<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2010-09-20</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Checklist:
x Add TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate
xAdd DIV TYPEs, validate
xReview structure, use FRONT,BODY, BACK or rarely GROUP
xCheck PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N=""
xProof title page(s)
xCheck HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE
xCheck ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, space between &amp;c.
xCheck # @ -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE
xCheck q; startq endq Q
xCorrect illegibles from proofsheet
xCheck illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs
Final validate

Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ].
Converted [ ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible".
DONE</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A89667">
<STC T="W">N1046</STC>
<STC T="T">E670_13</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99866113</BIBNO>
<VID>166226</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON Preached the 11. of <HI>May</HI> 1652. IN TAVNTON, UPON The Occa&s;ion of their great Deli|verance, received upon that Day.</P>
<P>BY GEORGE NEWTON Ma&s;ter of Arts, and Mini&s;ter of Gods Word in that Place.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>William Roybould</HI> at the <HI>&V;nicorne</HI> in <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard <HI>London;</HI> and are to be &s;old by <HI>George Treagle</HI> in <HI>Taunton.</HI> 1652.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD><Q><BIBL>Ezra 9.13, 14.</BIBL>
<P>Seeing that thou our God ha&s;t puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then our, &amp;c.</P></Q></HEAD>
<P>THe wickedne&s;&s;e of I&s;rael in matching with the daughters of a &s;trange God, after the Lord had &s;harply puni&s;hed them, and then delivered them again by a miracle of Mercy; was the occa&s;ion of the&s;e words. The whole &s;tory certifies us, that when the time of their Captivity in Babilon was expired and run out, God wonderfully &s;tirred up the heart of <HI>Cyrus</HI> fir&s;t, and after of <HI>Darius,</HI> to make a Proclamation and Edict, by which the Jews (who then were Captives under their Dominions) were permitted to return, to &s;etle in their own Country, to repair the de&s;olation of the Temple, and therefore to re-erect and re-e&s;tabli&s;h the wor&s;hip of the Lord among&s;t them. An incomparable mercy if we con&s;ider whence they were delivered, and to what they were re&s;tored, and &s;uch as &s;hould have been a &s;trong en|gagement, and mighty obligation to obedience. But alas! it proved not &s;trong enough for their Corruptions, for they no &s;ooner were again replanted in the Land of <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> but they turned a&s;ide from God, and waxing wan|ton with their Peace and Mercy, joyned them&s;elves in Marriage with the people of the Lands, that were about them, and mingled the prophane and holy Seed together, which Ezra being made acquainted with, he was excee|dingly affected with it, &s;o that he rent his cloaths and
<PB N="4" REF="3">
tore away the hair of his head and of his beard, and ha|ving &s;pent his &s;pirits in a holy pa&s;&s;ion, he &s;ate down a|&s;toni&s;hed; untill at length returning out of this amaze|ment, he betakes him&s;elf unto the Lord in prayer, and there exceedingly bewailes the peoples &s;in, and manife&s;ts withall a horrid apprehen&s;ion of it, if they &s;hould yet a|gain return to their old abominations, which it &s;eems he much feared; <HI>Seeing that thou our God ha&s;t puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Two things we have e&s;pecially to be con&s;idered in the words, Fir&s;t, a rare and eminent Mercy acknowledged, <HI>Our God hath puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then our Iniquities de&s;erve,</HI> and given us &s;uch a deliverance as this. And then a hor|rible abu&s;e &s;uppo&s;ed, &s;hould we againe break thy com|mandments: in the &s;ame kinde, and in the &s;ame degree, in &s;uch a manner and in &s;uch a mea&s;ure as before. I doe not &s;ay we &s;hall, but if we &s;hould, what then? Why then our condition would be de&s;parat, there would be no po&s;|&s;ibility almo&s;t of an eva&s;ion? Would&s;t not thou be angry with us, till thou had&s;t con&s;umed us, that there &s;hould be no remnant nor e&s;caping? There are a remnant of us yet, but then thou would&s;t de&s;troy that remnant too, and &s;o there would be none left. In the mercy acknow|ledged you may take notice with me of the&s;e two parti|culars.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, &s;omething Negative or Privative, the withhold|ing of evill: <HI>Seeing that thou our God ha&s;t puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then our iniquities de&s;erve?</HI> Puni&s;hed us thou ha&s;t indeed by our cruel enemies, but not to the extent and latitude of our de&s;erts. Then &s;omething po&s;itive, the be&s;towing of good, and given us &s;uch a deliverance as this: Not bare|ly a deliverance onely, but &s;uch deliverance, &s;uch as can|not be expre&s;t.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="3">So that you &s;ee my Brethren, here is mercy upon all hands, mercy in the puni&s;hment, mercy in the delive|rance from it; mercy in the puni&s;hment, that it was &s;uch, &s;o little, mercy in the deliverance from it, that it was &s;uch, &s;o great: Mercy in the puni&s;hment, that it was infinitely le&s;&s;e mercy in the deliverance, that it was infinitely more then they de&s;erved. All the wayes of God are mercy and truth, mercy not onely when he &s;aves, but mercy when he &s;trikes his people: When he &s;trikes he doth &s;o little, and when he &s;aves he doth &s;o much: when he &s;trikes he is &s;o gracious, and when he &s;aves he is &s;o glorious, that he is wonderfull in both the&s;e.</P>
<P>Well then my brethren, here is a Treble and a Ba&s;e, to make you mu&s;ick on this &s;olemn Day of Joy; the one is very low, and the other very high: The puni&s;hment is very low and flat, abundantly below their &s;ins, beneath their merits and de&s;erts. But the deliverance on the o|ther &s;ide is high and &s;hril, indeed above Ela, Such as the Prophet cannot reach in his expre&s;sion; and therefore mentions it in &s;uch a manner, that he leaves it rather to be wondered at, then di&s;tinctly under&s;tood. And given us &s;uch a deliverance as this. The&s;e two my brethren will doe very well together, though they be of divers &s;ounds, yet if we joyn them, they will make a good concord. And therefore that I may not marre the mu&s;ick, you &s;hall hear them go together; and out of both, I &s;hall rai&s;e this ob&s;ervation.</P>
<P><HI>Doctr.</HI> It is the manner of the Lord when he puni&s;heth his people, to abate and to be very moderate, when he de|livers them and &s;hews them mercy, to exceed and to tran&s;cend all mea&s;ure.</P>
<P>Both the&s;e you &s;ee are &s;et together in my Text, that &s;o the one of them might &s;ound the better for the other: <HI>Seeing thou our God ha&s;t puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then our iniquities
<PB N="6" REF="4">
de&s;erve, and given us &s;uch a deliverance as this:</HI> The pro|phet layes the puni&s;hment and the deliverance &s;ide by &s;ide, that you may look upon them both at once, and compare both together, that you may &s;ee the &s;malnes of the one and the greatne&s;&s;e of the other: For if you mark it well, he &s;ets a &s;peciall empha&s;is on the Deliverance, no empha&s;is at all on the Affliction. The puni&s;hment is &s;po|ken of by way of diminution and abatement in a le&s;&s;en|ing way, <HI>le&s;&s;e then our iniquities de&s;erve:</HI> But the deliver|ance on the other &s;ide, is &s;poken of by way of augmenta|tion and enlargement, <HI>&s;uch a deliverance as this.</HI> I &s;hall proceed with both the branches of the text and point in order.</P>
<P>It is the manner of the Lord when he puni&s;hes his peo|ple to abate and to be very moderate. There hath been a que&s;tion &s;tarted in the&s;e latter dayes, whether the Lord at any time in any ca&s;e doth puni&s;h his people. And true it is, he doth not neither can he puni&s;h them in a way of Vindication or revenge, for Chri&s;t hath fully &s;atisfyed for them.</P>
<P>But he is often &s;aid to puni&s;h then in &s;cripture in a way of ca&s;tigation and correction: So the Original, is renderd in my text thou ha&s;t puni&s;hed us &s;aith <HI>Ezra.</HI> And for my own part, becau&s;e I am not &s;o farre skilled in the Hebrew, as to adventure to controule the tran&s;latours of the Bible; I allow of that expre&s;&s;ion in the &s;en&s;e before mentioned. And &s;o I &s;hould advi&s;e all tho&s;e to doe, who have no better skill then I have.</P>
<P>Well, when the Lord doth puni&s;h or correct, or cha&s;ten his people (call it how you will) it is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate; to do too little, rather then too much; to do rather le&s;&s;e then more; <HI>Le&s;&s;e then their iniquities de&s;erve,</HI> as you have it in my text. He often laies on many &s;tripes under, never one &s;tripe over. Never
<PB N="7" REF="4">
more then we <HI>de&s;erved:</HI> When he is &s;harpe&s;t, we mu&s;t acknowledge with the Church, that he hath not rewar|ded us according to our &s;ins. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 103.10. Never more then we <HI>can bear,</HI> for the Lord knoweth whereof we are made, remembreth that we are but du&s;t. He under&s;tand|eth very well how weak we are, and therefore he debates with the affliction, as the Prophet &s;peakes, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 27.8. whe|ther it be too heavy for us, yea or no, and if he finde it be, if he perceive the &s;torm of wrath to blow too rough up|on his people, he &s;taies his rough wind, in the day of the Ea&s;t-winde, as it is added there in that place. Nay, my beloved, as he never gives us more in a correcting way, then we de&s;erve, never more then we can bear, &s;o never more then we <HI>do need.</HI> If need be, we are in heavine&s;s, as the Apo&s;tle in that known place, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.6. God never laies a &s;troak, a trial, an affliction more then needs upon his people. He alwayes keeps him&s;elf within compa&s;&s;e: And therefore he is &s;aid to <HI>&s;pare</HI> his people according to his promi&s;e, <HI>Mal.</HI> 3.17.</P>
<P>There is a twofold mercy oppo&s;ed to the &s;trictne&s;s of a twofold Ju&s;tice, with which the rigour and exactne&s;&s;e of it is qualified and allayed. Either <HI>mi&s;ericordia parcens,</HI> or, <HI>remunerans,</HI> either &s;paring, or remunerating mercy. The exactne&s;s of Ju&s;tice in di&s;pen&s;ing recompences, is tempered with <HI>remunerating mercy,</HI> when there is more be&s;towed on men then they de&s;erve: The rigour of Ju|&s;tice in di&s;pen&s;ing puni&s;hments, is qualifyed with <HI>&s;paring mercy,</HI> when there is le&s;&s;e inflicted upon men then they de&s;erve. And this God alwayes exerci&s;es in the corre|ctions that he laies upon his people, he tempers them with &s;paring mercy; he &s;taies his hand, and refrains his indignation. It is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate, as you have heard. That Phra&s;e of the Apo&s;tle in another ca&s;e, may be applyed to God in
<PB N="8" REF="5">
this particular, his <HI>moderation</HI> is known to all men. And it is &s;ingularly known to you the people of this place, how he qualified his wrath in all the late afflictions, that have been upon you: &s;o that you mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e with <HI>Ez|ra</HI> in my Text, That he hath puni&s;hed you far le&s;&s;e then your iniquities de&s;erved. And there are many rea&s;ons of the point, I &s;hall touch the principal.</P>
<P N="1">1. And fir&s;t of all, to &s;ay the truth, he hath no minde to puni&s;h or correct at all; &s;o that it is no wonder, though he be very moderate in his corrections, he afflicts not wil|lingly, nor grieves the &s;ons of men. <HI>Lam.</HI> 3.33. He hath no will at all to do it, no of him&s;elf he delights in &s;hew|ing mercy, <HI>Mich.</HI> 7.18. The act of Ju&s;tice is a little &s;trange to him, what the act of Mercy is? for he is <HI>rather,</HI> though <HI>not more</HI> mercifull then ju&s;t; and hence he &s;tileth it, his <HI>&s;trange act,</HI> which he is not &s;o well acquainted with, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 28.21. It is not with our heavenly, as it is often, with our earthly parents; they correct us for their plea&s;ure, as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, <HI>Hebr.</HI> 12.10. to &s;atisfie their humour, and their pa&s;&s;ion, and the like. So doth not God, he takes no plea&s;ure to afflict us; no, his delight and plea&s;ure is ra|ther to be &s;hewing mercy. You may ob&s;erve how loath he is to deal again&s;t us, and how unwillingly he takes us up to la&s;h us, <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 11.8. <HI>How &s;hall I give thee up Ephraim, how &s;hall I deliver thee I&s;rael, &amp;c.</HI> That hand cannot be cruel in correction, that takes the rod with &s;uch abun|dant reluctation.</P>
<P N="2">2. When he is forced to correct us, he doth it in a good temper, and that is another rea&s;on, why he is &s;o mode|rate: He corrects us not in anger, at lea&s;t not in the heat of his anger, which hath no mea&s;ure in it, no mixture of compa&s;&s;ion with it, which is the thing the Prophet prayes again&s;t, <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.25. but with judgement, that you
<PB N="9" REF="5">
with &s;erious coun&s;ell, and mature deliberation, as is ad|ded, &amp;c. he is not like a furious man &s;triketh, and on a &s;uddain and in a rage, and felleth to the ground, never con&s;idering with him &s;elf, whether the blow be is about to reach, be fitted and proportioned to the &s;trength of him that is to under go it, yea or no: No he cha&s;tens his with judgement and advice: He doth it in a &s;ettled and compo&s;ed way, he is not angry, at lea&s;t, but a <HI>little angry.</HI> When he deals again&s;t the wicked, he is <HI>&s;ore di&s;|plea&s;ed</HI> at them, as his own expre&s;sion is, <HI>Zech.</HI> 1.15. but he is but a little angry with his own people, as is added, &amp;c. and becau&s;e he is angry but a little, he corrects them but a little.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Lord is very moderate; becau&s;e as he corrects his people in little anger, &s;o in great love: They may look up and &s;ee him &s;miling, when he layes upon them; when he is mo&s;t &s;evere and bitter with his people, his kindene&s;&s;e to them works &s;till, according to that &s;weet and precious promi&s;e, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 89.31. <HI>If his children for&s;ake, &amp;c. Then will I vi&s;ite their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, &amp;c.</HI> If he be in a little heat at any time, he recollects him&s;elf again, and in the mid&s;t of wrath remembers mercy, as the Prophet &s;peaks, and tempers it with this allay; he con&s;iders with him&s;elf, as once he did with Ephraim, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.20. <HI>Is not this my own &s;on, is he not my plea&s;ant childe, whom I am lay|ing on upon.</HI> And &s;hall I u&s;e my own &s;weet child thus? Shall I &s;hew him no compa&s;sion? With that his bowels turn within him, and he &s;aith, that he will &s;urely have mercy upon him.</P>
<P N="4">4. When he puni&s;heth his people it is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate, becau&s;e he aims not at revenge, but reformation. Indeed revenge will have the mo&s;t in a bu&s;ines, it will have full and perfect &s;atisfaction,
<PB N="10" REF="6">
he will not &s;pare in the day of vengeance. And hence it is that when God deals again&s;t ungodly men in &s;uch a|way, he payes them home; becau&s;e he doth it, as his own expre&s;&s;ion is, to &s;atisfie and <HI>ea&s;e</HI> him&s;elf, and not to be|nefit or profit them. So that the Lord may &s;ay, when he is laying on them in the heat of his di&s;plea&s;ure, as <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 1.24. <HI>Ah, I will ea&s;e me of my enemies!</HI> Now I &s;hall ea&s;e my &s;elf of &s;uch a drunkard, of &s;uch a &s;wearer and bla&s;phemer, of &s;uch a lewd prophane and vitious liver that was alwayes vexing me. Now I &s;hall hear him &s;wear no more, now I &s;hall have him rend my wounds no more; I &s;hall be pre&s;&s;ed with his &s;ins no more; I &s;hall be quiet now I &s;ee, I &s;hall be ea&s;ed of him forever.</P>
<P>But now (my brethren) when he deals again&s;t his own people, it is a greater trouble to him, to make them &s;uffer his corrections, then for him&s;elf to &s;uffer their indigni|ties and provocations: Nor doth he aime a whit at &s;a|tisfaction (for that he hath received from Chri&s;t to the extremity of Ju&s;tice) but onely at their reformation: So that he gives correction to them, as <HI>phy&s;ick</HI> to recover, and not as <HI>poy&s;on</HI> to de&s;troy. And hence it is, that he deals moderately with them, according as he findes their &s;trength and ca&s;e to be; yet he may not kill, but cure them: He doth &s;o cha&s;ti&s;e his people, as that he doth not loo&s;e the weake&s;t of them by the extremity, or length of the affliction that he layes upon them. The rod of trou|ble &s;hall not re&s;t upon them, lea&s;t they put forth their hand to evil, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 125.3. <HI>I will &s;ift the hou&s;e of I&s;rael &s;aith the Lord, as corn is &s;ifted in &s;ive,</HI> Amos 9.9. <HI>But yet the lea&s;t grain &s;hall not fall upon the earth.</HI> I will not loo&s;e one grain of good wheat, as it is added, &amp;c. and this for clear|ring of the former member of the point. It is the manner of the Lord when <HI>he puni&s;heth</HI> his people to abate and to be very moderate.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="6">
<P>But now (my Brethren) on the other&s;ide, when <HI>he de|livers</HI> them, and &s;hows them mercy, it is his manner to exceed and to tran&s;cend all mea&s;ure: Then he takes his full &s;cope, and doth not bound and &s;tint him&s;elf as in the former: No he be&s;tows upon his people &s;uperlative and matchle&s;&s;e mercies, and &s;alvations; he gives them &s;uch a deliverance as this, &s;uch as hath no parallel, no equall, with which it may be &s;ampled or compared: Of which that may be &s;aid, which the Holy Gho&s;t affirmeth of the &s;pice, which the Aethiopian Queen pre&s;ented to King <HI>Solomon,</HI> 2 Chron. 9.9. There was not any &s;uch &s;pice; &s;o there was never &s;uch mercy. In delivering, the Lord &s;ometimes out-dares him&s;elf in &s;hewing mercy, does rare and &s;ingular, and extraodinary things, &s;uch as he is not wont to doe at other times; &s;uch as his people are not able <HI>to expre&s;&s;e,</HI> as <HI>David</HI> &s;peaks, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 106.2. <HI>Who can ut|ter the great and mighty acts of God? who can &s;hew forth all his prai&s;e?</HI> Such as they are not able <HI>to believe;</HI> no, they &s;eem like men that dream, as I&s;rael did, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 126.1. &s;uch as they are not able <HI>to imagine;</HI> he doth abundantly a|bove all that they can think, as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, <HI>Eph.</HI> 6.20. nay to go higher yet, &s;uch as they are not able (in &s;ome &s;ort) <HI>to bear:</HI> As it is &s;aid of <HI>Jacob,</HI> when they told him that his &s;on <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was alive, and that he was made governour over all land of the Aegypt; his <HI>heart fainted,</HI> Gen. 45.26. &s;o God &s;ometimes gives &s;uch tran&s;cendent mercies and deliverances to his people, that their hearts faint within them, they have not &s;trength enough to bear the &s;udden flu&s;h of joy, that comes breaking in upon them. He loadeth them, yea, over loadeth them with benefits, powers out upon them &s;uch a heap of mercy as they can|not &s;tand under. And whether the deliverance of this Day, were &s;uch a &s;ignal one, &s;uch a deliverance as this,
<PB N="12" REF="7">
&s;uch as you are not able to expre&s;&s;e, &s;uch as you were not able to believe, nor to imagine, nor to bear almo&s;t, I leave it to your &s;elves (my brethren) to con&s;ider. Ah my be|loved, when you were fir&s;t informed that reliefe was come, and that the Enemy was drawing off the Town, tell me how it fared with you, was not the joy too great for you? too large for tho&s;e poor hearts of yours to hold? did it not &s;tretch them, and dilate them overmuch; &s;o that your &s;pirits even fainted in you? I know when you reflect upon tho&s;e daies of old, you will &s;eal to this truth; That when the Lord delivers his, and &s;hews them mercy, it is his manner to exceed, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And this he doth for ma|ny rea&s;ons; I &s;hall name a few of them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The condition of his people may be &s;uch, that in re&s;pect of them it may be nece&s;&s;ary, that God &s;tretch him &s;elf a little, and go beyond him&s;elf (I mean his ordi|nary cour&s;e) in their deliverance: Unle&s;&s;e the Lord be plea&s;ed to exceed, it will not reach them to be benefi|ciall to them. As there are <HI>&s;ins</HI> of divers &s;izes and <HI>puni&s;h|ments</HI> of divers &s;izes, &s;o there are <HI>mercies and deliverances</HI> of divers &s;izes too, and one of them mu&s;t be proportio|ned to the other. If the <HI>affliction</HI> and di&s;tre&s;&s;e be of the large &s;ize, &s;o mu&s;t the <HI>deliverance</HI> be. And hence it is that God &s;ometimes makes the &s;alvation of his people out of mea&s;ure great, becau&s;e their troubles and afflictions have been &s;o: Such a di&s;tre&s;&s;e mu&s;t have &s;uch a deliverance.</P>
<P N="2">2. When God delivers his, and &s;hews them mercy, it is his manner &s;ometimes to exceed, &amp;c. that he may make them recompence for their former mi&s;eries. And even as <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> when he had dealt &s;omewhat roughly and unkindely with his brethren for a while, and u&s;ed them &s;o, as if be had forgotten all affection and relation to them; yet in the end, his bowels yearned upon them, &s;o that he was not able to contain him&s;elf; and then he
<PB N="13" REF="7">
opened all his heart, and &s;hewed his love more fully to them then he had ever done before: So when the Lord hath dealt a while &s;everely with his people, as they think (though it be alwayes le&s;&s;e then their iniquities de&s;erve) and when he &s;ees them likely to be &s;wallowed up of &s;or|row and di&s;pair, then his bowels work within him, and he can hold no longer, but is overcome: And out he breaks into &s;uch &s;weet and melting declarations of his love, as come not from him at another time; when he perceives his people at the point to &s;inck, and to be over|come in their afflictions, he labours to revive and chear them up again, with more then ordinary revelations and di&s;coveries of his mercy: He &s;ees the &s;pirit would faile before him, and the &s;ouls that he hath made; if he &s;hould be alwayes wroth, and if he &s;hould contend for ever, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.16. And therefore as the loving father when he per|ceives the child about to &s;wound, while he is laying on upon it, pre&s;ently lets fall the rod, and fals a ki&s;&s;ing and embracing of it, and &s;peaking very kindly to it, to fetch life in it again: So deals God with his people, when they faint in their di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and &s;inck away under his hand, away he flings the rod, and fals upon their necks, ki&s;&s;es away their tears, and makes them know how dear and precious they are to him, notwith&s;tanding this &s;harp|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>What was the time that God did &s;o abundantly reveal his love to <HI>Hezekiahs</HI> &s;oul, as him&s;elf expre&s;&s;eth it, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 38. but after that extream affliction, when in &s;tead of peace, his &s;oul was full of bitternes; &s;o that he could not &s;peak in prayer, but chatter'd like a Swallow, and mourned like a Dove. You have heard of <HI>Jobs</HI> affliction, how un|parallel'd it was in all re&s;pects, and what end the Lord made, <HI>James</HI> 5.11. and that end was all mercy, God did
<PB N="14" REF="8">
exceed in that bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and tran&s;cend all mea&s;ure: So that me thinks, I &s;ee <HI>Job</HI> even ravi&s;hed to an exta&s;ie of joy, and I am confident that God had never &s;hewed him &s;o many choi&s;e and pregnant tokens of his favour all his life before, as in the end of that affliction. And verily the Lord is never wont to manife&s;t &s;uch &s;ingular and extra|ordinary mercy to his Church and People, as when they have been dead and buried as it were; when they have been in a remedile&s;s and de&s;perate ca&s;e but ju&s;t before, that he may make them full requital to the utmo&s;t, for all the trouble that hath been upon them.</P>
<P N="3">3. When God delivers his people, it is his manner &s;ometimes to exceed, &amp;c. that he may lay upon them mighty Obligations. The Lord delights to have his peo|ple much engaged, exceedingly endeared and bound to him; and upon this account &s;ometimes, he doth over and above for them, that they may &s;ee how much they are beholding to him, and how much they ow him. That by this means he may oblige and binde them &s;trongly to obedience: And therefore this is made the &s;cope and aim of God in all the great things that he did for I&s;rael, that they might keep his &s;tatutes and ob&s;erve his laws. The Prophet makes a Catalogue before of many rare, choi&s;e, and precious mercies, which he followed them withall: And then at la&s;t, he &s;huts up all with this, which &s;hews the end of God in all; <HI>That they might keep his &s;ta|tutes and ob&s;erve his laws,</HI> P&s;al. 105. la&s;t ver&s;e.</P>
<P N="4">4. When God delivers his people, it is his manner &s;om|times to exceed, &amp;c. that he may rai&s;e the greater trophie to his own honour, and make his name be remembred in all generations. The Lord &s;ometimes is plea&s;ed (my bre|thren) to erect pillars, to &s;et up monuments of mercy, that the memorial of it may not die for ever. He builds
<PB N="15" REF="8">
a <HI>None-&s;uch,</HI> by the greatne&s;&s;e of his power, and for the honour of his maje&s;ty: He gives his people &s;uch a deli|verance, <HI>talis</HI> that you cannot finde a <HI>qualis,</HI> it is not to be matched again. And even as Princes when they have a minde to make their greatne&s;s known and &s;poken off, are wont to do &s;ome extraordinary act; &s;o God execeds in wayes of kindnes to his people, to this end, that he may appear the more glorious, and that he may &s;hew forth to the ages to come, the un&s;earchable riches of his power and mercy. Its true, that both of them appear, even in his common works, and the lea&s;t and lowe&s;t of his favors; But in &s;uch rare and choice deliverances and &s;alvations that tran&s;cend all mea&s;ure, they &s;parkle forth with daz|ling lu&s;tre.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. Is it the manner of the Lord when he puni&s;hes his people to abate, &amp;c. Then let us be exact ob&s;ervers and admirers of the rich mercy of the Lord both waies: When his work is in <HI>his hand,</HI> let our eyes be in <HI>our head,</HI> and let us diligently look to one &s;ide and the other, when he <HI>&s;trikes,</HI> how he refrains; when he <HI>&s;aves,</HI> how he exceeds. The Prophet <HI>Ezra</HI> very acurately notes them both, <HI>Thou ha&s;t puni&s;hed us le&s;&s;e then our iniquities de&s;erve, and given us &s;uch a deliverance as this?</HI> and we &s;hould &s;trive to doe as he did. But alas we u&s;e to be quite upon the other hand, our manner is to amplifie cro&s;&s;es, and to demini&s;h mercies; when God afflicts, we tell over; when he deli|vers, we tell &s;hort: We look on our afflictions in a multi|plying gla&s;&s;e, which repre&s;ents them more and greater then indeed they are: But when we look on our &s;alva|tions, we turn the other end, which makes them to ap|pear as nothing: When we &s;peak of our di&s;tre&s;&s;es, we ag|gravate them to the utmo&s;t; we ri&s;e, we grow in our di&s;|cour&s;e, as he in the Poet, I am twice, thrice mi&s;erable, nay
<PB N="16" REF="9">
ten times, nay twenty times, nay a hundred times mi&s;er|able. But when we &s;peak of our deliverances, we exte|nuate; we are mi&s;erably &s;hort, low and flat: we are quite contrary to God, we exceed where he abates; and we abate where he exceeds: Oh my beloved, let us not be &s;o cro&s;s to God, who is &s;o kind to us; but let us learn of <HI>Ezra</HI> here, to think and &s;peak of our afflictions in a way of diminution; and on the other &s;ide, of our &s;alvations, in a way of augmentation: And this let me apply a little to the bu&s;ine&s;s of this Day.</P>
<P N="1">1. Learn to le&s;&s;en your afflictions, at lea&s;t with refe|rence to your de&s;erts: Acknowledge with the Prophet, in my Text, That they were le&s;&s;e then your iniquities de|&s;erved. Its true, you &s;uffered &s;harp and bitter things, when you were &s;hut up by the Enemies, and many of you more then others: Your <HI>feelings,</HI> I confe&s;&s;e, were much, your <HI>fears</HI> were more: But what were all the&s;e to your <HI>&s;ins,</HI> if God had dealt in rigour with you? Some of you I &s;uppo&s;e lo&s;t your mo&s;t choice and precious friends, which next to God were deare&s;t to you in the world; Why, it is a mercy that you have one friend left: Some of you lo&s;t your goods and your e&s;tates; why, it is a mer|cy that you have a peny left: &s;ome of you lo&s;t your limbs; why, it is a mercy that you did not lo&s;e your lives: &s;ome of you lo&s;t your hou&s;es, you &s;aw them flame and burn till they were raked in their own a&s;hes; why, it is a mercy that your &s;elves are not at this in&s;tant burning in the flames of Hell it &s;elf: Many of you were &s;wept away by the Bullet and Sword; why, it is a mercy there was any remnant or e&s;caping; that there is one left to tell the news of this deliverance, to magnifie the Lord for it. <HI>In death there is no remembrance of him, in the grave, who can prai&s;e him?</HI> Where are they that lo&s;t their lives in the
<PB N="17" REF="9">
&s;ieges of this place? they are not here to joyn with us in the &s;olemnity and chearfull celebration of this happy Day; to magnifie the Lord with us, and to exalt his name together: &s;ome of them, were they here no doubt, would be as forward as the be&s;t of us: But we may &s;ay to God concerning them, as &s;ometimes <HI>Hezekiah</HI> did, <HI>The grave cannot prai&s;e thee, &amp;c. I&s;a.</HI> 38.18. or as <HI>Heman</HI> &s;ometimes did, P&s;al. 88.10. <HI>Wilt thou &s;hew wonders to the dead, &s;hall the dead ari&s;e and prai&s;e thee?</HI> No, this is our Prerogative who are pre&s;erved from the grave, and re&s;cued from de|&s;truction: And it is an extraordinary mercy of the Lord to us, that while others are gone down into the place of &s;ilence, our lives are lengthened out to &s;ing his prai&s;es, and to &s;peak good of his name, to keep another day of of thankfulnes to him, who is the God of our life: O let us &s;ay, as <HI>Hezekiah</HI> did in &s;uch a ca&s;e; <HI>The living, the living, they &s;hall prai&s;e thee,</HI> as we do this day. And thus if you &s;urvey your &s;harpe&s;t troubles and afflictions; you &s;hall finde a mixture and allay of mercy in them, and &s;o be for|ced to acknowledge, that God hath puni&s;hed you <HI>far le&s;&s;e then your iniquities de&s;erve.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Learn hence to amplifie deliverances and &s;alvations, to rai&s;e them to the very height, above expre&s;&s;ion with the Prophet in my Text, &s;uch a deliverance as this, as hath no words to &s;et it forth: &s;uch as po&s;terity will not be able to believe: and truly (my Beloved) even &s;uch a one was yours; it was a <HI>None-&s;uch</HI> in the land, God dealt not &s;o with any other people, &s;o that it &s;hines among de|liverances, even as the Moon among the le&s;&s;er Stars: Sur|vey the great things that the Lord hath done in the&s;e late years of wonder, and you &s;hall finde that the &s;alvation of this place was the greate&s;t of them all, none to be compa|red with it; it had an a&s;teri&s;me of mercies in it, body mercies, &s;oul mercies, e&s;tate mercies; which con&s;pired
<PB N="18" REF="10">
altogether to make it out of mea&s;ure glorious: Among the re&s;t, this excellency was peculiar to it, that it turned the &s;cales of the whol bu&s;ines in the&s;e late wars: Oh my beloved, look round about this rare deliverance, and am|plifie it all the wayes that you can think upon; remem|ber how you prized it, when you were pleading for your lives, before the Lord, in the day of your di&s;tre&s;&s;e, what you would have done or given to be a&s;&s;ured of a delive|rance, from that cruel death, which with amazing thoughts you looked for, when you were ready to be ta|ken by an enemy, who&s;e rage and malice was boiled up to the heigth again&s;t you, &amp;c. who would in probabili|ty have &s;pared neither age nor &s;ex; I &s;ay, remember how you prized it then, and do not let the price to fall again: Then it was valued at the highe&s;t, when you were reach|ing after it with fainting &s;ouls; now it is nothing with a|bundance of you: Oh loath your &s;elves, for this ba&s;enes, and make it your great bu&s;ines of this Day, to rai&s;e and to keep up the price of this incomparable mercy, to make the mo&s;t of &s;uch a rare deliverance as this.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. It is the manner of the Lord when he puni&s;h|eth his people, to abate and to be very moderate; when he delivers them and &s;hews them mercy, to exceed and to tran&s;cend all mea&s;ure; and do we finde that he hath &s;o exceeded as in other mercies, &s;o &s;pecially in the deli|verance of this Day. Then let us &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider, what a weight of duty lyes upon us, and how we ought to tran&s;cend and to exceed in our returns to God again. Be|lieve it (brethren) ordinary matters will not &s;erve the turn; as God hath done more for us, &s;o he mu&s;t have more from us then from any other people: we mu&s;t do &s;ingular and extraordinary things; if he exceed in mer|cy, we mu&s;t accordingly exceed in duty, there mu&s;t be &s;ome proportion of the one unto the other; we mu&s;t &s;trive to render to him according to the benefits
<PB N="19" REF="10">
that he hath done us, and to come up as near as it is po&s;&s;i|ble to his mea&s;ure; &s;uch a deliverance mu&s;t have &s;uch re|turns, and here to pitch upon particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. Such a deliverance mu&s;t have &s;uch a remembrance, it mu&s;t have &s;ome memoriall an&s;werable to it. As for our &s;elves (my brethren) we mu&s;t ingrave it on our hearts, and keep a Regi&s;ter of all the mercies that concurred in it. As <HI>David</HI> had an inventory of the Gold and Silver that he provided for the temple, but the iron and the bra&s;&s;e he numbreth not, becau&s;e it was without weight, 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 22.14. So though we cannot reckon all the mer|cies of the Lord, his dayly, and his hourly mercies, be|cau&s;e indeed they are without number, yet we mu&s;t be exact in numbring and &s;etting down his Golden and his Silver mercies. Such a deliverance as this, with all the circum&s;tances of it, mu&s;t not be forgotten by us.</P>
<P>And yet this is not all my berthren: we mu&s;t not one|ly keep the&s;e rare and extraordinary mercies in our minds our &s;elves, but we mu&s;t take &s;ome cour&s;e that o|thers may be mindfull of them, and that while the world la&s;ts, that the Lord may have his glory kept afoot in fol|lowing ages, A duty much commended to us in the Scri|pture, upon &s;uch occa&s;ions. When God had wrought a great &s;alvation for his people I&s;rael, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> commanded them to write a &s;ong, and to teach it to their children, that it might be a witne&s;&s;e for the Lord again&s;t them, <HI>viz.</HI> if they &s;hould prove unthankfull, <HI>Deut.</HI> 31.19. <HI>When the Lord &s;hall build up Sion, he &s;hall appear in glory,</HI> &s;aith the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102.16. And what then, mu&s;t they keep one day of thankfulne&s;&s;e, and &s;o an end? No there is &s;ome|what further to be done, <HI>this &s;hall be written for the gene|rations to come, and the people that &s;hal be created &s;hall prai&s;e the Lord.</HI> Indeed there is an Ordinance of the high Court of heaven, to this purpo&s;e, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 78.5. <HI>He appointed a Law
<PB N="20" REF="11">
in I&s;rael, which he did command our fathers,</HI> and what did he command our fathers? <HI>That they &s;hould make the prai&s;es of the Lord his &s;trength and wondrous works, that he had done, that they &s;hould make them known unto their children, and to the generation that was yet to come.</HI> And therfore I be|&s;eech you (my beloved) let us think upon it, let us inde|vor to perpetuate the prai&s;e of God, let us u&s;e &s;ome means or other to tran&s;mit it to po&s;terity, to make &s;ucceeding generations know what God had done for this Land, for this place, that he may have the glory of it <HI>as long as the &s;un &amp; moon indureth.</HI> Brethren we have a great task in this kind, we have very much to do, becau&s;e the Lord hath done &s;o much: truly I think, that there was never any ge|neration that had &s;uch a weight of duty lay upon them. It was the &s;aying of a wi&s;eman, that trouble&s;om times were good for the writer, &amp; il for the liver, he that lives in them &s;hall have &s;orrow enough: He that writes of them &s;hall have matter enough; &amp; certainly the&s;e times of ours, yield matter of tran&s;mi&s;sion to &s;ucceeding generations more then any former ages. Let us take care as much as lies in us, that nothing be lo&s;t, not a &s;crap of any thing that God hath done for this Land, or for this Town, in plague, and in the &s;ieges, but that it may be all conveyed down intire and whole and undimini&s;ht to following ages; that the generations that are yet to come may prai&s;e the Lord; And to this end I &s;hall &s;et before you two things.</P>
<P N="1">1. God will be a gainer by it. Alas (my brethren) it is little glory, we can bring him in our &s;elves, and in our own time, if we &s;hould &s;pend all our dayes in prai&s;ing him, they are &s;hort and will be done upon the &s;udden. But if we can take cour&s;e that all the generations, that are yet to come, &s;hall prai&s;e him for the mercy which we have received, as long as the world la&s;ts: this will be a great advantage, and truly if we love him, &amp; be affected
<PB N="21" REF="11">
with his mercy as we ought to be; we will endeavour what we can to rai&s;e, and to advance the little tribute of glory and thank&s;giving, which he is like to have among us, after &s;o many rich and precious favours heapt upon us. And &s;eeing we our &s;elves who have received &s;o much, can pay &s;o little; we will be &s;o hone&s;t yet, to charge our heirs, with what is comming from us to the Lord. And even as <HI>David</HI> layes a tax on all Nations, all Angels, all Creatures, to come in and to attribute what they can to the prai&s;es of the Lord, &s;o we will lay a tax on all &s;ucceeding generations, while the world continues, that God may not lo&s;e all; but that he may in &s;ome proportion have the glory that is due unto his name.</P>
<P N="2">2. Succeeding generations will be gainers by it too; me thinks the Prophet mentions it as advantage and priviledge to them of tho&s;e times, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 44.1. <HI>We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what works thou did&s;t in their dayes, &amp; in the times of old:</HI> He &s;eems to be affected very much with the relation; And truly (my beloved) it may be very beneficiall to after ages, to be acquainted with the work of God, to know what he hath done in former times; it will bind them and engage them, to walk in &s;ome proportion an|&s;werable to them; or if they do not, it will be a witne&s;&s;e for the Lord again&s;t them: As <HI>Deut.</HI> 31.19. It will te&s;tifie what God hath done, and what they ought to do; that they will not be able to be quiet, if they be unthankfull. And there|fore I be&s;eech you (my beloved) let us think of &s;omething in this kinde or other, after &s;uch a rare deliverance. The peo|ple of the Lord of old, were wont to &s;et up monuments of the great works of God, as <HI>Jacobs El Elohe I&s;rael,</HI> Gen. 33.20. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his <HI>Jehovah Ni&s;&s;i, Exod.</HI> 17.5. and <HI>Samuels Eben Ezer,</HI> 1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.12. And &s;hall there be no monument of &s;uch a&s;trange &s;alvation as ours was? No memoriall of &s;uch a deliverance as this? Truly (my Brethren) if you will &s;et up &s;ome re|membrance of it, &s;ome work of Piety or Charity, to be a
<PB N="22" REF="12">
&s;tranding monument of this deliverance; you would doe &s;omething worthy of your &s;elves, and of the Lord who hath been &s;o gratious to you.</P>
<P N="2">2. Such a deliverance mu&s;t have &s;uch a celebration, as is an&s;werable to it; and truly for the outward part, I mu&s;t ac|knowledge you exceed in this place; you do well that you triumph and Shout, Ring, make Fires, and feed upon the Creatures, and that liberally too: but yet you mu&s;t not think that this is the main bu&s;ine&s;&s;e (for bodily exerci&s;e profiteth little) nay which is wor&s;e, you mu&s;t not &s;uffer it to be a hin|drance to the main bu&s;ine&s;&s;e. Truly (my brethren) I have ob&s;erved heretofore, that there hath been too much fle&s;h, too little &s;pirit, in the ob&s;ervation of this Day. The bodily and fle&s;hly part, hath been very high indeed, but the &s;piritu|all part which God alone regardeth, for it &s;elf, hath been ve|ry low and flat. Mens Tables have been better furni&s;hed, and their bodies finer dre&s;t, but for their prayers and their prai|&s;es in their Families, or in their Clo&s;ets, they have been either none at all, or all one as at other times. There are too many of us, who have taken too much liberty upon &s;uch dayes as the&s;e, in a carnall fle&s;hly way, and have been over-charged, and made unfit for &s;piritual &s;ervice: I &s;ay, as the Apo&s;tle, Such rejoycing is not good; rejoycing is good, but &s;uch re|joycing is not good. Oh my beloved, I be&s;eech you, let not the mercy of the Lord have a return of &s;in in&s;tead of a return of prai&s;e; yea under the &s;hew and colour of prai&s;e: do not make this ble&s;&s;ed day an occa&s;ion to the fle&s;h; let this be &s;uch a fea&s;t as follows a holy convocation, and is agreeable and &s;uitable to it. While we are at it, let us do as birds do, &s;ip a little and look up, take the creature moderately, and and look up with thankfulne&s;&s;e, to the God of our mercies; let us rejoice with trembling, tremble to &s;in again&s;t God on the day of our rejoicing.</P>
<P N="3">3. Such a deliverance mu&s;t have &s;uch a Reformation, as is
<PB N="23" REF="12">
an&s;werable to it, a choice and &s;ingular and extraordinary re|formation, &s;uch a one as is not to be matcht again in all the Land. As there was no deliverance like ours, &s;o there mu&s;t be no Reformation like ours, it mu&s;t be high and full, beyond any other people, that it may be &s;aid of us as of <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> once, with reference to the exact and glorious Reformation that he made, <HI>like unto him there was no King before him, nor after him aro&s;e there any &s;uch.</HI> So there was never any people like to <HI>Taunton</HI> for thankfulne&s;&s;e and for obedience, nor after them &s;hall there be any &s;uch, that they that look upon us, and ob&s;erve us, may &s;ay to us as they did to the vertuous woman, <HI>Prov.</HI> 31.29. <HI>Many people have done vertuou&s;ly, but you have ex|celled them all.</HI> Never did God exceed in mercy to a People, as he did to <HI>Taunton,</HI> and never did a people excell in holi|ne&s;&s;e as they have done. Ah my beloved, think upon it after the Lord hath given us &s;uch a deliverance as this, &s;hall we again break his commandements? as you have it in my Text. Shall we do it, who have been &s;o &s;ignally delivered by the na|ked arm of God? and &s;hall we do it in the &s;elf &s;ame kind, that we have done in former times? As <HI>Ezra</HI> &s;peaks expre&s;ly here, <HI>&s;hall we again break thy Commandements, by joyning in affinity with the people of the Land?</HI> after this, &s;hall we return to our old corruptions, and our wonted wayes again? &s;hall tho&s;e which have been heretofore the &s;ins of <HI>Taunton,</HI> be the &s;ins of <HI>Taunton</HI> &s;till? Beloved, look a little back upon your for|mer practi&s;es, and &s;ee what alterations this &s;ignall mercy of the Lord hath made among you, e&s;pecially tho&s;e which are the publick known and noted; evil of this place. Not to &s;peak of pride or covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, or Sabboth prophanation. Some &s;ay the Taverns and the Alehou&s;es, were never &s;o fre|quented, that Drunkenne&s;&s;e was never &s;o common, and &s;o rife among&s;t us, as it is at this day. Ah (my beloved) what will become of this in the latter end? why verily if God be &s;till provoked thus, he will exceed in wrath as he hath done
<PB N="24" REF="13">
in mercy, he will be angry till he hath con&s;umed us, that there will be no remnant nor e&s;caping: He &s;aved a remnant la&s;t, but now he will de&s;troy that remnant too, and make an utter de&s;olation.</P>
<P>Oh (my beloved) let us who are before the Lord this day, remember, that we are the remainder that are left, the re&s;idue that are e&s;caped from the late judgements that have been upon this place, to tell the world how &s;harp God hath been to others, and how mercifull to us. And therefore let the fear of the great God of heaven be upon us the remainder of our dayes, let us con&s;ider why he hath pre&s;erved us, not to be <HI>in&s;truments</HI> of his di&s;honor, but <HI>monuments</HI> of his prai&s;e: That pre&s;ent and &s;ucceeding generations, may &s;ay of us, as the Prophet did of <HI>I&s;rael, Deut.</HI> 33.29, Happy art thou O <HI>Taunton,</HI> who is like to thee, O people &s;aved of the Lord: None have been like to thee in mercy and &s;alvation, and none are like to thee in holine&s;&s;e and Reformation.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
