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Quest.

cause him to declare his faith to in Pharaoh did it convince him of rebellion to the Will of God

So all our preaching, wherein we periwades repentance and promife life eternal, it ferveth to direct all that look for falvation in the way of life and it ferveth to convince the world of unrighteoufneffe if they obey not.

The answer thenis, that whatfoever God willeth and decreeth voluntate beneplaciti, by the will of good pleasure doth take ef fect: What God willeth voluntate figni by the Will fignified, not always and paneliniqu

Reply How then fhall I know what to do, seeing the fignify ing Will of God is my rule, and that feemeth uncertain, and not agreeable to the fecret Will of Gods good pleafure

1Joh. 5 14

Sol. Do as Abraham did, prepare to offer thy Son; do as thou art commanded, leave the event and the difpofition of thy obedience to God, who will further reveal himself unto thee...

Do as Hezekiah did, see thine house in order, yet ufe the means by Repentance and Prayer to prolong thy life.

Do as the Ninivites did, faft and repent, and call upon the name of the Lord, and try him as the Prophet faith, whether he will fhew mercy or not.

But to bring this home to my text, when God pronounceth the Decree of Judgment against the enemies of the Church, and promifeth mercy to his Church, believe him in both for neither can Gods enemies repent to change the course of his Justice, nei ther can his Church finne unto death, that he should take his mercy utterly from it.

So then the argument holdeth ftrong, 2 God hath faid and decreed what he will do against these Chaldeans, what for his Church; therefore it fhall come to paffe.

Queft. But if this be true; what need then is there of Prayer? doth it not argue in us a kind of distrust in the favour of God, when we do not take his word, but are ftill importunate to fol licite his favour?

To this our answer is, that this cannot difcourage Prayer, because the decree is paft and unchangeable; this is the proper foundation of Prayer; for the Apostle faith;

And this is the confidence that we have in him; that if we ask any

thing according to his will be heareth us.

So that it is a neceffary knowledge before we undertake to pray, to know what is that good, that acceptable and perfect Will of God.

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For we not only lofe our labour, but we do alfo offend God if we ask any thing against or befide his will: therefore that we might not run into the errour of the fons of Zebedee, Nefcitis quid petatis, you know not what you fhould ask, Our Saviour hath fet down a forme of Prayer fo abfolute, as that we cannot juftifie the asking of any thing according to the Will of God that hath not reference to one of those peticions.

Reply. If then we prevail in our Prayers, why do we com mend Prayer, seeing all events do follow Gods Will and Decree, and not our Prayers?

Our answer is, that though the fupreme Agent in all operations be the Will of God, yet the hand of operation in many things is Prayer, which God hath ordained and commanded as a means to draw forth his Will to execution.

Object.

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So God giveth every good gift: yet we are without any wrong to God,thankful to men, by whofe means any good cometh to us.

So that the doctrine doth remain firm; whatsoever God hath promised to his Church, or threatned the perverfe enemies therof,that he will furely perform; for the decrees and the word of God are unchaugable. Ammanalo 126

Oneft. But when God threatneth me punishment, and de nounceth judgment against me; how fhall I know whether it be voluntas figni, or bene placiti is there not an hope left me, that God may repent him of the evil that he threatned?

It is a note of the evil confcience to feare where no feare is,' i.e. where there is no caufe of fear; an elect man fearing judgement threatned which thall not come near him, feareth where no cause is of fear.

Sol. To this I anfwer; let not us difpute the Will of God, or fearch beyond that which is revealed; if God have revealed his Will to us, that must be our guide.

That revealed Will hath threatned nothing in us but fin, and fin carriech two rods about it, fhame and fear.

There

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There be two things in a regenerate elect man.
SI. A Confcience of his fin.

22. Faith in the promises of God through Christ.

So long as we do live we do carry about us Corpus peccati, the body of finne; and as that doth shake and weaken faith, so doth it confirme and strengthen fear.

1. We are taught from hence to believe the word of God; the Apoftle faith, He is faithful that hath promised.

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The faithful fervants of God have this promife, I will not leave thee nor for fake thee; David believes him, in convalle umbra mortis non timebo, in the valley of the shadow of death I will not fear. Job believs him, Though he kill me I will trust in him. David be lieves verily when he smarts, ball fee the goodnese of God in the land of the living.

It is a fweet content of the inward man, when the confcience pleads not guilty to the love of fin, though our infirmitics mifcarry us often, that we may fay with Nehemiah, Remember me 0 Neh.13.14 Lord concerning this, and blot not out the loving kindnesse that I Phewed to thy house and to the officers thereof; and with Hezekiah. Ifa. 38. 3. Remember Lord now 1 befeech thee how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy fight. But it followeth.

And Hezekiah wept fore. If he were fo good a man, why did he weep? if not fo good why did he boaft?

Surely we carry all our good amongst a multitude of infirmi ties and therefore we cannot rejoyce in our own integrity with a perfect and full joy; yet is it a sweet repofe to the heart, when God giveth us peace of confcience from the dominion of fin.

So on the other fide believe God threatning impenitent finners with his judgments, for he is wife to fee the fins of the ungodly; he is Holy to hate them, he is Just to judge them, and he is Omnipotent to punish them.

Let me give one instance.

The third Commandment in the firft Table of the law faith Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; what needs any more?

Thon

1. Put these two one against another The Lord thy God.

2. Confider

2 Confider what the law concerns; Gods name wherin ftandeth

SHis glory.
Our help.

3. What is forbidde, taking it in vain, and we pray Sanctificeur, Let it be hallowed,"

But where all this will not ferve, yet this is murus abenus,a brazen wall, one would think; God doth make yet another fence about his name, an hedge of thorns.. The Lord will not hold him gultleffe that taketh his name in vain.

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The Laws of God be unreversible decrees; heaven and earth fhall paffe, ere one of these words fhall fink or lose strength.

Yet the blafphemer feareth nothing, that is, a crying finne in this land; not the houfes only, the streets and high ways refound the dishonour of Gods name, this finne is grown incorrigible. The landmourneth because of oaths.

Hoc dicunt omnes ante Alpha & Beta puella. And beleeve God who cannot lie. He will not hold him guiltleffe that taketh his name

in vain.

Thas we may make use of this doctrine, to restrain, if not overcome, and to deftroy the dominion, if not the being of finne

in us.

2. For the better rectifying of our judgments and reformation of our lives, let us obferve the confonancy of Gods practice in the world with the truth of his word; he hath declared himself an hater of evil, and do we not see daily examples of his judgements upon wicked men, how ill they profper in their eftates, what shame and difgrace and foffe of all that they have unrighteoufly gotten comes upon them; how their pofterity fmartech, according to that threatning in the fecond Commandement.God bringing the iniquity of the fatherr upon the children, and vifiting it to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him; that we may fay, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed left he fall. Whence cometh all this but from the conftant truth of Gods unreversible decrees, because the word is gone out of his mouth and though the ungodly do not beleeve it though it be told them.

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Verily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtleffe there is a Gotthat judgeth in the earth.

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Use 3.

We may fay of our times as Hecuba did of hers.

Non ungnam tulit documentafors majora quàm fragili loco sta rent fuperbi: for

We live in rhe fchool of difcipline, and the rod of correction is not only fhewed, but used with a strong hand, that all men may fear to be unrighteous; we have not only Vigorem verboram, the vigor of words, chiding fin in our miniftry of the word, but rigorem verborum, the rigor of ftripes in the adminiftration of Juftice; never did any age bring both fuller examples of terfor, then we have heard with our ears, and feen with our eyes; for the wifedome of Gods decrees, and the word of Gods truth is juftified in our fight; therefore fecing fentence executed upon evil works, let the hearts of the fons of men be wholly fet in them to do evil.

3. Let us confider the vain-confidence of the ungodly, and compare it with the conftant truth of the decrees and word of God; Ifay expreffeth it fully.

Ifa.28.15. Te have said we have made a Covenant with death, and with hell -are we at agreement; when the over-flowing Scourge shall passe through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falfhood have we hid our felves.

Verf. 20.

1

They are anfwered and confounded.

The bed is shorter then a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower then he can wrap himself in it.

He that is to lodge fo uneafily, cannot fay I will lay me down in peace and take my rest.

The Chaldeans invade the Church, they kill and take poffelfion, and divide the prey, they oppofe better and more righteous men then themselves; their truft is in their ftrength and riches, and power, Nec leyes metuunt Deos.

What care they who weeps fo they laugh; or who bleeds, fo they fleep in a whole skin; who dies, fo they live. They trust in Hing vanities.

Solomon faith, Though a finner do evil Though a finner do evil an huadred times, and Eccl, 8.12 bis day's be prolonged, yet surely I know it shall be well with them that feare God, which fear before himt But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall be prolong his days, which are a fhadow, be caufe he feareth not before God.

Verf 13

God

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