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<DATE>2011-10-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>THE NATURE OF <HI>God's Kingdom</HI> AND Dominion over MEN, Clearly laid Open and Explained, as the &s;ame Relates unto the&s;e following Particulars. God hath E&s;tabli&s;hed for all Nations an Obedi|ence of Faith, a Life of Probation and Trial, wherein all things happen alike unto all. He hath al&s;o Permitted the Pro&s;perity of the wick|ed, and Ordained Adver&s;ity unto the Righte|ous.</P>
<P>IN A Di&s;cour&s;e on <HI>Deut.</HI> 8. 2. Wherein is likewi&s;e &s;hewed, what Influence the Knowledge of the&s;e things ought to have upon our Life and Conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>By <HI>RICHARD STAFFORD.</HI></P>
<Q><HI>To make known unto the Sons of Men, his Mighty Acts and the Glorious Ma|je&s;ty of his Kingdom. Thy Kingdom is an Everla&s;ting Kingdom, and thy Do|minion endureth throughout all Generations,</HI> <BIBL>P&s;al. 145. 12, 13.</BIBL></Q>
<Q><HI>And thou &s;halt Remember all the Way which the Lord thy God led thee the&s;e Forty Years, to Prove thee, to know what is in thine Heart, whither thou woulde&s;t keep his Commandments or no.</HI></Q>
<Q><HI>Nihil tam dignum Deo, quam Salus Hominis.</HI> <BIBL><HI>Tertullian.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed and Sold By <HI>E. Whitlock,</HI> near <HI>Stationers Hall</HI> 1697.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
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<HEAD>Adverti&s;ement.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e are to give Notice, that I have &s;everal other Practical Sermons or Di&s;cour&s;es of mine own Compo&s;ing, Lying by me in Manu&s;cript; Which if they, who have the Plenty or Competency of this World, would thus <HI>Con&s;ecrate</HI> &s;ome part of their <HI>Gain</HI> and <HI>Sub|&s;tance unto the Lord,</HI> Micah 4. 13. As to be <HI>ready to Di|&s;tribute</HI> and <HI>willing to Communicate</HI> towards the outward Labour and Charge of the Printing and Publi&s;hing of them, it would be for the Glory of God (in <HI>making known his Truth,</HI> I&s;a. 38. 19.) and for the Edification and Benefit of his Church and People; and con&s;equent|ly it would be a <HI>Good Work</HI> in &s;uch Per&s;ons, who &s;hall be Helpful and any ways A&s;&s;i&s;tant herein; for which they would be Rewarded by God in the Life that is to come.</P>
<P>Charge them that are Rich in this World, that they do Good, that they be Rich in good Works, ready to Di&s;tribute, willing to Communicate, laying up in Store for them&s;elves a good Foundation again&s;t the time to come, that they may lay hold on Eternal Life, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6. 17, 18, 19. This is a Faithful Saying, and the&s;e things I will that thou affirm con&s;tantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good Works; the&s;e things are Good and Profitable unto Men, <HI>Titus</HI> 3. 8.</P>
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<HEAD>THE NATURE OF <HI>God's Kingdom,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>And thou &s;halt Remember all the Way which the Lord thy God led thee the&s;e Fourty Years in the Wilderne&s;s, to Humble thee, and to Prove thee, to know what was in thine Heart, whither thou would|e&s;t keep his Commandments or no,</Q>
<BIBL>Deut. 8. 2.</BIBL>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE whole O<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">conomy, Di&s;pen&s;ation and E&s;ta|bli&s;hment of all the Things of God, and of the Things pertaining to his Kingdom, in that manner as they now are, do all &s;eem to be to this very End and Intent, to <HI>prove Man,</HI> to <HI>know what is in his Heart, whether he will keep the Commandments of God or not.</HI> This al&s;o cometh from the Lord of Ho&s;ts, who is Wonderful in Coun&s;el, and Excellent in Working; for in great Wi&s;dom and Contrivance hath he Ordained and Ordered Things accordingly. By the Pa&s;&s;age of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> through the Wilderne&s;s, was tipi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ied and &s;ignified that Pa&s;&s;age of the &s;everal Gene|rations of Men and Women of the &s;everal Countries through this Earth, where they may remember all the
<PB N="4" REF="3"> way, and all the &s;everal Steps and Stages of this Life, which the Lord God of all Creatures doth lead or carry them on the&s;e Fourty Years in the Wilderne&s;s, or the&s;e Thre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;core Years and Ten, or Four&s;core Years, which is twice Fourty Years (for &s;o&punc; the Days of Man are computed in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 90. and it holds &s;till thereabouts) in the Wilderne&s;s of this Earth, which is reckoned to be a|bout the middle part of the World. Where he hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men for to dwell on all the Face of the Earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the Bounds of their Habitation&punc; The Condition of Mankind, whil&s;t they are a little time Breathing on this Earth, is fitly compared to that of the <HI>I&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aelites</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s on divers Re&s;pects: But particularly from that De&s;cription which is given of it in <HI>P&s;al. 107, 4, 5, 6, 7. They wandered in the Wilderne&s;s in a &s;olitary Way, they found no City to dwell in, Hungry and Thir&s;ty, their Souls fainted in them: Then they cried unto the Lord in their Trouble, and he delivered them out of their Di|&s;tre&s;&s;es; and he led them forth by the Right Way, that they might go to a City of Habitation,</HI> Now here we have no continuing City, but Heaven is that City of Habitation, and this Earth is but a through fare unto it; as we now go through a little Town or Village unto a great City. This is now our pre&s;ent Condition on Earth, as we &s;tand towards God. <HI>We wander in the Wilderne&s;s in a &s;olitary Way.</HI> As we are meer Men ab&s;tracted from the A&s;&s;i&s;tan|ces of his Word and Spirit; Our Thoughts concerning God, are but Imaginations, Our Words are Mi&s;take or Fal&s;hood, Our Actions are but Errors and Turnings a&s;ide from the Right Way. This appears by tho&s;e Mahome|tants, Pagans and Indians, who are the Workman&s;hip of God as well as we; but for want of the Scriptures and the Light of the Go&s;pel, as to that Invi&s;ible Being who made them, or as to that Invi&s;ible World, they and we are all entring into, They <HI>Grope for the Wall like the Blind, and
<PB N="5" REF="3"> they Grope as if they had no Eyes,</HI> I&s;a. 59. 10. Even where is an appearance of the outward Wor&s;hip of God and Chri&s;tianity, How many do wander in their Acts pertain|ing to Religion? For even that of the Generality &amp; Mul|titude is &s;o defiled with the things which &s;avour of Men, and comes &s;o &s;hort off that Religion which is to the &s;a|ving of the Soul, that the &s;mall Remnant is either forced to come out of it, and touch not the Unclean thing; or el&s;e &s;ee well to it that their Righteou&s;ne&s;s do exceed the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the <HI>Scribes</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> that their Re|ligion do exceed the Religion of the World, as it is commonly Preached and Practi&s;ed at this Day, that even his Elect Children and Servants do wander here in the Wilderne&s;s in a <HI>Solitary Way,</HI> being De&s;titute, Af|flicted and Tormented, they are People by them&s;elves, as the u&s;ual Phra&s;e is; which indeed agrees to that Character the Holy Gho&s;t gives of them, <HI>Feed thy People with thy Rod, the Flock of thine Heritage which dwell Soli|tarily in the Wood, in the mid&s;t of Carmel,</HI> Micah 7. 14. The People of God <HI>Dwell Solitarily;</HI> although they are in the mid&s;t of Neighbours and Acquaintance, &s;uch as they are. <HI>Hungry and Thir&s;ty, their Souls fainted in them.</HI> This is as to God, and as to that good Satisfactory and Enduring Thing, which he hath Promi&s;ed to the Sons of Men, which on this Earth is kept in Su&s;pence, and not actually, or at lea&s;t not fully given; but we are all along &s;eeking and labouring after it.</P>
<P><HI>Then they Cried unto the Lord in their Trouble, and he delivered them out of their Di&s;tre&s;&s;es.</HI> This Trouble and Di&s;tre&s;s, is that &s;ame <HI>Bondage of Corruption,</HI> and that <HI>Groaning</HI> and <HI>Travelling in Pain,</HI> &s;poken of, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 21, 22. Which the pre&s;ent State of the Creation is under. And we being a part of it, this &s;hould be our Bu&s;ine&s;s all our Life long, to Cry unto the Lord, and to call upon the Name of the Lord, to be delivered and &s;aved from it: And that amid&s;t all the Wandering of others,
<PB N="6" REF="4"> or of our &s;elves, he would lead us forth through this Earth, by the Right Way (there is a great deal in that) and when God doth lead, be you &s;ure to follow, and take notice, &s;o <HI>the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no &s;trange God with him,</HI> Deut. 32. 12. Neither Idolatry, nor Covetou&s;ne&s;s, nor Sen&s;uality, for the&s;e are kinds of Idolatry, nor no &s;trange Lu&s;t, nor no Sin, for in the Judgment of our Creator, any Sin is a <HI>&s;trange God,</HI> or a &s;trange Thing which &s;hould not be there, <HI>viz.</HI> in any of his Creatures. Take the&s;e two Directions along with you, and ob&s;erve them, <HI>viz.</HI> to follow when he leads, and that the Lord alone may lead thee, that there be no &s;trange God with thee, and I will warrant my Life for yours, that he will lead you, and al&s;o bring you by the Right Way unto a City of Habitation; which is Hea|ven, the Habitation of his Holine&s;s (for the &s;ame Power that &s;ent us here, will tran&s;late us up to that High and Lof<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y Place, if we &s;hall be found meet and worthy, where we &s;hall be no longer Travellers, Pilgrims, or Strangers; but in a proper and true Sence Fellow-Citizens and Inhabitants for ever to abide. <HI>He led them forth by the Right Way.</HI> As for my &s;elf, in my Jour|neying and Travelling, I have mi&s;took the Way, but by enquiry and going forward, I always arrived at the place at la&s;t where I would be. It is the very &s;ame in our way to Heaven. People may, yea and they do often mi&s;take the Right Way; but if they will keep on in the <HI>Way of Holine&s;s</HI> (which the <HI>&V;nclean &s;hall not pa&s;s over,</HI> I&s;a. 35. 8.) if they will &s;eek out of the Book of the Lord, and Read in the &s;ure Word of Prophe&s;ie; if they will take <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eed to the Day Dawn and the Day Star in their Hearts, and do according to the Light which that &s;hews them. If they will confer Experiences with the Saints that are on the Earth <HI>(for they that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eared the Lord &s;pake often <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">e to another)</HI> But above all, if they will be &s;ure to be Travelling on, and in motion, and always making
<PB N="7" REF="4"> towards it, though perhaps in Twenty Miles we may go half a Mile or more about; though in Sailing over the Sea of this Life, &s;ometimes we cannot go directly forwards, by rea&s;on of contrary Winds; yet we may Sail this way and that way to make towards it, and at la&s;t, <HI>God bringeth them to their de&s;ired Haven,</HI> P&s;al. 107. 30. We Read in the <HI>Acts</HI> of the Apo&s;tles of the <HI>Fair Haven,</HI> Put one Letter more in, and <HI>Haven</HI> &s;pells <HI>Heaven,</HI> which indeed is the <HI>Fair Haven;</HI> for it is all Fair and Clear there, it being above all Winds and Storms. This is our de&s;ired Haven, or the Haven where we would be.</P>
<P>More need not to be &s;aid to Paralel our Condition here on Earth for Three&s;core Years and Ten, or Four|&s;core Years, with that of the Wilderne&s;s for Fourty Years. In the Text it is &s;aid, To Humble thee. And this &s;eems to be the very Rea&s;on of tho&s;e &s;everal &s;eve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e and har&s;h Di&s;pen&s;ations of his Providence, as in &s;ending upon us Afflictions, Poverty, Sickne&s;s, and &s;uch like. As al&s;o why he made us thus, and placed us in &s;uch <HI>vile Bodies,</HI> Phil. 3. 21. In the vulgar Latin, there for it is <HI>Corpus Humilitatis,</HI> which &s;ignifies the Body of our Humiliation; or &s;uch a Body as God hath prepared, or|dered, and thought fit for this our pre&s;ent State of Hu|miliation and Imperfection, <HI>To Humble us.</HI> We are as it were Men and Women in Carca&s;es. And truly if we know our &s;elves, and particularly our own outward Frame, there is all the rea&s;on in the World, as God in making us thus, and cloathing us with &s;uch Garments of Fle&s;h, which are &s;o cour&s;e, if I may &s;o expre&s;s it, filthy and weak and little, did it on purpo&s;e and de&s;ign to Humble us: So we &s;hould be indeed Humbled. For wherefore is Earth and A&s;hes Proud? Con&s;ider what were we whil&s;t in the Womb; from thence we were <HI>ca&s;t out to the loathing of our Per&s;on in the Day that we</HI> were <HI>Born,</HI> Ezek. 16. 5. What are we now? A Breathing
<PB N="8" REF="5"> Cold of Clay? A &s;ink of Flegm and Excrements&punc; What &s;hall we be? Meat for Worms, Gha&s;tline&s;s, &s;tink and Corruption? Can&s;t thou throughly think upon this and not be Humbled? However to &s;uch as will be O|bedient, the Language of Truth &s;peaks on this wi&s;e, It is the Will of our Heavenly Father and Creator, that during this &s;hort time we are in this Wilderne&s;s of the Earth, we &s;hould be very Low, Trembling and Poor in Spirit. Even by thine own Frame and Con&s;titution, <HI>He hath &s;hewed thee O Man</HI> (from within thy &s;elf) <HI>what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, to walk hum|bly with thy God,</HI> Micah 6. 8. And &s;ee that thou comply with his Mind herein.</P>
<P>The Text goes on to add, <HI>to prove thee,</HI> to <HI>know what is in thine Heart, whither thou woulde&s;t keep his Command|ments or no.</HI> Here is the Principal Intent Specified; and under this is comprised the Rea&s;on of almo&s;t all his doings towards the Children of Men, from the Day he fir&s;t Created them on the Earth, until the End of time. He proved our fir&s;t Parents, <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve,</HI> to know what was in their Hearts, whither they would keep his Commandments or no; and they did not keep them. And &s;o he did afterward, Prove <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> who did keep them according to the Covenant and Mea&s;ure as he did accept of. <HI>For I know</HI> Abraham <HI>that he will command his Children and his Hou&s;hold after him, and they &s;hall keep the Way of the Lord,</HI> Ge&s;i. 18. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">9. And &s;o it is of all the De&s;cendants from <HI>Abraham</HI> ever &s;ince, &s;ome did keep his Commandments, and &s;ome did not. Be&s;ides that con&s;tant and continued Proving them throughout their Life, God doth &s;ometimes Prove his Children in an extraordinary manner, as he did tempt <HI>Abraham</HI> to offer up his Son <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> which was a great In&s;tance of his Faith, and whereby he did know that he F<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ared God. Seeng thou ha&s;t not witholden thy Son, thine only Son from me&punc; even the Be&s;t and deare&s;t thing,
<PB N="9" REF="5"> and all that he had of that Nature. It is a Wonderful thing to Con&s;ider how he doth Prove all the Generations and Per&s;ons of Mankind, one after this manner, and ano|ther after that, according to their different Circum&s;tan|ces and Condition of Life, to know what is in their Hearts, whither they will keep his Commandments or no. The whole Hi&s;tory of the Bible, and of all his Servants, and Rea&s;onable Creatures mentioned therein, are to this purpo&s;e. The Servants of God did keep his Commandments, but all his Creatures, whom he had endued with Rea&s;on, did not. And &s;o it is of all the Men and Women that ever trod upon this Earth; who&s;e Names, though they are not Recorded in that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ook, yet they are in the Regi&s;ter of him, <HI>Who bringeth out that gre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t Ho&s;t of his&punc; Creation by number, and calleth them all by their Names.</HI> So likewi&s;e be&s;ides the ordinary manner of dealing with his People, he did tempt and prove <HI>Job</HI> by his great and extraordinary Afflictions, who in all them Sinned not, nor yet Charged God fooli&s;hly; for indeed God did well and wi&s;ely as to him. <HI>What is Man that thou &s;houlde&s;t Magnifie him, and that thou &s;hould&s;t &s;et thine Heart upon him, and that thou &s;hould&s;t Vi&s;it him every Morning, and try him every Mo|ment,</HI> Job 7. 17, 18. All things are full of Temp|tation, even to the nece&s;&s;ary Victuals which we Eat, for there may be Gluttony; and to the Clothes which we wear, for there may be Pride; even to all our Thoughts (and we do think continually) for there may be, and too often is, Vanity and Evil. To our Words, for in the <HI>multitude of them, there wants not Sin;</HI> and we may &s;oon Speak Fal&s;hood or Folly; and &s;o to our A|ctions and Doings; for there Sin, Iniquity, and Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion do be&s;et us round, and it is ea&s;y falling into any of them, And &s;o all Companies and Conver&s;ation with our fellow Creatures do prove a Snare unto us, or there is Man Plea&s;ing and Perverting the thing that
<PB N="10" REF="6"> is Right, to humour and comply with tho&s;e that are above us in outward Degree or Riches. As al&s;o there is a fear of <HI>Bearing Witne&s;s unto the Truth,</HI> and Speaking it out, lea&s;t they &s;hould fall under the Di&s;plea&s;ure of Men. Many &s;uch like things do &s;hew that the Trial of Man is had every Moment, as al&s;o it is had when he is at, and amid&s;t the Wor&s;hip and Service of God, and at Re|ligious Duties.</P>
<P>It is properly and truly a Life of Probation and Trial. And we are here upon, or according to our good or ill Behaviour, &s;o we &s;hall have the Eternal Favour of God, or be rejected by him. Like as Apprentices are com|monly put out a Month before hand for Trial, to &s;ee whither the ma&s;ter will take them for Seven Years or not, &s;o the&s;e Seventy Years on this Earth, we Men and Women are upon Trial for all Eternity; God hereby Proving us, whither we &s;hall be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light, or Reprobates. <HI>Reprobate Silver &s;hall Men call them, becau&s;e the Lord hath Rejected them,</HI> Jer. 6. 30. As it is with the Earth it &s;elf, &s;o it will be with the Men and Women, the Rea|&s;onable Inhabitants thereof. <HI>For the Earth which drink|eth in the Rain that cometh oft upon it, receiveth Ble&s;&s;ing from God. But that which beareth Thornes and Briers, is Rejected, and is nigh unto Cur&s;ing, who&s;e End is to be Burn|ed,</HI> Heb. 6. 7. 8. The good Fi&s;hes are to be gathered into Ve&s;&s;els, and the bad are to be ca&s;t away. <HI>So &s;hall it be at the End of the World. The Angels &s;hall come forth and &s;hall Sever the Wicked from among the Ju&s;t.</HI> Mat. 13. 41, 42. So God will do at the End of World, but all this mean while, during which the Generations pa&s;s through here, whither it be Six or Seven Thou&s;and Years, it is the time of their Probation <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nd Trial, but after that is over, and fi|ni&s;hed, God will then proceed to a Deci&s;ion and Sentence.</P>
<P>For the more effectual Trial and Probation of Mankind, He hath al&s;o ordained a Life of Faith, and a
<PB N="11" REF="6"> State of Ab&s;ence from the Lord, which is Grounded from 2 <HI>Cor. 5. 6, 7. Whil&s;t we are at home in the Body, we are ab&s;ent from the Lord, for we Walk by Faith and not by Sight.</HI> The right Under&s;tanding of the&s;e two things, This Life of Trial and Probation, and this walking by Faith do clearly open unto us the Nature of God's King|dom, and Dominion over us Men. It was never known in any Nation, Country and Language, that the Peo|ple there &s;hould obey a King or Ruler, whom neither they them&s;elves, nor yet any of his Subjects ever &s;aw: Which la&s;t it put in, becau&s;e whereas Earthly Kings do Rule over Countreys of va&s;t Extent and Circum|ference, and of Millions of Inhabitants who are di&s;per|&s;ed all over it; and he being but little and Circum&s;cri|bed in Pa&s;&s;ion as other Men, it &s;eldom or never happens that he doth &s;ee all his Subjects, nor yet do all his Sub|jects ever &s;ee him. But yet a very great many do, and have &s;een him: So that all the others having them for undoubted Witne&s;&s;es and A&s;&s;urance, that there is &s;uch an One, they do, and mu&s;t obey him, neverthele&s;s al|though they have not &s;een him. But as to God, tho' he fills Heaven and Earth, and all things, and all pla|ces, with his Pre&s;ence; though his Kingdom is an ever|la&s;ting Kingdom, and his Dominion endureth through|out all Generations; yet no Man of any Generation or Country did ever &s;ee him. <HI>No Man hath &s;een God at any time: The Only begotten Son, which is in the Bo&s;om of the Father, he hath declared him,</HI> John 1. 18. And yet he reqires and expects to be obeyed by all Nations, Kindred and Languages, yea by all the Inhabitants of the World. Whom we are to Obey, though we do not &s;ee him, and all One as if we did &s;ee him. And though God gives no pre&s;ent Vi&s;ible Recompence, but contrari|wi&s;e, We often &s;u&s;tain outward Lo&s;s, Inconvenience and Hard&s;hip for performing Service unto him, yet he Requires it. Hereby God is Glorified, and here is the
<PB N="12" REF="7"> Faith and Patience of the Saints to perform it neverthe|le&s;s. <HI>Now Faith is the Sub&s;tance of things hoped for, and the Evidence of things not &s;een.</HI> And this Faith doth pro|perly terminate upon an Un&s;een God, as it's Object. <HI>Whom having not &s;een ye Love, in whom, though ye &s;ee him not, yet believing, ye Rejoyce with</HI> Joy Un&s;peakable and full of Glory. Receiving the End of your Faith, the Salvation of your Souls, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. 8, 9. We Read very often in Scripture of the Name of the Lord, <HI>The Heathen &s;hall fear the Name of the Lord, &s;o declare the Name of the Lord in</HI> Zion, P&s;al. 102. 15, 21. And of cal|ling o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> the <HI>Name of the Lord.</HI> Which Name of the Lord (to &s;peak after the manner of Men) doth &s;uppo&s;e and import as much, as if his Per&s;on were di&s;tant, and not &s;een by us. But here to pur&s;ue the like Rea&s;oning, as is in <HI>P&s;al. 75. 1. &V;nto thee, O God do we give Thanks: &V;nto thee do we give Thanks; for that thy Name is near, thy Wonderous Works declare.</HI> So here it is, Unto thee O God do we yield Obedience, and render Wor&s;hip, for that thy Name, or rather thy Per&s;on included in that Name, is real thy Vi&s;ible Works declare, which we cannot &s;o much as look upwards or downwards; or without doors, but we mu&s;t &s;ee them. We may be|hold with our outward Bodily Eyes, the Truth and Re|ality of what he hath affirmed, <HI>for I lift up my Hand to Heaven, and &s;ay, I Live for ever,</HI> Deut, 32. 40. For we do, or may continually &s;ee that va&s;t fabrick of the Heavens and the Earth, and all therein contained, up|held by the Word of his Power, in a mo&s;t Wonderful and A&s;toni&s;hing manner. That va&s;t and wide Roof of the Firmament, or Sky is kept up by his Almighty and Vi&s;ible Hand, without any Vi&s;ible Beams or Pillars. By the way, the declaring of the&s;e things unto ye, is a proper and u&s;eful kind of Preaching, Becau&s;e it is a <HI>Publi&s;hing the Name of the Lord, A&s;cribe ye grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ne&s;s unto our God,</HI> Deut. 32. 2. And a &s;peaking of the <HI>Wonderful
<PB N="13" REF="7"> Works of God,</HI> Acts 2. 11. Which the Apo&s;tles did to their Hear-ers.</P>
<P>It is a wonderful thing to Con&s;ider how the God, who made all things, and filleth all things, &s;hould yet be &s;o little manife&s;ted unto Men; that he, who is all Brightne&s;s and Glory, &s;hould not be &s;een among&s;t us&punc; that he, who made and fa&s;hioned us, in whom we live and move and have our being, &s;hould be &s;o little per|ceived by us; that when he <HI>filleth Heaven and Earth with his Pre&s;ence,</HI> yet any &s;hould Live without God in the World. Surely Darkne&s;s hath covered the Earth, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d gro&s;s Darkne&s;s the People. The Sun gives Light upon it by Day, and the Moon by Night; and yet there is a greater Ob&s;curity round about, which the dull Ele|ment perceives not. There is yet a wor&s;e and greater Ob&s;curity in tho&s;e, who &s;ee and walk thereon. Strange<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> That Hitherto it &s;hould not be as yet Univer&s;ally ful|filled as to all the Inhabitants of the Earth, <HI>At that Day &s;hall a Man look to his Maker, and his Eyes &s;hall have Re|&s;pect unto the Holy One of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 17. 7. Whom he might &s;ee with the Eyes of his U<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">der&s;tanding being onlightened, as he doth with his outward Bodily Eyes behold the Works of God, and the Earth which he Treads on. By the Air he Breaths and moves in, he might have a Sence and Re&s;emblance of him that is In|vi&s;ible. Who doth al&s;o be&s;et him behind and before, is with him in his going out, and coming in, and is acquainted with all his Ways. The lea&s;t conceiving and Inward Rea&s;oning, will In&s;tantly lead unto the ac|quaintance of him, Lift up your Eyes on High, and behold who hath Created the&s;e things; for it mu&s;t be &s;ome One who made all the&s;e things; for we do con|clude, and know of the Hou&s;es which we Inhabit, that &s;ome did Build them, although that was before we were Born. And this great Hou&s;e of the World mu&s;t needs have been framed by him, who <HI>Built all things; and
<PB N="14" REF="8"> that is God,</HI> Heb. 3. 4. <HI>Through Faith we under&s;tand that the Worlds were Framed by the Word of God; &s;o that things which are &s;een, were not made of things which do app<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">r,</HI> Heb. 11. 2. The Heavens continue &s;tanding as they were from the Days of the Creation; yet that once was, and mu&s;t needs have been. But then further, the very continuance and upholding of them doth plainly Demon&s;trate, and Point out his Eternal Power and God|head.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides the Ignorance, Sot<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;hne&s;s, and Negligence of Man in <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding and Seeking God,</HI> P&s;al. 14. 2. Some Rea&s;on why he is not &s;o Known, and Apprehen|ded by the Inhabitants of the Earth, is through his own Ordering, if I may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o Speak; for I gather it from his own Word of Truth, <HI>Verily, thou art a God that hide&s;t thy &s;elf, O God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>the Saviour,</HI> I&s;a. 45. 15. If I may &s;o expre&s;s it, tho' he is in them, and before them&punc; yet he doth hide <HI>him&s;elf,</HI> behind the Skreen of Created things. <HI>And it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ame to pa&s;s that in the Morning Wat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h, the Lord looked unto the Ho&s;t of the Egyptians through the Pill<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r of Fire, and of the Cloud,</HI> Exod. 14. 24. And &s;o he doth continually look unto the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nhabitants of the Earth, through the material and vi&s;ible things, although we cannot &s;ee him, Becau&s;e he is Immaterial and Invi&s;i|ble. God &s;eeth us, when we do not &s;ee him. He &s;eeth us always, but we do not &s;ee him at any time. <HI>Behold, I Go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left Hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth him&s;elf on the Right Hand</HI> (Mark that Phra&s;e, again of hiding him|&s;elf) <HI>that I cannot &s;ee him. But he knoweth the Way that</HI> I take (this again confirms what is afore&s;aid, though we do not &s;ee God, yet God &s;eeth us) <HI>when he hath tried me, I &s;hall come forth as Gold,</HI> Job 23. 8, 9, 10. By an|nexing which la&s;t here his Spirit by the Mouth of <HI>Job,</HI> doth Intimate and &s;et forth, that God doth thus, on pur|po&s;e
<PB N="15" REF="8"> to <HI>try Man.</HI> This &s;ame Truth and Ob&s;ervation is yet more clearly Expre&s;&s;ed in <HI>Deut.</HI> 32. 20. Which al|&s;o comes directly to the &s;ence of my Text, to Prove thee, to know what is in thine Heart, whither thou wilt keep his Commandments or no: Here God &s;peaks on this wi&s;e, <HI>I will hide my Face from them, I will &s;ee what their End &s;hall be; for they are a very froward Generation, Chil|dren in whom is no Faith.</HI> Now put all this together, and we are given to under&s;tand, that whe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> God hideth him&s;elf, and hideth his Face, as he hath done &s;ince the Creation, hereby he doth Try and Prove the Children of Men, and knows what is in their Hearts, and &s;ees what their End will be. In <HI>Deut.</HI> 32. There is as it were a Hi&s;tory and Re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ear&s;al of all that Ignorance, Di&s;|obedience, Sotti&s;hne&s;s, Blindne&s;s, Folly, and Ingrati|tude of Mankind towards their God; and the Rea&s;on of all is as it were &s;ummed up, and Rendred in the Twentieth Ver&s;e, becau&s;e <HI>God hideth his Face,</HI> and be|cau&s;e <HI>they are a froward Generation, Children in whom is no Faith.</HI> For had they but any Faith, they might find out God; notwith&s;tanding he is Invi&s;ible, and he hideth him&s;elf, and he hideth his Face; and if they did but once find him out, and know him, it is impo&s;&s;ible that ever Man, a Rea&s;onable Creature, &s;hould carry him&s;elf thus perver&s;ly and contrariwi&s;e towards God, as he hath done. Although the People of the World do reckon upon Sin, as a thing of Naught, of no Signifi|cancy and of no Account, yet all Sin is again&s;t God. And I am per&s;uaded that (notwith&s;tanding it is &s;o ri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e, common and cu&s;tomary in the World, as alas now it is) People would no more commit Sin again&s;t God, if they did &s;ee him with his Bow bent and his Sword drawn (the Scripture hath de&s;cribed him in that man|ner) ready to take Vengeance on them for the &s;ame, and if they did throughly know and believe how that there is a Ju&s;t Recompence of Reward annexed to every
<PB N="16" REF="9"> Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion and Di&s;obedience, than now they dare Cur&s;e the King to his Face, for which they &s;hould incur his &s;evere Wrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure Immediately. But if God was as Vi&s;ible as our Governours after the Fle&s;h are, then there could be no &s;uch thing as Faith at all, there could be no Trial of Obedience from the Heart (for it might be done only with outward Act) How could he then &s;o effectually Prove us, to know what is in our Heart, whither we will keep his Commandments or no. Though God is not Vi&s;ible, yet his Works are: By the greatne&s;s and va&s;tne&s;s, whereof we may very well Apprehend and A&s;cribe greatne&s;s unto our God, for it mu&s;t needs be a Great God who hath Created &s;uch great things. So, although he is Invi&s;ible, yet his exceeding Greatne&s;s &s;hould make us more afraid; and keep us more in Subjection, then all vi&s;ible Terrors or Temptations, which are but little; as al&s;o his Eternal Promi&s;es and Threatnings &s;hould weigh more with us, then all pre&s;ent things, which are but momentary and &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">dden.</P>
<P>Here is the <HI>Revelation of the My&s;tery which was kept &s;ecret &s;ince the World began, but now is made manife&s;t, and by the Scriptures of the Prophets, according to the Command|ment of the Everla&s;ting God made known to all Nations for the Obedience of Faith,</HI> Rom. 16. 25, 26. This thing, an <HI>Obedience of Faith,</HI> to Obey God whom we have not &s;een, and to Obey for un&s;een things; all which is Ap|prehended by Faith, who&s;e Object is an un&s;een God, and un&s;een Things. Though it is made known and ma|nife&s;t enough by the Scriptures and by the Go&s;pel, and though it hath been Preached and Declared to the World, yet it is a <HI>My&s;tery</HI> to them at this Day. But his Children and Servants, his Elect and Cho&s;en One<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> do under&s;tand as well what it is to Obey and Serve an un&s;een God, for un&s;een Things, as the Labourers in the Vineyard did, when they worked for a Peny a Day, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="17" REF="9"> as Servants and Labourers know for whom and or what they Labour, when they do work for their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a|&s;ters&punc; according to the Fle&s;h for Yearly Wages, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> or &s;o much a Day. An Obedience of Faith doth apre|hend things Future, all one as things pre&s;ent; for <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ith is the Sub&s;tance of things hoped for. Now thing ho|ped for, are not as yet. And though &s;ome may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> apt to Imagine that things not yet, are not Sub&s;tanc, yet the Holy Gho&s;t knew better, when he expre&s;&s;ed it after that manner, then Scoffers and Unbelievers, who are apt to Object, and &s;ay on this wi&s;e. For I pray you <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">udge ye in your own Rea&s;on, is there not as much Sub&s;tance in things di&s;tant as in things near? Is there not the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ame Sub&s;tance in things to come, as in things pre&s;en<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">? For even things pre&s;ent were once to come. Is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ere not as much Sub&s;tance in Heaven as in Earth? <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> believe, that who&s;oever &s;hall be counted worthy to encer therein, he will find Ten Thou&s;and times more. But the Peo|ple of this World are Ignorant, and Puzzled at this My&s;tery of an Obedience of Faith, becau&s;e the Pro|mi&s;es and Threatnings of God are future and to come, therefore People do not Regard nor Fear them. Where|as Faith would here receive and embrace tho&s;e Promi&s;es, and al&s;o be Overawed by the Threatnings; notwith|&s;tanding they are future and Di&s;tant, all one as if they were pre&s;ent and &s;en&s;ible before them. But the Gene|rality of the World are a <HI>very froward Generation, Chil|dren in whom is no Faith.</HI> There is little or no true Faith among&s;t Men. And hereupon, <HI>Becau&s;e Sentence again&s;t an Evil Work is not executed &s;peedily, therefore the Hearts of the Sons of Men are fully &s;et in them to do Evil,</HI> Eccle&s;. 8. 11. There is a great deal in this. I had almo&s;t &s;aid, that this is the Cau&s;e and Rea&s;on of all the Irreligion and Ungodline&s;s, Sin a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d Wickedne&s;s, that is abroad in the Earth, becau&s;e God doth not pre&s;ently Puni&s;h Men and Women for the &s;ame. It is this which makes
<PB N="18" REF="10"> the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Armour-Proof and Hardned again&s;t the Mini&s;try of is Wor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, and our Denunciation of the Terrors of the ord again&s;t them. And &s;o it is of that Evil People whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> refu&s;e to hear my Words, which walk in the Ima|ginat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n of their Hearts. <HI>Jer.</HI> 13. 10. For both &s;orts think in the Hearts, although the Word &amp; the Mini&s;try there|of do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;peak Evil and Mi&s;ery to us, yet nothing comes of it. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">or we are as Healthful in Body, as Pro&s;perous in outwa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d E&s;tate, and &s;eem as Merry and contented in Mind as other People. The Tabernacles of Robbers Pro&s;|per, and they that provoke God are &s;ecure into who&s;e Ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">s God bringeth abundantly, <HI>Job 12. 6. Wherefore do the Wicked Live, become old, yea, mighty in Power. Their Seed is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;tabli&s;hed in their &s;ight with them, and their Off|&s;pring before their Eyes. Their Hou&s;es are &s;afe from Fear, neither is the Rod of God upon them, Their Bull Gendereth, and faileth not, their Cow Calveth, and Ca&s;teth not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">er Calf,</HI> Job 21. 7, 8, 9, 10. So their Ground bringeth forth Corn and Gra&s;s, all one as that of other People. <HI>God is kind to the &V;nthankful and to the Evil,</HI> Luke 3. 37. <HI>For he maketh his Sun to ri&s;e on the Evil and Good, and &s;endeth Rain on the Ju&s;t and &V;nju&s;t,</HI> Mat. 6. 35. <HI>There is a Ju&s;t Man that peri&s;heth in his Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and there is a Wick|ed Man that prolongeth his Life in his Wickedne&s;s,</HI> Eccle&s;. 7. 15. <HI>There be Ju&s;t Men unto whom it happeneth according to the Work of the Wicked; again there be Wicked Men to whom it happeneth according to the Work of the Righteous,</HI> Eccle&s;. 8. 14. <HI>No Man knoweth Love or Hatred</HI> (that is of God) <HI>by all that is before him. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the Righteous and the Wicked, to the Good, to the Clean and the &V;nclean; to him that Sacri|ficeth, and to him that Sacrificeth not, as is the Good &s;o is the Sinn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r, and he that Swear<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">th, as he that Feareth an Oath,</HI> Eccle&s;. 9. 1, 2. Though God hath been Plea&s;ed to ordain and &s;uffer it &s;o to be; yet it is before &s;aid, that the <HI>Righ|teous, and the Wi&s;e, and their Works, are in the Hand of
<PB N="19" REF="10"> God.</HI> And &s;o it follows by the &s;ame Con&s;equence of things, that the Works and Doings of Sinners and the Wicked, are in the memorial and Regi&s;ter of God, e|ven for him to bring forth the &s;ame unto future Judg|ment, and make a &s;everal Di&s;tribution thereupon. For <HI>&s;ince the Fathers fell a&s;leep, All things continue as they were &s;ince the beginning of the Creation,</HI> 2 Pet. 3. 4. And &s;o People are Born, Marry and Die Promi&s;cuou&s;ly and In|differently without any odds between Righteous and Wicked, Godline&s;s or Ungodline&s;s, Obedience or Di&s;|obedience, of one Man between another. The Scrip|tures do &s;peak fully and abundantly hereof in many pla|ces; and al&s;o they mention particularly in 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3. how the Sinners and Wicked, <HI>who walk after their own Lu&s;ts,</HI> do hereupon Sin yet more and more, and go on &s;ecurely, and without fear, becau&s;e of their pre&s;ent Pro&s;perity and Impunity in this Life. Whereas I pro|fe&s;s Solemnly and Seriou&s;ly as I &s;ee and ob&s;erve the&s;e things, to me it is the greate&s;t Argument, Demon&s;tra|tion, and full A&s;&s;urance&punc; that all things are indeed &s;o as they are &s;poken of in Scripture. And I do through this, which hath been a Cloud and Stumbling Block to &s;ome, &s;ee clearly and apprehend plainly the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men, to be on this wi&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> As <HI>about the time of Forty Years, he &s;uffered the manners of the</HI> I&s;raelites <HI>in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> Acts 13. 18. &s;aith our Text, <HI>To prove them.</HI> In like manner for about the time of Three&s;core Years and Ten, or Four&s;core Years, he doth &s;uffer the manners of all the &s;everal Per|&s;ons of Men and Women, of all Countreys in this Wil|derne&s;s of the Earth, letting them go on as they will, to <HI>&s;ee what they will do, and what their End will b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> This is his Eternal Decree which &s;eems to be E&s;tabli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> upon great Wi&s;dom; for hereby <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e doth Effectua<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">y prove them, to know what is in their Heart, whither t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ey will keep his Commandments or no. This very &s;ame Order
<PB N="20" REF="11"> and Di&s;pen&s;ation of the things of God towards us Men, may be under&s;tood from that of the Apo&s;tle, as indeed the whole Series &amp; De&s;ign of Scripture hath a Relation and Tendency to what he hath written, <HI>For we mu&s;t all appear before the Judgment Seat of Chri&s;t, that every one may re|ceive for the things done in the Body, according to that he hath done, whither it be good or bad,</HI> 2 Cor. 5. 10. Whereby it is clearly &s;hewn forth and intimated, that People do not receive in this Life according to the things that they have here done in the Body, but they will receive for them in the Day of Judgment, and in the &s;ucceeding E|ternity. There will be nothing done of this, until the&s;e Bodies are laid in the Graves, and <HI>an Hour is coming after that, in the which all that are in their Graves &s;hall hear his Voice, and &s;hall come forth, they that have done good unto the Re&s;urrection of Life, and they that have done Evil, unto the Re&s;urrection of Damnation,</HI> John 5. 28, 29&punc; God will make one Work and Reckoning of it altogether, according to <HI>Mat. 25. 32. And before him &s;hall be gathered all Na|tions,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>And the De&s;truction of the Sinners and Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ors &s;hall be together,</HI> I&s;a. 1. 28. Even of all Generati|ons and Countries, although now they Live out their ap|pointed time, and Dye as other Men. The Spirit of God &s;aith by the &s;ame <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> The <HI>Sinner being an Hun|dred Years Old, &s;hall be accur&s;ed,</HI> I&s;a. 65. 20. The Word of God doth Speak Evil of him now, and Evil &s;hall be|fal him hereafter; although as yet he hath felt nothing of outward Harm or Evil. Good Men have been offend|ed at the pre&s;ent Pro&s;perity and Impunity of the Wick|ed. We hear frequently thereof in the Old Te&s;tament, but not altogether &s;o much in the New. Tho&s;e who had chiefly Temporal Promi&s;es to encourage them to Obedience, might well Startle and Stumble, when the Di&s;obedient received the &s;ame in Effect. <HI>Verily I have clean&s;ed my Heart in vain,</HI> P&s;al. 73. 13. There was not then &s;o clear a Revelation of the Judgment to come,
<PB N="21" REF="11"> and of the &s;ucceeding Eternity, which is to make a wide Deci&s;ion and va&s;t Difference between the Righ|teous and the Wicked. This would have in&s;tantly &s;a|tisfied all their doubts. But now Chri&s;tians, who are a&s;&s;ured of all this have no Rea&s;on to be Envious at the Fooli&s;h, when they &s;ee the Pro&s;perity of the Wicked. Yet, Do ye think the Scripture &s;aith in vain? <HI>The Spirit that dwelleth in us, lu&s;teth to Envy,</HI> Jam. 4. 5. The difference between the Sins of the Regenerate and Un|regenerate is, the Regenerate have little motions and tendencies towards the &s;ame Sins, which they cru&s;h and keep &s;hort, but the others &s;uffer them to break forth into op<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n Act. And &s;o there are at this Day in &s;incere good People, &s;ome little Inclinations or Lu&s;tings to Envy. They are apt to be Grieved, that they who Provoke or De&s;pi&s;e God, &s;hould Flouri&s;h and &s;eem outwardly in better Plight then them&s;elves. There is a carnal Inter|mixture, &s;omething for them&s;elves, when they Cry out O Lord, How long &s;hall the Wicked Triumph? How long wilt thou &s;uffer them to do on this wi&s;e? Perhaps they have their Portion in this Life, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 17. 14. As <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> did ob&s;erve, that was the Rea&s;on of the long Pro&s;perity and Continuance of the Roman Empire, for their Exerci&s;e of Moral Vertues. Like, as we Read in One of the Prophets, <HI>That God did give</HI> Egypt <HI>to</HI> Ne|buchadnezzar <HI>for Wages,</HI> in &s;erving him with his Army in &s;uch a Work as he would have done. And this &s;ame is the very Rea&s;on why many People have Health and Pro&s;perity, Riches and long Life, who will yet never go to Heaven; but they are Rewarded here for that lit|tle good they have done. And therefore the P&s;almi&s;t Prays by the Spirit, <HI>Deliver my Soul from Men, which are thy Hand O Lord, from Men of the World, which have their Portion in this Life, and who&s;e Belly thou fille&s;t with thy hid Trea&s;ure.</HI> They are full of Children, and leave the re&s;t of their Sub&s;tance to their Babes. This would not
<PB N="22" REF="12"> content and &s;atisfy him, but he was rather afraid of it. As for me (By which kind of Speech he would Di&s;tin|gui&s;h and Exempt him&s;elf from them) I will behold thy Face in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, I &s;hall be &s;ati<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">fied when I awake in thy Likene&s;s. I have Read of a certain Godly Man, who when he was Exalted to great Perfe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ment and Re|venues, he did very much fear, lea&s;t thereby God meant to give him his Portion in this Life; and thereupon he was doubtful whither he &s;hould accept of it, yet after|wards he did. However we are to let God alone with the Ways of his Providence; for he, and not we poor Wretches, knoweth what he hath to do. How he deals with others, what is that to us? We may re&s;t fully &s;a|tisfied, and mo&s;t certainly a&s;&s;ured with what the Wi&s;e Man &s;aith, <HI>Though a Sinner do Evil an Hundred times and his Days be Prolonged, yet &s;urely I know it &s;hall be well with them which Fear God, which Fear before him,</HI> Eccle&s;. 8. 12. God cannot be Unrighteous; and if he deals more Bountifully with the Wicked in this Life then with you, certainly you will fare better then they in that Life which is to come. It will be better for tho&s;e who in the Days of their Fle&s;h, Lived before him in Righteou&s;ne&s;s and true Holine&s;s, then with tho&s;e who in the &s;ame Days of their Fle&s;h did De&s;pi&s;e God, or Lived in &s;ome Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion or Di&s;obedience the &s;ame while. Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do Right? Yea, He &s;hall do Right, and make an exact Di&s;tribution <HI>(Judgment will I lay to the Line, and Righteou&s;ne&s;s to the Plummet)</HI> to every Man according as his Work hath been. Doth any wi&s;e or knowing Man envy Oxen or Sheep as he &s;ees them Feed|ing in good Pa&s;tures, but he rather Pities the poor Cre|atures, becau&s;e he apprehends what it is for, to Fat them for the Shambl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s. This is the very ca&s;e as to the Pro|&s;perity of the Wicked or Sinners, <HI>Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee, yet let me Talk with thee of thy Judgments. Wherefore doth the Way of the Wicked Pro&s;per?
<PB N="23" REF="12"> Wherefore are all they happy that deal very Treachero<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y, thou ha&s;t planted them. Yea, they have taken Root, they grow, yea, they bring forth Fruit. Thou art near in their Mouth</HI> (and &s;o they were outward Wor&s;hippers, and did talk of God in a general Way) <HI>and far from their Reins. But thou O Lord knowe&s;t me, thou ha&s;t &s;een and tried my Heart towards thee</HI> (whereby the Prophet doth import his own &s;incere Service towards God, and yet it was not outwardly &s;o well with him: But he goes on to add,) <HI>Pluck them out like Sheep for the Slaughter, and prepare them for the Day of Slaughter,</HI> Jer. 12. 1, 2, 3. A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d &s;o the Apo&s;tle <HI>James</HI> &s;aith by the Spirit unto the Rich Men, <HI>Ye have Lived in Plea&s;ure on the Earth, and been Wanton, and Nouri&s;hed your Hearts as in the Day of Slaughter,</HI> Jam. 5. 5. Tremble at this ye Gentry and Sen&s;uali&s;ts, and Merry Men of this pre&s;ent Age and Generation. Though tho&s;e Bruiti&s;h Men know it not, neither doth a Fool under&s;tand this, What? It follows, <HI>When the Wicked &s;pring at the Gra&s;s, and when all the Workers of Iniquity do Flouri&s;h, it is</HI> (there it is Pointed out) <HI>that they &s;hall be de&s;troyed for ever,</HI> P&s;al. 92. 6, 7. So it will be for ever at la&s;t, although they are not pre&s;ently de&s;troyed at the very &s;ame time when they commit their Wickedne&s;s and Iniquity. Am<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lek <HI>was the fir&s;t of the Nations, but his latter End &s;hall be, that he peri&s;h for ever,</HI> Num. 24. 20. The Decree and Purpo&s;e of God &s;tands on this wi&s;e, <HI>For the Lord God of Recom|pences &s;hall &s;urely Requite,</HI> Jer. 51. 56. At the time Ap|pointed, when they come Dye, and after that the Judg|ment.</P>
<P>As by a Right Under&s;tanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over us Men, we come to know the very Rea&s;on why he doth not pre&s;ently Puni&s;h Sin|ners, but oftentimes &s;uffers them to Pro&s;per. So by the &s;ame Rea&s;on of things we may learn, wherefore he &s;uf|fers or inflicts Afflictions and Calamities on Godly and Righteous People. It is hard and &s;omirk to think in
<PB N="24" REF="13"> ones Mind, Verily <HI>I have clean&s;ed my Heart in vain, and wa&s;hed my Hands in Innocency; for all the Day long have I been Plagued, and Cha&s;tned every Morning,</HI> P&s;al. 73. 13, 14. That when Man &s;erves God diligently and faithful|ly, and leads an upright and innocent Life, that th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n he &s;hould meet with greater and &s;orer Troubles. To think this is Painful to One. Our Nature is Impati|ent thereat and Re&s;ents it hardly. But this was the Lot of the Generation of thy Children in former Days; and therefore we are not to think that any &s;trange or new thing, hath happened unto us. <HI>But call to Remembrance the former Days in which after ye were Illuminated, ye en|dured a great fight of Afflictions, Partly, whil&s;t ye were made a gazing Stock, both by Reproaches and Afflictions; and whilst ye became Companions of them that were &s;o u&s;ed,</HI> Heb. 10. 32, 33. The Apo&s;tle writes this to tho&s;e precious and be&s;t Saints and Servants of God which were in that Day. And I know a Man who hath had a good Mind towards God from his tender Years, who hath made it his bu&s;ine&s;s and con&s;tant endeavour to keep, and al&s;o to do the Com|mandments from his Youth up; who when he hath been Per&s;ecuted in Body, and been oppre&s;&s;ed and rendred Poor in his outward E&s;tate, It hath been Tauntingly and Sarca&s;tically &s;aid unto him, Is this all that your Prayers, Religion, and Fa&s;ting hath come unto? The Scoffer did go on to add, If I were to be Religious, I would be Religious for &s;omewhat, and not thereby to be Rendred Mi&s;erable (which might indeed be done in their meaning by clo&s;e Methods of Hypocri&s;y, but not by continuing whole and &s;tedfa&s;t in God's Covenant, without Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of, or Variation from &s;ome part of his written Word, con&s;idering how the World hath been, and is) but they who talk after this manner, have not Faith, and they know not what it is to Live by Faith, or to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ender an Obedience of Faith. We Read &s;omewhat like hereof in the Book of the Lord. <HI>Many
<PB N="25" REF="13"> there be which &s;ay of my Soul, There is no help for him in God,</HI> Selah. P&s;al. 3. 2. <HI>My Tears have been my Meat Day and Night, while they Continually &s;ay unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e things, I pour out my Soul in me, as with a Sword in mine Bones, mine Enemies Reproach me, while they &s;ay Daily unto me, Where is thy God?</HI> P&s;al&punc; 42. 2, 3, 10. <HI>I Remembred God, and was Troubled, I Com|plained, and my Spirit was Overwhelmed,</HI> S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lah. <HI>I have con&s;idered the Days of Old, the Years of Ancient Times, I Call to Remembrance my Song in the Night, I Commune with mine own Heart, and my Spirit made diligent &s;earch,</HI> P&s;al. 77. 3. Yea, I have &s;ometimes ob&s;erved, that when I have walked with God yet more clo&s;ely, and have wai|ted upon him more diligently, b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ing con&s;cious of no Sin or Fault, yet a greater Affliction or Vexation hath en&s;ued immediately thereupon. Truly this was a very &s;ore Trial, that when one &s;hould more expect and hope for Good from the Hands of God, then to meet with Evil. Yea, An horrible Thought and Temptation hath hereupon aro&s;e in my Mind (which indeed hath had that Effect, as to make me abate and dimini&s;h &s;ome|what from my former Zeal and Fervency, like unto that Saying of him, Behold, <HI>This Evil is of the Lord, What &s;hould I wait for the Lord any longer,</HI> 2 Kings 6. 33. If only this comes of my Serving of God, &s;hall I de&s;i&s;t and leave it off, and betake my &s;elf to the like U<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">godly Carele&s;s Life, or Formal Out&s;ide Religion, which others do of my Circum&s;tances, Condition and Years. God for bid, I abhor the thoughts of it from the bottom of my Heart. But I will rather on the contrary make the true and right Inference, That Evil, Oppo&s;ition and Trouble came from Satan the Adver&s;ary (which God did &s;uffer and overrule) to prove and try me yet more (wherefore I will yet more Re&s;i&s;t Satan, and act yet greater Revenge upon him) for there is a good &s;ort of <HI>Revenge</HI> mentioned in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7. 11. To the overthrow
<PB N="26" REF="14"> of his Kingdom, hoth in my &s;elf and others. Hitherto I have &s;erved the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> a little, but now I will &s;erve him much, and cleave yet more clo&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ly unto him, for this Trouble and Affliction which hath befaln me. I will hear the Rod, and who hath appointed it. <HI>Come and let us</HI> (yet more) <HI>Return unto the Lord, for he hath broken, and he will heal us; he hath &s;mitten, and he will bind us up. After two Days will he revive us, in the third Day he will rai&s;e us up, and we &s;hall Live in his Sight. Then &s;hall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.</HI> Ho&s;. 6. 1, 2, 3. We may &s;ee and know more of God through the Dark Cloud of Afflictions and Troubles: As al&s;o then &s;hall we know, if we follow on, to know the Lord, in the various Di&s;pen&s;ations of his Providence, and in the &s;e|veral kinds of Trial, Temtation and Exerci&s;es, which he ordains or &s;uffers to fall on us. And here it is, and &s;hould be, that as we keep on Travelling, whither the Way under our Feet be Dry and Good, or Wet and Dir|ty, through Thick and Thin, as we commonly &s;ay&punc; As the Sailer &s;till makes towards the Haven, he is bound unto, come Fair Weather or Foul, gentle Gales, or <HI>Euroclyd<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ns,</HI> which &s;ignifies Tempe&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">uous Winds: So here is the Faith and Patience of the Saints, that the Righteous &s;hould hold on his Way, and he that hath clean Hands, be &s;tronger and &s;tronger. For God and Heaven I am bent, bound and re&s;olved, this is my Journeys End, and here is my De&s;ired Haven, or the Haven where I would be. And I hope that by his Grace, and Strengthening me with Strength in my Soul (which I always ask in Prayer) for I am come to that Stedfa&s;tne&s;s and Purpo&s;e of Mind herein, that you may &s;ooner turn a Dromedary in his Cour&s;e, then turn me a&s;ide from going on &s;till in that way towards God, and the Habitation of his Holine&s;s, which he hath Chalked out in his Word, and &s;hewed me in my Mind (what I &s;peak of my &s;elf, when I Declare my own Experiences,
<PB N="27" REF="14"> I would that ye apply it to your &s;elves al&s;o, for we are Fellow-Servants and Fellow-Travellers) through Good and Evil Report, through Shame and Di&s;honour, as deceivers and yet true, in Afflictions, in Nece&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ies, in Di&s;tre&s;&s;es, through Plenty and Poverty, in Sickne&s;s and Health, in Pro&s;perity and Adver&s;ity, &s;ometimes at Liberty, and again through Pri&s;ons, Up-hill and Down|hill, and &s;ometimes in a Plain, as our Way lie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. To have now, and then a &s;mooth Voyage, and then to be to&s;&s;ed to and fro. Even according to that Degree or Mea&s;ure of Tribulation, which our Heavenly Father hath Ap|pointed and Ordained we &s;hall pa&s;s through, before we come unto, and enter into his Kingdom. So that whereas I before mentioned, that tho&s;e Troubles and Afflictions its coming on me immediately after my clo&s;e walking with waiting on the Lord did &s;everal times heretofore make me abate &amp; dimini&s;h from my former Zeal and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">erven|cy, This was my Ignorance and Infirmity then. For now I perceive when I Under&s;tand things more, and aright, they &s;hould rather have encrea&s;ed and heightned and confirmed it &s;o much the more. For hereby then Satan did get an Advantage over me, but if I had &s;o done, as I now &s;ee that I &s;hould have done, then I &s;hould not on|ly have made his own Devices of none Effect, but have turned and made them fall back upon him&s;elf. For this is the be&s;t way to deal with an Enemy, to turn his own Canon upon him&s;elf; and not only to &s;poil the Mines, but to &s;pring tho&s;e Mines upon them&s;elves, which they had lain to Blow us up; or according to the Scripture Phra&s;e herein, that them&s;elves may fall into the Pit which they had digged for others. As it is written, <HI>Thou ha&s;t &s;hewed thy People hard things, thou ha&s;t given us to drink the Wine of A&s;toni&s;hment.</HI> So <HI>Jeremiah</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ad hard thoughts of God, when he &s;aid, <HI>Wilt thou be unto me al|together as a Liar, and as Waters that fail?</HI> Jer. 15. 18. So I &s;peak it to my &s;hame, and as a warning and in&s;tru|ction
<PB N="28" REF="15"> to others, I have had hard thoughts of God, that whereas he had revealed him&s;elf to be good to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> even to &s;uch as are of a clean Heart, that even when I was by his Grace upon making my Heart clean then to re|ceive Cro&s;&s;es and Di&s;appointments, which our Fretful and Impatient Nature calls Evils, then was fulfilled, But as for me, <HI>my Feet were almo&s;t gone, my Steps had well nigh &s;lipt, even</HI> to have turned a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">de utterly from the Way of the Lord, or to have fallen down and go no fur|ther therein. And truly unle&s;s it had been for &s;ome forcible Con&s;iderations drawn from the near Approa|ches of Death, and the &s;ucceeding Judgment which God put into my Mind, and they did weigh down, and over|rule to continue &s;till in his Service (Ble&s;&s;ed b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> his Name for it) I believe, and am afraid, that I had been an utter Apo&s;tate from the Ways of God.</P>
<P>Moreover that the Heart be without Knowledge it is not Good, &s;aid <HI>Solomon.</HI> But from hence we may &s;ee that Exceeding Advantage and Benefit of a full and through Knowledge concerning the things of God. It is all in all and the turning Point whereon doth depend the Eternal Salvation or Condemnation of Mankind. For where any one is &s;aved, it is by Grace and Faith (both which do include within them&s;elves a Knowledge of the un&s;een things of God) that they are &s;aved. And &s;o it is on the other Hand, <HI>My People are de&s;troyed for lack of Knowledge,</HI> Ho&s;. 4. 6. Which will be found true as to tho&s;e Mi&s;erable Souls at the la&s;t Day, <HI>who &s;hall be Puni&s;hed with Everla&s;ting De&s;truction from the Pre&s;ence of the Lord, and from the Glory of his Power,</HI> 2 The&s;&s;. 1. 9. For had they known more of the things of God (and it was their own Fault and Negligence that they did not) they had e&s;caped and never came to that State of final Condemnation and Perdition.</P>
<P>The Con&s;ideration hereof is an Unan&s;werable Argu|ment, why we &s;hould do according to the Coun&s;el and
<PB N="29" REF="15"> Direction of <HI>Solomon, A Wi&s;e Man will hear, and will in|crea&s;e Learning,</HI> Prov. 1. 5. And for that End we &s;hould take and lay hold on all Opportunities for Hearing the Word, and not be Ignorantly Confined to a dead and dull Mini&s;try, or be blindly given up to follow a Blind Guide, and none el&s;e: But in the <HI>Multitude of Coun&s;ellors there is Safety,</HI> both in Temporal and al&s;o in Eternal Concerns.</P>
<P>This Truth and Ob&s;ervation I make known, or ra|thea declare unto ye in the General, that ye may ju&s;t perceive of what exceeding U&s;e and Benefit and Edifi|cation it is to know <HI>fully</HI> and <HI>throughly</HI> (By both which Adverbs I difference it from that Knowledge in Part or by Halves, which is but a little coming forth out of Ig|norance, and People &s;hould never &s;it down with a Know|ledge in part, or at halves) the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men, particularly in that Branch thereof, which relates to the <HI>Pro&s;perity of the Wicked,</HI> or the <HI>Afflictions of the Righteous.</HI> For this hath been a migh|ty Stumbling Block, which hath hitherto hindred many People from coming into the Way of the Lord, and o|thers from walking on and continuing therein. This al&s;o hath a mighty Influence over the Minds of Men, in as much as it is Sen&s;ible and Vi&s;ible. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> cautions tho&s;e he writes unto, <HI>That they be not &s;oon Moved or Shaken in Mind at the Afflictions which hath befaln him;</HI> knowing that thereunto we were appointed. And it be|ing &s;o contrary unto the Natural Prudence and Wi&s;dom of Men, to undertake or e&s;pou&s;e a broken Cau&s;e, or to embarke ones &s;elf in a Shipwrackt Ve&s;&s;el, hereupon it was that Chri&s;t Crucified, was to the Greeks Fooli&s;hne&s;s (as his Meanne&s;s and Conde&s;cention therein, was to the Jews a Sumbling Block, ina&s;much as they &s;uppo&s;ed that the M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ias would be outwardly Glorious and Victorious over all his Enemies) for the Greeks could not think it Con&s;i&s;tent with their Vain Philo&s;ophy, or Moral Wi&s;|dom to receive and be <HI>partakers of the Afflictions of the Go&s;|pel.</HI>
<PB N="30" REF="16"> And &s;o far indeed it is true, that con&s;ider it meer|ly as a Man within the Limits of this pre&s;ent Life &amp; &s;hort Time, this Wi&s;dom will never be ju&s;tified by her Chil|dren. But let Faith come in, the Sub&s;tance of things hoped for, which are to come, and the Evidence of things not &s;een; and this will quickly weigh down the Scale, and determine it, and carry it for the Knowledge of God and of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Thus much is Uni|ver&s;ally Received and Acknowledged in this Chri&s;tian Nation and Country of our Nativity and Habitation. But &s;till there is that mixture of Unbelief, and &s;o much which &s;avours of Men, and of the Worldly and Fle&s;hly Nature, that it cannot throughly reli&s;h and dige&s;t Af|flictions in the Ways of God, nor yet have they that Knowledge of the Mo&s;t High, as to perceive his Favour and Loving Kindne&s;s therein, which is certainly true. <HI>For whom the Lord loveth, he Cha&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eth, according to what the Spirit &s;aith, As many as I love, I Rebuke and Cha&s;ten,</HI> Rev. 3. 19. Many are apt to doubt of the Favour of God, or to think they are not in the right way of his Wor&s;hip (I have heard of Examples of this kind) becau&s;e of tho&s;e great continued Afflictions and outward Cro&s;&s;es they meet with in the World. But herein all the&s;e People do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God, nor the Way of the Di&s;pen&s;ation of his Kingdom to|wards us Men. For the Rea&s;on and End of the&s;e Afflicti|ons are to prove and try them yet more, what is in their Heart, as Gold is tried in the Fire, and they are de&s;ign|ed to draw us nearer and clo&s;er to God, as al&s;o to wean us the more from this pre&s;ent World. As it was noted before concerning the Pro&s;perity of the Wicked, that they had their Portion in this Life, God intending there|by to Reward them here for that little Good they had done, for none is &s;o bad, but doth &s;ome little good or other. So it is here on the other Hand, there is a <HI>&s;pot even of God's Children,</HI> Deut. 32. 5. And there was hardly e|ver
<PB N="31" REF="16"> any one &s;o Righteous upon Earth (Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Righteous excepted) who did not in &s;ome little thing or other put forth their Hand to Iniquity. They commit|ted or Con&s;ented to Iniquity <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;s or more; but they did not make a Trade or Continuance of it. For this cau&s;e <HI>they are here Cha&s;tened of the Lord, that they &s;hould not be Condemned with the World,</HI> 1 Cor. 11. 30, 31. Then it is that People do err, when they do not know the Scrip|tures. For in the&s;e Scriptures very much is &s;aid concern|ing the Pro&s;perity of the Wicked, and the Afflictions of the Righteous. So much whereof hath been here decla|red and alledged out from thence, that the Reader may Judge and Under&s;tand in like manner of all the re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. As the &s;everal things concerning it do ari&s;e up in his Thoughts, or as they find from their own Experiences, as al&s;o from the Ob&s;ervation they make from their own &s;elves, as al&s;o from others abroad in the World, <HI>Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and Read;</HI> for there a Know|ledge and Rea&s;on of the things of God may be had and under&s;tood. To know a thing as it ought to to be known, is to know it by its Con&s;equences and with the Rea&s;ons thereof.</P>
<P>Now of the things which we have &s;poken, this is the Sum. We have heard of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men, as the &s;ame is to prove a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d try them, to know what is in their Heart, and in order thereto, Secondly, God hath E&s;tabli&s;hed for all Nations an <HI>Obedience of Faith.</HI> And Thirdly, All things happen alike to all, and al&s;o as a con&s;equent from the Fir&s;t, he hath &s;uffered the Pro&s;perity of the Wicked, and to Ex|erci&s;e the latter <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">et more, he hath ordained Troubles and Afflictions for the Righteous. All the&s;e &s;everal Heads of Di&s;cour&s;e do hang and depend one upon ano|ther, as they are indeed and in reality linked on and con|nected together in the great Order and Concatenation of the things of God.</P>
<PB N="32" REF="17">
<P>It now remains to &s;hew how the right Under&s;tanding of the Nature of G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d's Kingdom and Dominion over Men, as it &s;tands in this Order, and on this Wi&s;e, is a nece&s;&s;ary h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lp towards the making a Continuing and Per&s;evering Work of it.</P>
<P>Sin and Ungodline&s;s do certainly hinder from making a Continuing and Per&s;evering Work of it, they being quite oppo&s;ite and contrary thereunto, as Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion is contrary to Obedience, and the Service of God is Di|ametrically Oppo&s;ite, and Perfectly Contrary to no Ser|vice at all. And therefore in order to make a continu|ing and per&s;evering Work of it, we mu&s;t Sin not, and deny all Ungodline&s;s. The Principal I had almo&s;t &s;aid, only Rea&s;ons why all the froward Inhabitants of the Earth do Sin again&s;t God, are the&s;e three. <HI>1&s;t,</HI> Becau&s;e God doth not Render pre&s;ent Puni&s;hment. <HI>2dly,</HI> Be|cau&s;e God is out of &s;ight. And <HI>3dly,</HI> Becau&s;e God holds his Tongue, or keeps Silence. Now (ob&s;erve this) a Right Under&s;tanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over us Men, as before Explained, doth an&s;wer all the&s;e and the like Imaginations in the Hearts of the Children of Di&s;obedience, or the Ignorant Mul|titude. For the &s;ame Word of Truth which &s;aith, Be|cau&s;e Sentence again&s;t an Evil Work is not executed &s;peedily, therefore the Hearts of the Sons of Men are fully &s;et in them to do Evil; el&s;ewhere &s;peaks on this wi&s;e, <HI>I will Puni&s;h the World for their Evil, and the Wicked for their Iniquity,</HI> I&s;a. 13. 11. The Puni&s;hment of God is almo&s;t throughout the whole Scripture, &s;poken of in the future Sence, he will or &s;hall Puni&s;h. I do hereby tell and warn the Sinners and Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors and Hypocrites of this my Generation, who ble&s;s them&s;elves in their Heart, &s;aying, They &s;hall have Peace and Safety, al|though they walk in the Imagination of their Heart, to add one Sin to another. Who are apt to fancy as if God could not, or would not Puni&s;h, Becau&s;e he doth
<PB N="33" REF="17"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ot Puni&s;h them pre&s;ently, nor &s;trike them dead in their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ins. Hear ye this Word and Tremble, it is as ea&s;y for God to Puni&s;h them, or any of us, as for we to cru&s;h a Moth or kill the lea&s;t Fly or In&s;ect. For he taketh away our Breath, and we Dye, &amp; then the &s;entence which was not before &s;peedily executed upon evil doers, doth be|gin to be executed upon them. There is no need to pour down&punc; Judgments outwardly upon the Sinners Head, as he did upon the Cities of the Plain; for he can &s;tir up a Di&s;ea&s;e fron within, which &s;hall fetch out the Soul to re|ceive for its Sinful &amp; Evil Deeds. Saith one, <HI>It is ea&s;y for the Lord to recompence a Man according to his ways in the day of his Death.</HI> Nay, He doth it not &s;o properly in the ex|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ct and particular day of Ones Death, as afterwards: for as when we begin an Action or Commence a Suit at Law again&s;t any Man, we do fir&s;t Arre&s;t him by &s;uch a Bayli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> or Inferiour Officer, So God hath his Sergeant or Me&s;|&s;enger who &s;its upon a Pale Hor&s;e, who&s;e Name is <HI>Death,</HI> and enters into Palaces all One as common Hou&s;es (for no Place or Per&s;on is Priviledged again&s;t him) who ar|re&s;ts &s;everally all the Men and Women of all Generati|ons and Countries, and fetches out their <HI>Souls from their Bodies,</HI> Luke 12. 20&punc; And then God begins his Proce&s;s or Proceedings again&s;t them, according to what they have done in this Life, whither Good or Evil. God could have Puni&s;hed Man in this Life and on this Earth, If he had &s;o plea&s;ed. But his general Decr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> is to &s;pare them here, expecting that his Goodne&s;s, Forbearance and Long Suffering &s;hould lead them to Repentance; but when he hath given them a &s;pace to Repent, and they Repented not, then comes Retribution and Puni&s;hment. In this Life man doth De&s;pi&s;e and Provoke the Lord God, but by Death God takes Vengeance on Man. <HI>For the Wrath of God is Revealed from Heaven again&s;t all &V;n|godline&s;s and &V;nrighteou&s;ne&s;s of Men,</HI> Rom. 1. 18. Mark here diligently how it is expre&s;&s;ed, It is <HI>Revealed,</HI> that
<PB N="34" REF="18"> is as much as to &s;ay, It is made known from Heaven; but it is not yet executed and &s;en&s;ibly felt, which will then be after the Breath of Men is gone out of their No|&s;trils, and their Souls are departed from their Bodies; or rather when they come to ri&s;e up, and be Reunited a|gain, then they &s;hall receive according to what they did in them in this Life and on this Earth. On this wi&s;e all the great Promi&s;es a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d Threatnings of God do &s;tand: The Promi&s;es are now revealed or made known from Heaven, they belonging unto Godline&s;s and Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, but are not yet Actually given. But they &s;hall be certainly given in the appointed time, or rather at the End of time. And &s;o the Threatnings are <HI>Revealed</HI> or made known from Heaven again&s;t all Ungodline&s;s and Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s of Men (by which la&s;t Word is &s;ignified all that is contrary unto that great and compleat Rule of Righteou&s;ne&s;s in Scripture, Comprehending all our Duty to God as well as to our Neighbour; and not only In|ju&s;tice and Wrong between Man and Man, although this is included al&s;o, it being contrary to that great and com|pleat Rule of Righteou&s;ne&s;s therein mentioned) but God doth not execute his Threatnings pre&s;ently, nor yet are they &s;en&s;ibly felt by the Children of Men. Which yet &s;ome of them will &s;en&s;ibly feel, Smart and Groan under, after that their Spirits are decea&s;ed or departed from the&s;e Bodies of Clay, and are removed to another place then this Earth. God hath another place be&s;ides this Earth, and another time be&s;ides this Life, to fulfil and make good every thing to the lea&s;t little that he hath now &s;poken unto the Inhabitants of this Earth, in his written and Revealed Word.</P>
<P>The Bruiti&s;h Man and Unbeliever, and Ignorant Per|&s;ons are apt to put off all this with a tran&s;ient Je&s;t, or their way of Proverb, What, Shall I &s;peak of it after I am Dead? Shall I feel Puni&s;hment when my Body can feel nothing, Implying as if there was an Impo&s;&s;ibility
<PB N="35" REF="18"> in this. No &s;uch matter. Behold I &s;hew you a My&s;tery&punc; Neither they, nor we &s;hall Dye; but we &s;hall be all changed. How now? What do&s;t thou contradict Scrip|ture and the Experience of all Mankind? It is appoint|ed to Men once to Dye. Notwith&s;tanding that I will however make out what I before &s;aid and affirmed, that neither we nor yet Unbelievers &s;hall ever Dye. We, that is our &s;elves, our Souls &s;hall not Dye. This is mo&s;t true. For it is only the Body that Dies, then &s;hall the Du&s;t return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit to God who gave it. Then the Soul doth only decea&s;e or depart from this Earthly Hou&s;e God knows where. Hence Death is properly called a Decea&s;e or Departure. Our Life is <HI>only taken off from the Earth,</HI> Acts 8. 33. but continued el&s;ewhere&punc; And &s;o the Soul is equally alive the next Hour or Day after her departure from the Body, all one as &s;he was when &s;he was in it. And it returns to God who gave it. And then &s;he hath a more Lively Hope or Comfortable A&s;&s;urance of good things from him, or a Fearful Expectation of Evil things, according as &s;he hath behaved he &s;elf well or ill in the Body.</P>
<P>The &s;hewing unto ye this My&s;tery doth al&s;o an&s;wer tho&s;e two other Imaginations in the Children of Di&s;o|bedience, which emboldens them to Sin or Tran&s;gre&s;s again&s;t him, becau&s;e he is out of &s;ight and he now keeps Silence. For be&s;ides, that the &s;ame Word of Truth which &s;aith, <HI>No Man hath &s;een God at any time,</HI> Joh. 1. 18. doth el&s;ewhere acquaint us with the <HI>Glorious Appearing of the Great God,</HI> Tit. 2. 13. And how that it &s;hall be one day &s;aid <HI>to the Cities of</HI> Judah, <HI>Behold your God,</HI> I&s;a. 4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">9. The &s;ame Word, which doth take notice, how that God <HI>hath a long time refrained him&s;elf, and held his Peace, even of Old,</HI> I&s;a. 57. 11. There it is added, <HI>And thou feare&s;t me not,.</HI> Even for that &s;ame Rea&s;on, <HI>becau&s;e he h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ld his Peace.</HI> And &s;o he <HI>holdeth his Tongue when the Wicked De|voureth the Man that is more Righteous then he,</HI> Hab. 1. 13.
<PB N="36" REF="19"> And al&s;o whil&s;t that Evil, Iniquity and Treachery are Tran&s;acted, which is mentioned in the very &s;ame Ver&s;e. And &s;o it is whil&s;t the whole cour&s;e of Sin and Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion goes on as the &s;ame is committed by the Gene|rations of Mankind. <HI>Th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e things ha&s;t thou done and I kept Silence,</HI> P&s;al. 50. 21. Why here the &s;ame Word that ex|pre&s;&s;es how God <HI>holds his Peace, holds <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">is Tongue, and keeps Silence,</HI> doth al&s;o mention and a&s;&s;ure us, <HI>Our God &s;hall come and &s;hall not keep Silence. I will Reprove thee and &s;et them in order before thine Eyes,</HI> P&s;al. 50 3. 21. Even all the things that were done in this Life, and on this Earth. Behold, how one Scripture an&s;wereth to another, for it is even &s;o in the Order and Determination of God. And we &s;hall &s;ee it accordingly &s;o fulfilled as it is written in the Scriptures, when the Lord God of <HI>Elijah</HI> &s;hall take away all the Generations of Mankind from this Earth, and &s;hall cau&s;e the Dead to ari&s;e, and the great Day of his Judgment is come and the after State.</P>
<P>It was before mentioned, that though God is now out of &s;ight, yet at this very time he hideth him&s;elf, and &s;tandeth behind the Skreen of his Vi&s;ible Creatures; yet Faith would find him out and perceive him for all that. As al&s;o an <HI>Obedience of Faith</HI> would approve our &s;elves unto, and plea&s;e him, all One as ever any Son or Servant did &s;erve his Father or Ma&s;ter according to the Fle&s;h, whom he &s;aw every day, and was almo&s;t continually with him. <HI>An Obedience of Faith</HI> mu&s;t needs be accepted, be|cau&s;e it is &s;uch an Obedience as God him&s;elf hath Or|dained and E&s;tabli&s;hed; and the rea&s;onable Creature in this State cannot render any other. But I do believe and conceive, that as it is written, <HI>The Lord will come down in the &s;ight of all the People upon Mount</HI> Sinah, Exod. 19. 11. And it is af<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">erwards &s;aid&punc;, <HI>And Mount</HI> Sinah <HI>was altoge|ther on a Smoke, becau&s;e the Lord de&s;cended upon it in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ire. And the Lord came down upon Mount</HI> Sinah <HI>on the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">op of the Mount,</HI> V<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r. 18 20. Which Lord in <HI>Acts</HI> 7. 38. is &s;aid
<PB N="37" REF="19"> to be the Angel, Suppo&s;ed to be the Son of God, even Je&s;us Chri&s;t. We Read there, Ver&s;e 16. and <HI>Exod. 20. 18, 19. Heb.</HI> 12. 21. What effect it had upon <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and upon all the People, as to ca&s;t a very great Awe, Ter|rour and Trembling <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">pon them. The like is not to be expected again in this World. But this I do believe and conceive, that when the Inhabitants of the Earth of all Generations and Countreys from the Creation of the World unto the End thereof, &s;hall be Summoned to meet with God by Death and Judgment at the la&s;t Trump, <HI>For the Trumpet &s;hall Sound,</HI> then they &s;hall have a &s;en&s;ible and more la&s;ting Apprehen&s;ion of the Great and Infinite God him&s;elf in Per&s;on, then the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> had for the time of his Angel on Mount <HI>Sinah.</HI> For that particular Place, the whole Mount Quaked greatly, but then the Heavens and the Earth and the whole Creation will quake and be di&s;&s;olved to be changed and Created a new. This al&s;o I do apprehend and conceive that in the mean while after the &s;everal re&s;pective Deaths of particular Per&s;ons until this great Day, as it is written, <HI>The De|vils Believe, and Tremble.</HI> So the Souls of &s;uch Men and Women who in the Days of their Fle&s;h were Di&s;obedi|ent and Provoking to God, will al&s;o Believe and Trem|ble. Yea, they will be <HI>Magor Mi&s;&s;abib, Fear round about,</HI> Jer. 20. 3. Becau&s;e that in the Invi&s;ible World they will have nothing to harden them&s;elves, or to forget the &s;ence of their approaching Condemnation and Mi&s;ery, as now they have, as al&s;o, becau&s;e they will be nearer unto, and know more of God unto whom all Fle&s;h &s;hall come.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle in 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3. makes the U&s;e and Applica|tion of all this to our Hand, for he &s;peaking there of the very &s;ame admoni&s;hes, <HI>Seeing then that all the&s;e things &s;hall be di&s;&s;olved, what manner of Per&s;ons ought ye to be in all Holy Conver&s;ation and Godline&s;s. Wherefore, Beloved, &s;eeing that ye look for &s;uch things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in Peace, without Spot and Blamele&s;s.</HI> Seeing that the Di&s;|pen&s;ation
<PB N="38" REF="20"> of the Kingdom and Dominion of God over Men &s;tands on this wi&s;e, What can be a more forcible Motive and Per&s;ua&s;ion then the Knowledge and Con&s;ide|ration hereof for ye <HI>to be &s;tedfa&s;t &V;nmoveable, always a|bounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord.</HI> For as much as ye ha&s;te unto, and draw nearer, and mu&s;t be let into the&s;e continuing things, the inference here is Rea&s;onable and Natural, <HI>Wherefore Beloved, &s;eeing that ye look for &s;uch con|tinuing Things,</HI> be diligent that your &s;elves continue in the Service of the Lord. I &s;ay, ye look for continuing things, which is oppo&s;ite unto peri&s;hing things, as &s;uch are all pre&s;ent things, and things of this World.</P>
<P>I hope that none of ye do &s;erve God for any vi&s;ible pre&s;ent Recompence as to thrive better in your Trades or Callings, and that ye are not in hopes to grow more Rich hereby and come to a place where his lively Word is declared, and his Spiritual Wor&s;hip u&s;ed out of any &s;ini&s;ter Re&s;pects and pre&s;ent Ends. If there was any thing to be got by it, what a Throng would be here? If ye do this, or the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ike, ye will be mi&s;taken. <HI>For the Ju&s;t &s;hall Live by Faith.</HI> He will &s;eek the Kingdom of God and his Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and tru&s;t that all the&s;e things &s;hall be added unto it. The Terms we are to enter up|on Gods Service, is Grace here and Glory hereafter; nece&s;&s;ary Accommodations for our Pilgrimage, and the true Re&s;t to come; the Patriark <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Reque&s;t, <HI>Bread to Eat and Raiment to put on;</HI> and all this is to be had only by Labour and Hone&s;t means, and no others. But when People come to &s;erve the Lord, if they have thoughts of any more, and they do not find their Ends and Expecta|tions an&s;wered, then they leave off the Service of the Lord, which they would not have done, if they had known the Nature of God's Kingdom and the Way of his dealings towards the Children of Men. If there was a pre&s;ent Profit and Gain to be made by Religion, by
<PB N="39" REF="20"> every one that would try after it, then <HI>none would Fear God for nought,</HI> Job 1. 9. nor yet &s;erve him for the alone Hope and Expecta|tion of un&s;een things. But People would traffick for Heaven, as they do to <HI>Jamaica</HI> or the <HI>Jndies,</HI> and all &s;till for the Love of them&s;elves, and not out of any Love to the Lord of that Countrey. What a Com|pany of Mercenary Souls &s;hould we have? Then the places of Wor|&s;hip or Hearing the Word of God, would be Flocked unto, even upon Week Days, as the <HI>Exchange,</HI> or as Country People go to Fairs and Markets, to Buy and Sell and get Gain. Then Worldly Minded Men would become the be&s;t Chri&s;tians. Tho&s;e who are all for them&s;elves, u&s;e Religion only now and then to &s;erve a turn, or for a re&s;erve: But if there was any thing to be got at pre&s;ent by &s;o do|ing, &s;uch would do mo&s;t therein, and &s;till do nothing only for God's Sake. There would be then no <HI>Work of Faith,</HI> nor <HI>Labour of Love,</HI> b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t all Selfi&s;hne&s;s. But now, God hath mo&s;t wi&s;ely ordered it as it is, that the Trial of Faith might be had, that the Excellency of Obe|dience may be &s;een.</P>
<P>But yet more clearly it will appear, how the right Under&s;tanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men, helps to make a continuing Work, from this Remarkable Scripture, <HI>Becau&s;e they have no changes. therefore they Fear not God,</HI> P&s;al. 55. 19. My Soul hath much Meditated upon this Scripture, it being &s;o very Applicable and Suitable to the People abroad in the World, for is not this the very Rea&s;on of the want of the Fear of God? or when they talk of it in a General Way, yet &s;till there is not that real Awe and Dread of God upon their Hearts, but there is a &s;ecret Contempt of him, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d a froward going on in the Way of their Hearts; as al&s;o a turning back from the Mini&s;tration of his Word. And all is, becau&s;e they have no changes, they &s;ee no odds, whither they do or do not. Some|times in mine own private Prayer, every Morning and Evening, I have performed the &s;ame in a Per<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">unctory, Ha&s;ty and Carele&s;s man|ner; and &s;ometimes I have done it again more Solemnly, Awefully and Attentively. But I have ob&s;erved no great matter of difference about the &s;ucceeding of my Actions the following day, whither I per|formed them in a due manner or not. Nay, Perhaps, It went more cro&s;s and thwart when I was in the Morning before in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ervent Prayer, then when I was remi&s;s or negligent. And hereupon an evil Heart o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Unbelief hath aro&s;e in me, as if Prayers did &s;ignifie nothing; and there would be no great matter of difference, if they were &s;aid meerly out of cu&s;tom or not at all. Is not this the very &s;ame as to other things pertaining to Religion? For do we &s;ee any odds or difference outwardly between <HI>him that Sacrificeth, or him that Sacrificeth not&punc;</HI> Between them that go into the Sanctuary, or them that do not? Be|tween them who are con&s;tant hearers of the Word, or who de&s;pi&s;e the Word of the Lord, and refu&s;e to come to the place where it is hol|den
<PB N="40" REF="21"> forth or Preached. Them&s;elves &s;ometimes make a trial of both, and they find no changes, and therefore they are Confirmed more and more in their Ungodline&s;s. Moab <HI>hath been at ea&s;e from his Youth, and he hath been &s;etled on his Lees, and hath not been emp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ied from Ve&s;&s;el to Ve&s;&s;el, neither hath he gone into Captivity; therefore his taste remained in him, and his &s;cent is not changed,</HI> Jer. 48. 11. Even that <HI>Ta&s;te</HI> and <HI>Scent</HI> of the Old Corrupt and Ungodly Nature. Now as to all this and &s;uch like Imaginations in the Hearts of Men (for by Thoughts or Imaginations, every One is led guided and doth ac|cordingly) Here a right Under&s;tanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over us Men; How by the Ordering of things &s;o as they are, he doth prove us, to know what is in our Hearts, whither we will keep his Commandments or no.</P>
<P>By the way, any one may choo&s;e whither he will keep the Com|mandments or not, but then they mu&s;t not choo&s;e unto them&s;elves that Eternal Life which God hath Promi&s;ed to the keeping of them; nor yet may they choo&s;e or refu&s;e to avoid that Eternal Death&punc; which is annexed to the Contempt, Di&s;obedience and Tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ion of them.</P>
<P>God hath al&s;o Ordained an Obedience of Faith, hath Permitted all things to happen alike unto all, an <HI>Hour</HI> of the Wicked, and the <HI>Power of Darkne&s;s,</HI> Luke 22. 53. Pro&s;perity to the Sinners, Adver|&s;ity to the Righteous. But above all, the Knowledge and Under|&s;tanding that all things &s;hall be exactly &s;o as they are &s;poken of in the Scriptures, this will engage and oblige People to continue in the Fear of the Lord, whither they have any <HI>changes</HI> or no; whither they be at <HI>ea&s;e from their Youth,</HI> or <HI>emp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ed from Ve&s;&s;el to Ve&s;&s;el,</HI> even however it is with People in this Life, and on this Earth. They that know and under&s;tand all the&s;e things, they will continue yet more fixedly, firmly and con&s;tantly in the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ear of the Lord; and that &s;o much the more, as they &s;ee the day Approaching.</P>
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