THis whole Chapter,Coherence. upon per­usall, we shall finde it a Pro­phecie against those old ene­mies of God, and his people, the Philistins: So much the first verse thereof acquaints us with. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the Pro­phet against the Philistins, &c. The word of the Lord. And what Word was this? A word of threatning, denouncing against them a judge­ment, a terrible judgement, the Sword, the sword of a forraigne enemy; so you have it, verse 2. Thus saith the Lord, behold waters rise up out of the North, and shall [Page 2] be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the Land, &c. What Waters were these? Why, the Armie of the Cal­deans or Babilonians, which comming out of the North should overrunne, overflow, and drowne that whole Land with a sanguinarie deluge, a deluge of blood: so the third verse explaines it. At the noyse of the stamping of the hoofes of the strong Horses, at the rushing of his Cha­riots, &c. the Fathers shall not looke backe unto their Children for feeblenesse of hands. Such should be the feare and terrour that should surprize them, that it should even take away all naturall affections. So oft­times in warre it commeth to passe, where every one is put to shift for himselfe, the Father forgetteth the Childe, and the Husband the Wife. So sharpe is this Sword, that it cuts in sunder even the straitest bonds, and neerest relations.

This is the judgement here threatned against this Na­tion, this people. For the further confirmation where­of, that the Jewes, (for whose sake this Prophecie was penned, and to whom it was directed) might not make any doubt of it, the Prophet here in the close of the Chapter, the verses I have now singled out, breaketh forth into a most emphaticall Apostrophe, turning his speech to the Sword it selfe, parlying with it (as it were) about a cessation.

In this Parlie two particulars are to be taken notice of;Division. An Expostulation, and a Revocation. An Expo­stulation, verse 6. O thou Sword of the Lord, how long, &c.] A Revoctaion correcting and answering that Expostula­tion, ver. 7. How can it be quiet &c.]

In each of these, take we notice againe of two par­ticulars: In the former, the Thing expostulated with, and the matter of the expostulation. The thing ex­postulated with: the Sword; the Sword of the Lord.] The matter touching which he expostulates with that Sword, is a Cessation. O thou Sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? In the latter, a Resolu­tion, [Page 3] and a Reason. A Resolution by way of answer to his former Expostulation, How can it be quiet?] A Reason of that Resolution, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, &c.

You see the Particulars; I shall touch upon them as briefly as I may, beginning with the first, which shall serve as a key to let us in to all the rest: The thing which the Prophet here parlies, and expostulates with, The Sword, the Sword of the Lord. O thou Sword of the Lord.]

The Sword, Explication. what properly and litterally it is, I shall not need to tell you. It were much to be wished that it were not so well knowne amongst us as at this day it is. Improperly the Sword still points out some Judgement: Generally, any notable judgement. In this sense understand we the word, Psalm. 7. 12. where the Psalmist speaking of the wicked man, he tells us that if he turne not, God will whet his sword.] i. e. prepare for him, and execute upon him some terrible judgement: In the same sense the Plague of Pestilence is sometime called the Sword, So you have it, 1 Chron. 21. 27. where, speaking of the cessation of the Pestilence, it is said that The Lord commanded the An­gell, and hee put up his sword againe into the sheath.] Every notable, terrible judgement is a Sword. More rastrainedly, and peculiarly, the judgement of Warre. This in phrase of Scripture is most commonly known by the name of the Sword. And will you know the reason of it? Illiricus gives it fitly. The Sword it is Precipium organum belli: It is one of the chiefest in­struments of use and service in the warres. In this sense understand the word in the Text. O thou Sword.] the Sword of a forraigne Enemy, the Armie of the Caldeans or Babilonians, that should come up against the Philistins.

And this Sword the Prophet here calls the Sword of the Lord, Doct. O thou Sword of the Lord.] Such is the Sword, [Page 4] the judgment of warr, it is Gods Sword. So we find it in Scripture not unfrequently called. Ezek. 21. 3. Be­hold J am against thee, and I will draw forth my Sword out of his sheath, saith the Lord.] Isa. 34. 5. My Sword shall be bathed.] Againe v. 6. The Sword of the Lord is filled with bloud.] Jer. 12. 12. The Sword of the Lord shall devoure from one end of the Land to the other.] The Sword of the Lord, though in the hand of Man. The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon, say they, Judg. 7. 20. mark it, though in Gideons hand, yet Gods Sword. Such was the Sword in the Text, The Sword of the Lord, though put into the hand of the Babylonians. So the Prophet Ezekiel explaines it, Ezek. 30. 25. When I shall put my Sword into the hand of the King of Ba­bell.] In whose hands soever, it is Gods Sword. E­ven as the Sword of Magistracy, in whose hands soe­ver it be found, yet still it is the Kings Sword: In ac­knowledgement whereof, it useth where he cometh in Person, to be delivered into his hand. Thus this Sword, in whose hand soever, still it is Gods Sword. The Sword of the Lord.]

A truth which I might make good (if need were) upon these two Swords, the Forraigne Sword, and the Civill or Domesticke Sword. Ecce duo gladij, Loe here are two Swords, as the Disciples once said to our Savi­our, Luk. 22. 38. The Forraigne Sword, the Sword of a Forraigne Enemy: The Civill or Homebred Sword (of the two the sharper, being like the Sword of Go­liah, which cut off his owne head) the Sword of a Civill warre. Each of these, the Sword of the Lord. For the former, the Text is expresse. O thou Sword of the Lord, saith the Prophet, speaking of the Sword of a Forreigne Enemy. And it is no lesse true of the latter. It is that which the Story tells us of the Midianites, who being amazed by Gideons frightfull stratagem, they fell foule one upon another, not without a divine o­ver-ruling providence. The Lord (saith the Text) [Page 5] set every mans Sword against his fellow, Judg. 7. 22. The Sword whether Forraigne or Civill, still it is the Sword of the Lord.

And well may it be so called,Reas. it is both of his choosing and of his using.

1.1 Of his Choosing, his appointing. So are general­ly all Rods, Heare the Rod and who hath appointed it, Mic. 6. v. 9. God doth not leave it unto men to chuse their owne Rods. True it is, once he did it, and but once that I remember. David having provoked God by numbring of the people, the Lord sends him his choice of three Rods (a hard choyce) Famine, Sword, Pestilence. J offer thee three things (saith the Lord) choose thou one of them, that I may doe it unto thee.] 2 Sam. 24. 12. But this is not ordinary. Ordinarily God himselfe makes choyce of the Rod, the judge­ment wherewith he striketh. And choosing it, he cals for it. So he doth for mercies before they come. J will call for the Corne, Ezek. 36. 29. And the like hee doth for iudgements; this amongst the rest, the Sword; it never cometh before he calls for it. Lo I will call for a Sword upon all the inhabitants of the Earth, saith the Lord of Hoastes, Jer. 25. 29. It is he that calleth for the Forraigne Sword. In that day the Lord shall hisse for the Fly that is at the uttermost part of the floods of Aegypt, and for the Bee that is in the Land of Ashur, (saith the Prophet, speaking of the Egipti­ans and Assyrians, which God intended to bring a­gainst his people) Is. 7 18. And it is he which calleth for the Civill or Homebred Sword. I will call for a Sword against him (saith the Lord, speaking of Gog and Ma­gog the principall enemies of the Church) and every mans Sword shall be against his Brother, Ezek. 38. 21. The Sword, whether Forraigne or Civill it is a Rod of Gods choosing, and in that respect may well be called his Sword.

2.2. As of his Choosing so of his Ʋsing; as of his cal­ling [Page 6] so of his sending, which he doth not without a Charge: so you have it in the Text. The Lord hath gi­ven it a Charge against Ashkelon, &c.] wherin the Prophet gives a Reason why he calleth this Sword, The Sword of the Lord; because the Lord had given it a Charge. So he doth where-ever the Sword cometh, he giveth it a Charge, a Commission: not only a Per­mission, but a Commission, and that under Seale. It is that which Job saith of all Afflictions and Judgements, Job 33. 16. The Lord openeth the Eares of men even by their cor [...]ections, which hee had sealed. i. e. determi­ned; so the Geneva both reades and interprets that place. God never sends a judgement, but he sealeth it, giving it a Charge, a Commission, and that, as it were, under Seale. So he doth by the Sword, which never co­meth without a Commission, a Charge, and that from God, who chargeth and ordereth it: 1. Whither it shall goe. 2. How farre it shall advance. 3. How long it shall stay. 4. And lastly, What execution it shall do. In all which respects it may be well called, The Sword of the Lord.

1. It hath a Charge from God whither it shall goe; to what place, to what Kingdome, what part of that Kingdome: so much we may reade in the Text. The Lord (saith the Prophet) had given the Sword a charge against Palestina, the land of the Philistines; and that not only against the Country in generall, but against some particular places in it. The Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the Sea coasts.] Ashkelon, one particular City of the Philistines, an in­land City, paulò remotior (as Calvin notes upon it) a little more remote from the Sea Coasts, viz. Tyre and Sidon, of which the Prophet speaketh, v 4. Maritine Townes bordering upon the Sea. Now the Sword had a Commission against each of these. Not only a generall, but a particular Charge: so hath it where ever it com­meth, a Charge not onely to goe to such a Country, [Page 7] but such a part of that Country. A charge given it by God.

2. As a Charge whither it shall goe, so How farre it shall advance: Whether it shall goe to one part of the Land, or through it: so much we may picke out of that threatning. Ezek. 14. 17. If I bring a Sword upon that Land (saith the Lord) and say, Sword goe through the Land. This Sword, how well backed soe­ver, it can advance no further then it hath a charge, a command to doe, and so farre it shall goe. This also we may reade in the Text. The Sword of the Lord had a charge against Ashkelon, and against the Sea coasts,] it should not only touch the skirts of the Kingdom, but the inland part also.

3. How long it shall stay where it cometh; whether it shall be only Transiens gladius, a transient Sword, pas­sing through the Land, or else Permanent, staying and abiding, making it the Seat of a warre. So much a­gaine we may learne from the Text, where the Pro­phet treating and Parlying with the Sword about a Ces­sation, How long will it be ere thou cease? &c.] In the next verse he corrects and answers himselfe, How can it cease seeing the Lord hath given it a charge?] a Charge, viz. how long it shall continue, and abide wa­sting and spoyling in that Land.

4. What Execution it shall doe. This also the Sword hath in charge from God: whether it shall sip and taste of blood, or els be bathed and made drunke with blood. Expresse and emphaticall is that of the Prophet Isai, I­sa. 34. 5. My Sword (saith the Lord) shall be bathed or made drunke in Heaven.] A notable expression. The Sword is never made drunke upon Earth, but it is first made drunke in Heaven. First made drunke in Heaven in the Decree and Purpose of God, before it be made drunke upon Earth in doing Execution, which is but the Execution of that Decree. When God sends a Sword against a Nation, he giveth it a particular Com­mission, [Page 8] and that not onely against such or such a place, but against such and such particular persons. So much is intimated in that full expression, Isa. 65. 12. where the Lord denouncing vengeance against those rebelli­ous ones, which had stopped their eares against his Call, he tels them he would number them to the Sword. Therefore will I number you to the Sword] marke it: where God giveth over a people to the Sword, he doth it not by the grosse, but by number and tale. Such as are appointed to the Sword goe to the Sword, as the Prophet Jeremy hath it, Ier. 15. 2. They, and none but they. God giving over whom he pleaseth, and ex­empting whom he pleaseth. The one shall not escape, the other shall not be touched. It is the Lords pro­mise to King Zedekiah, that notwithstanding hee should fall into the hand of his Enemies, yet he should not perish by the Sword, Thou shalt not die by the Sword, Jer. 34. 4. The like protection he giveth to Ebedmelech the Black-moore, Jer. 39. v. last. Thou shalt not fall by the Sword.] The Sword when it is sent a­gainst a people, it is not left to the casualty of Chance or Fortune, nor yet to the will of him that useth it. God himself giveth it a Commission, a Charge; a charge, as whither it shall go, and how farr it shall go, and how long it shall stay, so what blood it shall draw. And in all these respects well may it be called, The Sword of the Lord.

To these let me adde yet one thing more. The Sword where ever it goeth, it goeth upon Gods errand, to avenge his quarrell. This is that which the Lord telleth his people, Lev. 26. 25. I will bring a Sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrell of my Covenant.] Marke it; The Sword is never unsheathed, it never goeth forth upon any service, but it is in Gods quarrell; to take vengeance for some wrong, some affront, some indignity offered to him, or to his people. To such a purpose the Sword in the Text served. It was to [Page 9] goe forth to avenge the quarrell of God against the Philistins, those inveterate enemies to him and his people, to take vengeance upon them for all the wrongs and injuries that they had done to the Arke of God, and to the people of God. Never doth the Sword goe forth but upon some such quarrell. God hath first a Controversie with a Land, (as the Prophet Hosea speakes, Hos, 4. 1.) before he send the sword to de­cide it. The Quarrell is his, and therefore the Sword may well be called, His Sword. [O thou Sword of the Lord.]

A usefull Point;Application. and so let it be to every of us. That is the businesse I mainly intend at the present, it being most sutable to the day, and occasion, which calls rather for Application, then Doctrine. That it may be so un­to us.

In the first place bring we home this generall Truth to the particular case of this Kingdome,Ʋse 1. in the bowels whereof there is a Sword, Information. a sharpe Sword, wandring and forraging, wasting and spoiling; It may be at this very instant eating of Flesh, and drinking of blood. A Sword not unlike that in the Text, which begin­neth at Ashkelon, reacheth to Tyre and Sidon, begin­ning in the in-land parts of the Kingdome, extendeth to the Sea Coasts, some whereof have already felt of it, and the rest being in daily expectation of it. Now this Sword know we it to be, as it is, The Sword of the Lord, and so looke we upon it; which till we doe, we are not capable of making a right use of it. It is so in all judgements, all corrections; till we come to see God in them, wee shall never make a sanctified, a Christian use of them. It is so in this great, and soare judgement, (for so indeed it is, no judgement pier­cing deeper, The Sword reacheth: unto the soule, saith the Prophet Jeremie, Jer. 4. 10.) Now that we may make a right use of it, that use which God would have us to make, give way to this conviction, acknow­ledging [Page 10] this to be Gods Sword.

True, it is in the hands of men, managed (as we thinke) by them, but alas what are they? Instru­ments. At the most, [...], Living and Ra­tionall, (I dare not say Reasonable; Paul tells us of Wicked and Ʋnreasonable men (so our Translation ren­ders it, 2 Thes. 3. 2.) but Rationall) Instruments, as the Philosopher saith of Servants. A Living Sword as the Father saith of a Dog, Greg. Nyss. that he is Vivus hominis gladius, A living Sword to his Master. Such are men, specially wicked and ungodly men, to God. The wicked which is thy Sword,] saith the Psalmist, Psalm. 17. 13.

And so looke we upon this Sword which is abroad, and at worke in some parts of this Kingdome already, know we it to be Gods Sword; A Sword which hee hath both called for, and sent; having given it a War­rant, a Charge whither to goe. He that here gave the Sword a charge against Palestina, against Ashkelon, and the Sea Coasts, hath now given it a charge against England, and against the severall places where either it hath come, or shall come. Looke we not then too much at secondary causes, at the Malignancie of what ever spirits we conceive to have beene Incendiaries in the State. Alas what are they? Instruments, Bellowes, which may blow up, but cannot kindle a fire. Nor yet attribute we too much to those imaginary obser­vations of fatall Revolutions, or Ominous Conjunctions of those heavenly Bodies. So farre the Astrologer go­eth (upon what ground I know not.) A Christian must goe further, not staying his thoughts upon earth, nor yet terminating his sight in the visible Heavens, but looking through all, let him behold this Sword, furbished and bathed in the highest Heavens, the Heaven of Heavens. So much God taught the people of the Jewes by a signe from Heaven, by that prodigious Comes, that flaming Sword hanging perpendicularly, [Page 11] with the point downwards, over the City Hierusalem for a yeare together before the destruction of it; there­by shewing them from whence the Sword should come against them. I am not over-credulous of a flying report which informes us of a like prodigie in this Nation, a like Sword, hanging after a like man­ner not many yeares since over the head of that place, that City, which at this present is made the seate of the Warre. Sure I am, from thence it is, that the Sword drops upon the head of a place, a Citie, a Kingdom. It is that which Eliphaz in Job saith of all affliction, all trouble, It cometh not forth of the Dust, neither doth it spring out of the ground, Job 5. 6. Apply we it to this great Affliction, this great Trouble, The Sword cometh not out of the dust, neither doth it spring out of the ground. Certainely the Originall of it is from Heaven. However in the hand of Man, yet it is the Sword of the Lord.

And is it so?Ʋse 2. Terror. And doe we so apprehend and beleeve it to be? Oh then stand we in awe, and tremble be­fore this Sword. The Lyon hath roared who will not feare? saith the Prophet Amos, Amos 3. 8. The Lord God, the Lord of Hoastes hath drawne his Sword, who shall not tremble at it? The Sword of the Lord. And what a Sword is his? Why a fore and great, and strong Sword, so you have it described, Isa. 27. 1. And being so, who or what shall oppose this Sword? How shall it be diverted? how shall it be stayed, qui­eted? This it is which the Prophet here chiefly drives at in the Text, where (as I told you) he seemes to Parlie with the Sword which was coming against the Philistims, treating with it about a cessation. O thou Sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thy selfe into thy scabbard, &c,] (Here give me leave to returne a little to the Text, interweaving Explication with Application, that the one may be as the Woofe, the other as the Warpe.) This the Pro­phet [Page 12] speaketh not in his own person, out of any com­miseration, or speciall affection that he bare towards this people, being enemies to God and his people, but rather (as M^r. Calvin noteth upon it) persona­ting the Philistines themselves, who, when they saw the Sword coming towards them, or busie amongst them, they would then begin (to use his words) mulcere blanditijs, to flatter it, using all carnall politick wayes, and meanes of Treaties and Pacifications, see­king and indeavouring either the diverting, or qui­eting of it. But the Prophet tells them, all their at­tempts and indeavours in this case should be bootlesse: This Sword being the Sword of the Lord, and having a charge from him, it would not be bribed, it would not be perswaded, nor yet opposed, or by any meanes taken off, or quieted, till it had done the Execution for which it was sent. How can it be quiet seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, &c. There hath he appointed it.] Appointed it. In this word Cal­vin findeth a speciall emphasis, and therefore renders it not precepit ei, but Contestatus est ei. Not only, hee commanded, or appointed the Sword unto that service, but he bound it to it by a kind of solemne Contestation, laying a solemne Charge upon it, binding it as it were by a Militarie Oath, or before witnesse, as the word (Tegnatha) may seeme properly to signifie, viz. to goe thither, and not to returne or be quiet, till it had done the worke for which it was sent; untill it had over-runne, and utterly overthrowne that whole King­dome.

And O who knowes whether the Lord hath given such a Charge to this Sword of his which is now come amongst us? The Sword it selfe, that is unsheathed, and drawne; I, but the Charge, the Commission which it bringeth with it, that is as yet in part sealed. The Lambs Booke in the Revelation, it was sealed with six seales, Rev. 6. which were not to be opened all toge­ther, [Page 13] but one after another, some of them not yet opened. Wee may say the like of this Commission which the Sword hath brought with it, God hath sea­led it with divers seales, some whereof are opened al­ready, in those sad effects and consequences which it hath already produced; but who knowes what is yet behind? How farre the Sword hath already gone, and what it hath done, we see or heare of; but how farre it may yet goe, how long it shall continue a­mongst us, what execution it shall doe, who can tell? Certainely the Charge which God hath given it, it will observe, and who shall say unto it, bee quiet? how shall it be opposed? how shall it be stayed?

Alas, in this case, all carnall wayes and meanes, whether Power, or Policie, will be to little, to no pur­pose. If God have given the Sword a charge against Ashkelon, it is not all their Land forces, their Ram­pires and fortifications, that shall keepe it from entring. If he hath given it a charge against the Sea-coasts, it is not all their Navall strength, their wooden-walles, their Sea Forces, shall be able to keepe it off. If hee hath given it a charge to goe through a Land, it is not an Armie of Anakims, or Zanzummims, suppose every one a Goliath, that shall be able to stop the course of it.

This I speake, not to dishearten, or discourage any, in these times of common danger, from using any lawfull wayes and meanes, for the securing of them­selves, or the places where they live from forraigne, or home-bred outrages. This we may doe, this we ought to doe. But withall know we, that when we have done what we can doe, yet, if the Sword come backed with this charge, if the Lord have given it a charge against a place (suppose this place) as it will not be bribed, so neither will it be opposed, or hindered from doing that service, that execution, for which it is sent.

[Page 14] In the feare of God then, let us no longer delude or flatter our selves, suffer not vaine thoughts to lodge within us, beare not our selves upon any possible or probable hopes, or carnall confidences whatever. Think not to say, the Sword is yet a farre off, in the remote parts of the Kingdome; Alas, we see, or heare what progresse it hath already made; how like light­ning it hath runne from one corner of the Land to the other; how it hath visited parts as distant from the first breaking of it forth, as those wherein we at the present are. And who knoweth whether God hath given it a Commission to goe through the Land? If so, be we assured it will find a time to visit us also. If the Sword come to Ashkelon, it can soone visit the Sea coast. Feede not our selves with possibilities;

Nor yet with the supposall of any speciall security in the place where we are. Alas were it never so populous, never so strong by nature and art, never so well for­tified, yet, if the Sword have a charge against it, all will be nothing. The Lord hath given it a charge a­gainst Ashkelon, saith the Text. Ashkelon, one of the chiefe Cities of the Philistines, if not the Me­tropolis, the head City, yet one of the chiefe, an Imperiall City, the seate of their Kings, where they were wont to keepe their ordinary residence. So much wee may collect from that of the Prophet Amos, Amos 1. 8. where the Lord threatning ven­geance against divers Cities in that Kingdome, a­mongst other he tells them, that he would Cut off him that held the Scepter from Ashkelon. There was the Kings Court; A Royall City, a populous and strong City, yet the Sword hath a Charge against it. It is not the multitude of people, nor yet the strength whe­ther of Naturall or Artificiall Fortifications, that shall be able to keepe out the Sword, if the Lord give it a charge to enter. This is the lesson which the Prophet Nahum reades to the inhabitants of Nineveh, [Page 15] Nah. 3 8. Ninoveh the Imperiall City of the Assyrian Mo­narch, for Circuit, People, Walles, Towers, Fortifications, all incredible; yet, (what saith the Lord?) Art thou better then populous Noe, that was scituate amongst the Rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the Sea, and her wall was from the Sea, &c.] Marke it, Noe, the City of Alexandria, (as it is generally conceived,) a famous Port Towne in Egipt, for sci­tuation, (by the Prophets description of it) not much unlike that wherein we now are; strongly fortified both by Sea and Land; withall at that time secured, and strengthened by the Confederacies, and Associa­tions of potent Neighbours: so it followes, ver. 9. Ethiopia and Egipt were her strength, it was infinite, Put and Lubim, (Affrica and Lybia) were thy helpers;] Yet all this could not secure her. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity, &c. v. 10. I shall not neede to make the Application: It applies it selfe, teaching us not to repose any confidence in any Locall Advantages, or Neighbouring Associations.

Nor yet in any Personall Protections, which men in such cases are very ready to forge unto themselves, promising to themselves a Personall security in the midst of Common Calamity. This the great men of the world are very ready to doe. But alas upon what ground? If God once give the Sword a charge against them, it is not Greatnesse, it is not Honour, it is not Estate shall buy, or beare off the blow. I remember what the Lord saith to Job concerning Behemoth, the Elephant (as it is thought,) Job 40. 19. Hee is the chiefe of the wayes of God, (the chiefest amongst the Bruit Creatures) yet, Hee that made him can make his Sword approach unto him.] Though man dareth not come nigh him, yet God hath the same command over him, that he hath over the meanest of his Crea­tures. Let it be applyed to the Behemoths of the world, the great men, the mighty men, who are [Page 16] oft-times a terror to their underlings; let them know, that Hee which made them, can make his Sword approa [...]h unto th [...]m; which if it doe, it will put no di [...]ference betwixt them, and others. It is that which David bids the Messengers say unto Joab upon the death of valiant and worthy Ʋriah. The Sword devoureth one as well as an other. 2 Sam. 11. 25 In this like him that sendeth it, [...], No respecter of persons; not regarding Age, Sex, Condition. A tru [...]h which the Prophet sets forth most fully in that elegant Al­legorie, Isa. 34. 6, 7. The Sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with the blood of the Lambs, and the Goates, with the fat of the kidnies of the Rammes, &c] Marke it, Lambs, Goates, Rammes, denoting persons of all ages, all conditions: Young as well as Old, Rich as well as Poore. I, the Ʋnicornes shall come downe with them, and the Heighfers, (so the Geneva re [...]des it, though I confesse not so properly, the word being there Masculine, not Feminine, Parim, not Paroth, not Heighfers, but Bullocks) the Bullocks with the Bulls, as the new Translation hath it, meaning thereby the mighty, and rich men of the Times, which should fall by the Sword as well, and as soone as any other. But what then? shall Women be exempted? Not so. The Prophet Amos, Cap. 4. v. 1. insisting in the same allegorie, he threatens the very same judge­ment against Kine, as the Prophet Esai had done a­gainst Bullocks, and Bulls Heare this word ye Kine of Bashan,] where the word (as Pagnine observes) is Feminine, not Parim, but Paroth, not Bulls or Bul­locks, but Kine or Heighfers; meaning thereby (as he interprets it) Pingues & Potentes foeminae, the high fed, pampered Dames of Samaria', who gave them­selves over unto sensuall, and voluptuous courses; And them he threatens there with a share in that common judgement, they should feele of the Sword, or flye be­fore it as well as others; So it followeth, ver. 3. [Page 17] Ye [...] sha'l goe out at the breaches, every Cowe at that which is before her, i. e. The women should be put to a confuted flight, to shift for themselves, as well as any other. So impartiall an Officer will the Sword shew it selfe, when it commeth to doe ex­ecution, it shall observe the Charge given it against whomsoever, proceeding according to the warrant which it hath received, not sparing any which by divine appointment are destinated to it, bee they what they will. The fourbished Sword in Ezek. ca. 21. 10. It despiseth the rod of my Sonne, as every Tree (saith the Lord) the Scepter, as well as the Coulter, putting no d [...]fference betwixt Prince and Peasant. And no wonder. It is the Sword of the Lord▪ O then, let us feare and tremble before this Sword; knowing that it is no carnall way or means, w [...]ther Power or Policie, that shall divert, or hin­der this Sword from doing that execution, which God hath given it in charge.

But yet in the 3d.Ʋse 3. place, whilst we feare and trem­ble, Let not our hearts melt before it; Comfort. be we not wholy dismayed or disheartned at it; still remembring, it is the Sword of the Lord. Not the Sword of Man. True, it is put into his hand, but yet not his Sword. Remember, Man is but the Instrument, the Executioner in this service. Which yet maketh this judgment the more terrible, because Man hath so much an hand in it, as he hath. It was Davids reason, why of those three great evils, he chose the Pestilence, as the least; Pestilence rather then the Sword, in the one he had to deale only with God, in the other with Man. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord (saith he) for his mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hands of man, 2 Sam. 24. 14. Pestilence is Gods owne more Immediate streake: In warre (though that be his worke also, yet) he maketh use of Man as his Instrument. Now with God there are mercies, I great mercies, but with [Page 18] man oftimes there are none, Homo homini Lupus, nay Daemon. Man is sometimes to man little better then a Woolfe, a Devill, a mercilesse Enemy. Wee know what the Wise man saith of the wicked man, Prov. 12. 10. The mercies (the tender mercies, the bowels) of the wicked are cruell. And if their Mercies be cruell, how great is their Cruelty? As our Saviour saith of the Eye which is the light of the Body; If that be darke how great is that darkenesse? Mat. 6 23. So, if the very bowels (the proper seat of tendernesse and compassion) be cruell, ô how great is that cruelty? In this regard it must be ac­knowledged, warre is the more dreadfull judgement, more terrible then either Famine or Pestilence, both which ordinarily are attendants upon the Sword. Man hath an hand in the one, not so in the other. Yet know we, and know it to our comfort, man hath not so an hand, but that God hath an hand in it too, I, the chie­fest hand. God doth not so put the Sword into the hand of man, as to leave the managing and handling of it wholy unto him. No, should it be so, Gods peo­ple must looke but for little mercy, no favour, no­thing but the height and quintessence of Cruelty. But here is the Comfort: man is but the Instru­ment, God himselfe the principall agent, ruling, o­ver-ruling, handling that Sword which he puts in­to the hand of another. So the Geneva Translati­on readeth that of the Prophet Ezekiel, Ezek. 21. 11. Where the Prophet speaking of that sharpe Sword, which the Lord would put into the hand of the Babylonians, arming them against his people; He hath given it (saith he) to be furbished that hee may handle it. [...] Marke it. God in giving the Sword into the hand of man, doth not give it out of his owne hand. He giveth it to him, ad tenen­dum in volâ (as Montanus renders the words ac­cording to the Originall) to hold in his hand;] but not to use as he pleaseth. Even as a writing-Ma­ster [Page 19] puts a penne into the hand of his young Schol­ler, which yet himselfe guideth: Thus God puts the Sword into the hand of man, which yet him­selfe handleth. Man holdeth it, God handleth it: Man being but (as I said) Gods Instrument, his Sword. As the Sword is to man, so is man to God. The wicked who is thy Sword, in the place fore-named, Psalm. 17. 13. Now the Sword, though a sharpe and dangerous weapon, yet it wounds not, it hurts not, unlesse hee which weareth it strike with it. Wicked men suppose them never so sharp set against the Church, and people of God, though Swords, nay Razours (so the Prophet calls that As­syrian Monarch, Novacula mercenaria, or conducti­tia, a Razour which God had hired to shave his people with, Isa. 7. 20. In that day shall the LORD shave with a razour that is hired, &c.] yet cannot they draw the least droppe of blood, or take off the least haire from any, unlesse God himselfe make use of them to that end. He it is that handles this Sword, that shaveth with this Razour.

A soveraigne Consolation and Cordiall, against the terrours of the Sword (terrours; which Gods people may be subject too. Terrours by reason of the Sword shall be upon my people (saith the Lord) Eze. 21. 12.) to keepe the heart from fainting, mel­ting. Let it be taken downe and digested by eve­ry of us. There is a Sword, a sharpe Sword a­broad, and at worke at this day in this and the Neighbour Kingdome. Many parts in both it hath already visited, and it threatens the rest. Some blood it hath already drawne, and it seemeth yet to thirst after more; doing terrible executions where it commeth: A Razour indeed, shaving to the quicke. Yet let not the hearts of the Lords people melt before it. Remember we whose Sword it is, The Sword of the Lord.] And what? Our [Page 20] Fathers Sword? and in the hand of our Father? Beare we up our spirits. A Ch [...]d, how ever at the first sight of a glittering Sword comming high him, he startles and runnes away, yet if it be in the hand of his Father, that quiets him, and makes him the more confident, that that Sword shall not hurt him. The Sword which is drawne amongst us, it is a glittering and a terrible Sword, I cannot blame nature for startling at it. Yet consider we in whose hands it is; even in the hand of our heavenly Fa­ther. And if [...], this Sword, though never so gree­dy of flesh and thirsty of blood, yet it shall neither goe, nor doe, [...] hither, and what he will have it. This Sword hath received his Charge from God, and that Charge it shall observe, and that exactly. It was Balaams speech (I remember) to the ser­vants of Balack, Numb. 22. 18. If Bal [...]ck would give me his house full of silver and gold (a tempt [...]ng Bribe) J cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord my God, to doe lesse or more. And why could he not? Why, God had put a bridle into his mouth. The same God hath in like manner put a Bridle into the mouth of the Sword, so as it cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord, to doe lesse or more then he hath given it in Charge; To doe lesse, it will not be bribed; and to doe more, it will not be hired. The Charge which it hath received from the Lord, it will, it shall, it must observe.

1. Going to no place but where he sends it. It is not without a divine Providence that it is come into this Kingdome. What places in the Kingdom it hath hitherto visited, it hath had a Charge against every one. It neither hath nor shall visit any, with­out a divine, both Permission, and Commission. The Sword maketh a Progresse, rides Circuit upon Earth; I, but the Gests are set downe in Heaven. To this place it shall come, not to that. He that hath said [Page 21] unto that masterlesse element, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shalt thou stay thy proud waves, Job 38. 11. Hee hath said as much to the Sword, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shalt thou stay thy proud rage. To this place, this Country, this City, not to that. For an in­stance hereof, reade but that 19. Chap. 2 Kings. You shall there see the Assyrian Monarch with [...] puis­sant Army in the Field, marching against Jerusalem, with a full purpose, and reasolution to sacke it, to destroy it; but what saith the Lord? See it, ver. 32, 33. Thus saith the Lord▪ the King of Ashu [...] he shall not enter into this City, nor shoote an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast a Banke a­gainst it: By the way that he came, by the same shall hee returne, &c.] The Sword though never so strongly backed or put on, yet it shall neither en­ter, nor come to any place, but where that God, whose Sword it is, hath given it a charge to goe.

2. Where it doth come it shall abide no longer then according to the Commission, and Charge which it hath received. That God who hath set downe a course and order for the rising and setting of that Martiall Planet in the Heavens; at such an houre it shall rise, so many houres it shall be above the Horizon, at such an houre it shall set; hee hath also by a like providence ordered the rising and setting, the comming and going of the Sword, which wandereth upon Earth. And this Order and Command the Sword shall observe. If Joab blow the Trumpet and sound a Retreat, the whole Army retires, Every man to his Tent, 2 Sam. 20. 22. If God the great Generall shall say to the Sword, Put up thy selfe into thy scabbard, it shall Rest and bee still.

Thirdly, As it is ordered for the stay of it, so [Page 22] for the Execution, what it shall doe; what Persons it shall [...], what blood it shall draw, Even as a Surgeon in letting of blood, he is ordered by his Physitian, what veyne he shall strike, in what part of [...]he body, and how many ounces of blood he shall take: So the Sword, which God maketh use of, as his Lancet to open a veyne in a Kingdom, in a Towne, &c. it is ordered by him what persons it shall [...], what incision it shall make, how deep it shall goe, how many, not onely ounces, but dropps of blood it shall draw. In all which it is not left to the will of him that strikes with it; much lesse to Chance and Fortune. True, the is­su [...]s of Warre to us they may be Casuall, not so to God. Even those Bullets which in the heat of service are let fly at randome, yet every one hath his Charge, his Charge (as from man, so) from God, a Charge from Heaven, what marke it shall strike, what Execution it shall doe. In the battle at Ra [...]oth Gilead, a certaine man (a common Soul­dier) drew a Bow at a venture (saith the Text) which smote the King of Israel, 1 King. 22. 34. That act to him it was casuall, not so to God who direct­ed the Arrow, to the white, to the fa [...]rest marke in the Field, conducted that Messenger of death into the sides of Majesty it selfe. The Sword cannot strike, but when and where God bids it; neither can it draw a drop of bloud more then it hath a charge from Heaven to doe.

And, if so; Let not then the hearts of the LORDS people (as I said) melt within them; as Rahab tells the Spies that the hearts of the men of Jerico did, when they heard of the Israelites comming against them; when we heard it, our hearts did melt (saith she) and there remained no more courage in us. Josh. 2. 11. Let them not be inordinately moo­ved or shaken with the wind of distrustfull, distract­full [Page 23] feares and terrours: As it is said of Ahaz, and his people, when they heard of the strong confe­deracies that were made and intended against them, The heart of the King was mooved (saith the Text) and the hearts of his people, as the trees of the For­rest are moved with the wind, Isa. 7. 2. No reason, why the hearts of Christians should be so mooved, they being not wholly left to the hazard of Warr. True it is, nothing more hazardous then Warre. Belli alea (saith the Proverbe.) A pitcht Battle is but like a game at Tables, where though something be left to the skill of the Gamester, in the playing and ordering of his Men, yet the successe depends much upon the Lot: Or like a Set at Tennis, a playing at the Hazard. But yet not wholly hazar­dous. He who disposeth of the Lot when it is cast in­to the lappe, Prov. 16▪ 33. and by his generall provi­dence directeth every Ball that slieth into the Hazard, he also disposeth of all the events, and issues of warre, though to us never so casuall, never so hazardous. Here is Comfort.

To which in the fourth and last place,Ʋse 4. let mee adde a word of Advise or Counsell,Counsell. and so I shall draw towards a Conclusion. Is this Sword the Sword of the Lord? Hence learne we then, whither to apply our selves. I suppose there is none of us here present, but would be willing to doe some­thing for the quieting and stilling of that Sword, which is now abroad in the Kingdome, at least for the keeping of the dint from our selves. Love to our Country inforceth the former, and selfe-love the latter. Now would we know what to doe? why Apply we our selves to God for both. The Sword is his: For the quieting of it, apply we our selves unto him, seeking to make p [...]ace with him. So did the men of Tyre and Siaon when they heard that King Herod was displeased with them, so dis­pleased, [Page 24] as that hee intended to make warre upon them (so much the word signifieth, [...], He bare an Hostile minde towards them) they presently Came with one accord to him, and having made a friend at Court, they desired Peace, Acts 12. 20. There is none of us, but must needs take notice of a like displeasure conceived in Heaven against us of this Nation, God himselfe being [...], hostily minded against us, making warre upon us. (This he may doe upon, and against his owne people; he did it against Israel. Israel rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit, and therefore was hee turned to be their enemie, and he fought against them, Isa. 63. 9. The like he doth against us at this day, having drawne his Sword already, nay already Bathed it in blood.) Now in this case what shall wee doe? why, apply wee our selves unto him, whose Sword this is, and seek to make peace with him.

Not but that wee both may and ought in this case to apply our selves unto Men also, seeking in humble wise to them, for the quieting of this Sword, that it may upon honourable and comfor­table tearmes bee put into the Sheath againe, by those hands into which at the present GOD hath put it. A motion (as wee understand) now on foote in diverse parts of the Kingdome, and accursed bee hee that shall not bee willing to lend his best indeavours to the furtherance of so good a designe. This wee may doe, this wee ought to doe. But alas all this will bee to little purpose, unlesse peace bee made in Heaven first. This Sword, it is the Sword of the LORD, and there­fore unlesse hee command it into the Scabbard, all our Petitions and Supplications to men will bee of little availe. Vnlesse hee give the word, it is not all the Power or Policie in the world that can put it up, or make it quiet. However, should it [Page 25] be perswaded into the sheath for a time, yet, unlesse Peace be made in Heaven, and that a firme Peace, it will not abide there, it will be like Joabs Sword, 2 Sam. 20. 8. ready to fall out of the sheath alone. And therefore let it bee the joint designe of e­very one of us to seeke, and indeavour a Pacification in Heaven, to make peace with God, and that for the whole Kingdome (if it may be;) however, every of us for our selves.

1.Meanes. To which purpose (in the first place) Humble wee our selves before that GOD whom wee have pro­voked. If any thing will move GOD to put up his Sword, surely it will be this. Man that hath but any drop of mercy and compassion in his bowels, if his enemie fall downe at his feete, cast away his Armes and beg for Quarter, so submitting himselfe wholy to his mercy, if hee may shew mercy, hee will not deny it. Surely, with the LORD our GOD there is mercy. It was Davids reason why hee would rather fall into the hands of GOD then of Man, His mercies are great: With him there are bottomlesse Bowels of unexpressable, unconcei­vable mercy: All the Mercy that is to be found dif­fused through the Bowels of all the mercifull Men and Women in the world, is but a drop, not a drop to that Ocean. And shall wee fall downe before him, humbling our selves at his foote-stoole, and shall hee not have compassion on us? O try, and see what this course will doe. If this will not save us, we are, in the outward appearance, but lost men and women; Our condition being such as wee may well say with Jehoshaphat in that great strait, 2 Chron. 20. 12. Wee know not what to doe, but our eyes are to­wards thee O LORD. In this case, that we may prevaile with God, that his Bowels may be stirred with compassion towards us, O let us fall downe at his foot-stoole Humbling our selves in the Confession [Page 26] of our owne sinnes and the sinnes of the Nation, acknow­ledging the Righteousnesse of Gods judgements against us. This is the way which the LORD puts his owne people upon, promising them that by this meanes they should be able to divert, and turne the edge of the Sword. See it, Levit. 26. 40. If they shall confesse the iniquity of their Fathers, with the Tres­passe which they trespassed against mee; And that also they have walked contrary unto mee, and that I have also walked contrary unto them, &c If then their uncircumcised hearts bee humbled, and they then ac­cept of the punishment of their iniquity; What then? Then will I remember my Covenant with Jocob, &c. and I will remember the Land. Wee heere see both the Counsell, and the promise. Take wee the one, and rest upon the other. Confesse wee our owne sinnes, with the sinnes of our fore­fathers, (which GOD by way of temporall judgements, both in Justice may, and often doth visit upon Posterity.) Withall Accept wee the pu­nishment of our iniquity, acknowledging GOD to be Just and Righteous in what ever hee hath done or shall doe against us. So doing, doubt wee not but GOD will yet Remember his Covenant with his people, and wee may hope he will yet remember the Land, returning and Repen­ting, and leaving a Blessing behinde him, Joel 2 14

Secondly, Thus Humbling our selves for those sinnes which have beene the provokers of this Wrath, the Causes of this Evill, Indeavour wee (in the se­cond place) to put them away, to wash our hands of them. Wash yee, make you cleane, put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes. Isa. 1. 16. It is not hee that Confesseth, but hee that Confesseth and Forsaketh that shall have Mercy, Prov. 28. 13. This doe we for our selves; this indeavour wee for the Kingdome. Till Jonah be cast over-board, the storme [Page 27] will not cease, the Sea will not be quiet. Till She­ba [...]s head be throwne over the walles, Joab will not sound a Retreat. Till the crying [...]es of the Land be taken away by a Nationall Reformation, wee cannot expect that the storme of GODS wrath should cease, or the growen Sea of the pre­sent distempers amongst us should be quieted. E­very of us then indeavour this great worke; one­ly observing our stations. Publick persons in their places, and private persons in theirs. Every one beginning at home, at his owne heart, owne life. See what is to bee found there that may bee charged with the maintenance of this present Warre; and finding it out, discharge it: Which having done,

Thirdly, Then (in the next place) Strike wee a New Covenant with our GOD. Certainely, they have not beene much mistaken who have both thought and said, That it is a Covenant businesse which the Sword cometh about. I meane not so much the Formality, as the Reality of a Covenant. To avenge an Old Covenant which hath bene broken, to Re­quire a New Covenant which may be kept. And is it this that the Sword cometh about? Why let us, in the feare of GOD, give it what it would have, that it may depart from us. Every of us in our particulars bewaile our frequent breaches of former Covenants, made in Baptisme, renewed in the Supper of the LORD: and this day strike wee a New Covenant with and before the LORD: Withall indeavouring (as much as in us lyeth) the renewing of a Nationall Covenant, that the whole Kingdome may be bound and engaged to a Closer cleaving to the LORD, and walking with him, in an universall subjection to all his Ordinances, an universall obedience to all his Commande­ments.

[Page 28] Surely this will bee found the best, and onely way to procure mercy (if it may bee) for the pub­lick. However, it will be a sure way to procure security, and safety to our selves; either to keepe off the Sword, that it shall not come nigh us, not touch us. It is Eliphaz his speech in Job, Job 5. 15. The LORD saveth the Poore from the Sword.] The Poore; what the Worlds Poore, such as are out­wardly Poore? Not so, (alas, they are frequent­ly made a forlorne hope, sacrificed to the fury of the Sword, to dull, and blunt the edge of it:) But GODS Poore, the Poore in Spirit, such as Hum­ble themselves before the LORD, (as the Geneva glosse explaines it.) Or if it doe touch us, yet it shall not hurt us. It shall be unto us but as our Hea­venly Fathers Red Horse, (so it is called in the Re­velation, Chap. 6. ver. 4.) sent by him to bring us home to himselfe; to convey us into his pre­sence.

Fourthly, For which (in the fourth and last place, to close up all, time and strength being spent) having done as afore-said, then Let us make the LORD our trust. Another meanes, and a spe­ciall one, to secure us from the Sword, To trust in GOD. Not in Man: not in Power, or Policie. These wee may use, but trust not in them; Which if wee doe, it will be the next way to betray us. It is that which the LORD threatens against the Jewes, Jer. 5. 15, 17. Loe I will bring a Nation up­on you from farre, &c. And they shall impoverish (or Plunder) thy fenced Cities wherein thou tru­stedst, with the Sword. The next way to have a Kingdome, a City, a Towne sacked, and plundered, is to trust in the strength of it. But make wee the LORD our strength, our trust. So doing (if good for us) hee will secure us, wee shall not feele of the Sword, or not fall by it. It is that which the [Page 29] LORD promiseth to Ebedmelech, Jerem. 39. 8. I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the Sword: Why? Because thou hast put thy trust in mee, saith the LORD. What he there promiseth to him in particular, David upon the same ground in Gods Name promiseth to all Gods people, Psalm. 37. ver. ult. The LORD shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. No such way to engage GOD to worke delive­rance for us in any strait, as this, To trust in him. This will David doe in his greatest straites, when The foundations were destroyed, (as hee speaketh, Psalm. 11. 3.) or out of course, all things out of course in the Kingdome, so as seemingly there was little hope of safety left for David; his Enemies by way of insulting, or his Friends by way of advi­sing, they said unto his soule, Flye yee as a Bird to your Mountaine, ver. 1. willing him to betake himselfe, and his Family, to some place of security, and no longer to rest upon the promise; but what course doth he resolve to runne? Why, In the LORD put I my trust, ver. 1. The case at present is ours: The Foundations in this Kingdome are out of course, the dreadfull Commotions in it threatning ruine to it. In this case Carnall reason will be dictating, and suggesting unto us, as they to him, Flye wee as a Bird to our Mountaine, &c. Seeke we out some pla­ces of Refuge and Safety for our selves, and ours. But trust we not to this counsell. In the Lord put wee our trust: so doing, doubt not of security. It is Davids speech, which he spake out of his owne experience, and I shall conclude with it: The Lord is a Buckler to all those which trust in him, Psal. 18. 30.