ΤᾺ ΚΑΝΝΆΚΟΥ:THE Trag …

ΤᾺ ΚΑΝΝΆΚΟΥ:

THE Tragedies of Sin CONTEMPLATED, IN

  • The Ruine of the ANGELS,
  • The Fall of MAN,
  • The Destruction of the Old WORLD,
  • The Confusion of BABEL,
  • The Conflagration of SODOM, &c.

HUMBLY Recommended to the present Age, for the Designed Ends of Caution and Terrour.

TOGETHER WITH REMARQUES On the LIFE of the Great ABRAHAM.

By STEPH. JAY, Rector of Chinner in the County of OXON.

Now all these things happened to them for Example; and they are written for our Admonition, upon whom the Ends of the World are come. 1 Cor. 10.11.

LONDON, Printed by J. Astwood for Iohn Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey, 1689.

O Earth Earth Earth Hear the Word of the L [...]

Son of man giue ym warning

Lo I come to doe thy will o god

[inset depiction of the ruine of the angels]

[inset depiction of the fall of man]

[inset depiction of the destruction of the old world]

[inset depiction of the confusion of Babel]

[inset depiction of the conflagration of Sodom]
[...]

TO THE SACRED HANDS OF THE King and Queen's Most Excellent MAJESTIES.

Dread Soveraigns,
IF Angels wrapt in Direfull Chains,
And Princes doom'd to servile Pains;
If a Creation lost in Waves,
And Cities sunk in Fiery Graves,
Be Treasons worth Your Royal Eye
To Glance upon, and cause to Dye,
Then Seal the Warrant, or Command
The Tyrant to Depart the Land:
For (Sin's Dominion Feeble grown)
God will Confirm and Fix Your Own.
So Incessantly Prays, Your MAJESTIES Most Obedient Subject and Servant, Steph. Jay.

TO THE READER.

I Am not insensible that 'tis every dayes fashion with the Wantonists of the Age, to make Court to New Papers, (as to Fresh Ladies) with fair and specious Pretensions of Love, but in truth very foul and dishonourable Projects of Lust, and only to crop from them (the Virgin Fruit) whatever is delicious and complacential in them: These have learned to Fornicate with Books too, and by a subtle Alchymy can Elixirate the whole Substance into a few drops, which themselves lascivi­ously swallow, while they are content to leave the Corps unto others.

Thus have I seen the many Admirers of those indeed very beautiful The Gentleman and Ladies Calling. Pieces of Art, (so curi­ously drawn by the Divine Pencil of that Incomparable Author unknown) Kiss their fair Hands with so devout Ado­ration and Court-like Address, as one would have sworn them their most entire and ab­solute [Page] Captives: And which might have gi­ven their joyful Parent the most unquestiona­ble Assurance in the prosperous Success of his pious Fraud, who by the soft Wreaths of his charming Eloquence had so Innocently plotted to Marry them to Happiness, and knit them (unmoveably) to their Saviour: When (alas!) after the Rape their Sacri­legious Fingers had once made on the Flow­ers of his Oratory, their Ʋnnatural Heats (like those of Amnon) have soon cooled in­to the basest slights and disdain; Nay, very Choller and Passion against the grave Over­tures of any Contract with Heaven, the on­ly justifiable Design of the Congress: Ah no, they have little Appetite to the Matrimony-Noose; they nibble at the Golden Bait, and yet as politickly escape the Hook, can love Books (as Mistresses) for an Hour, but to go to Church with them is least in their Thoughts.

And 'tis evident, this Lasciviousness of the Fancy may Vie Prosperity with any the rankest Debaucheries of the Times; Mens Brains growing as Wanton as their Blood; and should the Infection scatter so successfully as hitherto, will shortly perk up, and with that Aiery Lady at Rome, from the Plea of Universality, call a Council, and Vote her self Honest and Authentick; and then we shall wear the Feathers in our Heads, [Page]as already the other Levities of France on our Backs. There is this only Rescue of Hope left us, that that other Claim of An­tiquity may probably fail her, and happily help to secure us: This being but a Modern Deity, a Goddess newly come up, and the Mushroom Product of the present Age, a Mad­ness of but Yesterday: Our Fore-fath [...]rs be­ing well enough satisfied to be Toll'd into Heaven by the Plain-song of bare Declaration, when all the Notes of the Church Choristry are too dull to Chime us in thither.

But what is most deplorable, and for ever to be lamented (if possible) in Tears of Blood, is the dire Effect of this Luxury of the Ear; for scattering its spurious Seed, it has ge­nerated the Cursed Issue of a montrous Neg­lect and scornful Contempt of the Div [...] Revelations; while our Gallants of both Sexes buff at and quarrel with the Stile of the Scriptures (as some heretofore the Epistle of St. James) to be too Flat and insipid, too Homespun and Rustick, and hence they treat them accordingly with as little Respect as a Withered Wife, bolt them out of Doors, (and no wonder when Cassandra is gotten in) or lock them up out of sight, not (as the Spaniard) from Love or Jealousie, but these from Satiety and Loathing. The sacred Oracles (as some Noble-mens Servants) are [Page]left to Board-Wages, and allowed the free­dom of shifting for themselves, while their Masters feast at a more Luscious Ordinary. Nay worse, they grow ashamed of them, and blush when but found in their Company. 'Tis matter for Apology, to be surprized in the guilt of passing a short Visit on them. They laugh at their Clownish Expression, and won­der not that Joseph's Mistress fail'd of her Amours, when she courted her Fa­vourite in no better Language than Come Lye with me. Thus (alas!) the very Wa­ters of Life to these squeamish Stomachs are grown brackish and disgustful, as those of Ma­rah, they cannot sip them (as some not their Coffee) without Lace.

What the Romish Cabals have so long (by the joynt Combination of Cunning and Villany) been Plotting to effect, viz. The Clasping up our Bibles; whose hopes failing, these in commiseration to the desperate De­sign, are more luckily contriving with more effectual Aids, and stand ready with the Free-Will Offering of these inestimable Jewels, (which they have torn off already from their Ears) to gratifie that Priest, who hath his Fires ready to cast them into, and out of which shall arise a God for them more perfectly Calfish than Aaron's. So near are we ap­proaching thy Banks, O Tyber!

But should a Check come from the Mount, and their Idol chance to be stamp'd into Pow­der, they have danc'd so long about it, that to continue the Frolick, they would as readi­ly Drink its Confusion, and Spice their Boles with a Deity. But Heaven deliver us from such as have no more Veneration for a God, than to lodge him in their Gutts and the Bogg-house.

And may England never tast the bitter Draught that so mortally grip'd the Bowels of Israel, from that Provocation which God could never be perswaded to forget: Yea, thô Moses proffered to expiate it by the Blood of his Soul, (as some think) but could not be accepted. And thô Justice brake its Fast but on Three Thousand of them, yet was it Thirsty still, and never satisfied 'till it had Glutted it self with the Blood of them all, when afterwards their Carkases fell, and lay in the Wilderness as Dung.

But of how much sorer Punishment sup­pose ye shall they be thought worthy, who tread under foot the Holy Testament of the Son of God, and counting the Blood of the Covenant but a mean and unholy thing, shall do this despite to the Spirit of Grace.

But (Blessed God!) pity the Blind, and Pardon the Blasphemy of those miserable Creatures, who tax Infinite and Incompre­hensible [Page] Wisdom of Weakness and Defect, in not cloathing the Imperial Ordinances in such proper Dress as should best set off their Beauty and Lustre; and therefore run Who­ring after the vain Ebullitions of humane Brains, in Slight of the Divinity and Glory that every where sparkles thrô the Sacred Leaves of these Heavenly Volumes, and which are so far from the least failure in the Majesty of their Meen, that 'tis That alone has smitten away their Eyes, and now they idly Prate against the Sun whose powerful Darts have struck them blind, and left them senseless. And surely the Voice of the Lord is powerful, the Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty: And the Thunder that rattleth from the God of Glory through the Air of but Three Chap­ters in Job, and but One or Two in Isaiah, hath sent away in a Fright the loudest Hy­perbole's (as the Winds into their Caverns) to hide their Heads in shame and silence; and who sees not that the whole Vatican of all Created Wit shuts up it self in Despair, and sneaks away perfectly baffled by them?

But it pitieth me to hear of any Son of Levi furthering the Conspiracy, who is com­manded to execute the Revenge, and to sheath the Sword of his fiercest Rage in the very Bowels of this Lust. 'Tis insufferable to bring the Trayteress into the very Pulpit, there [Page]to draw the Ark of God with Philistine Heifers; yet there are, who (strongly in­fected with this Gnostick Humour) blow up the Bladder of this Hypocondriack Vanity with most strenuous Sides and Lungs; but (to judge Charitably) in an enforced Confor­mity to the proud Humour of the Age, they Sing the Lord's Song in a strange Lan­guage, while by the too ravishing Notes of their quavering Throats they faintly lan­guish away the whole strength of their Errand, and cause it all to dye into Air and Nothing, feeding their Auditors with a flash of Wind, and giving them Musick instead of Meat.

Though Nero was so Ambitious to be re­puted the best Fidler in Rome, yet 'tis be­low the glory of a Prince to speak Romance. Laws are delivered in the gravest Expres­sions; God spake these Words, and said, is Oratory enough to Preface the Divine Mandates, and enforce the World to obey them.

Who sees not how strangely Profaneness hath encroached upon us, since we have fan­cied the Men of this Generation so easie and good Natur'd, to be thus readily Complement­ed out of their very Right Hands, when yet we see them keep their Purses so close, and part from their Lusts and Money with the like Torment. Though the Galathians Eyes were once at Paul's Service, yet our Peo­ple [Page]have Wit enough to keep theirs in their Heads.

Nay, 'tis observable too, how well it pleas­eth some of these Gentlemen to meet their Idea's at Church; and he that with the finest hand can Anatomize their Lusts before them, shall be Prophet to them, while them­selves (with the Monster that ript up his Mother) make a curious Inspection into the very Bowels of them, and repeat them again by endearing Contemplation. As that fa­mous Usurer that so generously rewarded the Homilies that sunk his Extortions to the pit of Hell, out of hopes that while they fright­ed others into some Reformation, himself might continue them with the advantage of a better Trade.

The Spirit of the World which main­tained so firm Possession in the Hearts of Ezekiel's Hearers, had more Wit than to be play'd out by the sweet Minstrelsey of his pleasant Layes; and sure we have less hope (whose Lyres are not strung by Heaven) that the Devil of Atheism that snugs so securely in the innermost lodges of Mens Souls, and with the Serpent twists himself about their whole Hearts, will be exorcis'd by the loudest Adjurations of any Son of Scaeva, who shall idlely call on the Name without the Spirit or Power of the Holy Jesus; and how far such [Page]have prospered in the attempt, I must leave to the discretion of too sad and sensible Expe­rience. But still methinks it is pity the Fiend should so peaceably Nestle there, while the effectual Charms of ever powerful Naked Truth would work more successfully to unloose and unkennel him. Very. Rams-Horns when blown by the Breath of Faith shall Rase the Foundations, which all the Engines of Na­ture must ever despair to shake or pull down.

Thus by an Ominous Chymistry we are Calcining all the very substance of our Re­ligion into Dust and Fancy, and nothing less than a Miracle of Mercy can deliver us from the ill Effects of the same Humour in that Egypti­an Dame, who in a tottering Pinnace, (light as her Brains and Body) driven with Purple Sails and Silver Oars, and attended with infi­nite Consorts of Musick, did thus lasciviously deliver her self up into the fatal Dalliances of the Roman Usurper, and God knows how lit­tle Ballast of Solidity is left to secure us, while we are whiffling away the Honour and Happiness of being once esteemed the most Sober and Ex­cellent Nation in the World: When now the Massey Gold of our former Reputation and Vir­tue is beaten into Leaf, and (with the hopes of being better) is all taking flight into Air.

'Tis not from the abundance, but want of (that Holy Oyl that once perfumed Aaron's [Page] Beard) the true Unction, that would Conse­crate even us into Kings and Priests unto God, (if we had it) that this Levity (like a Dan­gerous Defluxion) is passed down from our Heads upon the Skirts of our Garments.

A giddy Brain hath created in us a frothy Spirit, hung all within with Vanity, the very Soul wantonizing in her darkest Cells, and then hating so close a Confinement, makes haste to break Prison, and open those Windows which expose her Meretricious Wares to publick View and Plague; and to draw a more universal Trade and Custom, the very Case (whence this Raree­show stares out with her Whorish and bewitch­ing Lights) must be Glazed and Guilt.

O Dinah, Dinah! (the too clear Mirrour of our Ʋnfortunate Age) my Soul bleeds for thee, the only Daughter of so great a Prince, the Delight of his Eyes and Joy of his Life! what a wound didst thou open in the Bosom of so dear a Parent! What killing Sorrows did thy perhaps innocent and undesigning, thô most Tragical Curiosity, in gazing after such Prospects as these, heap on his woful aking Heart! but what dreadful effects to thy self! the irrecoverable Loss of thine Honour and his Peace together.

And thou England, the very Darling of Hea­ven, who hast been wrapt in the distinguishing Coat of thy Father's Love, to the Envy and Sor­row of thy treacherous Brethren, who have been [Page]Trucking with Ishmaelites to sell thee into Egypt, and dipping thy Coat already in Blood, to represent thee as devour'd, when themselves are the only Beasts that would do it; (and Joseph is too truly torn in pieces by the Divisions and Animosities of their fomenting.) But let not Himself conspire in the Treason, nor break the Heart of his Father by sealing the Articles of his own Slavery. He will find a Lady in Egypt that will strip him again, and rent not his Coat only, but very Flesh off; her Irons will enter into his Soul, if he consent not to her lewd Fornications. Egyptian Flesh was ever fatal to the Israel that doated on it. And 'tis impossible that Dinah should consent to the Rape, that yields her no pleasure at all; and thô afterwards compounded into a Con­tract, even that will add still to her Torments, when anon it is written in the Blood of the Ra­visher, and instead of an Husband she Wed a Corps: Should they deal with our Sister as with an Harlot?

Nothing can betray us to Her Sorrows but Sin, nothing secure us but Obedience and keeping close under the Wings of a Father: We shall find (by the dreadful Examples) what rueful Effects Ex­travagancy and a wandring from God into Va­nity and Folly hath brought upon the World, even from its Creation. Sin ever hath been, ever will be the great Apollyon of our Peace and Safety, whose Tragedies I have adventured (by [Page]too rude a draught) to expose to thy View, with the same design as once Anthony held forth the bloody Gown of the brave Caesar, (all mangled and full of holes by the Daggers of his Murder­ers) on purpose to provoke the People to Revenge. In which undertaking, if Defects too many be dis­covered by the severe and censorious Reader, he will be more courteous sure than to wound me too, while he kindly remembers the shaking of my Hand with the very Fear and Apprehension of so bold an Attempt.

But come Reader, let us lay aside Words and be wise. Religion (with Joash) is left alone in the Temple, and none pitieth that solitary Princess; sure 'twill be our▪ Advantage to unite to her Co­ronation, and unanimously Guard her while the Crown is putting on, and we see her re-invested in all her Regalities. Let Profaneness and Su­perstition (with Athalia) rend their Cloaths and Throats too, crying, Treason! Treason! (the Treason is all against Hell,) and let no English­man be startled at the Plot: Nay, let every one come under the Guilt of it, not one Non-confor­mist to the Dominion of Grace; but should any stand off, let us leave them to the Tyranny of their own Athalia, while we ever cry with all Ju­dah, (triumphing with Joy for the Restauration of the true Worship,)

God Save the King, God Save the King.

THE Angels Tragedy, …

THE Angels Tragedy,

To my Reverend Brethren, the Messengers of Christ to the Churches; Metaphorical An­gels, and spiritual Men, do I humbly offer this Tragedy: May not one of them make the Defection, or suffer the Eclypse of these unhappy Apostates; but ever shining in the lustre of their own Graces, may emit those Beams of Divine Light and Life as will ir­radiate and quicken the dead and benighted Souls of Men, that when God shall remove them from the lower Firmament to fix them above, they may altogether make up a glori­ous Constellation in Heaven, and shine there as Starrs for ever and ever.

2 PET. 2.4.

If God spared not the Angels, &c.

'TIS by slow and trembling Steps that I pass towards the Territories of the Mi­serable, thence to take a distant Pro­spect of the tremendous Executions made by Di­vine [Page 2] Justice upon so great a Part of the once glorious Spirits, now hanging up alive in the Chains of fierce Wrath, and reserved unto the further Judgment of the great Day.

Methinks it is Pity that Sin hath so fair a Pre­tence to the glory of High Birth: We cannot deny it the Honour of a Noble Extraction, when we see it unluckily Issuing from the Heart of an Angel: For neither were those Sons of God at their first Creation bless'd in such an absolute Degree of Stability and Perfection, as should ever secure them from all possibility of falling into the Sorrows of so unnatural a Production.

But if already my Plough make a Baulk in this Tragick Field, and my Pen blunders to deci­pher this Serpent's Root from whence sprung up the Monster, my Reader may well remit it to me, when the great St. Austin throws it off with a Non Deus sunt: They were not God, but Cre­ated in a Mutable and not Impeccable Estate; He charges his Angels with Folly: But if Folly hath a Lodging in the Bosoms of those who each Mi­nute Behold the face of mine heavenly Father, won­der not if (at this distance) it be graduated in­to perfect Distraction, and the Atheistical Fools of the Earth say in their Hearts, There is no God, because they see none; when they are not vouch­safed the dreadful Kindness of Diabolical Con­viction, but are sentenc'd to the ruinous effects of an impudent Obduration, without the Mercy of a scrupulous Conscience, which in time might Torment them into a prudent Recantation.

How the Holy Court was Alarm'd at the break­ing out of this Viper, (as of some Flying Dragon [Page 3]that would have stung them all to Death) and what dreadful havock was wrought in a Moment, and how very many Thousands perished by its Venomous Sting, e're the most expeditious Or­ders could be issued out for the clearing the sound from the infected: And what Decree passed forth for their everlasting Exile thence, into the low­est Abyss of Darkness and Confusion, is so far from being News now adayes, that Heaven and Earth rings with the Tragedy.

And happy had it been for the Younger Sons of God, that this degenerous Brood had been ever closely confin'd within the limits of their own sooty Walls, and not permitted by their rang­ing about, to have had the Liberty of making their pernicious How d'ye's into the Paradise of Joy, where the Kindness of their Maker had so blessedly plac'd them together in Pleasure and Peace.

Very vainly does prying Curiosity make en­quiry after the Quality of the Sin that wrought this Ruine, since perhaps Holy Writ is so ob­scure and reserv'd, with design to dictate a more prudent Caution against all; since whatsoever it were that slew an Angel, the very least of all may crush a Worm.

Yet to gratifie a little the Inquisitive Humour; know, that the very Learned are divided and strangely differ in their Opinions about it: Some [...]aying the Ruine to the Charge of Envy, from their foreknowledge of God's determination in Promoting the Humane Nature into the ineffa­ble Honour of Ʋnion with the Godhead, in neg­lect of their own; so Zanchy and others. Cle­mens [Page 4]Alexandrinus, Tertullian and Chrysostome think it to be Luxury, from Gen. 6.1. But surely Spi­rits need no Mistresses. Others alleadge the Breach of a Positive Command and Law imposed upon them; and the Rabbins will have it of some Service to Man, which the proud Angel refusing was therefore cast down, an Opinion a little hard to be entertain'd; 'tis apparent their Fall preceded the Creation of Man. Aquinas, St. Au­stin, and the whole Current of Writers close with the Holy Ghost, in affixing the Guilt upon Pride; and methinks she is plainly enough too guilty of this Murther; [1 Tim. 3.6.] Nay, the very Care and necessary Caution of every Good Father of the Church, in not laying too hasty Hands on light and frothy Persons, nor exalt­ing them into the weighty Ministrations of the Altar, (since such may be tempted to swell in­to too high Conceits of themselves from the Dig­nity of their excellent Office, and so become Poysoned by the Devil's Draught, whom Pride had so strangely stupified into a forgetfulness of themselves, and puffed them into a Rebelli­on against their great Maker who had assign'd to them their proper Functions, (and to the Prince of them so glorious one) had they had but Grace to have kept [...], their Noble State and Principality, and not left their Stati­on or Habitation, (as Jude saith v. 6.) I say their Care and Vigilancy, must evidence for me that Pride is not slandered in the least by the Charge; (and I shall stand the Tryal if she sue me upon the Scandal) for we cannot [...]e igno­rant neither how some eminent Fathers have [Page 5]expounded that of Isaiah 14.12. How art thou fallen, O Lucifer! son of the Morning, &c. I will exalt my Throne above the Starrs: I will be like the most High; to represent the Sin and Fall of the Proud King of Babylon by the Pride and De­struction of Lucifer.

E're we pass further, let us make a few Turns in the Chamber of Contemplation, and take a survey of the lamentable Ruine of an Angel, (of thousands of them) that this execrable Sin hath so traiterously dragged into irrecoverable Misery and Woe.

The Angelical Nature was doubtless the very Cream and Flower of the beautiful Creation of God: These Spirits are the glittering Courtiers of the King of Glory, clad in the very Livery of their Maker; the Garnish and Ornament of his Palace; Heaven it self but bare Walls (as it were) and unfurnished without them, cloathed with all such inexpressible Excellencies and Pow­er, that surely they want no strength to shake the very Foundations of the Earth, and to make the Pillars thereof to tremble: 'Twas but One of them that in a Night sent an hundred fourscore and five thousand of such Worms as we with plea­sure into Dust and their first Nothing: And ano­ther with a Breath only will blow up more My­riads out of it again. And yet no sooner had Sin, [that [...],] that scum and Ex­crement of filth, the very Elixir of all Poisons, cast its envenoming Shadows upon the fair Fa­ces of these Glorious Suns, but they presently unloose from their several Orbs, dying into an Eternal Eclypse, and drop down into Darkness [Page 6]and Horrour, stript for ever from their Native Eminences and Holiness, (the loveliness that once beautified their Natures) Metamorphosed into the most affrightful Image of all the most abstracted Deformity and Vileness expressible; deprived for ever of those Eternal Felicities to which they were Created, and are now become the very Sources and Fountains of all imaginable Lewdness and Mischief, which they are increasing still, by pouring out the whole Flood of their killing Streams to engulph us also in an everlast­ing Ruine. God in great Kindness to us hath discovered their now destructive Properties, and shewn us the danger we are in, while an whole Host of spiritual Wickednesses are round about us, as so many roaring Lyons ready to devour us, and are our avowed Adversaries, Accusers, Murder­ers and Destroyers, incessantly tempting us into the Rebellion with them, which they very well know will in the end lay us in the same Dun­geon of Darkness with all the Chains of divine Indignation upon us that themselves are so dread­fully gall'd with: All which is no idle Fiction fram'd on the Forge of a Melancholly, fanciful or Romantick Brain, but a Verity as Infallibly Sealed by the Spirit of Truth to us, as any other the Holy Oracles have with the clearest Perspi­cuity conveyed to our Knowledge. And though too slightly regarded, yet witnessed to be, as Just on themselves, so fatal to us, (if we keep not the strictest Guard, and Invest our selves with the whole Armour of God) by One of their own Original Order and Degree; (Now for ever secured from the like Dangers of confederating [Page 7] Treasons, and Established into an Estate of en­tire and sinless Perfection,) from the profound Sence and grave consideration that himself had of it. While therefore he proclaims from Hea­ven the deplorable Woes to us (the poor Inhabi­tants of the Earth and Sea) from the ruinating Consequences of their Power and Presence here below, Revel. 12.12.

And 'tis matter of Astonishment to consider, how few are awakened by the Trump of that Angel, unto any, the least Reflection on the Mis­chiefs and Miseries effected in all Ages by the bloody Contrivances of these Apostate Spirits, who have prevailed to the overturning not of Mighty Empires and Kingdoms only, but of once the most flourishing Churches in the World, now overwhelmed with the black Cloud of Pa­gan and Mahometan Darkness and Death, where Divine Light and Truth sent forth (then alas!) their sparkling Beams and Splendour; pouring in their mortal Dregs both of Atheism and Er­rour, which deface the whole Beauty, and ener­vate the whole Strength of Original Piety and Religion; which they know well enough will dissolve the Covenant of Heaven, and give up to the Judgment not of a Desertion only, but Di­vorce. Who but these foment Divisions and Schisms and Animosities between Men, by pussing up some (and those of the meanest Capacity) into boundless and immodest Conceits of their own greater Wisdom and Parts, and hatefull disdain and Contempt of others, more worthy than themselves? Who so Industriously blow up the Coals of all Dissension and Discord between [Page]the most seemingly happy and united Frater­nities, and invent the Aspersions of Ignominy and Reproach that are six'd on each other? who but these whisper into the Ears and Hearts of Princes those needless Jealousies and Fears that cool them in their Kindness to their best Subjects, (whom they look on as the secret un­derminers of the Peace and Government, the very Plagues and Pests of the Age they live in, who are yet the very Pillars of the Throne) as if there were no consistency between God's Empire and their own? Who but these stir up Kings to ru­ine themselves by unnecessary Wars, and their poor Subjects by unnecessary Sins? Who but these beat up the Drums of Sedition and Rebellion against the best Princes, the very gracious Fathers of their People? Who petrifies the Hearts of Ty­rants against their poor Subjects into the bloodiest Executions of their Wrath and Cruelty, not on­ly grinding their Faces by cruel Oppression and Impoverishment, but sheathing the Sword of Persecution in the very bowels of Innocency, on no other account but this, that they refuse to at­tend them into Hell? Who but these have rais'd up all the Assassinations and Massacres upon the Body of the Church, not only by Heathenish and Pagan Instruments, but have sent their thousands and ten thousands into Death by the less merci­ful hands of those who (Drunk with Blood) have yet the blasphemous Impudence to call themselves by the Name of Jesus? Who but these had the Brow to move the Court of Heaven for the sub­version of the whole Colledge of the Apostles at once, and with an equal Insolence to endeavour [Page 9]the utter evacuating the whole Project of our Eternal Redemption by tempting the great Au­thour of it to cast himself upon sinful and un­warrantable Means of Preservation, and direct­ly tending to his Ruine; and when that would not take, consult together more effectually to work their Ends by the cursed Treachery of his own Servant. In a word, these are they that have wrought all the late Storms and Tempests in the World; 'tis they have wrought all the Devastations that Turkish and Gallican Tyranny have executed for them: The unnatural Wars in our own Bowels, the horrid Massacres of the Church in France and Ireland, the deplorable Fewds among our selves; these have kindled our Fires, burnt up our Cities, enflamed our Spi­rits, contrived the Plots of our Ruine, and are yet at work very briskly to bring them to Perfection.

And all this from the Inveterate Hatred they bear to God and Man, roaring as Lyons to de­vour, twisting themselves as Serpents to deceive; by all subtle wayes and wiles beyond all ima­gination, by secret and invisible Engines and Artifices, profound Stratagems and Devices, ma­king use of all sorts of Means and Instruments, as well by real Friends as professed Enemies, to the very Wife of thy Bosom; nay, to the divi­ding thy self, and making a Party for themselves in thy Heart.

And yet we snore in our security, and dally in an insensibleness of any danger, while yet these mighty Enemies are round about; they fill the Air we breath in, and hover over our Heads, and are prying into all our most retired Actions, [Page 10]and are Witnesses to all our Villanies, to give Evidence against us in the last Day. Nay, they mingle themselves with our very Affections and Passions, and fly-blow our very Prayers, and De­votions, and Charities, endeavouring to render tham all fruitless and unprofitable to us, and unacceptable to God. In short, instead of wish­ing well to us, assisting us in our Work, re­joycing in our Conversion, and ministring to our Comfort (the service of the good Angels) these repine at our Welfare, hinder our Repen­tance, Lull us along in our Security, terrifie our Spirits, imbitter our Lives, enrage our Ene­mies, enstrange our Friends, disease our Bodies, and betray our Souls: For all which, and infinite other unmentioned Calamities and Disasters from them, whom may we justly Curse and execrate (as the Original cause of all,) but Sin, which by its malignant Influences, and wicked Inchantments, from being amiable Creatures of the sweetest In­clinations and Affections, hath transformed them into real Furies and Devils against us?

Come hither, Reader, and with that Roman Souldier, envy me the Honour of preparing the Funerals of the great Pompy alone, but bring with thee all the Luminaries of thy Soul; gather all the straggling forces of thine utmost reason and considering Faculties (and all too little) to ru­minate as thou oughtest on this rueful Spectacle. David once bitterly Mourned at the Bier of one Prince of Israel, Slain by the Treachery of an insolent Traytor: But who hath slain all these? Heaps upon heaps, once glorious Princes of Hea­ven. O see what a slaughter sin hath made upon [Page 11]them! And then consider the weight of that Ar­gument presented to thee by Peter and Jude. If God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down into Hell, and delivered them into Chains of darkness to be reserved unto Judgment; How will he spare thee? They were Angels, Infinitely above thee in the Dignity of their Nature and Creation; yet Greatness was no Argument for Mercy. They were a Multitude in the confederacy, yet neither did the Number of the Offenders move pity in the least, but one and all, Thousands of them to Hell without Mercy; yet it was the first Offence too, they sinned but once, (and some think but in Thought,) and Justice seized upon them to Execu­tion, and God dealt not with them as with thee and me (Reader) on whom he hath long waited, even while we have been multiplying provoca­tions, and stirring up his wrath to destroy us, yet still hath he waited to be gracious to us. And me­thinks 'twere pity to make a God wait in vain upon us, to lose all the Expences of his Pa­tience and Expectation from us. We would do well to think on it, and the force of the Apostles most Pathetick Argument; Despisest Thou the riches of his Goodness, and Patience, and Long­suffering! Thou that art but a poor Worm, a Clod of the Earth, and no Angel, a Creature of Yester­day, and who art crushed before the Moth, and whose Foundation is in the Dust; Despisest thou? And who art thou that should despise a God? And to despise him too? To entertain low and unbecoming thoughts of Him, that could Nod thee into Hell, and send thee to accompany De­vils in Torments! Not so much as to have an [Page 12]Eye towards him, or to spend a Look upon him, or to concern thy Thoughts about him, thinkest him unworthy of thy Notice or Observation, and yet a God, and such a one on whom Angels and blessed Spirits Gaze with unspeakable Admiration and Delight, not to have the least sense of him!— No neither whilst he is flowing out to thee in the sweetest of his Communications, that of his Goodness, to despise Goodness, and that Goodness not to others, but thy self, (thy self Reader) to despise a God who hath been so long good to thee! The very Fountain of all the good Mercies thou hast enjoyed, and herein good, as not to punish thee for the abuse of those Mercies, but is still waiting! Now if thy reason be not drench'd into a perfect Bruitishness, be thine own Judge, whether such Goodness should not lead thee to Re­pentance. A mercy he never vouchsafed to the Angels, never waited to see whether they would return or no, but for the first Sin delivers them to Justice, layes them in Chains and reserves them to destruction, while yet he is still Courting thee to come in and submit: Declares himself unwil­ling to ruin thee; makes Oath of it, That he hath no delight in thy Blood, but infinitely rather that thou shouldest return and Live; and thou may'st believe him, Reader, thou hast his very Heart in that Protestation. Well, 'tis not unworthy thy most serious Reflection to fix a while on Gods Severity towards these Angels, who are now un­der Chains of wrath (and thou art walking pre­sumptuously on the snares of Death too) but should thy feet stumble on the dark Mountains (as they will) and the fall of thy Body shall burst out [Page 13]thy Bowels, and dash out thy Breath: Its possi­ble Reader, thou maist find thy miserable Soul fet­ter'd in the same Chains that Haughtiness and In­solence hath betrayed them into, though now thou wilt not harken unto the Ratling of theirs, for the noise of thy Chariot, and the Ruffling of thy Pride.

But pause a little, thou most exalted Dust, and view thy self in the Glass of these now wretch­ed Infernal Spirits: Dost thou value thy self upon thine high Birth, and doth the Noblest Blood en­rich thy Veins? Why these were the First-born of God, of the eldest Family, and but one De­gree subordinate to the blessed Trinity, and never took their Rise from Clay, but were all Spirits and Glorious, yet has Pride destroyed them. Dost thou look Bigg on thy fellow Servants, and from thine high Station and Preferments in the Courts of Princes, swellest into a forgetfulness of thy mean Original? Why, proud Ashes, these were the Illustrious Courtiers of the King of Glory; and Attendants on the Majesty of Heaven,— Yet Pride hath slain them. Art thou Commissioned from thy Master into Power, and delegated unto Executions from Royal Authority? Why▪ these even in their low Estate are Powers still, and can (if Licens'd) make the Earth to tremble; are the Princes of the Air, and keep their Court in thine own Heart too, and though stript of their Holi­ness, yet are Commission'd often unto frequent and fearful Executions (and God deliver us from their Tyranny!) yet they are but Hell-hounds still, and their Pride hath undone them.

Dost thou Glory in thine Attendants and long Train, the Set of Liveries that encompass thy Chariot, and the many Slaves thou hast at thy Service? Know (Seigniour) that Belzebub hath his Legions too, and in a more perfect subjection and conformity than thine, he hath them all at his perfect beck and absolute Service, his Sub­jects are no Rebells against him, but go and come at the least Nod of his pleasure, and yet this great Prince hath his Chains on him, and Pride hath made him a Prisoner of Wrath.

And (might I be so bold) I would humbly Ad­dress me to the Man of Art and Science, whose Soul dwells in the Sun, while others look out thro' the dark Dormants of a glimmering Light, and walk in the Cloister of Obscurity and Ignorance. The Gyant that is Head and Shoulders above Others in all the Dimensions of profound Parts, subtile Brain, most exquisite Learning and Acquisitions: Thou knowest already, that this Society of the Dark Order, were once All Light and Intelligences themselves; and now in the state of their Dege­neracy are yet Masters of universal Knowledge, not only Magical and Phylosophical, but Theological too, and can give the Explanation of the most abstruse Mysteries: And from their natural Sa­gacity, long Experience, Astrological Conclusions, and extraordinary Revelations, can Pierce into Future Events, and have often uttered their Pro­phecies and foretold things that have happened: While Thou suckest in knowledge by Drops; They Roll in the whole Ocean of it, and yet alas, all this Light is but perfect Darkness, and a Torch that leads them to Hell, and but to a clearer Dis­covery [Page 15]of their own Misery and Sorrow; is void of all Comfort and Peace, and strikes nothing but Terror and Confusion into them, being imbit­tered with Envy and obstinate Malice against God and all Idea's of Goodness. To thy Knees there­fore, to thy Knees get thee (most mighty Rabbie:) O for the sparks of Seraphick Love to fall down on and enflame thy Frigid Affections, and to Sanctifie all thine Aiery and Unprofitable Notions, into the Heat and Life of Charity, Consolation and Joy in God.

Nor must I forget my fine Lady, while the Glass is in the Room: Ladies love Glasses, and spend too much time in gazing upon them; come Madam, lend us here your Eyes a little, here are Angels attend you:— Nay do not startle, Lady, they can do you no Mischief (if you do your self none.) 'Tis but a Coachful or two from the Dark Region, that are come to pass a short Visit this Evening with you; They have brought you some Patterns of the Newest Fashion with them, and think you may need them. Your pale Cheeks want a little Enlightning too, and these have excellent Fucus to sell, can furnish your Ladiship with the most bewitching Colours, and can inspire you into the rarest knowledge of Tempering and Laying; and for Patches there are none like those they Cut, and will leave you Directions how to stick them so, as (if you please) they shall never fall off more: They are Blacks themselves, and love to promote the Honour of their Country Complexion. They are sent by their great Prince with a Message of an How-d'ye to you, and know you are at leisure enough to [Page 16]receive them; and in truth they have little else to do, but to be Tutors to young Ladies. Them­selves were Scholars to Madam Pride, who has instructed them into all the Figures and Arts of most perfect Dresses. They love Gawdry, and were once most absolute Beauties themselves; they are indeed a little Tawny now from the Torrid Zone wherein they Breath, but if you please, can Transform themselves into a Lighter shape, and then will appear less frightful to you.— Come, let us see whether you can vie Beauty with them. Bring out all your Merceries cover'd o're by the strutting Embosses of spangling Gold, till nothing appear but the Massy Embroi­deries sparkling Lustre. Send for your Tire-women, let them Curle up your dangling Locks into the most bewitching twines, then lodge the rosie Blush on your lilly Cheeks, and Lips: Let a glorious Aire and Meen dwell on every Feature, no Mo­tion or Posture of your whole Body, but what may strike Wonder and Extasie. Come, pass on now by Majestick Paces to the Chamber of Pre­sence, where these goodly Creatures attend you. Ah! is this all the Shine you can make? See how they dazle you into perfect Deformity and Con­tempt! And yet they can shew you variety of Exchanges every hour, and have often done it when they have pleas'd to appear in Masquerade. And can You find in your Heart to be Devils too, dress'd up in all your Gaieties with no other de­sign than to Tempt and Destroy, to Bewitch others and your selves into the Ruines of the Damned? What think ye, is it not pity such Creatures as these should be scorch'd with ever­lasting [Page 17] Heats, cloath'd all in Gowns of Flame, who were once Attir'd by a Divine hand, into such Amiable Perfections as Expression fails to tell you how brightly they shin'd in their Coelestial Robes, and yet Pride has Devested them of all, undress'd them into Shame and eternal Sorrow; Yes, Madam, Pride has done it, their Golden Tresses like Medusa's Head, are turn'd to Snakes and hiss, yet cannot fright you.

And thou Pursy Man of Wealth, that hast Enclosed thy self in Cedar, and mounted thy Towring Soul high as thy proud Structures, and with that haughty Monarch art ravish'd in Ad­miration of the Pile of thy Glory: Wilt thou not vouchsafe one Glance from thy Turrets upon these Spirits, and remember in what State they once lived? In a City built and furnish'd as Richly as Infinite Power and Wisdom could con­trive and expend for its Glory. The very Gates of Pearl and the Streets of pure Gold: An House made with no other Hands than what a God hath. Yet from all that Heighth and Magnificence, Pride has tumbled them down into a Tophet whose Chambers are deep and large too, but whose Fire burns, and is enkindled by the Breath of an incensed God into a streaming Flame for ever. And are you sure (Sir) that your Walls are strong enough to secure you from the like Tragedy? 'Twill be a dreadful Change to pass out from your Stately Pallace into a scorching Hell.

But what must we pity Devils then? No, but our selves rather, who in a dreadful Fearlesness are merrily passing on to the same Misery, and [Page 18]sure they Merit little Pity from us, who lay so many Trails of Ruine for us, to drag us into the Sorrows themselves endure; and would but Mock and deride us if in Torments with them. Nor have I the Charity of Origen, to believe that all the Flames in which they Suffer, will ever prevail to Purge out the Malignity of their Poisonous Natures, nor refine them into Purity. Truth it self hath averr'd, that their Fire shall never, never be quenched, (and if it were not so, he would have told us.) No, Reader, no, Pride hath done their work for them to the purpose, and thoroughly fix'd them the open avowed Irrecon­cilable Enemies of God and all Goodness; yet still methinks, to see these Great and Mighty Princes footing it as Servants upon Earth, or wan­dring in the Air with the Shackles of Vengeance at their Heels, for these Principalities (with the Fingers and Toes of their Native Royalties cut off) to be banish'd into the place of Dogs, to pick Scraps from under the Table, and to swallow the Bones of Eternal Affliction, with no other Drink than the Poison of Dragons, and the Dregs of the Wrath of the Almighty, cannot be in the sense of all but a sad and deplorable Spectacle: And though we cannot so Pathetically commiserate their Degradation and Sorrows, yet are we more senceless and hardened than they, if when after God hath hung them up before the Sun, in the Fetters of his fiercest Anger, and made them the lasting Monuments of his fiery In­dignation to all Generations; If I say while we Gaze on Them, we do not Compassionate our selves and fortifie our Spirits by all imaginable Care [Page 19]against the Mischiefs of Sin (that of Pride espe­cially) which hath brought all these Plagues and Judgments upon them.

Buoys of dire Vengeance chained here,
To raise up Ʋniversal Fear;
To Quash the Mountains, and melt down
The Pride of each Terrestrial Crown:
Rattle your Fetters into th' Ears
Of a Deaf World that laughs at Fears.
(While yet You Tremble) These Secure
(As if as Innocent, as Pure
As once were you) themselves Immure.
Methinks an Hierarchy in Hell
Might sink the Tumour, thô it swell:
If not, the Baffle will soon appear
All on Themselves (not Me) when There.

Adam's Tragedy,

Brethren in the Common Nature, (however distin­guished by Accidents of Life.) The Progeny of the first Adam, subjected by Him to Sin and Death: Redeemed from all by the Blood of a Saviour: (Were there in you an Heart agreeable to that Grace) Do not Baffle the Project of the Trinity to save you; nor Frantickly Tear off the Plaister designed to Heal you: Heaven is no place for un­sanctified Flesh, stand to the Tryal if you dare: The Judge is at the door, that will more sensibly convince you, who hath sent you word before-hand, That without Holiness no man shall see God. Hast out of the Rotten House of your first Father, and while Vengeance pursues you, you are Mad in­deed, if you fly not to the City of Refuge.

1 COR. XV. 22.

In Adam all dye.

SIN having made this havock above, and glutted it self with Angels Blood; let us now pass on to take a view of the direful Desolations it hath wrought below; 'Twill fight [Page 22]neither against Small nor Great, but only against Kings; for having already destroyed these Spiri­tual Princes, it still pursues the High Game, and now lets fly at the first and Greatest on Earth.

When the Eternal Word spake things into Being that had no Pre-existence, and commanded admirable Order and Form to start up out of Confusion and Chaos; He not only gave a Naked Life to his Creatures, but cloathed them with unexpressible Beauty and Ornament; each Creature richly garnish'd in his Natural Dress that was meet and proper to it: But to Man (the Lord of all) did he reserve a double Suit; He designs him the Epitomy of the whole Creation, and to participate of both Natures: His Better Part (the Soul) he Enamels with the sparkling Beams of his own Divinity, and Cloaths it in no other than his own Livery, and Creates it a Spirit like himself, Glorious in Holiness. This inestimable Jewel he wrap'd up in a Casket (the Body) very curiously and wonderfully wrought, to become a Cha­riot for the Noble Soul to move in: And this very Case he fashioned into such excellent Sym­metry of Parts and Perfection, as should shew in each Lineament and Proportion, the unparallell'd Wisdom and Power of its Maker; and was so far from needing a Mantle to cover Defects, as Nakedness it self was its best Ornament, and Inno­cence its Natural Robe. God himself delighting to see him in no other Vesture, and himself not blushing to appear before his great Creator in it. All the Creatures did their Homage to him in no other Dress, when they presented themselves so [Page 23]humbly to take Name, which He, as their God on Earth, gave Wisely and Suitably to their Natures. The Loss of a Rib was so far from being any Blemish to his Person, that he soon finds it again wrought up into the Perfection of a Delicate Lady, as Beautiful and Entire as Him­self: And being but himself divided, renders him still more compleatly Perfect. And thus the Lord of the Creation receives his Stately Bride from the immediate Hands of his God, and is Bessed in the Fruition of a Princess Conge­nial to his Nature and Honour: When in a Para­dise of unspeakable Pleasures, did this High and Happy Pair deliciously enjoy themselves and their Maker, with all the Reciprocations of the Dearest Love and Joy.

Now to Consummate this Happiness, the Perpe­tuity of all is kindly offered them, on the Easie Condition of a Thankful Obedience: (Alas!) 'Tis but the Rent of a Pepper-corn for so vast a Re­venue. The Great Landlord will reserve to Him­self a Propriety but in one Plant, which by no means he must Encroach on, under the Penalty of certain Death: while the Fruition of all the Rest shall be Sealed to him by Another, which is Hallowed into a Sacrament for immutable Con­firmation to him. He humbly Bows, and is content to live no longer, than while he pays the Tribute of so Reasonable Service.

But the banished Crew, who rov'd up and down in the Air and Earth, (now perfectly stript of all the Glories of their happy Creation, and of all Hopes of any possible Re-investiture into Divine Favour,) and ready to burst with Rage and [Page 24] Malice, when they find that God had raised up to himself Children from the Dust of the Earth, that paid him a greater Honour than they, and were now become the Blessed Heirs of his Grace, and the Mercies themselves had so justly For­feited, began to Conspire the Means of recking their Revenges against both, between whom there appeared so seemingly Irrefragable Ʋnion of Friendship.

And is there no way (think the Infernal Wretches) to deface this so goodly Fabrick, so Accurately set up and brought to so lovely Per­fection? No means to cool this Fervour of Fondness and Affection betwixt these new Confe­derates? What, cannot a Council of Devils break this Tripple League? Were not we our selves in as fair Probability of standing unmoveably in his Favour, yet are now broken off? And does all our Misery serve us to no purpose at all, nor in­struct us into Methods of Revenge? Sure the Ex­pedient is at hand already, and can we act by any better Engine than what hath unscrewed our selves from his Heart? Can we work by any more proper Tool than Pride that has ruin'd us all? She that hath been so Politick to out-wit Spirits, cannot want her Arts to cast a fair Mist before the Eyes of the Children of the Worm, while she blows her Venomous Breath upon them. And is that newly start-up Lady so stiff and strait-lac'd, that no dainty cringing Address may prevail to warp her to the Impressions of Pride? So Coy and Reserv'd that no Insinuations can bow her to the Suggestions of a greater Happi­ness than yet she enjoys? Why she is but a Woman, [Page 25]made of a Rib, and Bent already to give Life to our hopes: Cannot Pride smooth her up to the tickling Conceits of an higher Empire, and dis­play the Felicities of a Goddess to her? Intimate that her Maker is jealous already of his Supre­macy, and providently to secure it, hath Fet­tered them up by a Law from the only means of both their Promotions: But if they will, may be Gods themselves as well as He. Let her view the enclosed Tree, and judge whether its Fruit have not Charms which none but Weakness and Folly would refrain from; and bears Meat not proper only for Gods, but whose very Digestion would produce Immortality. They may (but) taste themselves into Deity. And then for an Assistant, hath she not the Serpent (a subtle Creature) to Organize the Errand and speak by, that knows so curiously to Curl himself into Welcome and Audience, and by a thousand Cringes will wriggle himself into Acceptance.

And thou Pride, we conjure thee to dart thy Mortal Sting, (whose griping Pains still stick in our Hearts) strike it into every part of their Souls: While we our selves will Assist thee in the Project, and make them know we will not Smart alone under the Frowns of an Angry God, but shall let them see how just it is, they should bear a share with us in the bitter Fruits of Rebellion and Folly.

'Tis no news to the Reader, that this execra­ble Plot was crowned with its wish'd-for Suc­cess, and how Pride plaid her part in the Tra­gedy so much to the Life, that all the Pit of Hell paid her the Honour of the Clap and the Hum.

Love and Life lye Bleeding together: The Divinity disappears and retreats into Heaven, to Solace it self in it self, since all the Sparks of it here below are fully extinct, and Darkness covers again all the Earth. The very Devils prosper in their Ruinous Plots, and if infinite Wisdom be not able to temper good Physick from this Venom, the Foundations of the World must dissolve into Nothing, the Creation drop into its first Confusion, to Bury the Sinners in its Ruines.

No sooner had Miserable Man shut his Ear from his Maker, and opened it to the Viper and Lust, but the first visible Effect of his Folly was Shame (which never since hath broken off its Attendance on Sin) for Pride having rent off the Garment of their Native Simplicity and Innocence which fenced them from every Danger, the Angry Winds begin to revenge their Creator's Quarrel, and boldly assault their shivering Joynts: They feel already the Cold Effects of their Weak­ness, and their very Souls Blush to see how Suc­corless and Naked they had left themselves. Modesty Suggests the Necessity of a Covering, and themselves can think of no better than the com­plicated Branches of a Tree; not of the Lawrel wreath'd into Crowns of Victory (alas! here was all Defeat) but of the poor Fig Platted into the inglorious Shrouds of Shame. Unhappy Adam! Hadst thou wisely refrain'd from the Fruit, thou hadst never needed the Leaves. Thus (Reader) those who slighted the Protection of the God of Nature, became Debtors to a contemptible Vege­table, and are obliged to a Leaf to Periwig their [Page 27]Baldness and Poverty. But Alas! Leaves had but little Wear or Warmth, they soon Wither and Rot, whose very dropping from their Loins, (dead and Sapless because separate from their Root) seem to take Voice, and loudly upbraid the Weakness of those that wore them, and the Impossibility of Life to such who were now broken off from the Fountain of it. Blessed God! To what Covert shall he betake himself that flies from thee? They multiply Sorrows that hasten after another God. How unpitied are the Rags of the Prodigal, who left the Rich Wardrobe of his Fathers Treasures, to Cloath himself with Con­fusion!

Fig-leaves Adieu! Wither and dye,
I've other Leaves to dress me by:
A Tree whose Leaves do ever thrive,
And which alone dead Souls Revive;
One who has Curs'd both Leaves and Wood
For not affording any Good;
Kindly consulting General Weal,
Left those behind that Nations Heal;
Whose Vertue wisely understood,
Are found both Medicine and Food:
Then turn them, Reader, o're and o're,
Adam's lost Glory they'll restore.

Cold and Shame are but the beginning of Man's Sorrows: If his Members shake with the gentle Gales of Paradise, how will his Heart tremble at the Whirlwind of his Offended Makers Voice! Shame is the First-born of Sin; and Fear takes it by the Heel as a Twin of the same Birth: He [Page 28]Fears and Flies, but in vain from him that is every where: And he that first seeks a Covering for his Shame, is now seeking another for his Sin, and would gladly Pin his Fig-leaves on his Makers Back, whom he Blasphemously Impeaches as the Sinner, for his kindness in giving him a Wife. I tremble to see how low he falls, who hath once lost his hold of Grace: O let everlast­ing Arms be underneath me! Since such is the Villany of Nature, that it would Condemn a God to save it self! But what is more Stupendious yet, The God is content it should be so, and that a Cross be fram'd of the Fatal Tree for Himself to Hang on, that while his Eye should be fixt on the Prodigy, (when yet the Sun shut his) his Heart (with the Veil of the Temple) might be Rent into a Thousand Shivers; which when laid on the Altar, should become a Sacrifice too (per­sum'd by his own) that shall serve to expiate his Guilt: For a broken and a contrite Heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Sure the Sence of so Astonishing Love, would Melt him into Repen­tance and a Flood of Tears; but if not, he de­served to dye for ever.

Paradise is no longer a Place for Rebels, who have forfeited their Right to the Tree of Life: Away to the Plantations with them; Hard Labour and Sweat will humble them into more Sober thoughts of themselves, than thus to Aspire after Deity. How hardly is the Glass of Prosperity holden by a stedfast hand without Breaking! but how Afflicting is the remembrance of an Happiness lost by our Folly! And I doubt not but every step that poor Adam trod out of his delicious [Page 29]Garden, was made upon Thorns, that ran up into his very Heart to make it Bleed. And I humbly beg my Reader, upon the bare Knees of my Soul, that he would Bathe his Heart in the River of the first Sinners melting Sorrows for the loss of an Earthly Paradise: Since the Time may come, that he Himself may Weep the like unpro­fitable Drops under the Forfeiture of an Eternal Heaven (for the sake of a few Momentary and Perishing Lusts) where a Sea of them will little avail him in a place of Torment. And I do assure him, That the Caution swims to him in a Flood of my own at the writing of it, and could be content (if it might benefit him more) that it were Printed with the Blood of my Heart. But how Faint and Senseless are my Hopes, when I see the Rock of Obduration so far from yielding these precious Waters at the Stroaks of the Prophets, that the Impenetrable Adamant was no wise dissolva­ble by the Tears or Blood of a weeping God.

The Naked Offenders must in pity be Cloathed, and their very Garments are part of their Punish­ment. They shall do Penance in Hair-Cloth. Those whom Pride had blown up into the Con­ceit of being Gods, shall sneak up and down in Skins of Beasts: Sure the Skins of those Brutes (however Tann'd) were but a Rugged Shift for the tender Body of the Mother of all Living.

See, Reader, see, the First and Greatest Princes of the Earth, (e'er ever Kingdoms or Empires were bounded out, and divided among Crowned Heads, see these) that held the Scepter of the Ʋniverse, thus Treacherously betrayed by Sin, [Page 30]into so vile an Estate of Dishonour. They are wrapt up in Leathern Suits, which doubtless they put on and off with infinite Shame and Sorrow, in Reflection upon the loss of their Glo­rious Robes. The wily Serpent had told them indeed, that their Eyes should be opened, and 'twas true enough, but to what? To the Sight of their unspeakable Misery and Woe, that lending so easie an Ear to the Impostures of that Grand Deceiver, they saw themselves Gull'd out of all their Original Happiness and Bliss. Thus Adam that was Created in Honour, but understood not his own Felicity in the Favour and Fellowship of his God, fell as in a Moment from it, and became like the Beasts that perish, walking up and down in his Shaggy Suit, which (with the Hairy Bap­tist) was ever Preaching Repentance and Morti­fication to him. It may be true, what is written of Peter, that every Crowing of the Cock, was a new Peal that alarm'd him to fresh Sorrows; but sure each Glance of Adam's Eye upon his Beastial Coat, made him go forth and weep bit­terly.

Thus Sin hath brought forth Shame, and Shame a Necessity of Garments; to be proud therefore of Garments, what is it but to be proud of our Shame? nay, to Glory in our Sin, that hath brought that Shame and Necessity upon us. And this minds me of Tertullian, contemplating Adam in his Skins: Lo (saith he) Homo Pellitus Orbi, quasi Metallo datur. Man, the Lord of the whole World, is sent out of Paradise in a Lea­thern Jerkin to work as a Slave in the Mines. That Garb very well suiting the Spade and the [Page 31]Mattock, and his Wife allowed no other Dress, her Soft Skin covered with a Pelt only, at the very mention of which, her delicate Daughters fall a shrugging and are uneasie, but mightily Mortified for the Misery she hath brought upon them; when, (Good Souls) they do Penance with her in Rolls of the finest Linnen, and the softest folds of Sattin and Silk.

This was an Wound to Man indeed, but Heaven it self must Smart: 'Twas not so strange an In­dignity to those who had made themselves as Beasts, to be thus lapp'd up in their Skins: But for God himself to be fetch'd out of Paradise, and made to walk up and down in a Skin upon Earth, for Deity to put on a Skin too: This is the insufferable Fruit of their Folly, (but the incomparable Evidence of his Love.) Nay, and while these might walk warm and secure in theirs, He (Alas!) cannot keep his own Whole upon his Back, but is all over Rent and Torn from the crown of his Head (where the Thorns pierce it) to the sole of the Foot, (where the Nails) when Agonies from Wrath above, Whips and Spears from Rage below, dips him all into Blood, his Skin becoming as Joseph's Coat, which he carries back (with all the Breaches and Rents upon it) to shew the very Angels whom he might thank for all this.

But to teach us the Lesson of Humility and due Moderation in our Habit, you may Note, how little value the great God puts upon the Body (on which he hath stampt the Character of Vile) while he presently wraps it in a Cover of Skins, and thinks it fine enough when it answers the [Page 32]ends of Security from Nakedness and Cold, when yet his Wisdom took nigh four Thousand years e'er he finished the Garment that should guard the Soul from the more dangerous Attacks of Sin and Death.

All Peace, all Quiet, no Murmurs here, no Pleas for Gaudy Cloaths or Changes of Attire; they humbly offer their Guilty Shoulders to the rugged Hide, in meek Submission to the good Pleasure of their great Creatour. Those who are unworthy of Life, may not stand on Terms of Vanity. Surely very meek and resigned is humble Guilt; nor did ever broken Heart quarrel at the Rents of its own making. Lord if it be Thou, let me come to thee, tho' in a Fisher-mans Coat.

But was Cold and Blushing, the only Effects of the Consult of Hell against poor Man? This all the depth of their Plot? Ah no! for if Pride had been so Modest or Merciful to have stript him only (with the Egyptian Strumpet) of the spoils of the Ʋpper Garment, (the treacherous Flesh,) had it bruised the Case only, or pluck't up the stakes of the moveable Tabernacle and bury'd it all in it's Orignial Dust, the Tyrrany still had been easie and supportable, while the Jewel within had made an escape with all the Treasures of her Excellencies whole and untouch'd; had she been so kind to have left some memora­ble Marks of her Cruelty on the exteriour Per­fectious of his Beauty, the whole Creation would have called a Parliament, and humbly have offered their Loyal Subsidies to their great Sove­raign: Each Bard and Beast would have been proud to wrap him in their Down and Furrs, each [Page 33] Blossom and Flower would have sewed Themselves together to have made them Summer-suits, as Shem and Japhet they would have hid their Faces, while they had reverently mantled the defects of their Lord. But O Cruelty never to be forgotten, never to be mention'd without hor­rour! The Robe of Immortality is not only rent off from the stately Pavilion of the Body, but the bloody Tyrant kills the Porter at the Door, with design to make way to the rifling the Richer Closets within. As Lightning, it values not the Sheath so it can but melt down the Steel of the Interiour Power and Strength, and trembles not to adventure into the presence Chamber of the great Queen, whom all Pale and even Dead with fear, he invades with insufferable Insolence, fly­ing in her Sacred Face, and with unmerciful Hands tearing out those glorious Lights that lately sparkled Joy into the Heart of her Maker, and in a moment Devests her of all those Royalties which made even a God to doat upon her: And then (to perfect the sorrow) the Sorcerer forces into her weak and bloodless hand a Circean Cup of Magical Poisons (tempered together by his own mischievous Fingers) which she unhappy Princess too greedily swallows (as what she thought might quickly Period her sorrows) but (Destruction on him) would you know the ex­ecrable effects of that fatal Draught? The poor Soul (instead of expiring) falls into a perfect Frensie, when immediately you might have seen her throwing her unfortunate Self into the Curs­ed Arms of the cruel Deflowrer, and in Posture; of most Lascivious Courtship, Kissing the very hands [Page 34]that had made the Rape upon, her Sacred Person, and with a Fondness as Strange as Unparallel'd, Sacrifices all her Powers to the Lusts of her Mortal Enemy. Have you not seen some poor Distract, rolling in Straw, with her Hair dishevil'd, in Raggs all torn, winding her Face into infinite forms? Now casting out Melancholly smiles, and those followed by pitiful Sighs, which as soon are exchanged into loud Laughter, and that, dying in­to a plodding Silence, while she knits her Straws in­to a thousand knots, and tearing them again into pieces with fury; Glad of every Feather to play with, and adoring the smallest Sun-beam with ridiculous Ceremonies; till the noise of her Keeper startles her into trembling, whom she fears and flatters at once, as glad of his coming, yet afraid of his stay: In short, most perfectly insensible of her own Sorrows, and equally uncapable of removing them, she renders her self a willing Prisoner to her own Affliction, and imagins her very Dungeon a Pallace?

This (alas) is too imperfect a Pourtraicture of this Princesses Lunacy, in whom the Complacencies of her first Affections (so pure and ravishing) are all drown'd in the flote of new senceless Passions, who in the loss of ineffable Felicities of divine Amours, and the dearest Embraces of a God, distractedly falls in Love with Feathers, and Straws, and Shadows, and every thing, and is unhappily betrayed to Court her very Torments and Plagues. My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit, Jer. 2.11.

Now to make the Tragedy yet more compleat, each Scene of it is Acted in the very Presence of [Page 35]her great Lord, who had but plac'd himself be­hind the Tapistry for tryal of her Fidelity and Love, where he makes this Lamentable Discovery of her treacherous Disloyalty, and sees her thus miserably surpriz'd.

The whole Court above, expected nothing less than Ten thousand Deaths to have been darted in­to her false and ungrateful Heart, and look't each minute for her Sentence into everlasting Tortures: When (O unfathomable Goodness) instead of Pun­ishment and Death, her dearest Lord commiserates the poor frantick, and Summoning a Council of the profoundest Wisdom (where Love sat President) he graciously consults the most effectual Means for the rendring her to her self again, and apply­ing the most proper Remedies of removing (at least abating) the Distemper, and doubts not but her more sensible Reflections on his Kindness and Pity, will endear her again to a more careful and faithful Obedience and Duty, when in the right use and improvement of her Reason, she shall prudently animadvert on the tenderness of his Heart, and the Royalty of his Care and Pro­visions for her.

While the Debate was hotly carried on by the whole Trinity, see One of themselves— But here Reader, Expression fails me, and never yet were Words found out (never shall be) to de­lineate that unutterable Goodness, which God himself so highly commended, and the very An­gels stand astonished at, and for which Thousands of thousands, and Ten thousand times Ten thousand of the Heavenly Quire pour upon his glorious Head infinite Blessings and Hallelujahs for Ever [Page 36]and Ever, and the Soul that joyns not in that Eulogy, let him be Anathema Maranatha, Accur­sed till Himself comes to pronounce him so to all Eternity.) This glorious One not only in­tercedes for her Pardon, but undertakes the Cure, and so passionately pursues the Request, that he generously offers to wash away the stain of her disloyalty with the dearest Blood of his Heart. But because he had yet None (for he was God too) he would draw some from his Patient, and arti­ficially temper it into a Body for himself, which his Divinity shall Consecrate into so spotless a Purity, and immaculate Perfection, as should highly ennoble his Blood, and make it so Meri­torious and Rich, that when it should come to be poured out from his precious Veins, will abun­dantly satisfie the expectations of Justice, and serve to be a full Propitiation for the whole Offence, (for he took it on purpose to Bleed it out again, to finish the Project of his Love, and her perfect Redemption and Safety.) And thus was Him­self contented to die for her, and at the dear Price of his own Life to purchase her wholly to himself, while he expects she will devote her self wholly to his absolute Service and Honour, and ever pay him the grateful Returns of her Heart for so unconceivable Kindness and Love: While he will Operate by such other Methods, as (he fears not) shall accomplish her entire Restoration, and render her again an Object of Beauty, to the holy Eyes of her Maker, by the Loveliness that he himself will put upon her. Tho' yet he finds from too visible Symptoms that the Diffusion of the Ve­nome thro' every part, (and which had so sadly [Page 37]corrupted her Seminals) would greatly en­danger her Posterity, to whom the Disease would be certainly communicated with her Na­ture; (And alas! the experience of some Thou­sands of Years have given too clear a Testimony of that dismal Truth,) yet she might comfort her Self in this, That his Care should constant­ly attend them too, he will ever be ready to ad­minister to Them also; and to all but such whose outragious Madness would leave them utterly uncapable of his healing Prescriptions; and whose Infection would work to so high a Pitch, as to cause them desperately to slight the Reme­dies that his Wisdom and Goodness had prepa­red for them.

No Bounds, no Rampires could hinder the Flood-Gates of mine Eyes from flowing out into the deepest Streams at the hearing the Account of this rueful Massacre. All the World destroy­ed at one blow in their Great Representative! Not a Birth but what should add a Rebel against Heaven, and a Subject to Sin! That's a Tri­umph with a Witness, that insults over the Ru­ine of the whole Race: Twas but a Left Wing of the Angels that Pride had unhappily cut off, but here the whole Progeny of Adam lye mortal­ly bleeding to Death; and not one escapes to tell the sad Story of their own Defeat: Nay God Himself wounded in the Rout; Necessita­ted to take the Field, and fall in it too, be Buried in the Common Grave, and had there seen Corruption, had not his Divinity reliev'd him.

Come, Reader, let us conferr a while: There [Page 38]is a passage lately dropt from that Great Phy­sician, who upon view of his Patients corrupted Blood, seem'd to shake his Head, and pity her whole Progeny. It would be worth a little pains to search out the Truth, and make some Ex­periment in our selves: (Sure he meant not that Bedlam, her first Production who so barbarously kill'd his Brother in the Field where the Mad Blood boil'd up so hotly within him, and the poor Inno­cent fell by his Bloody hands from no provocati­on at all, but loving him who had wrought so good a Cure upon him, and was growing up towards perfect Recovery; No, no,) 'Tis the whole Poste­rity; and our selves are surely included: Come let us try out the matter. Hast thou never felt her Mad Blood frolicking in thine own Veins, and the Distemper gotten up into thy Head too? How often have the Felicities of a Deity been presented by Pride upon the Stage of thy Fancy? And how brave it would be to drink thy fill of Nectar with the Gods? Hast thou never walked with thy Trident as Neptune, and commanded the Sea to own thy Authority? How many Rags of thy Poverty hath Imagination dipt into Pur­ple, and hung them up as the Ensigns of thy Royality? How many Staves hast thou gilded in­to Scepters, and holden them forth to thy Sub­jects to kiss? What was in the Brain of that Emperour, that set him awork to out-thunder Jupi­piter? And what are the dreadful Claps of thine Oaths and Blasphemies but desperate Charges upon God Himself, which none but a perfect Fran­tick would adventure at? What account canst thou give of thy Time and Life which is lent thee [Page 39]but a Moment for Eternity, when that Eter­nity will be short enough to curse thine own Madness in trifling away Time? Art thou fool­ing still with Feathers and Straws, and idly knitting Knots in the Grot of thy Misery, when (with thy unhappy Father) thou art thrust out of Paradise, and hast no Acquaintance in that Holy Court where once he was so perfect a Fa­vourite, and (which shews thee wholly distracted) thou desirest none? Hast thou seen other Light than what hath darkly glimmered through the Windows of thy Melancholly Cell? or other Ex­cellencies than what have Dazled thine Eyes in the Glories of Life? Art thou priding thy Self in the very Shackles of thy Mournful Captivity, and never knewest a greater Liberty? Alas! thou art lockt up in Bedlam still, and Rovest about in thy Fancy, when as the true Light, and Life, and Freedom, are as far as Heaven from thee? What maketh thee judge of the earnest Pursuits of a few here and there after an Invisible Hap­piness, to be perfect Weakness and breach of Dis­cretion; and hast wondred they should look after another Heaven than that thou enjoyest already on Earth? How hast thou preferr'd a Persian Devo­tion that is happy in a Visible God, that shines upon his Votaries every day! A perfect Stranger to that Faith that is the Evidence of things not seen: Alas Man! as a dangerous Frantick thou art close shut up in the Dungeon of Unbelief; where thy Brain works upon a thousand Chimera's, which evaporate all into Air and Nothing!

Come, let us lay these things to Heart: Is it nothing to thee, that the same Pride which first [Page 40]infected Beelzebub the Prince of flyes, hath Blown upon thy Great Mother, and from her have issued those Swarms, which overrun her whole Posterity? From this Serpent hath come forth a Cockatrice, whose fruit is a fiery flying Serpent in thine own Bosom. These Cockatrice Eggs hatch every day in thine Heart, and break out into ten thousand Vipers there: Dost not thou feel them passing in and out as Wasps out of an Hive; and ready to sting thee to Death? Thy Savi­our hath forewarned thee of the killing dan­ger of them, that are all bred in the Heart, Mat. 15.18. Out of the heart proceed, &c. They have eaten into thy very Nature, and like Sampson's Bees, made their Nest in thy very Carkass; and because they yield a sweetness, thou lovest to have it so: Unhappy Creature! not knowing with Jonathan, that the Curse is gone out, and 'tis present Death but to dip the top of thy Rod and taste of this Honey, 1 Sam. 14.43.

Yes Man, 'tis thine Heart is the Cage of the Ʋnclean birds, That the very Stye of these filthy Swine, That the Habitation of these Evil Spirits: We pity the poor Creature that had a Legion within him at once, but hast thou any less? These are they that Metamorphise some into Dogs, some into Swine, others into Vipers, the Jews into Serpents, Herod into a Fox, Nero into a Lyon, Judas into a Devil, and thy Self into all. These have been the Elames that have burned into perpetual Desolations, turning the whole Earth into a Field of Blood and ruinous heaps: When the Son of God appeared from Heaven with design to asswage and allay their Fury, [Page 41]they took Courage and made Head against him, and never ceas'd till they sent him back to complain what an Hell he found upon Earth.

Indeed these Canaanites are left in the Land, to Vex and Trouble the very Israel of God (and he sees it best it should be so) for Causes well known to himself; but to grow so Auda­cious, so far from fearing any Writ of Ejection to get them out, that the very Blind and Lame of them (as those in the Fort of Zion) so im­pudently boast their security, that they laugh at the Spear of the fiercest Opposition.

These Swarms like the Egyptian Frogs so vio­lently invade us, that as Guests (of their own bid­ding) they make themselves welcome, and will feed on nothing but the very best in the house, Crawling up and down through every Room of our Souls, and cry you no Mercy, while they creep up with you into the very Bed-chamber to take a Lodging with you there.

'Twere some Happiness still, would they for­bear the Chappel, and withdraw to give us leave to deplore our Captiv'd condition, and to Petiti­on for Succours from Heaven; but alas! they rush themselves into the Divine Presence too (as Satan came once with the Sons of God,) and ne­ver fail being at our right hands to resist all the Motions we present for our freedom; like Jan­nes and Jambres, by their cursed Enchantments, they would (if possible) invalidate and frustrate the Embassies of our Souls to the King of Glory, by the distracting Hisses of their Raising.

Who is ignorant that they watch all imagi­ginable Advantages to destroy us, and close [Page 42]in with Satan in all the Contrivances of our Ruine? Nay, the united Legions of those Dark Powers were inconsiderable and despiseable without them; who must consult to bribe a Snake again to tell us Stories of the Gaieties of a Godhead and an Apple, while themselves are forc'd to attend at a distance, for the uncer­tain Issue of the Plot: Whereas now their busi­ness is already done to their hands; and 'tis but conveying their Tickets by any Scout to the Confederates within, to intimate their Pleasure and Design: When 'tis the very Sport and Re­creation of these Traytors to bewitch us into a tame and easie Surrendry of the Cittadels of our Safety and Strength, unto the cruel Mercy of De­vils.

And God knows this is so frequent a Trea­chery in the World, that it has lost its Observati­on and Wonder, since it is become but a piece of Honour and Good Nature to commiserate the Fiends, and in Civility to give them our Com­pany into Torment, while they by the Noise of Huzza's and Jollities so deafen our Ears from the Cries of the tormented Conscience or Reason, that we are content to be Sacrific'd in a Frolick with them, and scorn to present any cheaper satis­faction for their Musick, than the noble Offer­ings of a Soul unto Molock; while yet the Ago­nies of a God, and Tears of Blood streaming from his very heart, have not the least Interest or Influence at all to restrain us from that mad Sally into Eternal Flames.

Something might be pleaded for Moses and Paul, who in passion of Zeal to the Bliss of [Page 43]their People, so Generously made tender of themselves to be Victims of their Peace: And brave Cur [...]ius got a Reputation by galloping into the Gulph to appease the angry Deity that rag'd in his City. Cleopatra's Asp gave her some Pleasure in Death; but to curvet into un­quenchable Burnings from the base Sting of a Tarantula, and to perish ingloriously for no good or End, but to add Triumph to Hell, and to get the unenvied honour of being preferr'd into the Society of the Miserable, is such a Rage of Frenzy from the corrupted Blood that an Eter­nity will never heal.

Nor is this so Strange or Astonishing, since we see every day how arrogantly Madness it self does Ape Innocence in its greatest Perfection, and (with the Demoniack among the Tombs) stalks about as insensible of any Shame or Danger, as ever did Adam in Paradise: Nay is more proud of his Cast of Devils than He that wore upon him the whole Livery of Graces.

Yet might this be soon remitted to it, were the mischief but only to it self, when (alas) there is a Ferocity too, that flies in the Face of, and thunders out Death against every Wight that is not as perfectly Frantick as it self. Hypocrisie with all her Disguises must not think to escape the Assault, for it falls upon the bones of the very Jews, that dare call on the Name of Jesus: And Common Civility hath good Luck, if (with David's Messengers) it be sent home but half­shaved, and with bare Buttocks.

But one poor torn Leaf of a Single Psalter dropt from the Bosom of any Real Votary to [Page 44]Heaven dispatches him into the Hellish Inquisi­tion of its Fury; where Piety is wrack'd (by in­sufferable Torments) into a forced Confession of the Guilt of that Heresie which God himself calls Glorious Truth; and the Flames (whose pro­per Office is to feed on the ungodly) are preternatu­rally made to devour the Innocent: Pride her self (thrô the excess of Rage forgetting her State) humbles her self into the meanest Services of the Kitchen to make the Fire, and kindle those Fag­gots which (when she has done her worst) de­stroy but the Prison, and gives liberty to the impassible Soul to ascend as in a Triumphal Cha­riot to Heaven.

O Corruption! where are the limits of thy Ty­ranny! Give at least Liberty to the small Numbers of Heaven to Pray for their Enemies, and the Re­covery of those thou hast smitten into so per­fect a Blindness and Obscurity, that in the very loss of their Eyes (with the Sodomites) they grope about still to perpetrate their Villany, and are feeling out Subjects for their Malice and Lust, to vent their Spleen and abominable Filth on.

But if blind Zeal to the Glory of an Idol pre­vail to such a degree of Madness, as to make the Worshippers gash themselves, and launce out their own Blood in whole Streams, why should we think it so strange, if to gratifie Devils and their own senceless Passions they roll and wallow in the Gore of others? So little re­gret had that Fratricide (whom Hell set on its first Work) for what he had done, that were the poor Innocent alive again, he protests to [Page 45]God himself, that he would not undertake to be his Keeper.

And if the Streams which History shew us to have been shed by the same Tyranny, from the Blood of righteous Abel to the Murders of this Generation, might be suffered to run in one Channel, they would doubtless swell into a migh­ty Ocean, wherein the Devils (with the Swine, who with their bloody Tusks have haunch'd it out) will inevitably one day perish for ever.

Stand here (Reader) on the shore of this Red Sea, and take a View of the Wracks that Sin hath made by its blustering Tempests: Wouldest thou have thought that all these Storms and Winds could have arisen from that little Cloud no big­ger than a Mans Hand? Yes alas, from but a Mans Hand (reaching forth after the fatal Fruit) hath all this Mischief issued, and will ever in­crease into greater Destructions, 'till at last it shall be sent to its own place, where (even then) it will devour it self to Eternity.

A Predamnation in the Breast!
A Raging Wound that gives no Rest!
And that calm Peace that once so bless'd
The happy Parents, fled and gone,
To usher in a Legion
Of Deaths and Curses! yet no Sence?
No Sigh? no Tear? no Cryes commence?
(As if all perfect Innocence.)
Presumption! thou greatest Curse
On poor fall'n Man! the fatal Nurse
Of Plagues and Ruine! Heavens Rod!
Depart, and call a Dying God
To scourge thee hence, and bring a Flood
Of Tears commixed with his Blood,
To wash the bleeding Wound, and heal
The Ʋlcers of the general Weal;
That all thy Demoniacks may
Put on their Cloaths and pass away.

THE TRAGEDY OF THE Old World,

With the Prostration due from a little Shrub of the Vallies to the stately Cedars of Le­banon that flourish on the Mountains▪ of Honour, do I humbly bow with this Tra­gedy in my Hand, leaving it at their Feet, and would they vouchsafe to advance it to their Eye, they shall soon discern that Men of their own high Rank and Or­der, promoted and hastened the Ruine of the First World. So influential are the Examples of great Ones, that they dragg the whole Universe after them. May your Honourable Coronets never dash against the Bald Pates of the Vile and Ignoble on the Waters of Ruine: Nor your Bodies [Page 48] be Interr'd in the common Grave of a ge­neral Desolation, which will be easily pre­vented by your furnishing those Temples with the Ornaments of Immortality: This will give you the Glory of being the Saviours of the present World; and the mighty Shields that protect it from the Attaques of Justice and Wrath.

2 PET. II. 5.

If God spared not the Old World, &c.

SIN having thus triumph'd in the Ruine of the Angels, and torn off the Crowns from the Heads of the first Princes of the World, leaving that Infection in their Blood that corrupts the whole Progeny, had little else to do but to hang up the Trophies of its Chivalry, while the whole Creation lyes shackled under the Mourn­ful Bonds of its Tyranny: The unhappy Cap­tives chain'd to its Chariot Wheels, are dragg'd into Slavery and Death. Alas! they never tast­ed the sweets of their Parents Freedom and In­nocency, and are now content to Guild their Fet­ters, and mistake their Rattling for Musick. The Tyrant takes care to make them easie and wide, they shall have Liberty enough to frolick and sport themselves (with Leviathan) in the large Ocean of its bewitching Empire, and as Prisoners at large may run the Rounds of all unrestrained [Page 49]Pleasure and Ease, fetching (with Satan) their large Circuits too and fro, through the whole Paradise of Complacencies and Delights.

By such killing Methods as these the Bondage is confirm'd, and the Prince of the Air is so for­tunate to find all his easie Laws very naturally obey'd; while the poor Subjects grow fond of the Polity, and abjuring the Rights of the invi­sible Kingdom, they swear Allegiance as the hearty Vassals of the present Power, and pro­test against all Pretence of Homage demanded by another Lord; they grow Hot for the usurp­ed Title, and will venture Life and Blood for the present Interest; they will perish rather than return, and vote themselves to perpetual Exile from true Happiness. And 'tis strange to find with what Zeal and Passion they labour to give the most cordial Demonstration of their Volun­tary Subjection and Loyalty: With Caesar's Souldier they kill themselves to bleed out the Mortal Evidences of their Love. In short, all its Interests are so strongly riveted into their very Constitutions and Nature, that Obedience runs with their Blood, through every Vein of their Hearts. Thus are they per [...]ectly miserable, and themselves love to have it so; they wear out a Life in paying the constant Tributes of a Devo­ted Affection to the Tyrant that destroys them, and were it possible would spend an Eternity in the same Service, and are sorry only that Death puts too hasty a Period to their dutiful Resolu­tions: They could be proud to yield Immortal Necks to the pleasing Yoke, and with an equal submission Kiss the Box that brings the fatal War­rant [Page 50]for their own Execution, and as readily give their Throats to the strangling Cord whenever the good pleasure of their Sovereign shall do them the Honour to command them to dye.

Thus hath the subtle Serpent (too successfully) laid the Foundation of an Universal Monarchy, and projects to extend its Empire (with Jesus himself) from Sea to Se [...], and from the River to the ends of the Earth; and which is yet more deplorable, of this Kingdom there is like to be no End, the Dominton endureth throughout all generations, and will vigorously flourish 'till Time shall be no more: And no wonder when his Throne is establish'd in the very Bosoms of his Slaves, who reverently bow to the Idol, and yield an unquestionable Conformity to all his Mandates. Now David look to thine own House; the whole World is departed, and are listed under the Banner of thine Enemy, who swells under the proud Title, not of a Prince only, but a God. In vain does Heaven menace Revenge against those that fancy themselves in security, and are harden'd to the same Opposition against all the Proffers of Grace and Dreads of Power. The Difference is blown to the height of a perfect Enmity and a loathing, and Omnipotence must set it self to work again, either a New Cre­ation, or a total Destruction.

The Apostacy growing thus Daring and Ge­neral, yet to shew that Mercy can triumph against Judgment, Divine Grace breaks into the Territories of Hell, and powerfully rescues a small Colony of the seduced Traytors to a re­luctant sense of their envassalled Estate, and im­patient [Page 51]sighing after their lost Liberty. Grace can dissolve the strongest Enchantments that bewitch the Heart, and unfetter the Affections from the woful Chains of Sin and Death.

These rear up Altars to God, and with their Sacrifices send up strong Cryes to Heaven for Pardon and Mercy, the rest betake themselves to Lust and Libertinism, and are enflamed with the Idols of their own Hearts: Yet no sooner did the first Penitent presume to decline the de­fection, and publickly to make an Offering of his Heart with his Oblation to his true Lord, but his own Brother becomes his Executioner, he himself is sent a second Sacrifice to Heaven for his happy desertion of the Cursed Interest.

If all the Obligations of Nature, and the nearest Relation; if sweetness of Humour and endearing Disposition; if Fear of a God, and dread of Vengeance could have had the least In­fluence on the Conscience of that bloody Fra­tricide; we had not been startled with the a­mazing News of so early a Martyrdom. But if God shall own him from Heaven by the Flames of Acceptation, he may not escape on Earth from the stroaks of Persecution: Poor Abel falls the Victim of God's Love, his own Piety, the Divel's Malice and his Brother's Cruelty. — This unna­ [...]ural Murther was a sure Prognostick of the Old World's Tragedy, since if Sin commence to so high a pitch in its Infancy and swadling-cloaths, what Exploits may we think will it Atchieve in [...]ts riper Years, when grown into Gyant.

There is nothing hath occasion'd more fatal Events to the World than Quarrels of Religion, [Page 52]while every one pretends to the Truth, and none will confess his Error; but in the case of these different Worshippers God himself had taken the Chair, and signalized the True from the False, by clear Demonstration from Heaven; yet is Error so far from Conforming it self, and Ac­quiescing in the Infallible Decision, that instead of submitting to the Holy Decree, it flies to Arms, and Smites through the Loins of Truth it self, whose Innocency God is oblig'd to clear up and defend.

The Fountains are broken up, and the Waters appear already, (which in time shall swell into a mighty Deluge to overwhelm the whole Poste­rity of the Murderer:) The miserable Parents are drowned in a Flood of Tears, which are hardly dried up on the discovery of that happy Spot of Earth, which God substitutes to fill up the Vacancy of the Holy Martyr: So easily can he baffle the Plots of Hell, in polishing up a new Pillar of Righteousness to support his tottering Church. 'Twas the brave Seth, that started into Life, with the very Lineaments of his Brothers Piety and Goodness upon him; and which after­wards Survive, and Illustriously Shine in the in­comparable Enoch, the very Glory and Flower of the Old World; whose Records (though drawn with a sparing Hand and very hasty Pencil, yet) shall the Memory of this Saints mighty Nam [...] and Excellencies be surely Immortaliz'd, (fo [...] though others did Vertuously, yet he exceeded them all.) And the Blessed Pen-man could no [...] justly pass from Him (whose History would ha [...] furnished a Volume) when yet he Posts fro [...] [Page 53]others with the short Dash of a long Life and a late Death only; (as if Eight or Nine hundred years were too little time to ripen them up to any Memorable Perfection) but here he stops to transmit the Memoirs of the Great Enoch's un­parallell'd Life and miraculous Translation, to all Posterities for evermore.

For if the Treasure of a Pious Education into the Knowledge and Faith of the Messias; If the mighty Effluxes of the Blessed Spirit Hallowing that Knowledge into an unreserved Dedication of his Heart and Life unto God; If an irradiated Mind, a resigned Will, and right ordered Affecti­ons; If Hatred and Abhorrency of Sin, a valiant Opposition of others Impiety, a [...]d a blessed Walking and Communion with the Holy Trinity, be Furniture enough to Adorn and Dress up a Saint; surely all these unitedly met and con­centred in Him. No wonder then, that some whose Eyes are dazled in the Brightness of his Holiness, mistake him for an Angel Incarnate, but others more modestly the Friend and Fami­liar of God. View him enriched with a Prophe­tical Spirit, and the Eye of his Soul divinely illuminated to foresee (at the many Thousand years distance) the Glorious Procession of the blessed Jesus, with the Myriads of his Holy Ones, passing down from Heaven to keep the Great Assizes of the General Judgment, and to execute Vengeance upon all the Ʋngodly of both Worlds, whose Blasphemous and Ʋngodly Speeches, whose Profanenesses and Ʋngodly Practices his Chast Soul so heartily abominated, and so passi­onately lamented, and against which the flaming [Page 54]Zeal of his Heart issued forth in so constant Menaces of the Wrath and Judgment that That Fearful Day would bring upon them.

That his Prophetick Soul foresaw the Deluge, is not to be questioned, since his very Son was a Pillar on whose Name that Judgment was very legibly Inscribed: And in Truth, an easier Augury might Prophesie the Overflowing of Wrath, as but the Natural Effect of the Inundation of Sin, which in His days (by the unhappy Commix­ture of the Two Families) had spread its conta­gious Streams over all the World. History tells us, that it was his Custom to Congregate the People, in order to the deprecating so direful an Execution: And to assure them, that the World was of no longer Duration than the Life of his Son; and that whensoever he died, the Bloody Blow will come upon them, which an­swerably happened (for though some say, that the Flood came not till six years after Methu­selah's Death, yet others averr more truly, in the very same year; and others again but seven days: God it seems giving in that Week also, to the hundred years allowed for Repentance, but not a day longer; when now after the Decease of this Good Patriarch, they might (according to his Fathers Prediction) expect the Judgment to fall upon them every hour.

Doubtless the Holiness of Enoch (as the very shining of the Sun is a Torment to Sore Eyes) had contracted upon him the General Odium of the Wicked, but while he laboured under this Burden, and the Danger of their Persecutions, the Almighty God mounts him up into the Secu­rities [Page 55]of his own Bosom. 'Twas not fit indeed, that the Phoenix of the whole Creation should be liable to the Gun-shot of its Malice: To prevent which, (and lest they should offer Indignity to his Sacred Dust after Death,) the very Qualities of his Body, by a sudden and admirable Change, are rendred connatural with those of his Soul: He is all Spiritual, and made a fit Inhabitant for the Celestial Kingdom, whose Translation hath caused a World of different Opinions; many voting him to be still Alive, but cannot agree where to find or where to fix him; whether on Earth or Air, in Adam's Paradise or Gods. They tell us he feeds on Angels Food, and his very Cloaths are preserv'd from wearing, (as theirs in the Wilderness,) leading a Life of perpetual Contemplation and Joy in God, and is reserv'd with Elias to the Service of the Con­fusion of Antichrist in the last times: But enough of this.

While the Eye of the Soul is Watchful to keep it self fixt and Intent on the Beauty of Holi­ness, that is Ten thousand times enough to com­pleat up a perfect Happiness to Angels and Men; Inferior Suitors may despair to Lure away the Affections that are infinitely delighted in that Ravishing Object, yet no sooner is it averted from the Fountain of Complacencies, but an Army of Temptations break in upon it, and offer their several Contributions to patch up a Satis­faction that is only to be found in God. Thus the Unconstant Family of Seth (Blessed and secure in their Virgin Love, while they perse­vered in Fidelity to their first Amours;) Now [Page 56]alas! (grown weary and tir'd with a Spiritual Hus­band,) employ their Traiterous Senses to cater a-new after fresh Provisions, which must fill up the Vacuities of their Squeamish Appetites, when lean Kids are dress'd up into Venison, and serve well enough to delude the undiscerning Stomach. Thus their First Father exchang'd a God for a Wife of Dust, and mistook an Apple for a Deity. And these degenerous Sons of God (unworthy of that high Relation) while they gaze on the Beauty of the Daughters of Men, are bewitch'd to write the Bill of their own Divorce from their Chaster Nuptials, to Marry themselves to everlasting Ruine.

The Ties of Friendship that long Acquaintance and Familiarity have contracted between Men, have been often so Sacred and Strong, that the Violation of them have occasioned great Com­motion of Heart; and can we think that these Gentlemen could so chearfully pass from the purer Flames of Divine Love into the Embraces of Vanity, without some Check and Allay to the Fury of their hot Desires?

There is something within that is ever clamour­ing for the true Interest, and fails not to flash in Hell into the guilty Heart, that makes its Sallies into the Idolatrous Bed.

What Communion hath Light with Darkness? Come, call the Sexton, and Toll the Bell, the Church is sick of a fatal Love, and Languisheth under a killing Disease, that throws her into Meretricious Arms to Generate a Spurious Brood, whom God will disown for ever.

Is there no Balm in Gilead? No cooling Cordial Julip to asswage the Flames of this scorching Distemper, that is like to burn to a total De­vastation? Have Ruby Cheeks and Rolling Eyes those Sorceries in them to Enchant the whole Army of the Living God to desert their General and leave him, with one poor single Attendant (thee only Noah have I found Faithful) to Levy Forces where he can, while they Treacherously Bandy to fly to the Enemy, and are marching apace with trolling Drums and flying Colours to crouch with their Universal Ensigns, and to lay them at the Feet of Pride and her cursed Women.

O Treacherous Beauty! the Gift of God, but the Plague of Men, the Friend of Devils, that hast furnished Hell, and art ever laying on Fuel to the unquenchable Fire, which ten thousand Rivers of Oyl will never be able to extinguish; were it lawful for me to inveigh against thee, how could I pour out whole Vials of Execra­tions upon thee, while I see the Damning Effects of thy destructive Charms, by which thou trans­formest Souls into Swine!

Had the Gallants grounded their Courtships on any Pious or Charitable Regard, or considera­tion had to the desperate and perishing Estate of their Eternal Part (though wrapt up in never so beautiful Skin) or had had the least hopes of endearing these Ladies to the Interests of Reli­gion, and to espouse them to God with them­selves, the Project had been Innocent and Com­mendable enough, and Heaven would not have forbid the Banes: But when Gratifying the Eye, [Page 58]and Indulging the Senses was the utmost Ambition, where Desertion of Himself, and Adhesion to Idols, was the certain Consequent: This it was that grieved him to the Heart, and sets him on Councils of Revenge.

The Fatalities of the Bed are a Subject so trite, and so very far from being Merchantable News, (at this end of the World) that in despair of a Trade, they Cry themselves in every Street and Lane, the vast Folio's of Ruine arising from un­suitable Mixtures, are every where but wast Paper, not answering the Charge of Binding, so that I repine to spend a Sheet upon them, lest I meet it again in every Shop. But sure 'tis a Tragical Story to find the Lovely Face of Modest Piety bespotted with the Patches of Natures De­formity (Snow and Black Ashes pil'd up in a [...] Heap) while She as a Cunning Artist (ever favour­ing her own Interest) takes care to Anneal the Posterity with the Transcendency of her own Tincture, and in short time produces a Genera­tion of Leopards, all Speckled and Motley (like Jacob's Sheep.) Behold the fair Morning of a Gracious Profession, soon shaded into the Dusk of a declining Indifferency, which in a Moment is dipt into the thick Darkness of a general Apostacy [...] and that, swelling into monstrous Impudence and Gygantick Ferocity; Gods Heritage becoming to him not only as a speckled Bird, but a loathsome Blackamore, he is startled (at the sight of it) into a Resolution of taking out the Rods from the Troughs, and Scourging the Ring-streaks out of the World.

The Disease (like the Death that pursued it) being thus Epidimical, the Law of Arms allows the Renegadoes no title to the kindness of a Deci­mation, where there were none left to be the In­struments of Execution (unless they be imployed to dispatch one another) therefore Heaven was forced to undertake the Work it self, and the Rebels have the Honour of dying by the Hands of a Great God.

But least the Horrour of so vast a Destruction might cause Trembling in the Breasts of future Ages, who hearing the Extremity of his Justice, might be Affrighted from the Service of so severe a Master, who while he could say little of their Goodness, through the long Series of Ten Gene­rations, yet hath his Wisdom left Commentaries large enough, as of his own most gracious In­dulgencies and Patience, so a full account of those Aggravations which must justifie him for ever from the least Imputations of Injustice or Rigor.

For while the whole Fountain of their Souls were so Poison'd, that it was impossible for any Good to issue from them, while the Leprosie seizing on every Part, left not a Poor Angle Unputrified, whence the least Hope of a Reco­very might be grounded, God might indeed for­bear them if he pleased, (and glad should they be to be spar'd to their Lusts) but they are so Remote from any Reformation, that they pur­pose None; 'tis least in their Thoughts, while every Imagination of their Heart is Evil, and that continually. So Studious and Intent upon their Works of Wickedness, and driving on the Trade [Page 60]of Hell, that they laugh at the motion of keep­ing one poor Holiday to God, so that his Aim in the Creation was perfectly frustrate; for while he made all for his Glory, they detain all from him, nay turn all against him, and maintain the War with his own Weapons. 'Twas time to correct the Insolence of such, whom Rebellion and a perfect Contempt of God had blown up to so prodigious a degree of Profaneness.

Infirmities and Indiscretion may lead us through blindness and Inadvertency (as Elisha the Syrians) into the very Streets of Danger and Death, while still, by the Intercession of our good Prophet we may be mercifully dealt with, and dismissed in Peace: But his Life must go for the Life of him, that shall suffer the Benhadad of a final Impenitency and Obduration to escape, whom God hath appoint­ed to utter destruction.

In vain does Wickedness, swelling into the huge dimensions of Gigantick Power and Tyranny, pro­mise it self Impunity from the grapples of Justice, since its own Monstrosity, like that of Goliah, ren­ders it but the fairer Mark for the sling of Divine Vengeance to hit, as 'twas but recreation to it, to hale the great Og from his Bed of Iron into another of Flames.

And perhaps this is Noted on purpose, that there were Gyants in the Earth, to let us see that (though their Audacities hastened the speedier Wrath, yet) they fell but as others, and perish­ed in the same kind of Death with the smallest Infant, the Depths covering them, and their weight but sinking them the sooner, as Lead to the bottom.

And what Hopes hath any Guilty Flesh to please it self in the Dream of security, since here we see Beauty and Strength, fair Women, and fierce Gyants, walking hand in hand together into the Chambers of Death?

And although indeed the general Corruption (running into the common-shoar of filth) swell'd it up to a necessity of being washed away by so direful Inundation, yet hath God mark'd as with a Black cole the foreheads of those, whose mighty provocations, made his Heart to ake so, and were no other but the very Flowers and Heads of the People; to speak plainly, the very Nobility and Gentry of both the Families of Seth and Cain, mighty Men, and Men of Renown.

So usual hath it been for Divine Mercy to pity the sottishnesses of the Rude and Illiterate (unhappy in the want of those advantages of Education and Learning, which might have resin'd them into the Ingenuities of a generous and rea­sonable Service) that he hath sometimes spared the greatest Cities upon the account of the very Bruits that were in them; but still remember, it was then too, when the Princes sat in Sackcloth, and Fasted with them.

God knows, the Authority and Port of Great­ness, strikes so great an Awe into the Spirits of the Beasts of the people, and hath so great an in­fluence upon them, that they dare not be so un­mannerly to be more Devout than their Masters, and out of fear to spoil the Frolick, merrily ven­ture a Damnation with them. Thus the Blasph [...] ­mies of the Parlour pass out with the Dishes into the Hall, and are kept on the Coals for the Ser­vants, [Page 62]to swallow with as great a pleasure and sweetness, as the Meat which was sauc'd with them before. 'Tis a wonder to me, that Dives should forget his Livery-men in the Prayer that he makes unto Abraham.

But anon when the Cataracts of Heaven flie open, and Judgment appears upon all, Then shall the miserable Wretches know, that as they had the confidence to Sin with their Masters, so shall they have the unenvied Honour of Suffering with them.

Mighty Men, and Men of Renown! Come then ye Mighty, and evidence the Bravery of your great Souls; God is resolved to try the mettle of your Courage. Great Dangers do but edge the noble Steel; the mighty Alexander once Trium­phed in the Encounter of an Enemy that Peer'd his Spirit. Shew us now how bravely ye can Bridle the Clouds, and fetter up the insulting Waves that dare be so insolent to invade your Presence, and trip up your Heels. How oft have you boasted of your Valour in your Cups! and breath'd out Thunder from your Nostrils against Heaven! How often have you rent the terrible Majesty by the frightful claps of your Oaths, and the dire flashes of your profaner Tongues and Wits! What do your Spirits sink now at the Appear­ance of a Shower? Blessed God! wherefore are these so Renowned, whose Souls are weaker than Water, that are thus dismayed at the insurrection of so common an Element? Were these Mighty Men, Valiant for thy Truth upon Earth, and did they take thy part, and Side with thee against the flood of Impiety that then overflowed the [Page 63]World? Were they Knights of the holy Order, who fought thy Battels, and sacrificed their Blood to thy glorious Interest? Why then is their Name perished, and we have not the Legends of their Chivalry? But if they were famous for Wicked­ness, Men Mighty to Oppress, and Renowned for Profaneness, Is it so glorious a thing to Brave a God, and Challenge the Omnipotent Arm to a Combat? Is the contempt of a Deity the Foun­dation of this great Coloss? I plainly find that none shall be losers by thee; Thou wilt give Atheism it felf the due Encomium of its Daring Spirit, that has Courage enough to flie in the Face of thine infinite Justice and Power. Migh­ty Men, and Men of Renown! but I fear this is to their little Comfort, when these mighty Worms are washed away in the more mighty Waters, and turned all into Slime and Dirt; and thy Sword prides it self to be Bath'd in their Blood, while it executes thy pleasure in the devouring such Mighty Enemies. Men of Renown! God de­liver me from the Vanity of a swelling Title, which will little Ease me when in Hell.

But would'st thou, that I give a more distinct Account, and produce a Catalogue of those par­ticular Sins, that put the Almighty upon such Resolutions of a total defacing the Beauty and Furniture of the whole Earth? Sure they were [...]o Punie Ones, no Peccadillo's, that could prevail to pour down so great a Ruine. Verily they are with thee, Reader, already, in the Streets where [...]hou livest; Nay, they are in thee, Closseted up [...]n the Bosome thou bearest about thee, at least [...]n semine. Take head therefore they break not [Page 64]out, and force down a shower of Wrath upon thee. And tho' Moses hath given us but the small draught of them, and seems but lightly to touch them, yet such were they as never could be for­gotten, and are indelibly Engraven upon the Heart of God; so written in Heaven, as it were with a Sun-beam, that the blessed Jesus, Two thousand years after, brought them down to dis­play them before us; not for Imitation, and to teach us new Arts of Debauchery, but for utter detestation, and to Arm us against the Riots that so perfectly destroy them. Tho' still he fears the new World (in the heat of Blood) will be so mad to degenerate into the very same again; for if Gluttony and Drunkenness, Lust and Obsce­nity, Forgetfulness of God, and Mocking at his Mi­nisters, Scoffing at our Noahs, while they are Fa­natically building the Ark against a Flood that will never come: If Oppression of the poor by the mighty Gyants, Ʋnmercifulness and Cruelty, Con­tempt of the Patience and Longsuffering of Heaven; if all these and a World more, as Blasphemies and Oaths, &c. which I have not named, Usher'd in by Pride, (the Midwife of all Plagues both to Angel [...] and Men) be not enough to justifie the righteous Proceedings of God against them, and to verisie the Prophecy of our Saviour against our selves, let us wait till the next Deluge of Judgment over­whelm us, and then we shall feel how just a God he is to Sinners.

Sin was born with a Sword in its hand, and hath been a Murderer from the beginning; when a Child, it slew the World in Adam, and all his Posterity by little and little, one after another▪ [Page 65] [...]ut now grown to full Age it makes nothing (with Sampson) to pull down the very Pillars of [...]he House, to destroy Worlds, and to make but [...]ne blow of them all.

Original Sin is favourable and kind, it gives Letters of Licence for Life, if it be once satisfied, [...]f at all, it sufficeth; but open Profaneness eggs [...]n Justice to take out Execution without any Pa­ [...]ience, like the unmerciful Servant, it takes all [...]y the Throat, and sends to Prison without pity.

Yet God who sometmies cries out of the Bur­ [...]hen, as if unable to sustain it any longer, does [...]ere engage his Patience, yet to bear up resolute­ [...]y under the Load of all this Mass of Provoca­ [...]ions; to let us see what Infiniteness can do, and [...]hat he delighted as little in their Blood, as he [...]id in their Sin.

He very well knew, that as slender satisfaction would be made at the end of that Term, as pre­ [...]ently could be, yet because he foresaw that he had [...]ime enough to pay himself in the next World; [...]e valued not the casting in of Six-score years and [...]ore, which was little to him with whom a Thousand are but as one day.

To live for Sin is little Comfort, yet to live or Punishment is surely less; the giving this Term [...]as a Mercy from God, but the abuse of it was [...] Misery to themselves; he that lives and must [...]ffer at last, were better die soon and suffer the [...]ss; God indeed lent it for Repentance, but they im­ [...]roved it for Sin, and repented of nothing but [...]at they had so short a time to Sin in, when [...]od knew they had a long one to suffer in.

Come Watchman, What of the Night? What of the Night? Why the Fair and long Summers day of the Old Worlds Goodness and Pleasures too, is come to an End; 'tis perfect Midnight with them; Night, all Night, ever Night, such a Night as shall never see Morning more; Themselves Dark, all Dark, ever Dark, therefore Darkness above is hurl'd into Darkness below; Sin to Sin here, Hell to Hell there; Carnal Wickednesses, to Spiritual Wickednesses, to Eternal Wickednesses: What should Light do with Darkness, all Light with all Darkness, ever Light with ever Darkness? O see the fuel of the devouring Flames! Rottenness, all Rottenness, ever Rottenness, irrecoverable Rot­tenness, no sound part in them; Stubble, dry Stubble, fully dry, ready for Burning. Vessels of Wrath, ves­sells endured with much Patience, with Long-suffering, with much Long-suffering, and now fitted to De­struction. What could Mercy do more then wait, till of Good they became Evil, of partly Good perfectly Evil, and eternally Evil, resolved to be so, and yet after this to wait on still, to wait for Six-score years; to wait upon a Wilderness till it become a Garden, upon dead Sticks till they Blossom and Bear, upon degenerate Plants till they should bring forth good Fruit, is to little pur­pose or end; This Evil was from Themselves, Wherefore should the Lord wait any longer?

Art thou gotten into the Ark (Reader) are all things ready? Is the door fast shut down? See, Darkness is over all the Earth, (the Darkness of Sin) and Darkness has covered the Heavens (the Darkness of Judgment.) The Firmament hath put on her Mourning Suit, and with Tamerlain [Page 67]erected the Black Flag of despair. Clouds and Darkness, and thick Darkness, and an horrible Tem­pest is round about; the End, the End is come upon thee. O ungodly World, behold it is come upon thee! see it hastening from the Four corners of Heaven. Now will God Judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompence upon thee all thine Abominations, his Eye will not spare thee, neither will he have pity. Death, Ruine, Judgment, Hell, and Confusion to all Eternity. Ah I will ease me of mine Adver­sar [...]es— Mercy is gone, clean gone, gone for ever; Compassion fails for evermore. Now look to your selves, Profaneness and Atheism; if you have any Courage shew it now, keep up your huffing Spi­ [...]it, Snort against Heaven and Goodness, bear up [...]riskly like your selves, don't degenerate from your [...]onted Bravery. Lord, Gentlemen, Why do [...]e tremble? What do you mean to turn Colour? Why so ghastly in the Countenance? Why such [...] shivering and Ague in the Joynts? Why so down [...] the Mouth? Why not a word now? Ladies, What are you so startled at? Why so undress'd [...]o day? Why your Hair so dishevil'd? Where [...]re the Enchanting Curles that Captiv'd so many [...]oor Lovers in them? Where the stately Brow, [...]nd the sparkling Eye that struck your Admirers [...]ead? Go, get ye to your Glasses, and view your [...]omplexions now. Come, come, clear up, there's [...] such Fear, be not so Affrighted; 'tis but a hunder shower, 'twill over again, go get Ready: [...]h no! what Noise, what Bustle, what Roar­ [...]g, what Shreeking, what Yelling, what Faint­ [...]g, what Bleating, what Bellowing is here! [...]en, Women, Children, Sheep, Oxen, Wolves, [Page 68]Dogs, all howling together in an hideous Outcry and the Waters out-roaring them all! Oh, oh, oh, oh, the Worlds at an End! Our Wicked­ness has overtaken us, and Judgment is come up­on us, it is come, undone, undone, undone fo [...] ever! You are in the very right of it Gallants you are in the very right, it is come indeed, ne­ver were you in the right before: Now cry to your Gods to save you, if they can. Did not th [...] Old Man forewarn you of this many a time Why did ye not take warning, and build Boa [...] too? Is he such a Fool for securing himself? How often hath he told you of your Villanies and Whor [...] ­doms, your Ranting and Tearing, your Haugh [...] ­ness and Hussing, and to what a fearful end [...] would bring you? See how he rides securely yo [...] ­der against all the dreads of Death that are com [...] upon You; now your sport is at an end, farewe [...] Gyants and Ladies; Adieu for Evermore.

Now here (Alas!) I am at a Loss: Ca [...] any one Rationally expect, that Invention an [...] the Issues of one Mans Brain, can be Witt [...] enough to delineate the Face of an Univers [...] Confusion? I have seen, indeed, some Fanci [...] Sculptures, pretending to satisfie the Eye in th [...] dreadful Prospect of some Climbing up to th [...] Tops of the Tallest Trees, while others are haste [...] ­ing to the loftiest Mountains; and some (mo [...] Brutishly) Mounting on Beasts to outride t [...] Destruction that makes but an easie Gulp of t [...] Horse and his Rider; every Family yelling in t [...] uppermost Rooms of their more Dwarfish Hous [...] not one but who betakes himself to groundl [...] and impossible Refuges. Let me present [...] [Page 69]Reader with a Table of the General Security, that Fetter'd up the Drowsie World into Fatal Slumbers; not the least Fear or Dream of an Ap­proaching Tragedy, but what had been laugh'd out of Life by the Atheists of the Age, that ad­mir'd the Frenzy of the Fanatick Ark: Each City, County, Town, Village and Hamlet, as Secure and Thoughtless, as our Selves at this day: Every Family busily driving on the daily Trade of Re­bellion against Heaven, and thinking as little of any Change, as those that are past it in the Grave.

The Ruling Part, not content to impose the Iron Mace of Authority on the Shoulders of the Subjects, to make them Cringe by a gentle Touch, but fiercely lift it up to fetch a more killing stroak on the tender Head, with design to break and make it Bleed, while the poor helpless Patients have no Appeal but to their own Passions, which vent themselves in bitter Curses under all the Smart and Sores of that fearless Tyranny.

The Gentry, (terminating their Delights in a perishing Portion, and Marrying their Souls to the Clod, as if God himself were pleas'd with the Match) are exalted above the Cares of Life that Oppress the Hearts of the Needy, and the Fears of Want that afflict them: They Club toge­ther with those of their Order, where they talk of nothing but Hoisting their Rents, and Grinding the Faces of their miserable Tenants; unless for exchange of Discourse they Sally out into Stories of their own Debauchery, and ever and anon Jibing at the Melancholy Noah, whose Head (they think) is troubled with the Vapours, while he Builds him­self [Page 70]into perfect Poverty: Let him go on (say they,) Experience at last may make him Wise, when we shall have time enough to Ridicule his unparallel'd Folly.

The Merchants and Traffacking Companies di­stracting themselves in the Croud of their For­reign Concerns, are in earnest Expectation of those happy Returns that (they think) cannot fail to Enrich them: The Poor Mechanicks Sweat­ing as hotly in the hasty Pursuit of their meaner Accrewments, and promising themselves a Brisker Trade in the ensuing Years. The Laborious Villagers Manuring their Acres in the confident Hopes of Perpetual Harvests (which alas, they will never Reap) and all without the least Eye or dependance on the Blessing of Heaven to Ripen them. Imaginations forg'd in every Brain of an endless Prosperity, which they take care to make sure to those Heirs which are never likely to Inherit it. Courtships are made with as Flagrant Pretences of Love to Young Ladies, (as now) in hopes of Establishing the Families into future Successions of Honour and Estate, when alas they are rouzed from the Bed of Fondness and De­light, when nothing remains but the Poor Com­placency of Dying in each others Arms. Projects are contriv'd to Assign Children to this and that Employ, that in greatest Probability may make them Happy. The Toiling Hirelings are flattering themselves with the hopes of deli­verance (into better Services) from the weari­some Tasks they at present Groan under. The very Beasts are fattening up to the Yoke and Sham­bles, when alas they shall never approach to either.

For the Women, (the Sources of this Plague) their Provocations were so many and Great, that my Pen in despair to number them up, takes the wisest course to let them alone, while their Minds are wholly Immers'd in Vanity, they make up too great a Part of the Tragedy, and I leave them to Skreak together at the approach of their Ruines.

O learn hence what the destructive end of Sin is, that hath brought so Tremendous a Perdi­tion on all the World: And if such were the Havock by the Inundation of Water, what will the Streams of Brimstone in Hell do, and what the Flames of the last Conflagration? How terri­ble is God in his Executions upon Sinners, how Scorching his Justice and Vengeance: Upon the Wicked He shall rain Snares, Fire and Brimstone, and an horrible Tempest: This shall be the portion of their Cup: Put them in fear, O Lord, that the Nations may know themselves to be but Men!

They are gone, Reader, and as of all things else that are past, there is nothing remains of so Tra­gical a Story, but the bare remembrance of it, that hath so weak an Influence upon the Spirits of Men at so remote a distance of time, that it hath lost its operating Virtue and Power, and retains not the least Efficacy to deterr us from the Sin for which they perished. If when the Earth opening her mouth to swallow up Corah and all his Confederating Rebels, the surviving Thou­sands of Israel gave a Screek only, and returned the very next day to the same Murmurs for which They died: Nay, if the very Children of Noah had so little sense of it, that while himself [Page 72]lived, his own Eyes were so unhappy to see them so early revolting into the very Provoca­tions and Idolatries that brought the Flood first upon the World; How should we hope that our Selves, (upon whom the Ends of the present One are come, and which is grown Old in Wickedness, and Ripe for a second Destruction) should be affrighted out of our long riveted Lusts from any Reflection of our Minds on so Antiquated a Tragedy. Yet hath God Enrolled the Execution in the perpetual Records, and sent down his Son to take out a Copy of it, and commanded him to Post it into his own Journal to give it a new and a fresher Life, not without hope that it might Rouze us a little from our fatal Slumbers, while the Noise and Horrour of the mighty Waters should sound in our Ears: Yet doubted it still, while he Prophesies that Himself should find us at his Second Coming plung'd into as deep Perpe­trations as They, and lock'd up under as perfect Insensibility of our Approaching Ruine, from which nothing could awaken us but the sur­prizing Trumpet of an Arch-angel, alarming us to Judgment and the Everlasting Doom: For as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the day of the Son of Man: They did ea [...], they drank, they married Wives, they were given in Marriage, until the day that Noah entred into the Ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.

But what is become of Prides Kingdom now? When (with the Great Darius) she is slown and hath left all the Rich Plunder of her stately and Golden Tents to the Spoil of the Conquerour: Alas, she has no pity for so many slaughtered [Page 73] Carkasses; thrown over into the Ocean of Ruine! Nor is it so much her Care to Protect, as to Betray her unhappy Subjects: She delights not so much in their Safety as Destruction; she Dresses them up only for Sacrifice, and they have the Pleasure to dye in their Holiday. Cloaths: She Combs their Heads, and Shaves their Beards, and Smooths up their rivelled Cheeks, to expire, (with Octavius) and lays them asleep on gentle Pillows: She Courts them (with Jael) to come in to her, and hides them from the Danger of others; but then the Nail and the Hammer is in her own Hand, which Pins them fast to the Earth: With Alexander she hunts out more Worlds for them to Conquer, and with the desperate Pharaoh leads them into the very Bowels of the Sea: See how she drives them into Corners; first out of Heaven, then out of Paradise, and now out of the World: She is the Devils Spirit, employ'd to furnish Inhabitants for the lower Region to an eternal Slavery. Be­hold where she Perks on the Prow of Noah's Ship, where she Splits her very sides with Laugh­ter, at the Glorious Present she has made to Lucifer! What a World of Furniture hath she boarded away at once for his Spacious Palace! How will his stately Rooms be hung with the Tapistries of Prides Tragedies! What Horrid Stories will they represent of her Cruel Tyran­nies! And here she waits to drop her Cockatrices Eggs, which she knows will Hatch themselves within the very Ark into another Brood for her. She thinks not her Case so desperate yet, as not to hope she has a Friend in the very Council of [Page 74]Eight. One that has Courage enough to own her Principles, and doubts not in a little time to grow up into Power and Strength enough, advantageously to declare for her Interest.

Men of Renown Dash'd out of Breath!
Gigantick Huffs, yet Pump'd to Death!
O Baffling Heaven! Mighty Mountains,
Tumbled into swelling Fountains,
Lye sprawling there, (Trophies of strength
Divine) whose Massy Weight and Length
Makes Justice smile! A Righteous God
Reducing all to Dust and Clod:
Chaos and Carcasses, O Sin!
How Dismal have thy Ruins bin?
Tremble ye mighty Gods of Earth,
Here God's as Great as you want Breath.
O for an Ark of Safety now!
Come in, come in, and Lowly Bow.

The Impiety of Cham.

THE proud Waters that had received their Commission from the King of Heaven to Fight his Battel, and revenge his Quarrel against the universal Apostacy, (with more Faithfulness than Saul who in pity spared the delicate Agag, and the best of the Cattel for Sacrifice) under­taking the General Massacre, without Mercy, (Proud of an opportunity to Muster up all their strength, and by this Execution, to Chronicle the Eternal Victory over all their oposite Elements) pour'd out all their Forces with such a Torrent of Fury and Rage, that soon did the poor baffled Flames Sacrifice themselves for fear, and lie all Martyr'd in their own Ashes: Not a Spark left in the whole World, but what must be fetcht from Heaven to warm Noah's Altar. The Air (guilty of the Treason too, for yielding Breath to such a Re­bellious crew) is all smother'd to Death within the Concaves of the Spiring World. But the poor Earth for the Guilt of bearing this unhap­py Burden, and Feasting them with all her Luxu­rious Prodigalities (with Caesar) muffles her Face in her Mantle, and patiently receives the Wounds of her own folly, while the insulting Enemy (not content to ride upon her Back only) tramples her under his Feet, and is trod into Mire and Dirt. Whose cruel Tyrannies when the All-gracious God perceived, and now that these insolent [Page 76]Waves, help'd forward the Affliction of his poor little Church in the Ark, (crowded among Brutes and very uneasie) commands them to go back, It is enough, stay now your hand. But while they hardly retire, and with too slow a pace, a mighty Wind is sent forth to sound the Retreat, and enforce them to a speedier conformity; that so the Creator might conferr a New World on those his favourites, who had alone been so Loyal and Faithful to him in the Old.

The Commission is Executed, and the good Prophet hopes that this Wind has blown him some good, while the obedient Surges post so fast away to their Quarters, and that neither Wind nor Wa­ter had done him hitherto the least prejudice in their several Marches.

How submissively doth he wait till he receives the glad Tydings of the Recession of the Enemy, which is confirmed to him by his winged Am­bassadour under seal (with the Signature of an Olive Branch.) And that Patience might have its perfect work; he still attends and dares not set a Foot on the Earth without receiving orders from Heaven.

But now, behold this poor despised Preacher of the Old World, comes ashore from his dark Cab­bin, and lands the great Monarch of the Ʋniverse (a Type of the greater Saviour) the Prophet, Priest, and King over all the Earth: whose first work is to build an Altar, whereon he Sacrifices his very Soul in Praises and Thanksgivings to God, the Perfume of which was so sweet in his Nostrils, that it brought down a blessing not on Himself only, but on all the Earth to all Generations; for [Page 77]while Seed-time and Harvest, Summer and Winter, Day and Night continue unto us, we cannot be unmindful of holy Noah's Sacrifice, which was so pleasing to God, that to him was sealed the Confirmation of them all to us.

Yet could not all the Floods of Wrath extin­guish the rage of that Venom which his Impious Son Cham translated from the Old World into the New, and had lodged in his Heart (all this while) like a close Traytor in the very Bosome of the Church: A Contagion which will spread it self to that Latitude, as in a few years shall over-run the Earth again. This was the cursed Stock out of which shall sprout those venomous Branches, which shall dilate themselves into a prodigious Plantation for the increase of Wick­edness.

He was a fellow of so vile a Spirit, that you might have found all the Rudenesses of the past World concentred in him. And while he wants other opportunities to manifest the Villanies of his Heart, he blushes not to act them against his own Father; so devoyd was he of that com­mon Grace and reverend Respect, which every Pagan Conscience payes to the Maintenance of the Honour of Soveraignty; so insensible was he of that Duty, which as a Natural Tribute is due to so great a Prince, and so good a Parent; that he is not afraid of the Vengeance of Hea­ven, while he belches out the Crudities of his rotten Lungs, upon his venerable Face, by open Derision and prophane Contempt of that glori­ous Person, (now a Prisoner in the surprizing Snares of his own Vines, whose uncivil Twiggs [Page 78]had caught him by the Heels, and ruffled off his Mantle from him in the fall.) Unhappy Prince! to give so vile a Miscreant occasion of so Re­bellious an Affront to thy Majesty. But most worthily Accursed Wretch, that wer't so far from casting the Veil of Duty and Charity over that naked Bosom, wherein lodged an Heart, so late­ly, by the Righteous Judge of Heaven, pro­nounc'd to be the very Best and most Sincere in all the World: That here I find thee taking up the perfect Postures of a Mad-man, extending thy widened Throat into loud Exclamations of Laugh­ter and Derision, to the insufferable dishonour of that mournful Object. Nor canst thou be sa­tisfied in ridiculing thine own Father, in the pre­sence of the All-seeing God and his Angels, but must maliciously summon all the World to do it too; how righteously therefore wer't thou and thy whole Posterity, bound up in the strong Chains of an Eternal Curse!

The Infirmities of our Fathers (either Civil or Natural) should be so far from causing us to draw a wry Mouth, that they must be ever the subject of our aking Hearts; Since the Fathers eat­ing sowre Grapes, do but cause the Childrens Teeth to be set on Edge. And who is Ignorant that Noah's Wine did but exhilerate his Spirit into a more chearful pronouncing the dreadful Imprecation upon that Son, whom the doom of Heaven had before decreed to be blasted. Sure I am, those Israelites had forfeited their own Heads before ever God gave way to Satan to Tempt David to Poll them; and Absalom's hot Brain did but na­turally generate those long Locks which Divine [Page 79]Justice twisted into an Halter to hang him with, for the short Cutt of his Curtail'd Obedience to so good a Father.

'Tis but Turkish Impiety, to reck our Revenges against the Plagues of Heaven that Sin hath procured, upon the very Bodies of our Kings. 'Tis remarkable, that most of the Rebellions which Sacred Writ hath acquainted us with, were raised against the best Princes, and the very Intimates of God, whose Interest for divine As­sistance was so apparent, that 'twas a Miracle, Passion should so besott men into the fatal Ef­fects that pursued them all: Since Corah's Grave was so affrightfull, as might well allay the rage of that Spirit to this day.

Tho Zimri slew his Master (that was but a Sott) yet a Jezabel could observe, that he suf­fered the Plagues of a Regicide, and the Pleasure of a Weeks Reign was soon expired in the Flames of his expeditious Ruine, when despair of Safe­ty from the Prosecutors of that Treason reduc'd him to that wofull Exigency of Offering up him­self (a most unacceptable Holocaust) in the Fire of his own Kindling.

'Tis the Kindness of God to all Subjects in acquainting them, that the Hearts of Kings are in his own hand; directing them by that disco­very into the safest Methods of Redress against any the wildest Exorbitances of Tyranny: Since 'tis but their Addressing unto himself who is able to turn them (as the Water-streams) to flow into as great Currents of Favour and Kindness to­wards us, as ever they have ebb'd in the dimi­nution of any Rights or Liberties from us. If [Page 80]their own Prayers can redress their Conditions, 'twere but Madness to fly upon the Faces of Princes (whose Wrath is as the roaring of Lyons) when speedier succour may be drawn by hum­bling themselves into the Arms of a gracious God; Who for the Oppression of the poor, and for the sighing of the Needy, will surely arise to set them in safety from every one that puffeth at them.

Be it ever remembred, That God hath secu­red the Prerogative of Honour to all our Supe­riours, with the same Care as he hath provi­ded for the Lives of other Men; to shew us, That 'tis as dangerous to withdraw our Allegiance from them, as to act Murder upon others: And that their Sovereignty is as safely guarded as our own Beings.

And Oh! that the Brightness of those Eyes that sparkle Terrour into the Hearts of the Wicked, and scatters them as the Clouds before the Sun, may reflect so great a Light into all the Paths of Princes, that their Royal Feet may never slip into Noah's Noose, nor any of those more vulgar Weaknesses which give Opportunity for Chamish Impiety to set light by that Majesty which God hath made the very Image of his Own.

And let Undutiful Children take care, that the Stones of Absalom's Heap (which Travellers say are still increased by very Jews and Turks passing by it, in detestation of that unnatural Act) be not brought hence by Divine Justice, to beat out the Brains of those whom the Horrour of so no­torious an Example can little affright into bet­ter Obedience! the Punishment of this Crime be­ing [Page 81]so seldom Prorogued to the General Assize, as Vengeance hardly takes a Nap before Execu­tion be done to the full. When a wretched Son was once laying violent Hands on his Aged Fa­ther, and kicking him out of doors; ‘Now hold thy Hands, (said the Old Man) for 'twas but hitherto that I served thy Grandfather in the ve­ry same Manner.’

And 'tis observable, that the Curse is entail'd expressely upon Canaan for the Sin that was com­mitted by his Father, to let us see how so great a Profaneness is seldom expiated but by the Blood of Generations: And God's withholding his Grace only from Children, is Slip enough to strangle them with the same Halter their Fa­thers hung in.

This is that Canaan whose Name gave Deno­mination to the Fruitful-land, and whose Sin made it yet but a Wilderness to his whole Po­sterity; since the Blessing of Exuberance is but a Curse to those to whom common Mercy is but a constant Judgment; and God did but send them before-hand as a Company of Slaves, to build those Houses, and plant those Vineyards which should chear the Hearts of the more obedient Children of Shem; to whose use God sealed the Lease of their Ejectment, and delivered it to Abraham (so weary was he of such Tenants) four hundred Years before it was Executed, while in the mean time a People should be born that should serve the Lord, and Pay him the Quit-Rent of Praise for so pleasant Habitation.

And what! Is not this another Tragedy, when the Sword of God strikes inwardly, and [Page 82]executes its Massacres upon all the invisible Fa­culties; kills them spiritually, and spares the poor Corps to the Curse of Slavery, not to Men only, but Lusts and Hell; leaving them so per­fectly Dead from performing the Functions of the true Life, that they are absolutely senceless of any other end than that of Luxury; where­fore they are continued in the World, 'till run­ning up and down for a while (like Swine with the fatal Knife sticking in their Throats) they faint away and bleed themselves into Eter­nal Death, as Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destru­ction.

Canaan Adieu! (the unhappy Son of so pro­phane a Father) who hath entail'd upon thee and thine so direful Execration, that I see some of thy Cursed Off-spring hypocritically crouch­ing with their mouldy Bread and clouted Shooes, to begg a miserable Life from the flourishing Family of thy more dutiful Ʋnkle, and none other is granted them but such as is worse tha [...] Death it self, when, rather than perish, they are content to become the contemptible Skullion of their Kitchen, the Prophesied Judgment i [...] actually verified, Cursed be Canaan, a servant o [...] servants shall he be.

Babel's Tragedy,

To the City of God (if any on Earth be) the Incomparable London, (Instructed and Edi­fied on Everlasting Foundations into all the Dimensions of Saving Knowledge, Faith, Love, Truth and holy Experience, by the Care, Skill and Industry of Her Spiri­tual Builders) do I humbly Dedicate this Tragedy. Beseeching God that neither the Clattering of Tongues, nor the Divisi­on of Hearts may ever procure Her the Baffle of Babel: But that she may be a City at Unity in it Self; her Affections as uniform and Compact as her Habitati­ons, ever remembring that she is not Se­cure, till God himself lay her Topstone in Heaven, and Finish her up to Perfection.

GEN. XI. 4.

Go to, let us Build, &c.

BUT come Reader, Let us pass from Gol­gotha, (the Charnel-house of Dead Bones and Skulls,) while we divert our selves a [...]

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The Tragedy of SODOM, &c.

[...]

Grand Paw; she mightily dislikes their whining Minims, she must have them Note it to the Ela of &c. And as their Speech, so their very Looks do please her as little, they know not how to charge their Countenances to dart a Terrour, nor how to Swell and look bigg; nor with one Frown (shot from the furious Brow) send away the Impudent Creditor that dares take the bold­ness to Dunn for his own. In all these Reforma­tions she promises her utmost skill to assist them.

Now for the manner of their Eating; this above all hath given her the greatest Affliction: As if God had still left them under the Curse of Temperance, and given them nothing but Herbs and Sallads to feed on: She verily thinks their Fields and Meadows did not present their Libe­ral Issues to a more silly and dull-brain'd Peo­ple in the World. What, had they not learned the sacred Science of Eating Well? Unskilful yet in the Lectures of Cookery and Sauces? Nor how to Exercise the Trained-Bands of Dishes and Platters? She hates to see them gnawing upon those tougher Bits, which tormented them in­to the Fret of a tedious Digestion: Had their Women no Alimbecks to bless them into the Fe­licities of the Quintessence? Had they never dis­solv'd an Oxe into a Mess of Jelly? And what were so many Flocks given them, but to Elixirate all into Broth, whose subtile vertue they should find frolicking in their capering Veins?

And as to Drinks; she fears the Vicinity of their Streams had but bewitched them into the Judgment of too frequent Draughts from them: Or if they were arriv'd at the knack of improv­ing [Page 109]them a little, by a small Infusion of the Spi­rits of their Acres with them, this she believes is their extreamest Happiness, when now she was come to acquaint them, That the Jolly Grape was proud to shed his Blood in their Service, and offers himself to be press'd to Death, to give them a greater Pleasure in Life. Why was the Expe­rienc'd Noah so careful to prune up his Vines, but that he might leave behind him the Honour of bequeathing so great a Blessing to the World? But if hitherto that Nectar had been enviously detain'd from them, by the Policy or Power of their Princes, and made a Monopoly to their own Palats, she will take care to break the Damm, and make it run down into every Corner of their Streets.

But then they must promise her to enjoy that Happiness in the proper Season, which would double its Pleasures to them, and that is by Night; they would never arrive to any great Proficiency in the Noble Practice of Drinking Al-a-mode, till they muffled up day in their Curtains, and Lighted up Night with their Tapers. 'Twas a Glorious Adventure to baffle the Orders of. Na­ture, and to begin to Chime up their Consorts of Musick and Dancing, when the drowsie World lay fetter'd in the Charms of a breathing Death, and themselves alone Alive unto Jollity and Mirth: They could never think to mount the high Flight of Pleasure indeed, till they had tamed Nature by Watching, (as Hawks are fitted for the Game); she fears they will slight her Advice as to this, since she never observ'd a People more chain'd to their Beds, taking care with the Sibarites [Page 110]to kill their Cocks, in order to secure their Naps in the Morning.

There are many other things she would gladly see redressed, but she is willing for the present to dismiss them, on condition they will evidence a fair Respect to her Counsels for the future. 'Tis true, there was one thing more she would be glad to whisper in their Ears (faining here a Po­litick backwardness to discover it, yet such as she knew would but whet their desires into long­ing expectation to know it, which they fancy too, above all the rest, would help to compleat up their happiness) but she desires to be excused for the present, till she see to what Measure of Obe­dience they would pass in a dutiful Conformity to her Dictates, given out at this Meeting: And besides, she fears the disobliging of their Wives, (whose company she expected too, and who might equally need her Instruction) since what she had further to impart, might be expounded at least Misprision of Treason against the Female Interest, and whenever she reveals it, it must be under the sacred Seal of Secresie.

They depart with all the Expressions of Joy and Satisfaction in her admired Condescention and obliging Nature, and assure her, that nothing shall be wanting on their part to Honour her Di­rections by a ready Obsequiousness and Respect, and all in an Extasie of Ravishing Delight, they lowly take their leave and pass away.

Memory, that is ever a faithful Treasurer, to lock up every thing that casts but the least sha­dow of a promising Happiness, fail'd not these Citizens to make a very punctual Repetition of [Page 111]all the Branches of this goodly Oration, to the greedy Ears of their attentive Wives, whom they soon raise into equal Raptures with themselves, in the Imagination of the prescribed Felicity; till anon, unfortunately One of them (more Ʋxorious than the rest, and who wanting the pru­dence of Retention, would make but an ill Privy Counsellor) chanced to blurt out that last clause so imperfectly delivered, and broken off Abrupt­ly, which seem'd to grate upon them a little too nearly. This takes Fire, and from a little Spark in the Bosom of One (too hot to hold there long) spreads into a Flame over all the City. A Convention of the Sex is holden to debate of the matter, each one vents her private Concep­tions, which blow up the rest into a greater Fire. The fury of Jealousie incenses them, and they cast about how to prevent an Evil that seemed to bear so ill a Face and Omen towards them. They universally Vote a Conspiracy hatch­ing, and resolve to stand off, and bid defiance to their Enemy. What knew they, but she might bring up some new Laws of Divorce, and endeavour to preferr her own Drabbs of Honour into their Beds. For their parts their Spirits were as high as her Own, and they scorn to crouch for Advice or Directions from her. They needed none of her Imperious Impositions, and were Bred sufficiently already into all the Deco­rums of State. What can she add more to them, than what they enjoyed already? Could she teach them other Fashions than what themselves had invented? They had not studied the Arts of Dressing so long, to be corrected now by a [Page 112]Stranger. The World was mistaken in them, if they were not Notorious already. They thought she had come to Town to have improved her self rather by them, and added to her happiness in their Company, than thus mischievously to Plot against them. Besides, 'twas rudely done of her, not to give them the Priority of the Invitation. They like not she should be so great with their Husbands.

The Empress was of too sensible a Spirit to pass by the Affront, without the just Revenge payable to it. She will make them know that she hath not so low a Soul to put up such an Affront to her Honour, so tamely as they imagin; And is very glad that themselves give the first Occa­sion of the Breach, they shall quickly feel the effects of their stubborn Folly and Rebellion.

If the Spirit of Purity hath drawn a Curtain over that Obscene Advice, that once was whisper'd by the Cursed Sorcerer into Balak's Ears, and hath modestly hinted the time only, when the wicked Counsel was given, which prov'd so fatal to the poor Children of Abraham: Marvel not, Reader, if my Pen blush to describe the unnatural Revenge which the Sorceress dictated to the Men of Sodom, whose hot pursuit of her pernicious Orders, was the Torch that lighted the Flames of their Ruine, and stamped upon them the black Character of Exceedingly Wicked. 'Tis enough if thou know that God gave them up to the most vil­lanous Exorbitancies, and the fury of unnatural and unaccountable Lusts; to Charge an Incubus, and Ravish Pluto, while Nature it self recoils at the Horrour of so Infernal a Courtship.

Pride checkles at the happy success of her Pro­ject, and finds her Disciples so tractable, that she resolves to raise an Academy in the City, to train up Youth to Succession: Her self will sit in the Chair, and Read daily Lectures of Debauche­ry and the blackest Arts, and those so Publick, that none shall pretend the want of Opportunity to pass into the greatest Proficiencies in them. She designs them all for Epidemical Profit, and therefore shall be performed in open School. She celebrates Impudence as a glorious Vertue, and to be found Blushing is present Expulsion, (tho' few were found in Sodom of that Maidenly Com­plexion.) Epicurus hath but stollen his princi­ples from her: She assures them that the Soul dies with the Body, and there is nothing better than to Eat and Drink. They must contemplate nothing but Sensuality and the Palate, protesting to them how great a God the Belly was; and that nothing would satisfie this Deity better, than when they made much of themselves. The more they Offer to him, the sooner should they ex­perience the Blessing, to whose Sacrifices their Fields and Herds yielded them so cheap an Assist­ance, that they would be the ungratefullest Per­sons living, should they not load his Altars with their frequent Victims.

This Doctrine sounded so sweetly in their Ears, and was suited so fitly to their natural Constitutions, that you might have seen the Fur­niture of their stately Plains taken off and de­voted to the Voratious Gulph of Gluttony. Each Park and Forrest send in their liberal Contribu­tions; the Luscious Venison is immur'd in Pales [Page 114]of Paste: The stately Taurus dress'd up with Gilded Horns and Flowery Garlands, presenting himself in Sacrifice to the great Colon. Beasts lie mangled on every Stall, and more Shambles or­dered to be presently built; a general slaughter is proclaimed. The innocent Inhabitants of the Air cannot flie in peace for them, and the Scaley Nations are made to swim in Ponds of Butter. Dishes march in Battel Array, and Jolly Boles go Round, while Gomorrah Smoaks too, and the Five Cities are all but one Kitchen. Hogsheads bleed, and the Conduits run with the Blood of Noah's Vintage. Musick and Songs, Good Cheer and Wine, and Wine, and Songs, and Musick, and Good Cheer; an Health, and an Health, and Ten thousand Healths to her who had made Sodom happy, and brought a perpetual Holy-day with her: Teaching them the true end and use of Life, and merrily to pass their Time away. When before her Arrival, their days were spent in carking Cares, and solicitous Thoughts for the World, which basely Captiv'd them in the Chains of a sordid Bondage, and made them very Slaves to their own degenerous Humours, from all which she had so happily freed them, and open'd the Gates of that grateful Liberty, that makes every Mortal so Happy [...] Pride, Fulness of Bread, and abundance of Idlenes [...] was in her.

The poor Women finding how the Game ra [...] began to relent, and think it folly to stand ou [...] any longer. They fall in with the Humour o [...] the Time, and see Coyness and Stiffness grow [...] quite out of Fashion. They found themselve [...] losers already by an unprofitable Haughtiness [Page 115]which (if they persisted in) might in a little time, render their whole Sex but needless and im­modish, since there was no standing against her who swayed all the Town. They are willing therefore to yield a little and out of Policy to be more tractable, since very necessity drave them to it. They think upon Terms of Accommodation with the Empress, who they hope is not so Im­placable by Nature, but may be by some means appeased again, while themselves will give her those fair Demonstrations of future Conformity, which may work her to better Apprehensions of them. To this end they let loose all the Reins of Modesty and Chastity, (by which they think) they had been Restrained too long already, to run in a full career the Race of all Licencious­ness and Lust: Vertue grows a very Burden and hateful to them. Pleasure the only brave Goddess they Adore, in whose Service they are so superstitious and severe, that they devote their whole Time and Studies to approve themselves her most Bigotted Votaries. The snares of Temp­tation are weaved by every Hand, they dress themselves up into all the Advantages of Love, and have Exchange of Complexions that suit with the several Fancies of every new Admirer. That day is lost that is not bless'd with fresh Assignations of to Morrows Joys, and they awake to nothing but renewed Acts of Yesterdays Frolicks. They take care not to appear too frequently in the same Garb, Ridiculing those of meaner Fortune whose Abilities supply them not to the same Variety of Dress. They look with scorn on those that Retire themselves to the Inner Rooms with the Torment [Page 116]of keeping at Home, who have not the Invi­tation to Gallant it abroad, or be blessed with the Courtships of a secret Love. They are Mad that Nature had not lodg'd upon them the most killing Charms of Lust, which they strive to supply by Artificial Means, and the bewitching Arts of Language and Wit. They— But alas! My very Ink blushes to pass any further, and the humour of our Age needs little Instruction into courses they Imitate already so much to the Life.

When the great Ninive was ripe for Judgment, God sent them a Prophet to give them notice of their approaching Ruine (and g [...]ve them Forty days to consider of the Message;) the Breath of whose Mouth blew them All to the Ground in the deepest Agonies of Terror and Sorrow. Pro­clamations issue out for a General Fast, and the whole Court (for Example to the People) are wrapt in Sack-cloth, and the Ashes on their Heads, very happily prevented the whole City from be­ing turned all into Cinders. When God himself drew Arguments of Pity from their present Pe­nance, the Tears of the Children and the very Looing of the Cattle, turns his Heart, and prevails to revoke the Decree. But such was the fearfull Defection of Sodom, that the Inhabitants there were more Brutish than the Beasts; so Pamper'd and Shining, so ready and fit for the Slaughter, that he resolves now by an Immutable Decree, to Offer up an Holocaust of them all, to the honour of his Justice, and the Eternal Memorial of the Sacrifice: so Great and Exceeding were their Provocations, that he will not deal with them a [...] with other Sinners, and summon them severally [Page 117]to Judgment, as they are taken and Arrested by Death: But a Commission of Oyer and Terminer shall be sealed for their immediate Tryal and Execution: Giving all the World notice by their Pre-damnation, what themselves must expect for the same Guilts at the General Conflagration.

And now Sodom, the last Scene of thy Tragedy is just upon Acting, and the merry Banquet of thy Luxury is hastening to an End: Wrath and De­struction bring in the Voider, Tables and Guests are hurried away together. Thou hast enjoyed a long and pleasant Day to Act the Comedy of thy Mirth, but now it's dying into an Eternal Night. The Play is over, and the Musick is ended. 'Twas all but a Frolick, and Frolicks are grown so Na­tural and Customary to thee, that even in Death thou canst not leave them, thou wilt Act one more, and thy Last, upon the very Ladder, and that shall shut up all for ever.

The Executioners of Justice drawing near to the Gates, the Genteel Lot (who had learned from his Ʋnkle the generous Duty of Hospitality and Kindness) perceiving them entring, was there sitting, ready to offer them a free and courteous Invitation to his House, (little thinking they brought with them the Writ for the Burning it and the whole City together.) He is Cordial in his Civility, that no pretence of excuse shall prevail upon him to be denied. He knew the Streets of Sodom were too dangerous for Strangers to lodge in, when the strongest Bolts could hard­ly secure them from the Insolencies of the Place. In their passage from the Gate to his House, the Fair Guests are observed by every Eye to be [Page 118]Persons of lovely and delicate Presence (as An­gels ever delight to bind themselves up in handsom Covers) such Beauties as these must not think to de­part the Town (where Pride and Luxury kept a Court) without paying Homage to their abo­minable Orders: The Word is given by the Pimping Officers, about all the City, and scarcely had these Strangers (unknown) received the Courtesies of the House, and Lot's un­happy Wife dress'd the last Supper before she condens'd into Salt; but their Lodging is beset with the General Assembly of the Rioters: Old and Young, all the People from every quarter (as well such as Age had rendred Impotent, as those whom yet Time had not maturated into Suffi­ciency) demanding out the very Harbingers of their Death, (as if the pure Spirits had assumed Bodies to become the base Succubusses of their Lust;) giving them by this too clear an Evi­dence, that the loud Cry of their Villanies had not made a false Alarm to Heaven, and that the bitter Clusters of this unnatural Vine of Sodom, were fully Ripe, and ready to be press'd into the Fats of Eternal Vengeance.

There is yet hope when the poor Slave of Concupiscence veils his Guilty Head, and Muffles himself up, while he slily creeps through the back Door into the Brothel of Impurity, trembling in every Joynt, lest discovery be made of his shameful Adventure to his eternal Ignominy and Reproach. But for Lust to beat up the Drum, and make her Proclamations till the Roll of her Levies swell into so formidable a Bigness, as shall create in her a proud Confidence of beating down [Page 119]all the possible resistance that Virtue and Modesty can Rally against her: 'Tis high time then for the Hierarchy of Heaven to fly to their Arms; and alas! a small Powder-charge, shot into the Eyes of the Rebels, shall secure them well enough for the present, till on the morrow the Ammuni­tion arrive, that shall dispatch them all at a Blow.

The Sun made hast from the Antipodes that Night, and was gotten up very early into the visible Horizon, to appear in Triumph over Sodom's Tragedy. Many fair Courses had he made, while his glittering Eyes in a full Prospect had been steddily fixt on their profligate Actions, and blush'd (when themselves could not) at their abominable Impudencies, repining to yield them Light to so many Deeds of Darkness. But this Morning he appears to bid them Adieu for ever, and e'er He or They return to Bed again, they shall find themselves scorch'd in more sen­sible Heats than His: However he would be kind still, to visit their Ruines in his passage, which done, he wrapt himself up in a Cloud, and gives notice to the Ministers below, that the dreadful Hour was come, and Heaven was ready to give fire.

How little apprehensive the Town was, of a Storm of Brimstone and Flakes of Fire ready to consume them, we may judge by last Nights Attack, made with such Vigour and Force upon the Angels. They hold up their Courage to the last Moment, and Magnanimously pass down into Everlasting Burnings. To little purpose did Lot make his Harangue to his Sons in Law, who [Page 120]repay his Kindness with Jears and Mocks, and believe him as little as the Old World did Noah, when he Prophesied to them of a Deluge: Or as the Men of this Generation do those who talk to them of a Day of Judgment; they therefore Meritoriously reap the Fruits of their Incredulity and Contempt of Admonition, and leave us the true Prospective to discover which is the most con­demning Sin: Even Ʋnbelief.

And surely there is a Faith in the World, Lazy and Idle, that makes as little haste to escape the General Ruine, as Lot did out of Sodom, who though himself believes, and perswades others to secure their Safety, yet is not very Expeditious to further his own; and appears to be saved rather by the meer Mercy of God, and the Power of Abraham's Intercession, than its own care. Very happy are we in a better Advocate, who delivers us from the Drowsiness of our own Faith, and keeps us by his own power to Salvation.

The Pleasures of Sodom that brought him hither, detains him here, and though the Angels hasten and urge him to dispatch by the affrighting Ar­guments of Destruction with the Sinners, yet he lingers still, till they pluck him as a Brand out of the fire. 'Tis not our own Free Will, but Gods Free Grace that preventeth our Ruine. We should ever be attentive to the Angel of the Covenant, who is always crying out to us, Arise, and depart, for here is not your Rest. Make haste least ye be consumed in the Iniquity of the World.

Lot and his Wife and two Daughters are brought without the City, and commanded to escape for their Lives, and look not behind them; but Eight Persons out of the whole Old World, and but Four are preserved out of Sodom: Follow not a Multi­tude to do evil. To walk with God, is a securing Grace, though none but thy self do it. To walk with the World is sure Destruction, though Millions together do it: Peter knew what he said, when he advised Men to Save themselves.

And now in the very Moment, to let us see that Mercy can Triumph over Judgment; He that would have saved all for Tens sake, will yet save One of the Cities for Ones sake. Zoar shall escape at the Entreaty of a Lot. 'Twas Sodom that had driven the Whole-sale Trade of Abomi­nations, and was the Head Quarters of Pride. (This was unpardonable, that Pride was in her.) Zoar dealt but by Retail, and Pedled in her Mer­chandizes of Fornication. Hither the Old Man flies, as to a City of Refuge from the Storm. God hath his Rella's still, for his hidden ones till the Indignation be over-past: Well might they afford him Lodgings there, whose Prayers prevented all their going to Bed in Hell.

I perceive there is a Time when Complements and Courtship will be quite out of Fashion. Lot hath not an Hand or an Arm for his Wife, when his own whole Body is in danger; he presses forward and shifts for himself, leaving her to Trudge after as she could; 'twere well if so many were not over-courtly together, handing one another into Death. The hour is coming [Page 122]when the Dearest Relations shall be all swallowed up in that nearest Interest of Self-preservation.

Lot's Wife was a Native of Sodom; her Body was out of, but her Affections were in it still. So little doth God value the Carcass service of Hypo­crites, that he will make them the more lasting Monuments of his Wrath: While she disobeys the Command, and her Eyes turn back to look after her Heart, her whole Body is Petrified, and the Eyes of the whole World commanded to look upon her, now become a standing Pillar, that yet hath a Voice, and loudly preaches the Dangers of Disobedience, Ingratidude and Back­sliding; and least Time should wear ou [...] the Me­morial of so strange a Prodigy, the Son of God comes from Heaven to proclaim it afresh, and sets up a Buoy to prevent our Splitting upon the Rock against which that unhappy Creature broke her self: And whenever thy deceitful Heart starts back from God, Terrifie it with three words, (as three Darts shot by Joab into Absalom's Heart, to end that Rebellion against so great a King and Father;) Remember Lots Wife. God had sent his Angel to deliver her out of the Flame; that Angel had given her fair warning by no means to Look back: Zoar was but a little way, whither she had Orders to escape: She had the company of her Husband and Children with her, yet she alone (insensible of these Mercies) despises them all and will Sin, and she alone that Sins doth Suffer. No Means nor Mercies can prevail with the Obstinate and Wilful; while others believe to the saving of the Soul, They draw back to Perdition, [Page 123]and turn from the Holy Commandement delivered unto them: Whose end therefore is Destruction.

Naked and Bare passes Lot out of Sodom, leav­ing all his Riches and Goods behind him as Fuel to the Flames. His Life only is given to him for a Prey, to let Him see how little he had ad­vantaged himself by an Intermixture with the Wicked, and to teach us how low and mean our Gains will be in this Evil World, when at the last we shall carry nothing out of it but a Shroud to lap the Poor Carkass in: And very happy shall we be, if in the loss of every thing else, we make our escape with a Soul to God washed from the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust, by the precious Blood of Jesus.

Art thou gotten up, Reader, and with Abra­ham early viewing the dismal Obsequies upon the Hill of Contemplation: Look out yonder, and see how Wrath and Justice are burying the filthy Cities into their fiery Graves, in a miserable new and unheard of Manner: Here is no Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust; Alas! they had acted as Devils, and overturned all the Laws of Humane Nature: Therefore, as Infernal Spirits shall receive their Interrment, Fire to Fire, Flame to Flame, Burning to Burning, in sure and certain Desperation of any other Resurrection than to everlasting Damna­tion from Jesus Christ, who shall raise their vile bodies to make them yet more vile, according to his mighty Power, whereby he subdues all things to himself.

Come, lend thine Ears a while, to the sad Screeks and Yellings of the miserable Wretches thorough every Street in Sodom, and the same answered by those of Gomorrah; and Admah and [Page 124] Zeboim Ecchoing to both: Lord! into what Confusion hath Pride and her Idle, Gluttonous, Drunken, Beastly, Filthy, Ʋnnatural Counsels be­trayed them! When there was but one dead in the several Families of Egypt, what an Outcry and Noise, what a fearful Distraction was there at Midnight! what a Tossing and Tumbling to hasten away Israel, when there was no other Fright, but of one quietly Dead in his Bed in each House! But here the Lord thundered in the Heavens, the most high gave his voice, Hail-stones and Coals of Fire; he sent out his Arrows and scat­tered them, he shot out his Thunderbolts and discom­fited him. Their cursed Eyes behold the Shower of Fire and Brimstone falling down on them all, whole Flakes and Rolls of Fire first burning down their Houses, to make the more haste to seize on their more combustible Carkasses, which had been so long baking in the Oven of their flaming Lusts, into a perfect Crust of Obduration and Sencelesness, they were become now fit for no­thing but the Fire: The Plague is proportiona­bly suited to the Sin; they flame in Lust; God flames in Wrath; and because their Heats were Ʋnnatural, so shall these also, and the aspiring Element shall act Retrogade, and descend to con­sume them: They Universally Suffer as they Universally Sin: Old and Young environ the House, Old and Young are environed in their own: The young Ʋrchins of Villany are put into the Fry, to prevent the cursed Succession of their Breed: Their Fruit is rooted out of the Earth, and their Seed from among the Children of Men. O tremen­dous Spectacle! to see them altogether, Houses [Page 125]and Bodies of Men, Women and Children, Cattel, and whatsoever was found within their Bounds, all roaring together in one Raging Furnace heated seven times, and blown up by the furious Breath of an incensed God, whose Smoak passed up in thick and black Clouds and Pillars, darkening the very Air, and benighting Heaven it self. Upon what Hill wert thou gotten, thou most accursed Sorceress, Piping and Dancing with Nero to the Flames of thine own kindling, while it is Sport and Recreation to thee to see them all burning in a Flame together? Where will be the end of thy bloody Tragedies?

Sixteen times in Holy Record hath God lighted up the Fire of Sodom, to affright (if possible) the whole World from the Execrable Provocations that enkindled them. His Holy Spirit hath held up the Tapers in whose Light we see them in Hell, as if our very Eyes beheld them there. They are Suffering the Vengeance of eternal fire, and their Damnation set forth for a fearful Example to those that hereafter should live ungodly. But Alas! Man's Wickedness hath made Gods Examples as void and uneffectual as his Counsels. To find Sodoms Vices surviving among the poor Heathen, is horrible, but to see them translated into the Church of God, is Insufferable; whose Eyes runs not down with Tears to hear of the Daughters of Sion exceeding the Daughters of Sodom in Pride and Wantonness. But to find the Brothel-houses (erected for the very Trade of Sodomy) so impu­dently out-facing the Temple of God; This might call for Tears of Blood. And I could wish History had fail'd of Truth, when it tells us of a [Page 126] Dispensation granted to the Family of a Cardinal for the same Villany, with a Fiat ut petitur. ('Tis a strange Power that can rake up Vices out of Hell, to bring them up and make them in Fashion again upon Earth.) It were well too that others dispens'd not with themselves in Practices as Vitious as theirs in Sodom. God grant they be not found in our own Streets, and the Daughters of England as Idly passing away their precious Time and Souls together, as those that so long ago were sent into Torment for the same Sin. What were the Incentives that enkindled the Flames upon our own Houses, and reduced them all into Ashes? Would Men think there is a Sin (lurking in their own Bosoms) which far ex­ceedeth the Sin of Sodom, and which will one day meet with Judgment more Scorching and In­tolerable; 'tis but believing the Oracle of Truth, who hath convincingly forewarned us of the dan­gerous Consequences of that Fatal Contempt of his Person and Gospel, that every where Reigns, and whose Plagues are legible enough in Caper­naum's Woe, that are sentenc'd by the Judge him­self to an hotter place in Torments than the Sodomites; and surely very deservedly too, it being nothing less than the Trampling under foot the Blood of a God, and doing despite to the Spirit of Grace. This is That Condemnation which will double Their Sorrows upon our Own Heads: And our Ʋnbelief shall not make the Word of God of none effect. Let us Repent, and prepare for his second Coming, who once for ever hath cautioned us by Them, not to be surprized in the like Security: Since in the very day that Lot went out of Sodom, [Page 127] it rained Fire and Brimstone from Heaven, and de­stroyed them all.

Heaven showers down Hell on Guilty Wights,
Vile (as were those Infernal Sp'rits)
Flaming in Lusts unnatural,
Ripe for Destruction, down they fall
To their own Places, Scorched there
In Everlasting Heats, when here
The dreaful Judgment Awes us not;
Ah me, the Tragedies of Sin forgot!
Nor Waves, nor Fires of Vengeance can
Melt the Hard and Obdurate Man;
Yet what, nor Flames can do, nor Flood,
May easily be wrought by Blood.
Come Lord (the Work's thine own) and save
A perishing World from the Grave!
FINIS.
…

ERRATA in the Life of Abraham.

PAg. 31. l. 11. r. Lustre, p. 35. l. 1. r. rigour, p. 66. l. 6. for other Sacrifices, r. their Sacrifice, p. 78. l. 7. for their r. thine, p. 86. l. 4. r. charges, p. 215. l. 26. r. she was, p. 183. l. ult. r. refreshed into, p. 192. l. 22. dele that before possibly, p. 221. l. 5. Chap. 12. Contents, after Marriage add and Abra­ham's Death, p. 232. l. ult. r. inoffensive Ceremonies. p. 70. l. 7. for Now r. No.

Remarques ON THE LIFE Of the GREAT Abraham, THE FATHER of the Faithful, AND THE FRIEND of GOD.

By S. JAY, Rector of Chinner in the County of Oxon.

Isaiah 51. v. 2.

Look unto Abraham your Father.

LONDON, Printed for Iohn Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey, over against the Compter. 1689.

TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD, GILBERT Lord Bishop of SARƲM.

My Lord,

THat I presume to devote these Pa­pers to your great Name, when so perfect a Stranger to your Person, may savour a little of Rudeness and Irreverence: Yet your Lordship ve­ry well knows, that a more refined Ac­quaintance is attainable with Spirits at a distance, where the divine Idea's of the great Soul have Drawn themselves out [Page]to the very Life in the visible Characters of their own Excellency, which have not fail'd to dragg after them (as into an easie and pleasing Captivity) the entire Affections and absolute Obedience of others, as the natural Fruit of their Victory. Thus we pay Homage to the very Saints in Heaven, and to all Meritorious and Eminent Persons on Earth, dignifying our selves by frequent and familiar Con­verses with them, though perhaps exalt­ed into mighty Stations, far above the low Sphere of our meanness and humble Estate.

'Tis this Prospect, My Lord, made into the sublimer Forms of your spiritual Part, that hath fix'd me your perfect Captive, and given birth to this bold In­trusion. (But if sometimes the inferiou [...] Dependants on the Court Ensure them­selves of a gracious Reception, when th [...] come charg'd but with a Message from [Page]the Sovereign to you, I am certain you will not shut your Gates against me when I come laden with Expresses from Hea­ven, and recommended too by the Father of the Faithful, and the very Friend of God.) And thô it be little to your Lordship to hear of any New Pretender, yet 'tis Complacency enough to me, when I make the World know how much I honour you for your Self; and with what Plea­sure and Satisfaction I received the good News of the Presidency of that Church to be lodged in your Lordship, where my Ancestors with my unworthy self for four Generations successively paid the Tribute of Reverence to its Mitre, now Priding [...]t self in so rich an Head as yours; un­ [...]ess perchance it be deprived of that Fe­ [...]icity by the Ambition of another, which [...]ay emulate its Honour, and think it no [...]obbery to succeed in the same Happi­ [...]ess.

May your Lordship long live, the true Heir of Abraham's eximious Faith and Piety, the pleasing Object of your Princes Favour, the Peoples Love, and the De­sire of all the Churches: so Prays

Your Lordships Most Obsequious Servant, Steph. Jay.

REMARQUES ON THE LIFE Of the GREAT Abraham.

CHAP. I.

Abraham's first Call from Idolatry to the Knowledge of the true God. The Encou­ragements God gives him to follow him. His Obedience to the Call, in leaving his Countrey. He takes his Father and Fami­ly with him. Their Arrival and Stay in Haran: Their Business there. Terah his Father dyes in Haran.

I Shall not reflect on this great Prince as a rough Stone lying unhewn in the Quarry of the Earth, but as a sparkling Diamond po­lish'd by the Divine hand, and made fit to be set in the Bosom of a God.

The Chaldeans (if any) were famous and ex­pert in Astrology; Abraham's ambition aspired no higher than to get an acquaintance with the Heavens, whose Power and Influences he thought had a great hand in governing the World; he terminates his desires in the Zenith of these plea­sing Studies, being yet a perfect Stranger (a) to the Omnipotent Power that had fixed those Lu­minaries in their several Orbs.

Though the Book of the Creature discovers an infi­nite treasure of Wisdom and Power, and clearly con­vince of a God; yet is not the Eye so kind a Tutor to the Heart, as to impose its speculations with so great Authority or Success, to work any powerful Impression upon it; but rather taking up with the senses by the way, it finds so pleasing Entertainment there, that Man minds nothing more than what he sees; and the glory of the invisible God becomes perfectly lost in the dazle and crowd of his visible Creatures.

The Mind of this Great Man was wholly im­mers'd in them, he admires no Deity but that of his Countrey, 'till by a Miracle of Mercy the Clouds of his Natural Darkness are dispell'd by an extraordinary light of Divine Revelation, that [Page 3]makes Day in his Soul. Illumination from the Father of lights is so bright and influential up­on the Faculties, as fully secure from the dan­ger of Delusion. There is not only light but Assurance attending all the manifestations of God to the Mind. Abraham was no Fanatick, to be led by false Fires from his dearest Interests: From this time the flames of ƲR burn darkly in his Eye, he loaths to sacrifice any longer to the Fire, when himself is enkindled by a diviner Spark. Tradition tells us, (how true I know not) that being now turned from their Religion, his Countrey-men in rage, threw him into the Fire, for refusing to own their god; but by mi­raculous escape he baffled the impotent Deity, and discovered to its Votaries a greater, that had bridled up his natural fury from singeing one Hair of his Head.

This poor Element had the good fortune to be promoted to Honour, from the gross mistake of some, who had either heard or seen it fall from Heaven to consume the Sacrifices of the true Church; these pass home, and Vote it into (b) Godship, perhaps on less improbable Errour, than others since, who contrary to all reason have promoted Meal to the same Worship, and Deifie Bread instead of a Saviour. Indeed the true God hath since fallen from Heaven in immaterial Fire on those holy Tapers, who be­ing first illuminated themselves, were to pass over all the World to enkindle others, baptizing [Page 4]them into Refinedness and Purity. These Flames feed on nothing but Corruption and Ignorance, they burn invisibly, and this was the holy Fire which now God himself had kindled on the Al­ter of Abraham's Heart.

See from what mighty grounds of Reason and Truth, our kind Mother the Church hath faith­fully instructed us into the Necessity of God's preventing Grace, which puts an effectual stop to the course of Sin, even while with Saul we are posting on in a full career towards Death and Ruine. Artic. 10.

Divine Wisdom knows with what Heifer Man's Heart is best plowed, 'tis a selfish thing, and plods on little else but its own Interests. God pity­ing his Infirmities, gratifies his weakness, and falls in with him upon the terms that he sees best please him: He knew this would make good Musick in the Ears of Abraham, I will bless thee, and I will make thee great. Man will not serve God for nought, though he owes all that he hath and is to Him for his Being. Abraham, though pretty well stricken in Years, was yet but a Child in Experience of spiritual Grace, there­fore God dandles him on the Knee, and allures him with the tickling Arguments of a Great Name and Estate. We arrive to the Knowledge of Him by degrees, and from a taste of his Goodness in the Creatures, are afterwards brought to live upon Himself in the greatest abundance or want of them. He knows by what Methods to train us up to perfection. Abraham was no vulgar Person, he stood already under very considerable Circum­stances in the World: But he that had much [Page 5]should yet have more, and he that held his Estate but by the uncertain Tenure of general Provi­dence, shall now have his Copy enlarged to hold all in Fee-simple, from a special donation of Grace. God will hereafter add Sauce to his Meat, and sweeten all his Messes with the Honey of Canaan. 'Tis a small thing to be Great, if we hold that Greatness from our selves, and derive it not from the great God; who can make even Death it self (that would else unstrip us into nothing) to be the Porter to convey the Robes of a finite Honour into the next World with us, where himself will overlay them with the Embroideries of an Infinite Glory.

But Abraham lived among his own People in all the delights of Security and Peace, there­fore God forestalls his Objection of Danger, and offers him Articles (c) of Alliance, where­in he makes over to him the whole Militia of Heaven for a Life-guard; (which we shall short­ly find him making use of, when he charged the Camp of the four Kings as Lightning, and rout­ed them,) these were to be commanded by his Faith at any time, and that not for himself on­ly, but his Allies too: Abraham should have the Aid of a God to lend at his pleasure to his Friends, I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee. In what desperate Estate then are the Enemies of the Church, with all their Con­federates of Hell, who unite together unto cer­tain [Page 6]Ruine, and band themselvess unto Death: Thus shall it be done unto Abraham whom God de­lighteth to Honour.

Tho' Reputation, Riches, and Long life be all that humane Nature can well wish for, (that Ignorantly closes her desires in the supposed fe­licity of them;) yet Abraham whose Soul should relish a greater Sweetness in God, would not think himself sufficiently happy, unless to all these, there be superadded a blessing of that qua­lity, which might secure to him the lasting frui­tion of that Spiritual pleasure. We bitterly part from Creature Joys, but who that is Wise would want a God? Temporal things grow Thredbare in the wearing, and wither as Flow­ers in our Hands; they abate of their Fragrancy, and put us to the Blush for our too great confi­dence in them. We are obliged to others for our Honour, and Melt away our Treasures to purchase the Aire of their Mouths. Life wasts away its self, and grows ungrateful with long keeping. If Abraham will be truly happy, he must have something more than these. There were Princes already in the World that glittered in all the Grandeurs of State; it were a poor thing if a God should put off his Favourite with the fading Flowers of a Crown: No, an Ho­nour shall be contrived for him, brighter than the Sun, which shall display its Beams as far as He, and shed his influences over all the Universe, to make it a fruitful Seminary for Heaven. For in thee Abraham, shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed: As if God had said,

There shall arise a Glorious Person into the World, compleated (by a Mystical Ʋnion of my own Divine Nature and Essence with thy Humane Seed) into a perfect God-man; who shall be the Prince of Peace, Righteousness, and Salvation to thy self, and to all the Children of thy Faith, Obedience and Love, over all the World, and thro' all Ages of it; who shall bless God for Abraham, but much more for that Glorious Son, who shall deliver them from all their Enemies, (Spiritual especially) and shall bless them in turning them away from all their iniquities, drawing them from the cursed estate of Nature and Sin into the free and fearless Service and Fruition of Me their God for ever.

In the former Promises God had affixed to him the Felicities of the Earth; but in this he Mar­ries him to Himself, and gives him a Propriety in that blessing that is derived from the glorious Emanations of his very Essence. Indeed nothing but God himself can make up a perfect Happi­ness to the Soul. The Spirit of Man is an ever­lasting Substance, which therefore can be blessed in nothing but an Everlasting God. Whom have I in Heaven but thee? The Creatures are nothing without God, but God is every thing without the Creature. 'Twas but the common Sluce of his Bounty that he had hitherto opened to Abra­ham, here he shews him his very Heart, running out in full Streams of Love and Grace towards him, which hereafter shall break out and divide them­selves into all the parts of the Earth, to refresh and rejoyce the Souls of all the Children of his Faith. Now hath Heaven opened a Second time, to ensure the Seed of the Woman that must [Page 8] break the Serpents Head. God Munites Abra­ham not against the Dangers of the World and Men only, but against Hell and Devils.

Since the Joys of Faith are Ʋnspeakable, and have something of the Nature of those in Fruiti­on, very Glorious. I despair to express the migh­ty Passions of Abraham's Joy. He is all ravished in­to Extasie, and feels, tasts, hears, thinks, rejoyces in nothing but God. Something like this, every true Christian experiences at the First appear­ance and breaking out of Divine Light, when God first opens the Eyes to behold the Wonders of his Love, and shines in upon the Spirit in the bright Beams of his Grace; the Soul passes out of Darkness into Marvellous Light: Which affects it more than all the variety of Objects did Him at the first opening of his Eyes by Jesus. This is the Musick and Dancing at the Prodigal's meet­ing with his Father. Abraham's Faith pierces through some Thousands of years, and sees al­ready the promised Saviour cloathed in his Flesh, walking up and down amongst his Children, inviting them to come and take share of that Bliss their happy Father enjoyed in Heaven: Now is he perfectly at the disposal of God, and is con­tent to be any thing or nothing, at the good pleasure of his Will.

Tho' Natural Engagements stick fast to us, and our Hearts be close Lockt up in them, and very impatiently suffer a Divulsion, yet such are the commanding Charms of a Divine Beauty beating upon the Soul, that they easily Dissolve the En­chantments by which the Affections are bewitched to the Creatures, and procure not an Enstrange­ment [Page 9]only but a Cordial Divorcement from them, when reflecting (with an Holy Indignation) on those Dishonourable Prostitutions, (whilest Igno­rant or Forgetful of her self) the debased Soul had bowed down to those shameful Embraces.

Chaldea was now no longer a place for a Fe­derate of Heaven: What agreement hath the Tem­ple of God with Idols? He easily parts from his Country, who had first parted from himself. God having taken Abraham into his Bosom, had those Secrets to disclose to him, which he could not so heedfully attend to in his Fathers House, and therefore will draw him to a more proper Place, where he may with greater advantage and convenience give him the demonstration of his Kindness. Come my Beloved, let us go into the Fields, let us lodge in the Villages, there will I give thee my Loves. Noise and Hurries distract the Powers of the Soul, which when United are all too little for a God to enjoy. 'Tis in the Night that he gives his Songs, when we are wrapped up in Rest and silence. God is best enjoyed by Sedateness and close Composure of the Affecti­ons. Jesus himself went into the Mountain to Pray, and in his last Agonies separated from his dearest Disciples. God having pickt out this One friend, 'twas fit he should have him wholly to himself, and resolves to admit no Compe­titor in his Affections. He was wholly for Abraham, and Abraham must be wholly for Him; God cannot be held in a divided Heart: 'Tis the Single Eye that penetrates deepest into his Love, he that squints upon any thing else, sees Him not at all. God was all in Abraham's Eyes, and [Page 10]therefore finding nothing in his Country where­fore he should desire it any longer, he chearfully passes out of it with a joyful Heart, and hath not the least Reluctancy within him to check the Delights of his glorious Progress.

Behold him giving the necessary Orders to his Family, to get ready for a Journey whence they are never likely to return. When once we go forth after God, there is no drawing back but to Loss and Perdition. Sarah is so far from Countermanding her Husband, that she disfur­nishes her Closet with nimble Hands. His Ne­phew Lot resolves to partake of his Unkles For­tunes, but old Terah (to whom his Son Abraham had communicated the Divine Mandate) seems as forward as the best; his Aged Joynts are in­vigorated with new Strength, and is the First of all the Company in a readiness to be gone, which God takes so kindly from him, that the Honour of the whole Expedition is devolved upon him in Holy Writ; and Abraham is led forth by his Father out of Ʋr, Gen. 11.21. They pass lightly away, and care not to spend time in en­tertaining the Dilatory Complements of the Town at their departure, to whom they could give no great Account of their Progress, since themselves knew not wither they were go­ing. Blind Obedience is commendable enough where God himself is the Guide. He securely Travels that hath Light and Truth for his Con­duct. Divine Presence is a sure Pass-port against every danger. 'Tis a fair Flower in the Crown of Abrahams Faith, That He went out, not know­ing whither he went. With what pleasure did the [Page 11]Almighty God look down on this Glorious Pro­cession, which is ordered all at his special di­rection! Every Step we make in his ways is de­lightful to him.

Note here the true Nature of Saving Faith, that willingly departs from the World and Self at the naked Call of God, to follow him on the Foot of his Con­duct, whether up to the Mountains of Prosperity and Honour, or down to the Valley of Meanness and Contempt. It moves and is moved at the Motion of the Cloud of his Presence that directs it, and fears not to lose its way, while it is guarded by and keeps close to infallible Truth through every Stage, till at length it arrives at the happy place of its Eternal Fixation and Rest.

'Tis but one Abram that God calls out of Chal­dea, to pass away with his Train from thence, where all the rest tarry behind to be destroyed in their own Idolatrous Fires. Lord, are there but few that shall be Saved? The whole World [...]ies still in Wickedness, and will not awake to the Call of Heaven: Some stir a little, and open an Eye, but heavy with Sleep, shut it down again [...]nto fatal Slumber: Others sullenly lie still, while the Call is repeated, and willingly wear the Adders Ears. Some get out of Bed and Dress for the Journey, they make to the Door [...]nd shew themselves in their Travelling Posture, [...]hen their Neighbours enquiring whither they [...]re hastening, and themselves not able to give an [...]ccount, are easily laughed out of the design, and [...]on consent to stay at home. Others more re­ [...]lutely Cross themselves, and Vow to stand to [...]l Adventures, they go abroad and Sail away, [Page 12]but they Tack about at the first Storm, and make for Land, glad at their Hearts to set foot again on their Native Shore; therefore the Fearful and Ʋnbelieving lead the Van of the Damned Crew. 'Tis only the brave [...]am and the Heirs of his great Soul, that dare cut out their way to Ca­naan through the Gigantick Mountains of diffi­culties and danger, and can hew the Sons of Anak in pieces, to level the Road for their more pleasant Passage.

By gentle and easie Processions these holy Pil­grims arrive at last with safety at Haran: Where God intending that this noble Plant of Righteous­ness should appear somewhat like himself in the Kingdom of Canaan, and not as a low contemp­tible Shrub, gives him here for a while a Root­ing time, that he might grow up into all the Dimensions of a Stately Cedar. Here therefore the Womb of the Divine Promise begins to swell, and be prol [...]ick; Abraham already feels its pro­ductive Vertue, and soon experiences what a [...] advantageous Change he had made of his God [...] who seems to call the Creatures together, an [...] commands them to give their Attendance upo [...] him as another Lord of the Creation, next and immediately under himself. 'Tis God that di­rects the Flight of Riches and Honour, they an [...] mov'd by him to take Wing, and to pass away from such as abuse them, and themselves by them; so they are ordered to flie to others tha [...] know how to give them more generous Enter­tainment. The Treasures of Charran sigh for [...] lodging in Abraham's Coffers, and confederat [...] together to revolt from their Idolatrous Masters [Page 13]to offer their Service to the true Heir; yea, the Inhabitants are Proud to present them as a grate­ful Acknowledgment of the sence they had of that Honour he had done them in blessing their City with his Presence. And surely had Abra­ham drain'd their Exchequer by an Offering of their whole Town-stock to him, yet should they have little cause to repine, since God himself hath made ample Payment, with all the Arrears of Interest to their Successors there, by giving up the Superstitious (d) Saracens to the Vanity of exposing themselves to the expence of a long Pilgrimage (in whole Troops together) to this City, there to pour out their Devotions in the very place which they thought the Sacred Pre­sence of Abraham and Sarah had Hallowed all into Chappel, and out of which they fancy to be heard with greater expedition and success. Whatever they gained by their Prayers, the City is no loser by the Votaries, and doubtless found it their Interest, concernedly to maintain them in their Error, and to flatter them suffici­ently in the continuance of that Zeal that was [...]o profitable to them.

While his Servants Generate and Multiply in his Family, Abraham and Sarah are no less em­ployed in a work of a more blessed Increase. They [...]ho were as yet unsuccesseful in the Act of Na­tural Generation, were not unprosperous in the Regeneration of Souls unto God. They erect [Page 14]a Divinity School, and daily Lectures are kept up in it. In this happy Employment they pass away their time in Haran, and make it their business to Sow the Seed of Divine Truth into many a Charronites Heart. 'Tis very confidently delivered by their Learned Posterity, that not only Abraham was a diligent instructer of the Men, but his (e) Lady also undertook it as her Pro­vince to woe those of her Sex to embrace the Worship of the true God, whom she presented (as the happy Issue of her Soul, and knew yet no other Travel) to her Abraham, to be admitted into the Communion of the Church in his House, and adopted into all the Priviledges of his Spi­ritual Daughters. Wonder not then, that their Train is encreased, and these Children of their Faith have Zeal and Strength enough to leave all their interest in Haran to wait on their holy Pa­rents into Canaan.

All these had God given him in Exchange for a Father whom he here thinks fit to take to him­self. The good Old Terah, who had followed him hitherto, falls here; whose Funeral he So­lemnizes with a becoming Gravity and Sadness, and withdraws himself to Weep in Secret, lest by yielding too much to Passion, he betrayes the Honour of his Faith and Religion. Grief (tho [...] Natural) is some kind of Debasement of the Soul, forgetting her self, in stooping to every petty Cross, in the Nonage of her Infant Esta [...] [Page 15]but growing up to the knowledge of her Prince­ly Birth, she draws that holy Sweetness from her high Relation to God, as soon makes her clear up again, to fortifie her self against all the weak­nesses that dissolve her. 'Twere Treason against Abraham's dutiful Piety to dispute his consci­entious Care in confirming his Father in all the comforts of the Promised Seed, that should one day spring from his Blood, for the perfection of his Happiness in the future World. God that knew Abraham's Faithfulness in the teaching of his Children and Houshold, might well trust him in the discharge of his Duty to his dearest Parent: Who by the same Arguments that he prevailed with him to forsake his Country, might be easily wrought to forget and abjure any Confidence in the vain Idols he had served there. Happy Terah in such a Son, who became the Parent of his Fa­thers better Life, and the blessed Instrument of his Eternal Salvation. Complements of Seniority are vainly insisted on in the greater concern of Endless Happiness: Nor do we find the Old Man peevishly pushing away his Son from him, with the Phlegmatick Objections of the Novelty of his Religion, or angerly pleading for the Antiquity of his own: 'Tis well if by any means, and at last we arrive at the Saving Knowledge. Methinks I see him humbly bowing his hoary Head to the God who vouchsafed to Catechise him by the Lips of his own Child. He gratefully Embra­ces the Promise, Dies in the Hopes and Appre­hensions of it, and is wafted by a shorter cut into the Heavenly Canaan; Abraham commends his Spirit into the Hands and Mercy of the [Page 16]Father of it by humble Supplications, and did so well improve the Lesson of his Parents Morta­lity, as never to forget in his greatest Height and Strength, that he himself was Dust. Your Fa­thers where are They? The Children of the Bed­chamber cannot Mourn, so long as the Bridegroom is with them. Abraham's holy Heart was so full of God, that he hath little room left for Sor­row. Yet doth not Religion teach us Stoicism, (for Jeus Wept) but excellently directs us to Re­gulate and Moderate our Natural Passions, which little prevail when Divine Joy prepossesses the Soul: How hardly then are Tears wrung out? Therefore Grief and Pain have no place in Heaven, where the Spirit is swallowed up in its Masters Joy.

CHAP. II.

Abraham removes out of Haran into Cana­an. God welcomes him into the Land that he had promised to shew him: Which is seal­ed to his Children by Promise. He returns thanks, and sets up the true Religion there. A Famine arises, and he is forced to remove into Egypt; where he denies his Wife thrô fear. She is taken from him by the King, whom God plagues for the Rape. They are dismissed, and return again into Canaan.

THe dayes of Mourning for his Father being expir'd, view we now the great Patriarch dislodging again in a suitable Magnificence and [Page 17]State. Every Motion of the Ark of God is Re­markable. Great Princes tread with Majesty. Nor was there a greater upon Earth than Abra­ham, who was every day growing up to be the Mighty Pillar on which God would build his Church, that must stand for ever.

'Twas in the Seventy fifth Year of his Age that he passed out of Haran, not without the special Order of God, who now without fur­ther delay leads him down by the hand into Canaan: This was that good Land which he had promised to shew him. God never disap­points our hopes that are grounded on his own Word. His Eyes doubtless are greatly surprized with the pleasing Prospects of that goodly Coun­trey. Heaven will be infinitely better than what we are able to conceive of it here be­low; when we shall see it with our Eyes, we shall confess that half of its glory was not conveyed to our Ears. Abraham travels on, 'till he arrives at the pleasant Plains of Moreh, adorn­ed with a delightful Grove of stately Oaks; here he hath the honour of another Visit from Heaven; God welcomes him into Canaan. So far is he from tiring our Faith, that he loves to re­fresh it with the sweet repasts of his gracious Presence; he will not give ground of suspiri­on by too tedious absence from his Abraham, that he had drawn him out of his Countrey to his loss. God is every where present to the eyes of our Faith, but sometimes more sensibly to the joy and rejoycing of our Heart: I will manifest my self to him: A Mercy that the Stran­ger intermedleth not with. God never comes emp­ty [Page 18]handed to his Servants, but brings that with him that shall make up his Entertainment and Welcome; he knows that Man hath nothing worthy of Himself, and therefore expects no­thing from him but an open and thankful Hand and Heart to receive his Kindness: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Were our Faith so great and large as to comprehend the vast extensions of his Bounty, we might fetch down Heaven into our bosoms: 'Tis our weakness and inca­pacity that puts him on feeding us (as Infants) with such scanty drops of his Fulness: Our bar­ren Hearts might otherwise break out into thou­sands and ten thousands of ravishing Pleasures and Joys, which the narrowness of our spirits do now most unhappily deprive us of.

Thus full fraught with Blessings appears God unto Abraham, and brings down with him a Conveyance of all the Kingdoms of Canaan to him and his Heirs for ever. Indeed the Te­nants were not to be thrown out of Pos­session presently, but the Estate should be as certain to him as if It were already in hand: The poor Slaves that had it, were to be spared for some time, 'till they had dressed it up into a mere delightful Habitation for his Children. They had forfeited their Copies already into his hands, and he might dispose of them at his own pleasure; yet will he be so gracious as not too rigorously or hastily to make his Entry, 'till he try whether they would submit themselves; and if not, he will yet wait for his Goodness sake, and so should Abraham for the Promise sake: And though they would pay him but little Ac­knowledgment [Page 19]as their great Landlord, yet should his Posterity fill their Exchequers with the Ar­rears, and bring such Writs of Ejectment with them as should very feasibly root them out of their Estates and Lives together.

The wickedest Men have a civil Right to all they enjoy, from the Title of general Providence; and though themselves weaken it by their unsuffera­ble Provocations, and sin themselves out of doors, yet it is not for Man to take the Forfeiture without Orders from above. Those who vio­late the Proprieties of others on the bare pre­tence of a greater Interest in God, and break open their Houses without a Warrant from Hea­ven, may chance at the Assizes to be found guilty of that Riot which will shame and con­found the pretenders for ever. Since God hath confirmed the Grant in Heaven, and sent it down to be proclaimed by the Mouth of a ve­ry Beast; Am not I thine Ass? To teach us, that they who dispute it, are greater Brutes than he.

But what Man must not, God may do; He is the Judge who putteth down one to set up ano­ther in his stead. The Most High ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will, yet never by unrighteous Sentence; for he tempereth his Justice with so much Le­nity and Patience, that he shameth Offenders into a blushing Confession of their own Guilt and Madness, and leaveth it to themselves to consider, how little he hath contributed to their Ruine.

The Inheritance is Promised, but where is the [Page 20] Heir? Where, but lying Dormant in the Womb of the same Promise. Abraham must wait for both; He that believeth doth not make haste. God worketh every thing by the leisurely degrees of his Wisdom and Will. He that made all things to start up out of nothing at the first, could have easily healed the defect of Sarah's Womb, and made her a present Mother of Generations; whereas yet must she wait five and twenty Years longer for one Son: But God ever acts ac­cording to the wise Purposes of his own Coun­cil, and what is Man that he should Anticipate the Decrees of the Almighty? Let Abraham live a while upon the Naked Promise, which is therefore so often repeated to him again and again, that he might feed afresh upon the Sweets of its Assurance, and every time he looked up to Heaven and saw the Starrs, or down on the Earth to behold the little Dusts thereof, or passing to the Sea might view the sands, should from all these be put in mind of the Goodness of his God, who had secur'd him a Posterity as innumerable as these, and all to proceed from a barren Womb, the Work of that God only that calleth those things that (yet) be not, as if they were.

We are shut up in unfruitful Nature and Ʋn­belief, and nothing can open us unto God but Him­self: could we believe aright with Abraham, from our very Sterility and Nothingness would start up such a Progeny of Graces and Comforts, which an Eternity should never see extinct.

Abraham bows, and believes, and bows a­gain, and can never enough admire the infi­niteness [Page 21]of the Love of his God to him: He raises up Altars, and sends up his thankful Heart in the smoak of his Sacrifices: Every place where he passes is perfum'd with his In­cense, and God smells the sweet savour of it from above. Great is the correspondency of the grateful Heart with Heaven. Seven times a day do I praise thee.

But does Abraham remember where he is? Is not his Zeal above his Discretion? The Ca­naanite was yet in the Land, and what makes him thus bold to invade the Countrey, and bring in a Religion with him so perfectly different from all theirs? He finds them a fierce and cruel People, inflaming themselves with their Idols. 'Tis strange he did not smother his own in a politick Concealment, and more prudently have consulted his security: No, but with a Cou­rage and Undauntedness, great as his Heart, he dares own the Truth, and the God of it, in the Faces of them all. He charges the De­vil in his own Quarters, and sets up an Ark, before which he knew all the Dagons of the Countrey must one day fall. Fearlesness and Courage for God is the natural fruit of a lively Faith. Confession must be open and valorous: He that is ashamed of me, of him will I be ashamed. Abraham knew the God with whom he was in League, was sufficiently able to defend him. What are the combined Policies and Forces of Men, that cannot move a Joynt any further than as commissionated by the first Mover, whom Abra­ham had secured to himself! He that hath a God to trust in, and fears what Man can do [Page 22]against him, deservedly forfeits his Pretence and Hope in the Almighty Protection. Flesh may recoil a little, but Faith stands its ground and is safe. Having therefore the Grant of the whole Kingdoms so surely confirmed to him from Heaven, he passes up and down the Coun­trey as their Prince, and makes his Kingly Pro­gress with a Breast devoid of all fear, which he leaves to torment the bosoms of those who were perfectly Strangers to his God. Would we keep Heaven in our Eye, and our Hopes clear and unblotted upon our Heart, we might follow him with the same Gallantry of Spirit through all the Territories of the Sons of the Gyant, and pass from pleasure to pleasure. Faith is a prying Grace, and narrowly surveys the Map of the coelestial Canaan, to make discovery of those joyful Mansions which our hope tells us are as secure to us, as if already we were in possessi­on, (through Grace) by the Vertue of the same Covenant that God sealed to Abraham.

While this Great Prince is thus recreating himself in the variety of the pleasurable Pro­spects of Canaan, he is surprized by a discove­ry of a Leanness that appeared upon the face of the Fields, such as might well make way for Jealousie to arise within him of its natural Fer­tility and Goodness. Alas! God had lock'd up the Womb of Nature that was productive enough of it self: It was He that called for a Famine, and brake the whole Staff of Bread: This fruitful Land is made barren for the Wickedness of them that dwelt therein: Even Canaan yields not her Increase, and Abraham must learn the Lesson, [Page 23]that Man liveth not by Bread alone. When God stops his Ear, and hears not the Heavens, they must not hear the Earth, nor the Earth the Corn. In vain do Men Plant and Water, where God withdraws the Blessing. Manna still falls from Heaven by the immediate hand of his Provi­dence. Substract but the Divine Influence, and the whole Earth turns Desert; you may Plow the Rocks with the same hopes of Increase. Men distractedly Sacrifice to their own Net and Dragg: All means are subservient to the su­pream Will of God, who although he ordina­rily works by them, and sometimes without them, yet not always with them, and then all means are vain. We must endeavour because he hath Commanded, and hope for a Blessing because he hath Promised; but if that fail, it is because we have sinned, and sin too frequent­ly stops up the common current of his Good­ness, that it cannot flow down upon us in such full streams of Bounty as it would: Your Iniqui­ties, O ye Canaanites, have turned away, and with­holden good things from you. God shoots his Evil Arrow of Famine into the heart of the Land, he is already beginning to weaken their strength, and shewing his Abraham by what variety of Means he could beat down all their proud Con­fidence and Power: His Children should have no impossible task to obtain Possession, since he hath other Weapons to spend upon them be­sides the Sword: He could famish them all in­to Skeletons, and make them drop down before him as Dead Men. It is confidently averred, that this Famine was sent only as another Try­al [...] [Page 26] Egypt. The Church is ever in Motion, as the Sun, darting out her quickning Beams and Light. What is Life it self but a tossing too and fro, by alternate motions, into variety of Objects and Events. Who would not think the Princes of the Earth incomparably more happy than Abraham? who fix'd in the Orbs of their Maje­sty and Grandeur, had little else to do than to play with the Leviathan in the wide Ocean of exchanged Pleasures, and to glide from Joy to Joy; while the good Patriarch oppressed with Famine and Want, is forced to travel to seek his Bread; and yet was he the only Golden Pot, which was brim-full with spiritual Manna, while all They as poor Earthen Pitchers run over on­ly with the deadly Pottage of their own Seeth­ing, and at last are broken in pieces together, when himself is lodged in the perpetual Ark. 'Tis ill judging of the Churches Complexion while she is sullied in the smoak of the Afflicting Furnace. No Man knoweth either Love or Hatred by all that is before him.

Abraham in his Progress to Egypt unhappily discovers an impending danger, and as well as he could projects to divert it. The Egyptians were a luxurious and lascivious People, and for ought he knew his Wife's beautiful Eyes may dart those Arrows into their Hearts which might possibly at last retort upon his own Head. He justly fears those that fear not God. Lust is outra­gious, and limited by no boundaries; 'tis a Devil that breaks all the Chains that pretend to fet­ter it, and cares not through what Blood and Dangers it wades to its own satisfaction. He [Page 27]is going down thither for Bread, and now is afraid to be swallowed himself. Beauty is but dangerous luggage in the way of our pilgrimage; for prevention of the danger, he contrives to streng­then the silver Cord of his Life, by loosening the golden Bands of his Marriage. Sarah that had consented long ago to become his Wife, must now write the Bill of her own Divorce, and con­sent again to be his Sister; he Wooes her a se­cond time to disown him as an Husband, and the poor Lady must hide her Wedding Ring in her Bosom, lest it Wedd her Lord to his Grave. Could Abraham have removed the wrinkles that this fear hath fixt on the fair Face of his beau­tiful Faith, and plac [...]d them in the [...]rebead of his Sarah, 'tis probable the Egyptians might not have had that Appetite to her, as that for her sake he should dread to be kill'd, — Lord, if thou hadst been here, my Father had not dyed. Why did not Sarah take his Mantle from him, and smite asunder these Waters of Jealousie, crying, Where is the Lord God of Abraham, who useth to part these Waves of danger hither and thither, and cause them to fly before us to make a safe path through them all to tread on? If a Qualm of Fear came over his Heart, she had done but her Duty as a good Wife to have presented him with a Cordial, which soon had recovered him into a Spirit again: In thee Abraham shall all the families of the Earth be blessed. Must that Blessing blossom from thy Ashes? (†) But where i [...] the Jewel that hath no flaw, and the Faith that [Page 26] [...] [Page 27] [...] [Page 28]is void of all fear? We must seek it in Hea­ven, where perfect Love casteth it out. Famine had driven him down hither, and fear surpri­zes him here▪ We must forget that we are in the World, if we promise our selves security from Troubles in it.

Abraham is not deceived in the Egyptians, that which he feared is come upon him; no sooner is he entied into the Land, but every Mouth is chanting out the Encemiums of the Beautiful Stranger. They gaze on her as on some Auspi­cious Deity, that was arrived to scatter her Divine Influences over all the Kingdom. The News hastily flies to Court; think with what little pleasure; the Queen and all her Train of Ladies receive it▪ as the Rising of another Sun in their Horizon, that will Eclipse them all into perfect Obscurity. The (*) Parasite Princes (despairing to Enjoy her themselves) joyntly vote her to the Honour of the Royal Bed: They vie with each other, who should Sing the Panegyricks of her Praise, with greatest advantage into the Ears of the King, whose Amorous Passions are soon blown up into Flame, by so pleasing Breath. Nuncio's are dispatched to Abraham, who Solicite the suit in the Mighty Name of Majesty. Imperial Man­dates are too absolute to admit a denial, but least of all in the Affairs of Love. Now must Abraham hazard the Chastity of his Wife for the Security of his Head, and whence he might have expected [Page 29]the greatest Protection, there he finds his great­ [...]st Danger. Yet, while himself owns her but as a Sister, and denies her as a Wife, he Legiti­mates the Rape, and her own silence makes it still the less Criminal. How great were the contests of Love and Fear conflicting together in her Breast, is better imagined than expressed. There are some Passions that Letters and Words are too weak to Decipher. But what bright Ray is this that I discover gilding the Cloud, and Shining thrô all the Storm into the Heart of the Great Abra­ham? Can we think that he so tamely parts with his dearest Lady, to offer her up a Sacrifice to the Lust of a Pagan, from a principle of base Cowardise? What meaner Spirit values a Life to preserve his Honour, and will not rather suffer a Thousand deaths, than survive a despicable Mo­nument of Shame and Scorn? Jealousie is the rage of a Man, and he will not spare in the day of Ven­geance: and should not Sarah have kneeled, and begged him to dispatch her out of Life with his own Hands, rather than thus to Prostitute her Glory to an Eternal Ignominy that could never be wip'd off? Whence is it then, that they so easily separate, and she seems to pass from him as if she hastened after another Lover in the Court of Egypt? Ah no! Abraham had recovered himself into a b [...]tter temper of Mind, and stronger sence of his safety, and delivers up his (†) Wife to [Page 30]the King, with the same Confidence as af­terwards he offered up his Son unto God, with a certain assurance of that Infinite Wisdom and Power, that could find ways enough to prevent the Violation of his Sarah's Chastity. And she her self doubtless had confirmed Him into all the Confidences of her Fidelity, that the long Ex­perience of her Goodness, Constancy, and earnest Affections to so worthy a Lord could affix upon him. Well might she be ravished from his Bosom into Pharaoh's House, but she doubted not God would provide her an Innocent Lodging there, without being forced within his Curtains.

In Confidence therefore of Divine Protection, Abraham surrenders her up to the Court. The Heart of her Husband doth safely trust in her: Princes do every thing in State, they pass with considerate Steps, even into the Bed of Love: Motions of Majesty are Deliberate; 'tis below Kings to Violate or be Rough. They are losers by Violence, while they know there is little plea­sure in constrained Embraces. Amnon loaths, and Bolts out the Lady that he had Ravished. A little Patience ripens the Flower of their Desires, which Precipitancy vainly Crops in the Bud; and we know Monarchs Woe by Proxy, which yields great advantage to delay and excuse. And doubtless Sarah had Arts enough to shift off too close Applications that were made by the Cour­tiers in the behalf of their Master, or by Him for himself. Abraham is courted too, and caressed with all the Complements of Endearment. Each Officer cringes to him, as to the Rising Favourite, and a Growing Ally to the Crown; the King him­self [Page 31]treats him with that Courtesie as might most powerfully win him to his Interest: He obliges him to favour his Suit by all possible demonstra­tions of his Royal Bounty, which Abraham most gratefully returns to his Courtiers, to whom (if we may believe Josephus) he became a Tutor, and taught them a Nobler Science than the Art of Love, bringing them to Doat on the Beauty of the Heavens, which far exceeded that of his Wife. And some of them (as Chrysostom thinks) to the knowledge of that God who had fixed the Lusture upon them.

A Jewish Tradition makes us believe, that Sarah had a Tutelar Angel sent her from God, to se­cure her from all the Assaults of this Tyrant, who, upon every rising of his Lust and Hot desires, would strike him into so perfect an Impotency as forced him to pass from her Chamber with the shame and vexation of an Eunuch, laden only with the Spoils of his frustrated Hopes, instead of those of her Honour, while her self stands Laughing (as her Children afterwards) on the Shore of security and freedom; when this Pharaoh, venturing to pursue her, hath the Heels of his eagerness tript up, and is sent to cool his Flames in a Watery Bed.

'Twas indeed from a Power unconquerable as her Own, Steel'd with a Spirit wholly Divine, that she gloriously stood the Shock, and baffled all the Attaques that were made upon her Vertue; till at last God pittying this Noble Free-woman, in Bondage here under the Tyranny of this impious Prince, and hearing from above the Sighings of the Prisoner, was resolved to knock off the Shackles [Page 32]of her Captivity, with such an Hammer as shall make the Foundation of her Prison to shake, and the Keepers thereof to Tremble. A Cloud of In­dignation Condenses over their Heads, and falls down in a shower of Plagues upon them. The whole Court is under Horrour, and Labours under Diseases and perfect Confusion. The happy Pair are in Ease and Safety, while That is under Consternation and Disorder. Some say, the Ma­gicians are consulted, to enquire into the Causes of the Wrath of Heaven; others, that Sarah her self is re-examined from the Jealousie they har­boured of her nearer Relation to Abraham. In­deed she knew her self (as Jonah) the procuring cause of the Storm, and that a little time might blow Her into Harbour and Safety. They all grow Sick of the New Mistress, and would gladly send her packing for calm Weather again; them­selves wish her another Lover, and would gladly pay a Priest to Marry her a Second time into Abraham's Bosom; and possibly they might save that labour, for the Sister may be the Wife al­ready. God had sent down from Heaven an am­ple Certificate of the Marriage, which they might read but too plainly in Characters of Judgment. Sarah (as some say) upon Examination con­fessess the whole, and now (if at any time) had Abraham just ground to fear; but God had secu­red him from the fright, for if they were thus Plagued for the guilt but of an Unlawful desire to his Wife, what should they be, if they lay violent Hands on her Husband.

There is a certain Divine Appearance of Majesty seated in the very Countenances of the truly God­ly, [Page 33]and shining there in so clear a Light, as never fails to strike Terror into the Hearts of prophane Men: A Spirit of Glory resting upon them, that melts the Drossie Spirits of the wick­ed, who are made to fall before it, and yield that due Veneration and Reverence as greatly tends to their Honour, and happy Security from danger; so that the hand of Cruelty wants an Heart to offer a rude Touch to Gods Anointed, or to do his Prophets Harm. It was this Venerable Aspect sitting on the Brow of the Great Abraham, from whose Eyes darted the Lightning that Pierced the Breast of this Egytian King, and dissolv'd him from his Natural Ferocity, into so Meek and gentle a Temper, that instead of the Thunder of Wrath we might have expected to have ratled from his furious and incensed Spirit, we find nothing but the still small Voice of a soft and weaker rebuke; Why saidst thou, She is my Sister? It is God that turns the Hearts of Kings whither soever he will. Methinks I see the Blood that under the first Temptation had passed from Abraham's Cheeks to guard his Heart, and left him Pale with Fear, now returning all back again, making him blush with Shame. Nor could he in Civility do less than wear the same Livery with the King, whose Face is dipt into the same Scarlet, and blusheth as deep as he, from the Conscience of so great an injury done by him to the Lady of so Mighty a Personage as Abraham.

'Tis strange this Fallacy had not wrought to greater Vengeance. Princes seldom brook the Affronts made upon their Reputations or Affections. 'Tis but Sport and Recreation to them to Revenge [Page 34]themselves, especially where there is not a pro­portionable Strength for Defence, and where too, there is nothing but Nature to check its Fury and Rage. But the Lord was there, and the whole Court was under the Sores of his Wrath, who therefore Politickly consult rather the more safe and generous way of heaping up Coals of Fire upon the Head of Her that had enflam'd their Brince, than by any injurious usage to pro­voke greater Flames on themselves.

And the Monarch is content to pay well for his Liquorish Longing, who thinks it Bargain good enough if he buy off his Guilt with the price of those liberal Presents, which he sa­crifices as Trespass-offerings to Abraham, which he hopes will satisfie for the Sin of his Ignorance; after which received, he has Audience of leave and free Liberty to depart, who passes from the Court with his Lady in his hand, a Greater Man than when he came in. We must not forget the Kings last kindness in giving severe Orders to the Guards for their intire security, making it little less than Treason for any Subject to profane the Shrine himself had so religiously adored. And surely all but need, while he providently fore­saw how the common People could easily ex­pound their greatest Insolencies into good Ser­vice to their Prince, when they heaped them on those only who had been the instrumental cause of so many plagues and mischiefs to him, (as they think). Vulgar eyes (looking no higher than the bloody Effects of the Judgment) are perfect­ly blind from any Penetration into the first procu­ring Cause. Had Pharaoh's Heart bin as innocent [Page 35]as Sarah's Eyes, they had never felt the vigour of Gods displeasure upon them.

The Church hath bin ever indeed a Burthensome Stone to the Wicked, who making all their force to heave and lift at it, have found not their Shins crackt only, but their Heart-Strings broken with the weight of it. Whosoever hath fallen on this Stone, hath bin broken, but on whomsoever it hath fallen, it hath ground him into powder. Abra­ham travelled into Canaan, because they gave him so cold a welcome; behold a Famine on themselves, from thence he passed into Egypt, where they plague him by the Rape of his Wife; behold a Disease on themselves: See Haman hanging on the Gallows prepared by himself for Mordecai, and an hundred fourscore and five thousand Carkases spread as Dung on the Fields of Jerusalem, who threatned to make the Inhabitants eat their own: All that burthen them­selves with this Stone, shall be cut in pieces, thô all the People of the Earth be gathered together against it. Wherein they deal proudly, God is above them.

Abraham doubtless had Impaired his Stock by the Famine of Canaan, and now he abun­dantly recruits it in the Court of Egypt; he was afraid to lose his Life, where now he augments his Estate. His Wifes Face had not bin more pleasant than now profitable unto him: instead of being kill'd for Her sake, he lives and is enrich­ed by her. By what strange means doth the Church sometimes thrive and prosper! The good Father went down into Egypt but to receive the first Fruits of those Spoils, which hereafter his Grand-children shall lade themselves out with, [Page 36]when in the like Affright the Egyptians consent to be robbed by them.

Behold we Him now retreating, replenished with Treasure and Joy, he leaves nothing behind him but the Infelicity of his Diffidence in his God, and could willingly part again with Pharaoh's Presents to have purchas'd off the remembrance of his Weakness and Shame. The best Men are most sensible of their least Failings, and are most deeply humbled under them, while fools make a mock of Sin, and think to Jeer away their Consciences and Guilt together. God certainly left him here to Trip, for our Instruction: And Abraham did that which was right in the Eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life; save only in the matter of his Sister: Yet hath he not wanted Advocates plead­ing so well for him, that in this also he is made Innocent, and little fault found in him: to which may be added this, That he receives no Reproof at all from Heaven. The best use we can make of it, is to learn where to look for Perfection. I pity their vanity, who pretend to have their Houses of Clay dress'd up with the furniture of the next World, when the Father of the Faithful hath nothing to boast of but what he receives from God.

By daily Regresses he now passes back into Ca­naan, where by this time the Staff of Bread that broke under his hand, was increased into many Bands of Plenty. He proceeds to the Confines of Bethel, which he had made Eminent by his first Altar, there erected unto God; which he reve­rently repairs again to offer up those Sacrifices of Thanksgiving, which in Clouds of Perfume [Page 37]shall give publick Testimony how much his gratefull Heart was inflamed with a most lively Resentment of Gods stupendious Goodness to­wards Him and his dearest Wife, in their mira­culous Deliverance from all the dangers of the Egyptian-Court: And he is glad to do it in this place where God had answered him from Hea­ven already. The very Spot where divine Appea­rances are made, is exceedingly delightful and affe­cting. Alas, thine Altars, my King and my God? How then should we be ravished with the re­membrance of that happy place, where we shall one day praise him for ever.

CAP. III.

The Dissention between Abrahams Hersdmen and Lot's. The ensuing separation. God appears to comfort and confirm Abraham in the Promise of Canaan. Lot passes to Jordan. A War arises. The Sodomites are vanquish'd; and the City ransackt. Lot is tarried away Prisouer.

LOT the Son of Haran, the Brother of Abra­ham, had been the comfortable Companion of his Travels from his first departure out of ƲR: Therefore had God blessed him, and made him a great Sharer in the Mercies of the Covenant. He is increased to that degree of Greatness in Wealth, and Substance with his Ʋnkle, that now their Cohabitation is rendred incompatible any [Page 38]longer. Lots Eyes could not be so short-sighted, as not apparently to find, how Good it was for him to be here; and how much he had profited by his dutiful respect to his Fathers Brother, who had been more than a Father to him. He resented the Mercy, I hope, with a better heart, than that Atheistical Gown-man, who since cryed out, Quantum nobis profuit haec Fabula de Christo! How much Wealth hath this Story of a Christ brought us! Poverty sometimes parts good Compa­ny, but here Riches. And though themselves agreed together in all the Principles of Faith and Religion, yet the very Cattel necessitate a Schism, and the only Quarrel is between the Shepherds, who stu­died more the Bellies of the Sheep, than their Masters happy Communion and Peace. It were well if the Pastors of the Christian Flock had divided on no other Motives than Zeal for the good of the Sheep. There are Herdsmen, who while they swagger for the Interest of the Flock, engross the whole Pasture to themselves, and leave the poor Sheep to bite on such hard Oarts which they cannot swallow nor digest; they lead them from the green Pastures of in­fallible Truth, and the pleasant Waters of un­speakable Comfort, to make them couch in the barren Wilderness of Uncertainties, and the dry Heath of unprofitable Errors and Vanity.

The wise Abraham not minding to espouse the Fewds of his Servants, thinks fit in time to prevent a growing Dissention in his Houshould; by a prudent giving way to the present neces­sity, resolves rather to take leave of his Ne­phew, than his Peace and quiet. He cannot tell [Page 39]into what Combustion these quarrelsome Fel­lows might throw his Family; and therefore he Addresses his Kinsman with such fair Proposals, as should quickly depress the Flame, and evi­dently shew him the true Nobleness of the Mind from whence they arise. The strongest Christian, is ever the truest Gentleman, who is happy in a natural Facility and sweet Condescention of Spi­rit, which on every occasion so becomingly passes from him, to command a Power over the Affections of all that observe him. He keeps the Gates of his Soul ever open as a passage for self to walk out at, when a weaker Faith bolts it self in, and cannot so easily Sacrifice its Interests to the Honour of Peace and Truth. Princes scorn to spend a thought on the petty pretences which meaner Subjects pursue with Heat and Passion. The Great Abraham casts all the Rights of his Supremacy into the Arms of his Nephew at once, with License to dispose of them at his own Pleasure, and generously offers him to rest sa­tisfied with the Refuse of the Countrey which himself should not please to make choice of.

The Grum Lot, who should have lowly bow­ed to his Ʋnkle, and by a Scarlet Cheek, made sign how sensibly he resented that unusual Ge­nerosity of Abraham, and very humbly begg'd his excuse; is so far from that, as he thinks it not policy to return back the Complement, but rudely takes him at his Word, (*) and all in an Hurry prepares to depart, having first cho­sen [Page 40]his own Apartments on the fruitful Plains of Jordan.

How often are the unlovely knots of an ill disposi­tion too visibly discovered thorough all the varnish of a fair Profession: Yea Grace it self is not so Vi­ctorious to make a thorough Conquest over all the Clowneries of Nature. Lot was surely a Good Man; yet had his Goodness been more Conspicuous, had it been so happy to have shined thrô the Attendant Lustre of a greater Civility and Gra­titude to his Ʋncle, by whose means alone, and for whose sake he had grown up into all his Di­mensions of Wealth and Greatness.

Good Nature bears so near a Resemblance to Grace, as one must weep to think of a lovely Ti­tus his going to Hell; and Ill Nature is so like to Corruption, that one must admire the Mercy that ever receives it to Heaven. Civility without Grace, may temper up for a fine Gentleman; when Grace without Civility makes but a crabbed Chri­stian.

And certainly Lots undutifulness is written ve­ry legibly in the Characters of his Punishment; for while he greedily gazes on the Pleasantness and Amenity of the Cities of the Plain, and the Commodiousness of the Fields for his Flocks, with­out Counter-ballancing in his mind the Inconve­niences of a Neighbourhood, so very wicked and profane, he utterly betrayes the sweet Comfort and Happiness of his Life, electing himself into a perpetual succession of Sorrows and Woes.

Were it Lot's Case only that parted from Abraham, on the Account of Brutes, we might easily pardon it to him, and pass from the place [Page 41]without a Tear, or sympathizing much with the Sorrows of their Separation: But when we every day find the greatest part of Mankind breaking off from the participation of the Eternal Feli­city of Abraham's Bosom, from no other Mo­tives than the Gratification of Beastial Appetites, and sensual Lusts, that destroy their Peace and Souls together; this is a Sorrow that fetches Tears into the Eyes of a God, who in a dole­ful sence of that Madness, cryed out in fear of the small remnant, Will you also go away?

Lot is no sooner departed from Abraham, but the loss is made up to him by another Vi­sit of God from Heaven. The seasonableness of Mercies make them doubly sweet and welcome to us. Natural Affections work most sensibly in those who are most Holy and Spiritual, when wicked men that are without them, are perfectly Stocks and Stones: He could not but be very grie­vously afflicted with the loss of Him that was so near and dear unto him, With whom he took sweet Counsel, and who was one in all the Service of God with him. David bitterly bemoans the failure of his Familiars: Lover and Friend hast [...]hou put, away far from me, and mine Acquaintance into darkness. God considering his Affliction, comes to extinguish it with the unspeakable Comfort of his own Gracious Presence. How do all our earthly Sorrows post away as the Clouds of the Morning, making Room for the rising Sun to break day in the Soul when he appears. We do not find that God is in the least displeased at the separation. The more of the Creature drops from us, the more entirely doth He possess us: Nor do we [Page 42]ever enjoy God fully, 'till our Affections be perfectly divorc'd from every thing, to be all centred in himself. Lot's Absence hath pro­cur'd God's Presence. Blessed is that Want that brings us to the Gain of a God, how great soever it be. May I for ever be confin'd to the so­litary Cell of an Anchorite, were I sure to be happy in the fruition of the same Bles­sing. The Draughts of Pleasure we swallow from the best Company, are imbittered from the consideration that a little Time will discontinue it to us, and leave us only the remembrance of a good that is past, and the bare hopes of a possi­bility to renew it, of which we are yet uncertain too, since the quarrels of Attendants may occa­sion an estrangement, and a thousand Accidents a perpetual separation: 'Tis Heaven only can bless us with an everlasting Communion: God is Al­mighty to compleat up an Happiness to us in Him­self, which all the World cannot give us.

Now will God discover to his Abraham the vast difference of his own happy Condition from Lot's. Lot had lift up his eyes to behold the Plains of Jordan, but not as his Own! How many are in the Church of God, that shall never enjoy the Churches God! 'Tis Propriety makes the Prospect pleasant. Therefore shall Abraham lift up his Eyes too, and look Eastward, Westward, Northward, South­ward, on all round about him, and behold all as his own. Lord, how Extensive is thy Bounty to thy Servants! By the Perspective of his Faith must he view it, at the distance of a few hundred years, all planted with his own Children, who in Number should compare to the little Dusts [Page 43]of the Earth. God again and again preaching to Abraham on the same Text, with those Enlarge­ments which greatly comfort his Heart, and giving new Eyes to discern that sweetness in his precious Promises which he never before had observed. Is not this our own Case? God hath made us a Promise of Heaven, and repeats it over and over; the squeamish World grows weary of it, as a Stale word, and hunt after New Discoveries. But the true Seed find such va­riety of Pleasures in the good Old Truth, that with their Father they feast upon it, and care not how often it sounds in their Ears, since they taste how sweetly it refreshes their Souls.

See the Care and Kindness of God, who be­fore he departs from his Abraham (like a good Physician) leaves Orders with him to divert himself from his Melancholy, by the pleasure of another Progress thrô the whole Land of Canaan, which he doubted not might yield him those plea­sing Prospects that would greatly affect and de­light him: Whose directions Abraham so obse­quiously follows, that he presently gives orders of Removal from Bethel where he now was. And after a very delectable procession, at last it pleases him to make choice of the fruitful Plains of Mam­re in the Vicinity of Hebron, where we shall leave him devoutly employed in the holy▪ Exercises of Prayer and Invocation of God, and taking many a sweet Turn in the Grove of Oaks which here grew up together to give him the Complacencies of their refreshing Shade, while we discourse to you for a while of the less happy Affairs of Lot.

This unhappy happy Man, having taken his leave of his Unkle, travels Eastward from him, and sixeth his Tent towards Sodom. The very first step we make from the true Church, is dangerous, but the further Egressions are fatal. He contents him­self for a while with the innocent Delights of a separate State, where on those pleasant Plains he had Leisure enough to reflect on the past Fe­licities of his Life, under the Government of so wise and great a Relation, and might well have been satisfied in the paring away those super­fluities of his Substance, which (as needless Ex­crescencies) had grown up to be injurious Nusan­ces to the weal of his Happiness, and had now endangered the very Vitals of his Comfort and Joy: And doubtless with bitter Tears did he re­pent of his Folly, when he found himself after­wards plundered of his Estate and Liberty toge­ther, by that unfortunate separation. So insensi­ble are we of the advantages of our present securi­ty, that reaching out to grasp after greater, in a moment are deprived of all. By several Motions he approaches the Town, and at last adventures within the Precincts, where his Fancy tickled with the variety of Conveniencies for Life it abounded in, he resolved at length to pluck up the stakes of his moveable Tent, and to sleep under a more sixed Roof in the City. Thus do we pass by va­rious Gradations to the last Extremity of Sin; (No Man accumulating to the shameful degree of being Master of that Art from the first day of his Matriculation) so neither per saltum fall we down at once into the deepest sloughs of its sorrows, but dabling at the first in the little [Page 45] puddles, and with Children adventuring into the shallows, (and enduring them well enough,) e're we are aware are caught away into the deep, where our Feet sticking fast in the Mire, we be­come like Lot's Wife, unmoveable Monuments of Wrath.

The five Cities seem to be an Exception from this general Rule; for the first account of their Character is so black and sulphureous, as very early Prophesies, how probable it might be, that God would match a Judgment of the same com­plexion with their sin; which as it appeared to baffle the Order of Nature, that ripens every thing by Time, they like Mushrooms grow up to perfection of Wickedness in a Night, and start up Graduates of the highest form of Villany. The Men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly: They needed no Tutors to instill the Mysteries of Iniquity by short Lectures, according to their weak Capacity, but them­selves read them to all the World, and are be­come the Gulph that streamed out its deadly Issues to others: 'Tis no wonder then (standing in so ill circumstances with Heaven) that we find them under a state of Bondage and Slavery, the proper infliction on Rebels: God had given them up into the hands of Chederlao­ [...]er King of Elam, who as he bore an hard Name, so surely had no very soft or easie Na­ture, but had clap'd an Iron Collar on their Necks, which while they endeavour to tear off, hall gaul them the more, and eat the deeper in­ [...]o their Flesh. Twelve Years had they patient­ly endured the Yoke of an heavy Imposition and [Page 46]Tribute; and while they see no end of it, they be­lieve there will be none, unless themselves cut it off with the Sword of Rebellion: His Oppression makes them mad, and drives them to Despair, which threw them into speedy Resolutions of hazard­ing their Lives for their Liberty. Whom Divine Justice decrees to bring to ruine, those it hardens to cast themselves into the very mouth of those Cannons that shall batter them to pieces. God needs not to call in the Sword of an Enemy to dispatch his Rebels, but can invert the Edge of their Own upon themselves, making them to fall by their own Councils, and giving them over to that sottish Gallantry which shall entitle them to the Honour of Chivalry in the Battel of Self-execu­tion.

The News of the Revolt of these Cities, flye with nimble Wings to the ears of the Con­querour, whom they will not find so ready to bury the Honour and Accrewments of his for­mer Victories in a Cowardly Grave. He resolves to carve his revenge in bloody Characters upon their Flesh. Dispatches are sent to the Princes his Confederates, to get ready their Arms, who with all Expedition incorporate themselves with his own, and all together, compleat up a for­midable Army, which by hasty Marches soon make their Appearance on the Plains of Jordan. This was no more than what the Revolting Kings might prudently foresee and expect, and were accordingly obliged to prevent the mischief▪ They muster up their Troops therefore, and pre­pare to make an obstinate defence, drawing up in a full Body within sight of the Enemy, and [Page 47]Politickly taking Advantage of the Ground, they make an Halt with design to draw them to the Pit-falls, whereinto they think to Tre­panne them. The Vale of Siddim was full of Slime-Pits, the Inhabitants thereabouts, for their benefit and and supply in building, had furnish'd themselves thence, with a sort of strong and clam­my Clay, that (well temper'd) made excellent Mortar and Cement: they had dugg deep in ma­ny places, and left the Mouths of the Pits open; the Enemy being altogether ignorant of these, and themselves intending to keep them so, by standing before them, when anon feigning a retreat, and the Enemy pursuing, must (they think) inevitably in their unadvised eagerness, and heat, plunge themselves into these Graves: This was the Politick Stratagem of the Sodomites; but whether they may not prove their own a few hours will easily determine. Both Armies stand in Battalia, ready to make the Onsett. The Num­bers not very unequal, with five Kings against four to head them. Now let us see what proof ye will make of your Prowess, ye Magnanimous Sons of Sodom! Let us find with what Bravery ye will stand against the Shock, and fight for the Liberties of your Countrey, against the proud Invaders! But what is this we hear? Do you begin to faint already? Throw down your Arms at the first Charge, without scarce ever stri­king a blow? Are ye betaking your selves to your heels, without bearing the least Brunt? Is this the measure of your Valour, who at home had none of your Lust? O Sin, Sin, that meltest away the Courage of every guilty Breast into [Page 48]Cowardly Terrour and Trembling! Alas, these Effe­minate Fellows had Harnessed themselves with Aking Hearts for the Field, and enter here reek­ing hot with the Steams of their Luxury: They were so accustom'd to Fall upon men, that one might have expected Prodigious Exploits from them; but in Truth, these Gentlemen had rather buckle with their Enemies in a Corner, than here in the open Camp, and would sooner have courted than fought them. They would kiss and be Friends with all their hearts, if that would have serv'd the turn: Bleeding was not a work they much cared for, they had been train'd up in other Exercises; and had rather have met with whole Battalions of Oxen and Sheep well Disciplin'd, marching up to their Tables, than the least File of these furious Adversaries: My­riads of Ladies would not have daunted them, but they had little Stomack to these, who were bent to quarrel and Fight in good Earnest. In short, To secure Life they think it better to trust to their Feet than their Hands, and all in Amazement they betake themselves to their Heels; but here the Iniquity of those heels encom­past them about, and into the Pit that they dugg for others, are themselves fallen: Behold we the poor frighted wretches stumbling into the Slime-Pits, nor shall they recover themselves out till the Executioners come to dispatch them into deeper Pits than these: Here are they tumb­ling together, and want only the hands that must give them a further push into Hell.

Alas! how can the Feet stand which Sin and Judgment trips up? It is God that sets our sea [Page 49]on the Rock, and enlarges our steps under us that we fall not. The most solid Ground is but slippery footing, where Vengeance makes the pursuit; how fitly were those Quagmires made to en­snare them, who at home were over head and ears so fast stuck in the Boggs of Unnatural Ordures? This is the first Knell of Sodoms Bell, which in a short Time we shall hear ringing out in a doleful Note from Heaven. The Ti­dings of the Defeat comes posting to the Towns, and by the few scattered Relicts of the Army which escaped, they might find themselves un­done, and must prepare for the dreadful effects of the Ruine. There was left little Pillage in the Field, and the Enemy is resolved not to return home empty, they flye upon them with open mouth, and bellow out nothing but utter Deva­station.

How shamefully do we wrap our selves up in the silken Folds of Security and Ease, lull'd along by cheating Dreams of a lasting Pleasure and quiet! when alas, poor Lot who had but newly Immured himself within his pleasing Bur­rough, is already Ferritted out of it, and all his Provisions plundered away. Surely very vainly doth Man put Confidence in other Fixation than Heaven, where there is no Sin to lye hack­ing at the Root, nor Enemy to fix a Rope to the Body of our Peace to destroy it.

The insulting Conquerours Pile up the Spoils of the Cities in their Carriages, and enforce the late Owners to help drive them. The Persons and Goods pass away into a joynt Captivity to­gether. Amongst others, unhappy Lot bears now [Page 50]the just Punishment of his Folly, and is at last convinc'd of the difference of Abrahams Condi­tion, from his own. He hath enjoy'd very few quiet hours since his first arrival in Sodom. His Righteous Soul was vexed from day to day, with their unlawful Deeds: Yet is he the unpitied Author of his own disquiet; since while he is fretted there, he could never perswade himself to de­part thence; and now justly suffers for being found in the Devils Quarters. Those that consult their Interest above their Religion, shall one day put their Gains in their Eyes. His Cattle fed in the Plains with greater Peace than himself could do in the City, but now he breaks up House per­force, and is made to go whither others drive him. 'Twas well however for his Neighbours that they had a Lot with them, whose Company perchance they little cared for at Home; Yet do the Wicked owe their Lives and Liberties to the Righteous, whom they Hate and Persecute.

Ʋnprofitable Fellowship Rases the skin, but Wick­ed Company, cuts the very Throat of our Comfort and Peace: The former cause our Light to burn dimly, but this extinguisheth it quite. Grace is a little spark that ever needs blowing up, what should we do among those whose infectious breath would puff it out? 'Twas but a few Minutes Converse with Satan that Betrayed our first Parents (in their full strength) to those fa­tal Compliances, that ruined themselves and us all: How improbable is it then, thy Weakness should find Spirit enough to oppose the Encoun­ters of his cursed Instruments, (who with Joseph's Mistress, have Brow enough to press upon thee [Page 51]from day to day, to yield up the Fort of thine Inno­cency, into the deflouring Arms of that Guilt which will gripe thy Conscience in perpetual Tortures.

Sampson Ran away with whole Gates, and slew Heaps upon Heaps while God was with him, but when the tiresome Importunities of his Dalilah had melted him into a tame discovery of his great strength, he is sent from her Lap into a disgraceful Captivity, where a weaker Door suffices to secure him.

And had not Lots Soul been throughly Anneal'd with an holy Tincture from above, and enriched with a Treasure lockt up under the Protection of a Divine Hand; the Attaques of Temptation in that Impious City had certainly strip'd him as naked of his Goodness, as now he was of his Goods. 'Twas pre­venting Mercy alone that kept the fair Face of his Piety unsullied in that Brothel of Impurity and Pol­lution: So Gracious is God (in the loss of Exter­nals) to Guard the unperishable Substance from the Violence and Rapine of Men or Devils. But take heed, Reader, that thy Principles be so well incor­porated into thine Affections (e're ever thou Ad­venture into the Society of the Factors of Hell) that neither the Chargos they make upon Religion it self, (or the Professors of it) leave thee cold in thy Love or Zeal towards it, or unhinge the sted­fastness of thine own Heart to it. Never forget that the Seed sown on the High-way became an easie Prey to the fowls of the Air. Heaven is too precious an In­heritance to be either laughed or frighted out of it; and methinks 'tis a little unreasonable, when all the Prayers and Tears of the Godly, cannot prevail upon Wicked Men to leave their Sins, that the Mocks [Page 52]or Menaces of the Wicked should have the least efficacy upon Good Men to lay aside their Hopes; yet how naturally are we transform'd into the Image of those we Converse with, as the Com­plexion answers to the Clymate we live in! 'Twas on the Mount that Moses's Face attracted a Lustre with three dayes Communion with God: And thine own might shine much brighter too, if instead of a fellowship with these unfruitful Works of Dark­ness, thou would'st apply thy self (by frequent Recesses) to inspect that Glass that would dart a Coelestial Light into thee; and the more thou ga­zest with Extasie and Admiration upon it, it would not fail to change thee into the very Image of God, and pass thee insensibly from Glory to Glory.

With heavy Hearts and empty Purses the poor Captives of the Cities are carryed away, pinion'd together to prevent an Escape; while their merciless Drivers goad them on, and ever and anon load them with stripes and taunts, where I must leave them pitifully lamenting their pre­sent Condition, to give you some account what Providence is working for their Rescue.

The Report of this Disaster is quickly conveyed to the great Abraham, who (in the midst of the Ca­lamities of the War in the Countrey) enjoyed a sweet and calmy Peace at Mamre; he is little con­cerned with the quarrels of the Infidels, when he knew that it was his God that dash'd them to­gether, while himself subsisted safe and sound. Yet, (though he little pityed them) he re­ceives the News of his Nephew's Captivity, with a sympathy that ever dwells on the Hearts of the truly Kind and Good. But there is a time when [Page 53] condolency and compassion little serve to redress the Sufferings of our Friends; it was not the shaking of his Head, or the rolling of his Bowels, nor his idle Wishes could redeem poor Lot from Slavery and Ruine. Grief is a Duty, but more proper and natural to Women, who can only bleed at their Eyes, and commiserate the Unhap­py in unprofitable Tears. Courage is the mas­culine Virtue: Who ever saw Brave Man using his Handkerchief instead of his Sword? But Abraham was prudent and cautious, and will not under­take a Warr without good Advice, he will have sure grounds to justifie the Attempt, and war­rant the Success: He first therefore Consults the Oracle of his Conscience, which was ever guid­ed by his Prophetical spirit, and on Enquiry finds that in this Case he may warrantably proceed. Had not God given him a Title to the Kingdom, who had the only Right to dispose of it? What though his Subjects did not acknowledge him, he was nevertheless the Right Lord? and what were these Kings but Intruders upon him, and had no other Title than what the Sword had given them? Abraham therefore though but a Titular Prince, thought himself oblig'd in Duty to relieve them: He takes up the Sword with the same Authority as Moses did afterwards, when he slew the Egyptian by the Virtue of the Divine Revelation made to him of his being the future Deliverer of the poor enslaved People. And to this the Laws of Nature added a Tye upon him to release his oppressed Kinsman, whom they unrighteously had injured, and who was in no wise guilty of the Crime more justly imputa­ble [Page 54]to the rest. But above all, the sacred Obli­gations of Religion could in no wise suffer him to see the little Church in Lot's Family led Cap­tive, and subjected to the Rage and Tyranny of Pagans. Abraham therefore sufficiently con­vinc'd of the lawfulness of the War, resolves to proceed: And here we must present you with the Picture of the Saint in his Armour.

CHAP. IV.

Abraham fights with the four Kings for the rescue of Lot. He gets the Victory, and redeems the Prisoners. Melchisedeck at his return meets him on the way, and presents him with Provisions for his Soul­diers. His Transaction with the King of Sodom.

REligion is so far from emasculating the spi­rits of its truest Votaries, that it steels them all throughout with the hardest Courage: It ba­nishes those fears and seeds of Cowardise that in every danger stare others in the face, like Caesar's Ghost appaling the Soul of Brutus: It Re­fines them from those vitious Qualities that have debased many a stout Heart to truckle under the basest Ʋsurpations. Who would not have mourned to see the brave Sampson grinding in the Mill, and made the subject of the Philistines scorn and laughter: It redeems them from those salacious Lusts that enervate the Arteries of the [Page 55]Soul, and take away the Heart, subjecting it to the mean Cringes of dependance on every in­feriour Badge. It links them fast in an indis­solvable Union with the Omnipotent Power, which ever secures protection and safety. Hypocrisie may brandish a Sword in the Air, and brag of its Valour against an Eutopian Enemy, but the single Scout of a real One makes it drop it, and sets it on flying. Profaneness may shut its Eyes, and harden it self against dreads of Death; it may venture a Soul to get a Name, but with no other Bravery than the gallant Horse who mock­et [...] fear, and is not affrighted; the quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield, yet is he not afraid: So This may desperately run on the Pikes of Wrath, as insensible of danger, 'till rushing into the Battle it meets its Death and de­spairs together.

No, 'tis the brave Abraham's Courage shall work Wonders, who with a spirit wash'd from degenerating Lusts and Guilt (the fainty Dis­eases and very Agues of the Mind, that sets it on shaking with terrible Apprehensions of shadows) armed with Innocence and a good Cause, daring to look his God in the Face with the same confi­dence and fearlesness as he doth his own Heart: Who wears a Life to no other end but his ser­vice, and is content to lay it down at any time for his glory: Who hath a Ticket of Assurance from a second Death in his Bosom. This is the Righteous Hero that is bold as a Lyon; and you shall hear presently what an handful of such as these can gloriously perform against a puissant Army, whom Success and Victory had blown up in­to Pride and Presumption.

The Discipline of War, with the various Arts and Polities of it, and all the Exercises and feats of Militia, are a Lesson which David (who was a great Souldier) professes himself to have learn­ed from God, who is Generalissimo of all the Hosts both of Heaven and Earth, and who is pleas'd to own the Title of a Man of War. By no other Tutor was this great Prince instructed before him: It was He that taught his hands to war, and his fingers to fight. He had first train'd him up in the mysterious faculties of Believing and Obey­ing: Now will he Exercise him in the Martial Art of fighting, that his Abraham might be as equally famous for his Valour as his Faith. And doubtless the inserting so full an Account of this War, and the Catalogue of the Princes that ma­nag'd it, so accurately in the Holy Records, is due to the Care and great Kindness of God to his Abraham, who will not have him lose the honour of his Chivalry and Prowess, which shines so brightly in the Defeat of such mighty Ene­mies as they. All the World shall know that they were no mean and contemptible Antagonists that his great Federate had encountred with: And thô all the Troops of the five Princes of Palestine were nothing in their hands, yet they must not ima­gine so lightly to carry away the Garland, when once the great Abraham took up the Gauntlet in the Quarrel: 'Twas Himself that raised up this Righteous Man from the East, called him to his Foot, gave the Nations before him, and made him rule over Kings, he gave them as dust to his Sword, and as driven stubble to his Bow.

All Knowledge is given for Communication: God [Page 57]had not drest up this Great Man into all the perfections of Nature and Grace, that he should find a Grave for them in his own Bosom. No! as he disdains not to be his own Chaplain, and thinks it no derogation from his Grandeur, to educate his Servants in the true Knowledge and Worship of God, in order to make them good Men, so was it his Care and Practice (no doubt from Divine Instinct) to train them up in the right Exercise and Ʋse of Arms, in order to make them good Souldiers. (†) The one would help on the other: Religion it self, in a great part of it, being nothing else but a wise and expert Use of our spiritual Armour against all the Ene­mies of our Peace, under the Guidance and Con­duct of the great Captain of our Salvation. They might learn by every Posture of their Bodies to re­member with what care they must stand on the Guard for their Souls. This Trained Band was ever ready at the Call of their General; they ne­ver disputed his Orders, but gave themselves up entirely to his Service and Command. They were Catechis'd in his Family, to an awful sence of their Duty and Allegiance to him, which was ever performed with that happy Ingredience of Love and Cordial Affection towards him, as made it disputable, Whether the Servants were the happier in such a Master, or the Master in such Servants.

Nor was his Interest confined within the Li­mits of his own Family and Houshold, (tho' Nu­merous) [Page 58]but by the Magnetick Charms of his Ver­tue and sweet Disposition, he had further At­tracted the Affections of the Contiguous Princes, and firmly joynted their Powers into the Body of his own, by the strong Obligation of a solemn Confederacy and Alliance. Leagues among Princes have been ever held sacred and inviolable as their Persons: And thô sometimes upon weighty Rea­sons of State they chance to be dissolv'd and bro­ken, yet have they ever been found to be so ne­cessary Props for the support of the Honour and Security of Government, that even the mightiest Empires of the Earth have been established by them. It being the peculiar Priviledge of the King of Kings to build his Ʋniversal Dominion up­on absolute and independant Foundations, with­out sending forth from Himself to call in the Aids of others. See here to what degree of Ma­jesty God had already promoted his Abraham, that the great Lords of Canaan thought them­selves bless'd and secure in his Friendship; and hereafter we shall find Kings themselves Court­ing him for the same Honour.

Aner, Eshcol and Mamre (his endeared Friends and Confederates) and whom some think he had happily Converted to the true Religion and Ser­vice of his God, hearing the ill Tydings of the sacking of the Cities, and of Abraham's Nephew being led away Prisoner, think it their Duty to make tender of their Service, having heard of his Resolutions to attempt a Redemption: They get ready therefore their Auxiliary Forces, and (proud of the Employment) present themselves and these, to his absolute Order and Govern­ment: [Page 59]Yet will not his Posterity allow them the least share in the Honour of the Victory, but tell us, that he appointed them only to guard the Ammunition, while himself with his Domesticks only gave the Charge.

Abraham intends to make no tedious Work of it, and therefore he lightly Arms his Three Hun­dred, (and with them three Thousand more whom his Faith summons from Heaven to fight invisi­bly for him) and leads them into the Field. Even the meekest Moses can be Angry, and the gen­tle Abraham whose Nature was made up all of candour and sweetness, now hath his Neck cloath'd with Thunder, and his Eyes sparkling out flames of Revenge. Love and Mercy are the natural Properties of God himself, in the acting of these is all his delight, but Justice and Execution are his strange Work, and he never doth it, but when the Abuse and Contempt of his Goodness and Mercy provokes him out of himself into Indig­nation and Wrath.

Stratagems of War are so far from being un­lawful, that God himself hath often directed and taught them. Abraham knew that though [...]he Rules of Martial Discipline are very severe, [...]nd the Cords that bind it straitned to a great [...]egree of Stiffness, yet on occasion they are [...]requently slackned, and never yet were poor [...]ouldiers (after hard Service, and Victory got­ [...]en) denyed the Liberty of Drinking their Ge­ [...]eral's Health in a chirping Bole. The Joy of [...]uccess had blown up their Spirits to that [...]eighth, that they were already half Drunk with [...]e excessive Conceit of their Conquest, and more [Page 60]than peradventure he might find them taking such Draughts as would leave them little capa­ble of using their Arms towards Midnight.

On these hopes he projects to charge them in the Dark, and to render his little Army the more formidable, he divides his Men into Par­ties, who have Orders to make the Assault all at once in several sides of the Enemies Camp, striking them into great Consternation by the conjectur'd probability of a greater Force than indeed there was. The Confederates he leaves at a distance, to come in if need be, as a fresh supply.

If Humane Brains thus wittily work in the pitching those Trayls of Ruine, in which the Feet of their Enemies fail. not to stumble and dye, let a God alone in the Weaving those Nets of Destruction, in which the Adversaries of himself and his Church shall be inevitably en­tangled with that certainty, that all the coun­ter-workings of their own shallow Policies shall never serve them to make an escape. Never dispute what Hell is, or in what manner its Flames can feed on spiritual Bodies, since if there were no gn [...]wing Worm, nor devouring Fire there, he can command New Armies of Tormen [...] to start up, which (as fresh supplies) shall be successively pou [...]ed on the Vessels of Wrath, who in the short Day of their Life in the World, neglected the Invitations of his Grace.

David observes that God often blows upon th [...] Councils of the Wicked, and bringeth their Devices [...] none Effect: But Abraham was too dear to be left to himself, or frustrated in any of his Ho­nourable Designs: Yea, himself had dictated the [...] [Page 61]into his Head, and now cannot fail him in their putting in due Execution. Marching on therefore, and hearing where the Enemy lay, he so orders his Motion, as not to be discovered, till he might Shroud himself in the Mantle of the Night, which he knew well would add a Terror to the fury of his Charge. And thus when they little dreamt of an Enemy pursuing them, they are unexpect­edly Alarm'd by his Army that encompassed them. The Disordered Kings who had no Eyes to see their Enemies, and as little Hearts to oppose them, are surprized into perfect Confusion. While Abra­ham's Sword is dipt in Gore, and his Souldiers glut­ted with the Blood of their Enemies, Happy was He that could Fight out his way, and So they could escape with their Lives, they value not the Booty, but contentedly leave the plunder of the Field to the Assailants, who were satisfied too with the Execution they had done, and had no further Orders to pursue after those few that were fled.

The poor Sodomites are in Astonishment to find themselves rescued by friends unknown, and are yet uncertain what Usage they may expect from them; Or whether they had only Exchanged their Keepers. Till anon the kind General gives Or­ders for the finding out Lot, who after search is brought with Joy enough into the welcome pre­sence of his Ʋnkle. And sure after all these blusters in the World, where we have been kept so long under fears and bondage, the coming of a Redeemer will be Joyful to us, when he shall appear in Glory to knock off all our Shackles, and present us with the Happi­ness of an Eternal Liberty.

E're we pass further, take a measure of the [Page 62]Stature of Abraham's Faith, and how well he is flush'd into Spiritual Confidence and Greatness of Mind, who not many years since was discounte­nanced at the Power of one King, quiet and Jolly in all the Pleasures of his Court, can now buckle valiantly with Three or Four together, Attended by their Armies, and puffed up with Victories in the Field. Graces ebbe and flow in the Channel of the best Mens Hearts. Those Ecclesiastical Princes who at their Lords Apprehension, betook them­selves to their Heels, and left him all alone, within a few Weeks had a new Soul, and dar'd to Impeach his Murtherers with the Guilt of his Blood to their Teeth. Who when they saw the bold­ness of Peter and John, they Marvelled.

When all the Pomps of Glory, that have grac'd the Victorious Caesar's Triumphs, are flown away with the Eccho of the loud Acclamations where­with the Streets of that proud City were wont to Ring his Praise; when all the Flowers made choice of by Pagan Wits, to Bedeck and Adorn the Crown of his Honour, are all Withered and Gone; When the very Chariots of his State, at whose gilded Wheels the Royal Captives were wont to be dragg'd, are long since Rotten and Crumbled into Dust and Nothing; God himself hath erected a Triumphal Arch to the Immortal Memory of the Great Abraham's Victory, made of such Marble that will never decay; whereon he hath Engraven with Indelible Characters the Memoires of this Atchievement in the Eternal Chronicles, which give us the Account, and Him the Glory of the Crowned Heads that came bowing to him on the way as he returned From the Slaughter of the Kings, [Page 63]to Congratulate with him in the Joy, and to pay him the Honours of his Victory. 'Tis ob­servable with what Majesty it is expressed; Re­turning from the slaughter of the Kings: As if Abra­ham's Sword scorned any meaner Scabbard than the Breast of a King, and 'twas below him to Fight either with Small or Great, but only with Kings. Whether he slew them all, or how ma­ny of them; Or whether the Execution fell only upon their Troops, while Themselves made their escape in the Dark, is not Recorded; but cer­tain it is, he made a very bloody and fearful Slaughter upon them, and such as utterly discou­raged them to make any further Attempt upon Canaan. They were given as Dust to his Sword, and as driven Stubble to his Bow: Whom we shall leave therefore (as he) rotting as Dung upon the Earth, to wait on the Conquerour homewards, and give you an Accout of those other Princes that present­ed themselves very lowly to bend before him.

And first Melchisedeck, the King of Salem, and Priest of the most High God; (A wonderful Person who here only sttarts up and makes his Appear­ance, as if he had taken Life on purpose, and having performed this Service only, had now perfected for ever the One Noble Act and End of his Being; could he but once see the Face of the Favorite of God, he chearfully goes home and Dies.) This Great Prince and Priest comes, not attended only with Mules crouching under the weight of his Royal Presents, made up of all sorts of Provisions (concisely described by (*) Bread [Page 64]and Wine) which shall serve to refresh his weary Servants; (the same Civility that afterwards the brave Gileadite (Barzillai) paid to the Army of David, in venerable Respect to their Master.) All this did Melchisedeck as a King, but also is Himself Laden with a whole Cargo of Benedictions, which he prodigally pours out, as a Priest, from his Sacred Breast upon the Head of the Great Abraham, dropping upon him as a Silver Shower, and causing his tired Spirits to revive and flourish again; As the tender Grass springing up out of the Earth, by clear shinning after Rain.

Should I stop here to Wade into the Waters of Strife, and make a more particular Enquiry who this Melchisedeck was, when the Sacred Wit hath given no other account than that He Was; and the best Authors, both Jewish and Christian, give little satisfaction to their Readers; it might be long enough er'e I return to the Patriarch, whom I desire more closely to follow. Some contend­ing to have him to be Sem the blessed Son of Noah, which others as hotly deny. Others al­ledge him to be Jesus Christ, and his Sect the (*) Melchisedekians to be one Greater than he, be­cause Christ is compared to Melchisedeck in Scrip­ture, not seeing that Melchisedeck rather is com­pared to Him. (†) Origen will have him to be an Angel, because he is said to be without Father or Mother, but that only, because not expressed in [Page 65]Scripture. The most Credible follow the Letter of the Text, and go no further than Salem to find him out, the Ruines of whose Palace there appearing long after; yet they differ again about Salem, and some will have it that Salem which was afterwards Jerusalem; but Jerome denies it, and that it was another Salem near to Scythiopolis, which is to this day called Salem, where the Palace of Melchisedeck is to be seen, saith he. So likewise they disser as to the Manner and Ce­remony of the presenting these Gifts; some say they were first Offered to God as Peace-Offerings, and then afterwards distributed amongst the Soul­diers. Others say, they were never Offered to God in Sacrifice, but to Abraham only for a Pre­sent, affirming the addition of the word [...] to be inserted in some Copies, which clears the matter. Melchisedeck brought forth Bread and Wine to Him (i. e. to Abraham). And we know that Priests make Frequent Visits without Execu­ting any Sacred Part of their Functions; 'twas work enough that he blessed Abraham; Blessed be thou of the most High God. And tho' a part of his Present had been offered up to God, and the rest divided between the Men; what is this to the Roman Mass? If they will gather a Foundation for it hence, yet at least let them be so Kind as Melchisedeck was, who had he brought into this Army an Acceptable present of Wine, (and 'Tis Wine that chears the Heart of Man) and in the sight of all the Souldiers, should have Drunk it up All Himself; he might have Eaten up his Bread too, so little would they have Valued his Kind­ness, unless he could have made them believe [Page 66]that the Wine was in the Bread, by an unperceiv­able argument of Concomitancy. Yet no other than this is the Kindness of the Romish Priest, who drinking up every drop of the Wine Himself, leaves the poor Souldiers of Christ to faint. If they will needs draw their Sacrifice from Mel­chisedeck, pray let them be as Kind and Just to the Command and Institution of their Lord and Ma­ster, as He.

Abraham receives the Royal Priest with a de­vout Veneration due to the Person of Him who bore so great a Character; 'Twas a Representative of his God whom he therefore thinks himself obliged to Honour. He embraces Him as Such, and mixes a Carriage full of Reverence and Sweetness towards him. His late Prosperity had not in the last swelled him into Neglect or Forgetfulness of his Duty: Minds that are truly Great, cannot act beneath themselves. He is sur­prized to find in that Idolatrous Kingdom so great a Person, that owns the God He Professes to Worship, and questionless promised to himself Happiness in the after Enjoyment of so Divine Acquaintance (tho' we find not any further con­verse they maintained). Abraham cannot receive so many rich Effusions of his Piety and Bounty without finding a thankful Remuneration. Grate­ful Hearts are in Pain till they ease themselves from the burden of those Obligations that others Courtesie have heaped upon them. And now is he glad that the baffled Kings haveleft him in some Capacity to make an Acknowledgment of his Gratitude both to God and his Priest upon the Spot; And there­fore he very humbly Devotes a Tenth Part of all [Page 67]the Spoils he had taken. If Christians were all the true Heirs of Abraham's Holy and Generous Heart, there had little needed those multiplied Laws to constrain the People, and secure to the Priests their Maintenance by Tythes. Melchi­sedeck having performed his Duty, receives with­out scruple the Sacred Dues of his Office which the Patriark so chearfully paid him, and with all the Reciprocations of mutual Affection to each other, and solemn Praises to God, he departs away to his Salem.

His Discession makes way to another Prince of a very far different Temper and Spirit; 'Tis Piety makes the only Discrimination between Persons: All men have not Faith. This is the sparkling Diamond that enriches the Crowns of Kings; Where that is wanting, Honour is but a Jewel in a Swines Snout. If private Men are illustrated by it (for since thou wast precious in mine Eyes, thou hast been Honourable,) what Glory might it add unto Monarchs! The King of Heaven shines in the Majesty of his Holiness. Abraham knew well enough that the Sodomitish King wore no such Pearl in his Crown, therefore he puts on a Be­haviour towards him, agreeable to the Baseness of his Spirit: He had dishonourably turned his back from the Kings that Himself had Charged and made Havock of. He cannot therefore think him worthy of that Reception that a Gallant Prince might have merited from him. Men are to be treat­ed by the Rules of Discretion, according to the Nature of the Designs and Ends they have upon us. Melchisedeck came to bless God for that Excellent Person whom his Goodness had raised up to be an happy In­strument [Page 68]of delivering the Country from the mischiefs of the War, and to bless Himself in the Sight and Acquaintance of him. But this King is so far from any the least Resentment of the good Providence and Means by which his Subjects were redeemed, that he looks down with a plodding Eye, and projects how to make Abraham's Victo­ry an Advantage to himself. He appears here rather as a Merchant to Truck and Barter, than as a gallant Prince to throw his grateful Soul into the Embraces of the Brave Conquerour, with Ten thousand Thanks for so vast a blessing, as the Overthrow of the Enemies by his Victorious Arms. He could not be Ignorant that by the Laws of War, Abraham was indisputably entitled to what­soever his Sword had Won in the Field. Himself had lost all by his Cowardise, what Abraham had recovered by his Courage; And yet hath he the Confidence to Challenge a share in the Bene­fit of his Noble Adventure. And mistaking the brave Patriarch for a Man of as Sordid a Soul as Himself, thinks that he Bids him Fair in the proffer of the Booty, provided he might have the Persons to himself. This is the main Errand that brings the King of Sodom (as his own Am­bassador) to the Camp of Abraham.

How perfectly Strangers are the Men of this World, to the Princely Greatness of Mind that directs and ennobles all the Actions of the Righ­teous and the Holy? Now shall this King of So­dom see the difference of a Star from a Clod, and a Spirit enkindled by the true Celestial Fire, from his own, that glared in the contemptible Light of a Glow-worm.

Would he have Abraham to go One Mile with him in Courtesie, behold he will go Two! Would he have his Coat from him, let him take his Cloak also! Does he make suit to have the Per­sons? Let him take them, yea and the Goods also. the Spirit of an Abraham can grant more, than The Sodomite hath confidence to Crave. The Noble Patriarch opens Heaven to him, and darts out a Beam of the Divine Nature, that strikes him into perfect Extasie, there is no more Life in him, while he beholds the Majesty of the great Soul of Abraham: His own Dunghil Gods shed no such Insluences on their Votaries. He looks on him as on some Sacred Shrine fallen from Hea­ven, and sent for him to Worship and be enrich'd by. So impossible is it for the true Race of the Heavenly Progeny to degenerate from the Royal Nature of their Mighty and Bountiful Father, who scatters Scepters and Kingdoms, and freely gives Grace and Glory. Avaritious Minds in every Lincament of their Actions, plainly betray their Sor­did Extractions; and let them wear the Philactaries of their profession never so broad, yet these Fig­leaves dropping away, very visibly discovers the Shame of their Nakedness, and want of those Holy Garments (that God himself wears, and) which should Dress them up to Salvation. The long Robes of the Pharisees were too curtile and thin to hide from the Holy Jesus their Hypocrisie and Covetousness: Nor is there surely a greater Affront unto Heaven, than for these Sons of the Earth to pretend themselves Married to the Daughters of God. I will confidently a verr that the Cove [...]ous Soul hath not the least Spark of the Sacred Fire [Page 70]in it. An Earthly Saint is a Monster in the Church, with six Fingers and Toes on his Hands and Feet, scraping and raking in the Muck-heaps of the Creation. Let not such dare to say, We have Abraham to our Father, since of the very Stones of the streets, God is every day polishing up brighter Children unto Abraham, while themselves lie wallow­ing in the Dirt. Now, the brave Abraham heaps the Goods of this World upon the Head of a So­domite, whose very Heart was upon them; and scorns to afford them a Lodging in his Thoughts. Let him cripple his Shoulders with the burden of them; himself would keep his affections free. Abraham piles up Earth upon Earth and buries him into the Dust. Should but a little Mote of that Mould hang on his own Foot, he would shake it from him into his Lap, and disdains to wear but a Buckle in his Shoe, that ever came out of So­dom. He might have sav'd himself the trouble of this Journey; hence (long before he asked) his Petition was granted and made sure to him by Oath, though he knew it not: For no sooner had God given him the Victory (and with it a Right to all that was found in the Field) but presently Abraham turns his Arms upon Himself, and Fights to Conquer his own Temptations. He had not stirred a Foot from the base Motive of a private Advantage. The World should see that he Acted from principles particular to him­self, and shall be abundantly convinced that he had no dishonorable Aims. He knew well enough whither to Go, and from whom to ex­pect his Reward.

Thus is This Great Man sticking Pearls into the Crown of God, while he leaves his own bare. 'Tis below any Child of Abraham to warm himself by the Sparks of his own Kindling, when the Cause and Glory of Heaven catches cold. Abraham lifts up his Hand to the most high God, to hang up all his Trophies in the Celestial Court, and Knew not whither this might not be a Means to allure the King of Sodom thither after them, when he should find a Person of such rare Reli­gion and Vertue, as could perfectly deny himself, and Abjure Profit, that great Diana of the World. Weep my Soul, that thou seest so few Heirs of Abra­ham's Faith and Self-denyal. The whole World hunting after Shadows which themselves call Sub­stance, and labouring under a greater Distraction than this Sodomitish King, who crav'd only the Souls, and was content to forgoe the Goods; but these abjure their own Souls, so they may singer the Goods, and are so far from letting pass their Pre­tence of Right to them, that they quarrel even with God Himself, and venture the loss of an Eternity for them.

How often is it found, that Generous Minds suffer under the Injurious Imputations of a too foolish Facility and Softness of Nature. They are deemed but Weak Men that do not Stare and Stamp for their Interest, and hold what they have got­ten Stiffly. The King shall have but little cause to be Jealous of Abraham's Discretion and Pru­dential Management of his Affairs. He shall not go home and deride his too easie Temper, since not withstanding his Noble Grant of the whole Booty to him, he doth not thereby intend In­justice [Page 72]to others, by his own kindness to Him. Proportions must be first made to his Three Amo­rite Confederates, who had run the hazard of the War, and might reasonably expect to enjoy a share in the Spoils; he therefore gratefully assigns to each of them his Part, and thereby gave the King of Sodom to know that he was no stranger to his Own Right in the Whole, and that, Not of His own, had he given him. As for his Souldiers, they were all his Domesticks, in perfect Resigna­tion to his Pleasure, whom he feared not to Mutiny for the Plunder of the Field, and he knew well enough How to gratifie them at home. Thus is Abraham Just and Wise, as well as Generous, and Tempers his Courtesie with Prudence: And the design of Abraham was evident, to clap a Padlock on this Kings Foul mouth. He shall not Vaunt hereafter that Abraham was Enriched by his Loss. And hath not God himself contrived the Means of our Eternal Happiness in so wise a manner, that when by Sin we had ruin'd our selves (with Sodom) he hath provided a Redemption for us, to which we have not contributed the least Finger of Help or Assistance; but whether we will or No, the Praise of all must redound to the Glory of his Grace, that no Man shall boast, and the Mouths of all be stopped for evermore.

Prophane Hearts are ever ungrateful to God and Man, under the richest Mercies. This Kindness of Abraham was little considered by this King his Nephew: (*) He returns laden with the Profits [Page 73]of the whole Expedition, while Abraham goes Home as Light and Empty as ever he went out, and hath only the naked Glory of the famous Exploit. The Author of our Salvation bled not for himself; he was happy from Eternity in the Bosom, and was the daily delight of his Father, rejoycing always before him: When he passed forth to En­counter and Destroy the Enemies of our Peace, what Got he but many Wounds upon himself, while we enjoy the happy Fruits of his Love and Victory; yet alas, his Kindness is but little regard­ed, and too many fall in League and Strike Hands with those that Smote him. Unthankful Man!

CHAP. V.

God appears again unto Abraham labouring under some Trouble of Mind, particularly That of the Want of an Heir. God chears him from the Assurance of an Innume­rable Posterity, and the whole Land of Ca­naan for them. Both which are confirmed by an Irrefragable Covenant, &c.

A Braham having thus happily Carv'd out a Peace to the Country by his Victorious Arms, hath now time to sit down and enjoy him­self and his God in Quiet; this was the pleasing Element he naturally delighted to Breath in. The ratling of Armour, and the Neighing of Horses, and Garments dipt in Blood, are not so Affecting Objects to the Senses of Gods Children, who [Page 74]are taken up rather with the sweet Whispers of his Love, and ravishing Songs of the Night. There is all peace in Heaven, and universal Harmony of Concord, which Crowns the Felicity of the Blessed. Abraham thrô all this Expedition, had demean'd himself with so much Courage and Gallantry, that God, having first sent Melchise­deck as his Ambassador, to Salute and Bless him in his Name by the way, Now can refrain no longer from coming Himself to him, to bring him a gracious Welcome home.

Whether Abrahams busie thoughts had been working upon the consequent Issues of this War, and framing to himself some timerous Imagina­tions of a future danger, in case these scattered Troops should rally again (and recruiting into greater Numbers) might return all enflamed with the fury of Revenge upon him, as Princes seldom lay down the Cudgels for one broken Head;) or whether (as others think) that God having been so kind to him in the prospering his Arms, to the desired Honour and Ends of Victo­ry, might seem to put him off with a Temporal Reward: (As it is not unusual for the Faithfullest Souls to be jealous of this Worlds Prosperity, they cannot endure to think of being sent away with any blessing short of Himself: There is none on Earth I can desire besides thee:) Or whether he found the Princes of the Country, rather envious at, than affected with, or thankful for the deli­verance he had wrought them: Whether this, or any of these; but surely we may discover even from God Himself, that he Laboured under some great Perturbation of Mind. When he [Page 75]saw it sit therefore to revive his drooping Spirits by conveying his Consolations to him in the Visions of the Night, and to pour in such a [...]ulip of Joy, as shall quickly restore him to his wonted Tem­per and perfect Serenity of Soul. Fear not Abra­ham, I am thy Shield, and thine exceeding great Reward. See, I have already given thee an Ex­perience of my Power and Protection, that shall ever be continued for thy future Preservation and Safety: I have covered thine Head already in the day of Battle, and hid thee in the Hollow of mine Hand, from the rage of thine Enemies. So will I ever be a Wall of Fire round about thee; they shall but scorch themselves that approach to hurt thee. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper; yea, tho' the whole Earth should gather themselves together to injure thee. Do not dread the united strength of the Arm of Flesh; thou hast a God that will ever arise up for thy Defence. He that toucheth thee, shall as prospero [...]sly hope to p [...]il out the Apple of mine Eye, and to defeat all the Hosts of Heaven that shall ever be Armed as thy Life­guard; so soon shall thine Enemies prevail to baffle Omnipotent power and Strength, as to pull one Hair from thine Head, much less to sheath a Sword in thy Heart: Wrap up therefore thy self securely within the Folds of my Invin­cible Power, by an unquestionable Confidence in my Watchfulness and Care that shall ever attend thee, thrô all the most dangerous Accidents of thy Life: Fear not Abraham, for I am thy S [...]ield. And whereas in this Affair of the King of Sodom, thou hast accquited thy self with so Noble Re­spect to mine Honour, and so full a Dependence on [Page 76]my Power and Alsufficiency to enrich thee, so as thou hast despised the means of a Ditation by an Addition of those contemptible Spoils to thine Estate: Know this for thine Encouragement and Joy, Thou shalt be so far from being a loser by so generous a preferring my Glory beyond thine own Interests, that instead of them, I will give thee my Self; a God who have all the Treasures of Earth and Sea at mine own Power to Dispose of, and if need were, could command them all to meet in thine Exchequer to enrich thee: And who am in my self so inexhaustible a Fountain of more Durable Riches and Honour, than what are drawn from the poor Mines of the Earth, and with these will I Ennoble thee for ever. Be not Jealous that I intend thee no further Honours than what thou hast Atchieved from the Glory of thy Conquest; when mine Own hand shall weave thee an Immarcessible Crown that shall sit fast on thy Head, and never Wither or Die. And tho' the ungrateful Canaanïtes pay thee not the Homage and honourable Acknowledgment of their own deliverance by thine Hand, or maliciously Envy thee the Glory of it, yet shalt thou have little cause to complain: When I make over my self to thee, who am infinitely more than all Things, and who could as easily make thee Lord of the Ʋniverse, as to bestow these King­doms of Canaan upon thee; but that I reserve to thee a Portion in mine own most glorious Essence, and thou shalt not run to the Creatures for a Recompence, for I (my self) will be thy Re­ward, and thou shalt every day find how Great, how exceeding great a Reward, thy God will be unto thee.

But, mighty Jehovah! hast thou sitted the Shield of thy Protection to the Body of thine Abraham only? Is the Promise made to him alone? And wilt thou leave all the Heirs of his Faith and Spirit, naked and bare to the Cruel­ties of their Enemies? Hast thou but one Shield of Defence? shield us, even us also, O our Father! Yea we know well that thou art a Sun and a Shield to all them that walk uprightly, as Abraham. God hath expanded the Buckler of his Prote­ction (as the Heavens) over all the Body of his dearest Church. Haypy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O People saved by the Lord! the shield of thine Help, and the sword of thine Excellen­cy, thine Enemies shall be found Lyars to thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Come ye Angels (one of you is enough) and smite the blasphemous Host into dead Corpses. Come ye Starrs, and sight in your Counses against the Tyrannous Sisera: Come ye mighty Waters and prepare Graves, for the Obdurated Pharaoh and all his Army, within the vast gulph of your own Bow­els. Come forth ye poor Worms, and take your Re­past on the Carkass of the Mortal that would fan­cy himself to be a God. Come thou little Stone cut out of the Mountain, that shall break in pieces all the Kingdoms of the Earth, that oppose thee! Come near ye Nations, hear and bearken ye People, for the indignation of the Lord is upon you, and his fury up­on all your Armies; he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter: For his sword is bathed in Heaven, behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the People of his Curse unto Judgement.

And come thou blessed Son of Abraham, the In­vincible [Page 78] King of the Church. With the Spiritu­al Sword of thy might, enter into the Confines of Hell; Invade the Territories of the Infernal Powers; dash in pieces all the Gates of thine Domi­nion; break their Iron Barrs asunder, Iade away the Spoils of those cursed Principalities, the Tro­phies of their Eternal Honour, Sin and Death. Make a shew of them openly, to all the World, expose them to the derision of Angels, and Men, as the baffled Captives of thy Power! Fasten them to the Wheels of thy Chariot; drag them after thee, when in the day of thy Triumph thou shalt enter into thy Kingdom, thence let them receive the dreadful Sentence of everlasting Ignominy and Contempt.

Come hither Christian, and view thy self Se­cure as Infinite Power and the Strength of a God can make thee: If thou wilt negligently hang up thy Shield to the Walls, and walk na­ked thrô all the Quarters of thine Enemies, and promise thy self safety in the midst of Devils, and Men almost as Bad as they, without this Coat-Mail of the Divine Promise girt about thee, or but loosely put on; what can be expe­cted, but thy certain fall even by these baffled Straglers of the routed Army, who lye lurking to make their Prey upon thee, and to lead thee with themselves into the Eternal Prisons? To dye by a Noble and Victorious hand, would yet be somewhat honourable, but for these disarmed Troops of Hell to triumph in thy ruine, and fix thee in perpetual Chains of darkness (and this only from thy carelesness and neglect of carrying thine Arms about thee, and wearing the Shield of thy Defence,) [Page 79]this will be matter of indelible Shame and Con­fusion.

This is that special piece of Spiritual Armour, that shouldst thou be so vain to leave the rest behind, yet of this art thou cautioned by no means to be forgetful, but Above all to rake with thee the Shield of Faith▪ And what is this but the close-buckling this Excellent Pro­mise about thine Heart? Come my Son, let not Mercy and Truth forsake thee, bind them about thy Neck, write them apon the Table of thy Heart. That thou mayst ever retain this Glorious In­scription in thy Eye: The Lord is my Shield and my Buckler, He is my defence; the Holy one of Is­rael is my King. Whom then should I fear? of whom should I be afraid? The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what Man can do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me, therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me: The Captain of my Salvation hath subdued all mine Enemies under me; they are all fallen, and shall never be able to rise again: And thrô hun that loveth me, am I more than a Conquerour over them all! He hath redeemed me from the hand of mine Enemies, that I should serve him without fear, &c. And this is the Mercy that he swore to our Father Abraham, that he would grant us. He confirmed it to thee by an Oath, and wilt thou walk loosely under it, and tamely yield thy self Prisoner to every base Assault? When thou hast listed thy self under his Colours, and entred into the Bonds of that Sacrament, that obligeth thee to stand valiantly against every Adversary of his [Page 80]Glory; who once said to the Great Abraham, (and in him to thee too,) Fear not, for I am thy Shield.

And this Shield is a Sun too, that will ripen all the fruits of his Bounty, by which thy Table is spread. Thou shalt not need Crouch to a Sodomite for a piece of Bread: How deservedly did he wear the Leprosie of a Naaman upon his own Skin, that could steal from the Presence of his great Master to post after an Assyrian, for a lit­tle Silver and a few Changes of Raiment! 'Tis be­low the Princes of the Blood to court the Skullions of the Kitchin for Scraps: These, whose Spirits are feasted every day with Hidden Manna, need little question their daily Provisions, which flow in upon them from the less Expensive Current of Pro­vidence. Jacob may send into Egypt for Corn, but he shall send his own full Bags to pay for it: And if David solicits a Nabal, for a part of his Sheep­sheer Cheer, 'twas but in order to the design of God to translate his whole Estate upon him with his Wife. Abraham's Children have Milk and Honey in their own Canaan; and if they had less, yet is their Dinner of Herbs better than the stalled Ox of the Wic­ked. The very Gleanings of Ephraim are better than the Vintage of Ali [...]zar: And he that sups with Herod may chance disgorge his Stomach when he finds the Head of a Prophet brought up in a Charg­er for second Course; even of that Prophet, who to avoid the dangers of their poysonous Dishes, con­tents himself with the Locusts of the Wilderness. The Great Elijah can trust his Master to Cater for him by the Ministry of Ravens, and when that fails, is satisfied with the poor fare of a Widow, rather [Page 85]then to Glut himself (with Jezebel's Chaplains) upon the Varieties of her providing. His brave Successour, with all his Colledge, are thankful to God for a Mess of Pottage: And the patient Habakkuk can joyfully feed on a God alone; tho the Fields and Herd: and Stalls should af­ford him not a Joynt to supply his Table. These with their Great Lord had Meat to eat which the World knew not. So had the Children of the Captivity, who chose rather to make their Meals on Pulse and Water, than to defile themselves with the princely Viands of the Royal Board. The holy David fears to be choaked with them: Let me not eat of their daintie [...]. With an holy disdain have all the best Children of Abraham declined the dangerous Accession of earthly Su­perfluities: Let the Swine of the World (who offer to no other Deity but their Bellies) swill themselves till they break again. All their fresh springs are in God. And though Esau said he had enough, and wanted not Jacob's Presents; yet had he little enough who wanted Jacob's God. Let the true Children of Abraham, learn to take out the lesson of Generosity from him, and to wind up all their desire; in God, who (abstracted from all Creatures) will very short­ly be their only Portion, and themselves shall be for ever filled with his fulness who filleth all in all. Let them give no occasion to any Sodo­mite of the Earth, to suspect that they worship a God who is a Niggardly Rewarder of his Ser­vants; and are therefore forced to sneak to them for mouldy bread, and clouted Shoes.

But sit down for a while, and consider, (Rea­der) [Page 82]what mean these Golden Words, I am thy exceeding Great Reward: When all the Great Ones of the World have the Plague of the Ser­pent upon them, and lick the dust of the Earth, and terminate their desires in a Cursed Portion; to thee will I give my self for an Heritage! And could thy shallow Apprehensions conceive what a God is in himself, or can be, and do for his faith­ful Servants, thou mightest then reach the Dimen­sions of that Blessing, which because they are so infinitely beyond all the strength of thy Fa­culties to comprehend, therefore have I provi­ded an Eternity for thee, wherein I will en­large those Powers of thy Soul to a sweet and ravishing Contemplation of all my Perfections, and thine own exceeding Happiness in having an Interest in them, when thou shalt more per­fectly see the Happiness of that Enjoyment, and more fully know what infinite Wisdom, Pow­er and Love can effect, when they lay out themselves in Contrivances of all possible Feli­city and Blessedness, to all the Objects of my Favour and Grace: And if I design this Happi­ness for thee to Eternity, thou canst not fear that I should be defective to thee in this life, but even now will crown all thy faithful Servi­ces with Rewards and Encouragemeats due to them. Thy works of Faith and Righteousness, shall be present Peace and Comfort, and the effects of that Righteousness, quietness and Assurance for ever. And what is there, Reader, that the utmost de­sire of thy Ambitious Heart can reach out to to covet after, but what Abraham's God can as bountifully conferr upon thee, hadst thou the least [Page 83]degree of his Faith to believe it? It is He that can make thee ride upon the High places of the Earth, and open to thee all the rich Exche­quers of his Treasure, that thou shalt not need Crouch to Kings. He can platt a Coronet of Honour for thy Temples, and give thee a Name like unto the Name of the Great Men of the Earth. Who promoted the poor Shepherd from waiting on those few Sheep in the Wilderness, to become the glorious Head and Pastour of his People? Who called the despicable Fishermen from their Boats and Nets, to be Spiritual Prin­ces in all the Earth, and set them as glittering Suns to shine for ever in the Firmament of his Church? He can prepare a Table for thee even here in the Desart, that shall bafflle all the Elixirs of the Field and the Vintage: Can give thee a Taste of that Manna the Spirits of Angels are feasted with: Can whisper Secrets into thine Ears, that shall drown thy heart with Joy unspeakable and Glorious: Can light up such a Taper in thy Soul, that shall pierce the Clouds, and give thee a Prospect of the Invisible King­dom, and bless thy Soul with Moses's Eyes: When all the World is tossed on the Billows of his Wrath, can lodge thee in an Ark of per­fect Security and Peace. Thou shalt not fear the fears of the Wicked, nor be distracted with their Amazements: Thy Soul shall dwell in quiet within the Tabernacle of his Presence: If Hea­ven and Earth should fall and mix together in one Chaos of Confusion, the Ruine should not concern thee at all: Thy Foot is fixt on the unmoveable Rock from all the Dreads and Pos­sibilities [Page 84]of falling: Everlasting Arms would be underneath, to preserve thee from dashing thy self against the bruising Stones. When Time hath spun out the Silver Thread of thy Life on Earth, God will furnish thee with a Clew that shall convey thee safely thrô all the Labyrinths of Death, into the lightsome Palace of an ever­lasting Joy and Glory; where thou shalt ever share with his Chosen in endless Felicities, and wear on thy happy Head the Immortal Crown of Life. God from his own most blessed Essence flowing out unto thee with inexhaustible streams of ineffable Pleasure and Love, which drown all apprehensions here to conceive, and must despair ever to know, before thou comest to enjoy them: Lo! this is the Reward and Heri­tage of the faithful Children of that Abraham, whom God made the happy Object of his own delight, his Friends Joy, his Enemies Envy, and the Wonder of all the World.

Cease then from inquiring what an exceed­ing Great Reward thy God will be to those that serve him with Abraham's Heart: Nor ask with David, What shall be done to the man that shall sight the Battels of God, against the Goli­ah's of the World, and Sin; but buckle on thine Armour, and with Abraham and David act Couragiously; and in the Strength of thine Almighty Shield thou shalt not fail to be Vi­ctorious; the little Pebble of this single Pro­mise, shot from the strong Arm of thy Faith and Confidence, shall sink into the Forehead of all thine Opposers, on whose Ruines thou shalt build to thy self a Pillar and Monument of Im­mortal Glory and Praise.

Thou wilt pardon me, Reader, this long di­gression from Abraham's Story, while I have been labouring only to heave up thy dull heart and tired Spirits, to that blessed place where himself is entred, and to give thee (in a smaller draught) an imperfect Copy of those Glories, to which his Faith and Courage have so happily preferr'd him. We shall find him presently making use of his Shield, and trying what met­tal it is made of, not against a weak Combina­tion of Kings, but against God himself. Indeed the manner of his Attacque is somewhat different, for there is no prevailing against God but by an humble use of his own Weapons: There­fore having received the Ammunition, he im­mediately makes his Assault, and so very lucki­ly managed it, that it struck into the very Heart of God, and thence fetch'd out the blood that was afterwards temper'd to make up the Son which he fought for. When fury and Wrath can prevail nothing, Tears and Prayers get the Vi­ctory. Hast thou said, thou wilt be a Great Re­ward to me? to what purpose will all that be, when I am hastening to my Grave, and cannot bear with me thy Blessings into the next World, and I have no Heir to enjoy them after me? — Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go Child­less? See how Abraham strikes while the Iron is hot; and dexterously clinches the Nail of the Promise, with the humble stroak of his Faith into the breast of God's Faithfulness, which opens it Self to make way for it to stick in; and there it abode for many years after, till Isaac came to draw it out. 'Tis observed (by the [Page 86] Learned) that Abraham(*)Sigh'd out this Re­quest to God from the very bottom of his Heart, which no wonder then had so good effect on the Heart of God. The weak Charge of the Lips do little Execution, without strong Enforce­ment from the Breath of the Soul. Omnipotence it self falls under the Push of a melted Soul. The Wind of Affectionate Prayer, and Showers of true Repentance, turns the very Bowels of a God within him, and puts him on Repenting too. Mary's Tears at Lazarus's Grave, sets Jesus on Groaning, and then to Weeping as fast as She: Admire not to see the Soul of her Bro­ther discharged out of Heaven, when God could keep it there no longer. The Spiritual King­dom is very well pleased, to suffer under such Violence. It may be Jacob afterwards learned from his Grandfather this Never-failing Art of Wrestling with Heaven, for in his buckling with the Angel, though himself got a small blow (that put his Thigh out of joynt,) yet had he Strength enough still to hold him Prisoner till he got his Designs upon him, and his Tears trickled down so fast, that there was no more Heart in his Antagonist to deny him that Blessing that he so powerfully struggled for. As a Prince he prevailed with God: But how? He wept and made Supplica­cation unto him. They were Jacob's Tears that melted the strength of that Blessed Prince of An­gels, who when he came into the World in our Na­ture, made use himself of no other Arms.

But what are Sighs and Groans and Tears (were they all of Blood) for how little are they re­garded in the World? Since they make the poor Patients but the more unpleasing Company to others who breath in the Egyptian Air, where no such Showers fall, where no such Winds do blow? Yet Sighs for Sin differ from other Breath, as the Sweet Perfumes of the Aromatick Mountains from the Fuliginous Vapours of the dead Sea, or the Inspirations of Heaven from the Noisom Belchings of Brutes: They are the Brisk Gales that scatter the Fogs of Guilt, and securely waft us to Heaven. And though they are Inarticulate, and pass away from us without a Coinage into Noise and Words, yet God knows their Oratory well enough, and can spell them into so good Sence, that he puts his own Imprimatur upon them, and shall be produc'd as Records of true Repentance, though there be little else to plead for Mercy and Safety in the day of Visitation, but the poor Evidence of a sew Hearty Groans under the killing Tyrannies of Sin. When the Bottle of Tears shall appear at that time to plead for us, then shall these Winds also pass out of their Treasury, to blow some Refreshment on us: Both the one and the other Washed and Sweetned with the Sacrifice of the Blood of Jesus, Ezek. 9.4.

God had already made to Abraham a General Promise of a Numerous Seed, and now he Sighs to have that Promise more particularly express'd. Generals in Religion leave the Affections Dull and Cold, and are but as the Embers upon the Hearth, which more explicite Revelation blows up into Flames of Spiritual Heat and Joy. All the rich [Page 88] Legacies of the New Testament do but meanly Affect us, till they are translated into the Heart by the Finger of God. Then, O how I love thy Law! 'Twill never be well with us till we Pray and Sigh too, with Abraham, for a more express Illumination and accomplishment of the Promise: I will write my Law in their inward parts. General Promises satissie (well enough) a dead and Ge­neral Faith, all whose Hopes are on the Paper, but a Lively Faith is ever Restless till they be transcribed thence, and engraven in legible Cha­racters within. The Law of his God is in his heart. That is the Fleshly Table upon which it is fairly written. Salvation is secure to all whose Names are written in the Book of Life; but 'tis a Lamp from the Sanctuary, (the Spirit of Revelation) that must clear up the Evidence to the Soul of its own Name being there inserted. Abraham's true Faith Sighs after more explicite Demonstration. 'Tis a dread­ful thing to leave the Concerns of Eternity under Fear and Doubts. Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure. Abraham's Soul was at stake, and longed till he were better secured of the promised Seed which should make himself and all the Nations of the earth happy. He Pants (*) till he see that natural Root from whence the Blessed Branch of Righteousness should in Gods good time be most happily derived. What could he beg less than this? In vain would all other Blessings [Page 89]be heap'd on his Head. But to pass down into the Chambers of death Childless, and all the Me­moirs of his Faith and Obedience to be buried with him in the same Sepulchre: This is matter of Grief to him, under all the Royal Largesses of Divine Bounty towards him. Progeny is the natu­ral desire of Man, whose Ambition is to see him­self survive in others springing from him; and Children are but the living Images of their de­ceased Parents, who (so long as They live,) are not altogether dead. Besides Abraham foresees his great Name might be interred in Oblivion, if God should not inscribe it on a more lively Monument than his Steward Eliezer of Damascus was like to make; who although he were a good Man, and by being adopted his Heir, might be raised to bear some Figure and Resemblance of his State in the World; yet (he sears) he would prove but a dark Representative of the Great Abraham's Spirit, and no Express Image of his Masters Person: Too dark a Region for his Illustrious Vertues to shine in.

The Sence of this Infelicity lay so heavy upon his troubled Spirits, that now he sights for Life, and reduplicates his stroaks. The Ro [...]k had not yet yielded him one comfortable Drop, which in an instant shall gush out in Floods of living Water; he renews the complaint, and piteously laments his condition. To me hast thou given no Seed. None yet appears, though thou tellest me of a numberless One. I find no Accomplishment of thy Promise. God sometimes makes as if he did not hear, and seems to shut his Ears, while yet his Heart is open. He loves to put a Value on [Page 90]his own Mercies, which we so much the more esteem, as they cost us dear in purchasing and waiting for. Blessings too cheaply gotten, are too meanly priz'd. Abraham's Soul is in Travel for an Heir, he must not hope to be delivered by one poor single Pang. In vain do we knock at Hea­vens Gates, without watching there till Answer comes; and if that be delayed, our Requests are to be enforced by new Arguments, and more pa­thetick workings of Heart. And though our Prayers be answered before we cry, yet must we call again and again for that Answer. And Jesus taught us a Parable to this end, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint: Let Abraham hold out but one throw more, and the Child shall come to the Birth. Christian! thou hast been in long Labour for a Saviour, the next Groan may bring him from the Womb of Gods Decree, and thine own Prayers into thy joyful Arms: wilt thou dye before thou see thy Saviour Born in thy Heart? Christ in thee, the hope of Glory.

Behold God this very Moment appearing to cancel all the Evidences of the Strangers Preten­sions, and breaking for ever the Heart of Eliezer's Hopes: See the Seals of those despairing Con­veyances, making over thine Estate and Soul to the Forreigner, all lying on the Ground torn off, and himself sneaking away in utter Desperation, at the first breaking out of the true Isaac. Go Father Abraham, and teach all the World the profit of patient waiting at the Throne of Grace, for by thine Importunity and Perseverance hast thou prevailed with God. Since the pains of thine Heart have turned even Gods within him, and [Page 91]caused his very Bowels to roll, in the Sounding whereof thou hearest the joyful Tidings of a Son, which shall issue from those very Bowels that have stirred in so violent Motions, against which his pity hath no strength any longer to withstand thee; and hath all this while made but a feigned Resistance, while thou hast been shewing a Tryal of thy Skill, how well thou canst manage thy Shield, and how prosperously God himself may be attack'd, when it shall please him to yield up himself to be conquered by his Crea­ture.

Abraham hath been in Travel, and Behold a Troop cometh. What a prolifick Grace is Prayer, which brings forth Thousands and ten Thousands in our Streets; and makes Parents of an Incomprehen­sible Seed. The Off-spring of that Grace, are all the Innumerable Productions of Eternity, which all the Arts of Arithmetick must for ever despair to sum up. Can the Great God give any thing little? Hath Abraham wrought all this while but for one Son? Come all ye glittering Lamps of Heaven, your mighty Creator sends you a Sum­mons to make your Appearance here in your clearest Shine, not the One thousand three hundred twenty five chief Commanders, that seem to ex­ceed the rest in Glory, but give your Orders to the Minor Lights to make up all the Force, and with all your united Numbers make some Figure to the Great Abraham of the infinite Issue that I will bless him in, who from one Son shall mul­tiply into Myriads, to bespangle the lower Fir­mament of my Church. For so shall his Seed be.

God had employed him before, [...]o the endless work of accounting the numbers of the little Dust of the Earth. Now will he have him to enumerate the Stars of Heaven with the like im­possible Imposition. Some critically observe that by the former, God pointed out the natural Seed of his Body, whose names should be written in the Earth, and whose very Souls would cleave to the Dust. But by these he decyphered to him, the Spiri­tual(*)Children of his Faith, all the World over, whose names are written in Heaven, and who should shine as Stars for ever and ever. Great indeed is the difference of these from the other; And Holy Re­cords wi [...]ness, that Abraham, of the innumerable Children of his Flesh, had but too few of his Spirit; Isaiah is so bold to tell us, That by that time God had measur'd off, with the long Ell of his Ju­stice, almost the whole Piece to Destruction, for their unhappy Apostasie from the Holy Practices of their Great Father, but a short Remnant was left, that following his steps, arrived at last in the Heavenly Canaan with him.

From the lovely face of that Heaven, enamell'd with so many shining Stars, which Abraham's Eyes beheld in the clearest night: Turn now thine own, Reader, and gaze on another enriched with Lights, surmounting far all those, and of a more eternal duration than they, illustrating the Great Abraham's name. 'Tis his splendent Faith, [Page 93]attended on by all her Train of Graces, expa­tiating all the Rooms of his Soul, by a ravishing Dilatation, to receive in all the Joys of this so vast a Blessing, and giving it the most welcome Entertainment that her little Powers are able in this narrow condition she is in. 'Twas mighty Faith that brought him out of his Country, but what is this that passeth him out of himself, leaving all his Reason and Senses behind him, combating against all the Impossibilities of Na­ture, when there was not the least ground to fix the Foot of Belief on, but what was ready to sink under him; All hopes as tottering as his reeling Body, and as dead as his Sarah's Womb; yet now to hope against all Hope, and out of Death it self to believe out Life, and that with a Cou­rage as resolute and immovable, as admits not the least Allay of Fear or Doubt; but to give Glory to God, by resigning himself up by a per­fect dependance on the Infallibility of the Pro­mise, and full assurance of the Faithfulness and Power of him that made it, without the least staggering thought: This is such a Faith in the Perfection and Flower of it, that doth render him so exceeding acceptable in the Eyes of God, that he shall be henceforth confirmed in a per­fect Immunity from all the dangers of Sin and Death, which shall never prevail eternally against him, and shall qualifie him so compleatly for all [...]he Honours of Divine Friendship, that he shall [...]e taken into the Bosom, and for ever acknow­ [...]edged as the Faithful Friend of God. As he [...]ath justified his Faith by so noble Fruit as this, [...]o will God Justifie it too, by setting his Seal to [Page 94]the Truth and Excellency of it, and Justifying Him the Subject of it, and stamping on him the Mark and Honourable Character of a truly Reli­gious and most sincere Believer; Abraham be­lieved in the Lord, and it was counted to him for Righteousness.

Come hither, thou that art called a Christian, see the Criterion of thy future Estate; Thou say'st thou believest, thou doest well, do not the Devils also Believe and Tremble? But hast thou Abraham's Justifying Faith? Take a Survey of the Weak­ness of thine, and the Vanity of thy Hopes for Heaven. Abraham travelled out of all, and chear­fully gave up himself to be led by the Absolute Will of his God, when thou lodgest still in the dark Entry of Nature, and laughest at all the Invitations of his Grace: Thou mockest the Messengers of God that are sent to call thee, and sticking still in the Creature and Self, disputest his Authority to rule thee. Abraham feasted himself in the Joys of an Invisible Saviour, and made many a Sweet Banquet upon the Promise, while thou art guzling on the draughts of Lust, and greedily sucking in the deadly Potions of Sin, little remembring there is Death in the Pot, that Poysons thy Soul and Hopes together. He rejoyced in the Children of his Faith, which should make up a Church unto God, while they are all the Objects of thy Malicious Hate, who bear the least shadow of his Image upon them. He bore up a Spirit against all the Temptations of Life, and under all the Enticements of a Great and Rich Estate, ever devoting the Cream and Elixir of his Thoughts and Heart unto God, [Page 95]when thou lockest up thy Soul in a narrow Ware-house, and drownest all thy Hopes in a shallow Stream. He dreaded not the formidable Powers of the World, that had captiv'd a Mem­ber of the Church, whilst thou (with Saul) art breathing out Menaces and Slaughter, and shoot­ing all thy Darts into the Heart of Christ: He had strength to wrestle with God himself, and would not be beaten back without a Blessing, when thy Spirit sinketh with the very thoughts of that Power, whom thy wicked Life hath made thine Enemy; He comes back laden with the Riches of a Promise, which should make himself and all his true Children Happy, when thy poor Heart is courting other Delights, and is a perfect Stranger to the Pleasures of a Saviour. Go Christian, get a better Faith, that may Justifie thy Person before God, since be sure such works as these can never Justifie thy Faith before Men.

Abraham thus assured of an infinite Posterity, grows now sollicitous and thoughtful for them, he discovers the nature of those cares that Afflict the Bosoms of every Godly Parent. He is fear­ful that his Children may deviate from the steps of his own Uniform Obedience and Righteousness, nor wear the same Livery of Grace that adorned his Loyal Spirit, and Hallowed all his Actions. His first Care is to enjoy a Progeny, and his next, that they might enjoy God and be Good. How rarely doth this Holy Anxiety oppress the Minds of Men! How would Abraham have swooned then, to have seen some of his Impious Children sacrificing their Sons and Daughters unto Devils. [Page 96]The Angels themselves were created subject to a possible Folly, and Multitudes of them fell by a dreadful Apostacy; He had reason to fear that his Children, who were but Dust, might be foolish too, and forgetful of the Rock of their Sal­vation, who might therefore sell them into the hands of their Enemies, who would surely de­prive them of their Fruitful Canaan: Nor was this fear the least Flaw in the Jewel of his Faith, but rather an Holy Ray that darted from it. It abates not at all of the Perfections of God, that he is Jealous. The Church is his Spouse, he is Married to her, and would have her Holy as Himself. If Abraham to the Promise of a Seed, and an Inheritance for them, might have another to secure them in it, by a Faith and Spirit like his own, which would entitle them to Divine Favour and Protection, surely this would Ter­minate his Desires, and compleat up all his Happi­ness.

Abraham is content to go Issueless still, rather than be the miserable Parent of Rebels against Heaven. The Arrows that are shot by wicked Chil­dren against the Honour of God, pierce by the way through the hearts of their wounded fathers, and make them bleed. God is so well pleased with the Workings of Abraham's thoughts, and took it so kindly from him, that he had honoured him by so absolute Resignation of his Faith, on the bare word of his Promise, That from hence forth he shall have little cause to question the Performance of all his future Engagements, for now he resolves to confirm them all by stronger Bars than those that Heaven and Earth are envi­roned [Page 97]with. He is content to enter into a Sacred Covenant with him, that shall oblige his Holiness, Honour and Truth in such irrefragable Tyes, that Abraham's Heirs may Sue him at their plea­sure upon the Violation of them, and shall have liberty to plead the Breach of Articles against him in the Court of Honour, should he fail in any point of Performance. Nor were they back­ward (as Vatablus tells us) for notwithstanding themselves were so careless in keeping the Coun­ter-conditions, that obliged them to Obedience and Duty; And by their continual Violations, had evacuated the whole Covenant, and wrenched off all the Seals, yet would they be so Impudent, to reproach him with a Failure on his Part, and frequently twit him with it, when their Trea­cheries had at any time provoked him to bring in an Enemy upon them, or put them into Banish­ment and Sufferings: Recordare foederis inter seg­ment a initi. Remember the League made with Abraham our Father, when the Heifer was cut in twain, and thou passedst through the parts thereof. There was a Custom (as elsewhere, so) in Chal­daea (whereof therefore Abraham could not be ignorant) That for confirming Covenants, these Ceremonies passed amongst them; A Beast was killed and divided into two equal Parts, which Parts were brought forth and laid at some di­stance over against each other, the Federates passing between them, and solemnly imprecating on themselves the same Death and Ruine, (so to be killed and cut in pieces as the Beast) if they should first break the Covenant and Agreement made between them. The equal Division of the [Page 98]Beast seeming to represent the Ʋnity of Will in both Parties, and their mutual satisfaction in the Conditions of the League. In Conformity to this Custom, Abraham is ordered to get ready his Heifer, and with that, a Goat and a Ram, all of three years Age; and to these a Turtle Dove and a young Pigeon, to prepare and place them in order, against such time as the Lord would please to come down to pass thorough them. In that the Beasts were multiplied, it signified a surer Ratification of the Covenant. The Condi­tions on Gods part were. That he would surely give unto Abraham for his Posterity the whole Kingdoms of Canaan for a Possession. Abraham Conditions for his Children, That they there­fore should keep the Laws of the Lord, and walk in his ways, as himself would give them Example. Gods Passing thorough the divided parts in the Appearance of Fire and Smoak, and Abraham's walking through the midst of them, confirmed the Covenant, and finished the Transaction. Now must this be unto Abraham an infallible Assurance, God could not deny Himself, nor his Covenant. He may cease disputing for the future, How shall I know that I shall inherit it? There are Authors that make Critical Observa­tions, first on the Age of the Beasts, which were All to be three years Old, and signified that this Covenant related only to the Carnal Poste­rity of Abraham (for there follows another for his Spiritual, which was to endure for evermore) who should enjoy Canaan during Three Remark­able Terminations of time. The first from Abraham himself to Moses; The second, from [Page 99] Moses to David; The third, from David to Christ, when by their bitter Usage and Cruelty towards Him, the whole Articles were torn to pieces, and themselves sent packing out of their good Land, having no longer a Promise of it.

The Miracle of Gods Condescention in binding Himself up to his Creatures, is a Subject for Angels to pry into, and for Saints to praise him for ever: Yet is not this all that Abraham shall be gratified in, there is still a farther Honour God will confer on his Favourite: He shall be admitted into his own Privy-Council of Heaven, and the Arcana Imperii, the Mysteries of State that are lock'd up in the secret Cabinet of his Bosom, shall be disclosed to him. He shall here have a perfect Prospect into all the Occurrences of his Family for many hundred years after, which first he shall discover in a Type, and then in clearer words.

First, The Beasts and the Birds do more gene­rally shew him the different Natures of his Chil­dren; some bearing brutish Affections, creeping upon the Face of the Earth as Beasts; others Soaring in a more Spiritual Element, All their aims aspiring after Heaven. Again more particularly, The very Heifer, a Laborious Slave subjected to the Collar, shall Prophesie to him the Servitude of his Children under the Egyptian Yoke, the very Age of her shall shew him the term of that Slavery for Three Generations together. But then the Turtle, a Solitary Bird, that delights in the Desart, shall shew him also their Removal thence, and wandring in the Wilderness for Forty years. And the Pidgeon, a Fowl that loves to be Hous'd, shall [Page 100]lead him to the sight of his Family fixedly settled in the Cities of Canaan. The very Sleep he fell into, is Prognostick of his last End; and the horrour of Darkness that came upon him, Pro­phesied the grievous Troubles and dismal Afflicti­ons his Children would fall into, as hardly should they discover any Light of hope for deliverance from them: God having foreshewn all these future Events unto Abraham, expounds them afterwards in a plain Declaration of Words, wherein he is comforted against all the Sorrows of his Posterity, by their certain Redemption from them, and his own long Life ending in a Quiet and Blessed Death: The Ceremony being ended, Abraham is confirmed for ever.

Observe here how the whole Scene of all con­tingent Emergencies befalling the Creatures, and issuing upon Kingdoms, Families and Persons throughout all Ages of Time, hang all up in One fair Table, Open and Naked in the Light of Gods Omniscient Eye, unalterably fixed by his firm Decrees, and all unavoidable by any Power or Wisdom of Men. How vainly then doth Hu­mane Weakness Plot to break the Links of his Providences, which his own Mighty Arm hath so undissolvably chain'd together; That all the Combinations of Men or Devils do but weary themselves while they Idlely endeavour to break them.

Take also a View of the Road to the Heavenly Canaan; The Land is confirmed to Abraham and his Heirs, with all the Assurances that a God can make him. Yet e'er they possess it, they must pass down into Egypt, and suffer a tedious [Page 101]Affliction there, under the Tyranny and Op­pression of a Cruel Pharaoh; and thence into an Howling Wilderness, to live by Faith in the want of all things, but what an immediate hand from Providence should reach out to them. Thus we pass still from the Slaveries of the World, to the Inheritance in Glory, from hard Labours to an Eternal Sabbath, from crying to God because of Oppression, to rejoycing in God because of Exaltation; from a Valley of Tears to a Moun­tain of Joy; from a State of Bondage to Ever­lasting Liberty: Through Flames of Persecution, into Endless Delectation; from a Wearisome Pil­grimage, to an Everlasting Rest. Patiently must we tread the Steps that all others have passed before us. God himself had his Work before he Rested; The Blessed Jesus had His, which he must bring to Perfection, e'er ever he hath Confidence to go to his Father; I have finished the work thou hast given me to do, and now I come to thee. He walks first to the Cross, e'er ever he re­ceives the Crown, and drinks of the brook in the way, e'er his Glorious Head is Exalted. The Apostles and Martyrs swim to Heaven thorough the Red Sea of their own Blood, and through many Tribulations must we all enter into the King­dom of God. Ridiculously do we hope for an easier way, than which all the Holy Pilgrims have gone before us, and God in his Wisdom hath chalked out to us by his Eternal Decrees to walk in. Let us Glance for a Moment on the People of these Kingdoms, at whose Doors God hath lately sealed Leases of Ejectment by his Irrevocable Oath unto Abraham; They [Page 102]merrily pass their years away, they laugh at Fear, not a Melancholly Thought dares approach their Hearts; They Correct the Insolency of those Groundless Dreads that suggest but the least Jealousie of any future Danger. Every day is an Holiday with them; They keep a perpetual Carnival, and distill all the Luxurious Issues of their Country into Spirits, which serve them to exhilerate their Own into Mirth and Jollity; They Sacrifice to their Idols in profuse Libations, and pay them the liberal Tributes of their grate­ful Affections under all the Peace and Prospe­rity they enjoy. While now the Fatal Sentence had passed out from Heaven against them, and the Hand-writing of Ruine stuck on the Walls of every House in Canaan, and there shall rest till they undermine themselves, and an heavy hand of Judgment gives Fire to those Trains which shall surprizingly blow them up for ever. Take heed, Reader, the case be not thine own: Sin is an Engineer in the Dark, that is ever con­triving the means of our utter Desolation. There is a Faux in thine own Bosom, with a Match ready lighted to do Execution, while thou dreamest not in the least of a Danger upon thee, and art all the while heaping up Wrath against the day of Wrath, and Piling up those Faggots with thine own Hands, which shall shortly be enkindled to burn thee out of all thine Earthly Comforts, and send thee yet into hotter Flames than these. And whilst thou lyest in the Lap of these Dalilah's, God knows how soon the Philistines may be upon thee; And what knowest thou, but the Decree may be gone forth against [Page 103]thee already, and thou hast nothing that secures thy Stay but the pure Patience of that God whom daily thou abusest, that doth yet wait, and Reprieves thee from the Writ of Execution. 'Tis well known that Those in the Wilderness, in the midst of their security had an Oath clapt upon them because of their Provocations, which they could never get off 'till their Car­kases fell; they were so fettered by it that it was impossible for them to get into Canaan: And yet had they a few sun-shine Summers grant­ed them, (as these condemned Amorites,) they ran about a while with God's Curse upon them, as the manacled Prisoners of his Wrath. To small ends of true Comfort and Safety is it to be thrown upon a Couch of Ease and Plea­sure, (wrapt in soft and silken. Wreaths of Security and Peace) and there to slumber 'till Death and Judgment dragg thee thence, and tumble thee down into a Bed of Flames for ever.

CHAP. VI.

Abraham by Sarah's Perswasions goeth in un­to, Hagar, she conceiveth and grows proud; being afflicted of her Mistress she fleeth in­to the Wilderness, where an Angel meets her and turns her back. The Birth of Ishmael.

WHile Abraham walks on (in Confidence of this Covenant▪) with full Vigour and Strength of Soul, Sarah's Hopes decline with her Years, and comes limping after him with a weary foot: The Promise of a Seed had been made to her Lord, but it was not yet revealed by what Venter he should enjoy it, most proba­bly from any other than her own Barren one: And rather than this Tree. of Righteousness should want Branches and Fruit, she is content that he Inoculate on a Crab-stock: (No wonder then the Production prove but wild and sowre, participa­ting more of the Juice of the degenerous Root than the sweeter Nature of the true Plant;) but rather than to be no Mother, she is satis­fied with being one at second Hand, and is will­ing to rock her Maids Cradle; and doubtless she had great Kindness for Hagar, who was most happy in such a Mistress, that would gratifie her faithful Service with that unusual Civility of sending her Husband to Bed to her. This is not the ordinary manner of Womens Kindness, [Page 105]who will part with every thing sooner than the Monopoly of their Husbands Love. But Sarah's Case began to be desperate, who notwithstand­ing the repeated Promises of Children made to her Abraham, was yet never the less Barren than before; and it being never yet said that the Heir should be born of her Body, she knew not but that God himself might inspire her to make the Motion, and speak the good Word to her Lord for Hagar; therefore she contrives to lend away a piece of his Heart to her Maid, and to admit her as the secondary Object of his Affections, and should not much repent it, if she still contain her self within her Limits, and pay her the dutiful Respect owing to so kind a Mistress.

'Tis disputed whether Abraham or Sarah, ei­ther or neither of them, sinn'd against God in this Action. For Him 'tis argued, that he did it not from any Motion of Lust, who notwith­standing his Wive's Barrenness, had never been tempted to wander in his Affections from her, but humbly waited upon God to effect his Pro­mises by those means which himself had decreed to produce them, and had never upbraided his dearest Wife of her Sterility, the only Impedi­ment to his Happiness in a Son. Nor was it contrary to the Custom of Nations, and that as yet there was no Law expressed against Polyga­my. Nor was he himself first in the Motion, but was led to it by the Desire, Approbation, and Consent of his Sarah. But above all, since God had told him that all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed in his seed, he might possibly in­curr [Page 106]the danger of God's displeasure, if by any default of his own he should hinder the Salva­tion of the World. The Promise being only to himself and not unto Sarah, of having such Issue as might render it happy; he had now waited already Ten Years for the Accomplishment of that Promise, and might possibly think himself obliged from the Tradition so common, Si Mu­lier non pepereret intra decem Annos, tenetur ejus Maritus ad primam, secundam ducere Ʋxorem, — If the Woman bear no Child within ten Years, her Husband may take a second Wife to the first. These are the Arguments commonly used for Abraham.

For Sarah 'tis pleaded, That she bore the In­felicity of her Barrenness with an humble resig­nation, and not with that Impatiency as after­wards did Rachel her Grand-daughter: And that she thought her self unworthy so great an Ho­nour as to be the Mother of the blessed Seed, and did not ill at all in consulting the Means by which so great a Blessing might be derived to Mankind; she attempered her self to the Di­vine Will, and will not envy that glory to her Hand-maid. She took it heavily that so great a Person as Abraham should be deprived of the Blessing of Children, and that her own Incapa­city should make void the Promises of God. See my Lord Abraham, God hath restrained un­worthy me from Bearing, thou vainly expectest Children from me; and I plainly perceive that God intends me not the Honour of making thee a joyful Father, if he did, he hath the Key of the Womb, and might easily heal my Barrenness: [Page 107]but since 'tis not his good pleasure, I humbly submit my self and chearfully give way to ano­ther: It matters not much whether I bear or no, but it concerns all the World that thou hast that seed which must make it haypy: The Child of my Maid will be Mine by Law, and I shall embrace and Adopt it as my own. In this Glass we may visibly perceive her Reve­verence and Love to her Husband, and beyond that, her Pious Care for all the World; and is blameable in nothing but what is common to all her Sex, a little Impatience and over-running the Decree of God, who is wise enough to flush our callow Precipitancies, and Ripen them all to flye to his Glory. And it may be a greater than Abraham or Sarah was here in the Council; for we may well know how serviceable Hagar proves to the whole Church of God, in lending not only an Hand to dress up an Allegory, but her Shoulder too, to justle out the Old Covenant, which was so unwilling to give way to the New.

The Hebrews (*) to keep up the Honour of Abraham, and that he degraded not himself by entring into the Chamber of Hagar, will needs have us to believe that she was of Royal Ex­traction, and Daughter to the King of Egypt; they will not own him to have entred into a meaner Bed than that of a Princess; but while they seek to keep up the Reputation of their Father, they see not how foully they betray the ill manners of their Mother, who after her Con­ception [Page 108]treated the Daughter of a King so hard­ly. Be her Birth what it will, 'twas Honour enough to Hagar to be second in Abrahams Affe­ctions, and for his sake to wear the Dignity in Holy Records of being the Grand-mother of twelve Princes.

Hagar's Spirits swell with her Belly, she nourishes the Embryo and a Tympany together: The height of her Pride plainly demonstrates the lowness of her Birth. Right Noble Blood sweetly streams in the happy Channel of its own rich Veins, when the baser Gore, like Jordan, breaks all bounds, and over­floweth all its Banks: There are no Reins can bridle up the Insolency of a proud Ʋsurper. He that manages well enough the little Pinnace of a smaller Fortune, grows giddy when riding with a Top-Gallant. Hagar humble enough in the Closet, grows Arrogant under her Preferment to the Bed of Sarah. Behold, she which dragged two Kings at the Chariot Wheels of her Beauty, is here despised in the Eyes of her own Maid. The Concubine of Abraham insults over his Lady. Pretenders to Religion, who force a Kiss from Jesus, (with Judas) Sell his Person, and break the Peace of his Family, when those that of a long time have lain in his Bosom (with John) seek above every thing to pre­serve it. The young Jilts of an Upstart Pro­fession, have frequently rent the Church into those gaping Schisms which an whole Council of Fathers have hardly been able to close up. This Ʋnder-sucker from the first discovery of her budding out, waxes most insufferably haugh­ty in that sap which she had thiev'd from the [Page 109] Top branch. 'Tis she that must make her Lord happy in that Fruit, which his Sarah had never the Honour to bear him; (*) as if God himself had given her a Bill of Divorce from that Dig­nity and Abraham's Bed together, to make sole room for her self, the Elect Mother of the great Heir that was to come: She seems a Type of Diotrephes, who would shove out the beloved Dis­ciple, to get the Preheminence into his own hands over all the Houshold of God. Ambition is a dangerous Pestilence in the sacred Building, and eats through the very Rafters of it. This Bond-woman grows so intolerably high, that com­mon Prudence necessitates her humbling: Sarah is resolved to cut her Comb, and break the Egg of this Cockatrice e're it be hatched into a Ser­pent; if she hiss already, she may chance to bite hereafter. How doth God frequently blast those Councils that derive not direction from the Sanctuary! Now is the goodly frame of Sa­rah's Project fallen upon her own Head, and ready to break it, while she vainly contrived to build the House of Abraham with this un­tempered Mortar: So infallibly will they be de­ceived who think to preferr the Hagarine Hu­mours of Nature into a Conjunction with Di­vine Grace, and put them to Bed together in hopes of an eternal Issue: where instead of Generating an Heir to Abraham, they fall to scratching each other, and nothing appears but [Page 110]a mad Ishmael, that flyes in the Face of every one, without any Favour to its own Benefactors. Gold and Dirt make an ill Mixture, and but daubs the Fingers of him that endeavours to temper them together. In short, Sarah per­ceives her Folly, and too late repents her pre­cipitant Counsels; who by calling up her Maid to stand Cheek by Jole with her self, soon dis­covered the danger of being overtopp'd in her own House, should she thus go on to raise her Heels so high, and perk up so loftily as she be­gan: She resolves therefore to put in her Bill of Complaint, though she knew not the Issue of her Suit, since (she fears) the Judge him­self is a Party against her, and too openly fa­vours her Adversary: Yea, she is bold in her Declaration to Accuse him downright of an un­just Compliance, and (should that fail) she doubts not to prove him guilty of too great a Conni­vance at the Insolencies of his Minion: And was really Jealous that her New Sheets had feloni­ously drawn away all his old Affections from her self. But should she find him no kind Chan­cellour, she resolves to Appeal unto God Him­self, who would surely look into the Merits of her Cause, and pass a most equitable Sentence for her.

Abraham the sole Arbiter of this Difference (mindful of his Sarahs Fidelity to him under all the Temptations of Pharaoh's Court) cannot now justifiably warp from his Integrity to her for the sake of any Egyptian Slave, and is wise enough to allay the heat of Sarah's fury, by giving her satisfactory Evidence of the coldness [Page 111]of his Love to Hagar, which he could manifest in nothing more clearly to her, than by calling her up to the Bench, and leaving her there to pass her own Decree. Behold thy Maid is in thy hand, do to her as it pleaseth thee: Very Prudent and Admirable Justice, since (who is ignorant) that from the little Sparks of Contention, in­kindled by Ambition and Jealoufie, on the Spirit of Women, have too often issued those Fires which have burned to a dreadful Conflagration. The Sword in their Lips have been snatched thence into the Hands of their Husbands, and made bloody work in the Church of God. Abraham yields the Concubine to be blown up, to prevent the running of the Flame any far­ther in his Family; and (for ought we can find) Sarah spares for no Powder. How happy and Righteous were we, if in this we could imi­tate our Father, and in the bustling Broils be­tween Flesh and Spirit, ever take part with the high-born Soul, labouring under all the proud Tyrannies of her Insulting baser Enemy, deliver­ing her up to suffer the just penalties of her Inso­lence and Folly, who must be dealt with as a Slave, and throughly humbled, least she make the whole House too hot for us here, and at last lead us away Prisoners with her, and both pe­rish together.—I keep under my Body, and bring it into subjection, least I my self become a cast-away.

But thô Paul was happy and successful in the Methods of his Discipline over his Flesh; yet all the severity Sarah could make use of, did little work any Change upon her Bond-woman, to reduce her within Bounds of her Duty. O the [Page 110] [...] [Page 111] [...] [Page 112]Plague of an untameable Spirit, that baffles all the Arts of both Heaven and Earth to humble it! Neither Frowns nor Smiles, neither Stroaks nor Stroakings, neither Judgments nor Mercies make the least impression upon this impenetrable Rock, to melt into one drop of Reluctancy, till Blood flowing from the holy veins of a God-Man fall upon it, and dissolve the Adamant all into Water.

Hagar will Break sooner than Bow, and choo­ses rather to flye from, than bend to her Mistress, she resolves to lye in none rather than a Truckle-Bed: So grievous is it for Nature, to fall in the price of it self, that it preferrs Annihilation when it cannot attain the Ends of its Ambition. Achitophels great Spirit hates to survive the fune­ralls of his Reputation, and suffers rather an Hal­ter, than dishonour: while Grace shrowds its own Worth, and blushingly veyls its meritorious Vertues. Moses his Mask is still worn by those excellent Souls that are ever on the Mount, when vain and empty Minds rage and grow angry with the World for not Ado­ring the Shrine of their Nothingness. And what is Hagar now broken off from her Mistresse, but a poor sorry contemptible creature in the Wilderness; while I see her sitting by the wa­ter-side, desolate and comfortless, ruminating in her Mind all the past Transactions of her Life, and very probably now brought most sensibly to bewayl that stubbornness and ill-na­ture that had thus reduc'd her to this Extre­mity? She seems too lively a Shadow of those miserable Souls, whom their own wretchedness [Page 113]and Divine Justice, hath Excommunicated from the Church for ever, into a more fatal Lake, where they have now Time enough (if an Eternity suf­fices) to commune with their own Hearts, of all the unspeakable Kindnesses of a God towards them thro the whole Series of their Life, who all along courted them with the Varieties of his good Providence, and yet further with all the Delicacies of his Ordinances, allowing them the rich Privi­ledges of his House and Table; under all which, instead of an Humble and Reverend Demeanour in his Family, a Grateful and Affectionate Sence of his Goodness, with a lowly Reflection on their own Ʋuworthiness, they waxed Wanton and Proud, breaking all the bonds of Obedience and Duty, fomenting Schisms and Divisions in the Church. Murmuring against Moses and Aa­ron, bringing all things into so perfect Confu­sion, that the Earth it self disdaining to bear them any longer, opened her Jaws to provide them a Grave, where they have nothing else to do but bitterly to lament their Distraction and Madness, in not timely considering the concerns of their Peace, which now (alas) are hid from their Eyes.

Yet Hagars case is not thus desperate; she bore along with her that Pledge of Heavens care and her Masters pity, as well might serve to cherish in her some hope for commiseration and relief. She had not so long lived in Abrahams house to gather no fragments of Religion, the very Rebels of the Family have yet learned to howle in their Ex­tremities for some help: In their affliction they will seek me early. And it may be God had Allured her [Page 114]into this Wilderness, to teach her the Lesson of Humiliation, which she could never take forth in the day of her Prosperity; therefore is an Angel sent from Heaven to speak comfortably to her. And her Repentance hath procured to her the Honour of the first Visit that ever Angel is yet noted to have made into the World: Or rather the Prince of Angels sent himself, cloathed with beams of brightness, and those Celestial Qualities which make her own him to be, as indeed he was, the Lord Jehovah, [ver. 13.] The poor wretch was trudging home towards Egypt, with an heavy Body and an heavier Mind, and was now resting her self by a Fountain of Water (increased by a contribution from her Eyes, which she hardly stops to clear up and look on so Illustrious a Com­forter.) Natural Tears shed for self, need but Gods presence to strike the Heart, and hallow them into Tears for Sin. Hagar admires to hear her self so readily named, and in the same moment her Faults detected; Where is the guiltless Name that God can speak to from Heaven? If she were Sarahs Maid, what did she there? Had she her Mistresses pass-port with her? When we flie from our Callings, we flie from God, whose Law com­mands us to a fixed Station, and whose Providence watcheth over us in it, and whose Correction reacheth us in all our wandrings from it. We shall find little reward at the Evening of Life, for sitting all the day Idle in the Market-place of the World. 'Tis a sad and unanswerable End of our Lives, to Eat and Drink and rise up to Play. The Epilogue of that Comedy will be spoken in Hell. Idleness is but One of Hagars crimes, Folly marches [Page 115]after, and Misery brings up the Rear of both. Camest thou from Abraham's Family, the hap­piest in all the Earth, and made only unfortunate by thee? Canst thou forsake the Houshold of Faith, and be safe? Art thou Stealing away with the Fruit of thy Masters Loins, to give it a Birth in Egyptian Aire, and Robbing thine own Child of all the Blessings that an Heir of Abraham may hope to Inherit? And whether wilt thou go? to those again that sold thee out for a Slave? Canst thou expect to render thy condition any where better, than there from whence thou camest? The stub­bornness of thy Heart, was the cause of the bit­terness of thy Life. 'Twas thine own Pride that justly incensed thy Mistress. Nor canst thou look down on thy swelling Womb without blushing at thine own Ingratitude. Return therefore and pay her the Honour, her Merits, and thine own Duty requires from thee. All the World will be but Bush and Brake to thee, a very barren Wilderness to the Comforts of thy Masters House. Hagar (as once that Woman of Samaria) by a discovery of her private Concerns, discerning the Blessed Angel to be more than Man, doth not Impiously pin her own Guilt on her Mistresses Sleeve, nor dares to Impeach her in the least; shew as too con­scious of her own Crimes to conceal them from him, that (she saw) very well knew them al­ready. This Modesty and the tacite Confession of her own Imprudence, fits her for Mercy, and sets her free from further Rebukes.

But this glorious Messenger had another Errand: He came not from Heaven only to return her back to her Mistress, however to Encourage her [Page 116]to it, he will be so favourable to give her a Light into the dark Cells of her Womb, and discover to her what lay concealed there. And as Abraham had a Vision into all the Contingencies of his Family, so shall his Concubine be blessed above Women, in the Knowledge of the Sex, Nature, Condition, and Fortunes of her yet unborn Child. The An­gel is Godfather indeed, and gives him a Name: A name that shall live and flourish in the Mouths and Memories of a numerous and durable Poste­rity, whose condition and manner of Life, (he Prophesies) shall be strange and different from all the World. A generation of Men that shall de­light to Rove as a wild Ass in the Wilderness, to keep a-part by themselves in the Desarts of the Earth, Fierce, Cruel, and Warlike; such are the Saracens and Arabians, and such is their Quality and kind of Life to this day.

Hagar devoutly returns the Glory of his grace unto God, who had beyond all Expectation re­garded her in Affliction by so glorious a Legate. The Beams of whose Majesty were so kind to her, to leave her the Light of her Eyes, which she ad­mires was not lost by so dazling an Object; and Baptizes the very Well with its own Water, giv­ing it an everlasting Name, that still bears the Memoire of the Mercy of being Able to live after she had seen the Lord.

With a glad Heart, and full resolutions of bet­ter Conformity, she returns back to her Lady, and doultless very humbly submits her self to her Grace; who receives her in obedience to the or­der of Heaven, which seldom sends ill Members to the Church after the Convictions of Conscience [Page 117]upon them: We are never good in our Callings, till God meet and directs us. Onesimus was All Hands for Philemon, when God had changed his Heart. Grace qualifieth us for universal service to God and Men. Abraham (to whom doubless the trans­action with the Angel in the Wilderness, was ve­ry accurately repeated by Hagar) provides like himself for the Birth of his Child; and hath great hopes of the Son that an Angel had already given Name to: Who when he came into the World finds a Father that had already passed Eighty Six years on the Earth.

CHAP. VII.

The Covenant of Grace renewed and confirmed to Abraham, and the Spiritual Heirs of his Faith for an Everlasting Testament, that nei­ther Sin nor Death shall ever be able to dis­solve.

[...]TWas in that Chilly and Withered Age, when now Time had snowed upon him, and he was ready to stumble upon the dark Mountains, and the Grave waited for him; and his Hopes of Sarah's Body were as desperate and cold, as his own Blood and Spirits; that the Lord made his Fifth Visit and Appearance to his beloved Abraham. He is so far from casting him off in his Old Age, or for saking him when his strength faileth, that behold he cometh with such Cordials in his Hand as shall brisk up and invigorate his fainty Soul, and renew [Page 118]his strength as an Eagle. He shall have new Eyes that shall pierce deeper into the Mystery of the God­head, and enable him to see more clearly. He shall have new Feet to Walk on before his God more firmly (one would have thought he had come already (at this Age) to the end of his Course, but now he must walk on still.) He shall have new Ears, to hear Himself and his Lady called by other Names. He shall have new and better Promises for his Faith and Hopes to build on more strongly. A new Sacrament to establish and con­firm those hopes more Infallibly: A Wife who shall no more be called Barren: A new Heir that shall make him the Father of Kings. A Family that shall bare a new Mark and Impress. And all these in the very despair and evening of his Days, to let all the World see the Almighty Power of Him, who from the beginning hath wrought all things out of Nothing, and can make things to start up and be, which do not yet Appear, to give Life to our Hopes and Souls.

God thinks it but a small thing, that he had already confirmed to Abraham and his Children, all the Kingdoms of Canaan for a Possession by his Oath. And tho' he foresaw well enough that there would be but too many of them, whose Affections would be incorporate into those fruit­ful Fields and Pastors, and all their utmost desires centred in the exuberant Productions of them, yet had he given ample Testimony of his kind­ness to Abraham, in making so rich and noble Provision for the worst of his Family, whose In­gratitude to himself, and Apostacy from their Great Fathers Faith and Principles, might per­haps [Page 119]in time raise the Stomack of that very Land against them, which had gotten a custom of Vo­miting out her Inhabitants: Those whom she saw making so ill use of her Bounty, as so surfeit on her Dainties, and abuse them to the dishonour of her great Lord; for whom therefore having made Portions so perfectly connatural to themselves, by that Covenant, He proceeds now to a disco­very of a better Inheritance than Canaan, and per­fectly adequate too, to the more pure and refined inclinations of those better Children of Abraham, on whom the very Features of his brave Soul should survive and appear, and who should not idley boast in the priviledge of his Blood running in their Veins, when they bore not the least sha­dow of his Faith and Goodness in their Hearts. For these express Images of their Fathers Graces, He knows no better Heritage to confer upon them, than his own most Blessed Self. He hath portion enough that hath a God: — Blessed is the People whose God is the Lord. Nothing less than He, can be a proportionable Portion for the Spi­ritual Heirs of Abraham's Faith. Therefore to let him see the unexpressible Riches of his Grace, and the high Contrivances of his Heart, which was ever working into more and greater Mani­festations of his Love towards him, he passes from Heaven to break in pieces all the Barrs of Oppo­sition and Despair; not only that little one of his Wife's Barrenness, which obstructed all his hopes of an Heir, but also those mighty ones of Sin and Hell, which hinder the World of the blessings of a Saviour.

Now the better to Illustrate the Glory of that Grace, which he is ready to Seal to his Dearest Abraham, He will lay the Foundation of it in a more Conspicuous and Brighter Revelation of Himself to him, than ever yet he had the Happi­ness to enjoy: By drawing the Curtain from the profound Abyss of the Incomprehensible Deity, and flashing out a clearer Beam of his Majesty upon his Understanding and Mind, in the further Light and Joy whereof, he shall henceforth walk all the days of his Life, as in the Shine of a thousand Suns. Knowledge is the foundation of Faith, and the greater Degrees of it, are the enlarging the Field wherein the Contemplations of the Soul more unlimitedly walk with sweeter Liberty, while Her desires stretch out themselves by the utmost Extensions, after the Infinite Good they discover: And though they despair to reach it here below (for God is Great and we know him not, so great that we cannot know him) yet 'tis no small delight to them to enjoy a Pisgah-sight of that Glorious Canaan. God had already shewn unto Abraham, what he would be unto him under Metaphorical Expressions of Shield and Reward. But he knows not yet distinctly enough, what he is in Himself, and he should be infinitely happier in a more satisfactory discovery of his Nature, such as might brighten his Judgment and Appre­hensions. The greatest part of the Worlds Re­ligion is Samaritan, Men worship they know not what; but Abraham shall know Him he worships, and shall be guided by the light of such an Attribute, that shall open his Intellectuals into the Sence of the Divine Nature, and such a One too, as shall [Page 121]be most naturally effectual to work up his other Faculties into a chearful and unreserved Resigna­tion of his whole Person and Actions to the Will of God; when he shall find that he hath all those Infinite Perfections in him, which com­pleat and fill up the Blessedness of a God, without going out of Himself to fetch in any Contribu­tions to make him more Happy than he is already. If therefore such a God would make over Him­self to him, and give him an Interest in that All­sufficiency which he himself both is and hath, Abraham should have little cause to complain of Defects in the Perfection of his Felicity, since he hath every thing (according to his Capacity) whatsoever an All-sufficient God hath, to make himself perfectly Happy: Let him stretch out the Appetites of his Soul to the remotest expan­sions of Eternity, even thither will this God follow him, to Supply and Perfect up all his de­sires.

This is the delicious Prospect that his Spiritual Eyes shall be Irradiated to gaze on; far tran­scending all the outward Objects of a Transitory World, or the Canaan in it that formerly he had commanded him to View. This is that Luscious Banquet he prepares for Abraham's Faith and Affections to Feast on. And methinks, Rea­der, thou hast no reason to complain of Scarcity, when thou art placed after him at the same Table, with an Addition of many more Viands which his Great Son hath brought from Heaven with him. The standing Dish that every Son of Abraham is commanded to break his Fast on, is God Himself. And he is enough without any [Page 124]other Sallads from Canaan. Yet hath he strange­ly Improved himself under the Gospel, where he hath dressed and set out himself with all the pleasing advantages to our Palats imaginable. And when all this is done, how few are there found, that relish any Sweetness in him. Our Squeamish Stomacks, with those nice Children of Abraham, Will none of him. Our Sick Souls Loath this precious Manna. But art thou in Health, Reader, that thy Soul tasts not a God? Does Onions and Garlick, Wind and Vanity please thee better; Go take thy Repast with Ephraim, and see whether thou beest not grip'd at the last. 'Tis himself indeed that must give us eyes to behold his own Beauties and holy Senses, to relish his own Sweetness.

Do but observe with what Extasie of Passion the great Abraham's Soul was seized at the first Breaking out of so transcendent a Mercy: He Bows himself to the Earth with the same Pro­stration, as a poor Indigent would do that had Scepters and Kingdoms Sealed up to him by a Royal Hand and Bounty. The former Largesses of Canaan cost him but a few humble Cringes, but here he Sinks down flat under the weight of this excessive Glory, the having a God secured to him by Covenant. He lies Astonished on the Ground before him, struck down in Amazement at the thought of so vast a Condescention of a God making over Himself, with all the Glories of Heaven and Earth, to a contemptible Worm extracted no higher than the poor Dust he lay on. When the frequent Sound of the same mira­culous Grace beating into the Ears of thee and [Page 125]me, Reader, hath not the least Energy upon our Hearts, nor hath wrought any greater Concern upon us, than if we had been hearing Lectures of Happiness in the Kingdom of the Moon, and promising hopes of Promotion in Eutopia. Yet is God so pleased to see Abraham thus Lowly, that taking him when he is Down, He Dubs him a Knight of the Holy Order, and adds a Sacred Syllable more to his Name; who from the single Honour of being the Great Father of the Thou­sands of Israel, shall be now inaugurated the true Pope of the Ʋniversal Church of God, next and immediately under his own Son. And Kings by more Natural Bonds than those of Civility and Complement, shall truly call him Father, and be proud too to derive their Royal Descent from the direct Line of his Blood. Thus is Abraham placed in a Chair of State upon a Throne, with all the Scepters of the World humbly lying at his Feet. His Humility hath gotten him this Honour. Jecon [...]ah's Wickedness shav'd him into the despicable Cut of plain Coniah (as one un­worthy to fill up the Leaves of the Sacred Re­cords with the full Syllables of his Name:) But Abraham's Devotion must swell the Volume, and all Lips shall be Taxt to pay a greater Tribute of Breath to his Title. 'Tis Critically observed that the Hebrew Letter [He] that God interposed within Abraham's Name, is the Principal of those Holy Letters which make up the Tetragram­maton, and is twice made use of in the Ineffable Name of God; which was to mind him, that in this Covenant, he did not as formerly, convey away his Blessings only; but now should his Abra­ham [Page 126]communicate of his very Divinity. Startle not, Reader, 'tis no more than what St. Peter in­vesteth the whole Posterity and Church with, who are Partakers of the Divine Nature of God.

Now because the best Women are a little Ambi­tious, and God knew how ill Sarah would take it, should she not Participate in the same Dignity with her Lord, Abraham with his own Hand shall deliver the Patent for a Ladiship, that from the little Verge of her own Court shall extend it self, and Invest Her with a Right of Precedency above all the Ladies of the World. As the Great Grand­mother of a Double Race of Kings, whose Sacred Diadems shall out-glitter all the Crowns upon Earth. Let those of her Order remember that Sarah was a LADY of Gods Immediate Creation, who though She be now Advanced to far greater Glory than that, yet may they not forget the First of their Order, and ever think it their Duty to give her Place in their Hearts.

To no more purpose do we bear the Sacred Name of God our Saviour upon us, if the Holy Nature of Jesus be not found within us, then did the Jews, the Carnal Seed of the Spiritual Abra­ham, who by vertue of the Covenant, were named the People of God, and called by his Name, by whose dishonourable Actions that Holy Name of God was Blasphemed by the very Gentiles, and for which cause they that bore his Name, now bear his Wrath, and are cut off from all the Prerogatives of that Holy Calling. Take heed therefore, Christian, and Let every one that nameth the Name of the Lord Jesus, depart from Iniquity.

And though the Priviledges annexed to this [Page 127]Holy Name and Divine Nature, will not be ac­knowledged to the Rightful Heirs of Abraham in this Forreign World, where they are as Princes Incognito in a strange Country (their King him­self being but This Fellow in every impious Mouth, and they knew not whence he was) yet hath God given them the High Title of Sons and Daughters to Himself, (and they shall be so, saith the Lord Almighty:) Nay, a Name better than that, the Mighty Heirs of God, and Joynt-Heirs with Christ, of the everlasting Kingdom, where they shall be glorified together with Him who is even Gods Fellow, and shall wear the immar­cessible Crown; being every one of them Kings and Priests unto God, they need little envy the swelling Titles of Exalted Ashes, whose petty Honours will all in a Moment lye in the Dust, and be interr'd with Themselves in the Dark Vault of an eternal Oblivion, when these are Enrolled in the Registries of Everlastingness, and their blessed Names written by God himself in the Book of Life. And how impossible is it for others that inherit the Royalties of Abraham and Sarah, who Care not to derive them from the Great Foun­tain of the true and ever-living Honour, will not present their Patents to Heaven to be Con­firmed there, but satisfie themselves with the bare Ecchoing each others Titles, and bandying them from Lip to Lip, with such Ridiculous Circumstances of Complement, as harden them against God himself, and makes all the real Dignities of the great Abra­ham, very despicable in their Eyes; which the Blessed Jesus perceived well enough when he pro­nounced the Incapacity of such Men to parti­cipate [Page 128]of the True Honour which cometh from God only, when they satisfie themselves with re­ceiving Honour one from Another. Would God that all the Pagan Princes of the Earth would once remember to Dip their Robes in the Blood of the Immaculate Lamb, and lay down their Crowns at the Sacred Feet of the Holy Jesus, who would keep them no longer than till he had taken Measure by them, how to fit their Royal Heads with Others more transparently Glorious, against the time they shall come to wear them in his own Kingdom! And that all the In­ferior Shields of the Earth would Joyn themselves to the People of the God of Abraham, who praise him for ever for all the Glories he hath by this Cove­nant secured to them in the endless Life.

And what else was the end of God in this Nobi­litating Abraham and Sarah, by drawing out their Titles into a more sweet and excellent Euphony, than only to usher in and make way for the future Honours of a nearer Relation to Himself. As Princes ordinarily clap Coronets on the Heads of those celebrated Beauties whom they design to Advance and bring within their Curtains. So here the most high God, in the drawing up the Covenants of Marriage between Himself and these Holy Persons, is not unmindful to include the Article of an Honour proportionable to the Dig­nity of the Match, and e'er he Solemnize the Nuptials, will affix a Majesty to their Names, which shall drown all the commemoration of their Native Meanness, and mind them of the Royal Endowments they enjoy from the Great Joyn­ture [Page 129]which Enriches them with an unlimited Dowry both of Heaven and Earth.

No wonder then that Abraham shrouds his Face with Shame and Blushing, in the humble consciousness of his own Vileness, as thinking himself most unworthy the Grace of being thus Promoted to the Glory of a Conjugal Ʋnion with an Almighty Jehovah; and had his Posterity been as humble and sensible as himself was of that exceeding Honour, they had never so treache­rously run Whoring from so great an Husband after Stocks and Stones, when Himself was ever so Faithful and Constant to the Bonds of his Cove­nant, as it went against his very Heart to write them a Bill of Divorce, (How shall I give thee up Ephraim?) but was ever sending Messengers and Letters after them, to invite and perswade them to remember themselves, and him to whom they were so strongly Allyed and Ʋnited, beseeching them to return again to their first Husband: And though this was not the common Custom of Men to receive again those Wives that had so often run Away to play the Harlot with other Lovers, yet would Himself pardon all, and en­tertain them again in Love and Peace: For I am married unto you, saith the Lord, Jer. 3.1. & 12. Will you take a View of the Marriage Covenants, and observe, That though they be drawn up by God himself, yet to what Mighty Advantage they Run on the Part of Abraham and his Heirs for ever?

First, I am God: And whatsoever I am in my Self, that will I be to thee; I will be a God to thee.

Secondly, As I am God, I am Almighty, and Alsufficient, both for my self and all my Crea­tures that shall close with me! I will make over the Fulness and Alsufficiency of my Godhead to thee. There is nothing in it, (com­municable to the Creature) but what shall be secured to, and imployed for Thee and Thine on all occasions.

Thirdly, The very same Priviledge shall be secure to all the Children of thy Faith for ever­more: I will be their God, and I do hereby firm­ly, and unalterably Covenant with thee to be a God unto Thee and Them. To do and be what­soever a God can do and be to his People in Covenant with him.

Fourthly, I will confirm my part of these Covenants to thee and thy spiritual Seed, by mine Oath which shall never be broken: And they shall be one day further Ensured and Seal­ed in the Blood of my Son.

Now on the other side, what I require of thee Abraham, and all thy Seed that shall en­ter into this Covenant after thee, is no more than (what every Woman engageth to her Hus­band) to be faithful and Loyal. I will be wholly to thee, and thou shalt be wholly to me. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other Gods but me: This is my Covenant therefore, thou shalt Walk before me in Ʋprightness, with a Per­fect Heart, and a willing Mind. Thine Eye and Heart shall be ever upon me, to admire thine own Happiness in all my Perfections: Thou needest not hunt after Creatures, with expecta­tion of other Good than what is secured to thee [Page 131]in my Self: Didst thou know what a Portion thou hast in a God, thou wouldst disdain to turn aside after Idols: Thou hast mine Alsuffici­ency made over to thee, out of which, as from an inexhaustible Fountain, thou mayst draw out all thy Supplies. What need they run to Streams that have a Command of the Spring-head? Let thy Children be but Faithful and Constant to me, and give themselves up by an adequate measure of Trust and Confidence in my Truth and Covenant, relying wholly on my Wisdom and Goodness in providing for them, and cast­ing all their cares upon Me, they shall ever reap the sweet Effects of that Recumbency, while they give me the Glory of their Faith: I will never leave them, I will never forsake them, [ [...],] I will not, no, by no means I will not: While they keep up entire Affecti­ons towards me, I will delight to do them good, with all my Heart, and with all my Soul: But if they run Whoring from me, (for I am a Jea­lous God) I shall soon discover the least Ab­erration of their unfaithful Hearts, and have Wayes enough (tho' Sharp and Thorny) to Hedge up their wandring Steps, and reduce them again to their First Husband: But Inte­grity of Soul will be their greatest Glory, and the higher their Affections shall arise by perfect Dependance upon me, the more sweetly will all the streams of my Love and Goodness flow out upon them: I will fill their Souls wit [...] Joy and Peace in Believing: They shall taste Angels food, and feast themselves with the Bread of Heaven: The very Marrow and Fat­ness [Page 132]of my Bounty shall be their daily Repast: They shall not envy the Prosperities of the Wicked, that are feeding themselves to an Eter­nal Slaughter: When the ravishing sence of my Love alone shining in upon them, shall fur­nish out all Varieties of ineffable Pleasures to them, they shall pity those that are walk­ing in the Shadows of Death, and See with none other but Brutish Eyes, when the Beams of my Presence shall Gild all the Chambers of their Souls, and make a continual Goshen there: When the World shall reproach and reject them, because of their Fidelity to my Covenant, and they complain how much they suffer for me; I will extend the Arms of my tender Mercies to receive them into mine own Embra­ces and safety. And should some of them (as my Witnesses) be delivered up to the Malice of their Enemies, and they Mercilesly kill them all the day long, and lead them as Sheep to the slaughter; yet shall Death be so far from se­parating them from my Love, that themselves shall be more than Conquerours over all; while all the surviving of them may prepare their Eyes to see the Vengeance, and their feet to be washed in the Blood of their Enemies. Is not this laid up with me, and sealed among my Treasures? Trea­sures of Wrath which shortly shall be poured on them, and fall down in whole Cataclismes of Judgment on their Guilty Heads and Souls, who have eaten up my People as Bread.

The dread of Death must not tempt them to recede one Inch from their Sincerity, since they have a God who is a Fountain of Life; [Page 133]and that little little of it they breath out in the World, is not a Drop compared to the River of Life they shall Swim in to Eternity: But that little (how little soever it be) when Offered to my Glory, is so pleasing a Sacrifice, as cannot fail to draw from mine Exchequer the singular Retributions of my Favour, on those happy Souls, who so valorously surren­der up their All to my Truth and Honour, in assured Confidence of an happier Being in my Self. 'Tis the Triumph of my Justice to render unto every Man according to his Work: As to their Executioners the hotter Fires of my Wrath, and double Portions of my Plagues, so more resplendant Crowns for the Loyal Heads of those who failed not to write the Eviden­ces of their Integrity and Love in the dearest Blood of their Hearts. How preeious then in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints! Whose Souls are so securely bound up in the Bundle of Life with the Lord their God, that all their Ene­mies on Earth, that all the Devils in Hell can­not slacken the Knots of that Ʋnion, by which they are fastened to Himself. Life is Theirs, to fit them for, and Death is Theirs to bring them to his Glory, and blessed Fruition of his Endless Love. And in nothing could God have manifested a greater Love to his Abraham, than by prescribing a Duty so perfectly agree­able to his own Holy Nature, which is Pure, Simple and Unmixt. He is what He is, and cannot be any thing else than what he disco­vers Himself to be, the only True and Faithful God, keeping Covenant and Mercy with them that [Page 134]love him and keep his Commands: And 'tis Since­rity alone, Truth in the inward Parts, the Service of a real and perfect Heart that he requires: He hath shewed thee, O Man! what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee more, than to do justly, (as Himself will) to love mercy, (as Him­self doth) and to walk humbly before him? To be holy as he is holy, perfect as he is perfect; looking towards Him with the simgle Eye of Fidelity and Love, and directing all thy Devotions to him with Delight and Joy: Is he not thy Father, whom else shouldst thou Reverence and Love? Is he not thy God in Covenant with thee, whom else shouldst thou rejoyce and delight in? No true Son of Abraham, who knows how Zecharies Soul was ravished, when God after more than two Thousand years performed the mer­cy promised; and in remembrance of his holy Cove­nant, which he swore to our Forefather Abraham, sent his Great Heir into the World to confirm and seal it with his Blood; will think it re­mote from the Story of Abraham's Life, if I stop a little, and spend a Page or two in the opening the Bowels of this Mercy, wherein his own Salvation is so nearly concerned, (and which have swell'd up the Volumes of so ma­ny of our Excellent Authors.) If the same Co­venant were all the Desire and all the Salvati­on of the Princely David, (with whom it was also renewed) the Comfort whereof was the Joy and Rejoycing of his Heart, methinks it might be some Refreshment here to every Heir of the same Promise.

A Brief Account of the Covenant of Grace.

KNow then, that by this Promise, I will be a God unto thee; Each Person of the Holy Trinity is made over to them, to work personally and distinctly for them: And true Believers have a real Propriety in each Person of the Blessed Godhead. I will be thy God, saith the Father here: And I will give my Son to them, [Ʋnto us a Son is given] and I will pour out my Spirit upon them. Not a Communicable At­tribute of God, but what is made over, and put by this Covenant into the possession of the Sons of Abraham to live on: Therefore David claims the Strength of God as his own, and the Mercy of God as his own: Thou art the God of my Strength, and the God of my Mercy. That Power and Mercy which thou hast secured to me for my Hope and Comfort, to make use of in all Extremities, and against all Infirmi­ties; and the whole Church claims the Bene­fit and Honour of their Relation to God from no other Right. Doubtless thou art our Father. And I will be a Father unto them, to act as a Father for them. So not any Merit or Grace in Jesus the Son, but what is as certainly secu­red; whatsoever he was, or did, or suffered, was all for their sake. The Fruit and Benefit of all most certainly accrewable to Them. All the Operations of the Holy Spirit, sure and cer­tain to the Heirs of this Promise: They shall in­fallibly be convinced of Sin, Converted to God, established in Grace, comforted in Affliction, [Page 136]and prepared for Salvation. All the Decrees of Heaven run in their Favour, and all Providen­ces co-operate for their Eternal Good.

Jesus Himself is the Head of the Covenant, the first Federate, the Corner-stone on whom is built the whole Fabrick, the Contrivance where­of thô secret and mysterious, transacted by Covenant between the Father and Himself: Yet we find Eternal Life secured by Promise to eve­ry Believer before the foundation of the World, on condition of such performances that Christ in fulness of Time should appear in the World to perfect and accomplish: And some of these Articles of the Covenant of Redemption, are expre­sly apparent to any that carefully observe them in Isaiah 49. Jesus therefore is the first Elect, but we Elected in him: He the first Called, and we Called by him. In Him is all fulness dwelling, from which we receive Grace for Grace. He Commissiona­ted, sealed and sent, with the Offices of Prophet, Priest, and [...]ing: Other Prophets Commissioned un­der him, are sent to perswade and draw us into the Bonds of the Covenant; these speak to the Ear, but He is the True Prophet, that effectually worketh by speaking to the Heart. Him shall ye hear: I will al­lure her, I will speak to her Heart, when I speak. See Margin Hosea 2.14. He draws us as he did Abraham by Illumination, and giving us New Eyes to see God in the Beauty of his Holiness, and the exceeding Riches of his Grace; Sin in its Sinfulness, Deformity, Filthiness, and exe­crable Effects; Duty in the Reasonableness, Good, and Profitableness of it; Our selves, as perfectly undone by Nature, and further de­stroyed [Page 137]by Sin: All Creatures in their insuffi­ciency, and weakness to do us any good: All our Righteousness as filthy Rags, and nothing: Him­self as the only Refuge of Hope, and Salvation to be no where had but in him: He our on­ly Priest, sacrificing his own Body upon the Tree, and pouring out his own Blood to expiate Sin, which the blood of Sacrifices could never take away, but by this Offering Blotted out, remo­ved to the distance of the East from the West, buried in the depths of the Sea; Sought for but not found, forgotten and remembred no more, free­ly and for ever pardoned; and the Hand-writing that was against us Cancell'd, and nothing laid to our charge. 'Tis he makes an end of Sin, and brings in Everlasting Righteousness, by which we are justified from all things, and perfectly reconciled to God: He is our Peace, and since his Return to Heaven, becomes our Advocate there, to plead the Merits of his own Righteousness for the Justification and Ac­quitment of all the thankful Heirs of Abraham: God hears Him always: His Blood speaks for us, and on that Account God is but Just in Jorgiv­ing our Sins, himself having paid the Ransom, and becoming the great Propitiation. 'Tis from the prevalency of his Intercession, that he is so Able to save all that come to him. Such an High-Priest became us, our Case desperate with­out Him: No satisfaction for the least sin possi­bly to be made by our selves. Ten thousand Rivers of Oyl, and the offering up the fruit of our Bodies for the sin of our Souls, too mean a Sacri­fice, and to no purpose at all. Redemption cost [Page 138]more than so, and Man must let it alone for ever. The poor carnal Sons of Abraham, going about to establish their own Righteousness, could not make it stand, they too soon found It had no feet to subsist on. The Galathians seeking to compound the Matter by an unnatural mix­ture of their own with Christs, were (by that attempt) in the Account of the Holy Ghost but Fools and Bewitched. He alone the Lord our Righteousness.

Object. But how shall we be brought into it?

Ans. He is therefore a Great King, a Spiritu­al King, a King over Hearts; he hath Arguments to perswade us to lay down our Necks to his easie Yoke, and to bear his lighter Burthen: For he is a gentle Prince, and his Laws are not Grievous or unsufferable; his Service is perfect Freedom. There is nothing difficult to a willing Mind and a ready Heart, which himself is able to give; I will give them a new Heart, and a new Spirit will I put within them; this (and my own Spirit which also I will put in them) shall cause them to walk in my Statutes and to keep my Judgments and do them, Ezek. 30.26. His Throne is within, and all the Exercises of his holy Government trans­acted in the Court of Conscience, where Himself sitteth Judge, (or the blessed Spirit his Vicar) over every Thought of the Heart and Action of the Life. Not a vain Imagination but is brought down and humbled; not an idle thought but what is captivated to the obedience of Christ. 'Tis he that strikes the stony Rock, and the Waters gush out; such a Rock was Peter, whom he smote but with a glance of his Eye, the Sun dissolving the Ice, melt­ed [Page 139]him all into Water; He went out and wept bitterly. He sheddeth his Love into the Soul, and cold Mary is all in a Flame. He pours in his Spirit of Joy, and Paul and Silas sing in the Stocks. He opens the Prison doors, and the Shackles of Sin and Death flie off from the whole World, lying in spiritual Captivity. He Prophesies over the dry Bones, and they come together, take Life, rise up and follow him, as well thro' all Tribulati­ons, Sorrows, Sufferings from Men, Tempta­tions, Buffetings, Persecutions raised by the De­vil, Fears, Disquietments, Dejections of their own Hearts, Infirmities, Weaknesses, and Im­perfections of their Duties; As Comforts, En­couragements, Spiritual strength, present Sence of his Love, and secret Testimonies of his Spi­rit, which is ever present with them, to Illumi­nate, Strengthen, Comfort, Establish and Direct them; and therefore whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of His. This holy King rules not immediately only by his blessed Vicar above, but mediately also by his Subordinate Officers here below: Whether (1.) Civil, whom His Subjects Obey, for his Sake and for Conscience Sake, from a right Principle, (and not Brutishly,) in all their Lawful Impositions agreeable to his Glory; they are ever Praying and Praising God for them, yea tho' they be Persecuted by some of them. Or (2.) Ecclesiastick, whom they Receive, Ho­nour, Love and Obey as his Ambassadours, and such as are sent by Him, to break to them the Bread of Life, whom they therefore follow, and yield themselves up to their Lord, by a gra­cious Conformity to the holy Doctrine brought [Page 140]them by his Ministers, and Adorning that Do­ctrine by a suitable conversation in all things; Abounding in every good word and work, and appro­ving themselves the faithful Servants of God, in all the duties of both Tables, having an equal Respect to all the Commandments of their Lord; and approving themselves to Men by every Act of moral Righteousness and Daty: They shall be at the last day approved by him, to be no Hypocrites, vain Pretenders, proud and empty Professors, self-seeking Designers, or troublesome dividers of his Church and People; but the True, Hearty, Sincere, Rooted, Living and Fruitful Members of his Mystical Body, passing here the time of their Sojourning in filial fear and love, and persevering in all Fidelity and Constancy of Obedience to all the revealed Laws of their great King, as their Fore-father Abraham did; they at last receive the end of their Faith, and everlasting Salvation in Heaven, where with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Heirs of their Covenant, they are blessed and happy, in and with God, and the Lord Jesus for evermore.

Come Reader, hast thou no Heart to accompa­ny the blessed Communion of Saints to this glori­ous Home? Why dost thou then bear about thee the Seal of the same Covenant, and art Crossed for the Holy Land, and hast received the sacred Name of Christ upon thee, and thou pretendest to be a Candidate for Heaven, and wilt rage a­gainst any that will dare to sweep away the Cob­web of thine Hopes; when alas, it hangs by a slender Thread, and the lightest hand breaks every Cord of it away, and down it falls, and thy [Page 141]self with it into utter despair and Ruine. See whether thine Anchor have better hold than theirs, whose Dooms the great Heir himself pro­nounced. The Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out, Matt. 8.12. So little will it avail thee to walk for a while (alas! for a Moment) on the Borders of the blessed Land, if thine own Infi­delity and thy treacherous Heart shut thee out at last. Either Rend off the Title, and wipe away the drops of that holy Water (issuing from the Wounds of the Crucified Saviour) wherewith thou wert once Baptized into that sacred Name, and renounce the hopes of that glorious Profes­sion; Or else be Faithful to thine Articles; and give thy self wholly to him who hath given him­self to thee. Nothing less than the Hearty de­votion of thy whole Soul and Life unto God, can baer any reasonable Proportion with his Royal Bounty, or give any convincing Demonstration of thy Real Gratitude; less than this God will not Take, less than this thou canst not Offer. Every Imperfection, and falling short of this must be lamented with bitter Tears, wherein the poor Heart swims back again to better Duty and stricter Watchfulness, and the broken Bones are jointed in to greater strength and Establishment, made fit to walk with a more direct and even Progress in the holy Path, rejoycing in their own Integrity. But if instead of this, thou be found wandring in the Wilderness of Error and Vanity, walking after the imagination of thine evil Heart, accor­ding to the course of the ungodly World, and not after God; know that thy Covenant is Sealed with melting Wax, and thou thy self art holding [Page 142]it to the Flame, in the light whereof thou mayst read thy despairs, and find thy self in no better condition than those Sons of Abraham whose Un­belief and Obduration hath cancel'd the whole Effects of it, and walking up and down in the Earth as the Deplorable Monuments of divine Indignation, with Antipathies as great as ever a­gainst the blessed Person and Doctrine of the mighty Redeemer. Thou maist indeed (as some of them) have a goodly Portion and Heritage here below, Consolations suitable to thine own poor carnal Heart, (and God will not break the first Articles of a plentiful Canaan in the World, thy Belly shall be filled with hidden Treasures:) But re­member then that thy Tenure is but for Life, and an uncertain Lease which may expire e're to Morrow comes, and the Morning Sun may find thee a Carkase; the Fearful case of him in the Gospel, who went to Bed well, but awaked in Hell. God hath reserved no second Portion in the next World, but that of Fire and Brimstone. The Heavens shall reveal thine Iniquity, and the Earth shall rise up against thee, the Increase of thine House shall depart, and thy Goods shall flow away in the day of his Wrath: There is the portion of a wicked Man from God, and the Heritage appointed him by God. Away vain Man to thy Closet with David, and consider the deplorable condition of These: Make hast to the Sanctuary, and there under­stand their latter end. It may be when thou seest the Slipperiness of their Steps, and how soon they are brought to a fearful end, thou wilt pour out at least a sigh for a better Portion, and to en­joy a more lasting Inheritance in God. Remember [Page 143]me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy People; O visit me with thy Salvation, that I may see the good of thy Chosen, that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Nation, that I may glory with thy Inheritance. A very Sorcerer can breath out his Groans for this Mercy, that He might die the Death of the Righteous, and his last end be like his. 'Tis a fearful Stupidity that terminates all thy desires in the Creature, and layes thee as one Dead in the Grave of Insensibility, without na­tural affection to thine own Soul, or the least Devotion for Abraham's God.

God having drawn the fair Indentures contain­ing the Covenants between Himself on one part, and Abraham and his faithful Children on the Other, will now have them Confirmed by such ir­refragable Obligations as shall make them sure and unalterable for ever. They shall be first Sealed in the Blood of Abraham, and hereafter in the Blood of his Great Heir; and himself will esta­blish them with a Solemn Oath, which you find Gen. 22.16. And every one of Abraham's Poste­rity and Family, shall under pain of Death come in and Seal for himself, entring into a Sacrament, to be True and Faithful to the Articles of the holy League. They with their great Father, must wear the remembrance of so vast a Priviledge, not on their Hearts only, but their Flesh too. Abraham consenting to this Covenant, and giving up himself unto God (who had now given him­self unto Abraham,) must evidence that Consent and yield up Possession, by suffering a Part of Him­self to be cut off, as a little Turfe taken off from the Field to give Livery and Seizin of the whole [Page 144]to the Owner: And by this he shall be known and distinguished to be holy Land, separated from all the huge Common of the Earth, to be a peculiar Inclosure unto God: All the World besides Pro­fane, and left as wild Beasts to Graze on the Moun­tains, while himself and his Family is mark'd up as a little flock for God himself to feed and take care of▪ His Posterity grew so proud of this Priviledge, that they little valued the Princes of the World that bore not this Impression upon them. The Sechemitish Prince must submit to Circumcision e're ever he Bed a Daughter of Abraham [...] And David knew no reason why his little Body that was fortified with the Divint Signature, might not Buckle with an Uncircum­cised Philistine tho' never so Strong. They grew so High, that at last they thought themselves secure against God Himself, and hop'd to baffle his very Justice. While they had Abraham to their Father, the Baptist had enough to do to beat them off from so vain a confidence, and to convince them how little it availed them to glo­ry in Immunities when they were false and un­faithful to them. 'Twas Death to them to hear that sinners of the Gentiles should be admitted to the priviledges themselves enjoyed and despised; But their Great Father (who mistook not the conditions of the Covenant, and kept close to them) was transported with the Reasonableness of all the Articles on his own part, and the Glory of those on Gods, with a brave Readi­ness of Mind that always corresponded with every Dictate of the Divine Will, prepares himself to Bleed, and little felt the smart in the Flesh that [Page 145]signalized to him the infinite Mercies of God to his Soul. Not only his Spirit but his very Flesh is willing, and is glad that at that Age he had any Blood to shed at the Command of God: He demurrs not in the least, nor will sleep e're he yields the Fruits of a chearful Com­pliance. There is no such sincere Obedience [...] as the present. 'Tis dangerous to consult Carnal Rea­son, or call Flesh and Blood to Council, where its own Interests are like to be curtail'd. While the Impetus of Love and Zeal is upon him, will Abraham sacrifice himself, and yield his Flesh to a Sacrament that shall sign and seal to him se­curity from all the dangers of its Lusts, and as­sure him that all the Powers of Sin were per­fectly baffled in that Obedience; and should be as truly mortified as that Dead Skin cut off from his Body, and cast away.

The Great Man that had so full an Interest in the Affections of his Family, was not at a Loss for Arguments to prevail with them to act a Duty so exceedingly profitable to themselves, which he expounded to them in the several parts of its Excellency, and further recommend­ed by his alluring Example. In vain do we im­pose on others a burthen we shrink from our selves. He exacts not any more from them, than what himself and his little Ishmael should do before them: He was not to dwell in Abraham's House who would not close with him in all the parts of his Worship. They had poured the Blood of many a Beast together in Sacrifice, now they must bleed together themselves in their own Per­sons. 'Twas but a superfluity they offered [...] [Page 146]a Free-Will Offering to God, representing to him the Devotion of all unto his Service. It were well if we could cut off our Superfluities too, that are so like to undo us: Circumcision is in fashi­on and a Mercy still, when by God himself effe­ctually made upon the Heart.

Of how vast a Consequence is the Piety of Princes, whose Actions, either Good or Evil, draw the whole Ʋniverse with them, to attend them in the next World! By the Example of their Goodness Men flock in whole shoals to the Service of God, and by their Prophaneness they flye as fast from it. Hapyy was the least Skullion in the Family of Abraham, who partaking of the Ordinances of the true Church, excelled all the Pagan Princes of the Earth, that were Strangers from the Covenant of Promise, having no hope, and without God in the World: So much better is it to be a Door-keeper in the house of the Lord, than to live and reign in the Tents of Wickedness: Let us therefore again take up David's Petition, Re­member me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy People; O visit me with thy sal­vation, for I have none in Heaven but thee, and there is nothing in Earth that I desire in compari­son of thee.

The Flesh is too traiterous a Friend to carry on long the Interests of the Soul. The Circum­cision made with hands on the Body, profited as little as the Engravement afterwards on the Tables of stone: God is forced to carry it deep­er, and to make a more effectual Incision upon the Inward Parts e're ever the true Circumcisi­on is effected. Our selves see that all the wash­ing [Page 147]of the Flesh prevails not to wrince away the Filth of the Spirit, 'till himself comes to Baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire, and makes the very Conscience to answer readily to all the Will of God. The Holy Word evaporates into Air, and hath no place in us, 'till the Essential Word makes the penetration, and gives it a Lodging in the Soul. And though inconsiderate Men little think it, they do but swallow their own Damnation, 'till their Eyes discern the Lord's Body in his own light; those that have Eat and Drunk in his Presence shall be turned off at the last Day with a doleful Discedite, Depart from me for I know you not. Prayer it self unless selvidg'd by Resolution ravels out into nothing; so little trust is there to the best of external Priviledges, where they are not accompanied with the De­monstration of the Spirit and of Power. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly: Circumcision is that of the Heart in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of Men but God.

Though the Ordinances in themselves are in­effectual without God, yet being of Divine In­stitution, they bind us to a constant and faithful waiting upon him in the Use of them, for who knows when or how soon he may work by them? The pretence of their invalidity give us no Li­cense to depart from them, or to lay them by; since here we see utter Excision menaced against every Child of Abraham that should not bleed by the Circumcising Knife. There are some be­nefits which the most wicked Men enjoy toge­ther with the Holy in the outward Communi­on of the Church, for which they shall pay their [Page 148]Homage, and yield a subjection (such as it is, though hypocritical and involuntary) they shall sit before him as his People do, and make some shews at least of a real Conformity and Union with Him, though their Hearts run after Covetousness, and they are as Traiterous as Judas, who yet had his Sop dipt in the same Dish with Jesus.

God who had hitherto feasted his Abraham with a Banquet of Promises, (which only his Faith is to feed on all his Life long, and must depart the World in Assurance of their Truth when his Eyes should be shut up in Death;) will yet present him with one Dish which himself shall see, and all his Senses ravished with the very taste of. Sweet Meats are kept for the last Course, and help to digest all the rest the better. Judge Reader, with what Ears Abraham receives the Tydings of an Heir from the Body of his dear­est Sarah, who at once is made a Lady and a Lady Mother: She shall have a Son that shall own and double that Honour together. 'Tis Asto­nishing News, and Abraham's Feet can hold him no longer, he embraces the Mercy of a Saviour and a Son with a lowly Prostration: Blessings mul­tiply upon him as Duties are multiplyed by him. No Man shall ever lose by a munificent God. Adam parts with a Rib and behold a Wife; Abraham with a superfluous Skin, and behold a Son. The Heart of Man cannot bear the Kisses of Divine Love without dissolving into Joy, and Abraham's Soul is so full of it now, that it forces a vent at his Mouth: He laughs out the excess of that Comfort which seems so pleasingly to oppress him. And God himself is so delighted to see his [Page 149] Abraham thus humbly and innocently Merry at the Thoughts of Sarah's Breeding, that while the Name of Isaak liveth, it shall never be for­gotten that Abraham laughed thus reverently in Faith; and as sometimes one who finds that he hath gratified his Company by telling a Story, which hath proved so acceptable and affecting be­yond expectation, will repeat it again, in Assu­rance of that Virtue in the repetition that will still keep up the Humour; so God disdains not to make a Rehearsal of what he saw sounded so sweetly in the Ears of his dearest Friend; Sarah thy Wife shall bear thee a Son: Indeed she shall, v. 19. Tho thine Age of an Hundred, and hers of Nine­ty Years may make it seem impossible to Nature, yet I have revealed to thee mine Almighty Power, to give it an Evidence in this Grace. God is already teaching Abraham the exercise of his Faith in his Alsufficiency; and he is no dull Schol­lar, but presently takes out the Lesson, and is dandling Isaak in the Arms of his Faith, before he is Conceived in the Womb of his Mother.

Could we Believe with Abraham's Faith, we should Rejoyce with Abraham's Joy. There is no true Pleasure but what is Spiritual, all the Worlds Huzzah's but as the Noise of Thorns, which Crackle themselves into Nothing. Solomon commits the Vanity to Bedlam, the proper place for the Franticks, that distractedly Laugh while they are little sensible what Tears they shall Weep in Hell, Eccl. 2.2.

Canst thou be Merry, Canst thou Play,
Silly Soul, who Sinn'd to Day?

[Page 150]In Heaven, where there is no Sin, there is Ful­ness of Joy: In Hell where there is nothing but Sin, there is nothing but Sorrow; but on Earth Men Sin, and rejoyce in it too, yet feel no Sor­row, and no wonder when they feel no Sin, as the Distemper'd are sensible of no Madness. These are pack'd away by Abraham's Great Heir, into their own Place, to see if they can be as Jolly there too; Woe unto you, &c. The Merry Frolick of a short day, dying into an Everlasting Night of Horror and Torment.

But for a greater Increase of Abraham's Joy, he receives not the News of a Son only, but an Heir of the Covenant; He shall inherit the Blessings of Grace and Glory. God intends Isaac for Hea­ven e'er ever he had Life or Conception. Where are those that quarrel at the comfortable Do­ctrine of Election, which God himself Preaches to Abraham? Well might he Laugh again, for so good a Son maketh a glad Father: 'Tis well when Parents and Children go not two ways in the dreadful Day. Isaac is sure of a place in his Fathers Bosom, in the everlasting Kingdom. When the Seed of Free Grace is Sown into a good Field, it never fails of a Crop; but where it falls in Barren Ground, expect nothing but Weeds. Too many want the Ingenuity to make Grateful Returns for Spiritual Mercies. Men are not only Evil because God is Good, but that very Goodness makes them Worse; they tire his Pa­tience, and adventure to make trial to what length the Dimensions of his Long-suffering may be extended. But the brave Abraham, under the fore-knowledge of Gods Decree, is so far from [Page 151]slackening his Duty in the careful Education of Isaac into Piety; that looking on him as an Heir of Heaven, he was ever dressing him up in such Robes as he knew would be worn, and could be never out of Fashion there: He endeavours to make him a greater Proficient (if possible) than himself. And methinks Isaac's whole Life was nothing else but a lively Comment on the distin­guishing Mercy of God towards him.

True Grace hath that excellent Property to inlarge the Heart into an Universal Concern for General Good, and wisheth Epidemical Happi­ness to all. Some quarrel at that charitable Sup­plication of the Church in the Litany, That it might please thee to have Mercy upon all Men; Never remembring that God would have All Men to be saved, and hath Sworn, That he hath no pleasure in the death of a Sinner, but rather that they turn themselves and Live: If they will not, yet shall they not want the Sacred and Hearty Prayers of the Church that they might. Neither can God take it ill of any that wisheth no more than himself doth; nor doth Man know what Individual Person shall miscarry. Abraham had the Grace of a Publick Spirit, who doing what he could to further the Happiness of each Ser­vant in his Family, could not be without work­ing of Heart for any Child of his Bowels. And no wonder then that hearing of all the Mercies of the Covenant transferred to Isaac, he seems to entertain some Jealous Apprehensions of the future Estate of Ishmael, and falls on his Knees to intreat, that the whole Shower of Divine Grace might not so fall on the One, but that [Page 152]some sprinklings of his Favour may Sanctifie the Other also. God forbid that any thing descend­ing from the Body of Abraham should fall short, or miscarry of the Great Salvation. Therefore intending to give a Charge upon Heaven, he sharpens the Point of his Arrow with an acute Passion, that it might with deeper Penetration enter the Heart of God, and bring back thence a Blessing upon his Child: O that Ishmael might live before thee! O that he may! Prayers shot from our own, seldom miss the Bosom of God, when those that are sent at Random lose their way and act no Execution. He desires not that God would break the Links of that Golden Chain, to which his Decrees have fastened the Salvation of all; or that Ishmael might be dispens'd with from the Duties of the Covenant, to which his Mercies are annexed: But O that Ishmael might live before thee! be indued with those holy Principles of Grace and Spiritual Life, which might enliven all his Affections, and Consecrate all his Actions to his Glory, and might be such a one as himself, sincere and upright before him, through all the whole course of his Pilgrimage in the World. 'Twere Rudeness indeed, to impose upon God for Salvation to such a one that should make no Care or Conscience of living before him. But O that Ishmael may Glorifie thee here! 'Tis Holi­ness that Abraham begs for his Son (he knows that God would not pass out of his usual Road to save him in an extraordinary manner.) And what less could a Father do, that was so well acquainted with the Happiness attendant on the Faithful Discharge of every Duty and Service to [Page 153]God? Eyes that [...]ierce into the Glories of Eter­nity, and know they are attainable by Prayer, quickly get the consent of the Knees to bend for them, while the Heart enflamed with all the Ardencies of Passion and Zeal, makes its Pursuits after them. He knows not what Salvation means, that makes but slow and heavy Motions towards it; Cold and indifferent Petitions, teach but God to deny them. We are but in Jest for Heaven, till God give us Eyes to see and know how great the Hope of his Calling is, and how unsearchable the Riches of the Glorious Inheritance of the Saints are: When the Light Shone from Heaven upon Paul, then Behold he prayeth; he had made many a Pha­risaical Prayer to little purpose, but now he prayeth Indeed. Those are the best Intercessors at the Throne of Grace for others, that have prevailed there already for Themselves. The Pa­rent that hath prayed down M [...]rcy upon his own Soul, is most likely to speed for his Child. Abraham had so often made his Attacks upon Heaven, that he knew how to Sling the Stone of his Devotions to an Hand-breadth, that it could not miss. And indeed God had set himself as his Mark, and given him to fair an Advantage against him, that it was impossible for him not to Hit. I will be a God unto thee, to do all that a God can do for thee, was such a Broadside as might well secure him from Despair of Execution. Abraham pleads the Articles already, and it being the first Claim since the Sealing of them, he left it to God him­self to consider how little Honour it would be to him to deny it. And Abraham doth but hum­bly plead for what God had granted him already, [Page 154]and his Faith might reverently draw out from him. So amazing is the Priviledge of the Cove­nant, that God seems to own, that he hath left himself without Power to with-hold from any Heir the reasonable Requests of his Soul. Con­cerning the work of mine hands, command ye me. So Omnipotent a Grace is humble Prayer: While they are yet speaking, I will answer. See Abraham, thy Petition comes flying back already with Gods Fiat upon it. As for Ishmael I have heard thee, behold I have blessed him. He is thine by Nature, and shall be mine by Grace; He shall become a Nation, and the Great Father of Twelve Princes, (but these degenerous, and all of them together not comparable to One of the Kings Issuing from Isaac's Loyns.) How sweet and obliging is the present return of our Prayers! Arbaham is the Type of the Great Intercessor. He sees the Travel of his Soul and is satisfied; The fervent Prayer of this Righteous Man is effectual and pre­vailing. Hence our Divines conclude the Salva­tion of Ishmael, (as Lyra, &c.) though his Poste­rity were cut off from partaking of the Fatness of the Root and true Olive, and grew naturally Wild and too Sowre for Heaven; but for Ishmael himself I have heard thee. What Faithful Son of Abraham bears not his Fathers Heart, yearn­ing after the same Blessing for the Children of his own Bowels, and can the Mother forget her sucking Child, that she should not travel again in a second Birth, until Christ be formed in him? Monica's Prayers and Tears brought forth an happy Son to her self, and Glorious Father to the Church. We are not more bound to Feed [Page 155]and Cloath, than to Intercede for them. To little purpose do Men Sweat and Labour to pro­vide and hoard up Estates for them, while they are unconcerned in the One thing needful, the better part which shall never be taken from them. Abra­ham knew what a Rich Portion an All-sufficient God was, without whose Favour the whole World could not make up an Happiness to his Ishmael. Blessed are those Children, whose Fa­thers have Abraham's Spirit and Interest in God, and miserable are those Children who are not dutiful to such Parents, and thankful for that Interest.

Behold a Felicity Great as this Life is capable of! A Favourite of Heaven dress'd up into all the Perfections of Blessedness, by the infinite Boun­ty of God: The Treasures of Providence flow­ing in upon him in streams of Riches and Wealth: Those attended by Honour and Greatness, and all crowned with a Gracious Heart to improve them. His Soul brim full of Spiritual Comfort, not a Fear or Doubt that clouds the Serenity of his Thoughts, ravished with the sweet Sense of Divine Love, and Assurance of endless Happi­ness, as secure as the Word and Oath of a God can make it. Blessed with One Son already grow­ing up to be a great Nation and Father of Princes, and with Another to come, who shall be Greater than he; A Father of Kings, and the mighty Heir of the everlasting Covenant: Not a Servant but who is graced with the Priviledges of Divine Favour, and bearing the Impress of Gods Love and Kindness upon him. Come all ye Princes of the Earth, Light up all the Tapers of your Earth­ly [Page 156] Glory, Shine forth in the brightest Beams of your Splendor, display all the Ensigns of your Royalty, Muster up all the Armies of your Power and Force, Repeat all your swelling Titles of Majesty and Dominion, Boast the whole Exchange of your Pleasures and Delights: How infinitely short will ye come of this one Blessed Friend of God! Yours only a very Gleam and Shadow of Happiness, His a true, real and substantial one; Yours a Glory embittered with Cares, interrupted with Tears, Tainted with Lusts, Laden with Guilts, Subjected to Loss and Dangers, ending in Misery and Death: While His is a Crown with­out Thorns, Laughing at Fears, Unpolluted with Filth, Impossible to be Forfeited, growing up into a Celestial Glory, and shining as long as God himself in the brightness of Eternity.

CHAP. VIII.

Abraham entertains the Angels that bring him and his Lady the News of Isaac's Nativity. His Intercession for the five Cities, &c.

FUll Twenty and five years had Isaac lain in the Womb of the Divine Promise, since first a Seed was secured unto Abraham. He must be a Miraculous Son whose Parents had not all this while been Dead enough to make way for the Power of God to appear in his Birth. When all subordinate means become wholly defective and despe­rate, [Page 157]then is the proper season for Omnipotency to work. Through all this Series of Years, had Abraham humbly waited in Faith and Patience, upon the God that could not deceive him; and behold now his dim Eyes shall see the Desire of his Soul. Thou maist not tarry half so long for an Heaven, Reader, as Abraham did for a Son, e'er thine Eyes behold the Salvation of God; do but Exercise the same Grace with the same Con­fidence (for faithful is he that hath promised) and verily thine expectation shall not fail. Some thou­sands of Years did the Seed of Abraham and Isaac wait for the Accomplishment of the greater Pro­mise of that Heir, who at his coming should Bless all the World, when in the very Gray Hairs of Time, and upon the Death-Bed of their expiring Hopes, God performed his promised Mercy to the Spiritual House of Israel. The carnal Family was grown by that time so faint and short-sighted, that when he came and made his Appearance to them, they could not discern, but fell a questioning whether he were the very true Heir or no: They could not believe it to be Him, they had no Eyes to behold his Glory; and besides, they were Jealous of his Voice. Nor was he Gay enough to answer the Ends they ex­pected from him. The Roman Yoke had gall'd their Necks, and he seem'd to be no great Deli­verer, they had no Work to do for a Spiritual Prince, nor lik'd they his Discourses of an Invi­sible Kingdom, they loved This too well to fol­ [...]ow him beyond their present Interests, which he appeared not much to Favour, and therefore [...]nanimously Vote him an Impostor, closing in [Page 158]with their own Tyrant against Him; They Indict Him of Treason against Caesar, and pursued the Articles so hotly, that they never left him till they saw Him Dead on the Cross; which God took so Grievously from them, that he Smote them into so perfect Blindness and Di­straction, that with the Sodomites they are groping in the Dark, and looking for the Door that gives Entrance into Heaven, but cannot find it to this day, and are yet ridiculously waiting for Him, that sixteen hundred years ago, and more, had his happy Nativity into the World. Misera­ble Men, they knew not the day of their Visitation, and now it is hid from their Eyes.

To a fair length had Abraham Spun out the Thread of his Hopes, which now shall be wound up in one Bottom of Fruition. He that was to come, shall come, and tarry no longer: Patience is an inseparable Companion, from a lively Faith in the Divine Promises. How surely shall the Decrees of God in due time be delivered of the Blessings that are in them, to crown up all long Suffering into Joy and Pleasure! Thus while this happy Man is sitting at the door of his Tent, with a Soul full of Divine Contemplation and Comfort, Behold, Three Persons, (in Appearance Men, in Reality Angels cloathed in their Shapes) sent from Heaven to his Sarah, with Orders to pro­vide a Cradle for the little Great Heir of Abra­ham's Hopes and Prayers, that now shortly shall make his welcome Appearance into the World: He accosts them with a Majesty and Humility sweetly mixt, and becoming well his Great Qua­lity: They may not pass by him without re­ceiving [Page 159]some Royal Marks of his Courteous and Hospitable Soul: Generosity is the Rich Ena­mel of Greatness, the very Life of it, without which it loses its Essence. Abraham is the Copy of the truest Gentility, as of the strongest Faith in the World, to let Princes know that Honour is not incompatible with Piety: He had re­ceived his Education from the Court of Heaven, and accommodates his demeanour perfectly to the Model prescribed him from above. He parti­cipates of the Nature of Him who spreads the Table of his Bounty for all his Creatures to sit at. He has nothing but what is at the Service of every one: These were Strangers to him, yet shall not part away from his Royal Tent e'er they become his Guests. He Addresses to one who seems the chiefest of the Three, and (with greater Earnest than others can crave it) beseeches them to give him the Honour of their Company, and themselves the Refreshment of a short Repast. Behold Abraham at home, watching Opportu­nities of doing Good, courting very Strangers to receive his Entertainment, doubling the Invi­tation to clear it from the Jealousie of a Comple­ment, and afterwards his Cheer to Free himself from the ill Reputation of a Churl. They are Alien from Abraham's Spirit, who void their Houses to avoid their Duties, and hide themselves from their own Flesh; or if they keep home them­selves, are yet from home to all others, and (what Job could not) love to Eat their Morsel alone, who are sometimes Accursed to that degree of Baseness and Cruelty to their own Bodies, that they starve Themselves to save the Charges of [Page 160]Living; God hath given them Wealth enough, but no Power or Heart to eat thereof, they live by Contemplation on what they have, and never adventure to pass into Fruition, this is a sore Judgment. Expedition heightens the Civility, Abraham hasts to Sarah; Make ready quickly; and himself ran to the Herd: His kindness must not hinder them in their Progress, Time is pre­cious, the whole Day was not designed for the Belly. Wo unto them that rise early in the morn­ing that they may follow strong Drink, that conti­nue until Night, till Wine enflame them.

The Master of the Feast, is yet ignorant of the Quality of his Guests. There is no judging of inward worth by outward Appearance. Since a plain Vesture once Shrouded the King of Glory from the Eyes of Men. Who many times be­fore the uniting of his Divinity with humane Flesh, was pleased in Old Time to assume the Shape of Man, and pass Visits upon his dearest Servants. His delights were with the Sons of Men. He was no less Person than the Son of God, for whom Abraham was preparing, attended on by his Angels in the same form, tho (by con­jecture) somewhat inferiour in Appearance of Habit. What a stately Embassy was this to an Abraham! He is a Mighty Prince indeed, to whom the Kings Son is deputed Legate: Isaac (as Jesus himself) hath Angels to Prophesie his Conception; and now is Abraham giving Order for the Annunciation Dinner to those Guests as never had Stomack for any; but have Spiritual Food of their own, more proper to their holy Natures, while this shall be digested all into [Page 161] Air: Yet Nine Months hence shall Sarah find the Milk again in her own Breasts, more genu­inely to suckle her little Son. The Collation is taken for the greater Pleasure under a Tree, which then was honoured in lending her Shade to the Sun himself, by an humble Dilatation of her Branches over his Glorious Head. And Abraham waited in Person, to teach us that while we do our Duty to Men, at the same instant we Act it to God himself, and do but honour him in shewing Respect to our fellow Creatures: Nor need we fear that we forget our selves, while we intend it as Glory to him. So well did Abraham demean himself in this humble Service, that the Holy Guest, to whom he performed it, disdained not an Imitation of his Father, when he Took on himself the form of a Servant, and came not to be ministred to, but to minister. The Head of Angels washing the Feet of Men. The Lower we sink in Humility, the Higher shall we rebound in Glory.

But where is Sarah? Where is she but where she should be, within her own Apartment? Had the Guests been of her Sex, she had not fail'd to have waited on them with the same Officiousness and Duty; but now is Observant enough in confi­ning her self to her own Province, giving an Ex­ample to all her Daughters, of Modesty and Obe­dience to their own Husbands. Tho' she give them not her whole Presence, yet she lends them an Ear; the Contiguity of her Tent to the Tree gives her advantage of overhearing their Dis­course; and while she attentively listens, finds her self concern'd in the Conference. Happy that Soul who hearkening to the blessed Words [Page 162]of the same Jesus, while he speaketh not of us only, but to us in his Ordinances, and in us by his Spirit. I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak Peace. Thus Sarah hearkens, and hears Good News; yea, so good, that her Faith is at a loss to believe it, and she ima­gines that these Men only Complement her Husband in Discourse, which (they think) will be most Grateful to him; and therefore she laughs at the Jest, confuting its Vanity by a kind of Retortion, which is often made use of to a ri­diculous Argument: The which, how closely so­ever she had Compress'd within the Concave of her Breast; yet could she not detain it from the Ears of a God, to whom our darkest thoughts are equally discernable with the loudest Excla­mations. While she is weighing Omnipotence in the Scales of her own Judgment, and fancy­ing it too light to encounter with her own Weakness, she renders her self justly liable to severe Censure. Wherefore did Sarah laugh? is any thing too hard for God? The God who is able to raise up Children to Abraham of stones, might surely be thought as able to do it by his own Wife, how Hopeless or Uncapable soever. The Reproof falling so heavy on Sarah, and Abra­ham being ignorant of her Guilt, makes him begin to suspect that his Guests were more than Men, and that they carried about them Omni­scient Ears. Man knows no more than what he draws from the outward Organ; but he that made the Ears, needs none himself to convey Knowledge to him. Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at the Tidings of a Son, yet is Sarah's [Page 163]laughing an Act perfectly different from that of her Husbands; He laughing in Faith and Joy, she in Distrust and Ʋnbelief. God hath Mercy on the Infirmities of his Servants, Sarah is repro­ved, but not rejected; the Reproof strikes up­on her Conscience, and makes her afraid, That Fear casts her into a further Guilt. She denies that she laughed, and is shamefully convinc'd of what she knew her self Conscious: Yet shall not all this invalidate the Decree. God will have Mercy on whom he will, let Sarah Laugh and de­ny it too; yet God will not deny himself: Sarah shall have a Son.

The Embassy thus happily concluded, the Le­gates depart, they have a Commission to exe­cute of a different Nature e're they return in­to Heaven. Abraham that he might not be de­fective in the least part of his Duty, performs the last Act of his Hospitality, and genteelly brings them on their way. He had kindly invited them, liberally treated them, now he as Courteously dis­misseth them: He Ran to call them in at the first, and afterwards Ran to the Herd for Provision for them: He stood waiting upon them while they took it; yet still hath he Feet to travel with them. Thus Good Men never fail in doing their Duty: they go on from Strength to Strength; They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Abraham's vigorous Heart adds Si­news to his feeble Joynts. We should never complain of tired Limbs, if we had but zea­lous Affections: Get but Abraham's Company into thine Heart, thou wilt have Abraham's Heart in the same Company: 'twas when Christ [Page 164]was not with them, that the three Disciples fell Asleep.

At the steering of their Course towards So­dom, I doubt not but Abraham's Heart began to Throbb: He was no Stranger to the Villanies of those Cities, and the approach of such Inqui­sitors as these (he fears) will bode them little Good. A less skilful Augury may serve to foretell the Destruction of Wickedness; yet is he mo­destly Silent, and dares not enquire into the My­steries of God. 'Tis ill prying into the Estate of O­thers, till we find some sure ground of Security to our selves. But Abraham is the Friend of God, and Communication of Secrets is one of the Veins that conveys Life and Strength to the whole Body of Friendship; 'tis not every one that is ad­mitted into the Cabals of Princes. Abraham is a Favourite, and fit to be one of the Privy Council of Heaven: God that had honoured him by a Revelation of the secrets of his Love to himself, cannot keep from him the discovery of his In­tentions of Wrath on the Wicked. Abraham shall know that his God can be as Just as Good, and that few partak'd of the special Pri­viledges that himself was bless'd in. 'Tis no small Obligation that lyes upon the Faithful, from the Knowledge of their differing in Condition from the worst of Men, only by distinguishing Mercy. What are we that thou shouldst manifest thy self unto us, and not unto the World. Faith grows up to a perfect Stature, by the Knowledge of every dispensation of God. The Prophets enforce their Doctrines from the Examples of the fiercest Exe­cutions of Vengeance. Pass ye unto Calneh, and see, [Page 165]&c. Abraham, who hereafter should read Le­ctures upon Sodoms Flames, to affright his Children and Family from Sodom's Lusts, shall first hear with his Ear, and afterwards see with his Eye the pernicious and dreadful Desolation that Sin had made upon them, that with greater sence of those Calamities he might terrifie others against the Sins that procur'd them: God knowing how powerfull Application so Experienc'd a Preacher as Abraham, would surely make from such a Text. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do, &c. For I know him, that he will Command his Children and his Houshould after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, &c.

Behold the great Ordinance of Family-Instru­ction establish'd by Divine Institution. Abraham must execute both Offices of King and Priest. In vain is Obedience exacted from such as know not their Duty: But in order to the means of that Knowledge, Obedience is justly required, and Jurisdiction given by God Himself to enforce it. I know Abraham, that he will Command his Chil­dren and Servants, &c. If the Sword or the Word be too precarious, look for Confusion and Ignorance to prevail over all. Abraham is invested with a perfect Power to subject them to the Discipline of God: He was Sove­raign over his Family, and God is so far from Clipping his Authority, that he gives him the Broad Seal of Heaven to confirm his Commission. He had Power of Life and Death within his own House; they were not worthy to live, should they not learn the saving Knowledge of the ho­ly Commandments; to little purpose were they [Page 166] Circumcised in the Flesh, if they be not enlight­ned into the Knowledge of that Sacrament, nor how far it oblig'd them to Obedience and Du­ty. But I know Abraham that he will teach them, &c. Even this Great Prince will not think it beneath him to Catechise the meanest Herdsman in his Family: 'Tis the Work of God, an Abra­ham hath an Heart to it; 'tis a Glorious work, the Saving of Souls, and Abraham shall be rewar­ded for it: 'Tis transmitting Piety to Posteri­ty, and the Child unborn will praise God for Abraham: 'Tis the advancing the Interest and Glory of God upon Earth, which never faileth to bring to Glory in Heaven.

See the decay of Religion, and weep tears of Blood: Where lives the Son of Abraham, that improves his Authority in his Family for God, and the Souls he hath made (unless in a cold and perfunctory manner?) If an Impious casting off the Thoughts and mention of God, unless in cursed Oaths, and fearful Imprecations; if an ut­ter banishing his Holy Worship and Service, as an unfashionable disparaging thing: If the Training up Children into the low and base Opinion of the strict Wayes and Methods of Godliness, (such as their Parents have sucked in before them:) If Servants must think it ill Manners to serve their Maker better than their profane Ma­sters, and must wear the Livery of their Relati­on and Vices together: If instead of Praying, Catechising, and Holy Instruction, and Excellent Example, which ever flourished in the Great Fa­mily of this mighty Prince, there be nothing but Prophaneness, Atheism, and all the Trades of Con­fusion, [Page 167]driven and carried on with a perfect Indu­stry from day to day; surely we must sadly con­clude, that the Good Abraham hath but few Heirs to follow him in the same holy Path. God knew this faithful Servant to be constant to his Glory and Interest; and all the World shall one day know that such as these are very Traytors both to Him and their Own Happiness for ever.

'Twas because of this Fidelity that the Great Abraham was admitted into the Secrets of his Judgment against Sodom: The clamour of whose Provocations would suffer divine Justice to for­bear them no longer. God could not be in Quiet for them in Heaven; either they must cease to be thus wicked, or to have any further Being in the World; He will ease himself of these Adver­saries, they shall no longer oppress his Patience, or abuse his Goodness. His Long-suffering had run out to the utmost Extremity. He is now ready for vengeance, they ripe for destruction. When the whole World shall be white unto the great Harvest, Then shall the Sickle of Ruine cut it down: Yet shall not Execution be done upon So­dom before all the Formalities of Judgment pre­cede; Process and Enquiry shall be made into the Merits of their Cause. The Judge of all the Earth will do right. None shall perish but from the plain Evidence and Conviction of their own Guilt. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy Judgments. Two Angels are sent in Commission to make the Inquisition, we shall anon hear what the Issue of that Tryal will be.

Now is Abraham left with the Lord alone; and 'tis remarkable, that himself, who had vouch­safed [Page 168]to Honour the Tabernacle of this holy Man with his gracious Presence, disdains to bless the Infamous City with the same favour. God is far from the ungodly; but he waiteth here still, to hearken to the Prayer of the Righteous.

Abraham receives not the News of Sodom's de­struction with any pleasure at all. Gods Chil­dren (as himself) delight not in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn and live. 'Tis Fury and not Zeal, that on every affront calls for Fire from Heaven to destroy. There is a City will know this one day, that hath made so many Massacres, and kindled so many Flames upon the Bodies of the Saints. Abraham prepares to Plead as Fiercely as he had Fought for Sodom before. How serviceable are the Favourites to the Enemies of God, who yet hate and persecute them. Down he falls, and on the bare Knees of his very Soul Beggs, That God would maintain the Honour of his own Justice, and that the Righteous might not taste of the bitter Cup of the Wicked: And fur­ther, (If it would please him) that the Wicked might live for the Righteous sake, and the Righteous for their own. Tho' the Wicked will not suffer the Righteous to live (for whose sake themselves live,) and with the Jews kill their Saviours, yet are the Righteous of another Spirit, and would give their lives, that all Men were as themselves, the inno­cent and blameless Sons of God in the midst of a crook­ed and perverse Nation. 'Tis wonderful to find, how Abraham by the bare Breath of his Prayers makes the Decree to shake: The lifting up of his Hands prevails within a trifle, to make God let fall the Sword of Justice out of his own. He re­duceth [Page 169]Him to the Terms of an easie and merciful Composition. To bring him to fall from Fifty to Ten was a mighty Conquest. Who but an Abraham could have made such tuggs at the Heart of God, that he makes it stand within a small point to the Compass of Sodoms safety, which he verily be­lieved his strength had effected? But 'tis ill plead­ing for a bad Clyent in a worse Cause; yet a graci­ous Grant treads on the Heels of every motion which so powerful an Intercessour had made; and Abraham shall not say, that God had denied him one request of his Lips. He that comes with Dust and Ashes in his Mouth, and those humble Apo­logies for the Presumption of a poor Nothing Creature, on his Heart, as He, can never fail of a good return from the Throne of Grace; and doubtless God suffering himself to be unskrewed to so low a Pegg, does demonstrate the mighty Victories of effectual Prayer, so that had there been any thing worthy of Saving, Sodom had con­tinued to this day. How happy are we, that have a greater than Abraham to intercede for us, even the very Same to whom Abraham pleaded for these Cities, is Himself become our powerful Advocate, and able to save to the uttermost, when by the vertue of five Wounds he melts away wrath from the whole World of his offending People, for whom he Prayes.

What an universal Defection was made by these Wretches, when not Ten good Men (ta­king in Lots Family with them) can be pickt out of Five whole Cities, to save them! What a Triumphant Court did Lucifer keep in the fair Plains of Jordan, where all his Subjects are so [Page 170]well instructed into so perfect Obedience to his Hellish Orders, that but One Nonconformist Fa­mily can be found in them all. How hopeless and desperate was the Interest of Heaven there! Where Sin prevails to boast of equal Numbers, 'tis very dismal; and amongst Ten Virgins, for five o [...] them to be found Foolish; and the Devil impudently dares to call for the Poll from God. But here the Syrians of Hell are so numerous, that they fill all the Country, and not Ten poor Kidds appear to be folded up into a little flock for God.

The Disease being thus Epidemical and Out­ragious, and the Tokens of Judgment appearing so thick upon every bosom, Abraham gives over the Suit. When Grace it self was weary of searching after Objects to conferr its Favours on, and could find none, the wind of Prayer ceasing, a terrible storm must follow.

'Tis worthy our Remark, how patiently God Attends to the Petitions of his Abraham, wait­ing so long till every one was dispatch'd, and he had no more to Present. Abraham himself was more weary of Asking, than God of Grant­ing; but when this Master of Requests had no­thing more to offer to his Lord, he humbly bows, and makes his Retreat to his own Lodgings.

In Order of History, the Judgment against Sodom should here follow, which is made up to the Rea­der, in the Book of Tragedies.

CHAP. IX.

Abraham removes from Mamre into Gerar, where Sarah is taken from him by the King, and restored by means of a Dream. The Birth of Isaac. The casting out of Ishma­el. Abraham and Abimelech enter into League.

ABraham had long enjoyed the sweet Air and Pleasures of the Plains of Mamre, but the Overthrow of these Cities, and the unwholsome Vapours issuing from the Bituminous Lake, ren­dred the bordering Country less pleasant and unhealthy for him to dwell in: Besides now here were few left to whom he could extend the Duties of Hospitality; he was deprived of the comfort of Company on whom he might exercise Piety; he resolves therefore to remove; and doubtless 'twas not necessary for Him who was ordained as another Sun to enlighen the dark corners of the Earth, to stand still too long in one station: Other Countries must be blessed in the happy influences of his Presence. You may find him now in Gerar, where if you see the Comedy of Egypt Re-acted, and Sarah become the Sister of Abraham the se­cond time, do not much admire that she is ta­ken from him, since Sarah is the Miracle of Wo­men; who now in the Nintieth year of her Age is able to dragg Princes after her, and carries [Page 172]those Charms in her Face, that lays all the Scep­ters of the World at her Feet. The Learned of her Posterity tell us, That God continued her Beauty by the same power (as he did afterwards Moses's strength) without any decay or Impeach­ment of Wast: And her Ninety would not have passed for above Forty in the conjecture of Judg­ment; the Rose and the Lilly still vying superi­ority in her Cheeks, and she lives a Type of the Church, that is without spot or wrinkle, but all Fair in the Eyes of her Lord. Abimelech is de­sperately in Love, and this is the second time that Sarah might have been made a Queen, had she been but the pretended Sister, tho' we find her not repining at the loss of that Honour, since to be Abraham's Wife was greater Dignity than to wear all the Crowns of the Earth. This be­ing the year of Isaac's Conception, God sends out an Injunction to stop proceedings; it must not be suspected that Abraham's Heir is the reputed Son of the King of Gerar, whom God smites with such a disease, as cools the Heat of his Lust after Sarah, and renders him perfectly Im­potent to all. While he is startled at the Plague, God unriddles it to him in a Dream: There was a Lady too many in his Court, whose company was ever fatal to all besides her own Husband; his own Life must be redeemed by her Liberty, but if he restore her not, let him look for Death. There are Authors that find such Characters of Piety on this Abimelech, as have emboldned them to signalize him for a Saint; others will acknow­ledge him good and Righteous in this Act only; Some say all was but the effect of a Fright. It [Page 173]were well if those Evidences were found in many Christians that profess true Grace, as appeared in this Heathen. You shall find, First, That the Threatning had Impression upon him, he Hears and Fears, and hardens not his Heart. Secondly, He humbly Vindicates his own Innocency: In the Integrity of my heart have I done this. Thirdly, He justly fixes the Guilt on Themselves, who had both of them concealed the Conjugal Rela­tion. Fourthly, God himself takes part with him, and accepts his honest Plea: I know that thou didst this in the Integrity of thy Heart. Fifthly, As soon as he was convinc'd of his Error, he Repents it. Sixthly, He reproves Abraham for exposing his Kingdom to the Dangers of Sin, which he knew to be Great: Thou hast brought on me and my Kingdom a Great Sin. Seventhly, He presently sets on the Duty of Reformation, and removes the cause of the Judgment: He restored him his Wife. Eighthly, He imparts the Menaces of God to his Courtiers, that they also might fear God: The Men were sore afraid. Ninthly, He makes satisfaction to Abraham for the Injury done, and presents him with Cattel and Money. Tenthly, He submits to the Ordi­nance of God, and accepts of the Prayers of Abraham as the Means of his Healing. Eleventhly, He enters Friendship with him as a Favourite of God, and thinks his Kingdom Blessed in his Company: Behold my Land is before thee, dwell where it pleaseth thee.

What fair Fruits are here growing in the Wilderness of Nature, while the Inclosed Garden [...]s overspread with so many Noisom Weeds! [Page 174]whose Heart doth not bleed to see those that call themselves Christians, Laughing at those Threats that Menace infallible Death to such as retain the Lusts They keep! who yet are stupi­fied to that degree, as to think rather that God Himself is False, than that they themselves shall Dye: Who hath yet Sworn by Himself, that they are all but Dead Men and cannot Live: If they should, His Honour and Truth must Dye for them. These draw the Curtains about them, and sleep on Securely in their Guilts (while yet their Judg­ment sleepeth not:) They are so far from arising to Reformation with Abimelech (whose Bed could not hold him after the Affrightful Dream) that they fancy no Necessity for any, and they resolve against all, till they awake in the next World, and Flames open the Eyes that Sin had shut, and makes them Feel the Tormenting Sence of their Folly and Impenitency for ever.

But what is so rarely found among us, we may note all the parts of a True Repentance Appearing in this King. With what Care doth he clear himself of this matter to God! With what Indionation doth he charge Abraham for bringing this Sin and Evil upon him! Thou hast brought Sin upon my Kingdom. With what Fear doth he Summon his Servants about him, to de­clare the danger they were in! With what Zeal doth he hasten about the removing the Cause that had brought that danger upon them! What Revenge doth he act upon himself, by lay­ing a chargeable Fine, which he contentedly pays unto Abraham for his Folly! From the first Reve­lation he passes to Conviction, from Conviction he [Page 175]proceeds to Reformation; from that to Satisfaction, from all to Absolution and Health again. If after all this Abimelech's Soul miscarry of Heaven, and fall short of Salvation, what shall become of Thousands that never kept him Company half this way, in the high Road to eternal Life?

But why doth God suffer Abraham and Sarah to Trip a second time, and subject themselves to the just Reproof of an Heathen; who seemed in this the more Righteous of the Two, and one would have taken Abimelech for the Prophet, and Abraham for the Pagan, that had heard him so severely check'd? What shall we say? Was there not Need of a Thorn in the Flesh to humble him, under the abundance of all the Revelations that God had made to him? Or was it for our sake? yea for our sake doubtless, that if through the Infirmity of the Flesh we should unhappily Relapse into the same Sin, whereof we have truly repented before, yet may we not despair, when we remember that the Great Abraham twice fell. Let us be sure that we be Heirs of his Faith, as well as of his Frailty, and then will God over­look our Iniquity as he did his, and remember our sin no more.

God Himself keeping Sarahs Reckoning for her, fails her not a day. The Hundredth Year of Abraham's Life, is the Joyfullest that ever he saw. Now the Womb of the Divine Promise opens to Purpose, when he sees himself the happy Father of the long expected Heir, his Faith and Patience is ripened into Fruition. Long did the World wait for a Saviour, at the last he came, and the World must again wait for his [Page 176]second coming to compleat up all their Happi­ness; for yet a little while, and he that is to come, will come and will not tarry, and the Just shall live by Faith. The Child at eight days Age, is given back to God, and receives the Seal of that Cove­nant which entitles him to a better Father than Abraham. Sarah is so astonished at the Joy, that she hardly believes yet, what her Eyes see, and Laughs at the Conceit, how all the World will Laugh to hear the News of her being a Wet Nurse in her Dry Age: She gives a good Ex­ample to her Greatest Daughters, Not to deny the Breast to the Children of their own Bodies; Even the Sea Monsters draw out the Breast, they give suck to their young ones, but the Daughter of my People is become Cruel, like the Ostritches in the Wilderness. Sarah will not endure that her little Isaac should have a second Mother, whose ill Qualities he may perhaps unhappily Suck in with her Milk. 'Tis pity but unnatural Mo­thers should feel the Judgment of a Miscarrying Womb and Dry Breasts, who have no Rolling of Bowels towards their Innocent Babes, who hold up their little Hands and Eyes, begging with what Earnestness they can, that they may not be turned off to a Stranger. Isaac is more happy than to be deserted by his Mother, she thinks it not below her great Ladiship to Swaddle up his little Body with her own Hands, and to suffer the Trouble with the same Satisfaction that she enjoys the Comfort of a Son. Had Mephibosheth's Mother been the true Daughter of Sarah, he had never been Crippled as he was, by the Negligence of a Nurse.

Abraham, to keep up the Practice [...] (in this Country) of his old Hospitality which he ever ex­ercised in all the Rest, and taking hold of an Opportunity wherein [...]he might do Good to the Souls of Men by his holy Familiarity and Con­ference, as also to strengthen his Interest in their Affections by an Act of Humanity and Courtesie, Celebrates the Feast of Isaac's Weaning with great Solemnity and Cost, and makes Invitation of all the Neighbouring Persons of Quality to be his Guests; where doubtless he Sauced his Dishes with such Excellent Discourses, as tended chiefly to the exalting the Wonders of Gods Love in so signal a Mercy, as that of a Son in his Dead Years, and what the World might expect in due time from that other Promised, who should one day come into the World to make them Happy in the next. He was not [...]ny to read the Lectures of his own Life and History, (a Life so full of Miracles and Benedictions) that if by any means he might provoke some of them to joyn themselves to the same God, that had been Good and Kind to him in every Region where he came. And Sarah had not forgotten the holy Trade she drove on so Zealously in Haran; she had her Arguments too, and helps to Clinch in her Husbands Doctrine by her own Exhortations: Abraham's Company must needs be the most De­lightful and Profitable to them, who of all Men living was best qualified to speak from his own Experience on Subjects they had never heard or known. If Forreign Affairs and Customs of Nations delight them, he can lead them into Egypt, and acquaint them with the Intreigues [Page 178]of Pharaoh's Court, where himself so long had conversed among them. If Military Affairs bet­ter please them, he can give them the Faithfulest account of the Late War with the four Kings, wherein himself had been General. If they will listen to more Melancholly Matters, they may hear from him the Tragedy of Sodom, of whose Flames his own Eyes had been sad Witnesses: If they will pass from all, and attend to the Won­ders of his own Family, He can recommend to them the Advantage of Civility to Strangers, forasmuch as himself thereby had entertained An­gels, and held long Conferences with God Him­self: 'Tis a noble Design to Consecrate the Fruits of our Lips and Tables together, to the Glory of God and the Profit of Men. Speech is the peculiar Faculty of Man, by which the Sentiments of the Mind are communicated and made publick for the Good or Hurt of others. What Care then is Incumbent on the Children of Abraham to speak, as well as to Act like him; My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, and with thy Salvation all the day long. The Tongue is the Glory of Man, which should not be imployed in dishonour to God; he deserves not to speak at all, that speaks not the Praises of his Maker. The Feast being ended, and the Guests dismissed, Abraham returns to make Digestion of all, by taking a Walk with God in Meditation and Prayer, and begs that what had passed that day in his Family, might redound to the Honour of God, and the everlasting Good of his Friends.

Not long after this, there breaks out a little War in his Family; His two Sons are of different [Page 179] Mothers, and consequently have different Inte­rests to carry on. Ishmael (questionless set on by Hagar) is found not to bear so fraternal Affections to little Isaac, as he ought: He is told that he is come into the World to under­mine him, who stood so fair in the hopes of his Fathers Estate before his Birth: Some are of the Opinion, that he minded privily to kill him: Others only that he loaded him with Jears and Flouts as he played with his Companions, ren­dring him Ridiculous and Contemptible, by holding out of the Finger, and puting out of his Lip, boasting himself to be the true Heir; whatso­ever it were, the Fault is expounded by the Ho­ly Ghost Himself, into the Guilt of Persecution, which is as well perform'd by the Sword of the Mouth as the Hand. Little Isaac is an Early Martyr, and the Type of Him that was sought for to be slain in his Swadling-Cloaths. Herod would fain Worship and Kill him at once, which afterwards was effectually done by those who first wounded him by their Lips: Behold the King of the Jews; and then dispatched him with their Hands: The King dies on the Cross.

Sarah knew well enough whence all this Spight and Malice was derived, the Sons Spirit was but Exasperated by the envious Mother, and she finds no possibility of Peace or Security while they continued together in one Family; she pru­dently foresaw some danger in case of Abra­ham's Death. What knew she but Hagar by her subtil Insinuations and Carriage might form such a Party against her, that she and her Isaac might be cast out: Therefore, to se­cure [Page 180]her Self and the Right Heir, she plots be­times to prevent the danger, and brings her Writ of Ejectment against her Adversary with such Passion and Resolution, as she seems to command the Issue of the Suit, before the Judge had considered the ground of the Quarrel. Abra­ham is the only Arbiter in the Case, and is hardly solicited to give Sentence against his own Bowels. He is divided in his Affections, and hath no heart to pass the Order for his own Childs Expulsion. The thing was very grie­vous unto him, because of his Son. While the matter hangs in suspence, (and Abraham is strug­ling between the Duties of an Husband and a Father, and cannot so easily be brought over to forget his Nature and Natural Affections,) God Himself comes in to give the Casting Voice, and Votes clearly for Sarah: The good Man that never stuck at any thing that his God com­manded, be it never so grievous or opposite to his Interests, now is willing to forget himself and every thing in Obedience to his Will, and gives present Order for the departure of the Bond-woman and her Son. He rises early to begin the day with so difficult a Peice of Obe­dience, having wrestled all the Night against Nature, Affection, and Self: Neither Hagar's in­treaties, nor Ishmael's cryes, can work any Re­pentance in him, Though they sought it carefully with Tears: He is Obstinate and Peremptory in his Obsequiousness to God, whose holy Commands must be chearfully followed with a Deaf Ear, and Heart hardened against every thing that op­pose them. We never arrive to the degree of [Page 181] Abraham's universal Conformity to the Divine Will, till we shut out all Inclinations to the rui­nous Solicitations of the Creatures.

But if nothing will avail, and the young Gen­tleman must determinately be gone; we hope the Son of so great a Prince, shall pass off in State, with a suitable Provision of Maintenance, and Servants to attend him: What should be the meaning that he who is Prophesied to be the Father of a Nation, and of Twelve Princes, should be sent away with a loaf of Bread, and a Bottle of Water from so Great and Rich a Pa­rent as Abraham: (The Ladies of this Age are not so cheaply untwisted from their Amorous Gallants, without Honourable Settlements for Themselves and Children.) Abraham was Affe­ctionate and tender-hearted: What? not so much as a Slave or an Ass to carry the Wallet, but it must be hung on the Shoulders of Hagar, whose heavy Heart was ready to Break with the Load of Sorrow and Care, that already oppress'd it? Is Abraham grown thus Pitiless now? 'Twere Blasphemy against his Piety to assert, that He whose Generous Nature Appear'd in the pro­fuse Communications of his Charity to very Strangers, should be thus Penurious and Miser­like in his Fatherly Contributions to his own Child. The Learned strive to clear up his Re­putation by many Arguments: Some I fear over­do it, when they conclude, That Servants and Cattel, and all Accommodations for Life, are included here in the Scripture Phrase of Bread and Water: Others perhaps under-do it, when they tell us, that he gave them no more, to [Page 182]teach them Faith and Dependance upon God, whom he left to provide for them, when that little was spent. With the same Argument He might have given them nothing, committing them altogether to the Providence of God, with the cold Charity of a naked Wish, Depart in Peace, be ye warmed and filled. These make the Father of the Faithful almost an Infidel, and at best but a Solifidian: Some falsely enough im­pute it to Sarah's Revenge; and they that aimed at All, should now have Nothing (surely he that was so well treated in Pharaoh's Court, was not so ungrateful to a poor Handmaid of his Country, to send her forth to starve:) Others affix it to their own Insolence, who were grown too rude and turbulent in the House of Abraham. The most probable conjecture that best agrees with all Circumstances, is, that what was now given them, was to serve only for present ne­cessity, and Abraham directing them whither to go, promis'd to take care to supply them fur­ther, as their Necessities required: which also he did.

'Till Isaac's Birth, the Bondwoman and her Son had quiet entertainment in Abraham's Fami­ly: Now the Heir is born, they agree not to­gether; but Hagar trudges out with her Bottle and Bag to wander in the Wilderness: Who sees not the Old Law marching after her (with all its Ceremonies in the same Bag) at the bring­ing in of the New by Jesus Christ, the true Heir of Righteousness and Salvation: For ever are they departed now, to return no more in­to the Church of God: And how peaceable [Page 183]possession Sin doth enjoy in the Natural Heart, where it rules all the Rost, hath an absolute Do­minion, and beats down all before it; till anon God in pity to the miserable Soul, gives it Grace to conceive the true Heir, which once Formed, and growing up to some Strength, takes Arms, and with the Assistance of Heaven maintains the War, which is happily Crown'd with thorough Conquest of all Opposition, and receives its Palms in the Everlasting King­dom.

Hagar and Ishmael are gone, whose wandrings and sufferings in the Wilderness, are but a far­ther Allegory of the present Sorrows of the mi­serable Posterity of Abraham; who when the true Heir appeared in the World, were then in possession of their Fathers House: But for mocking and Persecution of the Great promised Son, are dealt with as Ishmael, cast out of the blessed Inheritance of both Canaans, and are wandring in the Desart of damnable Error with the Wallet of an insupportable Burden on their Shoulders, feeding still on the musty Bread, and drinking out of the Old Bottles, the stale Puddle Water of the Law, in contempt of the pure Springs of the Living Water so freely offer'd them, and the New Wine of the everlasting Go­spel. They lye with Ishmael under a Shrub, not so sensible of their Penury as he, forlorn and de­jected, with the Curse of the Blood of Jesus up­on them: They perish in the midst of Abun­dance, and have no Eyes to see the Well of Life, out of which the whole Church is so sweetly refreshed in Vivacity and Power. O that [Page 184]same Good Angel would come with a Message of Comfort and Mercy to them, as he did unto Hagar, and taking away the Veyl that is upon their Hearts to this day, they may clearly per­ceive the things that belong to their Eternal Peace! Even so come Lord Jesus, Come quickly!

Holiness is that Great Luminary (darting its Beams so conspicuously round about the World where it shines) that draws every Eye to ad­mire it, rendring its Subjects so Amiable, that those who cannot shine in the same Light, desire yet to sit under and enjoy its Blessed Influences. Abra­ham scattered the Divine Rayes of his Piety and Goodness so illustriously over all the Kingdom of Gerar, (for which God had sent him thither) that the very Court is Clarified by his Bright­ness, and cannot think its self happy without a nearer Conjunction with this Great Planet. Sa­rah's Beauty had Fetter'd the Affections of this King already; now is his Understanding Captiva­ted perfectly to the divine Presence of Abra­ham's Piety. What a Glory was it to this Great Saint to see Abimelech himself, with Phi­col his Lord-General, and all their Princely Re­tinue, come bowing to him, and making earnest Suit that he would become their Allie. The King had found by experience that God had blessed his Kingdom for Abraham's sake; and now Abraham must bless Abimelech for his own sake: He had certainly learn'd how great things God had done by and for Abraham, and there­fore thought it a part of true Policy to confe­derate himself with so great a Favourite, and to ensure the Friendship of him that was the [Page 185] Friend of God: He grounds his Request upon Abraham's Interest, and nearness to God. God is with thee in every: thing that thou dost. A very Glorious Testimony out of the Mouth of a King, and doubtless no whit ungrateful unto Abraham himself, who loved to hear the Kindnesses of his God to him acknowledged by very Hea­thens: This gave Abraham the Honour, and Abi­melech the Benefit of the League. If God were with Abraham, how much should Abimelech ad­vantage himself by his Friendship! And the King knew well enough how far he strength­ned himself by being in Covenant with him that was in Covenant with God: That God who had sworn to him to be a Friend to his Friends, and an Enemy to his Enemies: Hence he is so zea­lous to perpetuate the Agreement, that he moves for the durable Extension of it to his Heirs and Successors: His Son, and his Sons Son; and will have it confirmed by the highest Ob­ligation of a Sacred Oath, which binds the Con­science under the dreadfullest penalties. Well did Abimelech know that Abraham (having once sworn) would suffer even Death it self, rather than to be false to his Covenant, or incurr the Anger of his God. (Piety hath a place in the Consciences, thô not in the Affections of Strangers to God.) Abraham would be stedfast enough when once he had fastened him with the Nail of the Sanctuary: And himself should dye with greater satisfaction, when he had confirm'd his Successors by linking in their Interests with his. He cunningly makes him the very Guardian of the Prince, whose Crown would never totter [Page 186]on his Head, while he had so formidable a Per­son as Abraham to keep it on; who had made Four Kings to flie before him: Therefore by this Oath is Abimelech and his Heirs secured both a­gainst Abraham himself, (whose growing Great­ness he might justly fear) so against all others by his means. Thus had God caused the Dread of Abraham to fall on the whole Court and Kingdom of Gerar: Kings and Generals fall low before him, and Devote themselves to him, while he the more humbly bows to his God, and under all the Courtships of Crowned Heads, Remembers that his own must stoop to the Dust.

Abraham who had before strucken a League with Heaven, was not pufft up with a vain Elation of being a Confederate with a King, who ambi­tiously sought that Honour from him: The high­est Promotion on Earth, cannot swell the mind that is closely united with God. All the benefit he draws from it, shall advantage the Kingdom, whom he blesses with his Presence, and Five and twenty years Residence in it. He had pitched his Tent at Beresheba, where he planted a Grove (and needs must the Trees thrive well, that are set by so good an hand.) Jonathan tells us, 'twas an Orchard of pleasant Fruits, wherein he made his Oratory, and took many a delightful walk with his God by Contemplation and Prayer; here also he used to entertain his Guests that visited him, making themselves more happy by his Company than his Cheer (which yet was ever such as spoke the great Heart of a generous Abraham) from whom they never departed without Invitation to take share with him of a greater Felicity in Heaven, [Page 187]always plying them with such prevailing Argu­ments from his endearing Lips, as made many of them hunch away their unprofitable Idols, to make room for the Worship of the True God. Mark Reader, what a busie Trade is the great Abraham d [...]ving on for the glorious Eternity; does he live to himself in the Affluence and a­bundance of all his Riches and Honours? Are his Aims, or the Ends of his Life any other, than such as tend to the glory of his God, and the good of Souls? Even Pagans and Infidels flock in to him, to embrace his Kindness and Counsells toge­ther; they are Courted and Feasted into his Reli­gion, his very courtesies Convert them, they cannot but be convinced that Abraham's God must be the only True one, who had polished him up into all the perfections of a sweet Nature, and such ravishing Grace that dragg'd all the World after it, and envassal'd all his Admirers, and should they not be perswaded by him, neither would they, should one come to them from the Dead.

CHAP. X.

Isaac's Immolation.

WHile Abraham is thus passing away his Days in a constant Course of Pleasant and Profitable Duty, God is contriving to im­ploy him in a Service that shall render the Ho­nour of his Obedience more Eximious and Re­nowned than all he had hitherto done; to keep [Page 188]on and trace the High way of vulgar and ordina­ry Duty, is the work of every common Professour: But Abraham shall do that at the command of God, which none but an Abraham could do besides, and what all the World shall admire him for, till Time it self shall be no more. By Nine Tryals al­ready had God experimented the Integrity of his Loyal Heart; yet (as if all these were nothing) a Tenth shall follow, the Bitterest of them all: If Abraham's Faith hold out in this, Heaven and Earth shall know how worthy he is of the Favour and Goodness of God, and how entirely he had observed the Conditions of the Covenant, that obliged him to pay an universal Respect to all his Commandments, how Severe and Difficult soever; let us see with what Gallantry of Spirit he will acquit himself in this last and greatest Encounter.

'Twas but a little while, since he had parted from a Son at the Command of God, yet that loss (tho' very grievous) was made up to him by another, which was dearer to him at Home. But now comes a Second Summons, for This also, who must pass, not out of his House only, but Life; and (which was yet more afflicting) by his own Hands. Take now thy Son, thine only Son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee to the Land of Moriah, and Offer him there for a Burnt-offering upon one of the Mountains that I will tell thee of: Behold all the many Promises of God, and all the many hopes and comforts of Abraham's Life, perfectly cut off and destroyed at one Blow. Strong were the Heart-strings of Abraham that could hold out from Cracking at the breaking out of the First syllables of this Killing Command; but could he [Page 189]live so long as to hear out the whole Sentence? The Rabbins fancy, that God himself doubted it, and therefore have feigned, that God to give him a breathing time, brake it in pieces by many Abruptions, framing it into a Dialogue; Wherein God is made to begin: Abraham take thy Son; To which Abraham Answers, I am ready, Lord, (well hoping it might have been Ishmael,) But which of my Sons doest thou call for, for I have two? Abraham yet little daunted, God replies to him, Thine only Son; To whom Abra­ham again (not willing to understand it of Isaac) Each one of them is the only Son of his Mother: Nay but (saith God) The Son whom thou lovest: This touches close: To whom therefore pantingly, Lord thou knowest that I love them both; God to end the dispute is fain to discriminate; 'Tis Isaac thine only Son whom thou lovest, thou must take him: But whither Lord must I carry him? To the Land of Moriah; And what to do with him there? Offer him up for a Burnt-offering: Is the old Man alive? If so let him live for ever. May we carry on the Dialogue a little without offence, to the Glory of Abraham's Obedience, who never so much as opened his Mouth in the least to dispute the will of God: Lord, How long have thine Altars thirsted for humane Blood? I have Of­fered up many a Sacrifice before, which have pleased thee well: Will nothing satisfie thee now but the Blood of my Child? Take I say thy Son; Each Infidel can offer up the Blood of Beasts to their Deities, but thou must exceed them all in the Sacrifice of thine own Child, to thy God. But Lord, if no­thing less than humane Blood will suffice, may [Page 190]not Isaac be exchanged for a Slave, or as many of them as thou shalt please to call for? No, the Blood of Slaves is a slender Offering to that of thine own Son, 'tis Isaac himself must Bleed and be the Victim. If then mine Isaac must die, will no hand content thee to Offer him but mine own? with what Heart shall I be able to Sacrifice mine own Child? Nor will I favour thee in this, 'tis thine own hand must give the fatal stroak. Behold I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord: What will become of thy Great Name, when the very Heathen shall hear that Abraham's God requires so unnatural a Sacrifice as this? Fear not, for mine Honour is not subjected to the censures of Men, who can raise up a Glory to my self, by the Sacrifice of them all to my Justice. O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once; by whom shall Jacob arise, if Isaac be cut off, and what shall become of thy Truth and Covenant to thy poor Servant? Shall thy Faithfulness and Promises fail for evermore? 'Tis I that visited Sarah, and gave her a Son when she laughed in despair, and once thou believedst a­gainst Hope; Is mine hand shortned that it cannot save? May I not raise up another Isaac unto thee, or do means fail me to accomplish all my Pro­mises, are they confin'd all to the life of this Son; Arise therefore and Take him, &c.

Let the base World blush and be confounded that hath learned to Quarrel and wrangle with every trivial Precept of God that crosses their Ease and Interest, or seems but a little to break in upon their Carnal Hopes and Confidences; When they see the Great Abraham paying an humble and undisputed Obedience to such an Injunction [Page 191]as lets out the life Blood of all his Joyes and Com­forts on Earth. God had made with him an Ever­lasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure: This is all his desire and all his Salvation, although he should not make his House to grow. Who can see Him rising early to whet the Sacrificing knife that must cut the Throat of his beloved Isaac, and giving orders for the cleaving the Wood, that must after­wards Burn his dearest Body into Ashes, and hastening his Son and Servants to the Journey? The Lord hath a Sacrifice to be Offered on the Mount of Moriah; how is This Righteous Soul straitned, untill it be fullfiled! Who can see him thus busie in the Annihilation of his own Flesh, without believing that his Affections were all ravished away into Heaven, and that Divine Grace had absorp'd him to that degree, that he seems to have little of Man or Father appearing in him. As Levi, he knows not his own Children, but packs away the one into Banishment at the Command of God, and the other into Death. So wholly eaten up by divine Zeal, that for three whole days together (Travelling towards the fatal Mount) he hath both his Eyes so intentively sixt on the holy Commandment, that he doth not so much as glance on his Isaac, who [...] he De­votes unto Good, and looks on him as nothing but Ashes already. The Law of his God, (that by this Command had dispensed with the very Law of Nature) was so strong upon his Heart, that he becomes obediently Ʋnnatural and Cruel, not in the least repining as Jacob against God; Me hast [...]hou bereaved of my Children, Ishmael is not, and [...]ilt thou take Isaac also? all these things are against me. [Page 192]Not so much as pouring out one Prayer to re­voke the dreadful Injunction: Father if it be possible, let this Cup pass away. But totally resign­ing Himself, with his Blessed Heir: Let thy will and not mine be done. O Holy Abraham, how Illustriously do the Graces of Him shine forth upon thee, that would be Nothing else than what he was unto God! Thou art that Righteous Man of the East, that hath learned to fall down and lye thus Submissively at the Foot of God: Whither shall we go in Pilgrimage to find out the least Track of thine Obedient Steps; there is scarce a little Line of thy Miraculous Devotion left upon the Face of the Earth.

Though St. Austin and some few more are pleased to give Sarah the Honour of consenting to the Death of her Son at the Will of God, yet others more generally deny it; and that Abra­ham, afraid that her Faith might be drown'd in the Flood of her Passion, very prudently conceal'd the Divine Mandate from her till after the Execu­tion, (and that possibly he might bring her back a Son preternaturally raised out of his own Ashes; for his God was Almighty.) In vain should he occasion a Precipitation of her Sorrows, the woful Tidings would fall too soon as a Talent of Lead to crush and break her miserable Heart. 'Tis Abraham alone hath that Masculine Spirit to bear up under so sinking an Affliction as this.

Nor doth the Appearance of the fiery Moun­tain, upon which his Son must be Offered, dis­may him: David (piteously lamenting the Fall but of a Friend) bitterly execrated the Gilbo [...] [Page 193]that had suckt in the Blood of his Jonathan, devoting it to the Curse of Heaven for ever: But Abraham can view the place where the Fire must consume his dearest Child, and yet with Aaron hold his peace. And now, what his Faith assures him will be acceptable to God, his Fear tells him may not be so very Grateful to Men. He prudently dismisses the Servants, whose Eyes and Hearts (he thinks) would not serve them to view what his own unhappy Hands must Act: He desires no Witnesses of so Tragical a Sacri­fice. 'Tis enough that he who had set him on the Work (and could not but See him) should Sign the Certificate of his Faithful Obedience and Service. While he Approves himself to God, he values not the Testimony of Men: He cries not as Jehu to Jonadab, Come see my zeal for the Lord. Some fancy that he left them behind, least (when they should see him doing what he must do) they might think that he had left his Wits behind him, and so might hinder him of his Duty (as once the Good Meaning Friends of Jesus did him) on pretence of Distraction and Want of Senses. It was not improbable, but these young Men might have obstructed his Offering, from as Ardent Zeal to their young Master, as those afterwards who rescued Jona­than (Sworn to Death) from the Hands and Oath of his Violent Father. But Abraham will not be interrupted by Men, in a Duty which is commanded him by God. If he himself will cut the Cords of the Sacrifice, and his Isaac's Re­demption be wrought by the same Authority from Heaven that his Death was imposed, most happy [Page 194]should he think himself; but no other Hand shall take him from the Altar, than the Divine one that laid him on. Whence then is His Au­thority, who pretends a Power to Dispense against the Positive and Absolute Commands of God?

The Servants and Beasts are disburthened, while the whole Load is laid upon Isaac; the Son is oppressed and the very Slaves go free, yet he Murmurs not: Who Sees not here those Innocent Shoulders that once bore our Griefs and car­ried our Sorrows? The Iniquity of us all was laid upon him, yet he opened not his Mouth. Can we view Isaac bowing under the Wood that is de­sign'd to devour him, and not behold our dearest Saviour Fainting under the weight of his own Cross, both ascending by weary Steps the very same Mount?

Abraham and Isaac, the Holy and the Spiri­tual; these tug with difficulties, and attain to Mount Sion the City of God, while the Carnal and the Brutish lag below, and perish in the Valley of Darkness and Death, where no Sacri­fice is offered by them, none is accepted for them, their Iniquity is not purged by any offering for ever.

Nor is there any true Son of Abraham, but who (in this Life) divides Himself; the Brutish Part is left behind here below, while the Aspiring Soul climbs the Hill to meet with God, and doth so effectually prevail with him there, that hereafter the poor Dust shall be called up too, and participate of those Divine Qualities that will fit it for so Glorious a Commu­nion.

The Ascent to the Mount, was the most difficult part of the whole Journey, and strong is the Body that bears up it Self against its Pro­clivity and Steepness: Yet must not Isaac be pitied, but instead of ease hath an heavy Bur­then heaped upon him by a Father that tenderly loves him, with design it may be to make him weary of the World, and more willing to dye and pass out of it, while the Slaves and Brutes are at ease, and free from All below: If the Cares of Life that are common to all, are sound too light to humble the dearest Children of God and keep them low; behold God hanging on them those Weights of Affliction that should make them more sensible of their Pilgrimage Estate, and cause them to Sigh for Redemption and Ease: Nor is he less a Father, because (with Abraham) he bears the Knife in one hand, that lets out the Blood of their dangerous Corrupti­ons, and the Fire in the other that is to burn up their Combustible Lusts, since while they Groan Himself is Afflicted, and under a seem­ingly Cruel Hand, doth ever retain a most gracious and compassionate Heart, which har­bors no other purpose by the roughest Wind of his Fury, than the fanning away their Iniquity; themselves at last shall find this happy Fruit by the Storm, that it hath taken away nothing but Sin; though they know as little the end of Gods Proceedings, as Isaac did those of his Father, when he so Innocently put the question; My Father, behold the Fire and the Wood, but where is the Lamb for a burnt Offering?

Is Abraham become, as Lot's Wife, a Pillar of Hardness and Insensibility? Or was this a Rebellious Son, whom he delivers up to Justice and Death? Or why do we not see him staggering under the weight of so killing a Temptation as this: That no doubt pierced deeper into his very Soul, than the first Command of God? No, if Abraham could have melted at all, it had been when this hot Gleam beat so strongly upon his Heart. Isaac cannot forget that he is Blessed in so dear a Father as Abraham, though Abraham must for­get that he was once Blessed in so dear a Child as Isaac: He must learn to answer neither to the Name nor the Nature of a Father. It evidently shews us, with what Care Abraham had stiffled all his Griess within his own Bosom, that he had not hitherto so much as let fly a Sigh or Groan unstrangled, that might survive to give Intelligence to Isaac, that there was no other Sacrifice to be expected than Himself.

A Frantick Outragiousness under Sufferings, is but digging into the Wound, and causing it to bleed at a wider Orifice, when silent Submission makes half the Plaister that heals it up. If it be the good Pleasure of Heaven to clap Fetters upon us that we would not wear, while we madly strive to tear them off, we do but rend our own Flesh, and make the Iron to enter the deeper into our Soul. If the hard Burden of the Lord hath fallen upon Abraham, which would have sunk any but Himself into Death; what doth he but with holy Job, take it quietly on his shoulder, and bind it as a Crown to him. This heavy stroak from Isaac's Mouth (charg'd by God [Page 197]himself for a greater Tryal) and lighting upon the very Wound, is so far from moving him to let go his Integrity, that under the fresh Assault of this menacing Billow, he still swims above Water, and holds it fast.

Isaac is the Sacrifice that Himself calls for, and Abraham only knows it, though Isaac knows it not; yet God knew that he intended another, though Abraham knows it not: The Son is not kept in greater Darkness by the Father, than is the Father kept by God. How little does Man know of his own Concerns in the future Event of Gods Decrees? Some pass merrily on, be­cause they see not the Dangers that are before them, while others mourn under Jealousies of Troubles, that (God knows) shall never come upon them. The Prophecy shall come to pass indeed, and God will provide another Sacrifice.

Josephus hath adventured to Fancy the Argu­ments by which Abraham (now come to the Mount, having erected the Altar and made all things ready) prevailed with Isaac to surrender up his Life unto God. But I shall do my Reader no Injury, if I present him with another which the Golden Pen of our Excellent Hall hath drawn up to my hand, as despairing to find any where a more Natural or Powerfully Effectual than his.

‘My Son, thou art the Lamb which God hath provided for this Burnt Offering, if my Blood could have excused thee, how many thou­sand times had I rather to give thee mine Own Life, than taken thine: Alas! I am full of Days, and now of long time have lived not [Page 198]but in thee. Thou mightest have preserved the Life of thy Father, and have comforted his Death, but the God of us both hath cho­sen thee: He that gave thee unto me Mira­culously, bids me by an unusual means return thee unto him. I need not tell thee that I Sacrifice all my Worldly Joys, yea, and my Self in thee; But God must be obeyed. Nei­ther art thou too Dear for him that calls thee. Come on my Son, restore the Life that God hath given thee by me; offer thy self willingly to these Flames, Send up thy Soul cheerfully unto thy Glory, and know that God loves thee above others, since he requires thee alone to be Consecrated in Sacrifice to Him­self.’

Behold the very Figure of him that hath said, I and my Father are One; One in Nature and One in Will. Isaac layeth down his Life of himself (with Jesus) and no Man taketh it from him. He gives up himself with the same Resig­nation: Lo I come to do thy Will, O God.

Let us only Contemplate what Conflicts Young Isaac endured in his Bosom, 'twixt the different Interests of Flesh and Spirit; what Struglings 'twixt Nature and Duty (for a while) as the different Twins in Rebekahs Womb; till recol­lecting his Spirits, and rouzing up his Faith, he humbly addresseth his Dearest Father with such a Retortion as this.

‘My Father, though Nature once framed into Life grows kind and dear to it Self, and Flesh is not easily perswaded to pass into Nothing, if by any means it can preserve and maintain [Page 199]its own Being: And we see all the World sticking in Self, and fast Bound to the pleasing Enjoyments of the present Life: Yet the Son of Abraham hath been Educated into better Hopes, and hath been taught to Obey but ne­ver to Dispute the Commands of his Father's God. Yes, Sir, your Isaac is ready to sur­render up the Life he hath received; Seek not for any other Offering than your own Son, who is prepared to Bleed on the Holy Altar of God, and approve himself the Obedient Child of so Good a Father, by whose excellent example he hath learn'd to Resign up his All to his Maker.’

See the patient Victim kissing the Cords that bind him, and the fatal Knife that is sharpned to let out his Blood and Life, while his Father inwardly Bleeds more Drops than he, and hath just Strength enough left to lift up his trembling Hand to give the Mortal Stroke, which Heaven never design'd that Isaac should feel or suffer: Real Intention weighs as heavy in the Ballance of the Sanctuary as the best Action: Thou doest well Abra­ham, in that it was in thine heart to build this Tem­ple unto God: Which though uneffected, shall re­flect an equal Honour upon thee.

When God called young Samuel, he arose and went to Eli, for as yet he knew not the voice of the Lord. But Old Abraham had been so long ac­customed to Celestal Sounds, that the Voice of an Angel could be no Surprize unto him. He that ever kept his Ears open to every Call of God, could not be Deaf to this Musick that ravish'd his Ear and Heart together. 'Twas a [Page 200]very Melancholly Note, Take thy Son Isaac, and offer him up, &c. But now the Sphears strike up a more melodious Tune, Lay not thine hand upon the Lad. Yet Abraham danced after both, but his very Soul makes a Caper at this. He that refused not God in the killing, very easily obeys him in the Sparing of his only Son: Commands that Run counter to our Wills must all be received; but those that jump in with them are embraced with open Arms. The glad Father stands not to argue the Autho­rity that brings him a Discharge from the Exe­cution of the first Warrant, but readily Believes what he heartily Desires, and knows that God himself is the best Dispenser with his own Statutes. The Sheep of Christ that know his Voice, are startled at the Arrogance of the Stranger, that presumes to countermand the plain Injunctions of Heaven. Read the Scriptures: No, they are dangerous: Drink ye all of this: No, not all, but the Priest only. Pray with the Spirit and with Ʋnderstanding: No, but in an Ʋnknown Tongue. Marriage is honourable to all Men: No, not in the Sacerdotal Order. There is one Mediator, even Jesus Christ: No, there are Innumerable others, Angels and Saints. This Intercessor is able to save to the uttermost all that come to him: No, not unless you joyn your own Good Works with him, which are Filthy Rags, Dung and Nothing. In vain doth Diotrephes p [...]ate against the Divine and Infallible Spirit of Truth: Lord, where will this New Gospel stand in the Great day?

You have heard the Faith and Patience of Abra­ham, now see the End of the Lord. Will any one think that Isaac's Blood could be profitable unto [Page 201]God? yet shall Abraham's Obedience bring Him Glory, and be profitable to Himself and to the whole Church of God for ever; to teach us, that Faith without Works is dead, and by works of Obedience is Faith perfected: And both Faith and Obedience perfected by Grace through Christ.

Now hath God built a Tabernacle for the Table of his Covenant with Abraham to rest in to the end of the World; that all Flesh may know that he who refuseth to offer up his Isaac on Abraham's Altar, can never expect Salvation with him. God leaves such for Moses, and not this Angel to deal with, who came on purpose four hundred years after, with a killing Letter to those as spare their darling Sins from the com­mand of God to have them Crucified; when Abra­ham, his Favourite, could not be suffered (and had more love to him than) to withhold his only Son. Abraham himself hath no Bosom for such as hide their Iniquity in their own. And 'tis observable how little Compassion he had for the Man in Hell, that of Three Requests made by him, he granted him not one, and Torments him with the same Uncharitableness that him­self had used to poor Lazarus: He should not have a Drop, that would not give a Crum. Abraham is the only Saint that we find prayed to in all the Scripture, and that to so little pur­pose, as the miserable Supplicant gets not the least Ease from his Pains, who had kept all his Isaacs about him on Earth, and now very idly becomes his Votary in Hell.

Mercy to Sin is Tyranny to the Soul; If Absa­lom be dealt gently with, and suffered to Live, [Page 202] David himself is in danger to dye. Most Men take David's Care for the Rebels Safety, as if their own Life were bound up in the Life of him; when (if God be True) either Sin or the Soul must certainly dye. If we cannot part with our Lusts for Gods sake, we shall part with our Souls for our Lusts sake. Who, that is wise, but would harden himself against damning Corruption that lurks to destroy him. When Abraham hath a Courage for the sake of his God, to stick his Knife into the Throat, and to burn into Ashes his own Flesh, and would have thought himself un­worthy of the Kindness of Heaven, had he re­fused that Obedience to the holy Commandment. If the Interest of God be so low in thine Eyes, that for Sins sake, That must suffer, take heed the Interest of thy Soul be not one day so low in Gods Eyes, that for Sins sake thy Soul may suffer for ever.

But if Abraham's Obedience and Love to God be grown quite out of Fashion, and Men fan­cy they may be saved on cheaper terms than He: Let them shew the Dispensation whereby they are allowed to spare their Beloved Isaac; since not Abraham only, but God Himself spared not His, and delivered him up a Sacrifice for those Sins whose safety Men so carefully provide for: Ah me! never considering that those they are so fond of, would not suffer the Son of God to live; 'twas Sin that brought him to his Death, and are the Sinners like to efcape with life, when He Himself (that had none of his own) dyed, and was destroyed but for wearing the Garment that was spotted with the Flesh, thô [Page 203]his Own were so pure and without Stain: Whence is it, that notwithstanding Christ hath dyed, so great a part of Mankind dye too and perish, but from this very Treason, they will not deliver up their Lusts to dye with him, but maintain a Friendship with those Enemies that destroyed him; as if the same Iron that pier­ced his Flesh, would not one day enter into their own Souls, making wounds there that shall never be healed; Nor will any thing make them rage with a greater Torment, than to consider, That God delivered up his Son, and that Son delivered up himself to free them from those cruel hands, which they will find too soon embrewed in the Blood of their Souls, thô they believe it not, nor will be perswaded to free themselves in time. Methinks they might pass to Golgotha, and see what bloody work Son made on the blessed Body of an Innocent Jesus; and can they think that Justice is become more Merciful to wilful and obstinate Offenders: 'Tis one of the Mysteries in Religion, that af­ter God himself, the Almighty Father, hath bin prevail'd on by his own free and unexpressible Love, and Riches of Grace, to give out his Son (ten thousand times dearer to him than all the Creatures) from his holy Bosom, where he had lain from all Eternity, to be delivered up to bitter Sufferings and Death it self, for ungodly Enemies: And that after Jesus that blessed Son had yielded so readily to become the Sacrifice lying upon the Altar, and not as Isaac coun­termanded again, but actually Bleeding out his very Heart for them to the very last drop; [Page 204]yet when all this is done, and the Gates of eternal Righteousness and Redemption opened to all that will but humbly and thankfully enter them, the sottish World should stand at a distance, and look to be courted into a Com­pliance with those happy terms that would bless them into the Felicity of a perfect freedom from those Chains of Darkness that bind them over to an endless Captivity; Nay, to hugg those very Fetters, and and to fall in love with Bon­dage and Misery it self, and by no Arguments be wrought to embrace the purchased Safety: Whence is this unaccountable Madness but from the Devil, and that cursed Heart of unper­swasibleness and Infidelity that detains them Prisoners to their own Obstinacy, with the same Obduration and Judgment of God, as that un­happy Nation, upon whom his wrath is come to the uttermost? Let such consider whether all the World, much less the poor Slaves of his Fami­ly could have tempted Abraham to have shed the Blood of his dearest Child; or with what offers could Isaac have been bribed to suffer that deadly Massacre, when only the Command of God revealed by his Father brought him to it? and shall not the Power of the same God pre­vail with thee to save thy self, by a little pains only in mortifying an unprofitable Lust or two? Shall this indulgent Father Kill a Son (in whom was all his earthly happiness,) at the will of God, and that Son as quietly lye still in a mi­nutely Expectation of the destructive Gash, while he doth it from a pious Conformity to the same Will? Nay further, shall God Him­self [Page 205]for such a Slave to Sin and Lust as Thou, lay hold on the dearly Beloved of his Soul, and most pitilesly suffer him to be Mangled and Torn, nothing all over but Wounds and Gore, and Himself all the while silent and submissive? Not a murmuring Thought seizing on his heart, not a discontented Syllable passing his Lips, while he hath nothing to comfort him but the Remembrance of the Happiness that thy unsen­sible Self mayst reap from those Sorrows? When now after after all this his very Passion is Ridi­cul'd, the whole Process lookt on but as Story and Romance: The Stone of his Sepulchre roll'd on thine own Heart, shutting thee up in Ʋnbe­lief, and hardning thee to that degree, that nothing but murthering a second time will serve thy Turn; the Jewish Malice rekindled within thee, and thou art Crucifying him afresh, with the same Fury, driving in more Nails in­to his holy Body than ever did they, and giv­ing him more bitter Potions to drink! The An­gel from Heaven not hearkned to, when he cryes to thee to spare Isaac. Blessed Redeemer! Is this the Fruit of thy Sacrifice! Did our true Isaac bleed for this? Was the Fountain of Life opened to gush out in so full a Stream, for no other end but to damm up the Current of Sin and Uncleanness, that it should not issue from us, but abide in us for ever? Was this the Mercy promised to our Father Abraham, That we should be delivered up into the hands of our Ene­mies (of whom Sin is the greatest) and not from them? Where is the blessing (so often repeated) of being turned away from Iniquity, if we conti­nue [Page 206]for ever in it? How long hath Jesus been a Saviour from the Guilt, and not from the Do­minion of Sin? Is he become favourable to the Thorns that pierced His Sacred Head, and the Spear that wounded his innocent Heart, that He can tolerate them in Christian Hands? In vain do Men think Him reconciled to these Traytors, because themselves give them har­bour: When they know not how soon they may be surprized in the Guilt of that Treason, and made to suffer the Penalties of Eternal Death for it; either Isaac must be sacrificed, or themselves, for not doing it.

Abraham (by this) having given convincing Evidence of his perfect Integrity, and unreser­ved Devotion to the Divine Precept, God is so greatly Affected with it, that he cannot for­bear from letting him know how very grateful this Eminent Service was unto him: He first sends him down Letters Testimonial, whereon he sets his Seal to the Truth of Abraham's Religi­on, (which all his true Heirs must imitate and follow) Now I know that thou fearest God, &c. Thou fearest God, and I know it, and all the World shall know it too, by what thou hast done, &c. And further, for his sake he will now be so very kind to confirm to him and his for ever, all the Mercies of his Gracious Co­venant, with the unalterable Ratification of an Oath, which shall make it impossible to be bro­ken, and as sure to them as Truth it self can make it: That as Abraham had been faithful to God in his Obedience and Duty to him; so it should be past all possibility for God himself [Page 207]to fail in his Promises, or be unfaithful, that he should not perform the Mercies he had former­ly engaged to grant them who should walk in the same steps of Abraham's Faith and Sincerity. By this Grace he opened his very Heart to shew them the Immutability of his Council, and Great­ness of his Affections to them, with this ad­vice, That they would draw from this Living Well the refreshing Draughts of strong Consola­tion: When they shall consider, That God must first cease to be, e're he be unconstant or faile in his purposes of shewing Kindness to them.

What a reviving Julip is this to the drooping Spirits of Abraham's Children! That all their Mercies are as secure to them as the very Being of God is to Himself! Every Link of the whole Chain of their Salvation so strongly fixt, that he seems not free from his Oath till they are Lodg'd in the same Kingdom with him, whither he hath so resolvedly sworn to bring them. 'Tis a strange Faith that gives no Credence to the Oath of a God! As I live saith the Lord, that in blessing I will bless thee, &c.

Do but think, Reader, with what unspeakable Joy, the Soul of this holy Man overflowed, not only for the preservation of his Sons life, but the Attestation of his own Integrity, in that he had approved himself so faithful a Servant to his great Lord, in yielding up his Isaac so chearfully to his pleasure. Our enjoyments are doubled to us in sweetness, when they have been first Of­fered in Sacrifice by us, and we hold them only at his Devotion. In this work of Righteousness, he had present peace, and in the effects of it, quiet­ness [Page 208]and Assurance for ever. The same Comfort hath every Son of Abraham in the conscionable discharge of his Duty, with a sweet Testimony of divine Acceptation sealed to the Conscience by a ravishing voice from Heaven: He that doth my Commandments, and loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest my self to him. The obedient Soul shall not only be loved of God, but a manifestation of that Love shall be given into Him by the Witnessing Spirit. 'Tis Common in well doing, to hear ill from the World; but Who ever did well for God, that heard ill from him? The Lord will Create the Fruit of the Lips, Peace and Joy: While holy Paul triumphed in the Testimony of his Conscience, that gave him the Assurance of his Truth and Sincerity, how little did he value the censure of those that impudently branded him for a Repro­bate! 2 Cor. ult. Let God himself draw up the Certificate of Jobs Integrity; That there was none like him in all the Earth: Yet will the very Devil undertake to disprove him in it, and his Three Friends are all drawn in to close with him, and by many Arguments labour to asperse him with the foul Imputation of Hypocrisie, till that mista­ken Counterfeit is accepted only to pray away the guilt of that Ignorance, and then they look on him with the Eyes of God. 'Tis no matter how thick these stones of Persecution [...]lie upon us, while with the Protomartyr the Heavens open to us, and our Eyes are blessed with the glory of Jesus. How little would Abraham have felt the smart of Reproaches from scandalous Mouths, whose Ears had heard that blessed Encomium from [Page 209]God himself, Now I know that thou fearest me! Not but that God knew it before, but Abraham must know it too, that he might rejoycingly walk in the pleasant light of Gods Love and his own Integrity together. He that hath not pas­sed Abraham's tryal, and given the same proof of Fidelity, cannot reasonably expect to feel the same reward of Joy.

Let no Man think himself free from a Tempta­tion of the same Magnitude, since under the Gospel, not Isaac thy Son, but thou thy Self art called on, to be Sacrificed on the same Mount: And he is accounted unworthy to be a Disciple, that hates not his Own Life for the sake of his Master. The great Saviour hath abounded in Votaries, proud of the Honour of writing their Love in the Blood of their Hearts, and have been reduced into Ashes with as burning Affections to his Glory, and hath every where Those that hold their All at the only pleasure of his Will; and who can at all times pass not only into Poverty and loss of Estate, but also of Life for his Truth. They loved not their lives to the Death, and should they never be called to climbe the Mount and suffer the fatal stroke, yet since the Sacrifice is ready and the Hand list up, God doth accept the ready mind, and Isaac is Sacrific'd tho' yet alive: He is dead for Christ on God's account, who is willing to die; 'tis the Heart and not the Blood that he re­quires.

If Isaac the Fruit of the Body be refused, shall the Ram in the Thicket be taken? Will the Lord be pleased with Rams, with thousands of them? Sacrifices and Burnt-offerings thou wouldest not, but God him­self [Page 210]will provide the Sacrifice, and prepare the Body of another Son of Abraham yet behind, he is the only Lamb of God that must take away the sins of the World; him will God accept, tho' Isaac be not taken.

In the despair of Abrahams Age must Isaac be called into Life, in the despair of his Hopes must he be saved from Death. When the Knife is at the throat of the whole Church, and Posts are every where flying with orders to give the Blow, then shall Salvation break out; God is seen in the Mount still. When all means of deliverance fail be­low, and his people brought into the extreamest streights, then doth enlargement come from him­self, that all the World may know that He is God alone, and besides him there is no Saviour.

CHAP. XI.

Sarah's Death. Abraham's Purchase of a Grave for Her.

ABraham's Affections were not so strongly root­ed (as the Trees of his pleasant Grove) into the Soil of Gerar, but he can easily pluck them up, to be transplanted from Beersheba into his Canaan again. The Heart that is fixed unto God, doth ever hang loose from the Earth: It is he that makes all places a-like delightful to us by the Gra­cious Shine of his Presence; Fear not, Jacob, to go down into Egypt, for I will go with thee.

Abraham who not long since enjoyed God in the Mount, and had the Life of a Son given him, must now as contentedly pass down into the Val­ley of Tears, and suffer the Death of a Wife. Six and thirty years enjoyment had God given her of the delight of her Heart, (she that so long had patiently waited for him, should not too hastily be hurried from him) but now must she pass from her Abraham and Isaac together, to the God of both. The great Sarah dies: Twice al­ready had she been sent for, and taken from her Husband by Kings, but now (never to return more) she is once for all sent for to the King of Heaven, who provides her a place in his Own, till Abraham comes to lay her again in his Bosome. The Angels she had entertained in her Tent, give her welcome into Glory, and furnish her Lodg­ings suitable to the Quality of the Great Mother of all the Faithful, and Wife to the Friend of God. That all Generations may know what respect God himself bore unto Sarah, she alone of all her Sex hath the peculiar Honour to have her Age registred in the Rolls of Heaven; who notwithstanding all her Labour and Travel, ever moving from one Nation to another, from one Kingdom to another Peo­ple, kept up an unwearied Courage and Faith, till God in Pity put an end to all her Toils, and sent her a Writ of Ease in the Hundred twenty and Seventh year of her Life.

Holy David hath well observed, that our whole Life is but as a Tale that is told; (and God knows the Lives of too many make up a very Inconsiderable and sad one.) This great Lady, the very Mirrour of Women and Wives, for her [Page 212] incomparable Piety, unspotted Purity, unparallel'd Pati­ence, exemplary Subjection, and incessant Pers [...]ve­rance in all, makes up an History, and when all the Memories of the great Princesses of the World are devoured by Time and buried in Oblivion; the smallest Circumstances of Her Life must sur­vive them all, and Her story exactly Chroni [...]led in the everlasting Volums. Sarah may not laugh but all the World must know it; she may not pay her dutiful Respect to her Husband, by gi­ving him his Title of Lord, but that Obedience must be recommended to the imitation of all her Daughters, above Two thousand years after, with a gracious design to keep up her Honour and Memory for ever.

Abráham receives the tydings of her Death with lamentable Resentment, and passes in a grave and solemn Procession into her Tent, (as the House of Mourning) to pay her the just Tribute due to the merits of so incomparable a Consort. There instead of a Wife he finds a Corps, whose cold Che [...]ks and wan Lips he bedews with his warmer Tears, which yet give some little ease to his heavy Heart from the oppression of that Grief that is ready to break it. Here the remembrance of all her Goodness and Vertues crowd in upon his Mind and Memory, which while he reflects on, (together with his own loss of them all) his Spi­rits are broken; the loss of his Friends and Coun­try cost him not a Sigh, he hardened himself a­gainst the Fate of Isaac, but his dear Sarah's Death melts him into Water. The joyful sence of di­vine Grace doth not so perfectly banish away na­tural grief, but that the best of Saints, even Abra­ham, [Page 213]and Jesus himself, under the Tyrannies of Fate shall find themselves subject to those Passions, as loudly speak them to be but Men.

Behold the great Sarah lying Dead, and the mighty Prince her Husband (acknowledged to be such by all the Chieftains of the Country where he dwells) not Proprietor of so much Earth, as shall suffice to Ground her Monument; nor is this so great a Wonder, when afterwards we find (his Heir) the Lord of all the Creation in the same condition, and obliged to a Friend to lend him a Grave. Who can date an Happiness to himself from his Interest in the Turf and Clod, when Jesus and Abraham have not so much Glebe in the World of their own, as to set a Foot on? How unlike to their Father were those degenerous Children of Abraham, who joyned House to House, and lay Field to Field, till there was no place for others, that they alone might be plac'd in the Earth! Isa. 5.8. Doth it teach us nothing, that Abraham (so exceedingly Rich as he was) should never mind to purchase Land of Inheritance, but only for a Burying-place here in the Earth? He Sojourned in the Land of Promise, as in a strange Country, dwelling in Taber­nacles with Isaac and Jacob, the Heirs with him of the same Promise. Why did he this, but because he looked for a City which hath Foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God? If we had Abraham's Faith, we should have Abraham's Spirit, as free and disengaged from the World as He: When, God knows, our Affections are so deeply Riveted into the Creature and pleasures of Life, that we have as little Will to mind the purchase of a Sepulchre, as he to buy an Inheritance amongst Men. Indeed [Page 214]the whole Kingdom was his own in Reversion, and surely secur'd to his Children; while his own Faith was Estate enough, with the Promise of God for Himself to live on. While we was Tra­velling on, keeping Heaven in his Eye, he had no leisure to think of a poor settlement in the Earth. 'Twas not for Pilgrims to wait on Building, whose affections were no deeper stak'd to the World, than the slender Pillars of their movable Tabernacles, which they lightly pluck up with ease and hast to follow the conduct of that gracious Providence that ever so faithfully led them; they little minded Palaces, who were themselves no­thing else but the goodly Habitations of God up­on Earth, to whom he therefore retired so of­ten, with the sweetest Assurances of their Inte­rest in a City of his own Raising, where he attended their Company with him, and came down so frequently but to see whether they were ready for it.

Indeed it was not the design of God that Abra­ham should fix any where long, whom he inten­ded to make a publick Blessing every where, and therefore being always ordered to remove upon every Call of God, it was requisite that his Estate should have Wings too, and be ready to Fly with Himself into every Countrey where God had Business for him to do: Nor was this the least Diminution to him, but rather an In­crease of his Grandeur; since all Motions of Princes bear the greater Majesty from the splen­did Appearance that attends them: you might have seen his Royal Pavilion, grac'd with the Flagg of Honour waving in the Air, sorround­ed [Page 215]by Those of his Sons and Servants at an aw­ful distance: The Waggons of his Ammunition guarding those of his Treasure, while the nume­rous Flocks of his Cattel and Herds feed round about him securely, and the Trained Bands of his Houshould standing by turns as Sentinels over all: Not to mention the invisible Troops, who as Tutelars gave their constant Attendance upon him, and ever adjoyn'd him as his Guard. The Kings of the Earth knew well enough that God was with him as a sure Refuge.

In this Glorious Estate was Abraham, when his Lady left it All to be translated into better. She passes from one Heaven below to another Above; from the Courts of Princes to the Pa­lace of a God: Her Earthly Part was the care of Abraham to provide for: He will not mean­ly dispose of the Cabinet, wherein so precious a Jewel for so many years hath had its Lodging: An Honourable Interment is equally Abraham's Duty, and Sarah's due.

There was a Cave in the Field of Machpelah, (now in the possession of Ephron the Hittite,) which pleased him well, he had cast his Eye upon it, (not as Ahab, covetously Sick for Naboth's Vineyard) but as a convenient Purchase, if the Good-will of the Right Owner shall please to favour his Innocent desires of Appropriating it to himself by his Money: And now that he had present need of it, he is forced to make use of those honest means, that with greatest Probabi­lity may succeed to his Wishes and want. He Convocates the Neighbouring Heads of the Countrey (Ephron being one,) whom with a [Page 216]Gravity mixt with Majesty, he Addresses to this Effect.

‘I freely acknowledge it the Natural Right of the Lords of the Covntrey to Grant Liber­ty to Strangers to make Purchases in their Land. I am a Stranger among you, and must declare my thankful Resentments of that Kindness which hath permitted me so free and peaceable Cohabitation with you. It hath pleased God to Call away my Wife from the World, for whose Sepulture I must make some Provision, and it will not be long e're I my self shall follow Her. This is only my Request to you, that I may have Liberty to purchase a Burying-place with you, where we may rest in Death with the same Quiet and Peace, as we have continued amongst you in Life.’

To the Reproach and Confusion of our more Ill-Natur'd and Paganish Christians, let us take notice with what Civility and Condescention these Heathens fram'd their courteous Replicati­on to him.

Hear us, my Lord, Thou art a mighty Prince a­mong us, and we know that God is with thee. We have no Power or Will to deny thy desires: Make thine own Election, in the choicest of our Sepulchres bury thy Dead: None of us shall withhold his Sepulcher from thee, but that thou mayst bury thy Dead.

While Real Piety in all its Services aims on­ly to bring Glory to God; He, in a gracious Compensation of so good Intention, makes that Honour to beat back on it self. God is honou­red [Page 217]by Abraham, and Abraham is honoured by God: There is no Man that gives his Heart un­to him, but who shall find it again in the Hearts of others; The surest way to secure the Affecti­ons of Men, is first to devote our own unto God.

Prince Abraham will not receive this Comple­ment without giving Demonstration to them, That he is not more High in Estate than Hum­ble in Spirit: He arises, and makes them a Gen­teel Bow, in Acknowledgment of their great Ci­vility and Kindness to him in that Offer: Yet while they were all so courteous, 'twas Ephron alone that must gratifie his desires, and all the Kindness the rest can do him, was but to In­tercede for him, that on valuable consideration his Field and the Cave in it might be secured to him and his Heirs for ever.—But when the brave Hittite perceives himself concern'd in Abra­ham's Choice, and that He only hath the desired Cave that must be honoured in becoming the Reposi­tory of these precious Ashes; how proudly doth his Liberality contest with Abraham's Justice, and is hardly conquer'd from Resolutions of giving that Freely, which Abraham desires only at a Price. What pity is it that sweet Dispositi­on and Generosity should go to Hell, while sor­did Niggardliness and base Selfishness hope for Heaven! Can bare Nature so easily depart from her Rights on Earth, which hath no pretence for others in Heaven, while those who pretend an Interest there, have their very Souls cleaving to the Dust below, and their feet sticking fast in the Mire; are so far from yielding up the least [Page 218]shadow of a Title to what they have of their Own, that they greedily invade and flye upon the Properties of Others: Abraham tho he minds not to accept the noble proffer; yet is so greatly affected with it, that once again he re­peats his grateful Sence of Ephron's, and all their Reverence towards him, by an yet more humble Obeysence than before. He bowed him­self down before the people of the Land. Who can see this Great Prince, and Friend of God, twice together paying his Duty of civil Respect and Ho­nour to the very Heathen, by the External De­monstrations of it, without pity towards those Rude and Unmannerly Professors of our Age, whose very Religion hath no other Test of Distinction but Surliness and Inhumanity.

Abraham while he is treating about a Grave, takes great Care that he may lye down in it with a peaceable Conscience: He hath been hi­therto a mighty Pattern of Holiness in all his Transactions with God: Here we shall find him an Example of Righteousness, in all his Affairs with Men: That all his Children may know that Commutative Justice and the Duties of the Second Table were written by the same hand that will require as exact Observation of them, as of all the other of the First. In vain do we pretend Sanctity to God, if we are not Righte­ous to Men. He that doth Righteousness is of God, and he that loveth his Brother. See how Strait the Lines of Abraham's Righteousness run thro' all the management of this Compact with Ephron.

First, He will by no means take advantage of his Neighbours Good Nature against his Profit; [Page 219]he will neither defraud him, nor suffer him to defraud himself by an easie Disposition. Hear me, I pray thee, I will give thee money for the Field, take it of me, &c.

Secondly, When he hath the equitable Value of the Land set to him, he undervalues it not, in hopes to beat down the Price: It is Naught, it is Naught, saith the Buyer; but when he is gone his way he boasteth.

Thirdly, He makes present Payment for what he Buyes, and purchases not with Paper and Wax: Abraham weighed out the Silver, &c.

Fourthly, He Buyes not Good Land with Bad Coin; but all is Currant Money with the Mer­chant.

Lastly, The Conveyances are Sealed, and Wit­nesses taken, to prevent all Causes of future Debate: The Field was made sure unto Abraham in the presence of the Children of Heth, and before all, &c.

And now is Abraham as pleased with a Grave, as ever was Prince of a Palace: How many Mens Estates are their Graves while they live, and ne­ver think of another. Their very Souls are buried in their Acres below, wherein if they might, they would lye for ever. They Live and Rot in their Pleasures, and are Dead while they seem to Live: Life to any thing but God, is but very Death.

This is the only Joynture that we find ever settled upon Sarah, which the Heirs of her Body, against their coming to Age, shall find enlarged into a Kingdom, for by the purchase of this little Field, which cost not much more than Two and [Page 220]twenty Pounds or thereabouts, he had given Secu­rity to the Faith of his Posterity, That God would one day give them the Inheritance of that whole Land, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with Sarah, Rebekah and Leah, lay close together to keep possession for them until themselves should come: And sure there is a better Security given to us also by his Great Heir, Jesus Christ, who is gone before us, and entred into the Heavens as a Forerunner to prepare places for us: That where he is, we may be also. And is not his Spirit lying Leiger in us, as the Earnest of our Inheri­tance until the Redemption of the purchased Possession, to the praise of his Glory.

'Tis observable, That after Sarahs Death, God makes no more Appearances to Abraham from Heaven, having now performed the Great Pro­mise of a Seed, he leaves him to walk in the Light and Comfort of those he had already made: To teach us that the Great Heir being now come into the World (in whose coming all the Pro­mises are perfectly secure to the Faithful) the Church is not to expect any Extraordinary Reve­lations of any farther Truths than what he hath already sent into the World by his Son. He hath now sealed up the whole Canon, and will hereafter be silent for ever. To these received, we ought to trust, in the Hope of these we ought to Live, in the Comfort of these we ought to dye. For this cause God in the close of his whole Book hath carefully contrived the Pre­vention of Alterations, Additions or Diminu­tions, by the Menace of an Eternal Curse impose­able on that Guilt; and the multiplying Plagues [Page 221]upon Him that shall add any thing to it: There being enough Written (if well believed) to make us Blessed and Happy for ever.

CHAP. XII.

Isaac's Marriage.

FOr Three full years together had Isaac mourn­fully lamented the Death of his Mother, now will God make up that loss to him in a Wife. Eliezer the Steward of his Fathers House is dispatched as Legate (with an Angel Atten­dant) into Mesopotamia, and takes with him his Masters Orders, where and from whom to choose him a Daughter. Abraham before his Journey Swears him to Fidelity in an Affair of so grand Importance, and he as cautiously Swears, that he might the more Religiously keep his Oath. When he draws near the place, he Invocates his Masters God for Prosperity and good Success, and begs that the first Match may be made up between the Decrees of Heaven and his own En­deavours, that they might not thwart each other, but happily Marry together. He humbly resigns up his own Discretion to the wise Council of God, which he knew had determined already in the fittest Choice of a Wife for so great a Prince as Isaac. He knew that Marriages were made in Heaven: Let her whom thou hast appointed, &c. His Prayer is no sooner made than granted. Those drive on heavily, where God knocks off [Page 222]the Wheels of Expedition, but where Himself is in the Course, the Chariot flees like that of Ami­nadab. Abraham might have taken his Choice of all the Princesses of Canaan for his Son; but behold here a Woman with a Pitcher on her Shoul­der, is ordained to make his Daughter! Hath not God chosen the Poor of this World, Rich in Faith, to make a Spouse for his own Son? We Note not the Meanness of Rebekahs Family, (the same with Abraham's) but the Simplicity and Innocency of those early Times in the plain Education of their Children, when Pride and Idleness ruines our own. Eliezer is so far from liking her the worse, that her Humility was the only Virtue that recom­mended her to him, and the Woman that could be so courteous and lowly to draw Water for him­self and his Camels, is a concurrent Evidence from Heaven to his own judgment, of the best Wife for his Young Master. While the Dainty Fingers of our Ladies muff up themselves from Rebekahs Pitcher and Rachel's Crook; God thinks them unworthy to be promoted into the Beds of Isaac and Israel in the Family of Abraham. 'Tis the humble Mary, that (in the rejection of all the Proud Princesses of the World) is called to the everlasting Honour of drawing out her Breasts to a God. Eli [...]zer makes the first Attack upon Rebekahs Heart by a Charge of Jewels, and Mana­cles her Arms and Affections together. Now is the House and all in it too little for him, into which she runs (as his Prisoner) with the Chains on, little yet thinking that within a day or two she should be drawn out of it by the Man whom she calls her Brother to lead in. The diligent [Page 223] Servant will receive no Entertainment, till he knew whether his Message may not be as wel­come as his Person. 'Tis not enough that he comes from Abraham, unless he may go away with Rebekah. He politickly takes the course of the World, and first presents them with an Inventory of his Great Masters Estate. He thinks that the Argument of Riches will prevail more than that of Consanguinity, and he Doubles it to them, when he truly tells them that all was given him of God. His Gold would wear like Iron, without the Canker of a Curse upon it: And to all he adds this, That the Excellent Person he woes for, is the Sole Heir of all: And in con­clusion, intreats the result of their Thoughts, and that they might come to some speedy Reso­lution.

So good a Motion as this, requires no long time for Consideration, unless they purpose to deliberate to their own disadvantage. They could not mend themselves any where in all the World, and therefore they think it Prudence to come off Frankly, and yield up a ready Con­sent. They plainly perceive a Divine Provi­dence in the Motion, and will not oppose the Holy Will and Wisdom of God: Behold Rebekah is before thee, take her and go, &c. The Hearts of Men are in the Hands of God, therefore Eliezer humbly bows in Thanksgiving to the God that had bowed them. The Good Servant had learnt this holy Practice from his Old Master, that was ever falling down before his Maker. Not a word all this while of any Portion, 'tis a Wife that Abraham requires for his Son, not Money. Mat­ters [Page 224]thus Auspiciously concluded, the Presents are delivered, first to the Bride and then to her Friends: This was the laudable Custom of Anti­quity. Rebekah by these Jewels may judge before­hand what a well-furnished Closet she will find at home. All Parties are satisfied, Mirth and Joy refresh their Hearts, while they eat and drink together in Love. Eliezer (as a good Ser­vant) urges dispatch, while they plead for Ten days time to take leave of their Sister. The Con­troversie at length is referred to Rebekah her self, who modestly yields her assent to the Stewards Request. She is dismissed with her Nurse and Maids, and a Thousand Prayers to attend them. While we leave them a little on the Journey, let us take notice how happy she is like to be in an Husband.

Isaac's Holy Mind was not so vainly carried away with the pleasing Conceits of Marriage, that should cause him to neglect the Remem­brance of his Duty to God: Piety is the sure Ground of every Blessing; He builds aright indeed, that layes his foundation in Heaven. The World is but a tottering Basis, that hath buried the Greatest Families in Ruine. Blessed is the Heart that is first Married to Christ, and from the Crowd of Distractions here below, makes very frequent Retreats to keep up a daily Converse with the Spiritual Husband, who is not so Strange or Unkind, but will give it a Meeting at any time, and manifest Himself to it: Thou Lord meetest him that rejoyceth in thee. We are assured he will not fail drawing near to those that draw near to him. This was the Heavenly [Page 225]Practice of Isaac, the Holy Son of so Blessed a Father, whose Soul was ever filled with God. What a lovely Draught of his Devotion hath the Divine Pencil presented to our Eye. Isaac went out to meditate in the Fields in the Evening. Meditation is the Souls pitching on some Branch of the Tree of Life, where it sits viewing its own Happiness, and chirping out Praises to God the Author of it. Next to Abraham, no Man living had a more pleasant Prospect of sweeter Objects than Isaac to contemplate. Heaven and Earth was but one Field for his unlimited Soul to walk in: From the lower Terraces here in the World (without the help of his Sons Ladder) might he mount up to the the Turrets above, and Feast his Eyes with the Glories of Paradise. He was equally Heir of both Canaan's, confirm'd to him by the very Oath of God. Could he want Sub­ject then for holy Meditation, or Praise, or Com­fortable Matter for his busie Thoughts to work on? Thoughts are the Issues of the Mind, that Prolifick Parent, whose Children are all of one Nature with it self, and never differ in Quali­ty from it: If that be Terrestrial, so are They; but if Holy, they cannot be unclean, and should they prove so, they are with Ishmael cast out: There is no lodging for them in Abraham's House.

Behold Isaac's Pious Exercise (like an Anti­quated Custom) grown quite out of Use: The Defection of the Old World come upon us. All the Imaginations of the Heart (for the great­est part of Men) evil, and only evil, and that continually: God is not in all their thoughts. He by [Page 226]whom we have the Power and Faculty of Think­ing, quite forgotten: The very Cream of our Souls leaking out in full Streams after Vanity, and nothing left for God; Ephraim feedeth on Wind. But hath the Christian no better fare to Feast on? Hath God spread all the Treasures of his unsearchable Grace, and laid them before him, to make his own Choice, and to take them all to himself? Is this price in his hand to be happy for ever, and hath the Fool no heart to it? Is the Everlasting Charter fairly Copied out, and sent him down from above to peruse and read over, wherein he finds all the Priviledges of Heaven and Earth made over and secured to him, and all this not worthy reflecting on: And the Book lying as fast clasped up as his own Heart? See how grievously God takes this Affront to his Goodness. I have written to him the great things of my Law, but they were counted as a strange thing: A matter not concerning them at all. The Feast is prepared, and all things ready, them­selves Invited, but they make light of it, they have other Pleasures to follow! O Judicial Blindness! O cursed Insensibleness! Israel would none of me, so I gave them up unto their own hearts lusts,, to walk in their own Councels. He that hath no Heart for God, may jealously fear that God hath no Heart for him. Pray not for this Peo­ple, for my mind cannot be towards them. Why? Their Heart is turned away from me: Yet is this but the first Seething of the deadly Poyson, see it boil­ing up into the heighth of a mutual Abhorrency and Loathing. Their Soul abhorred me, and my Soul loathed them. Tremble to think on the fa­tal [Page 227]Effects of thy Hearts aversion from God: 'Tis a perfect Predamnation, the very Devils ar­rive at no greater height of Impiety: And thou that wilt not meditate Love, mayst shortly me­ditate Terror, and become a Magor Missabib, a very Fiend to thine own Self: Go miserable Creature! sit in the Dust, lye on the Ground, cloath thee with Ashes, put on Sackcloath, let bitter Tears be thy drink! Abhorr thy Self! Thy Soul is departed from God, and God (as from Saul) is departed from thee, and what wilt thou do in the end thereof? On what will thy mi­serable Thoughts feed on to Eternity? 'Twere a Judgment to pass one day without Meditation on God! but how wilt thou spend an endless Life without him? which yet thou canst not do, while all thy Faculties will be enlarg'd to take in nought but Plagues and Torments, which here fed on nothing but Vanity and Leasing: There thou wilt do nothing else but think on His Wrath on thy Self and Others, who here hadst no leisure or Heart to think on his Love and Goodness to thy Self and Others. Bethink thy self a little, while thou art in the World, sum­mon up thy Considerative Faculties, set them all at work to ruminate on the unchangeable E­state wherein thou wilt either Praise or Blas­pheme the Name of God for ever: Hast thou a Soul given thee for no other Work but to compleat thine own Misery? And doth God wait upon thee but until thou fittest thy Self for de­struction, whiles thou art little thinking how soon it will come upon thee? And then all the vain Thoughts that lodge within thee, will take their [Page 228]flight from thee, and perish for ever with thee: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider thy wayes. And remember, 'tis the proper work of the Ra­tional Soul (and of no other Creature but An­gels) to reflect on it self, and wisely to project for its future Happiness. When God hath laid before thee all the Contrivances of his everlast­ing Councels and Love towards thee in Jesus Christ; and set Him forth to be a Propitiation thrô Faith in his Blood, that thine Eyes and Heart may be astonished with Admiration of such Mer­cy: That this White Flag should hang up so long, and none consider the Black One of Judg­ment may appear in its stead; when all hopes of Life are gone and departed for ever: This is an Evidence of a fatal Obduration, and a mighty Contempt of Divine Grace. See Sinner! Mercy is yet offer'd! Proposals of Peace are laid before thee! Consider, thy Life and Soul are in hazard; if thou art drawing lines with Archi­medes in the Dust, while the City is stormed, and the Enemy entred, the next News will be the Sword in thy Bowels, and an everlasting Adieu to thy presumptuous Hopes.

But while Isaac's holy Heart was better ex­ercised, and he was sweetly walking with his God in the Fields, his Eyes discover the Camels Coming. In the doing thy Commandments there is great Reward: Mercy overtakes him in the midst of Duty. In the very Moment that he is en­joying God, God gives him the Enjoyment of his Rebekah, to whom (for the Honour that she doth him in lighting off her Camēl, and Veyl­ing her self at the first Meeting) he pays so en­tire [Page 229]Affection and constant Love, that in all his Life he never leaves her to depart into another Bed: And having now gotten so good a Wife, he endea­vours to forget the loss of a Mother, and to re­member his Sorrow no more.

I question not but the Readers Observation hath already prevented me, in the Noting of the clearest Allegory of the Proceedings of God in the raising a Seed to his Son, illustrated by the Care of Abraham in this Transactions of Isaac's Nuptials: 'Tis the Project and the Coun­cel of his Will to propose him as the Spiritu­al Husband to his Church. He makes the first Motion by his Servants that are sent forth to Woe and Beseech: They are sworn to Fidelity, under the dreadful penalties of destruction to themselves, if they be found Careless or Un­faithful in so great a Trust. Their Blood will I require at thy Hand. The Arguments they use, are the Promises of an Everlasting Inheritance, durable Riches and Honour in the heavenly Ca­naan: There is nothing required but bare Con­sent, and an hearty willingness to the Match. What doth the Lord require of thee, &c. My Son give me thine Heart onely. The Holy Spirit co­operates with the Messengers, and helps to convince and perswade. Our Gospel came not in Word only, but in Power, and in the Holy Ghost. He enlightneth the mind to see what are the Hopes of his Calliing, and how great the Riches of the Inheritance. He works the Heart to a free Consent; Thy People shall be willing; &c. When Faith is wrought, and Consent gotten, the Jewels are produced; Gifts and Graces: After [Page 230]ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Dispatch is urged; Be ye ready, the Faithful Soul called to depart: Hearken O Daughter, and consider, incline thine Ear, forget thine own Peo­ple, and thy Fathers House. While she is travel­ing on the Road of Life, the Bridegroom meets her; I will manifest my self unto her; she re­ceives him covered with a Veyl, and blushing at the Thoughts of her unworthiness: But he likes her the better, and greatly delights in her Beauty, while the Worships him as her Lord, and passes in with him into the everlasting Pavilion, where she alone enjoys his Love, and entire Person for ever. We shall be ever with the Lord: —Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The Nuptials of Isaac thus happily Celebra­ted, (and Rebekah in Possession of Sarah's Tent) what hath the joyful Father to expect more than an happy Translation to Heaven: But to hear of a Marriage-Bed instead of a Grave, and six flourishing Branches to spring out from the Dead Stock of his Body; this is a little strange and surprizing. Let not my Reader profane him­self by imputing Levity, much less Lasciviousness to Him that for so long a time had conversed with Angels, and God Himself on Earth: For as Jesus could not Bow his Sacred Head, nor give up the Ghost before each Syllable that was Prophesied of Him was perfectly fulfilled, even to the bitter Draught of Vinegar and Gall in his last Moments; so neither could Abraham suffer a Demise e'er the Promises made to Him were as perfectly Accomplished: And by the [Page 231]Power of a Divine Revelation, (I will make thee a Father of many Nations,) he is Invigorated with Prolifick Vertue for blessing six Countries more with Princes from his own Body: Nor shall this Numerous Brood of Keturah be inju­rious to the Great Heir, the very Offal of the Estate shall suffice for Portions to Them, while Isaac's Dishes stand never the Thinner on his Table. Let the Men of this World run away with the poor Legacies of general Providence: Heaven is enough and enough for the true Heirs of God. Lord, however hardly thou deal with me here in the World, Reserve a Portion for me with thy Self, and it shall suffice.

The Glorious Sun is now upon Setting, and my Pencil must prepare to draw the Shadows of the Night, which are Doubled by the shutting up the Eyes of the Great Abraham in Death. Since Eternity was Retail'd into Parcels of Time and Dayes, never was there a Century better pass'd in Universal Obedience to the Glory of the God of Life, whose Divine Wisdom thinks it but just to send him a Writ of Ease from all his Travels under the Sun; and having finished the Work he had given him to do, to call for him Home, and to fix him in his Lodgings with Himself in the Unmoveable Kingdom.

Abraham is dead, and the Prophets: They have chalked out to us the Path of Life, and then re­tired to Heaven. With what Impudence can any Church tell me, That if I follow the Steps of the Great Abraham, believe and Live as He; yet shall I never Arrive to his Bosom, unless I seal to the Articles of their own devising, and [Page 232]believe what Abrahams Holy Heart would have Risen at, and Abhorr'd to consent to? Should God send again this holy Saint from Heaven to walk a while among his Children on Earth, re­taining still but his own Principles, and teaching them to others, as what were sufficient to bring them to Happiness, in a Zealous Rejection of all the vain Inventions of Men, imposed now on the Christian World, under the Anathema's of Death; confident I am, even Abraham would very hardly escape the Censures of the Cursed Inquisition, which Wracks the Faith of every Soul (within its Clutches) into larger Extensi­ons of impossible things to be Credited, than the Tortured Joynts are drawn out to under the cruel Twitches of the Tyrannical Engine.

If Revelation of Divine Truth, imprinted on the Heart (fitted and softned to receive the Impression upon it,) and gaining upon the Affe­ctions to embrace and delight in it, working off the Life from unsuitable Practices, to reduce it into a Natural and pleasing Conformity to the Holy Rule, be not enough to secure me from the Dangers of Error and Delusion, wherewith the Superstitious World so uncharitably charges every Dissenter from its Follies, (so unreason­ably imposed,) let me contentedly dye, and put it to the Tryal before the Tribunal of the Great Judge; who I am sure cannot deny his own Work, in Attempering an Heart to his Holy Knowledge and Obedience, that natural­ly is so Averse and Rebellious against both: And for Appendices to Religion, Policies of Go­vernment, and offensive Ceremonies, &c. I can ea­sily [Page 233]distinguish (in the Light of Truth) how far I am obliged to conform to them for the sake of Peace and Honour of the Church; and in the same Light to differ from them, where they dis­sent from the Truth, and grate too much up­on Conscience; and yet still 'tis my Duty to pay Respect (so far as I can) to the Persons of Men: Thô I know it mine Interest in no wise to bend to their Principles, or close in with them in Cringing to a false God; and this I learn from Abraham, whose Demeanour towards the Children of Heth was full of Condescention and Civil Respect, while he would have cho­sen to Dye, rather than given them the Ho­nour of his Presence in their Idolatrous Temples. Civility and an Endearing Carriage hath its huge Advantages in the World, where Crab­bedness and a Morose look is not only ungen­teel, but affrighting. If Abraham had been a Person of a Rugged Supercilious Deportment a­mongst Men, how dimly had his Light shined in the Diversity of Nations, where God di­rected him to go! how little had his Profession profited towards an embracing of the Truths he followed! I think it may be truly Remar­qued, That the Generous and obliging Spirits of some Gentlemen in the Romish Communion, have done more to allure the Minds of our unstable Neighbours, to harbour good Thoughts of their ill Religion, than all the designing At­tempts of their Priests, whose Cloyst [...] natu­rally breed them to a sort of Carriage that ne­ver fails to create Jealousies and Fears upon the Minds of Men that occurr them; and bespeak [Page 234]them rather to stand upon their Guard against them, than to receive them in open Arms of Love: And while very few of that Fraternity can give a rational Account of at least Two parts in Three of their Faith, which they ever devolve upon the Church, (who takes care too that a prying Inspection be ever discouraged and Brow beaten) it shall suffice me to walk in the lustre of Abraham's Religion, from whom the Reformed Churches have received the Pat­tern; and care not to follow any other: And for my Self, had I a thousand Souls to Answer for, I would adventure them all upon the pure and unspotted Profession of Him, who had all his Knowledge from God sanctified into an Ex­cellent Life, which fitted him in the End for a Glorious Death, and a blessed Eternity.

FINIS.

Books lately Printed for John Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey, over against the Compter.

(1) A Continuation of Morning Exercise Que­stions and Cases of Conscience practi­cally Resolved by 31 Reverend and Learned Di­vines in the City of London, in October, 1682. Printed in a very large Quarto. Price bound 10 s.

(2) A compleat History of the Lives, Tryals, Sufferings, Deaths and Characters of all those Ex­cellent persons who fell in the West of England and elsewhere, from the Death of Sir Edmund­bury Godfry to this present time, with the Pictures of several of the chief of them in Copper plates: To which is added, The Life, Death and Cha­racter of George Lord Jefferies. Written by a Person of great Learning and Piety.

(3) Reformed Religion or Right Christianity de­scrib'd, in its Excellency and Ʋsefulness in the whole Life of Man: Wherein is given an Impar­tial Character of a Right Christian in General, of a right Christian Minister, of a right Christian Magistrate, of a right Christian Subject, of a right Christian Worship, of a right Christian Par­liament, and of a right Christian Souldier: Writ­ten by M. Barker Minister of the Gospel in Lon­don. Price bound 1 s.

(4) Mr. Howes Sermon at the Funeral of that Faithful and laborious Servant of Christ Mr. Rich­ard Fairclough: price 6 d.

(5) The Joy of Faith, or a Treatise opening the true Nature of Faith, its lowest Stature, and [Page]distinction from Assurance: with a preliminary Tract evidencing the Divinity of the Sacred Scri­ptures. By Samuel Lee, M. A. sometime Fellow of Wadham Colledge, Oxon. price bound 1 s. 6 d.

(6) Early Piety, Exemplified in the Life and Death of Mr. Nathanael Mather, who at the Age of 19 dyed an Instance of more than common Learning and Vertue. The second Edition, with a Prefatory Epistle by Mr. Matthew Mead: price bound 1 s.

(7) Mr. Slater's Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Oaks: price 6 d.

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