NOthing can favour a Christian in his journey to an immortal Canaan while he courts the false pleasures of a fading World the best whereof decay's in the bud, and dy's when they begin to be: The example is eve­ry Sinner, but particularly the man in Paradise, that was baited with an Apple, and hooked in, to a state of dying: Hence the Apostle may seem [Page 26]to have alluded in his Epistle to the Romans what fruit had you in those things; whereof you are now ashamed? for the end of those things is Death. Such were the Ninevites in my Text, to whom a learned Orator, Jonah, the holy Pro­phet, came, pressing Repentance with the threats of Ruin; Nineveh shall be overthrown, Jonah 3.5.7. so the people believed God, and proclaimed an universal Fast; The Marble Pallace, and the Clay Cottage were hung in Sack-Cloath, and sat in Ashes, lest Nineveh should be overthrown.

In which Words observe,

• 1. A Prediction, with a Limitation. Yet Fourty Days.
• 2. A Denunciation of Desolation. Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Whence these following Doctrines do arise,

• 1. That Sin brings Judgment.
• 2. That God usually warns all the Rebells of Heaven, of their approaching danger; as a method he takes to avert a final Destruction beyond the Grave.

3ly. That it is not the outward bravery of an Earthly Sphere, not the Pomp and Pageantry of a sading World, that can guard us, if we sin, from the frowns of Heaven; or shield us from the Fatal Blow; For Nineveh, though outwardly adorn'd with galantry, yet being inwardly blacken'd with [Page 27]deformity; therefore exactis quadraginta diebus, Nineveh delebitur.

Yet forty Days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

1st. That Sin brings Judgment.

Sin, and Sorrow, Irreligion, and the Scourge do meet in Families or Villages, Towns or Pro­vinces, Cities or Common-Wealths: When the first beats the Drum for Battle the last begins the March, and leaves the sinner in a Field of Blood: For as by one man Sin enter'd into the World, and Death by Sin; so Death pass'd upon all men, Rom. 5.4. for that all have sinned. This is the Harbinger of Ruin, and the Fore-runner of a dreadful Day, when the unregenerate shall pass the Gates of Death, and tremble at the Bar of Judgment; when all the miscarriages that ever have been committed in the darkest Corners of the Land, shall appear before God and Angels;Joel 3.16. Then the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, the Heavens and the Earth shall shake: Sin is the Fountain, Guilt and Punishment are the streams; that's the Cause, this is the Ef­fect. Now all we that aim at the Haven of an E­ternal Rest must pass by that Scylla, and this Cha­rybdis; for says Solomon: Prv. 6.7. Can a man take Fire in his bosom and his Cloaths not be burn'd? which implys that there is no sin without sorrow; nay, destructi­on certainly follows, unless Heavens assisting Grace reform our Lives, and conform our Obedi­ence, [Page 4]to all the Precepts of an holy Jesus. But desolation follows Sin from the one part of the Earth unto the other; it ransacks the corners and cranies of a sinful Land:Psal. 107.34. The Almighty turn­eth Revers into a Wilderness, and Water-spring into a dry Ground; a fruitful Land into Barrennes for the wickedness of them that dwell therein Josh. 7.29. 'Twas Achan's sin that brought him under the bur­then of a painful End. God will pour out his Wrath upon the Families that call not upon his Name:Hos. 9.11. This made Ephraim's Glory flee away from the Birth-Womb and Conception: This made Sodom and Gomorah fewel for Divine Vengeance in a dreadful burning. Here Sin enters the Gates and Ruin throws down the Bull-warks and Strong-holds; demolishes the lofty Fabricks, and makes the poor sinners Captives to the scorch­ing FlamesAmos 1.2. This make the Habitation of the Shep­herds mourn, and the top of Carmel wither.

Hence it plainly appears that Sin brings Judg­ment: but for the further Prosecution of my pre­sent undertaking, let us consider,

1st. After what manner doth the Almighty afflict mankind for sin? I Answer.

By how many methods we take to sin, by so many ways God is able to send his Judgments sometimes by Water; thus an universal Deluge once came upon an unrepenting World, and brought perdition in a raging Wave. Thus he overwhelmed Pharoah, and all his Host in the Red [Page 5]Sea: He hath Hail-stones to kill the Amorites and2 Kings 19. ver. 35. Angels, one of which will, destroy in one Night, an hundred, fourscore and five thousand of the Host of the Assyrians: the Earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is; he hath made it open its jaws to swallow up Corah, and his fellow Rebells. Lice, Frogs, and Flies, were the Aegyptian Plagues; sometimes by a Civil War, with seuds and disorder in their own dwellings: thus, when the Amonites had de­stroyed the Inhabitants of Mount Seir, they at last preyed upon one another, whilst the Earth was bedewed with Blood, over-spread with the relicts of the spoil. The Almighty's Wisdom is not limited to one particular way: His ways are in the Seas, his paths are in the deep Waters;Job. 28.7.8. The Vultur's Eye hath not seen them, the Lyon's Whelp hath not troden them, nor the fierce Lyon pas­sed by them; therefore we may add a Note of Admiration with the Apostle.Rom. 11.33 O, the depth of the Riches, both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments, and his ways past finding out?

2ly. The time when?

When the Sins of the people are ripe: therefore God told Ibraham, that his Seed should not, pos­sess the Amorites land till the fourth Generation; and the Reason was given this, (viz.) Because the Iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full.

3ly. What are the sins that are most destru­ctive to a Nation, or a Kingdom? such indeed, are all the Breaches of the Moral Law; and there­fore for breach of Covenant God threat'ned Ju­dah: Jer. 22.6, 7, 8. Thus saith the Lord unto the King's House of Judah; thou art Gilead unto me, and the Head of Lebanon, yet surely I will make thee a Wilderness and Cities that are not inhabited; I will prepare de­stroyers against thee; many Nations shall pass by this City, and shall say, wherefore hath the Lord done this, to this City? then shall they answer, be­cause they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord.

But, I shall confine my self to those that are most common, and therefore seem to be most de­structive here.

First, Swearing.

An Oath (says the Apostle) is the end of all strife, and there is scarce found any other means, or, to be sure, none to be compar'd with this, to determine Controversies between man and man; without which, no Justice can appear to be; no humane Society can stand: 'Tis twofold, either Assertory or Promisory: Now 'tis a grievous sin, when men shall make use of the Name of God, ei­ther lightly or wantonly, or to bind an Argu­ment, and make it a Period to a Lye. Or,

2ly. If a man hath no regard to his absolute Necessity, but wilfully acts contrary to his Pro­mise made, ratified and confirmed by Oath; then he renders abuses to the sacred Name of Ma­jesty, [Page 31]vilifies and contemns Omnipotency, and incurrs a severe penalty annexed to, and de­nounced against the breach of this moral Pre­cept: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And when men are once arrived to such a height of wickedness as to make this cu­stomary (breathing out Blasphemy, as if they intend to infect the Air and poyson succeeding Generations with their Plagues and Damning) what remains, but that their own Curses shall return again? for God will not hold them guiltless that take his Name in vain; and theZech. 5.3.4. flying Roll shall torment them, &c. This makes a Nation sorrow; for Jer. 23.10 because of swearing, the Land mourneth.

2. Pride.

The lofty Mountains shall be barren, when the lower Vallies are laden and enriched with store. God resisteth the Proud and giveth grace to the Humble; Shame is her hand-maid that waits upon her to the gates of ruin;Prov. 11.7. For when Pride cometh, then cometh Shame: and 'tis obser­ved that the Mistriss always walks before her Attendants,Prov. 16.18. So Pride goes before Distruction; and an haughty Spirit before a fall.

3ly. Carnal Security.

When men are lulled asleep on the lap of a car­nal Security, and lye snoaring upon a bed of Time, without any regard to a furture Being; like the [Page 8]indulgeingSardanupa­lus; Ede, bibe lude post mor­tem mula vo­lupi Epicure, that took his repasts in the present Tense, and would have no joyes beyond the Grave: 'Tis then high time, if ever, to shake off such a drousiness, lest it prove a Lethargy unto an eternal slumber Such was the cuse of the man in the Gospel, Who though he had heaped up trea­sures for many years, yet the same Night in which he though he had been most secure in the entry munt of his worldly Goods, his foul was nequired of him; then what were those things which he had possess'd.

And such are the common vanities of our de­praved Age, that allure poor Souls with their flattering smiles, and counterfeit delights, until they tickle them to Death. Therefore says our Saviour, love not the World, nor the things of the World; for whoso loveth the World, the love of the Father is not in him. Why then do we slumber out our days in this transitory Sphere, among such vanities, that only lead down to the Cham­bers of Death? Knowing that even it must be dissolved as well as we; the Sun shall be dark'ned, and the Moon shall withdraw her shining; the Stars shall fall, and the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken; all most become a prepared Mass and a funeral Pile for the Breath of the Lords displea­sure, that like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle Tophet: Tho' Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily why should the Hearts of the Sons of men, be fally set to do wickedly? But let such Security have an early Summons,Isa. 30.33. For such shall know while they say, Jud. 81 7. peace, peace, sudden destructi­on [Page 9]a shall come upon them, as upon a Woman in travess and they shall not escape. But,

4ly. And lastly

Division, or breach of Uniformity is another National, overturningand Soul-destroying sin.

One asked a Thessalian, who were most wel­come to his Countrymen? He answered, they who were most peaceable and declined War. Now that the breach of Uniformity is a Soul-destroy­ing and National overturning sin, will ap­pear under a twofold Consideration.

1. In that it is directly contrary to the welfare of the Church, and secondly to State too.

As for the first.

Herein all will pretend to one common Faith, and yet ingross all the Heresies of past Ages, and study inventions to find out more: All are ex­treamly wrapped up in their own persuasions, impatient to hear of any error that belongs to them; zealous to enthrone their judgments, and prefer their phantasies to pass into publick Ordi­nances and become the established forms of Reli­gion here: Nay, there is scarce an Heresie but will pretend to some Antiquity to authorize its Being.

Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 33. Thus the Millenaries fetch theirs from Papias.

August. cont. Donat. Tom. 7. lib 2. p. 396. The Anabaptists from Agrippinus.

Epiph. Har. 62. p. 513. The Socinians are as Old as Sabellius. And these Reprobatarians from Simon Magus and [Page 10]the Manichees.

But so directly doth Schism oppose the welfare of our Church,* Lam. 1.2. That her tears hang sore upon her cheeks because of it. Hence it is that she com­plains, Her friends have dealt treacherously with her and that amongst all her Lovers she hath few to comfort her; Illa te aiù portavit in u­tero, aiù a­luit &c. Hier Ep. 47. she that once bore them in her own Bowels, and nourished them in her own Womb, and even courts them now with a sweet harmony to return again; she that delights in no Throne save that of Bliss, in no Attendants but men, Ton­gued like Angels, Winged like Eagles, and heart­ed like Doves; now sings Lachrimae for her lost Delinquents, her Priests sigh, and her Virgins mourn, so that we may say with St. Hierom Quis un­quā mortaliū juxta vipe­ram securos somnos capit, quae etsi non percutiat, certe solicitat. Epiph. 47. who can sleep secure that bordereth so upon the Viper? who if he sting not surely solicites and endangereth out seduction.

Now the first pretence that our Dissenters had was to seek only the liberty of their own Consci­ences: but now nothing more than the Soveraig­nity over other mens, in a Damnable Rebellion a Rebellion that wants an Argument to justifie its Being; do they fight for the Protestant Religi­on? that's kept secure from their invasion, by the over-ruling providence of Heaven, and wanteth nothing save only the Conformity of those that would destroy it. Is Religion grounded on those Precepts which our blessed Jesus left behind? So are all the Articles of our Faith; no Diminution nor Addition; and as for those few remain [Page 11]which they approve not of, we only borrow from he best of men, who lived in the time when a bishop and a Martyr were both one,

Hence it is, that they who interrupt the peace of a true Religion by nourishing a Faction (if they own a God) might acknowledge that they diso­bey his voice, when he saith, follow peace and ho­liness; and what follows but the total exclusion of immortal joys, without which peace no man shall see the Lord: And how far from peace are the present Opposers of our Sion? who defile the Press with unworthy Pens, and ravish the Pulpit with prophane Tongues.

Our blessed Lord tells us of a sort of People among the Jews, called Pharisees, who took away the Key of Knowledge, lock'd up the Law, and shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men;* Mat. 23.13. that their Proselytes could as soon enter the Se­creta Jehovae, the privacies of Heaven, as the Pre­sence Chamber of God's revealed Will: and such are (by a Geneva Translation) the present op­posers of our quiet; they lead Captive silly Women laden with their sins, lock up the Kingdom of Heaven by their obstinacy, and all the hopes of future joys by resisting Supremacy;Rom. 13. for whoso resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive unto them­selves Damnation. Now if this be the way that leadeth unto life, the path in which the Redeemed of [Page 12]the Lord do walk, then farewel Heaven and Religi­on too.

But Secondly.

This is a National-overturning sin, and there­fore prejudicial to State too.

Our Saviour faith, If a Kingdom be divided against it self, that Kingdom cannot stand. But Division is the greater sin when it strikes at the root of that Government which is established by such laws as Justice and Modesty can possibly re­quir; such as have abated the Royal dues for the interest of them that will be at peace; and what is the issue of this Division, but Distraction in a Common Wealth? Hence Feuds and Dis­cords, Detestations and Revilings do arise. The Son dishonours his Father, and the Daughter ari­ses against her Mother, * Mich. 8.5, 6. Brother delivers up Brother to death, * Mat. 10.21. and the Father the Son, and the Chil­dren arise against their Parents, and cause them to be put to Death; * Luk. 12.52. five in one house are divided, three against two, and two against three. Hence it is that the Rich become Poor, and they that were once of a low Degree, would pride it in the Fea­thers of other Birds: Even when the spoylers come upon high places, * Ec. 10.6, 7. Reloycing and Lamentati­ons do both attend the bloody Victorys in a Ci­vil War; and as Division is sinful, so our Con­quests and Triumphs are mournful; for by how much greater is the spoyl, so much less is our Acquaintance here, and much of that blood [Page 13]which we draw from others, is part of that which runneth in our own Veins: Thus the Lord doth Fan us as with a Fan in the Gates of our land; bereave us of our Children, our Widows are encrea­sed above the sand of the Seas, and the spoyler at Noon is brought upon us, and all because we have sinned against him.

But who are the Actors in this bloody Tragedy?Gen. 49.7. Cursed be their Anger for it is fierce, and their Wrath for it is cruel. This once brought sorrow to the Greeks, as Nestor said of the strife betwixt Agamemnon and Achilles: Hom. il. lib. 1. Plutrach calls it the Wound and Plague, and Socrates the Ax and Sword, Basil the Rottenness and Rust, and Chry­sostom the Moth and Canker of the Soul.Object. An­ger may be in some measure allowable, if it be in the behalf of God, and the defence of Goodness: Only asExod. 32. Moses was wroth with Israel for their Idolatry, Numb. 16.15. with Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, for their Conspiracy; 1 Sam. 19.14. As Elias against Israel, for their Apostacy; and as Jer. 6.11. Jeremiah was against the Jews for their Impietie: But Anger amongst us is another thing, the Coal is blown up; and the Land is in a combustion now. He whom the Lord hath sent to Crown the Earth with Peace, and the Land with Fatness, is disturb'd in his own Throne: Malignants knock at his Royal Gates. He that strengthens the Realm, and fortifies Dominions with a standing Army, to secure us from the Invasion of Foreign Enemies, cannot be at rest for his home-bred Rebells; but they, like [Page 14]ambitious Phaaeton would mount the Fiery Char­riot, drawn with Fury and Revenge, and ramb­le through our Brittish Spheres, that they who follow'd, might wade in Blood. But he that sheddeth Man's Blood, by Man shall his Blood be shed.

And this shall suffice concerning the first Do­ctrine, viz. That Sin brings Judgment.

I proceed to the second.

Viz. That God usually warns all the Rebells of Heaven of their approaching danger, as a Me­thod he takes to avert a final ruin beyond the Grave.

Now that the Almighty's Arm is not stretched out for the Punishment of Evil Doers, without an early Summons to repent, that Iniquity may not be their ruin, appears from the words I have hitherto insisted on, where there is first a Pre­diction: Yet Forty Days.

2ly. A Desolation: Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Such is God's Patience to frail Mortality,* Pet. 3.20. that he spar'd the Old World with long-suffering in the Days of Noah, * Ps. 95.10. and provoking Israel Forty Years. Forty Years long was I grieved with this Generation; and Rebellious Nineveh, Forty Days. But if the hearts of men be so obdurate, that they will not turn before a Tamen, or a remarkable Warning come; then God will whet his Sword, he hath bent his Bow, prepared his Arrows, Instruments of Death, against his Persecutors.

Now the Almighty is said to warn all the Re­bells of Heaven, &c.

1st. By his Ministers; such was Jonah to Nine­veh, and Noah to the Old World: He gave them Commission to cry aloud, and spare not; to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet, to tell the People their Sins.Ezek. 3.18, 19, 20 21. Son of man, saith the Lord, I have made thee a Watchman unto the House of Israel; there­fore hear the Word at my mouth, and give them warning from me, when I say to the Wicked, thou shalt surely Dye, and thou givest him not warning to save his life, the same wicked man shall dye in his Iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. And if the obstinacy of sinners be such that they bring not forth Fruit meet for Repentance: Then let the Ministers of God denounce Judgment;Hos. 6.7. and Isa. 3.11. For I have hewn them saith the Lord, by the Pro­phets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth: VVoe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for thereward of his hands shall be given him.

But 2ly.

The Almighty warns a People by calling the Faithful to their long home.

At their departure, 'tis time that a whole Land should mourn, for a dismal desolation is at hand: They being the Props and Pillars, Horse-men and the Chariots of Israel, Walls and Bull-warks, both of Church and State, To stand as Moses in the Gap, to turn away God's wrathful Indignation. [Page 16]Such is the prevailing Efficacy that attends the Ministry, that Eliphaz the Temanite said of Job, Joh. 4.4. Thy words have upholden him that is falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble Knees: The wick­ed are spared from destruction, because of the in­tercession of these holy ones: I deny not, but these may be taken away in a common Calamity. But had there been Fifty Righteous in Sodom; nay, if there had lacked Five of the Number; if there had been but Forty Five; take Five from that; if there had been but Forty there; nay, twice Ten more; if there had been but Twen­ty there; (yet Ten more;) if there had been but Ten there; Sodom would not have been laid waste in Ashes:Gen. 18.32. For says God, I will not destroy it for Tens sake. So tenderly affected is the Lord with good men, that he will hear their Prayers for the Wicked:Numb. 25. For thus saith the Lord, Phi­nehas the Son of Eleazer, the Son of Aaron the Priest, hath turned my wrath away from the Chil­dren of Israel (While he was zealous for my sake among them) that I consumed not the Children of Is­rael in my jealousie.

Hence it appears, that the dissolution of good men, is a prelude to our dissolation, and a timely warning to all unrepenting Sinners.

3ly. God usually warns a People by some re­markable Judgment, visiting our Offences with a Rod, and our sins with Scourges, speaking unto us in this Language, that we may speedily return [Page 17]from our wickedness, lest a worse Judgment fall upon us; for our Saviour saith,Luk. 13.5 Except ye re­pent, ye shall all likewise perish. The Almighty warns us.

Reas. 1 1. That all mankind may discern that neither Joy nor Misery hath any dependance on either Chance or Fortune; but all things both in Hea­ven and Earth are guided by an over-ruling hand: I form the Light, says God, and create Dark­ness, Isa. 4, 5.7. I make Peace, and create Evil; I the Lord do all these things.

Reas. 2 2ly. He warns a People with threats of Death, that we, by a newness of Life, might live to dye, and dye to live for ever; and herein is the mani­festation of his Patience, and long-sufferings to the Sons of men: As I live saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked, but that they turn from their Evil ways and live; and he graciously indents with his departing people: Turn ye, turn ye, from your Evil ways; for why will ye dye, O House of Israel? Again,Ezek. 33.11. My peo­ple, says God, are bent to Backsliding from me, but how shall I give thee up Ephraim? how shall I deli­ver thee Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? my heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together.

I should now insist upon the third Reason, which is,

Reas. 3 3ly.t That man may have nothing to say in his own defence when Judgment is pronounced a­gainst him; but Righteous art thou O Lord, and true are thy Judgments.

Doct. 3 But I shall proceed to speak briefly of the third Proposition, viz.

* That it is not the outward bravery of an Earthly Sphere, not the Pomp and Pageantry of a fading world, that can guard us (if we sin) from the Frowns of Heaven, or shield us from the Fatal Blow.

What, if Nineveh had the best Situation for the Salubrity of Air, and Fertility of Ground, yet had sin remained Forty Days longer, and even Nineveh had been destroyed; her stately Struct­ures could not priviledge her from Ruin, nor her strongest holds from Destruction; nor could all her Embellish'd Arts tempt or allure the angry Angel to withdraw his resolute Arme.

Suppose this to have been the Worlds Won­der, or the Princes amongst all Nations under Heaven: Yet Forty Days, and sin would have le­velled her with the Dust, and laid all her Pomp and Glory in the Grave. Suppose this City had been surrounded with the Walls of Brass, and circled round with Trenches, whose Bottoms were lower than three times the Alpes are high; yet even they could not beat back the Heavens revenging blow, and the Reason may be given.

Reas. 1 1. To manifest to the World, that God is no respecter of Persons; but that JudgmentJob. 34.9. is as equal at the Pallace Gates of Princes, as at the Cottage Doors of the meanest Peasants; the lofty Pine and the tall Cedar; the Bramble and the Shrub are all one: But in every Nation, Act. 10.34.35. Colos. 3.25. 2 Cron. 19.7 he that feareth him, and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him, and he that doth wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he hath done, and there is no respect of Persons.

Reas. 2 2ly. That Gods Wisdom, Power, Justice, and an Odium against sin, may the more appear; this made the Ninevites discern their approach­ing Ruin; Then they cryed mightily unto God, yea, they turned every one from his evil way; who can tell say they, but that God may turn from his Anger, Jonah. 3.9, 10. and we not perish. And 'tis said that God saw their works, and repented of the evil that be had said he would do unto them, and did it not.

But to conclude by way of Ʋse and Application.

Ʋse 1 1st. Doth Sin bring Judgment? Then this may serve to justisie God in all his Proceedings against this Nation: As Jacob said of his Son Jo­sephs Coat; an evil beast hath devoured him: So may we say of our Sins, for they are the Grand De­vourers both of Church and State; we had been at peace with one another, had not our sins, the troublers of our Israel challenged the Almighty into Martial Armes, for impietas ad arma vocat, and the dread we have of a final Ruin, o­penly proclaims hic fuit iniquitas; hic ho­stilitas; [Page 20]that here hath been some reigning and damning Sins; for here hath liv'd the Atheist, and the debauch'd good Fel­low; the sensual and the secure Man; the Oppressor and the Godly Hypocrite; the Unjust and Violent; the Prophane and Ig­norant; a Plundering Achan, and an Op­pressing Ahab; a Covetous Nabal, and a Fratricidious Cain; a Backbiting Ziba, and a Cursing Shimei; a Scoffing Cham, and a Prophane Esau. Thus we have drank Ini­quity like water, and declin'd Sin, through­out all the Cases.

• In the Nominative, by Prophaneness.
• In the Genitive, by Pride.
• In the Dative, by a Carnal Security.
• In the Accusative, by Hypocrisie.
• In the Vocative, by an Insurrection.
• In the Ablative, by a Damnable Re­bellion.

I should have left a Case for Destruction too, but that comes in the Plural Number.

First, To all ye wretchedly Prophane, Ezek 5.4. Ezek. 28.16. and therefore says God, I will bring up a Company upon them, and will give them to be [Page 21]removed, and spoiled, Heb. 12.19. Ezek. 23.42.47. and the Company shall stone them with Stones, and dispatch them with their Swords, and they shall slay their Sons and their Daughters, and burn up their Houses with Fire.

2ly. To all ye that are proud, God will deck himself with Majesty, and array himself with glory; he will cast abroad the Rage of his Wrath and behold every one that is proud and abase him.

3ly. To all ye that are carnally secure. Thus the secure People of * Laish were a­wakened,Jud. 18 27, 28. when the Edge of the Danites Sword came upon them, and when they burnt the City with Fire.

4ly To all ye Hypocrites.

* Your hopes shall perish,Job. 8.13. and ye shall not come into the presence of the Lord. * Woe unto you Hypocrites,Mat. 23.14. for ye devour Widdows Houses, and for a pretence make long Prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater Damnation

5ly. To all ye that make Insurrection.

Thus Judgment fell upon the fair Me­tropolis of the Dissenting Jews, Jerusa­lem [Page 22]hath been a City hurtful unto Kings; and because they have moved Sedition within the same, therefore was this City de­stroyed; ‘hide me from the gathering together of the froward and from the In­surrection of the Wicked Doers.’

6ly. and lastly, to all ye Rebells.

There is a near affinity between an In­surrection and a Rebellion; the first being the seed, the last the harvest: for grant Schism to be sown in a Conventicle, and you may presently reap a Rebellion in a Common Wealth.Isa. 30.1. But woe to the Rebelli­ous Children who take Council, but not of me, and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.

Such are the fearful aggravations of Eng­land's miscarriages, that we have sinn'd a­gainst mercys, and many great deliveran­ces; against Truth and all Goodnss; these shaddow our Gospel-land with Clouds and thick darkness, and obscure ‘the path that leadeth unto Life that few there be who find it.’ Hence it was that Brittain, like the Land of Aegypt, even as the Gard­en [Page 23]of the Lord, became once a second Rama, where in many Rachaels wept for their slain In­fants and woud not be comforted because they were not; and it is even now just with the Al­mighty that Rebells be made Instruments of our Ruin, and Voyals of Vengeance to our mourning Isle. Changing our Cor­nets of Peace and Joy into Trumpets of Warr and Sorrow; our Pens into Pikes, and our Maces into Swords: They like Sampson, value not their own Destruction; therefore are come to Engrave the Histo­ry of a Rebellion with the Sword, and with such Ink, as Draco's Laws were wrote in Blood.

Ʋse 2 2ly. Is this the top of our Terrene per­fection to have our Coat of Or, & Conversa­tion Sable, to be grac'd with the name of Piety, and yet disgrac'd with Infirmities, & charg'd with a load of Guilt, where is our Repentance?

When we lye under the burthen of a Griping Conscience or the heavy pressure of Gods, displeasure, when we are under any temptation, or in danger of falling in­to [Page 24]any sin. In a word; when any Judg­ment, whether Spiritual or Temporal, threatens our ruin; 'tis then time, that the Guilty should cry aloud with a hearty sor­row for sin, Save Lord, or we perish; and why should we distrust, but that the same God that hath given us a Being, and pro­tected us from our Births, to this Moment, will also give us a sincere Repentance, beat back our Enemies, and guide our Feet into the way of Peace? for we know he hath a return for the wandering Shulamite, and a Kiss for the home-come Prodigal.

The Psalmist once lay under the frowns of heaven, and was shrouded with a cloudy Day, when from Adultery he fell into Blood and Wounds; he kill'd Ʋriah the Hittite with the Sword of the Children of Ammon, tho Nathan said thou art the Man and shalt surely dye, yet, such is the Lord's Mercy, that after Repentance comes Par­don. Says David I have sinned against the Lord; then says the holy Prophet, the Lord hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not dye: Joy then to the repenting sinner, to him that has clip'd [Page 25]the Wings of Faith, and dash'd in pie­ces the Comforts of his saving hopes, and turn'd Gods Glory to Dishonour: for says the Apostle, * such were some of you, meaning the Corinthians. But ye are wash'd but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, by the Spirit of our God: To this End, the Blessed Blood of the Paschal Lamb was once spill'd that our Scarlet Sins might change their deep­est Dye, and be made as white as Snow; even such as brought him from his Throne and nail'd him to the cursed Tree: by his blood he hath cancell'd all obligations and made us heirs of an eternal inheritance: This is the fountain of Mercy, that flows continually to refresh the drooping Spi­rits of afflicted Souls, * Where the Spirit and the Bride says come, and he that is a thirst come, * and let whosoever will, come and take of the Water of Life freely. From this Fountain, the Redeemed of the Lord return, and come with singing unto Sion.

But 3ly. and lastly

Let us herein admire God's Love, that [Page 26]he warns us, before he smites us, Yet Forty Days, &c. his Love, insnatching our Brittain from the Jaws of Death and staving off Destruction from our Habitations here. When Sodom burn'd, Lot took Sanctuary in a little Village, and when Jerusalem was lay'd waste, some few Inhabitants had a Pella too.

Sing O Heavens, and rejoyce O Earth, that our Zoar is yet the house of God and the Gate of Heaven; thither, thither, will we flee and be at rest, For God is in the mid'st of her, there­fore shall she not be removed, God shall help her, & that right early. O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoyce in the strength of our Salvati­on, that our Land is not yet soak'd with Blood, nor our dust with the Fatness of the slain; that Monar­chy triumphs yet above Anarchy, and Shields the Throne from Cruelty and Usurpation, and our Si­on from Destruction; that Episcopacie is yet the Cherub that guards the Paradise of God from all Invaders, landed on our Christian Shore: but least an over indulging Care of securing our out­ward Peace, should seem to lesten our Chri­stian Charity, and tempt us to a loss of that with­in; let us send (as we are taught) humble beseech­es unto God, that in his own good time he would bind up the breaches, delineate the blemishes, and raise up the lapsed Reputation of his divided Spouse; and all for the honour, as well as merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

To whom with the Father, &c. Amen.