IT is sayd of Laish, that they Iudg. 18. were a secure people and dwelt carelesse: poore silly soules, they never dreamed of any harme, till the beesome of destruction came and swept them all away. It is sayd like­wise of the old world; that they Mat. 24. 38. eate, they dranke, they married and were given in marriage; they gaue themselues wholly to iovialitie and mirth, living so here as if they should haue lived here for ever; never considering, that the reioycing of the wicked is short, and the ioy Iob. 20. 5. Iob. 21. 13. of hypocrites is but for a moment; That they spend their dayes in mirth and iollitie and sodainly goe downe to the graue: they lay in a dead sleepe, drowned in a deepe securitie, till a fearefull Gen. 7. and vniversall Deluge came out from the Lord, and drow­ned them all: onely waking Noah was wonderfully preser­ved in the Arke. I would I could not say of our Nation as it was sayd of Laish: wee are a secure and carelesse people; I would these Scriptures were not this day fulfilled in our eares; but alas it is more then manifest, wee are a Nation drowned in securitie; this is the fruit of our long prospe­ritie; wee are at ease in Sion, wee sit every man vnder his owne vine and vnder his fig tree, therefore we sing a Requiem vnto our soules, and say, We shall haue peace though we walke after our owne lusts; wee shall never be mooved: Soule take Luk. 12. 19 20 thy rest, thou hast much goods layd vp for many yeares, eate, drinke, and take thy pleasure, let thy heart cheare thee, be iovi­all [Page 2] and merry; but alas poore soules they never consider, that this night their soules shall be taken away from them; That for all these things the Lord will bring them to iudgement; they Eccles. 11. 9. put farre from them the evill day. But in this sleepie and drowsie age, I doubt not but there be some waking Noahs, who if they cannot prevaile for others, yet at least build an Arke for the safety of their owne soules: in this cold and frozen age, doubtlesse there be some zealous Moysesses, who stand in the gap between God and his people, and hold Gods hand from smiting by their vncessant prayers: though Aegypt be full of darkenesse, yet there is some light in Go­shen; some that shine as lights though the whole world lye in darkenesse: though the world be full of folly and the most part runne on as fooles, and are punished, yet questi­onlesse there be some prudent men that learne to foresee the evill to come and hide themselues. Prov. 22. 3.

God hath given to this Nation of ours many a faire war­ning, as loath to smite, till needs he must: he hath sent his Ministers early and late to thunder in our eares; yet except we doe repent, we shall all likewise perish, judgement will come: he hath set our neighbours house on fire as a beacon to giue vs warning, I meane, the judgements that haue be­fallen our brethren beyond the Seas: he hath sent many small judgements before, as forerunners of that great one to come; as little gunshots before the great murthering peece: It hath beene told vs before, that if we repented not God would doe such a thing in England, that whosoever should heare thereof, both his eares should tingle; thus the Cockes crowed before the storme, but we regarded it not: God hath now sent a fearefull plague amongst vs as ano­ther warning more heavie then the former, and if this can­not moue vs to repent, we may still looke for heavier, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it; I will yet punish them Levit. 26. seven times more, and if that will not doe seven times more; the Lord will not cease to smite, so long as wee cease not to sinne; he hath more scourges then one; if the present Plague will not doe, famine shall, if famine will not doe, the sword [Page 3] shall vtterly cut vs off from being a Nation. I beseech yee my brethren consider it, even with teares I beseech yee: what a woefull spectacle will it be to see our streetes swim with the bloud of vs all, to see our women ravished, and their little infants dashed against the stones; to see the cur­sed and abominable Masse set vp in our Churches, to see all turned topsie turvie, vpside downe; whose heart doth not yearne and even melt within him, to thinke on these things: oh consider the fearefull desolation that befell Ie­rusalem: Lamentatiō the whole Booke. and the grievous calamities comne vpon our bre­thren beyond the Seas, they were God his people as well as we: oh that we could be warned by other mens harmes.

Quest. But what haue I done (sayth England) that such things as these should befall mee.

Answ. Behold, thou hast requited the Lord evill for good: God hath given thee the glorious light of his blessed Gospell to be Preached plentifully for threescore yeare together; he dispelled the mists and clouds of Popery and superstition, and caused this cleare light to shine; he hath committed to thee his statutes and his covenants; he hath not dealt so with every Nation: he hath given thee many great and glo­rious deliverances, the like never heard of, especially those of the Gunpowder-Treason and Eighty-eight: then thou didest promise better obedience: he hath given thee long peace and quietnesse, no noise of Warre hath beene heard in thy streetes: he hath given thee plentie and prosperitie, a land flowing with milke and hony, even all that heart can wish: he hath made thee even a Mirrour and a Wonderment to the whole world for his manifold blessings. But how hast thou now requited thy God, O England? 1. with ignorance not onely compelled but affected; Light is come into the world, but men loue darkenesse rather then light: 2. with con­tempt of the Gospell, a crying bloudy sinne, a sinne never heard of among the Iewes: 3. with Blasphemy of all sorts, swearing, forswearing, taking God his great and dreadfull name in vaine, nothing more rife even in the mouthes of children that can but newly speake: 4. with prophanation [Page 4] of the Sabbath, spending it in sports and idle pastimes. In thee is secretly cōmitted that cursed sin of Idolatry: in thee is Atheisme, drunkennesse, rioting, feasting, when the Lord calls for fasting: in thee are disobedient to parents, contem­ners of authoritie, despisers of God his messengers, disdai­ners of equalls; in thee are murtherers, even Soule-mur­therers; contentious persons, whoremongers, adulterers; in thee is Bribery, Oppression, Vsury, Simony, fraud and cousenage; Iustice and Truth is perished from thy Land: in thee is lying, tale-bearing, false witnesse-bearing, cove­tousnesse, pride, idlenesse, fulnesse of bread, deepe securi­tie, even all the sinnes of Sodome: in thee are many profes­sors that make a shew of godlinesse, but deny the power of it; in thee are Lukewarme Christians. These are the sinnes vnder which the Land groaneth; Doest thou thus requite thy God O foolish people? Shall we not thinke now that the Lord hath a Controversie with England? Shall I not visite for these things (saith the Lord)? Shall not my soule be avenged on such a Nation as this? Let me alone that I may destroy them at once. Heare O heavens, hearken O earth, I haue nourished vp chil­dren, Isa. 1. 2. 3. and they haue rebelled against mee: the Oxe knoweth his owner, and the Asse his masters crib, but my people haue not knowne mee (sayth the Lord). Ah sinfull Nation, a people la­den with iniquitie, a seede of evill doers, why should they be smit­ten any more, they fall away more and more. I take no delight to vpbraid mine own Nation, or to defile mine own nest; but for Sions sake I cannot hold my tongue: let me perish if I see my Country perish, and giue them not warning. Wherefore I beseech yee my deare brethren (all true hear­ted Englishmen) in the bowells of Christ Iesus, who died for vs, and shed his owne heart bloud for vs, as you regard your owne soules, bodies, and estates; as yee wish and de­sire the peace and prosperity of this our Sion, dally with the Lord no longer, God will not be alwayes mocked, turne now at the last vnto the Lord with all your hearts; turne yee, oh turne yee, why will yee die? seeke the Lord whilest he may be found, call vpon him whilest he is neere; draw neere to God and [Page 5] he will draw neere to you. Oh that I could even weepe over this Land, as our Saviour did over Ierusalem, and say: O England, England, thou that reiectest my Prophets, and de­spisest those that are sent vnto thee, how often would I haue ga­thered Luk. 13. 34. thee together, as a henne gathereth her chickens vnder her wings, and yee would not; wherefore thy house shall be left vnto thee desolate: oh that thou wert therefore now wise yet in this thy day to consider those things that belong vnto thy peace, least at length they be hid from thine eyes. Woe to thee O Eng­land, Mat. 11. 21. if the great workes which haue beene done in thee, had beene done in Tyre and Sidon, in Sodome and Gomorrah, they had repented in sackcloth and ashes long ere this: And thou London, London, which art lifted vp to heaven, for abun­dance 23. of spirituall meanes, shalt be brought as low as hell, ex­cept thou repent: wherefore I beseech yee againe & againe for Christs his sake, for the Gospels sake, for your Coun­treys sake, for your owne soules sake be entreated; Repent, repent; Search, even search your selues O nation not worthy to Zeph. 2. 1. be beloved, before the decree come forth, and yee be as chaffe that passeth on a day: looke into your liues, consider your wayes, goe apart, and seriously aske your soules; What haue we done? Let your mirth be turned into mourning, your fea­sting Dan. 9. 19. into fasting, weepe and lament bitterly for your sins, cry mightily for mercy, even as for life and death; cease to doe evill, learne to doe well; wash you, make you cleane, put a­way your sinnes from before God his eyes; rent your hearts and not your garments, amend and change your wayes, bring forth fruits meete for repentance: that so yee may get the sword a­gaine into his sheath, which is alreadie drawne out, and will giue every one of vs our deaths wound, except we repent; and may quench that wrath which is already kindled, and will burne hotter and hotter, and never cease vntill it haue vtterly consumed vs, if in time we quench it not by the teares of true repentance: wherefore now prepare to meete thy God, O England; It is more then high time to repent, deferre no longer, if the last blow be once strucken, that is, cut it downe, even vtter desolation; there will then be left no place [Page 6] for repentance. Oh that I could therefore perswade you; but it is not I, it is the Lord that must doe it; now Lord doe thou perswade Iapheth; for wee cannot: Turne thou vs vnto thee O Lord of hostes, make thy face to shine and wee shall be saved; convert vs vnto thee, and we shall be converted, re­new our dayes as of old; Lord thou longest for our con­version; thou standest waiting and crying; Wash thine heart, O England, wilt thou not be made cleane; oh when Ierem. 13. 27. will it once be? Lord cleanse thou vs and we shall be clean­sed; wash thou vs and we shall be whiter then snow; cause vs to come vnto thee, why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy feare: O Lord, thou art our Father, we are the clay; Isay. 64. 8. thou art the Potter, we are the worke of thine hands; oh destroy not the worke of thine owne hands; frame and fa­shion vs, and make vs such as thou wouldest haue vs to be: spare thy people, O God, spare thy people, and be jealous for thine inheritance, why shall the people say; Where is their God? O Lord heare, O Lord forgiue, O Lord consider, and doe it, deferre not for thy name sake, for thy Christs his sake, pittie the desolations of thy Sion, of the Cittie where thy name is cal­led vpon? Wilt thou O Lord, forsake for ever? Why is thy wrath thus hot against the sheepe of thy pasture? Our sins in­deed testifie against vs, that we are a rebellious & stifnecked people, we lye downe in our shame, and confusion cove­reth vs; thou art righteous and iust when thou iudgest, but we are a perverse and froward generation; we would not heare when thou calledst, but stopped our eares, like the deafe Adder, therefore thou maist now iustly laugh at our Prov. 1. 26. 27 destruction, and mocke when our feare commeth: but there is mercy with thee that thou maist be feared, we beseech thee in wrath remember mercy, haue mercy vpon vs according to the multitude of thy compassions, oh Lord saue vs or els we perish. Comfort vs according to the dayes that thou hast afflicted vs: Returne O Lord, how long? and be pacified towards thy servants. Continue still to be our God, and let vs be thy people; remoue thy judgements which lye heavie vpon vs, and destroy vs not vtterly for thy names sake: Make vs all [Page 7] to turne to thee from the highest to the lowest by speedie and vnfeined repentance, that so thou maist not vtterly cut vs off, even head and taile, roote and branch, in one day; but maist still delight to doe vs good, to multiply thy blessings vpon vs; and make vs as worthy to be beloved in and through thy Sonne Christ Iesus, that Sonne of thy loue, as we haue beene for our long peace and prosperitie of all the Nations of the earth admired: even so be it, Lord so be it.

This is the first and generall Remedie which a Nation must vse for the removall and preventing not onely of the Plague, but of any other judgement whatsoever; namely, true repentance, which stands in sorrow for sinne, and refor­mation 2 Chron. 7. 13. 14. Ierem. 18. 7. 8. Isa. 1. 19. 20. Iere. 14. 11. 12 of life. If yee consent and obey, yee shall eate the good fruits of the Land; but if yee refuse and be rebellious, yee shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Now if so be I cannot prevaile with the whole Land; then I turne to you that feare the Lord: I hope to haue au­dience in your eares. If yee cannot prevaile for others, yet make sure of your owne soules; learne to hide your selues, to build an Arke for the safetie of you and yours. But yee will say, how may that be done? I answere.

1. If yee would not partake with the Plagues of the times, be not pertakers of their sinnes. Come out of her my Revel. 18. 4. people (saith God) be yee not partakers of her sinnes, least yee also be partakers of her glagues; if yee will needs sinne with them, looke to be plagued with them. Deut. 4. 3, 4. Those that went with others after Baal peor were destroyed, but those that cleaved to the Lord were kept aliue. Zeph. 2. 3. Seeke yet the Lord all yee meeke of the earth, which haue wrought his iudgement, seeke righteousnesse, seeke lowlinesse, if so be yee may be hid in the day of the Lord his wrath. The way to be hid in the day of the Lord his wrath, is to seeke after lowlinesse, to carry our selues meekly, and to walke humbly, the lowest shrubs are safest from stormes; to seeke after righteousnesse, to walke circumspectly, and warily, shunning the sinnes of the times, even more then the Plague it selfe; to keepe our [Page 8] selues vnspotted of the world, to saue our selues from this froward generation: the infection of sinne is farre more dangerous then the infection of the Plague; that indan­gers the body onely, this indangers soule and body for e­ver; how should we shunne it therefore? How had we need to abstaine from all appearance of evill, not onely from the flesh, but from all the garments spotted with the flesh; the more wic­ked 1 Thes. 5. 22. Iude. 23. the times grow, the more holy we should grow; the more iniquitie abounds, & the loue of many waxeth cold, the more blamelesse, and zealous in good duties we should striue to be: like bright orient starres, the deeper they goe in the darke night, the brighter they shine: thus Noah shi­ned in his generation. Though Aegypt be full of darknes, yet let Goshen be light; though Israel play the harlot, yet let not Iudah sinne. We are Christians, we professe our Hos. 4. 15. 2 Cor. 6. 14. 15. 16. 17. selues to be children of the light, let not vs therefore haue any fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknesse, but reproue them rather: let not fornication or any other vncleannesse be once named amongst vs; let not vs defile our garments. Revel. 3. 4.

2. It is not sufficient that we partake not with the sinnes of the times, but we must mourne for the sins of the times; we must take a view of the abominations committed in Sion, and worke our hearts to such a sorrow as may make our eyes to gush out rivers of teares, because men keepe not God Psal. 119. 136. his law, then God will wonderfully preserue vs: As he pre­served iust Lot out of Sodome, when it was consumed with fire 2 Pet. 2. 7. & brimston from heaven, because his righteous soule was vexed from day to day with the vncleane conversation of the Sodomites. There was a marke set vpon all the true Mourners in Sion, that when the Angell of the Lord came to smite, they might es­cape: so Ezek. 9. 4. Ieremy, because he wished his head a fountaine of teares, Iere. 9. 1. that he might weepe day and night for the sinnes of his people; see how the Lord preserved him alone when all the rest Iere. 39. 11. 12 were carried into Captivitie: these things are written for our learning.

3. We must mourne for our owne sinnes and labour to [Page 9] forsake them. It is sayd of Iosiah, that because his heart mel­ted 2 King. 22. 19. 20. at the Law read, both for his owne sinnes and the sinnes of his people, and he humbled his soule before the Lord, that therefore he should be put to his graue in peace, and his eyes should not see the evill that God would bring vpon the Land. So if like good Iosiah, our hearts even melt within vs, and we humble our soules vnfeinedly before the Lord for our sinnes, God will worke wonderfully for vs, and we shall find gratious experience of his goodnesse towards vs: if God spared Ahab for his counterfeit humiliation, and would not 1 King 21. 27. 29. bring the evill in his dayes; how much more will he spare those that humble their soules before him in truth. And as we must grieue for our sinnes, so we must forsake our sins: he that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper, neither in soule nor body, he lyeth open to all dangers; but he that confesseth and Pro. 28. 13. forsaketh them shall find mercy; God will be mercifull to his soule, and preserue his body: He that walketh vprightly, walketh safely (saith Salomon:) he that laboureth to the vt­termost of his power to cleare himselfe from all sinne, to purge his heart from all hollownesse, not cherishng any one beloved sinne, to be vpright in his way; walking in all the Commandements of God without rebuke; such a man is a safe man, he is sure nothing can hurt him. It availeth no­thing to burne Iuniper, to smell to Wormewood, to take somwhat in a morning, and to vse many outward meanes against the Plague, so long as our soules are not severed from our sinnes; it is this inward vncleannesse that is the cause of that outward, the Plague-soare of sinne where­with our soules are infected, causeth the Plague vpon the body: sever your sinnes then from your soules if ever yee meane to keepe the Plague from your bodies, say to these menstrous cloathes; Get yee hence.

Fourthly: We must trust in God for safety and delive­rance; though we may vse all good and lawfull meanes, yet we must not rest in the meanes, but goe to God for his blessing, and depend vpon him for the successe. The Lord Nahum. 1. 7. is good, and a strong hold in the day of trouble, he knowes all those [Page 10] that trust in him; he knowes, that is, he approues of them af­ter an especiall manner, He is a strong hold to such in the day of trouble. Psal. 33. 18. 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is vpon them that feare him, and vpon them that trust in his mercy; to deliver their soules from death, & to preserue them in famine. Psal. 91. 1. and so forward: Who so dwelleth in the secret of the most High, shall abide vnder the shadow of the Almightie; I will say vnto the Lord; O my hope and my fortresse, he is my God, in him will I trust: surely he will deliver thee from the snare of the hunter, and from the noysome pestilence. He will cover thee vnder his wings, and thou shalt be safe vnder his fea­thers; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraide of the pestilence that walketh in the night, nor of the Plague that destroyeth at noone day. Thousands shall fall beside thee, ten thousands at thy right hand, and yet it shall not come nigh thee. And why all this? Because thou hast sayd, the Lord Vers. 9. is my hope, and hast set the most High for thy refuge. Yee see then the wonderfull safetie of that man that makes God his confidence. The name of the Lord is a strong Tower, the righ­teous Prov. 18. 10. runne vnto it, and are exalted. Great is the safetie then of righteous persons, of such as haue gotten God to be their God in Christ, and stay their whole affiance in him; God will be vnto them a Tower, a Castle, a rocke of defence, a safe refuge to fly to in time of neede. He will be their hi­ding Ierem. 16. 19. place; He will keepe them safely vnder his wings till Psal. 32. 7. the indignation be passed over. He hath an Arke for vp­right Noah, when he meanes to destroy with a vniversall Genes. 7. Deluge, an whole world of wicked ones. He hath a Zoar for righteous Lot, when he meanes to consume filthy So­dome Genes. 19. with fire and brimstone from heaven. For the Lord knoweth how to deliver the righteous out of tentation, and to re­serue 2 Pet. 2. 9. the wicked vnto iudgement. Therefore I conclude with that of David. Psal. 73. 28. It is good for me to hold me fast by God, and to put my trust in the Lord God: it is time for the chickens to runne and shrowd themselues vnder the wings of the henne, when the storme begins once to arise.

5. The fift and last remedie is, to betake our selues to our [Page 11] prayers and teares, to cry mightily vnto the Lord, to wrastle with him, as Iacob did: this is that which holds God his hands from smiting: so long as Moses his hand is lifted vp, Amalek cannot prevaile. I beseech yee therefore all yee that wish well to this our Sion, pray for the peace of Ierusalem: giue the Lord no rest, but cry againe and againe, he loues to be im­portuned; the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, if it Iam. 5. 16. be fervent: Pray, pray, pray therefore, cry and say: O Lord we know not what to doe, onely our eyes are vp towardes thee: what shall we say vnto thee O thou preserver of men; we are e­ven ashamed and confounded to lift vp our eyes to heaven; wee haue sinned exceedingly, wee, our Rulers and Governors, Prince, and people; we haue all sinned; our sinnes are gone vp as an heavy loade, too heavy for vs to beare; heaven and earth even groane vnder the burthen of them, they cry mightily for vengeance, but heare the groanes of thy ser­vants, let their cryes be lowder in thine eares; heare the pleadings and intercessions of thine owne sonne for vs; his bloud cryes louder for mercy, then our sinnes can doe for judgement, had it not beene for that, we had all long a­goe perished, and beene vtterly consumed. O thou the hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why art thou as a strāger in the land, as one that passeth by to tarry for a night? Why art thou as a man astonied, as a strong man that cannot help? Ierem. 14. 8. 9. Yet thou O Lord art in the middest of vs, thy name is called vp­on vs; forsake vs not. Hast thou vtterly reiected Iudah? Hath thy soule abhorred Sion? Why hast thou smitten vs, that we cannot be healed? We looked for peace, and behold no good; for health, and behold trouble: wee acknowledge O Lord, our wickednesse, and the wickednesse of our fathers, we haue all sinned: doe not ab­horre vs for thy names sake; cast not downe the throne of thy Glo­ry; remember and breake not thy covenant with vs; we haue no helpe but of thee, thou art our God, therefore saue vs; oh be favourable vnto thy Sion, build thou the walles of Ieresalem: Psal. 51. 18. so shall we praise thy name for ever, and teach all ages to keepe praises for thee in store. Oh giue salvation to thy people out of Si­on; Psal. 53. 6. [Page 12] when thou shalt restore againe the captivitie of thy people, then shall I acob reioyce and Israell shall be glad.

But if ye cannot prevaile for others, yet at least aire your owne houses with daily and fervent prayers, and that will be a notable meanes to keepe them from the present in­fection: or if it please God to lay it vpon you notwith­standing yee haue faithfully vsed all these meanes: then I dare boldly affirme, yee shall finde greater refreshings Psal. 94. 19. from God, then your afflictiō can afford you griefes: howsoever, it will but rid you out of a valley of 2 Cor. 1. 5. misery into everlasting glory. Consider what I say and the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things.

GOD the Father of mercies, which hath so loved vs to giue his onely Sonne for vs before he gaue vs either chil­dren or our selues, be merci­full vnto you my deare hearts in the Lord, M^r. A. and M^rs A. my bowells in the Lord: and so fill you with his super­abundant grace, that you may say; It is good for me that I haue beene afflicted; The Lord Psal. 119. Iob. 1. hath given, the Lord hath taken, blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen.

Hearing of the Lords mercifull visitation of you and yours, I was not a little affected; neither hath any particu­lar losse since this hand of God hath been on the Cittie, (though of friends and neere kindred) more pierced my heart with griefe then this of yours. Which seeing the Church, which hath called me to a publike Ministery, permits me not in presence privatly to signifie, I beseech God to direct my pen to write somwhat for your comfortable applicati­on of Gods correction to your soules health. It had much affected me to see the succession of crosses in your impri­sonment, your wiues long sicknesse, with manifold danger of life, &c. And on Thursday last I was very inquisitiue of M^r. D. touching your wife and her delivery: for I had thought shee had beene sent into the country, because such is now the fashion, and her time of deliverance I thought [Page 2] had beene expired long since. But I heard God had shewed his power in her weaknesse, and gaue her (which had long agoe given the sentence of death vpon her selfe) two chil­dren (which the Lord blesse and make his owne daughters and heires) before I heard that God had smitten one of the former. He gaue two before he would take one, and made her able to beare two at once, which in long time had been scarsly able to beare her selfe; that he might make his good­nesse and his power knowne. He I say, to shew his good­nesse gaue two for one; yea gaue one for all, his owne Son for our selues, and for our sons and daughters: to purchase vs to be the sonnes and daughters of the Lord Almightie. But 2. Cor. 6. he gaue him first to suffer & then to reigne, that he might lead the way to vs; for the servant is not greater than his Lord: the sonne himselfe learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And he that made the world by his Word, was made a man for vs, that he might suffer for vs: Heb. 5. 3. in our nature fulfilled all the righteousnesse of God and yet suffered all the vnrighteousnesse of men, even to that bitter, that shameful death of the Crosse, which God himselfe had Gal. 3. 13. mystically cursed, and he was made a curse for vs that we might be made heires of blessednesse. His Crosse, figured in that tree cast into the bitter waters of Marah, takes away Exod. 15. 25. the curse from death and all afflictions in vs and ours, and makes them sweete; doth season and sanctifie them to vs, and vs to them. His presence doth still change water into Ioh. 2. wine, if we make him our chiefe guest: and (like Elisha's sticke) makes the heaviest iron to swim, the heaviest heart, 2 King. 6. 6. Psal. 25. 1. Iob. 19. 25. most cast downe with sorrow, to sing, I lift my heart to thee. I know that my Redeemer liveth, made Iob to liue in the mid­dest of manifold deaths and spoiles, and made him a gainer in & by all his losses. Though they assailed him all at once, and all the children and substance which he had gotten all his life before, were in one day taken from him, yet he lost not himselfe, by impatience; he blessed God which had gi­ven him himselfe, a gift that could not be lost; and as men in cold windie weather gird their garments closer to them, [Page 3] so he proceeded in courage, and said; Though he slay me yet Iob. 13. 15. Rom. 15. 4. will I trust in him. Th [...]se things are written for our learning, that thorow patience and comfort of the Scriptures we may haue hope. Yea tribulation brings forth patience, patience experience, Rom. 5. 3. experience (of his deliverance from, or in, manifold trou­bles, as Davids deliverance from the Beare and the Lyon, 1 Sam. 17. made him bold on the Philistine) experience, I say, brings forth hope, even that hope which never makes ashamed. The Israelites were not in Canaan presently after their delive­rance from Aegypt, but walked thorow a tedious and irke­some Wildernesse, where was neither harvest, nor pasture, nor sweete waters, but their very food and raiment were miraculous provision. Yet did not God faile them, and hath promised never to faile nor forsake vs: he which led Heb. 13. 5. them by a piller of a cloud and fire, hath given vs his word, to be with vs to the end of the world. That history of the Isra­elites Mat. 28. 20. is a mysterie of every true Israelite his living by faith, as it is often written, the Iust shall liue by faith. We now are travellers thorow the Wildernesse of the world to our hea­venly Canaan, and for our spirituall life we finde the world as crosse as they did the Aegyptians, Amalekites, and Amo­rites; our flesh is as distrustfull as those which lusted for flesh in that desert, and the Devill watcheth all occasions to mu­tinie and rebellion: all that we see from our entring the red Sea till we be passed over Iordan (from Baptisme to death) is against vs: yet our faith lookes on him which is Heb. 11. 27. Heb. 11. 1. 1 Ioh. 5. 4. Ephe. 6. invisible, and is the evidence of things not seene. This is the victory that overcometh the world, this is the shield which quencheth the fiery darts of hell; to beleeue in Christ crucified, that God hath given him to vs, and for vs, and wtih him all things; this crucifieth the flesh, with all her di­strustfull lusts and imaginations; makes vs deny our selues, Mat. 16. 24. our wills, our vnderstandings, husbands, wiues, liues, li­vings, all; and to say to God with David, loe we are here, doe 2. Sam. 15. 26. with vs as seemeth good in thine eyes. Should the Wheat say to the husbandman, why doest thou wound me with the sickle, why doest thou beat and bruise me with the flaile, [Page 4] why doest thou grind me in the Mill, and put me after in­to the hot Oven? We are Gods wheat, and before we can be manchet for the Lords Table, wee must likewise passe troubles in the flesh. Yea it is comfortable to vs, because God doth thus shew himselfe our Father, and that he doth Heb. 12. 5. 7. 8. esteeme vs as sonnes, and not as bastards; for iudgement here beginneth at Gods house: he doth vs conforme vs to his own 1 Pet. 4. 17. Rom. 8. 29. sonne Christ; he doth thus prepare vs as souldiers by tray­nings and skirmishes to the battell with death it selfe, yea to the victory, to the crowne; he doth thus shew power in weaknesse, and makes vs conquerors over sinne and Satan. Neither doe men sow their corne and seeds till the ground Iere. 4. 3. Mat. 13. 22. be digged or plowed, nor is Gods seed like to be profitable till the fallow of our hearts be turned vp by the plow or spade of affliction. Heaven will make amends for all, and the af­flictions Rom. 8. 18. of this present life are not worthy of the glory which shall be revealed. These light afflictions which endure but for a mo­ment, worke out vnto vs that farre most excellent and eternall weight of glory. Courage then, courage my hearts, comfort 2 Cor 4. 17. your selues, your Captaine Christ lookes on and sees your sufferings and fightings in the flesh; nay he it is which thus trieth you: these crosses are his permission, yea his Cōmis­sion, without which no plague can strike a stroke to the poorest sparrow, no not to the haires of our head, all which are Mat. 10. 29. 30 numbred: yea he which striketh vs or ours with his rod knoweth how to succour them that suffer and are tempted, ha­ving beene tempted himselfe with greater sufferings: he was Heb. 2. vlt. Esa. 53. 4. 5. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 21. wounded and buised, and was made sin for vs, before he would wound or buise vs for our sinnes. Yea indeed all these blowes are intended to the remainders of sinne in vs, not to our selues, but that the spots of the soule may be drawn forth by these Plague-spots on the body, and the sinne-sores of the soule may runne and be cut out of these bodily sores, that sin and death (if it proceed so farre) may be dead by that our bodily death (that the head of this Goliah may be cut off by his owne sword, and death by death destroyed) and our soules may escape as a bird out of the snare of the Fowler, [Page 5] and may flee to their rest (not in the Tabernacle like Davids Psal. 84. Luk. 16. 22. sparrow, but) in Gods owne bosome. As Lazarus when none of Dives houshold would come at him, had Angells atten­ding him to carry his soule into Abrahams bosome: so when feare and danger (this is part of this chastisement) prohibite others from vs, he hath given his Angels a charge concerning vs to convoy our soules to heaven, and meane whiles to guard Psal 91. 11. their vnregarded bodies on earth. Lift vp the eyes of your faith in beleefe of Gods promises, & you shall see by faith, that which Elisha's servant did with bodily eyes, the Cittie 2 King. 6. of London full of Charets and horses of fire round about every Elisha. God himselfe is the refuge of his servants, a house to Psal. 91. 1. them in this time of grace, a temple to them beyond all times in glory. Come Lord Iesus to fetch and receiue me to Apoc. 21. thy selfe, and come in what chariot it shall please thee, if in a chariot of fire as thou didst to Elias, or if in infected aire by pestilent stroke; thou that triumphedst on the Crosse, over death, hell, and the devill, canst triumph over my crosses, and by suffering canst make me triumph also over them all. Thy cōming to me by this or any other sicknesse or death, is but my passage to come to thee: and to goe to Christ and see him as he is, doth infinitely more then re­compence Phil. 1. 21. 1 Ioh. 3. Rom. 8. 18. all the losses, rubbes, and whatsoever irkesom­nesse in the way and passage. And as for death, we and ours are vaine and mortall, we die daily, our life is but a Candle which in shining burneth and wasteth it selfe. Me thinkes it is better to haue a summons, though by pestilentiall ar­rest, then to be dead whiles we liue, as many are which are giddy and drunken with full cups of prosperitie, or whiles 1. Tim. 5. 6. Pro. 1. 32. Luk. 12. Heb. 6. 10. we are singing, Soule take thine ease, suddenly to be snatched out of the world. God is not vnfaithfull to forget your free-will offerings lately to his poore members, he will reward it with a new grant as to Hezekiah in his pestilence with a new Esa. 38. terme of life here; or which is best of all, with that life where no plague, nor Devill, nor sicknesse, nor death, nor Apoc. 21. crosse, nor grievance, shall haue possibilitie to annoy, where is fulnesse of ioy in his presence, and pleasures at his right hand Psal. 16. [Page 6] for evermore, and those such, as eye hath not seene, nor eare heard, nor heart conceived, where we shall drinke of the River Psal. 36. 8. of his pleasures, &c.

But I must end, though They doe not. Your visitation hath not loft [...] gotten all these lines, and my daily and more fervent prayer for you and yours to him who is able to keepe you that you fall not;

REad often Psal. 119. and 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. and almost all of the Psalmes.

You haue I thinke the Martyr booke, read the Epistles of Bradford, Hooper, Philpot, and Carelesse: with innumera­ble others you haue there also.

Read often Heb. 11. & 12. & 13. and the story of Christs passion. Esay from the fortie Chap. to the end of that booke, being full of sweete promises. Also the eight to the Rom.

Pray, pray, pray, and cast all your care vpon God for he careth 1 Pet. 5. 7. for you. With Peter agreeth Paul. Phil. 4. 6. Be carefull for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplicatiō with thanks­giving let your request be made knowne to God. and 1. Cor. 11. 32. When we are iudged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be cōdemned with the world. It is a short hell which we can haue here, but our heaven will last for ever and e­ver.

My poore loue will scarsly suffer me to leaue you, as you see by this long writing. But God is all loue; he comes thus to build you, (that is to hew, saw, cut with the chissell and with all his crosse-tooles to frame you) to be a dwelling for himselfe, a temple for his spirit, a vine branch to his sonne, thus purged to bring forth more fruit. Ioh. 15.