THese Words require your Attention, for they Treat of Salvation; not Salvati­on Eternal (which very few in our Dayes mind or regard) but Salvation Tem­poral and National, desired by and would be Welcome to us all; and I Wish we were all as desirous of the right Methods to this Mercy as we are of the Mercy it self. But amongst the manifold Fallacies which the Hellish Im­postor (who deceiveth the whole World) im­poseth Rev. 12. 9. upon People of all Times and States, there are none, by which a greater Number (and with more apparent Danger) are delu­ded, than by the Predictions of his False Pro­phets, who call Evil good, and Good evil, who put Darkness for Light, and Light for darkness, and [Page 2] boldly Prophesieth Peace, when the Lord by his Prophets prophesieth Trouble. Such was the Delusion of this People, the Jews, at this time, when God by this and the follow­ing Prophets breaths forth several Commi­nations of severe Judgments for their Stub­bornness and Rebellion, even such as (if not prevented by a sincere and speedy Repen­tance and Reformation) would end in their Destruction: But the False Prophets heal all, Predict fair Weather, assure them all was and would be well, Crying Peace, Peace, when there was no Peace, but the Voice of the Lord was Fury and Wrath: Whereupon they grow regardless of the Lord's Prophets, fearless of his Threatnings, and consequently Bold and Presumptuous in their Sin; 'till the Storm began to fall, and then they Cry out, (and not without Cause) We are deceived, these False Prophets have meerly Deluded and Mocked us; for according to their Pre­dictions, We looked for Peace, but no Peace came, for Salvation, but it was far from us.

From which Words give me leave to re­commend to your Consideration these two Seasonable Propositions:

• [Page 3]1. That a Nation or People may Expect and Look for Deliverance, Peace and Salvation, and God may delay and frustrate their Ex­pectations.
• 2. That when God doth frustrate and delay a People's Expectation of the Good, of the Peace and Salvation they hope and look for, Sin is the Cause of it.

Of the first briefly.

1. A Nation or People may Expect and look for Deliverance, Peace and Salvation, and God may delay and frustrate their Expectations:—We look­ed for Salvation, but it is far off from us. They may expect to be Planted, and God may Pluck them up; to be Built, and he may Break them down: They may expect a Calm, Jer. 45. 4. and God may send a Storm, that the Shad­dows of the Night of Trouble should flee away, and the Sun of Peace and Healing should arise, and God may lengthen the Night, and encrease the Darkness; they may expe Mount Gerizim, and God may bring them to Mount Ebal; as this People Complain Deut. 27. 12, 13. here, saying, Verse 9, and 10. We wait for light, [Page 6] but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness; we look for Salvation, but it is far from us, we are in desolate places, as dead men: Yea, more than once we hear them making the same La­mentation, Jer. 8. 15, 20. We looked for peace, but no good came, and for a time of health, and be­hold trouble; the Harvest is past, the Summer is end­ed, and we are not saved: And that mournful Expostulation speaks as much, Jer. 14. 19. Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zi­on? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no heal­ing for us? we looked for peace, and there was no good, for a time of healing, and behold trouble. And did not God deal thus with this People in the Wilderness, when he had brought them to the very borders and skirts of the promised Land, and they were in full expectation of a speedy Entry and Possession; yet God brought them back, and caused their Carkasses to fall Numb. 14. 25. to 30. in the Wilderness; dealing with them as with David's Enemies, of whom 'tis said, They look­ed, 2 Sam. 22. 42. but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but he answered them not? Many more Instances there are (besides what our own Experience can fur­nish) to prove, that God may be in a path­way of Mercy to a Land, or Kingdom, and [Page 7] (being provoked) may return again into the paths of Judgment. The Hand of Mercy may be stretched out, as Zarah's hand out of Tamars Womb, and be pulled in again as his Gen. 38. 28, 30. was. 'Tis true, such Divine Dispensations may seem severe, and such Delays and Dis­appointments hard and grievous to be born; yet most righteous and just, because deserved, as the next General will more fully inform us, which is this:

2. When God doth frustrate a Peoples Ex­pectations of the good, of the Deliverance and Salvation they hope and look for, Sin is the Cause of it. Divine Mercies are always free, Divine Judgments are always deserved. Thus far this People justifie God, and Acknowledge the Equity of his proceedings, Jer. 14. 19, 20. We looked for peace, and no good came, for a time of healing, and behold trouble, for we have sinned a­gainst thee. And if they had not confessed this to have been the Gause of their disappoint­ment, yet it is sufficient that the Prophet de­clares it in the very beginning of this Chapter wherein the Text is,—saying, Behold the Lords hand is not shortned, that he cannot save; but your Ini­quities (a larger Catalogue of which follows) [Page 8] have separated between you and your God. As if the Prophet had said—Do you complain that the hoped for good is delay'd, the expected Salvation far off? And what is the Cause? where lyes the blame? Not in your God, who by a mighty Hand, and stretched-out Arm wrought wonderful Salvations for your Fore-fa­thers, and is able to work as great Salvation for you; for there is no impotency in him, his hand is not shortned; the Fault or Blame there­fore must be in you, in your Sins, your re­peated Impieties and Rebellions, which are the Interstitium, that divides or separates between you and your God, and hinder good things from you. And of like import is that Divine Declaration, Jer. 18. 9, 10. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation, or Kingdom, to build it, and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my Voice, then will I repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them:—Yea, not only withhold the intended good from them, but do them hurt, and consume them, after I have done them good, saith the Lord, Josh. 24. 20.

And divers ways may a People provoke the Divine Justice to such terrible and destroying Resolutions: As,

• [Page 9] 1. When a People seek and expect Salvati­on or Deliverance where it is not to be had; as Ahaziah seeks Health and Recovery not from the God of Israel, but the God of Ekron; for which the God of Israel by Elijah sends him word, that he should never come down from his Bed, but certainly dye. When a Nation or People, sick, wounded and languishing, with foreign Wars, and domestick Divisions, shall seek to any for Health and Salvation save to the Lord, they provoke him to withhold Sal­vation from them, and to pronounce Sentence of Death and Destruction against them. He, who is styled the God of Salvation, will not have his Honour and Glory given to Men or Money, to Armies or Navies, or any other In­strument whatsoever, without making that Peo­ple sensible of their Fault and Sin, by a deser­ved frustration and disappointment of their Hopes and Expectations: Especially where the Hand of his Providence and its saving Operati­ons are so visible and apparent, that we may as well deny the deliverance it self, as deny it to be the Lords doing. That Martial King Edward the III. was accounted more commendable for [Page 10] this, than for his Victories, that having van­quished the French King by force of Battel, he put off from himself the whole Glory, and devoutly gave it unto God, by causing to be Sung, Non Nobis Domine, non Nobis, &c. Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be the Glory given. And in Justinians Law, it was de­creed, that no Workman should set his Name upon that Building which he made at another Mans cost. God is more jealous of his Ho­nour than Men can be of theirs, and will not suffer that Presumption to go unpunished that writes our Names upon his Works. When a People therefore rob God of his Honour, no wonder if God delay their Hopes, and disappoint their Expectations:—for he hath said, I am the Lord, that is my Name, and my glo­ry will I not give to another. Isa. 42. 8.
• 2. A People may look for Salvation, and it may be far off, when they desire it chiefly or only for Natural (or which is worse for sin­ful) Ends; desire and wish for an end of their Troubles, that they may not lose their Estates, exhaust their Treasure, or to recover what they have expended and lost, which is in it self law­ful; but if this be all, if we rest here, and look [Page 11] no further in our pursuits after Tranquility and Salvation, it is sinful. As if a Man should de­sire the quenching of a Fire in his Neighbours House, only to save his own, and so that were secured, he would not care if the rest were laid in ashes:—And worse still, when the end is, that they may have the more to spare and expend upon their Lusts, their Pride, Drun­kenness, their Lasciviousness and Wantonness, Malice and Revenge, and take their sinful Pleasures and Delight with greatet liberty and boldness, being at present under some restraint or awe by Divine Judgment felt or feared. There is as much Religion in such desires of Salvation and Deliverance, as there is in some Malefactors, who wish for the Assizes, in hopes they may be set free, and return to their old Trade again. And as these latter Offendors are oft-times cut short of their hopes, by the just Sentence of a Judge on Earth; so must the former expect to be by the Righteous proceed­ings of that Judge that sitteth in the Hea­vens.
• 3. When a Nation or People generally are more solicitous for a Temporal than an Eter­nal Salvation; seek Peace more than Truth, [Page 12] Earth more than Heaven, and their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ, which he him­self tells us ought to have the preference in our desires, Matth. 6. 33. assuring us that whatever we thus desire, shall be given; that if we first seek peace with God, he will give us peace with men, make our Enemies to be at peace with us, Prov. 16. 7. Every Sin is a Make-bate be­tween God and Men; but Worldly-minded­ness especially sets God and a Land at diffe­rence. When the Jews built and cieled their own Houses, letting the House of God lye waste, the Prophet Haggai 1. 2. tells us, God blasted them, blasted their Comforts and En­joyments, their Hopes and Expectations: And when they began to build God's House, and to mind those things that were of highest concern God began to bless them; Ye [...], from this for­ward, I will bless them, saith the Lord, Haggai 2. 19.

The just and due regard of Truth and Righ­teousness, of God and Religion, is the direct method to Salvation, Temporal as well as E­ternal; and the promoting of true Piety, and the power of Godliness, the ready way too sit under our own Vines and Fig-trees in pea [...]; [Page 13] but when the Grand Inquest, and general Cry of a People is, Who will shew us any good? when greedy desires after Earth eats out all true Affections after Heaven and heavenly things; when God is neglected, his Sabbaths prophaned, his Word and Ordinances flighted, all the Interests of Religion, Christ and his Kingdom, are disregarded, no wonder that the Expectations of such a Nation are disappoint­ed, and their hoped for Deliverance and Sal­vation delayed.

4. When a People have been in distress, groaning some time under heavy Yokes▪ and Burdens, and have cryed unto the Lord, who hath heard their Cry, began to shew them Mercy, and send Salvation to them, and in­stead of Praises, behold new Provocations, in­stead of returning unto God, revolting more and more, Isa. 1. 5. And is not this our Case? How long is it since our Peace and our Proper­ties (of which our Religion is the principal) were invaded, and in a great measure it rested from us by an Arbitrary Power: When we sighed under Romish Task-masters, whoseave­ry Mercies are Cruel; when divers Champions for their Religion and Countrey were basely [Page 14] and inhumanely made away and murdered in several places, as well as publick Scaffolds; When Horror lay down with us in the Even­ing, and Fears rose with us in the Morning: When Wickedness possessed the place of Judg­ment, Eccles. 17. 16. and Iniquity the place of Righteousness: In a word, when our Sorrows and Sufferings, our Perplexities and Griefs were too many and great to be expressed (tho' not to be forgotten by many amongst us) and God was pleased to remember us in our low Estate, to raise up and send a Deliverer to us, and give us hopes of a full Salvation from all our Troubles;—and instead of returning to the God of our Salvation, we return anew to our Sins and A­bominations in his sight, what can we expect but new strokes, new Judgments, new fru­strations and disappointments. For God doth neither send nor continue troubles to us, be­cause he delights in them, but because he would humble and reform us by them, Heb. 12. 10. Old Sins therefore repeated and continued in, call for new Arrows of Divine Vengeance, Levit. 26. 23. our renewed trespasses as vapours ascending up to the Heavens, bring down Thunder and Lightning upon us. And if we [Page 15] enquire why the Chariots of Peace and Salva­tion are so long a coming; the Answer is easie, our horrible and repeated Rebellions against God have clogged their Wheels; with our own Hands, with our Heaven-daring Oaths and Imprecations, our Adulteries and Blasphe­mies, our Pride, Intemperance and other Pro­phanesses, have we put Salvation and Delive­rance far off from us. We may impute the prolongation of our Troubles, and delay of our Peace and Salvation to the treachery and unfaithfulness of secret Enemies at home, and to the Policy and Power of open Foes abroad, but alas the Troublers of our Israel are our Sins, our hainous Impieties under Gospel Light, ma­nifest expresses of the Divine Love, by signal Mereies, Deliverances, and after repeated Vows and Promises, and publick and solemn Fasts and Humiliations: For were we truly hum­bled and reformed, and did our ways please the Lord, he could easily make our Enemies of all sorts to be at peace with us; He hath de­livered us, and can deliver us, his hand is not short­ned, that he cannot save, but our Iniquities put back, delay and hinder good things from us.

[Page 16] And now if we reflect upon what hath been said, wherein we have seen the Mala­dy, or Cause of our Miseries; it follows of course, that the Remedies be enquired after, and they are two, viz.

• 1. A patient Submission.
• 2. A real and speedy Reformation.

1. A patient Submission to the Divine Will, if yet God shall delay our Hopes and Expectations; if yet he should cause the Sun of Peace to stand, and the Chariots of Salvation to be long a coming, since the Fault is not in him, but our selves; let us neither wonder nor murmur at the prolongation of our Troubles, so long as we multiply and persevere in our Provocati­ons; Some Men (if things go not as they would have them) are apt (as the Prophet speaks, Psal. 73. 9.) to set their Mouths a­gainst Heaven, and to mutter against the All­wise Governour of the World, and his most Righteous Proceedings and Dispensations, as the People in the Wilderness, and thought they had some reason for it too; their Journey was tedious, their Hardships many, want of Bread [Page] [Page] [Page 17] and Water, their Enemies such as they dreamt not of, and withall they had forgotten their for­mer bondage in Egypt. Upon the like grounds are we prone to murmur also, because we did not think (perhaps) at first, the War would have proved such hot Work, have cost so much Blood, and so much Treasure; because we could not believe our Enemies would have proved so potent, but a Summer or two might have ended the Contest: And because we have forgotten our late Bondage and Slavery, Bur­dens and Oppressions, not considering all this while, our Sins have deserved this and much more; which if rightly thought of, we should be so far from murmuring, that our Expecta­tions and hopes of Peace and Salvation are de­lay'd, that we should (with the Church) ra­ther wonder at the Lord's Mercies, that we are not Consumed; that we are not yet given as a Prey into the hands of them that hate us.

2. The other part of our Remedy, is a real and speedy Reformation. As we desire God should redress our Grievances, and hasten our full Deliverance, let us forsake our Sins, and re­form our Lives. Would we have the Breath [Page 18] of our Nostrils, his Gracious Majesty, King William, still preserved from open Violence and secret Treachery, have his Armies and Navies attended with success, and crowned with Vi­ctory against the Common Enemy and Op­prestor, and an honourable and speedy Peace concluded; then let us make our peace with God by Repentance and Amendment: If there be any truth in the Word of God, we must repent or perish; if any stability in the Revealed Will and Laws of Heaven, there is no other way to Peace and Salvation but this. It were easie to make a large Roll of those Sins, those mighty Sins, Amos 5. 12. which continue trou­bles to our Nation, and call for a National Re­pentance; but I must only mention a few of them, and that with all brevity too.—As,

• 1. Murmuring and Discontent (as was said but now) at our present State and Condition; a Sin which God declared himself as much provoked by, as by any of the untoward Car­riages of the Jews, and for which he cut off and destroy'd, by the Amalekites and Canaanites, many thousands of them; and no wonder, for it is a Declaration of our dislike of some­what in God, in his Dealings and Dispensati­ons [Page 19] towards our selves or others, that might be mended, and done better, with more Ju­stice, or more Wisdom than it is;—Yea, 'tis a Sin that ever carries something of Rebel­lion in it; and a proneness (were it in our pow­er) of Revenge against God, who hath not done (as we think and judge) the thing that is right and just towards us. And will the All­knowing, Just and Wise Governour of the World, bear this at our hands?
• 2. Want of brotherly Pity and Compassions towards our Fellow-Members in distress abroad, through the Rage and Fury of an Enemy, who seeks the Ruine not only of their Bodies, but of their Souls also.

Methinks I hear those poor inslaved and op­pressed Wretches, groaning out their Com­plaints to us after this manner: Oh our Bre­thren in England, who yet Enjoy your Peace, Li­berty, Property, and Freedom of your Religion, will you not yet Afflict your Souls, and repent of your Sins, to save us? Care you not that we perish? is it nothing to you that our Wives are ravished, our Vir­gins deflowred, our Young Men slain with the Sword, our Houses burnt, our Cities laid waste, our Temples [Page 20] made desolate, our Gospel, and our Religion ruinated? Yea, how few are there amongst us, that so far Compassionate their Miseries as to mortifie a beloved Lust, shed a Tear, breath out a Sigh, or offer up a Prayer in Secret to Heaven for their Salvation and Deliverance. O Eng­land, how great are thy Complaints, how small thy Compassions? thy Murmurings many, thy Mercies few?

3. The unnatural, unchristian Divisions that are amongst us, the shame of our Religion, and the Joy and Hope of the Enemies of it. This is my Commandment, that ye love one another, and by this shall all men know that ye are my Dis­ciples; if ye love one another. Put on (as the Elect of God holy and beloved) bowels of mercy, kind­ness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one ano­ther, forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye:—and above all put on Charity. This is the Voice and Language of the Go­spel, yet true Love and Charity seem to be departed from the Professors of it.

4. A Contempt of the Gospel and Means of Grace, which is ever attended with a ge­neral [Page 21] Profaneness, and a spirit of Opposition to the work of Reformation, the only Re­medy of our Miseries: We own it in our Prayers, that the way to obtain Mercy at God's hands, and to be saved from our Ene­mies, is to Repent; every man to mend one. Every man to keep himself from his Iniquity: And for Men in Authority not to bear the Sword in vain, but to use their utmost Dili­gence and Power for the Punishment of Wic­kedness and Vice, and maintenance of Reli­gion and Vertue.

And here I Crave leave for a few Words to you, My Lords the Judges, and those Wor­shipful Gentlemen, who help to fill up the Seat of Judgment: Being hereto Encouraged by your Commendable and Religious Pra­ctice to Enter into the House of God, to ask his Direction and Benediction, before you pro­ceed to Execute your Commissions. Not that I shall Presume to dictate or Direct in the Discharge of your Honourable and Weighty Trust; or to Meddle with things I understand not, your distinct Offices and Duties. And surely 'tis no diminution to a Divine, that he [Page 22] is not a compleat Lawyer. But my desire (as well as Duty) is, Right Honourable, to excite your Zeal for God and his Cause, for the Prosperity and Peace of their Majesties and their Kingdoms. Your Lordships have heard somewhat of our publick Grievances, and un­derstand more than I can inform you, and what the Consequences are like to be: Now whether (next to God) should we betake our selves, to offer our humble and earnest Ad­dresses for help, but to your Lordships, and the rest of those Worthy Magistrates, who have Power and Authority put into your Hands by God and the King; that you would in your respective Places, by a due Execution of our wholsom Laws (for Laws not executed are as Laws repealed) endeavour to put a stop to that Deluge of Wickedness that threatens our Destruction?

It is observable, That God in Scripture a­scribeth to Magistrates, the most Honourable Names among Men; as Great Men, Nobles, Princes, Kings, Chief of the People, Heads over the People, Dignities and Glories; yea they are styled Angels, 2 Sam. 14, 20. nay, they are called Gods, [Page 23] Psal. 82. 6. and that you answer these Titles of Honour, Trust and Power, God both re­quires and expects, as you will answer it to Him, who hath thus Honoured you in his Word. And if you consider what the Apo­stle, Rom. 13. saith of Magistrates, their Of­fice, Power and Authority, he seems to speak you no less than the Keepers of our Liberties, the Safety of our Persons, the Security of our Possessions, the Terror of Sinners, the Defence of Saints, the Nerves and Sinews, yea, the vi­tal Spirits of the Body Politick, without whom all things would quickly run to disorder and Confusion; now how becoming, how neces­sary is Religion and Righteousness, Courage and Zeal for God in such Persons! which on­ly can make your Authority serviceable to the Divine Majesty.

Wherefore we and the whole Countrey, yea, the whole Kingdom, Cry to you, and such as you, (Right Honourable and Right Wor­shipful) in the Language of the distressed Dis­ciples—Save us, we perish; help, or we are ruined: Help us against Impostors and Sedu­cers, prophane Sabbath-breakers, common and [Page 24] false Swearers, against Swinish Drunkards, Hea­ven-daring Blasphemers, and bold Atheists, who industriously labour in the Devils Ser­vice, and who seek to laugh and banter all true Notions of God, all practice of Religion, yea, all Honesty and Sobriety out of the World. Let not my Lords be Angry, if I say once more, Help us against the Murmurers and unreasonable Male-contents at our present Go­vernours and Government, the greatest Bles­sing (of that sort) that ever our Kingdom en­joyed.

My Lords and Gentlemen, Can you do any thing? We know you can, we hope you will, and pray you may help us against these grand Impeders of our Peace and Tranquility; who retard our full Deliverance and Salvation, and hasten Misery and Destruction upon us more by their Sins, than they could do by their Hands. Conscience; I Confess, cannot be compelled to love Vertue, but Restraints may and ought to be laid upon the openly Vitious.

Arise therefore, Honourable and Beloved, for your own sakes; for the Lands sake, for the [Page 25] Lord's sake arise, put on a Spirit of Zeal and Resolution for God ('tis good to be zealously af­fected in a good thing) suppress all topping Vice and Profaneness, and lift up fallen, despised, trampled-upon Religion and Godliness, in your respective Stations and Places, and shew your selves Valiant for God upon Earth. The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) may do somewhat to the Amending the Manners of Men, but it will do more when the Sword of the Magistrate is joyned with it. A Ma­gistrate Conscientious and Zealous for God, may in his place do God more Service, in gi­ving check to open Vice, and encouragement to Vertue, than many Ministers can do, most Men living more by Sense than Faith, dread­ing a good Judge or Justice of Peace more than God, and are more afraid of a present Temporal Punishment, than of a future, tho' an Eternal Misery. Continual Experience proves it true, that the Price and Penalties for Oaths, Drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, &c. duly exacted and called for by you ac­cording to Law, prevail more upon such Of­fendors, than all the Penalties threatned a­gainst [Page 26] them in the Word of God: So pow­erful is the Sword of the Magistrate, where the Sword of the Spirit can make no Impression, work no Reformation.

Wherefore, with all Humility and Ear­nestness, and (as the Apostle speaks) in Christ's Name and stead, I once more Address my self to you, (Honourable and Beloved) That you would afford us your Assistance in this great and necessary Work. We preach against Wickedness and Vice, and we beg of you to punish it. We in our places press and exhort Men to the observation of the Laws of God, and we humbly pray you in your Places, to put in Execution the good and commendable Laws of the Land against open Enormities and Prophaneness. For till this be done, we are still in danger of Divine Judgments; We may look for peace, and behold trouble; for salvati­on, but behold destruction, and tho' brought out of Egypt, may perish in the Wilderness. But if this be universally and heartily endeavour­ed, we may yet hope to see Religion lifting up her languishing Head, and recover a re­pute [Page 27] amongst us, equal (at least) to what Looseness and Debauchery have had for di­vers years past. We may then hope for suc­cess against our Enemies, hope to see Mercy and Truth meet together, Righteousness and Peace kiss each other, yea, and Glory to dwell in our Land.

However, Your Reward shall be sure, for them that honour me, will I honour, saith the Lord, 1 Sam. 2. 30. A great Word, a Promise whose Contents neither Words nor Thoughts can ful­ly reach: And he that spoke it hath Earth and Heaven too at his dispose; and Heaven and Earth shall pass, before it shall fail. O that it may prevail with you to stand up for God, for his Cause, his Truth, this Day, Worship and People; else were you greater than you are, the following Threatning shall overtake you here, or hereafter, They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it; for there is not Iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of Persons, nor taking of Gifts, 2 Chron. 19. 7.