almes de alieno, of what is anothers; and there is nothing in our power to dispose of but what we may rightly call our own; this utterly defpaireth the hope of the oppreffor, that he may make a facrifice of his rapines. And farther, whereas the custome of gathering wealth by injury, which robbeth our brethren, doth paffe it over lightly as a fmall finne; let me tell you, that ill-gotten goods do bring fuch + a fin upon a man as cannot be purged but with two Pills, 1. Unfained repentance. 2. Juft reftitution, Obferve it in Zachaus, he joyned charity and restitution; his charity was of his own goods, Dimidium bonorum meorum. It is Luk. 19.8. theft what foever is not Gods gift,and nothing is the gift of God but what is warrantable by the law and word of God. For this, a man that feareth God, will rather be Gods Lazarus and beg crumbs, then the Devils Dives, and fair deliciously. 3.The oppreffors of their brethren that live at cafe,and reft in 3.Suggest. plenty, and furfet drinking the sweat of their brethrens faces,and to use the phrafe of David, drinking the blood of their brethren, when any croffe or loffe betideth them,because they obferve fome formal customary profeffion and practice of Religion, they fmooth it over with this comfort,that God doth exercife the patience of his fervants in this life with fome tryals. To whom I fay, take heed, be not deceived, take not that for an exercise of thy patience,which is a punishment of thy fin. 1. Thou mistakest God, he is not thy friend, but is contrary to thee. 2. Thou mistakeft thy felf; thou calleft thee the fervant of God; no, Mammon is thy God, for thou goest against the word of God to gather wealth: It is but a falfe worship that thou giveft to God, God loves no divided hearts. 3. Thou mistakeft the caule of thy disease, and thy Phyfitian; for thou thinkeft it to be fome propenfion in thee to fin, which needeth fome preventing phyfick, wheras it is a coroding plaifter to eat out dead flesh: yet fleth and blood hath many inventions; we use to shoot another arrow after the firft; and like Balak, try! in anoth place, and fee if it will profper there. Doctr.1. Pf. 79.9. Reaf. 1. Ex. 32. 12. Verf. 14. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glo ry of the Lord, as the waters cover the fea. I 3. The effect. Vide fura pag. T is plaine, that Gods remiffeneffe in the execution of his just judgments upon the proud and cruel Babylonians, and the miferable face of the Church disfigured with tears, her voyce hoarfe with roaring for help, her throat dry, her heart aking, and no relief appearing all this had not only made the ungodly and profane confident that there was no fuch thing as Providence; but it appeareth by this Prophet that the faith of Gods children was ftaggered hereby. But when God shall declare his justice against these his enemies, then he fhall recover his glory; then fhall they both know that Chrift is the Lord, both the oppreffour fhall know it, and the delivered fhall know it, and they that are no parties to the cause of any fide fhall all underftand. The words of God in this text are full of marrow and fatnefs; for God is rich in mercy, aperit manum & implet, fo he dilateth bis favours. 1. In the fatitude, all the earth over. 2. In the plenitude, the earth fhall be filled. 3. In the magnitude, the knowledge of Gods glory. We are taught from hence, that the delivery of Gods Church from the power of the enemies, and his vengeance upon them doth give honour to the name of God upon earth; io David, we are in great mifery. Help us O Gad of our falvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver us. 1. Because if the wicked overcome the Church, they will-triumph against God. So Mofes, Wherefore shall the Egyptians speak and say, he hath brought them out maliciously to play them? Rabfbakeh the Generakof Senacheribs forces proudly infult eth eth, who is he among all the gods of thefe lands, that hath delivered [f.36.20° their Country out of my hands? But God delivering his Church and punishing the enemies. thereof is magnified thereby, as Ezechias did pray: Now there- Ifa.37. 20. fore O Lord our God fave thou us out of his hand, that all the Kingdomes of the earth may know that thou only art the Lord. 2. Because as the Schoole faith, gloria eft clara notitia cum laude; and what doth more make the name of God known with praise then his prefent help to his Church, his quick vengeance upon the enemies thereof? The Heathen fhall fay, the Lord hath done for them great things. 3. Because this declareth the juftice of God; for First, He is juft and faithful in performing the gracious promifes that he hath made to his Church, Secondly, He is juft in the punishment of oppreffion and inîquity, which his foul abhorreth. The use of the point is to teach us that whensoever we see the Church or any part thereof delivered from the hands of their enemics, and fo the righteous God taking vengeance upon them, that we afcribe glory to God for the fame. Mofes long is a good example of this duty; for when the Egytians that pursued Ifrael into the red fea,were covered and detroyed by the returne of the waters of the sea upon them, Reaf. z. Reaf. 3 Then (ang Mofes and the children of Ifrael this fong anto the Lord, and pake, faying, I will fing unto the Lord, for he hath tri- Exod.15.3. umphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he throwne into the Sea. This deliverance was a type of the final deliverance of the Church from all her enemies; and therefore in Johns Vision it is faid They (ang the Song of Mofes the fervant of God, and the fong of Rev. 15.3. the Lamb, Jaying, great and marvailous are thy works Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy wayes, thon King of Saints. Who shall not fear thee O Lord, and glorifie thy name; for thou only art holy; for all Nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifeft. We have great and gracious examples at home of this; our bleffed Queen of happy memory, Queen Elizabeth Anno 1588. Pp 2 after Verfe 4. Ifa.38.19. after the defeat of the Spanish Armado, came in perfon to the chief Church in her Kingdom, where having upon her knees devoutly given the glory of that deliverance to God, fhe heard the Sermon at Pauls croffe, and taught her people by her godly example to know the glory of God; for in thofe dayes Spaniards loved us not, and we thought it a great favour of God to be delivered from them. The like publike declaration did our Soveraign that now is, make of the glory of God, for the deliverance of his royal perfon, Crown and pofterity, the Religion and peace of the King. dom, in the laft feffion of that firft Parliament, delivered by the hand of God from the bloody defigne of the Papifts, whofe Re. ligion was alfo in thofe times thought dangerous to this Common-wealth;his fpeech and recognition of the protection ofGod is extant in print. And as States and great Common-wealths have their dangers and deliverances, wherein as every one that is a member thereof, hath their share of benefit, fo from every one is growing a debt of duty, to acknowledge the fame : fo that as Ezechiah faith,The father to the children shall make known the truth of God. So in our particular estates, we have many tastes of the fweetneffe of God, in our deliverances from dangers at fea, on fhoare from fickneffe, imprisonment, infamy, and many other evils which annoy our life;in all which God revealeth to us the knowledge of his glory, and we shall do him but right, to give him as David faith, the glory due to his name; and to invite our brethren as David did, I will tell you quid Deus fecit anima mea, what God hath done to my foul. Doftr, 2. Seeing God promifeth to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God, we are taught that God is glorious, and fo we ought to conceive of him : our Saviour hath taught us fo, to acknowledge in the clofe of the Lords Prayer, Tua eft gloria, thine is the glory. St. Stephen faith,The God of glory appeared to our fathers. And of this God is fo jealous, that he faith, My glo ry will I not give it another. Hold this faft; the Devill when he tempteth us to fin, doth not finde an eafier way to fetch us a bout, then to blemish the glory of God, and to dim that to our fights and opinions. AЯ.7.2. Ifa 42 8. Reaf. 1. As As in the first temptation, he told the woman, ye shall not furely dye, for God doth know that when ye eate thereof ye shall be as gods; Bringing the woman into divers dishonourable thoughts of God, as concerning his truth, his juftice, his love to man. For in tempting her to eate against the preffe and precife commandment of God, 1. She must think that God would not bring death upon her for her fault, as he had threatned, which toucheth the truth of God.. 2. She must fuppofe that the offence of eating taken at the worft, is a fmall offence, and fo not likely to be avenged and muleted with any fuch punishment, which toucheth the justice of God. 3. She must suppose, that God who fhewed fo much favour to man to give him all the fruit for his meate but that, had he loved man as he made fhew, would not have left that fruit for a fnare to catch him, and bring him to ruine, or if he did fo, he was too loving to man to work upon the advantage, Yet in this very fuggeftion, wherein he infufeth fo many dif honourable thoughts into the heart of the woman to dini the brightneffe of Gods excellent glory; obferve how he doth secretly confeffe that God is jealous of his glory,for faith, he doth know that in the day that you eate thereof you shall be as gods. That is to fay, as well;as he loves you, he would not admit you into the fociety of his glory, for man was created in the likeness of Gods holineffe and righteousnesse, but not in the fimilitude of his glory. That Satan knew well; and therefore fuggefted that ambition which he knew would ruine mankind; for that had caft him out of heaven. Here by the way, let me fhew you the fting of the first fione; God had faid to Adam, Thou shalt not eate. 2. Qua die comederis morte morieris, what day thou eatest thou shalt die. 1. In the eating the forbidden fruit, the Commandment of God was broken, therein man rebelled. 2. In the eating, being threatned with death for punishment of their eating, there muft either be 1. Pre Gen 3. 5. |