Memorable Passages, relating to NEW-ENGLAND.
It is Written,
I Sought for a MAN among them, that should make up the HEDGE, and stand in the GAP, before me, for the Land, that I should not Destroy it.
The Rest of what is Written in the Verse▪ I will not Now Read unto you, as Wishing and Hoping, that it may Never be fulfilled in our Eyes!
IT was upon the Death of a Great Man among the Ancients▪ that a Famous and Well-spok'n Orator, Addressed a General Assembly of the Neighbourhood▪ with an Exclamation to [Page 4] this purpose, What shall we do, O Citizens? Our Walls are fallen down? Indeed, the whole World seems at This Day, under the Accomplishment of that Commination; in Is [...]i. 2.15. The Day of the Lord of H [...]sts, it shall be upon every Fenced Wall. But such a Dark and such a Black Day, is most particularly come upon O [...]r selves. The Death, which we have seen upon our Fi [...]st Generation, Administers unto us, who a [...]e Another, and well if not upon all Accounts Another, Generation, a Mournful Occasion for that Lamentation, Our Walls are Fallen down! The Death which we have therewithal seen Gradually Siezing upon our Precious and Pleasant Things, Administers unto us yet further Occasion for that Lamentation, Our Walls are fallen down! Yea, that our Walls are broken down, we have seen in the doleful and woful Effects of our own Experience, a most Effectual Demonstration.
If our Walls had not been bro [...]e [...] down, had the Wasting Fevers of the more Southern Indi [...]s broke in upon us, as [...]hey have done of late years, to render [...] as like the other West [...]Indi [...]n [...]l [...]ntati [...]ns, for our Natural [...]istempers, as we become [...] them for our Moral ones? If our Wall [...] [Page 5] had not been broken down, had worse things than Fevers, even I [...]dians, broke in upon us, as they have newly done, to lay wh [...]le Cou [...]ties desolate, and ba [...]ba [...]ously Butcher more than a Thousand of our Inhabi [...]ants? I [...] our Walls had not been broken down, had worse things than Indians, even Devils, broke in upon us, as they have sadly done, to Confound us wi [...]h such Praeternatural Operations, as have been the just Astonishment of the World? Worse yet! If our Walls had not been broken down, had worse things things than Devils, even Di [...]s, broke in upon us, as they do a pa [...]e, to Complete our horrible Defection from our First Loves, and our First Wayes, and make us, as the Degenerate Plant of a Str [...]nge Vine bef [...]re the Lord? In Truth, We may over our Country utter that Sigh, in Psal. 89.10. Lord, Thou hast broken down all us Hedges.
And, Wha [...] shall we now do? The Word of God, by His Prophet Ezekiel, shall Direct and Assist our Meditations upon that Important Question; and unto th [...]t word, I now call for your Earn [...]st H [...]d.
The Name of EZEKI [...]L, Signifies, The [...] of God; A Name w [...]ll beseeming [Page 6] an Embassadour of Heaven; and, As was his Name, so was He, for his becoming Fortitude, in his Witnessing for God against an Apostatizing People One of the Ancients has told us, That, he was Martyred and Murdered, for his Reproving of an uncontrouleable Sin, in some of the Rulers: And another of the Ancients ha's told us How? He was Dragg'd upon the Stones, till his Brains were dashed out. A Proportion of such usage must be Expected by all that will contend for God, with a due Fortitude, and Fidelity.
Ieremiah and Ezekiel were contemporaries in several Countrys; and such was their work, that both of them needed the Encouragement of a Contemporary Prophet. Indeed▪ That a Testimony for God, may be Effectually Delivered and Entertained, there had need be more than One, concurring to the Testimony. But now Ezekiel seems to be, both more Glorious in his Visions, and more Terrible in his Threatenings, than Ieremiah; and both of thos [...] ▪ as well Terrible Threatenings, as Glorious Visions, do notably Occur, in the Chapter now before us.
I Remember, Nazianzen calls our Ezekiel, A Beholder of Great thing [...] ▪ but [...]e-thinks, [Page 7] he is in our Context here, A Beholder of Sad things. For Burning Dross in a Furnace, is here made the Type of the Consuming and Fiery Desolations, that were coming upon a Professing People of God. Referring hereunto, behold an Horrid Mirrour here set before us.
F [...]st, A Catalogue of their Sins, is offered. The Ordinances of God were dispised among them, and the Sabbaths of God profaned. They were a very Ungoverned sort of People, and much given to Oppressing of one another. Bloodguiltiness lay upon the Land; Adulterous and Incestuous, and most Abominable Uncleannesses were Committed in it.
Secondly, A Destruction for their Sins, is denounced. God would send Fire, and Sword, and many Wasting Afflictions upon them. They should be Scattered as wretched Captives in other Countryes. Fearful Derision and Infamy, should from abroad be heaped upon them. And the Lord would withold from them the Rains of His Word and Grace, in the Day of His Indignation.
Thirdly, The Aggravations attending their Sins, are declared. And what were they?
[Page 8]One Aggravation of their Sins, was, The Universal Prevalency of them. All ranks of men, were sunk into the Corruption of Manners, now prevailing In the Church, there were Officers more conc [...]rned for their Livings, than for the Salva [...]ion of Souls; and the In [...]tituti [...]ns of God were p [...]ostituted unto the Lusts of men, in Promis [...]uous Administations, which put no Difference between the H [...]ly and the Profane. In the State, there were Officers who made a [...] Prey of the Inhabi [...]ants, and had fetched Blood in wrongful Executions; and Self was all they Served. Among the People of the Land, there was nothing to be seen but Injury and Vex [...]tion Passing from one unto another. When, All Flesh had thus Corrupted their way, in pleasing of the Flesh, was high time for an Overwhelming Inundation of Calamities!
Another Aggravation of th [...]ir Sins, was, The Insensibl [...] Security in them. That men were very Secure under a most Perillous Condition of Affairs, is intimated in the Text now read unto us. Wherein,
First, We have the Peoples Enj [...]yment. That was, An Hedge. The Hebrew word here notes, A Wall, made either of [Page 9] Stone or Wood. The Metaphor Signifies, The Protection of God, about our Comforts; with a Defence and Shelter from Innumerable Mischiefs, whereunto, we should, without that Protection be Obnoxious, in this Present Evil World.
Next, We have the Peoples Misery. That was, A Gap. The Hebrew word here notes, A Breach, at which Destroying Enemies may make their Entrance. The Metaphor Signifies, An Obnoxiousness to wretched circumstances, by Sin forfeiting the Protection of God; with a Loss of those things wherein we have that Protection.
Lastly, We have the Expectation of our God concerning such a People. He sayes, I Sought for a man, that should make up the Hedge, and stand in the Gap. It intimates▪ Not only that Some One at least, ought then to have Appeared, by his Pious Interpositions to have diverted the Wrath of God, but also that the Appearance of One might have done Something towards the Diversion of that Wrath.
So then, there is a most Solemn and Weighty CASE; indeed, the more Solemn and Weighty, because it is, OUR OWN, Case: where-with I am now to [...] you.
The CASE.
What is to be done, when the Sins of a People, have made a Gap in their Hedge, and caused them to Loose the Protecting Presence of God?
Or,
What is to be done, to keep off Ruines, from a People, that by their Sins, have brought themselves into Dangers to be Ruined?
That is,
What have WE to do at this Day, for the Retrieving of OUR OWN Unhappinesses?
Having advised You, That our Hedge lies in those things, wherein we have the P [...]cting Presence of God; and that our Gap lies in our Be [...]eavement of those things wherein we have that Protecting Presence ▪ I hope it will be no, Untempered: Morta [...] daubed upon a Broken Wall, i [...] I lay Five Counsils this Day before you.
I. What is to be done? Let Every [...] most penitently Enquire and Bewayl, what [...] Hath done, towards making a Gap in our Hedge? When the People had l [...]id [Page 13] themselves open to many Ruines, it was Th [...] the complaint concerning them, in Jer. 8.6. No man Repented him of his Wickedness, Saying▪ What have I done? Every one turneth [...]o his Course, as the Horse rusheth into the Battel; and indeed, they Break through the Hedge in doing so! As it was with Old Israel, Oh Let it not be so with New-England at this Day, for Impenitent Inadvertency. There is no Gap, ordinarily made in an Hedge, but all the People within, have an Hand in making it. I say then, Yea, 'tis the Lord of Hosts, who saith it; That all the People, upon our Earth, are to obey that Repeated call of Heaven, in Hag. 1.5, 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your wa [...]es. When the Grove of Ophrah was cut down, there was great▪ Asking, Who hath done this thing? and the Answer was very particular, That it was done by such an One. If our Hedge be Broke down, it should also be asked, Who hath done this thing? but the answer must be very Comprehensive; even like that in the Acknowledgments of the Returning Levites, when they were making up their Wall, after their Captivity, That all sorts of men have done wickedly. It was a Confession frequently, and it may be Sinfully, made by the [...] in the primitive Times, upon [Page 12] any notable Turn of the Times, Peccavimus Omnes; We have all mistaken! But it becomes us all, with all the Dispositions of a Penitent Soul, to make that Confession at this Time, We have all miscarried. For indeed, All we like Sheep, have gone astray; [Peccare, est instar Pecudum Errare] and we have all broke through, and broke down, the Hedge of God about us, in those our Violent Aberrations.
But we ought especially to Reflect upon the Errors which we have committed, in the more Critical Dayes of Temptation which have been upon us; when a special Energy of Satan ha's been driving us, it may be first out of our Witts, and then out of our Way. It is Written concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, He was led into the Wilderness, to be Tempted of the Devil. Truly, the People of our Lord Jesus Christ, Led into this Wilderness, have not only met with a continual Temptation of the Devil here; the Wilderness hath alwayes had Serpents in it; but also we have had in almost every New Lustre of years, a New Assault of Extraordinary Temptation upon us; a more than common Hour and Power of Darkness. Our Hellish Adversary, ha's ever now and then obtained a Permission from the God [Page 13] of Heaven, to give some Singular Embarassment unto our Affairs; whereby our Lusts have been Excited and Exerted, and our Minds have been thrown into the Disorder from whence comes Every evil Work.
What a Day of Temptation, was it, when a Flood of Antin [...]mian and Familistical Opinions, cast out by the Dragon, had like to have Swallowed up the Church Fled into this Desart, in its Infancy: and a Factious Distinction made between, Men under a Covenant of Works, and Men under a Covenant of Grace, as it were by some Enchantment, insinuated it self into all our Concernments, to the producing of Works wherein there was little enough of Grace discovered?
What [...] Day of Tempta [...]ion, was it, when the Controversy ab [...]t the Extent of Baptism, and of Church Wa [...]ch, was in its warmest Agitation; and Scandalous Divisions thereupon arose between Synodalians and Antisynodists: Wherein we have been too like, and it may be too unlike Children, while we have been contending about the Covenant of our Children?
What a Day [shall I say, or Night] of Temptation, have we seen, when the Evil Angels were let loose upon us, dreadfully to Annoy our Neighbourhood, not only [Page 14] with Tormenting Af [...]lictions, but also with unheard of Delusions; and cause us to buffet one another in as Dark a Time, as that which once Distressed Egypt for three Dayes together?
Have we not had our Successive Dayes of Temptation, relating to the posture of things in the Common Wealth? Sometimes, [...]e contestations about the Negative, have made us too nigh the Denying of Reason to one another. Sometimes the measures of Compliance with Demands from the other side of the Water, have Occasioned those Heats among us, which we cannot justify. The Unsettlements that we have had since the Revolution, have th [...]y not rendred us, like the Sea, which cannot rest, whose Waters cast up Mire & Mud? And how many Dayes of Temptation have been Successively in this and that Plantation of our Wilderness? One while, the Rebuilding and Removing of Meeting-houses, ha's unfitted the Neighbours, for Lifting up pure Hands without Wrath together in those Houses. One while the Enclosing of Commons, hath made Neighbours, that should have been like Sheep, to Bite and [...] one another. One while, the Disposal of little matters, in our Militia, ha's made us e' [...]e [Page 15] ready to fall upon one another with Force of Arms. I might add; There Scarce ever was any One Great Man Engaged much in the Service of this People, but the People have at some time or other, made it an Extraordinary Day of Temptation for that man. And sometimes, little Piques between some Leading men in a place, have mislead all the Neighbours far and near into most unaccountable Party-making. Alas, How many Massahs, and Meribahs, have we had in our Wilderness!
But, Little do we think, how much these Dayes of Temptation, have been Dayes of Provocation, before the Lord. They have been Dayes, wherein all sorts of men, have too much abandoned the conduct of that Good Spirit, which would Lead us into the Land of Uprightness, and Gratify'd that Evil Spirit, which is all for Envying, for Slande [...] ing, for all the Expressions of Uncharitableness. Who can throughly understand the Errors, wh [...]h he ha's committed, when he ha's been D [...]vil-driven? Or, which is all one, when he ha's been Passion-driven, been Malice-driven; Yea, or Self-driven, or, indeed▪ but [...] unto Himself? Let us all then Re [...]ect [...] upon our own Behaviours in such [...]yes [...]f our Fiery Trials; in such bitter [Page 16] burning Pare [...]ylms; and let us every where Abase our selves before God and Man, for the wrongs we have done to our Hedge in those Evil Dayes.
When a man ha's ventured upon the Doing of any thing, that is not according to the Known Rules of Piety, and of Charity, it may be said of him, as in Eccl. 10.8: He breaketh an Hedge, and a Serpent shall [...] him. 'Tis by breaking the Hedge of Gods Commandments, that we lay our selves open, for Serpents, to come in, and Crawl and Coyl about us, and for many Troubles to fasten their direful Stings upon us. We have All done so; and therefore, if we would not our selves retain too much of the Serpent in us, Let us take that Counsil, in Lam. 3.40. Let us Search and Try our Wayes, and Turn again unto the Lord. Oh! What an Humbling Thought should this be, to any man of Ingenuity, I am the man, that have done Harm to the Hedge of my Country▪ my Sins have had their Sh [...]res in laying [...] my Country to the Displeasure of God! And there is this to be said for the Enforcing of this Humbling Thought; If any man do Imagine that none of his Transgressions hav [...] [...] thing towards the Inc [...]mmoding of the Common Hedge, I do, in the Name of the [...] [Page 17] God, Arrest That man, for one of the Principal, in the Trespass, which ha's been Committed; I say, THOU art the man!
II. If we do not make much of our Hedge, we shall do Nothing to make up any Gap in our Hedge: Werefore let us have a Great Concern, and an High Value, for those things, which Cover us from Invasions. As there are Thousands of Saints in this Country, who have such an Angelical Guard about them, that what we find spoken of Iob, is to be spoken of Them, in Iob 1.10. Hast thou not made an Hedge about him? So the whole Country it self ha's been under those Dispensations of God, which have made that Account proper to be given of us, in Math. 21.33. There was a certain Housholder, which Planted a Vineyard, and Hedged it round about. Unto what Ruines had we lain open, if our God had not Hedged us, with at least, a Treble Muniment? Now that which I say is, Let us count this Three-fold Hedge, worth our Thanks, worth our Cares, worth our most Expensive Reparations!
First, A Good Government, ha's been the Hedge of our Land. No Persecutions did Incommode our Civil, or our Sacred Enjoyments, while we had a Royal CHARTER, [Page 18] to be an Hedge about those Enjoyments: and we could Successively, in this one Colony Elect no less than Seven Governours, and our Brethren of the Elder Colony now Incorporated with us could Elect no less than Four such Governours, which were so many Nehemiahs, Men seeking the Welfare of the Children of New-England; with choice Numbers of Assistants annually chosen to be, The Shields of our Earth. When that Hedge was broken down, we have so far seen it made up again, as it is this Day. Though Indefatigable Intercessions with Heaven and Earth, and some years of Sisyphaean Labour, Employ'd by such as have arrived unto us with ample Testimonials of having Acted for us, with An Inviolate Integrity, an Excellent Prudence, and an unfainting Industry, have not procured us our Former Hedge, in all things, just as it was; yet you happily see what is obtained, in another CHARTER for us: An Hedge, wereby all Christian Liberties, and all English Liberties are Secured unto us; An Hedge, whereb [...] our Titles to our properties, and possessions, once questioned, are at once Confirmed, beyond the Reach of all Intrudors; An Hedge, through which no Iudges, no Councellours, no Iustices, or Sheriffs, [Page 19] can be Arbitrarily Imposed up [...] [...] and in this our Hedge, we have a [...] upon our Governours, beyond the re [...] [...] our Nation abroad. There is in these things yet, an Hedge about us, in respect whereof, we are Known above all the Families of the Earth.
Well; Is there any Unfinished, or Undesired part, yet left in this Hedge? To Prize what we have, is the way for us to Gain what we have not. Unthankfulness to God and the King, will but bring upon us the Fate of Hypocrites, To have, even what we seem to have, Taken away. If We shall reckon, that the maturest and liveliest Consultations, are too painful Things, to keep up such an Hedge, I shall take leave to say, I believe, There is not, besides Us, that People upon the face of the whole Earth, which would be of Our Opinion. But besides all of those Endeavours, our Anniversary Endeavours, for the Fixing of Good Stakes in such an Hedge, are also called for; Good Stakes, I say, for which we have this Encouraging Advantage, that when once in, they cannot without the concurrence of our own Hands, be plucked up.
Secondly, A Good Ministry, ha's been the H [...]dge of our Land. At and For our [Page 20] [...] Se [...]tlement, there came over the [...] Ocean, Seventy Seven Orthodox [...], Able Ministers, in the Actual Ser [...]ice of the Churches; besides, Twice Seven more, Candidates in Divinity, who quickly after were thrust forth as Labourers, in the Harvest of the Lord: by which wonderful Secession, there were not known to be left so many Non-conformist Ministers in England, when the Dismal Civil Wars begun, as there were Counties in the Kingdom. And what an Hedge have we had in those Eminent Men of God? As they were the Chariots, and the Horse-men, so, they were the Hedge, of our Israel! It was especially by being Israels, or men who had Power in Wrestling with God, that they were so. It was foretold, and what was foretold was fulfill'd, concerning some of them, That as long as they Lived, New-England should be preserved from any General Desolations. This Peerless Hedge, ha's been, all, saving two or three of the Second Lester Classis, taken away; the Hedge ha's been Transplanted into the upper Eden of God. And let some Shamefully Paganizing Villages in our Borders now intimate unto us, what woful Inroads of Ignorance, of Wickedness, of Barbarity, had we now, Suffered, if ou [...] God, [Page 21] had not supplied us, with a Blessed [...] for the Renovation of our Hedge [...] have a Well Governed COLLEDGE, [...] whence there have i [...]sued, it may be, upwards of Tw [...]-H [...]ndred Preach [...]rs, to make Glad the City of God: Yea, many Plants of Renown have been raised in this our Hedge. And whereas there are Perhaps, about an Hundred and Ten Christian Congregations in this Wilderness, there is hardly One Score of them, that are not at this Day Instructed, by Teachers, which this Colledge ha's afforded unto them. Unhappy, and Unhedged We, if at last, we should have no Pastors any better than sorry Hedge-Priests, to Entrust with the care of our Souls! Or, if we should come to say, To what purpose is this Wast? upon all that should go to keep alive the Schools of New England, while our Neighbours in Virginia are using their Laudable and Liberal Essayes to Erect an University!
Well; Would we have this Hedge mentained? It is a Quick-sett Hedge; and it must not be Sapped, it must not be Starved, there must not be witheld from it, more than is meet; nor may we think, that it can mentain it self. Would we not have all [...] of Soul destroyers to become rampant [Page 22] [...] among us? This is the Hedge that must keep them out! If we would have our, Little Flocks guarded against grievous Wolves, they are not severe Laws against Haeretical Pravities, but it it a Learned, an Holy, and a Countenanced Ministry that must be our Hedge. And of this matter I speak the more anxiously, because as I have heretofore most Publickly declared, even when things were more quiet this way, than it seems, they now begin to be, within a few Miles of us, I am verily perswaded, That when-ever we shall come to have a Little more of Rest, from those mischiefs of War, and Fear, which now Embroil us, we shall have some Storm of Heresies terribly threatning to sink our most Holy Faith. Methinks, I feel the Breeding, I see the Gathering, of such a Storm, in some things not now to be insisted on. Remember, I beseech you, the Humble Praemonitions, which have this Day, been given unto you, That upon a Moral Prognostication, poor New-England will much of it be Swallowed up in Haeresy, and much in Atheism, within a little while, if we are not in good Earnest about Sufficiently Supporting, a Sufficient Ministry, as our Hedge, when the Blast of the Terrible One, is as a Storm against the Wall.
[Page 23]Thirdly; A Good Church-Discipli [...], is an Hedge of our God about us. Tis the Compellation of the Catholick Church, in Cant. 8.13. Thou which dwellest in the Gardens. Particular Churches are those Gardens of the Lord. And hence the French-Protestants when they have been going to their Church-Meetings, have some times very agreeably used that Form of Speech, Let us go to Paradise. We have a Country full of Gardens; but, what Hedge, I Pray, about them? Our Discipline is our Hedge; a Discipline, Detaining, Debarring, Secluding from Ecclesiastical Priviledges, those who in Works Deny God, though in words they may Profess that they know Him; a Discipline which in a way of Iust Proceeding, shall either Keep out, or Throw out, the Roots of Bitterness, whereby many would be defiled. All that ha's a Tendency to make our Churches, no longer, the Actual and Lively Pourtraitures of Heaven, Representing to the World, Who shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His Holy Place forever; it ha's a Tendency to pull down our Hedge. Wisdom it self, ha's branded the Folly of them that Pull down their House with their own Hands: for us to part with our Ch [...]rch Discipline, would be with our own Hands, to [Page 24] Pull down an Hedge, which cost our Fathe s, What a To [...]ls [...]me Husbandry! We have long since, by our Ascended Lord, been favoured, with a Plat-f [...]rm of such a Discipline; whereof those Reverend Persons, of the Presbyterian P [...]rswasion, who Published their Ius Divinum, about Forty years ago, do say, That they Agreed with the Things of the greatest Conc [...]n [...]ent in it; and that th [...]se things wherein they d [...]ffered from it, were of lesser Consequence; whereof their Debates were not (Contentiones) Contentions, but (Collationes) Conferences. A Discipline, Securing the Rights of Particular Churches, as to the power of Self Reformation; A Discipline, allowing a just Regard unto Councils upon Difficult Emergencies; A Discipline, Admitting no Visible Unregenerates, unto those Tremendous Mysteries, our Sacraments; This is that Hedge, which will be our Glory; and as long as we have this Glory, we shall have a Defence on, as well as in, the Glory.
Behold, Another Hedge, which we should Esteem too Considerable to be Deserted! Indeed, I am far from Imagining, That our Works are perfect before God; I am far from Imagining, That being Increased in Good Things, we have Need of Nothing. Doubtless, we have our Def [...]iencies, in sundry points, that [Page 25] want either to be Corrected or Improv [...] ▪ Nevertheless, I am glad, That before my Stepping over into that World, which I am now waiting for, I have this Opportunity, to declare among you; If our [...] Church-Discipline, or the Essentia [...]s and Substantials of our Church-Discipline, once come to be Sacrificed unto the Corruptions of This World, our Hedge is gone; we may Sigh, Ichabod, Where is the Glory? Whatever Wall shall be left unto us, will be, A Wall with a Leprosy in it; and a Leprosy, like that, which ha's been so rivetted into the Walls of the Europaean Christendome, that our Eternal High-Priest, will see it needful to take all down, e're it be quite gotten out!
This is our Hedge, and this to be the Regard of our Hedge.
III. What shall we do, when a Gap is made in our Hedge? Mind, See, Shun the Thing [...], that make the Gap; When th [...]se t [...]ings are Understood and Avoided, our Hedge, will still be Flourishing.
But what things are they, that lay us open to many Romes? In one [...]; [...]ur Sins against our [...] Kee [...]er. It is our not k [...]eping [...] H [...]dge, that is chastised with His [...] [Page 26] up of Ours. What things are they that compose our Hedge? Not our Castles, not our Frigats, not our Numbers, 'tis said, in Prov. 18.11. The Rich mans Wealth is an H [...]gh Wall in his own Conceit; and it is but in Conceit! No 'tis the Favour of God, which gives us, as our Shield, so our Hedge. So then, our Hedge is demolished, by any thing, by every thing, that shall with-draw from us, the Favour of our God: and there is no such mischievous Thing, but our Sin against Him. We are sometimes ready to Expostulate with our God, as in Psal 80.1 [...]2. Why hast Thou broken down our Hedges? But He may Reply upon us, as in Jer. 2.17. Hast thou not procured This unto thy self, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God? Or as in Jer. 4.18. Thy away and thy Doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness.
There are Some Sins that Naturally ▪ and Necessarily prejudice our Hedge; those are, the [...] Usages of them, that God hath most eminently placed there. We find, concerning our Dayes, in 2 Tim. 3.1, 2. [...] Times shall come, and men shall w [...]nt [...] about them, to keep off [...] Injuries; why so? For, Men shall [...]. Ingratitud [...] unto useful [...]pmen, [Page 27] leaves a People, Friendless, and that is to be Hedge [...]less within a little while. The Benefactors of an Ungrateful and Reprochful Generation, do at last frequently grow weary of Serving their Generation, and Resolve, I will not be an Healer, or an Hedger to such a People! Such a People will at length see, that the Vengeance of God, will deprive them of almost all their Accomplished men, in all orders; and as for the Few that shall be left, either by some Enchantment there shall be an Incureable Alienation between Them and their People; or else they will be under Invincible Disc [...]uragements to do any more for a People, who when they have done their best, will but Revile them for it. What if there sho [...]d any where be a Country of professed Christians, among whom, not only Neglect but Cruel Hatred and Slander shall be the certain Country-Pay, of every Publick Servant; and among whom it shall be observed, That no man, though the Holiest and Exactest Liver in the World, shall preserve a Good Name, after he ha's been a Publick Servant! I beseech you, what cens [...]e would the true Spirit of Christianity pas [...] upon such a Country? It is by the Pagans t [...]mselves, mentioned as the Brand upon Old Egypt, [...]t [Page 28] was, Loquax et Ingeniosa, in Contumeliam Prefectorum provincia; si quis fortè vitaverit culpam, Contumeliam non eff git: In plainer New-English, It was a Province out of measure Talkative and Ingenious, for the Vilifying of its Publick Servants; let a man be never so free from Fault, he should not scape free of Blame, among them. I now▪ demand, what Men, that were not more than Men, would offer to stand in the Hedge, for such a Nation? And yet if our Hedge be not made of Men, we have none at all. Or, what were like to become of a People, when once there are those Complaints dayly made, in the Ears, of the Lord God of Sabaoth, against them, from one Person, I have Exposed my Life in the High Places of the Field, for this People, but they injuriously Defraud me of my wages! From another Person, I have almost undone my Family to Serve this People at home and abroad, but they take little notice of it! From a Thi [...]d Person, Day and Night have seen, Heaven and Earth have known, how faithfully I have Laboured many years to do this People Good, and yet they do nothing but Stone [...] for it! Never did a Congregation in a Wilderness, abuse their Moses's, but they direfully broke their Hedges by doing of it.
[Page 29]But All Sins do thi [...] Damage, Morally and Meritoriously. Our Sins are those Accursed Things, which by producing of Breaches in our Hedge, do p [...]ove the T [...]ublers of ou [...] Land. Would we have our W [...]ll undisturbed? There are then certain Heads, I mean Hearts, to be thrown over our Wall; briefly, Forego, and Cast off our Sins which do Separate, as with an High-W [...]ll between God and us.
Especially, those things which do more grossly Pollute the Land, most grea [...]ly [...]xpose it. Mark it, I pray; when the Good Spirit of God, goes away from a People, so as to Influence them no more by His Holy Motions, but Abandon them to the wayes of their own Hearts, He makes a Broad Gap in the Hedge, at His Going. Now this Harm is done, by more Intolerable D [...]filements indulged among a People; They drive the Good Spirit of God away from among them, who sayes, Wo to them, when I depart from them!
I am sure that Sorceries familiarly practised among a People will wound their Hedge inexpressibly. It ha's been [...]nquired How so many People came to be P [...]ss [...]ssed by th [...] Devil, about the Time of our Lords Incarnation? T [...]ly, 'twas not mee [...]ly because an Aping Satan [Page 30] would be more manifest in the Flesh, when there was going to be God manifest in the Flesh; but Learned men have told us, that horrid Sorceries usually practised among the Jews, were the Things that broke the Hedge about them, and let in the Devils to Worry them amazingly. Monstrous the Stories, in the Talmuds hereabout! I will not now recite them; only say, If Idle Fortune-tellers, and they that by unlawful Arts, do seek after the Forbidden Knowledge of Secret and Future things, are countenanced among a People, or Impious Almanacks come to be therefore of more Cr [...]dit perhaps, than the Infallible Praedictions of the Scriptures among them: The Grieved Spirit of God will soon leave the Hedge for Evil Spirits to get in, as they please, upon them.
It is also particularly noted, concerning Inces [...]uous Abominations, in Lev. 18.25. The Land is thereby Defiled, and it Vomits out her Inhabitants; you may be sure, Through some formidable Gap! There are Bruitish men in these dayes, who object, What are we concerned in the Restraints of Marriage, by the Laws of Leviticus? I Answer, We are obliged by those Laws, to mentain the Good Order which God ha's Established in Humane Society by those [Page 31] Laws; and the Light of Nature, in mankind, as now Increased, abundantly testifies thereunto: By the same Token, That t [...]e Violation of those Laws, is declared one of those things for which the Ancient Canaanites were spued out of the Land. Wherefore, when Adultery, yea, when Polygamy, shall show its face in a Land, and there be no Exemplary punishments ordered for the filthy Malefactors; and yet more, when wicked men shall Unite themselves unto the Sisters of their Deceased Wives, or unto the Daughters of those Sisters; and when men shall venture to Espouse, within those Degrees of Consanguinity to their Departed Wives, and so, of Affinity to themselves, wherein they would be afraid of Touching their own Consanguines; but most of all, when men shall be so forsaken of Humanitie, as openly t [...] Plead for such Enormities; fearfully Def [...]ed is that Land. There is no other Hedge, when men will not be Hedged up from such Defilements.
Again, Upon a Sinful Return to Vain Customes, from whence God ha's Required and Begun a Separation, 'tis noted, in Exod. 32.25. A Church in a Wilderness were made Naked, unto their Shame, amongst their Enemies; there was a Gap, through which [Page 32] their Enemies might come at them. Suppose that God ha's been by Great Wonders bringing a People into a Wilderness, that so He might Ref [...]rm them, and Reclame them from all the Ill Effects of a Superstitious Education: He then sayes of Them, This People have I formed for my self! and if they▪ Show forth His Praise, they shall also be Fenced by Himself; He sayes of them, These are to be a Peculiar People! and if they be Zealous of Good Works, He will be so long Zealous for their Welfare. But if once they go back to those Unwarrantable Superstitions, which they had formerly escaped, you see, [...] become Naked presently. They shall [...] no longer Hedged, by the Distinguishing Tutelage of Heaven, when the H [...]dge, of Loyalty to the pure Institutions of the Blessed Jesus, which distinguished them f [...]om others, i [...] l [...]id aside.
Shall I say [...]urth [...]: An Hedge may be Washed away. May not all the Banks of a Country, be washed away, by a Flood of Strong D [...]ink? Yea, And some t [...]ink, it will be w [...]ll if many of ours ere long be not [...]o The way of Ti [...]ling at the Tavern, begins to overturn [...]ll sorts of Good Order, in many Towns among us; and to Drow [...] both Religion, and [...]. A Flo [...]d [...] [Page 33] Impiety, both among English and Indians, yea, and of Bloodguiltiness too, ha's been let in upon us, through this way of Sinning. Shall I say more? Twould be ill indeed if the Rhum-Bottle, should come to render any that are in a Publick Capacity, uncapable of Acting with a due Application for the Publick: or if ever any Sons of God, in our Hedge, be drown'd by this Flood! Stop it, I Intreat you; l [...]st the Breach in our Hedge, come to that pass, in Lam. 2.13. The Breach is great like the Sea; who can heal thee? But it cannot be Stop'd, unless by severe Laws, framed, in spite of any Worldly Interest unto the contrary, without such Ambiguities of Expression, as may become a Snare to Officers, and a Scorn to Offendors; for the Enacting of which Laws I make my self this Day, Your Humble Petitioner.
What need I say more? But that the Hedge is ruined by all Unfruitfulness. When a Vineyard of our God, brings forth Wild Grapes; What follows? In Isa. 5.5. I will take away the Hedge thereof, and it shall be Eaten up; I will break down the Wall thereof, and it shall be troden down. Better Fruits, than those yielded by the Wild Heathen, are Expected from them, who have [...] Hedge of God about them. Is there among [Page 34] us, that Unrighteousness, that Fraudulence, that False-speaking, that Contempt of Superiours, that want of Good Nurture, that Sleight of them that have the Cure of Souls, which the very Heathen have accounted Criminal? Nay, If there be not among us, an abundance of those Fruits, which are to the Praise of God; Then as David said once, In Vain have I kept all that this Fellow hath in the Wilderness; even so, our God will say, In Vain have I made an Hedge, about such a People in a Wilderness; what will signify an Hedge about such a Barren Soyl?
In a word; It was said, in Zech. 2.5. The Lord will be to her, a Wall of Fire round about, and will be the Glory in the midst of her. An Hedge, all Fire, is one which no Wild-Beasts will dare to break thorough; but if once we come no longer to pursue this as our chief Glory, Our Devotion to God; and our Enjoyment of God, in His Ordinances; if we are for no other Glory, than what the Sons of old Farmer Laban accounted so; even. The Riches of this World; the Fiery Wall will soon be put out, and every Wild Beast will find us lying open to their bloody Depr [...]dations.
IV. What shall we do for our Hedge? [Page 35] Note Every Gap made in the Hedge, as fast as it is made, and observe Diligently the Gradual Decayes of our Hedge. When a People are laid open to Ruines, 'tis done, for the most part Pr [...]gressively and Insensibly. The Gradual Removes of the Glory were strictly Observed in the Tenth Chapter of Ezekiel; and so should be the Gradual Decayes of a Glorious Hedge. It was predicted in Isa. 17.4. The Glory of Iacob shall be made Thin; tis done, when the Hedge becomes Thinner than it was; and when such a thing is inflicted, we should Exactly observe the Thinnings of the Glory. Observe, what Advantages, our worst Enemies gain, to break in upon us; and Which way, and How far, they Gain those Advantages. Observe, How those things are Lessened among us, whereby the Anger of God might be kept off, and so There is a way made for His Anger; Observe, How those things are Increased among us, that Increase our Confusions, and that make us every way truely Little. I say, Whoso is Wise, will Observe these things; but if we would Observe Wisely, we must make Pr [...]vention the end of our Observation.
ONE THING▪ I would ask in the Fear of God! Is there no Hazard, that Religion may come to be Lost, in these American [Page 36] Regions? Tis an old Saying, What hath been, May be; and what hath been, I will now inform you. In the Dayes of the Great CALVIN, under the Influences of that Admirable Hero and Martyr, Coligni the French Admiral, a Noble Knight began to Attempt the Settlement of some French Colonies in America, for the Propagation of the Protestant Religion. Arriving at Brasile, they hoped they had found Quiet-Seats, where the Reformed Churches, might be Erected, Mul [...]iplied, and forever sheltered from the Annoyances, whereto they were in Europe liable. Geneva sent over a Number of Excellent Pastors for the Churches now setting up in those desolate Corners of the Earth, very little different from ours; but it was not long before there happened among them, some unhappy Controversies, which drove their principal Pastors home again, and as for the People that staid behind, no other can be learnt, but that they are utterly lost, either in Paganism, or in Disaster. Truly, if that Glori [...]ous RE [...]REFORMATION, which is most certainly and now speedily, to be effected in the Church of God, should not Relieve our Degeneracies, there would be cause to suspect, whether this French Story, might [Page 37] not be Translated into English before we are aware.
Give me leave to become your Monitor, in and by This ONE Reflection. The Devil, is more desirous to Regain poor New England, than any one American Spot of Ground, whose Inhabitants have yet heard the Silver-Trumpets of the Gospel; he would have more of Triumph, and of Trophy, upon such a Victory! And you need not fo [...]get how Victorious the Devil sometimes ha's been, in Signalizing for his Revived worship, those very Places, which had been most notably Devoted unto the Servi [...]e of God. At Gilgal had been the Ark of God; but afterwa [...]ds, All the Wickedness in Gilgal! At Bethel had been the House of God; but afterwards, Bethel is Bethaven! They say, where Dodanim the Grand-son of Iaphet, Instructed People in the true Knowledg of God, There came to be all the Idolatries of Dod [...]na's Grove. I think, Ierom tell us, That in the place of our Lords Crucifixion, there came to be a Statue to Venus, and in the place of our Lords Resurrection, a Statue of Iupiter. What ha's be [...]llen, the Renowned Churches of Asia, ha's been told in America, that we may Repent, lest we likewise Perish. And now, what [Page 38] if in those parts of New England, where the Lord Jesus Christ ha's heretofore most Eminently Exhibited Himself unto the Souls of them that followed Him into a Wilde [...]ness, there should ere long be but, The Habitations of Owls and Dragons! I would Humbly Request my Neighbours, in Sober Sadness to Consider, Whether the most unaccountable and unparall [...]llable Descent of Devils, lately made, especially about the Center of this Province, wherein so many poor Creatures have been Afflicted, with proposals of the most horrible Devil Worship, Spectrally tendred unto them, were not Intended for a most Ominous Prodigy, unto us. Consider, whether, we have not had, as it were in a Magical Glass, fore-shown unto us, what a Kingdom the Devils may yet again have, when the Sun of Righteousness leaves off to Shine, in these Goings down of the Sun! And as for those Particular Churches in the Land, who are under a Sensible Withdraw of their Ancient Glory from them, to them I will only repeat the Solemn words of a Famous Divine, unto Old Boston, in Lincolnshire, partly upon the Occasion of Mr. Cottons going from thence; words Printed about Forty years ago; I have, said he, Sometimes on purpose [Page 39] Visited some places, where God had before planted His Church, and a Faithful Ministry; to see, if I could discern any Foot-steps, and Remembrances, of such a Mercy; and, Lo, they were all grown over with Thorns, and Nettles had Covered the Face thereof, and the S [...]one-Wall thereof is broken down. And, which is m [...]re sad! In s [...]me of them Never, in others very hardly built up again. As God Removeth the Candlestick, when we Play or Fight, by the Light of the Candle set up in it, so He is very Hardly Induced to Light it again, in that place, where it hath once been Wantonly, or Fr [...]wardly put out. The Ark never did Return, to the same place, from which it was in a way of Iudgment Removed!
THIS is the Sum of what I would now say hereupon. I pray you, For the Lords sake, I pray you, To Observe all Tendencies towards that [...]orlorn State, where-to our Sins are apace carrying of us. It is a most miserable Thing, when a Sic [...]ly and Cloudy Lassitude of Spi [...]it, shall indispose a People to take Notice, of what may bee signify'd unto them in their own Alterations; and when a People shall Jog on, in a Sottish, a Stupid, an heedless Lethargy of Soul, until they Dy. This Dementation, is the [...]la [...]k [...]st [Page 40] Mark upon a People cut out for Desolation. In all States, let us look whereabouts we are. In our Civil State, have we such a Variety of Prudent and Vertuous Men, to Employ for all Services as formerly, or, to supply our Vacan [...]ies? In our Military State, have not our Artillery Exercises even dwindled away to Nothing, and many other Training Dayes b [...]come little other than Drinking Dayes? As to our whole Political State, let the Fa [...]e and Course of Things in General Assemblies, be compared with, What was rom the Beginning; though here I cannot so partic [...]la [...]ly sa [...], What would be the Result of that Comparison. In our Ecclesiastical State, though our Inhabitants are more than they were many years ago, yet are not ou [...] Communicants rather fewer, in many Town [...]? And, albeit the Generality of our Ministers are of t [...]i [...] Judgment, ‘ That [...]uling E [...]ders are appointed for the Assistance of their Past [...]rs, in the Government of their Churches, and the Inpspecti [...]n of the Flocks; and that, although these Officers may not be [...]u [...]nish [...]d with all the Attainment [...] w [...]ich are Necessary for a Pastor, yet i [...] th [...]y are so accomplished, as that they may be H [...]lps to t [...]i [...] Pastor in the management of the Church R [...]le, they may be chosen [Page 41] thereunto, with much Benefit, and Advantage to the People of God:’ Nevertheless, How is that Off [...]ce almost utterly Extinct in our Churches; and, Chi [...]f [...]y, tis said, for this cause, that our Churches have not Numbers of men well qualified with Wisdom, Courage, Leisure, Holiness and Gravity enough, to Visit the Distressed, Instruct the Ignorant, Reduce the Erroneous, Comfort the Afflicted, Advise the Defective, Rebuke the Unruly, and Promote the Growth of the Societies whereunto they do belong? Time was, that Neighbourhoods, were filled with Private▪ and Pious Meetings, for the Mutual Edification of the Neighbours in the fear of God; but is it not now come to that pass in some Congregations, that if their Pastor lay a Dying, there would not be one Meeting of ordinary Believers, that could come together to Fast and Pray for his Life? And now, who is there duely Apprehensive of these Gradual Decayes in our Hedge? I have heard it observed, concerning some Towns, among us, through whose Broken Hedge, the Destroying Angels of Sickness, have broken in, and carried off many of the People: The more observant Ministers of those Towns, have asked the Surviv [...]rs, How many, according to their Account, have Dy'd out of the place, [Page 42] in the last Pestilential Months? To which they have Replyed, It may be Ei [...]ht or Ten; but these hav [...] been able to Surprise th [...]m, which showing th [...]m, That-some Scores of their F [...]iends were in those few Months g [...]ne to the p [...]ace of Sil [...]nce. Truly, such Unheeded things usually, are all the [...]alamitous Decayes which bef [...]ll a People, wh [...]n God is contending with them. Good Things leave us, and no bod [...] takes an Accoun [...], How, or When, they leave us O [...] such a People it has b [...]en said, Gray Hairs are he [...]e and there up [...]n them, and they know it n [...]t!
But, Oh! do not permit all things thus In Pej [...]s [...], et retro [...] re [...]erri; Go to R [...]in [...], without any Bodies Mi [...]ding how m [...]tters go. It may be that we Young Men, like those that saw the Foundations of the Second Temple, may be ready to Rejoice that things are so w [...]ll wi [...]h us, as they are; and ind [...]d, Bless [...]d be G [...]d that they are no worse [...] B [...]t let us Enquire of our Old Men, for a Tru [...]r View of our Decayes. As i [...] was said▪ in Jo [...]l 1.2. Hear this, ye Old Men; Ha's thi [...] bee [...] in you [...] Da [...]es? Thus, my Fathers; I Pray, Do You, t [...]ll us; Is th [...] Hedge of God about Us, as it was in Your Dayes? Doubtless, An uncomfortabl [...] Story, they have to tell us.
Minding, did I say? But that must be [Page 43] with a Disposition to Mending, of what is thus Decaying in our Hedge. I remember a Proverb, in Prov. 15.19. The way of the Slothful is as an Hedge of Thorns. Many times, when we should set our selves to Consider the Condition of our Hedge, we are disheartened by the Th [...]rns which are to be Encountred in it! The Fear of being Scratched with Reproaches, or Scratched with Expences, makes us too Slothful to meddle with it.
But I Renew my Addresses to You, for this piece of Discretion; Let us keep a Watchful Eye; upon Every Spreading Breach, in our Hedge. I remember, a notable Passage, reported in a Jewish History: That a Famous King of Portugal finding hims [...]lf unable to Sleep in the Night, went and walk'd on the Top of his Palace; from whence he saw a couple of Wretches throw a Dead Corpse into the House of a poor Jew not far off. The next morning those Wretches, made a clamour about the [...]ity, that the Jew had Murdered the man who was m [...]ssing; and the whole People of Jews in the City, had been Massacred, in the Tumult raised on this Occasion, if they had not been rescued by the Justice of the King, who had been an Ey-Witn [...]ss, how the Plot was managed. [Page 44] The King then asked the Chief Rabbi's of the Jews, how they translated, the Fourth Verse of the Hundred & Twenty First Psalm. They Answered, He that keepeth Israel shall neither Slumber, nor Sleep: He Reply'd, Nay, I translate it so, He will not Slumber, nor will He Suffer to Sleep, the Keeper of Israel; which (he added) you have seen fulfilled, in your Deliverance by means of my Wakefulness. That I say hereupon is this; The Keeper of our Walls, are at this Time to be spoken unto; Well, but May the Lord now not suffer you to Sleep. The safety of our Walls do's depend upon your being duely, Watchful, Wakeful, Heedful upon them.
And, if you would have a Rule or two, more particula [...]ly given, for the Directing of this Watchfulness, you shall have it.
One Rule is this. Observe Goings out, as well as Breakings in, if you would see where the Hedge is Deficient. Those things, are joined, in Psal 144.14. That there b [...] n [...] Breaking in, or Going out. For instance then; Do our Young People, any of them Go out, in such a manner as to bring perhaps a Blemish upon their whole Nation, and giv [...] a Scandal unto all mankind; and procl [...]e Themselves Lost unto all Good Intents and Purposes? You may be sure, Th [...] Hedge is [Page 45] not whole, if such things cannot be obstructed. Here then, Think, What is to be done? It was a most rueful [...]ight, wh [...]n in 2 King. 3.27. The King of Moab, to [...]k his Eldest Son, and [...]ffered him, for a Burnt- [...]ffering upon the Wall. But, Ah! Lord! Is there no way for us to hinder our Sons, from Going out at our Wall, that they may among, I know not what Cursed Crues, Offer themselves a Burnt-offering unto the Devil? God put us into a way. Again, Do our Old People, any of them Go out from the Institutions of God, Swarming into New Settlements, where they and their Untaught Families are like to Perish for Lack of Vision? They that have done so, heretofore, h [...]ve to their Cost found, that they were got unto the Wrong side of the Hedge, in their doing so. Think, here, Should this be done any more? We read of Balaam, in Num. 22.23. He was to his Damage, driven to the Wall, when he would needs make an unlawf [...]l Salley forth after the Gain of this World, with a Secret Rese [...]ve [...] it seems, in his own Breast, of accommo [...]ing himself to his Worldly Interest, contrary to the charge that God had given him. Wh [...], wh [...] men, for the sake of [...]rthl [...] Gain, will be Going out into the [...] drive Through the Wall, [...] [Page 46] the Angel of the Lord becomes their Enemy.
Shall I add one thing mo [...]e? I say then, Observe the Inclinations of Good and Great Men to be Gone. When the Hedge about the People of the Jews was just breaking down, there was a Marvellous Cry which Mortal men overheard audibly uttered among the Angels in the Invisible World, Migremus hinc, or, Let us be gone. Sometimes a People have among them such men, as the Bible calls Angels; Yea, such men as are Angels in Flesh: men that are Disposed like the Angels, Employ'd like the Angels, the special Darlings of the Angels. Well, it should be observed, Whether there be that Uneasiness in the Minds of such men, which makes them in their more Deliberate and more Supplicating Frames before the God of Heaven, to Wish, Oh! That I had Wings like a Dove, to flee away! When ever such Angels come to be upon the Wing, I tell you, the Hedge is failing horribly. Regard what I say; The Body is an Hedge to the Soul; but when the Soul comes to talk much of Going, of Removing, of Departing, which is the usual Talk of Dying men, 'tis a shr [...]w'd Symptome, that the Hedge ha' [...] a [...] just Siezing upon it. There are Men, t [...]at [...]re the very Soul, and [...] [Page 47] and when these men shall have their Thoughts all upon Going, the Hedge is mouldring away, you may be sure of it▪
I'l touch upon one thing more; Observe Whether a People are willing to be at Necessary Charges for the Succouring of their Hedge; or, Whether to save Charges, they do not grow almost careless what becomes of it. We are told, That Coveteousness, is the R [...]ot of all Evil (A destructive Root in a Wall!) and therefore we may be Foretold, that the Hedge will be open, for all kind of Evil to Rush in, upon a People that shall be under the Dominion of such a Penurious, Niggardly, Sordid, P [...]inciple. I remember, 'tis the speech of the Golden-Mouth'd Ancient, The Coveteous, are as a City without Walls. I am certain, They soon make themselves to be so. The Miserable Greeks would not be at the charge, to pay the Watchmen upon their Beseiged Wall, and by that wi [...]ked Covete [...]usness of theirs, their Wall was qui [...]kly [...] by their Adversa [...]i [...]s, who then found that they had a Wealthy City thus fallen into their Hands. How many a fair Wall ha's been [...]oolishly Betrayed by the Covete [...]s [...]ess [...] those, that yet in Loosing of [...]he [...] ▪ have Lost an Hundred Times more than would have been enough to have kept it up! [Page 48] When God sees, that men will Subordinate every thing to a Parsimon [...]us Humour, He delights in crossing them, with such a Multiplication of Breaches in their Hedge, as will make them Spend, it may be Ten Times more than they hoped to S [...]are: it may be, more than Four-s [...]ore thousand Pounds, when less than Fourteen, would once have done their matters. To give one Instance; God may make Nations of Pagans to be sometimes an Hedge about His People; and their Liv [...]ly Attempts to Christianize and Civilize these Pagans, might render the Hedge for ever Immarcescible. W [...]ll, Throw by such a costly underta [...]ing, and you shall see, that God will turn this Hedge into Briars and Thorns, which will tear us to Pieces with Wars, Forty Times as costly as all those means, which might have made them, The Lords, and Our own, for ever. It is for some such causes, as this, that whether, the rest of my Discourse have been Applicable to my own Country, o [...] no, I must so far Apply This Article of it, as to [...], that when you find it accomplished, you will Remember, that you once had this [...] part of New Eng [...]nds Peac [...] Liber [...], [...], be lost, it will be by [...] a Coveteous Disposition to Save a [...] Occasion the [...] of all.
[Page 49]Might [...] have added, yet another Symptom [...] Hedge? The inspired Wise man allows any Wise man, to reckon his Good Name, among his dearest Interests: But what an Unhedged place will that be, where a mans Good Name can have no Security? It was the hard measure which the Great Athanasius had from his Arian Adversaries; that, Caedes, Adulteria, Furta, quicquid Atrox Confingi Poterat, Sancto Viro Objiciebantur; this Great Saint had all manner of Devillism laid unto his charge, by a Diabolical Generation: and he had no Hedge to Fend off their Calumnies! The Hedge of Iudea was gone, when a Prophet of the Lord, could complain, in Jer. 20 10. I heard the Defaming of many,—Report, say they, and we will Report it. Where a man ha's in a most unspotted Conversation, been Serving of God, and His People, 'tis all the Reason in the World, that his Vertuou [...] Life should be a Dura [...]le Hedge, about him, to [...] him the Reput [...]ion, of A Witness for [...] World. But what? Shall every [...] bred o [...] the Corruptions in every Malicious and [...] Brain, become immediat [...] ▪ a [...]redible Report through a [...]. [...]hall the [...]st Well-deserving [...] o [...] man [...]nd, have the just Repute, which recommends t [...]m to [...]ervice among the People [Page 50] of God, ly at the [...] every Passionate and Reprochful [...]? Or, shall the most Circumspect Walkers, at once loose all the Stock of Credit with which a course of long Piety ha's Enriched them, meerly upon some sort of Spectral Exhibitions, which cannot be accounted for? Our Hedges are under a most unhappy Dissipation, if ever it come to this. It may be that some who have been convicted of maintaining a Trade of Secret Wickedness, under the Cloak of a Splendid and Glorious Professi [...]n, for many years together, may have given dreadful Wounds, unto the Good Names, of all the best Christians, that may happen to be spoken against; None of our Exact Living all our Dayes will now be such a Vindicating Hedge about us as once it was, because of some that have been found Ill men after th [...]y had long Enjoy'd Good Names in the Church of God. All that I shall now s [...]y of it, is; W [...] to the World, because of the Offences which [...] been given by these Wretch [...] Hedge- [...] Oh! Where is the [...] that [...] where the Heart that [...] conc [...]ive, [...] that belong unto them that hav [...] [...]iven those Offences.
V. But it is Time to com [...] [...]nto th [...] [...] of the matter. And Tha [...] shall be [...]: [Page 51] What shall be done? Every man is to Do Something, and All are to join as One man, in the Doing of Every Thing, that Every Gap, in our Hedge may be repaired. As when the Sons of Iacob, had upon them, that which will Break Through Stone Walls, it was then said, Why stand ye Looking [...]ne upon another? So, When Sins are breaking down our Walls, we may be Expostulated, Why do you stand Looking one upon an [...]ther? To work, All Hands! Every man ha's his Work to do about our Hedge.
Three Things I will say; and then I shall have said.
First; One man may do very much towards the Restoration and the Preservation of our Impaired Hedge. It is here said, I Sought for a m [...]n among them, that should make up the Hedge. What? can One man then signify any thin [...]? Yes; Very much. It is a very Discou [...]ging Adage, Unus Vir, Nullus Vir; that i [...], O [...] man i [...] as No man. But the best is▪ It is [...] [...]lwayes True.
[...] of an Hedge; How much [...] be d [...]ne by One man? Tis [...]. One Sinner destroyeth much [...] often Occasions much [...] wa [...] but One man, and yet the [...] Host [...] the worse for him. Ionah [...] and yet the whole Ship had [Page 52] like to have been Sunk by him. Thus, In Strengthening of our Hedge; How much Good may be done by One man? Ten men would have Hedged a Sodom; and it may happen so, that One man may Hedge a Zion. It was profered, by the Patience of Heaven, in Jer. 5.1. Run ye to and fro through the Streets of Ierusalem, & see now, & know, & in the Broad places thereof, if ye can find a Man; if there be any that Executeth Iudgment, and that seeketh the Truth, & I will Pard [...]n it. You know how the Language of Thou and Thee, was first changed into YOU, in speaking to a Single Person. When the Roman Common Wealth became a Monarchy, and the Power of Many came into One mans Hand, it grew common to treat Persons of Quality, in the Plural Number, with YOU, and so by Degrees, it is descended unto all particular men. Truly, there a [...]e many within these Walls at this Time, whe [...]of each One ha's the Power of Many in his hand [...], for the Helping of all our Walls ▪ [...] each One of those I would say, Consider, I [...] YOU, Consider what YOU may do.
What may be done for an [...] by One GOVERNOUR? [...] One man; and yet Read Psal. [...]06.23. He [...], That He would Destroy them, had not [...] His chosen, stood before Him, in th [...] [...] ▪ to turn away His Wrath, lest He should destroy them. [Page 53] Such an one▪ by Countenancing those things that are True, Honest, Iust, Pure, Lovely, & of Good Report, in His whole Government, and by being Exemplary for all Self-Government, and Godliness and Righteousness in His own Conversation, How much may He do to make all but malignant Murmurers acknowledge, Sir. By YOU we Enjoy great Quietness, & Worthy Deeds are done for this People by Your Providence? The Wall of Ierusalem, was well defended, when the [...]e was, A Nehemiah upon the Wall: who instead of having all Good Acts dearly Bought from him, was readier to do Go [...] Acts for his Country-men, than they wer [...] to Ask them. And all the unkindnesses, that had been done to Iephtah, by his Country-men, would not make him Abate, his doing the part of an Indefatigable Captain-General, to fortify their Hedge, against their Eastern I [...] vade [...]s. When we appear shortly before the [...] of the Lord Je [...]us Christ, it will be an [...] Recompence for all the Fatigu [...]s of Action for the Publick, undergone by [...] to hear Thousands of Saints [...] to the Glory of God, Lord, we thank [...], f [...]r the Conveniencies to Serve thee without Fe [...]r, which by the Care of such a Servant of thi [...], were prolong'd unto us!
What may be done for an Impaired Hedge, [Page 54] by One MAGISTRATE? Phinehas was but One man; and yet Read, Num. 25.11. Phinehas has turned away my Wrath, from the Childen of Israel, while he was Zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the Children of Israel in my Iealousy. Among our Primitive Counsellors, our Honourable Iudges, our Worshipful Iustices, may not One man, by a well-tempered and a well placed Zeal, do much that our Hedge may be mentained? When the Oracle intimated, That the wrath of Heaven could not be turned aw [...], Except some One man would so make [...]mself a Sacrifice, the noble Curtius bravely Rode up into the Chasm of the Earth, where he perished. Is there a Chasm in our Hedge? Truly, One man courageously carrying the Sword of Iustice thit [...]er in his Hand, may do a Generous Thing to mak [...] all Secure. Venture thus upon the Wall, to beat off its cursedest underminers! Israel ha [...]s been some [...]i [...]es called Ieshuru [...]; and I do [...] the Etymology is from Shor, an Ox, r [...]ther than from, Iashar, To [...]e Righteo [...]s. Ind [...]ed su [...]h [...]n Ox-like People, as even a [...] Isr [...]el [...] often is, in their Wanton and [...], will be pushing through [...]e Hedge that h [...]'s been made about them. Yea, But On [...] man amo [...]g those that are, The Rulers in Ies [...]run, by the Vigorous, Impartial, and Con [...]ientious Execution [Page 55] of wholesome Laws may befriend the Hedge, How Considerably!
What may be done for an Impaired Hedge, by One MINISTER? Aaron was but One [...]an; yet we find in Num. 16.48. He stood between the Living & the Dead, & the Plague was stai'd. The Tribe of Levi, is the Ioining Tribe; you note the Signification of the Name. Is our Hedge divuls'd? It belongs unto us to Ioin what ha's been parted, and Labour for Good Terms, both with God and one with another. In Tertullians Dayes the Church-Vessels had Engraven upon them, the figure of a Shepherd carrying a Sheep upon his Back; in allu [...]on to a Well-known Parable. In our Dayes, the Church-Members are too like unto Sheep, that [...] the Hedge of God by their Ex [...]rsions; but it i [...] our Work, to bring in a [...]d keep in our Sheep. Our God said unto one of [...]r Predecessors; If thou take forth the Preciou [...] [...] the Vile, I will make thee unto this Peopl [...] [...] Wall. May We, by the Fidelity, the S [...]lity, the Watchfulness of our [...], become [...] W [...]ll, not Against, but Unto our People! But by our Prayerfulness most of all. Ou [...] [...] Lord Jesus Christ ha's [...] bring not only Our selves, but also all th [...] is Ours unto Himself, with Expecta [...]ons of His bestowing His Blessings [Page 56] thereupon. I have now thought, Will the Lord Accept, & Bless & Heal & Save my People, as well as my own Soul, if I bring All these unto Him? This very question I have seen Started in the Diary which one of our Greatest Persons, long since gone to Glory, left in Manuscript behind him; and his own Answer to it, was written in these words, Here I saw the great Priviledge of it & the Wisdom of God, in Committing some mens Souls, to the care of One Godly man, of a Publick Spirit; because He, like Moses, Commends them, Gives them, Returns them all to the Lord again; and so a World of Good is Communicated for His sake.
It might have been added; Among the Representatives, how much may One man do, to prepare and propo [...] those things, which may be of Good Consequence to all our Hedge? But I rather hasten to lay,
Secondly: If we wer [...] All as One man for the Restoration and the Preservati [...] of our Hedge, it would no longer be Impaired. It is here said, I Sought [...] MAN among them. Indeed, if all among us were as One [...], the Lord would have what He Seeks for. The Wall of Ierusalem went on [...]omfortably, when in Neh. 4.6. All the Wall was joined together, for the People had [...] Mind to Work. [...] when People have a Mind rather to Ra [...]l, an [...] Hate, [Page 57] and Squeeze one another, and are not for Ioining on the Wall, then all goes on Calamitously. In Truth, we have been too much as One man, where we should not have been so. It was Reprehended, in Hos. 6.7. They like Adam, have Transgressed the Covenant. I have met with a Christianized Jew, who ha's given me that sense of it; They as One man, have Transgressed the Covenant. So Unanimous have we been in our Offences against the Institutions of our God! Yea, but now let us become as One man, in Returning to the God, [...]gainst whom we have Transgressed, and in h [...]lping one another to R [...]turn. We All have something to do for our Hedge; but O Let it not be said of our Treating, and our Hindring one another, as in Mic. 7.4. The best of them i [...] as a Briar, the most Upright is Sharper th [...]n a Thorn-Hedge. If Divisions, Prejudices, Alienations and Animo [...]ties, get into our Heart, we shall soon have them, and the ill-frui [...] of them, in our Hedge. We have been called upon, Mark those who c [...]use Divisions; what Mark shall we set upon them? Why, This: They are Hedge- [...]! Tis r [...]markably Expressed, in Prov. 25. [...]8. He tha [...] hath no Rule over his own Spir [...]t, [...] like a City [...] is broken [...], and without Walls. Even [...], An Ang [...]y, an [Page] Hasty, a Perverse People; what are they? But such as have their Walls broken down? I may say of all the Disasters, which have pre [...]sed in, through our Broken Hedge, upon us, Tis because we have not been Brethren dwelling together in Unity, that we have not had the Blessing. But especially, They that are in and of the Hedge it self, will accept of this Admonition. Distances and Estrangements, and Misunderstandings, between those that are in High place, are of all, most out of place; and they will be Fatal Things indeed! What shall be said of such things, but that in Isa 30.13. This Iniquity shall be to You, as a Breach ready to fall, Swelling out in an High Wall? It was Threatned among the sorest of Judgments, I will kindle a Fire in the Wall. I am very desirous we should Enjoy a Wall of Fire; Yea, that we may be well Surr [...]nded with the St [...]es of Fire; but yet God grant, there may never be any Fire in our Wall? Briefly, Let all ranks of men [...]mong us wear that M [...]to; the Motto once of the Low Countries, may now very we [...]l befit a Country every way Low; Si [...], Frangimur: If we Clash, we Break.
Lastly. For th [...] Restorati [...]n and Preservation of our Impai [...]d Hedge, I [...], there is [Page 59] not One man, but what can Lift up a Prayer unto the Lord! It is here said, I Sought for a MAN among them. Why, a man truly Seeking of Him, would be That Man. Wherefore, in our Hedge-broken Condition, Let it not be said of us, as in Isa. 59.16. He saw that there was No man, and wondered that there was no Intercessor. No; God forbid, it should be so said; But let it be said, as in Isa. 62.6. I have set Watchmen upon thy Walls, that shall never hold their P [...]ace, Day nor Night. Tis a Passage concerning a Great Gap man, in Psal. 106.34. He stood up—and the Plague [...]. Some Jewish Interpreters, quote tha [...] Scripture, (and that in Gen. 19.17.) to pro [...]e th [...]t [...]le, Stare, nihil aliud Signi [...]t▪ [...] Ora [...]e. Tis as much as to say, He P [...]y'd; St [...]nding in Prayer was a Posture so usual, th [...]t i [...] is become a P [...]rase for it. Well; Tis by so Standing, that we are to Stand in the Gap. Say the [...]: What can, even the Poorest and meanest Person of us all, b [...]in [...] ▪ fo [...] the Relief of our Wasting Hedg [...]? [...] answer, A Life, if it be called for; [...], A Prayer; That is called for. [...] Perso [...]l Hedge, is by daily Prayer, kep [...] [...] Repair; When the Devils are [...] of [...], they find our dai [...]y Prayer, do's cause us to become Invulnerable. [Page 60] Well, Those very means of Daily Prayer will also do for a General Hedge; Impenetrable the Blessedness of a People, from and for which daily Prayer is going. I say then; Let it be our Daily Prayer, That We may not be left unto Incurable Backslidings from the Hope of our Fathers; That we may not by our Barrenness Provoke the God of Heaven to deprive us of all our Blessings; That we may not be bereaved of such Well-accomplished Men in all orders, as we have heretofore unthankfully Enjoy'd; [ Ah, Lord; Say not that New-England shall be unworthy to have a MAN in it!] And that we may not be so forsaken by the Goo [...] Spirit of God, as to become, a Low-Spirite [...], a Degenerous, a Ridiculous, a [...]d at l [...]st, a Ruinated People. I [...] our Hedge any where [...] open? O fall in there, and fall down, upon our Knees there; but let [...] ever do it with an Exercise of Strong Faith in our [...] Jesus Christ, the Only Medic [...]t [...]r. We speed not, in our Supplications, That the Lord of Hosts, would Visit the [...] are Broken down, Except we [...] R [...]ard unto, Th [...] [...] of His [...] the Son of Man, whom He [...] stro [...]g for Himself. After [...]his manner▪ [...] that make no Noise, or Show in the World, and [Page 61] not only One man, but also One Praying. Devout, Gracious Woman; One Widow, who Trusteth in the Lord, and Continueth in Supplications and Prayers, Night and Day, May be a Repairer of a Broken Hedge; not only the Cedars of Lebanon, but even the poor little Hyssop that Springs out of the Wall, may do the Wall a Kindness.
Pray! Said I? Yea, Let us Fast as well as Pray. The Prophet speaking not only or chiefly about the Weekly Sabbath, but about a Fasting Sabbath, saith to them who are much in the Exact Celebration of it, as in Isa. 58.52. Thou shalt be called, the Repairer of the Breach. Sometimes One man, that ha's been much in such Extraordinary Devotions, ha's be [...] Openly Rewarded by the God who sees in Secre [...], with a more than Ordinary Figure in Repairing the Hedges of His Israel. Ponder the Example of that Gre [...] Man, who in the Account which he himself Published, of his Negotiation at the Cou [...]t of Persi [...] for his People, tells us, Neh. 1.3, 4. They said [...] me, The Wall of Ier [...]lem is [...]!—When I heard these [...] and Mourned [...] and Prayed before the [...] ▪ Give m [...] your Attention! When a People are Insensible of the Impairments [Page 62] befalling their Hedges and their Interests, and perhaps, as tis commonly done, do themselves confound their own Hedges and Interests, I conceive, there is a more proper Enchantment therein, than men are well aware of: We need not at this time Explain this Conception any further, than by using words near to the Apostles, They are a Foolish People, and something ha's bewitched them. While a People are thus under Enchantment, it is a Vain thing, to Advise them, to Exhort them, to Warn them; till they are Unbewitched, things will take their course, as if they were under a sort of Irresistible Fatality, and men will be so Exceeding Fierce, that no man may cross them in their way. Now, if a man have, The Right Skill of Encountring Enchantments, he may do great things for the People of God; he may be a Glorious Instrument of bringing things to rights. And shall I tell you, what is that Skill? Wherein lyes the Strength of the Sampson, that shall do such a Thing? I'l tell you at Once; Tis in Fasting and Prayer before that God, who formeth the Spirit of man within him.
There is Especially One Thing, wherein much Fasting and Prayer, would be of [...]ingular Significancy to Repair us. All our [Page 63] Breaches would be R [...]paired, if the Rising Generation among us, were more generally Converted unto God. I beseech you, in the fear of God, Consider, what I say! The Impiety and Impenitence of the Young People throughout our Land, is, that Wound of all our Hedges, which hath, of all, the dismallest Aspect upon us It would giv [...] us a New Prospect of Comfort, in all our Concerns, if we did in Good Earnest prosecute, an Expedient, which ha's been sometimes Proposed and Received among the Ministers of God. ‘Solemn DAYES of Prayer with Fasting, Celebrated in our Churches, to Implore the Grace of God, for the Rising Generation, would probably be of Ble [...]ed Consequence, for the Turning of our Young People unto the God of our Fathers. The more there is this way ascribed unto Grace, the more is the Grace of God, like to be Communicated; and there is in this way, a Natural and a Plentiful Tendency, to awaken our Unconverted Youth, unto a Sense of their Everlasting Interests; which, were it generally Accomplished, a Remarkable Reformation, were therein Effected.’
Consider of these things, and God give you understanding!
[Page 64]To Conclude; Wh [...]t the Prophet Samuel said unto the General Assembly of Israel, I must say to You this Day. Stand still, that I may Reason with You, before the Lord, of all the Righteous Acts, which He did unto You, and unto Your Fathers!
A CHARTER being once granted unto the Governour and Company of the Massachusett-Bay, the Persecuted Puritans in the English Nation seeing that Ice broken, which had kept them in a Sea of Fire, began to accept the American Offers, of a Retreat for the Pure Worshippers of our Lord into a Wilderness. Many Gentlemen of Ancient, and Worshipful Families; Many Ministers of the Gospel, then of Great Fame at Home; and Merchants, Husbandmen, Artificers, to the Number of some thousands, did then Remove into these Regions; though t'was indeed a Banishment, rather than a Removal which was undergone, by this glorious Generation, Sufficiently Afflictive to men of Estate, Breeding, and Conversation. And, as the Hazard which they ran in this undertaking, was of such Extraor [...]inariness, that nothing less than a Strange and Strong I [...]pression from Heaven could have thereunto moved such Persons as were in it; so the Expence, with which they carried on the [Page 65] Undertaking, for Twelve years together▪ was truly Extraordinary. By a Comput [...] tion, which I have seen; There was vastly more than Two Hundred Thousand Pounds laid out, for the first Settlement of the Plantation; and there were then Employ'd about an Hundred and Ninety Eight Ships, in passing the Perils of the Seas, to accomplish this Renowned Settlement, whereof by the way, but One miscarried in those Perils. Briefly, The God of Heaven, as it were Served a Summons upon the Spirits of His People, in the English Nation; Stirring up the Spirits of Thousands, who never saw the Faces of eac [...] other, with a most Unanimous Inclination, to leave all the Pleasant Accommodations of their Native Country, and Go over a Terrible Ocean, into a more Terrible Desart; and all this, for; The Pure Enjoyment of all His Ordinances. How many Thousands of Pounds, and which is more Considerable, How many Thousands of Lives, have since gone, to keep up the Hedges about this Vineyard of God, I leave to Your own Enquiries▪ All that is now call'd for, is, That we Consider with our selves, Whether the Loss of such a Country, in Barbarous Confusions, for the want of Looking well after its Hedges, [Page 66] will be found Excusable, in the Day when the Great God shall Plead with us, about the Int [...] rests where-with He ha's betrusted us?
That Parcel of Evil Figs which is now grown in our Land; Even, Those men, by whose Worldliness, by whose Frowardness, by whose Littleness, by whose Unthankfulness, by whose Disregard for Learning, and for a Learned Ministry, by whose Forgetfulness of the Errand into the Wilderness, and by whose Prodigious over sight of the only Season and Method for the Obtaining of those things to Pass, which may Lengthen out our Tranquillity, before we come to a Way Hedged up with Thorns, our Hedges are fearfully Languishing! These will doubtless be Enraged [...]t what Needful Advice ha's this Day been given you; and unspeakeable will be the Satisfaction of My Soul, in my having Such a Testimony, That I [...] a Servant of the most Glorious Lord! But as for the Good Figs; Even those men, whom I continually hear most Sollicitously S [...]ying, What will [...]ecome o [...] this Peop [...]? What will they bring themselves unto? Who are continually trembling [...] ou [...] Golden [...] be Removed; [...] continu [...]lly Mourning for all our [...] from the Things that are Holy and [...] Goodpunc; And may we not hope that we have [...] [Page 67] some Thousands of People thus disposed▪ People, for the sake of whom, no Servic [...] ▪ no Travail, no Self-denial is too much▪ These I am Sure, will be Glad that a Serious Advice ha's been laid before You; and they will join with me, in this ardent Supplication, O Our Lord, Let there yet be those Men-among us, that shall make up Our Hedge, and Stand in the Gap before thee, for the Land; and so let it not be Destroy'd!