Imatges de pàgina
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Jer 283.

Heb.3, 12

¿Cor. 4.4.

jury, which may be hidden with canning, or born out with violence, all this proceeds from diftruft in God.

And fo we grow guilty of the two great evils of which God himself complaineth;

For my People have committed two evils, they have forfaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cifterns, broken cifterns that can hold no water.

Again this, Take heed leaft there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

The heart that diftruftech in God, departeth from him; therefore he faith, it is a People that do erre in their hearts, because they have not known my ways.

The corruption then is in the heart; for if that did love truly, it would truft God wholly; for where we love faithfully we cruft boldly.

But the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.

That anfwereth his question, who hath bewitched you that you fhould not obey the truth?

Infidelity is the root of all evils in us; for we cannot fear any threatning, where we do not believe any danger.

We cannot hope for any benefit where we do not believe any promife; for infidelity doth take away all wifedo me from us. This makes us to withdraw our felves from the Lord, and it is a note of the wicked man, neither is God in all his wayes. Thus faith the Lord, Curfed be the man that trusteth in man,and maketh flesh his arme, and whofe heart departeth from the Lord.

Jer. 17. 5...

Verf. 6.

Verf. 7.

Verf. 8,

For he shall be like the heath in the defert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wildernese in a falt land and not inhabited.

Blefed is the man that trufteth in the Lond, and whofe hope the Lordis;

For he fall be a tree planted by the waters, and that fpreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not fee when heat cometh, but her leafe shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither fhall ceafe from yeilding fruit.

I need not fay more of this Argument. Here is reafon enough

given why you should commit your way to the Lord, why you fhould caft your care upon him, why you should not leave him, to trust to your felves,David faith,

He made us, and not we our felves: he faw us imperfect in the wombe: he fashioned us. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; he took me from the wombe.

He addeth, Upon thee have I depended ever fince I hung upon the breasts of my mother.

When we are hungry, he giveth bread that strengthneth mans heart.

When we had not wit and understanding to fhift for our felves, who fed and cloathed and preferved us then? (urely his hand is not shortned, but his arme is ftretched out ftill.

Suppofe that without him we could get bread; Man liveth not by bread only.

Suppofe that without him we could fowe much feed; It is only be that giveth increase.

Let us obferve the examples of Gods judgments upon fuch as forfake God, and truft their money, or their friends, or corrupt means to preferve them: One day telleth another.

The Chaldeans truft not in God: their own net is their god, their own yarn is their idol, they kiffe their own hands.

But fear yee the Lord all his Saints, and trust in him, for he never faileth them that trust in him.

I have blamed fome for buying and felling on the Sabbah; -1 They have anfwered that they are poor and are forced to it, to help to feed them.

Is not this infidelity? they dare not truft God for their meat, they dare truft to their own ways against the precife Commandment of God.

Unlawful recreations on the Sabbath are fo defended; poor labouring men that work all the fix days, muft have fome time. to refresh themselves.

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But I would fain know by what indulgence they may dif pense with the law of the Sabbath. God hath bidden thee to remember to keep the whole day holy: if thy recreations be holy,thou keepeft the law; if unholy, thou breakeft it.

When fome are detected of fraud and theft, their plea is their

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neceffity Here is a root of infidelity: for doth God laya necel fity upon any man to break his law?

He hath laid on thee a nece "ity of labour; if that will not do, he hath given the rich charge of thee.

The truth is, that this root of infidelity doth yet remain in the hearts of moft of us, and is the caufe of all the fins that are committed.

For the light of the Gospel doth fhine much more clear now then ever it did in this land, and the knowledge of the truth is more fpred then ever before here.

Yet never was there greater corruption of manners, nor more cunning fhifts devised for the advancing of mens parti. culars.

The crying fins of the Jews,

Injuries done between man and man.
Corruption and contempt of Religion.

Corruption of Juftice. To all these our land doth plead guilty. Where's the fault?

Have you not heard? have you not been taught the ways of the Lord? have you not been admonish't of your duty? have you not been chidden, and threatned for these things? hath not the feal of Gods judgments written within and without with la mentations, mourning and wo, been opened and read to you?

Hath not God rained examples thick of his juftice and judg ment against high and low for these things? why then is not this amended?

There is a root of infidelity,we do not,we dare not trust God; and from bence comes

1. In fome Atheisme, they live without God in the world. 2. In others Epicurifme, they live all to delight.

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3. In others temporizing, and following and ferving men.
4. In others herefie, embracing their own opinions.
5. In others Apoftacy from religion and faith.
6. In others hypocrifie,feeming what they are not.
7. In most carnal fecurity, not caring for threatnings.

8. In many wilful ignorance, not caring for the knowledge of God.

But thou man and woman of God, fly these things,& know the

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Lord; the more thou knoweft him, the more thoa loveft him; the more thou ferveft him, the more thoa trufteft him, and the more he bleffeth thee,

2. Ambition, that he may fet his neft on high.

Ambition is a limbe of pride, and it is well fet forth in my text, it is a building of a neft on high; it is but a neft that the ambitious man doth fet up, but he would have it high to overlook all; yet that doth not make it fafe; for there be clouds that can carry fire from below to confume it, and there is lightning from above to inflame it, and there is tempefts and strong winds to hake it.

And the axe is laid to the root of the tree in which the neft is built, and with the fall of that tree the neft comes to the ground.

The highest tree for a fubject to build his neft in, is the favour of the Prince; yet David faith,

Truft not in Princes for there is no help in them, their breath departeth, they return to the earth, and their thoughts perish. It may be that he that fitteth next in the chair of foveraignty, will be no tree for the fame birds to build in.

Ambition is an inordinate defire of honour.

Saint Gregory hath a rule which would ftop the mouth of faitors and competitors for honour. Lacus regiminis defiderantibus negandus eft,fugientibus offerendus. Virtutibus ergo pollens coactus ad regimen veniat.

Naturally the love that every man beareth to himself, and the good opinion that pride putteth into him of himself, doth make him defire to set his neft high, and therefore every man' obferveth the courfe of the times, in which he liveth to fee which is the readieft way to rise.

The king is called the fountain of honour; for from the Ruler of the People all iubordinations of rule derive themselves; and therefore

Many feek the face of the ruler.

Pro.29.26 The way of preferment is foon found, and ambition hath a foot for it: The Prophets phrase, Pes fuperbia, the foot of pride. If only vertue were the way, only vertue would be ftudied. But I look not fo low as the Throne of earthly Princes for

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the fountain of honour. I hear the Pfalmift fay, Pfal.75.6 For promotion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from the South.

Verf. 7.

But God is judge, he putteth down one, and fetteth up another. Many are ambitious of high places, who have both friends and means, and yet cannot climbe;Many more unlikely speed before them, and I can ascribe this to nothing but the fupream hand of God, from whom all promotion cometh, he will have his Will done.

Some he raifeth to their own ruine, others to the punishment and correction of the fins of the time in his anger: Others for the good of men in favour of his Church, and the Commonwealth,

It becomes not us to cenfure the Powers that are ordained of God, as the Apoftle teacheth, or to envy their high nefts; but let every foul be fubject to the ordinance of God, and reft in his will by whom Princes reign, and by whom they advance where he pleaseth to fet up.

But ambition of high nefts is the theme of our discourse, which is an inordinate defire of honour, and that is a fin.

It corrupted the Angels which fell, and they impoisoned our Parents with it in Paradife; both defired to be like God, neither stood content with the glory of their Creation.

Concerning which, understand that the ftate of Creation did give man no further dominion then this;

Gen.1.28. Replenish the earth,and fubdue it,and have dominion over the fif of the fea,and over thefowls of the ayre,and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Here is no dominion given to man over man.

But all mankind is endowed with equal dominion over all these things, and man is to acknowledge no foveraign lord but God his Maker. But presently after the fall

For the punishment of the woman, who had brought the defire of her husband fubject to her, by tempting him to eat of the forbidden fruit, God faid to her, Thy defire shall be fubject to thy Gen.3.16 husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Yea when God saw Cains countenance caft down, he called him to account for it, and knowing his discontent to be against

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