peace, yet if he in searching find any corner of his heart not swept, be sure he will not cry peace to himself, but will take the Besom of righteous­ness and truth, and will carefully sweep it out, and make all clean within, for he cannot sleep in quiet till he hath got his house clean.

As no earthly man can take his rest when he knoweth that there is a thief within his house [Page 72]that will take all advantage to rob him, but will rather rise and lock up his chiefest Jewels, that they may not be taken away from him, if in case he cannot get him forth of the house; but though they are locked never so fast, and there be not a­ny thief within his house, yet if he hath any treasure that he taketh much delight in, he will be watchful, lest any one should break into his house unexpected, and bereave him of that in which he so much delighteth:

Even so a discerning Christian that knoweth there is a thief within his house, he cannot but dread the worst of things, so long as any suspected enemy is within his confines, but if he know that there is none but he hath tryed all of them thorowly, yet he will stand upon his watch, and keep his doors locked about him (when he is at home and when he goeth abroad) he is wary with whom he doth confer as associates fit for his re­sult, so that whether he is with the Lord at his home, or whether in the turba of the mind, yet he will be watchful, that strangers do not inter­medle with his joy, in any way to deprive him of that enjoyment by which he can convey his soul to its most fixed bliss, no man can beat him off of this his watchfulness, when he hath once tasted the love of God, so as to witness that he is satisfied with it, not that I think it is enough to seem sa­tisfied or to talk of being satisfied, but I speak [Page 73]of them that are really and indeed satisfied; you have a notable Text of Scripture in the 4th of John, Christ tells the woman of Samaria, that he that drinketh of that water that he shall give them, shall never thirst again; and in the 6th of John he tells the Jews, that their Fathers did eat Manna in the Wilderness and were dead, but who­soever shall eat of that Bread which I shall give them, shall live for ever: I will not say but ma­ny may taste of this Bread in some measure in ma­ny degrees, and yet never hardly stand upon their watch, to keep Dogs from eating of it out of their mouths, as I may so say, and carrying it a­way out of their sight, and bring them some of their old dyet, even Garlick and Onions; these are such as were taken in the Parable for the stony ground, in which the seed wanted root, yea, the heat of the Sun caused it to wither, but that which fell on good ground, brought forth plenti­fully, even unto the harvest: Therefore I say, he that warreth in this life, must be sure to watch when the enemy doth seek to assault, and batter down his Walls, and to defame his Weapons, and to poyson them with his intermingled seeming delights, whereby he doth lye in wait to infect us, even as a Fisher doth lay baite for to catch his intended prey.

So that you shall have baited hooks, such as you will think are very rare and agreeable to suit [Page 74]with your disposition as near as may be, and to advance his own ends, he will fit you if it be possible, for he hath variety of pleasant dainties, if you will but be perswaded to deal with him, he will deal for small profit rather than loose your acquaintance, if it be but a making slight of your word, or a self-conceitedness in your worship, or to worship for custom, or to believe, because others say, it is true, when it may be you have no warrant in your own hearts that it is true, but because others say, it is so, therefore you will be­lieve it, for you are sure that such men would not say it, if it were not so, as I have heard many say, when they have had no other reason to be­lieve it, but because other men have affirmed it.

Alas! my poor Friends, you that have no o­ther ground for your Faith than what another doth give you; I say, that you that satisfie your selves with what others say, and do not enquire whether it be according to Gods Holy Word that is left us for an Example, you are far from know­ing what you fix your Faith upon, and you will be like to the Children of Israel that could fol­low Moses, because they saw that God did work many Miracles by him, but when Moses was lon­ger in the Mount than they supposed he would have stayed, they are presently at a loss, and charge Aaron to make them a God to go before them, Exod. 32.1. and as we read they were [Page 75]forty years under his Preaching to them, and yet it is recorded of them, that they knew not the wayes of God; there is many Writers that affirm them to be a peculiar and absolute People by their deserts, but I find no such thing recor­ded in Scriptures, therefore I shall speak what is made manifest to me, though I know it will seem harsh to many, to believe what I have here inser­ted, but I would have them to take notice, that it is one thing for a People to be made happy by desert and obedience, and it is another to be made happy by Gods infinite mercy and forgive­ness, as you have Israel made happy by Gods love and compassion to them in the Wildernesse, but not by desert; there is a great difference between Gods loving a People, & a Peoples obey­ing God, therefore I would desire every one to seriously consider when they read or hear what is the occasion of the words spoken, and the time when it was spoken, and the dispensation that the People were under when it was spoken, and what degree of faith the People were heirs of by know­ledge, that it was effectually to be made theirs, for if your enemy can but intrap you, he will soon be more potent, if it be possible, for he hath an apple for Eve, and so to betray Adam, and a discontended pride in Cain to bring him to murther Abel, Gen. 12. and a fear in Abraham, to make him deny that Sarah was his Wife, and [Page 76]a Feast for Noah, to make him commit fornica­tion with his two Daughters, and a Covetous­ness in Jacob, to deny his Brother a Mess of Pot­tage, unless he would assign him his Birth-right, Gen. 25. and afterwards he feared that God was not able to help him to the blessing of Isaac without his deluding of his old Father, and be­lying the truth, and a pride for David, that he might number the People, and so displease his God, 2 Sam. 24. and a lovely Delilah for Sampson, that he might take away his life, Judg. the 16.

I might instance several things more of these his forementioned stratagemes and cunning devices which he hath made use of, as is apparent in the Old Testament and New, to which I shall refer you; happy is he that keepeth his watch and standeth closely armed, ready to answer him in any of his attempts, that he may rejoice over all his workes, that hath gained the Victory by kee­ping close to the rule of his preserving and de­fending Saviour, knowing that it is by his strength that he doth stand, by giving heed to the nar­rowst and difficulst of his Command, observing it meerly for the glory of his Father, knowing that he can no wayes shew himself to seek a Kingdom that is not of this life, unless he renounce the pleasures of this life, For whosoever calleth God Father and abideth in sin, is a Lyar, John the [Page 77]first the 1 Chapter and 4. Because he calleth God Father, when he hath not known God in his manifestations, neither doth God own his actions.

There is a People whom I have heard much of, that when they are going about any thing that they imagine, will hardly bear the raste of the Scripture, they will say, that they will enquire of God, whether they may do it or no, and so will through the strength of the desire of their own wills, draw the sence and intent of the Scrip­tures to what they please, or what pleaseth their fancy best, and think themselves secure enough too, if they have but framed a Prayer for God to direct them in it, though it may be they will not hearken to what God putteth into their mindes at that time neither, but adhere rather to what is more beneficial, as they think, for their own ends, not that they will blot the Scripture clean out in shew, but it shall seem difficult to them in such cases, and so will under a pretence of Re­ligion, do those things that neither Reason, E­quity nor Scripture will bear them any Testimony of; This is as much as if they should go to en­quire of God, whether they might freely mur­ther a man or not, and if their desire be drawn out to it, and in case God do not shew them some wonder or sign, or presently pour down some Judgement upon them, they should be free to do it.

This is as a great a delusion of the Devil, to draw any mans mind to Prayer, for God to di­rect them in any thing, when their minds are ab­solutely bent to do wickedly; I say, it is one of the highest provocations to provoke Gods fu­ry that you can invent, as the Psalmist hath it, The Prayers of the wicked are abomination unto the Lord: It is a thing too common in our dayes, for many men to content themselves with a form of Prayer, when it may be they understand not any one petition of what they require, nor that the thing that they require be according to the Will of God or not, which he hath left for our instruction, but rather seek to bring the Will of God to those things that may stand with their advantage and their benefit, and if they can but keep themselves from the Laws of men, taking hold of them, they think they shall be safe enough, so that they can but have the praise and applause of the great Rabbies of the times, they look no further; but it was Moses choice, Ra­ther to suffer afflictions with the Children of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, Heb. 11.25.

But those that seek a Kingdom in this world, they take little or no care for their future joy, but think it shall alwayes go well with them, be­cause they imagine it is rather better with them than with the Righteous at present, and they see [Page 79]no alteration, but Gods love is as much to them as to any one sort of People, and they flourish as David sayes, like a green Bay-tree, and have no frowns from God, neither see any change, there­fore they go on securely as they think, and they will persist in their own wayes still, as the Psalmist hath it Psal. 55.19. God shall hear and afflict them, even he that abideth of old, because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God: It is not enough to think of being secure, because they see no change, God may let thee alone it may be for the time that thou art to live or abide in this life, but be sure of this, you must come to give up your account at the last day, where all your actions will be tryed by the fire, whether they will abide or not, and whatever we have done in this life, must be brought before the Judgment Seat of God, where great mens words will not serve our turn, nor all our former seeming Friends can bayle us, but Justice will be Justice, as well as Mercy will be Mercy, God cannot lay neither of them aside; therefore stay not your minds upon great mens ability, neither upon the pretended friendship of any man or men, for it is thy own conscience that must appear to excuse, or else accuse thee; so that I say, rather loose the friendship of all other seeming friends than wrong this thy chief Friend, which if he be for­ced to be thy enemy, will do thee more wrong [Page 80]than all thy other friends can do thee good, set­ting Christs sufferings aside, and they will be of small or no effect to thee, if you give ad­mittance to any unrighteous guests; therefore rather loose all the friendship that may any wayes seem to prefer thee in this life; yea, thy right hand, than endanger the being shut forth of Hea­ven; it is not any other friend, save thy Con­science, that must give an account for thy actions in this life, it will lye upon thy self, either for good or evil, The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Pearl, that when a Marchant hath found, he selleth all that he hath to purchase it, Math. 13.45, 46.

Even so he that hath ever experienced the love of God, will leave his Father and Mother, and all other seeming friends whatever, rather than loose this Pearl, or act contrary to the Truth; yet Christ doth not any wayes advise Children to be disobedient to their earthty Parents in respect to their obedience, if it be possible to content them or obey them, but rather adviseth them to be just obeyers of God, by keeping the Commandments of God, commanded to be kept in the presence of God and men, and not that any one can ima­gine himself to be an approved fulfiller of the Laws of God, so long as he acts unjustly between man and man, as I remember it was historically expressed of the judgment of some Heathens, con­cerning [Page 81]the opinion of the Christians, that they judged the God of the Christians was not a good God, by reason of their unfaithfulness one toward another, and their unhumane carriage toward them: It is a sad omen of conversion, when they that should become a pattern to others to walk by, become a reproach and defame to their God, or rather the God of truth in their actions towards men; I never did read that Christ or his Apostles did leave them any such example, but rather to approve our selves to be examples of the Flock, and not Lords over Gods Heritage, and ro offer no offence neither to the Jew nor Gen­tile, 1 Cor. 10.32. but rather shew our selves to be such as seek to glorifie the Name of God by our uprightness and exactness to men.

Even as it is recorded of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 6.4.5. Then the Presidents and Princes sought to find an occasion against Daniel concern­ing the Kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any errour or fault in him; then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the Law of his God: Faithfulness is a happy ornament, though they that wear it may be per­secuted by men, yet they will be upheld by God.

Oh! let us not pretend to be spiritual Wal­kers, when we have not acted the things [Page 82]that meet Moralists account no less than their du­ty to do, lest we become heirs of that wo pro­nounced against the Seribes and Pharisees, Math. 23. for pretending to be more righteous than any one sort of people in their time, and under a pretence of long Prayers, devour widows houses, and pervert the cause of the needy: Oh! let me intreat you, to look to your Souls, and do not make your liberty a cloak of maliciousness and deceit, but go to the light, that your deeds of darkness may be reproved: And know, you can no wayes tempt God more than to pray to him with any self-endedness, you do no better than seek to pull a curse upon your own heads, but when­ever you would be directed to pray, take these three Directions:

First, Desire with the help of God, to banish all self-ends and self-aims, that so you may come to understand the Will of God in the Scrip­tures.

Secondly, Consider really with your self, that the thing that you do desire, is not to the preju­dice of any one, but that you do as you would have others do to you, in case they were in your condition.

Thirdly, Be sure that you use as much mercy in your undertakings, as you would have God use to you in the last day, and then if you find that all these agree in and with your underta­kings, [Page 83]you may expect an Answer assuredly from the Lord, that is to say, a Blessing.

For do but mind the strange appearances of men in our times, in their intercessions to God in Prayer, one prayeth for the restoring of one thing, & another prayeth for the throwing of that thing down, and one will persecute another, because he will not worship God as he would have him worship him, and another will seek to take away the life of others, because they will not be con­formable to what they conceive is the right way of worship, so that Religion may but be your cloak, you value not what rule you have for your actions; Oh England, England! hast thou for­got a People that the Prophet complains of, That drew near to God with their lips, but their hearts were far away from observing his wayes: Oh! that I could but cause thee to understand the things that belong to thy peace, before they are hid from thy eyes; then surely you would own God to be a God of peace and love, and not such an imagined fancy as most men imagines him to be, and then you would come to understand that obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams, and to cry, Who is Paul? and who is Apollo? and who is Cephas? Paul plants, and Apollo waters, but it is God that must give the encrease, 1 Cor. 3.

It is far better for us to leave off professing [Page 84]our selves to be religious, than to pretend to a great height of Religion, and walk in the unhu­mane rudiments of the world, for whosoever will be a Disciple of Chirst, must take up his Cross and follow him, in his wayes as he walked in; he must not turn back to fetch any self-end to carry along with him, for if he do, he will endanger the being shut forth of the Bride-cham­ber, neither may he be freed from many encoun­ters with the perverse enemy of all mankind, but must take up his Cross and march forward thorow persecutions, and afflictions, and crosses in this life, and the more he seeketh to serve his Master, the more he will be had in disdain, not that any can tax him with injustice either to God or men, but wherever Christ hath a Church, the Devil will be labouring to lay one stone or other, you may go on a great way, and build a very fair Tabernacle with moral stones, and have the love of men, and not the hatred of the Devil; but if you come to understand your task, what it is that you are to build, be sure he will seek to torment you, and make your wages as uncomfortable as he can, he will have a Cain to persecute Abel, and a Ishmael for Isaac, and an Esau for Jacob, and ten Brethren against Jo­seph, and whole Cities and Nations against the Prophets and Apostles, nay, he would not leave Christ unattempted.

So that as I said before, if you will enter into this Company to be one of their Society, you must not think it too much to be a false prophet in o­thers esteem, but as all your Fore runners have done, count it your joy that you do not de­serve it at their hands, what though you are counted a Magician with Moses and Daniel, or a worshipper of a contrary thing with the most part of the Prophets, or a changer of customs and a prophane person, or a wine-bibber, or a mad man, or a breaker of the Sabbath with Christ and his Apostles, account it your joy to bear the reproach of these things, but be sure to keep your selves free from deserving any of them, but ap­prove your selves to be his friends, by doing what he hath commanded you, and then let the world rage, and the Devil spit his venemous poy­son how he please, God will provide you that that will expel it.

And whenever you are brought to that maturi­ty of knowledge, as to experience the love of God as it is in Christ Jesus, you will not sell your Birth-right for all the seeming preferments, and advancements that any unrighteous tempter shall seek to betray you withal, look to the branch and you will most commonly find what it is that nourisheth the root, if it be nourished by any inward spring, or grow by the River side, it will flourish, although the showres of rain do not [Page 86]come so frequently as they were used to do, for he that knowes not how to suffer with him, never knew how to rejoice with him, and he that is his, knowes how to do both.

But let not any one mistake me herein, and think that I conclude that every one that suffers, must suffer for Christ.

I must confess, I hardly did ever read that any Moralist could suffer for what he did maintain, or seek to maintain, if he could any wayes prevent his suffering; but in case he could not avoid suffering, any man will rather chuse that in which he hath had most experience, as a Phylo­sopher for his Phylosophy, and a Marshallist for his Adventures in War; but happy is he that can lay down his life as freely as keep it, upon the ac­count of his Lord and Master, in due respect to his honour and glory, and not for self-ends, or self-glory.

Many I know will be harping at these expres­sions; but let them know, that as I do not con­clude the Scriptures to be void of reason, so also I conclude, that it is beyond the moral reason of men, to find out the depths of the Scripture.

And as concerning War, I must count it is a thing in fashion in our dayes, and for me to seek to alter this fashion, I shall lye liable to the cen­sures of men, yet let the Scriptures be true, and have that respect to them that you should have, [Page 87]and then let me be what you please, I shall be brief in this particular at this time, onely refer you to those words of Christ that he left with his Disciples, Mat. the 26. and 52, & 53. verses, Put up thy Sword again into his place, for all they that take the Sword, shall perish with the Sword, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall give me more than 12 Legions of Angels, but how then shall the Scrip­tures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? and 2 Cor. 10.4. For the Weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pul­ling down of strong holds, casting down imagina­tions and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God; This is beyond the work of a moral sword: And Epkes. 4.3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace; and James 4.1, 2, 3. From whence comes wars and fighting amongst you, come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members, ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not, ye ask and re­ceive not, because you ask amiss, that ye might consume it upon your lusts, he that is a Friend of the world, is an enemy to God; and as you read in the first Book of the Chronicles 28. and 3. But God said unto me, thou shalt not build a house for my Name, because thou hast been a man of [Page 88]war, and hast shed blood; So that if that Tem­ple of God could not be builded by blood that was but a Type of the true Temple; sure­ly, the true Temple cannot be builded with blood or war, but in peace; it is not that Egypt is righteous enough to build the Temple of the Lord, though they may be made a scourge to E­dom, as Nebuchadnezzar was to Israel, I will not accuse a defensive sword, because I have seen that the manifestations of God are not all of them made known to any one man; but I cannot find that any Disciple of Christ should use a mor­ral sword, as he is a Disciple of Christ, or a Builder of the true Temple, for he that is a Buil­der of the true Temple, ought not to take re­venge against his enemies, but commit his cause to the Lord, to whom vengeance belongs; and therefore Christ bids us to forgive our enemies, least we should seek vengeance where God seeks none, for we are apt to condemn where God ju­stifies, and to set our selves upon his Seat; Where is any of Gods Messagers, but have re­ceived this censure from the men of their times? Therefore lest we should be liable to this failing, Christ warns us not to judge our Brethren, lest we be judged, for to his own Master he standeth or falleth: Nay, we are forbid to judge, accord­ing to what it appears to us, John 7.24. judge not according to appearance, but judge Righteous [Page 89]judgement: And no man can judge by appea­rance in many things, but he will doubt whether he judgeth right or not; therefore as we cannot measure Gods love, let us forbear judging our selves to be better than others, lest we underva­lue Christs sufferings.

But as concerning an offensive War, I find not any grounds in Scripture for it, and if any man can shew me any Scripture for it since the death of the Testator, at which time the Testament was of force, I shall not take it ill at his hands, for I have not so learned Christ as to flatter any one, Job 17.5. He that speaketh flattery to his friend, the eyes of his Children shall fail; Prov. 27.5, 6. Open rebuke is better than secret love, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

But some one may Object, Why did not Christ bid the Souldiers lay down their Armes, that came to ask him what they should do, he did not disencourage them in their undertaking, but bids them do violence to no man, and be content with their wages?

I Answer, That any man that is a perfect Per­former of this part of his duty, may give a just account of his actions, but you must observe that he that advises them to that, commanded also that they should love their enemies, and bless them that curse them, & pray for them that despiteful­ly [Page 90]use them, Mat. 5.44. So shall you approve your selves Children of your Father which is in Hea­ven.

But I suppose that Christ did never advise any of his Disciples to go to War with the worst of their enemies, nor to fight for a Kingdom of this world, but rather suffrr by the men of this world, if one must be; and as for his advise to the Soul­diers, I suppose it was rather that they should not break their engagements in what they were enga­ged in, as in respect to their Governours, or their loyalty to their promise, rather than his owning of the War to be according to the Will of God, for those for whom they fought were such as Christ doth condemn to be meer worldlings; And therefore how could their cause be good? And yet he would not advise them to break their engagements, but to act truth, that those whom he had spoke against for doing of injustice, might not have any thing to accuse him of, nei­ther in advise nor action; For what difference is there between the Righteous and the Wicked? But onely in their actions, as in respect of their honouring or dishonouring of God: It is a ve­ry vain thing for any one to think they are spiri­tually Righteous, when they are not morally just; For how can any man spirituallize himself, and not use morality? For whatever is mani­fested to be acted between man and man, is ex­ternal, [Page 91]in respect of decayableness and non­continuance; therefore God expects, that as you have received a Talent of Righteousness and Truth, so you should act truth and deal justly with all men, and not to boast of a Talent of Truth and Righteousness, when you act contra­ry, and do not improve it, but abuse the true use of it, for God is better pleased in the just demeanour toward men, than with thousands of sacrifices by your pretences in Religion, even as that is instanced of the Children of Israel in the time of Joshuah, as you may read Joshuah 9.19. they could not kill the Gibeonites, because they had made a Promise, that they would not destroy them, although the Lord had commanded to de­stroy all those people and places, shewing them the danger of making a league with them, as you may read Deuteronomy the 7th. Oh! how would many in our dayes swallow such an Oath, and never think themselves hardly the worse for so doing! should such a thing extend to their own ends in any one particular, these people might have pleaded that they could not disobey the Commands of the Lord, who had comman­ded them to destroy both young and old, and that they entered into Oath with them upon no other account, but as being a people that lived at a distance from the place which God had given them, and that it would be a great danger of their, [Page 92] sons marrying with their daughters, and their daughters with the Gibeonites, and so intice them to follow other gods: Therefore being forewarned by the Lord, they would prevent the worst, being it was upon a spiritual account, as indeed it would have seemed with many of our most zea­lous Professors; but the Princes of Israel say, They may not do it, for they had entered into Co­venant with them, to let them live: Therefore they would not become Covenant-breakers, but would make a Covenant to be a Covenant in deed as well as in words; I will endeavour to shew you 3 Reasons, why the Princes of Israel would not break this Covenant, when the peo­ple did earnestly desire it.

First, In respect they had not broken the Com­mand of God willingly or knowingly, and in case they should break this League with the Gi­beonites, they should offend against him in both, for that God that is the God that bid them keep those Covenants and Commands, bids them also act truth, and lye not one to another; that they may demonstrate to all people that they worship a God of Order, and a God that will not lye: Therefore seeing that they could not keep both, but that they were circumvented in one, they would be as exact as they could in the other; many look at what God sayes in one respect, but not at others, it had been good if Israel had not [Page 93]entered into League with them, to the contrary to have destroyed them, but seeing they had, though it was upon an account, as they thought of strangers, nay, they asked them if they did not live amongst them, and they said no, they came from a far Countrey.

I fear very few Professors in our time would be so exact in their carriage, for the praise of their Master.

Secondly, They knew they should very much dishonour their God in not confiding, that he was able to keep their sons and their daughters from believing or worshipping the gods of the Hea­then, if they should marry one with the other, it would seem a very dishonourable part for Is­rael, when they had engaged to Gibeon to break their Covenant, for fear the Gibeonites should draw them, or their sons or daughters from wor­shipping that God whom they served, it must needs argue that they give evident witness, that their God is not strong enough to encounter with the god of the Heathens, and that is the way to worship a god that is not; but in case thou art en­gaged, I find no Scripture grounds that you should ever falsifie your word for others, being worse than you, for that is the way to make thy self worse than they, whereas if Gibeon live with Israel, who knoweth but Israel may convert Gibeon; however, Israel will be Israel so long [Page 94]as they keep in this mind; It was the opinion of an antient Heathen, That no man could be spiritually good, if he was not morally just; and his reason was, That the spiritual God was a God of Order.

But some one may Object, Suppose that those that I have engaged to, should give me any just occasion to break my Covenant, they being as deeply engaged as I was, it is they that became Covenant-breakers, and not I; I hope I may freely break mine, without wronging my Con­science at all?

I Answer, It is one thing to be found an Of­fender in the sight or judgement of men, or their customary Institutions, and another to be found an Offender in the last day before the just Judge of Heaven & Earth, the Laws of men it may be may clear thee, and so thou canst not be said to be an Offender of them; but if thou approvest thy self not to be guilty of refusing the advice of Christ and his Apostles, thou must look further than what the Lawes of men do intimate; in some things the Lawes of Nations are differing, many Kingdoms allow that which others condemn, but God is one intire being, and his Law the one edifying Truth, which teacheth us not to render evil for evil, contrariwise but good; suppose you are but engaged conditionally, even as by indenture, where there are Obligations laid upon both sides, and thy Partner breaks his part [Page 95]of the Obligation, thou canst not but account it evil in him; And wilt thou commit the same e­vil by breaking thy part, when thou condemnest the same thing in another? Christ adviseth, us, that if any man compel us to go with him a mise, to go two; and if any man strike thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other, thou shalt not answer for this offence, but for thy own. And I must confess, it is my opinion that no one can with any safety break their engagements for the time they stood engaged at first, though you may receive great in juries by the other par­ties default; the Apostle Peter doth plainly in­timate as much in his first Epistle 2. Chapter 19, 20, 21. verses, For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suf­fering wrongfully, for what glory is it, if when you are buffeted for your faults, ye take it patient­ly; but if when you do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God: The Apostle doth not advise the servant to break his Covenant to his Master, because the Master doth break his, but rather suffer what punish­ment the Master shall inflict upon him; yea, herein is a Believers joy, that he is accounted worthy to suffer for maintaining the truth in any one particular, for all are not called to suffer in one manner or way, though flesh and blood may not seem satisfied with it, by reason [Page 96]of the present anguish of spirit, for no affliction seems joyous for the present, but grievous, yet after ward, it yieldeth the pleasant fruit of righteousnes, Heb. 12.11. So that though it may seem to ter­rifie thy outward man, yet thy inward man will be strengthened, the which ought to be rather nourished than neglected, and though it may seem to prove disadvantagious to thee in this life, yet here will be thy joy that thou hast obeyed the Truth, and canst look death in the face with great boldness, by thy exactness in thy word to all men, even as David speaks in Psalm 15.4. con­cerning those that shall be Inhabitants in Zion, amongst which one thing that is found needful, is to keep his Word, Though he sweareth to his hurt, yet he changeth not; revenge belongeth to the Lord, if you receive any wrong, commit your cause to him, and do not seek any revenge upon any man; but let not any seek to circum­vent me in this my description, I put a difference between the People of God promising, and a peo­ple that are in darkness, but I speak of them that engage, when they are in the tuition of the Lord, or at least wayes own themselves so to be, and a difference between the promises of the Law or under the Law, as they were understood, and the promises under the Gospel, for under the Law any man might put away his Wife, onely giving her a Bill of devorcement; but Christ tells us, [Page 97]that it is adultery, to do it in the Gospel, and cau­seth them to commit adultery also, that are put away in that nature; so it is not every thing that is customary with men, that is justifiable in the sight of God.

3. Israel had experienced, that God did make it his desire to keep those engagements that he had made to them, as it is often mentioned in the Scrip­tures, though they had broken their engagements as to their particular and general failings, yet God was so tender, least he should break his part, as that he doth as it were stand and meditate, before he will any wayes insist upon any urgent or austere punish­ment, and doth often invite them to return and review their wayes, and turn to repentance for their back-sliding, that he may have mercy on them, and defer his anger; God is just and merciful, and it can­not be said of him that he did ever break any engage­ment to any person or people, for as his promises have been to his people many times but conditio­nally.

For as he engageth to be a God and a Defender to them, if they will keep his Laws, and observe and do his Commands, so likewise he often enga­geth, that if they will not keep his Law, or per­form their part, that he will punish them, and leave them to their own wills and their own desires, and let them go on in their own filthiness, until they have fulfilled the desires of their own wayes, and then he will take the Rod and scourge them; so as I said before in this parricular, God is as just [Page 98]in performing this part of his Covenant, as he was in performing the other, by reason of the entailment of Truth that did force him to it, but in respect to those promises that are made absolute, he is so exact in keeping them, where there is no entailment to the contrary, as that he will keep his word, though a people do offend him and vex his Holy Spirit, as is instanced by his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in relation to his causing their seed to inherit the Land of Canaan; and although his People did oftentimes offend and vex his Holy Spi­rit, yet nevertheless, he being a God of Truth, he would not be moved so far as to make his Promise null and void of effect.

2. As he had promised that he would render up the onely beloved of his delight his Son Christ Jesus, to the mercies of wicked men, even to do after the imaginations of their own hearts with him, so far as concerned life to their appearance, so he did fulfil it to the full, although they had denied to own him in his intercessions, for a con­discention of love and unity; yea, they did not own him to be their God, they would have none of him nor none of his instructions, but did beat his Messengers, and imprison and kill his Prophets, and shewed him all the unhumane respect that possi­bly could be, and did him all the dishonour that lay in their power, yet nevertheless God had pro­mised that he would provide an acceptable sacrifice for the seed of Abraham, A Lamb without blemish or spot: And though the People were never so [Page 99]wicked and unhumane, and Breakers of all the Or­dinances, Laws and Commands that he had given them to observe and do, yet he could do no lesse than perform his Promise; Otherwayes how could it be said that he was a God of Truth?

So as it is plainly understood, that God hath been compelled by Truth many times, to bestow his gracious favours and mercies upon his People, when they have deserved a curse, and oftentimes, though it might with true acknowledgment and obedience be­come a Blessing to them that receive it; so it proves to those that are obstinately bent, even a curse by their not prizing of it as they ought to do, even as Christ was to Judas, and several other of the Jews.

Besides, The Israelites durst not break their pro­mise with Gibeon, for fear of dishonouring their God, and provoking him to anger, by making him odious in the fight of the Heathen, who do hold of this judgement, That if they do once promise a thing, their gods will afflict them, if they do not effect it, And should Israel act below the Hea­then? The very Heathen would condemn their God of injustice, as indeed it was Jacobs answer to his sons, Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, to make me stink before the Inhabitants of the Land, and I being few in number, the Canaanites and the Perizites will gather themselves together and slay me, and all my houshold; As you may read at large in the 34th Chapter of Genesis, and the 30th verse, Jacob accounted it a greater offence for Simeon [Page 100]and Levy to break their Covenant, than to let their Sister remain with Hamor, as indeed seeing she had been the occasion on the one part of working the defame in Israel; even so they had made Is­rael to stink before the Nations on the other side, and so consequently the God of Israel.

And if you do but mark in the following Chap­ter, you shall find that God doth take notice of it in the first verse, God calls to Jacob to go up to Be­thel, and dwell there: If you do but turn to the 28th Chapter of this Book, you shall find what Jacob did promise in Bethel, whether he is comman­ded to return, that is, to his promise in Bethel, That if God would bring him safe to his Fathers house, he should be his God: Now God had per­formed his promise, but Jacob had failed in his, in that his sons had broken their Covenant with She­chem and Hamer.

Object. Well, but what doth God call Jacob to go to Bethel, or to his promise in Bethel to do?

Answ. It was to take notice, that he had broke his promise, and therefore he commands Jacob to build an Altar there, for he would not answer him on that Altar El Elosie Israel, or in the breaking of the Covenant, but in Bethel, or his owning of him to be his God, and therefore Jacobs first work is to cleanse and purge his house of Idols, as you may read in the 35th Chapter, and to bury them in Shechem, before he could go up to Bethel, and tells his Family, that they must change their garments and be clean, and then arise and go to build an Altar [Page 101]in Bethel, and seek the Lord that answered him in his distress, and by that means a terrour did strike into the hearts of the neighbouring Cities that they journed safely.

Secondly, Israel had purchased Gods displeasure not long before this engagement was made with the Gibeonites, as is instanced in the 7th Chapter of Joshuah, and the 11th verse, Israel hath sinned saith the Lord, in breaking their Covenant which I commanded them, they have also stolen and have put it amongst their own stuff, and therefore they could not stand before their enemies: So you may see plainly, that God is very exact to have Israel keep his Law and Commandments, and had they not en­tered into Covenant with the Gibeonites to let them live, they durst not have preserved any of their lives, but seeing they had engaged to do it, though it was unknown to them of their living in that place, God was pleased better with it than if they had broke their Covenant, and Gibeon is not the last in process of time that laid their helping hand to build the Temple of the Lord in Judah, as you have in the third Chapter of Nehemiah and the 7th verse, which shews that God was well pleased with Israel for their keeping their Covenant, in accepting of the Gibeonites into his favour for Israels sake, whereas Achan offending against him, when there was no Obligation to urge him to it, he will not be friends with him nor with Israel, till they have de­stroyed him, but Israel must fall before the men of Aie, yea, and those that have not offended with [Page 102]polluting themselves in the forbidden inticements; therefore it is not that men do fall before their ene­mies alwayes for the sins that they commit them­selves, but for the pollutions of others Israel is said to sin in that one had sinned, even Achan, and God would suffer even 36 of the Israelites to dye before the men of Aie, and the rest to flee for A­chans offence; therefore I would entreat every man whatever, that professeth himself to be a Chri­stian, to take heed of offending God in this, or any other thing; for be sure, if God do not take up a controversie against us for our backsliding, yet we may be the occasion of his fury against others that are more innocent than we; for God will not be friends with Israel, till the Babylonish garment be burned, and Achan stoned.

Look to it as well as you please, you know your pay will be according to your work; I need not tell you, that there are more Babylonish garments than one, and I sear some that profess high Notions, have clothed themselves with them from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, onely wearing a religious cloak over it, to deceive; O men, look well to your selves, and let not your own hearts condemn you before God, and before I will not con­demn you, but I speak my mind plainly, be­cause there is too too many that heal your wound too slightly, even as the Prophet Jeremiah com­plains in the 6th Chapter of his Prophesie and the 14th verse, They have healed the hurt of my Daughter slightly, crying, peace, peace, when there [Page 103]is no peace: So it hath plainly appeared in our time, that we have pretended to a great measure of light in Religion, But where is the man that cryed, We are all fell short? But rather accounting that the Judgement that is fallen upon thee O England be­longed to Rome and the Beast, accounting of Christs Reign in person, and not minding to set up his Power in our hearts, just as the Children of Israel did account themselves happier in the Land of Canaan whilst they were in the Wildernesse, than they did in the pleasure of God, by which they were to enjoy it, and so fell to murmering and re­pining at Gods dealing with them according to his pleasure; therefore he slew that generation of men, and would not suffer them to enter into the Land at all; so may I say of thee O England, that hast had more discourse of the throwing down of Babylon, than thou hast had zeal to the God that should throw Babylon down into the bottomlesse pit; if pretences could have done it, I must con­fess thou mightest have gone a great way in it, but you sought to cleanse onely the outside, and did not furbish the inside to answer it; it would be a very small satisfaction to thee to have Christ reigne a thousand years upon the earth, and to begin his reign, before he hath been lifted up in thy heart, therefore first seek the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, and then [...]e sure all other things shall be added unto you; and do not think to dwell with the Father, unless ye eat the flesh of the Son, and if ye eat the flesh of the Son, ye shall live [Page 104]by him, even as he liveth by the Father, John 6.56, 57. Therefore do not think of satisfying your selves with any thing below him, but be sure to eat that which the Scriptures doth manifest to be in him: Thus wishing the one Almighty and infinite being to direct both you and I, that we may not look at things as they appear customary, but as they are in reality and truth, that we may believe in him that is our peace, By adding vertue to our Faith, and to Vertue Knowledge, and to Knowledg Temperance, and to Temperance Patience, and to Patience Godliness, and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness, and to Brotherly Kindness Charity, and if these things be in you and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 1.5, 6, 7, 8. For so is the Will of God, that with well-doing you might put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of malitiousness, but as the Servants of God, 1 Pet. 2.15, 16. And if you have so learned Christ, as [...]o observe and do these things that you are invited to, you need not fear what man can do unto you, but you will get into a stronger harbour, & take your repose, and wait till you hear the voice of the Bridegroom, crying, Come my People, enter thou into thy Chamber and shut thy doors about thee, hide thy self as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past, Esay 26.20.