part, above your ordinary and common Hours of Prayer. This is ftanding in the Gap between God and the Nation, and who can tell but he will be gracious, and leave a Bleffing behind him for his People's Sake; He tells them, That their enemies fhall furely gather together, (and this Day is this Scripture fulfilled in your Ears) but, fays he, not by me ('tis not by my Approbation and Confent) whosoever shall gather together against thee, fhall fall for thy fake: Not that there's any Thing in what we do, to move him to fave us. If our Prayers were offered up with the greatest Enlargement and Importunity, he might Spread them as dung upon our faces f; but here's his Condefcenfion, he will have a defire to the work of his own hands 8. The Lord is well-pleafed in Chrift Jefus, and upon that Account he says, Let me fee thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, for fweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. So that these Things are very confiftent, that God will not deftroy a Nation for his fervant's fake, and yet, he would have the House of Ifrael to know, that he does it not for their Sakes, but for his holy Name's fake. All that's good in them comes from Him, and therefore every Salvation he affords them is according to his Mercy. III. God - Ifa. liv. 15. h Cant. ii. 14. f Mal. ii. 3 Job xiv. 15. III. God makes temporal Salvation subfervient to that which is fpiritual. I am not speaking of what he can do, but of what he does; for we know he can gather in, and build up his chofen People by any Means, or without any. But when he faves a Nation from Ruin, he has a gracious Regard to Pofterity in it; that the Fathers to the Children might make known the Truth *; and because of that, we have Liberty to plead with him. When our Land has been ready to fink into Destruction, all Faces were turned into Palenefs, and Men's Hearts failed them for Fear, I mean, fuch as had the Caufe of publick Liberty at Heart, then the Lord knew who were his; He, as it were, call'd it afresh to mind, and faid, "How fhall I deliver thee up? How shall I make thee as Admah, and fet thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together'. How fhall mine Elect enjoy the Work of my Hands", the Means of Grace, and the Ordinances of mine Appointment? If these Blefings are removed from them, as they certainly will, if Popery be settled among them, what unusual Method must be taken, for the calling them by Grace? Therefore, I will spare the Nation, that my People, my Chofen, that shall be born in it, may be begotten through the Preaching of the Gospel." Our Lord tells us, 'tis for the Elects fake, the days of Tribulation fhall be C 2 Shortened: * Ifa. xxxviii. 19. ! Hof. xi. 8. m Ifa. lxv. 22. Government, and the Religion of Rome? 'Tis evident, he wants to be, what Satan is called, the god of this World. Do the Inhabitants of Scotland enjoy those Privileges they did before the eldest Son of the Pretender came there? No; the ways of Zion mourn, because none dare go to her folemn feafts. Has he not took off his Mask fo much already as to fhew, what Cruelties he will inflict on all that will not abet his Caufe? What then muft We expect from this Wolf in Sheep's Cloathing? With his Tongue he has used Deceit; but the Poison of Afps is under his Lips; his Feet are fwift to fhed Blood, and therefore Destruction and Misery are in his Ways. Our All now lies at Stake. Every Property we have as Men and Chriftians, is threatned with an entire Defeat. All the beauty of the daughter of Zion must depart; her princes would become like barts that find no pafture, and they would go without ftrength before the purfuer. The heathen would come into the inheritance of God: his holy temple they would defile, and lay Jerufalem on heaps. The dead bodies of his fervants would be given to be meat to the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of bis faints to the beafts of the field. As it is their Principle to keep no Faith with Hereticks, as they are pleased to call us; (though after the way which they call herefy, fo worship we the God of our fathers") fo it is, to perfecute us to the Death. II. They r Lam. i. 4. Acts xxiv. 14. f Ibid. i. 5. t Pfalm lxxix. I, 2. II. They have been overturned in the Defigns they have laid against us. Our foul is efcaped out of the hands of the fowlers, the fnare is broken, and we are ef caped. They have had the BLESSING of the Pope, that is true, but they have had the BLAST of the Almighty; God has sometimes fhewn to all the World, that the Man of Sin is not infallible. Tho' he fits in the temple of God, and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, yet he is no better than a Tool, which Satan ufes in the Building of Babel. When God arifes to judgment, he will fave all the meek of the earth', notwithstanding all the Plots of the Wicked to destroy them, When Balaam was hired to curfe Ifrael, he was under the Restraints of Providence. How shall I curfe, whom the Lord has not curfed? or, how shall I defy whom the Lord has not defied? His Heart was in it; he he would have curfed, but he could not; for the Apostle observes, he loved the wages of unrighteoufnefs, juft as it is with THAT THING OF NOUGHT, who is carried on Men's Shoulders, and ftiled HOLY FATHER: To have his Coffers filled is his principal Concern; and therefore for filthy Lucre, he will give you Indulgences to fin as fast as you will; and thus difcovers himself to be the Vicar of Balaam, or of Judas, who carried the Bag, rather than of Chrift. * Pfalm, cxxiv. 7. a Numb. xxiii. 8. y 2 Theff. ii. 4. 2 Pet. ii. 15. But 2 Pf. lxxvi. 9. Nobility, 'tis in the Camp, and in the Fleet, with high and low, rich and poor. But the Speech of every Swearer betrays him. He has learned the Language of Hell, before he goes there. While the Name of God is in his Mouth in a profane Way, the Devil is in his Heart. The horrid Oaths that are belched out are grating to the Ear of every modest Person: and that which is very abominable, is, That fome have been admired for what they call, a genteel Way of Swearing. up As to the Sabbaths of the Lord, they are wearifome Days with many People. They can't bear the Thoughts of being tied from their Sports and Paftimes. They are looked on to be a political Invention, and therefore, they are far from being to THEM, what they are to GOD'S PEOPLE, The holy of the Lord and honourable 1. Drunkennefs is a notorious Crime. It unfits a Man for the Duties, both of this, and another World. He expofes himself in publick Company, opens out the Folly that is bound up in his Heart, and makes Promises which he afterwards repents of: and that which is the most awful, he exposes himself to the Torments of that State, where the wicked drink of the Wine of the Wrath of God, without any Mixture of Mercy. The Infidelity and Pride, the Luxury and Excels of Riot, the Treachery and Lying, with many more Abominations both of Flesh and Spirit, give a loud Call to Heaven for Vengeance. The Ifaiah lviii. 13. |