Lex ignea, or, The school of righteousness a sermon preached before the King, Octob. 10, 1666, at the solemn fast appointed for the late fire in London / by William Sandcroft ... Sancroft, William, 1617-1693. 1666 Approx. 78 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A61503 Wing S553 ESTC R14856 11845770 ocm 11845770 49840 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A61503) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 49840) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 547:15) Lex ignea, or, The school of righteousness a sermon preached before the King, Octob. 10, 1666, at the solemn fast appointed for the late fire in London / by William Sandcroft ... Sancroft, William, 1617-1693. 36 p. Printed for R. Pawlett ..., London : [1666]. Title vignette (St. Paul's? burning) Reproduction of original in Bristol Public Library, Bristol, England. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng London (England) -- Fire, 1666 -- Sermons. 2003-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion LEX IGNEA : OR The School of Righteousness . A SERMON Preach'd before the KING , Octob. 10. 1666. At the SOLEMN FAST appointed For the late FIRE in LONDON . By WILLIAM SANDCROFT , D. D. Dean of S. Pauls . Published by his Majestie 's Special Command . London , Printed for R. Pawlett , at the Bible in Chancery-lane near Fleetstreet . ISAIAH xxvi . 9. — When thy Judgments are in the Earth , the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness . THis Chapter with the two next before , and that which follows , are all four parts of the same prophetick Sermon , ( as appears by those words so often repeated in them , In that Day , fixing and determining All to the same Epoch , and period of Time ; ) belong All to the same subject Matter , sc. the Destruction of Judah and Jerusalem , whether by the Babylonians , or the Romans , or both . So that the Earth ( or as we may rather translate , the Land , or the Countrey ) wasted , and utterly spoiled , and turn'd upside down , Cap. xxiv . is doubtless the Land of Jewry : And the World that languisheth , and fadeth away , V. 4 of that Cap. not much wider ; that , and the neighbouring Regions , with whom the Jews had commerce , and intercourse of Peace and War , Moab , and Egypt , and Babylon , in a word , the Jewish World ; ( for so both the Hebrew and Greek words usually translated the Earth and the World , are often in Scripture-language contracted and limited by the Matter in hand : ) And consequently the City of Confusion , which is broken down , a City turn'd Chaos again , as the Hebrew imports , cap. xxiv . 10. the City turn'd into a Heap , or a Ruine , nay , in tumulum , as the Vulgar Latine , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the LXX . translate it , into one great Sepulchre to it self , buried in its own Rubbish , Cap. xxv . 2. The lofty City laid low , even to the Ground , and abased in the very Dust. Cap. xxvi . 5. The City desolate , and forsaken , and lest Wilderness , and desert all over , Cap. xxvii . 10. are but so many variations of the phrase , and signifie all the same thing , the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar , or Titus , or ( as some will have it ) by both . This sad Devastation the Prophet first beholds in speculo prophetico , sees it from far in his prophetick Telescope , as clearly , and distinctly , as if it were before his eyes , and describes it here and there the whole Sermon throughout , but chiefly , Cap. xxiv . in so lofty a Language , that many have mistaken it for the End of the World , and the Consummation of all things . But then , to sweeten so sad a Theme , he assures them , it shall not be a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , God will not make a final End now : No , a Remnant shall be left , as the shaking of an Olive-tree , and as the gleaning Grapes , when the Vintage is done , Cap. xxiv . 13. Nor shall they be only preserved , but restored too ; The Lord God will in time wipe away every Tear from off all Faces , and at last , swallow up this Death too in Victory , Cap. xxv . 8. Hee 'l turn their Captivities , and rebuild their City , and their Temple too ; and all this shall be as it were Life from the Dead , as the Apostle calls it , so miraculous a Re-establishment , at a Juncture so improbable , when they are destroyed out of all Ken of Recovery , that it shall be a kind of Resurrection ; and so like the great One , that 't is described in the very proper phrases of that , both by the other Prophets , and by Ours too a little below the Text , Thy Dead shall live again ; My dead Bodies shall arise : Awake and sing , ye that dwell in the Dust , &c. And then , ( which is of nearest Concern to us , and to our present Business ) the Prophet directs the Remnant that should escape , how to behave themselves under so great a Desolation ; and he contrives his directions into a threefold Song ( that they may be the better remarkt and remembred ) tun'd and fitted to the three great Moments of the Event . The first , to the time of the Ruine it self , Cap. xxiv . where having set before their Eyes the sad prospect of the holy City , and House of God in Flames ; When thus it shall be in the midst of the Land , saith he , there shall be a Remnant , and they shall lift up their voyce , and sing for the Majesty of the Lord , saying , Glorifie ye the Lord in the Fires , V. 15. And this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Song of Praise . The second is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Song of Degrees or Ascensions , fitted to the time of their Return , when All should be restor'd and rebuilt again ; and that we have Cap. xx vii . 2. In that Day sing ye unto her ; A Vineyard of Red Wine : I the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment ; lest any hurt it , I will keep it night and day . The third ( of which my Text is a principal strain ) belongs to the whole middle interval between the Ruine and the Restauration , in this xvi . Cap. In that day shall this Song be sung in the land of Judah , We have a strong City ; Salvation will God appoint for Walls and Bulwarks , &c. As if he had said ; Though our City be ruin'd , yet God is still our dwelling place ; our Fortresses dismantled , and thrown down , but Salvation will he appoint us for Walls and Bulwarks ; Our Temples in the Dust , but God will be to us himself , as a little Sanctuary . And this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Song to give Instruction , teaching them , and in them us , how to demean our selves , while the Calamity lies upon us : sc. to make God our Refuge , ver . 4. to wait for him in the Way of his Judgments , ver . 8. and in this 9. ver . earnestly to desire him from the very soul in the Night ( in the Darkest , and Blackest of the Affliction ; ) to seek him early , when it begins to dawn towards a better Condition ; and in the mean time , as 't is in the Text , to improve all this severe Discipline , as he intends it , for the advancing us in the knowledge of Him , and of our selves , and of our whole Duty ; For when thy Judgments are in the Earth , the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness . A Text you see , that supposeth Judgments in the Earth , or upon a Land ( as its Occasions ) and so suitable to our sad Condition : a Text too , that proposeth our Learning , as its End and Design , and so sutable ( one would think ) to our Inclination too . The Character , and Genius of the Age , we live in , is Learned : the pretence at this day so high , and so universal , that He is No-body now , who hath not a new Systeme of the World , a new Hypothesis in Nature , a new Model of Government , a new Scheme of God's Decrees , and the greatest Depths in Theology . We are many of us acute Philosophers ( that must not be disputed us ; ) most of us grand Politicks and Statsemen too ; All of us ( without exception ) deep Divines : — will needs be wiser than our Neighbours , but however wiser than our Teachers and Governours , if not wiser than God himself . A kind of Moral Rickets , that swells , and puffs up the Head , while the whole inner Man of the Heart wasts and dwindles . For like the silly Women , Disciples to the old Gnosticks , while we are thus ever learning ( pretending to great Heights , and Proficiencies ) we come never to the Knowledge of the Truth ( the Truth which is according unto Godliness ; ) In fine , amongst so many Learners they are but few , that learn Righteousness : — And therefore God himself here opens us a School ; erects a severe Discipline in the Text ; brings forth his Ferulas , when nothing else will serve the Turn . For he hath indeed four Schools , or rather four distinct Forms , & Classes in the same great School of Righteousness ; the last only ( that of his Judgments ) express in the Text , but the Rest too suppos'd at least , or covertly implied . For whether we look upon the latter Clause of the proposition . The Inhabitants of the World will learn ; — We find our selves there under a double Formalitie ; As Learners , and as Inhabiters . As Learners first , and so indued with Faculties of Reason ; Powers of a Soul capable of Learning , what is to be learned ; stampt , and possest with first Principles , & common Notions which deeply search'd , and duly improv'd , and cultivated , might teach us Much of Righteousness . And this is Schola Cordis in Domo interiori , the School of the Heart , God's first School in the little World within us . Secondly , as Inhabitants of the great World , which is God's School too , as well as his Temple , full of Doctrines and Instructions ; Schola Orbis , in which , He takes us forth continual Lessons of Righteousness , — Seque ipsum inculcat , & offert , Ut bene cognosci possit ; and that both from the Natural World , and from the political ; whether Schola Regni , or Schola Ecclesiae . Or if we return to the former Branch of the Text , When thy Judgments are in the Earth . This when they are , supposeth another time , when they Are Not in the Earth , and that time is the time of Love , ( as the Prophet speaks ) the Season of Mercy ; So that , Thirdly , here 's Schola Misericordiarum , the School of God's tender Mercies inviting us , gently leading , and drawing us with the Cords of a Man , with the Bands of Love : And lastly , when nothing else will serve , here 's Schola Judiciorum , the School of God's severe Judgments driving us to Repentance , and compelling us to come in and learn Righteousness . A provision ( you see ) every way sufficient , and abundant for our Learning , , were not we wanting to our selves . But alas ! we may run by the Text , and easily read in it these three things , as so many very Natural Deductions , and Emanations from it . First , our own ignorance and Stupidity ; Born like a wilde Asse's Colt , as Zophar speaks ; and then to our Natural we add affected Ignorance too : So that we are much to seek , and to learn Righteousness it must be taught us . Secondly , God's infinite , and inexpressible Grace and Mercy to us ; that when we had blurr'd the Original , defac'd the first Traces of Righteousness upon our Souls , he was pleas'd to provide Expedients to teach it us again the second time , that we might be renewed unto Knowledge after the Image of him , that created us in Righteousness , as the Apostle speaks . And Thirdly , Our indocible and unteachable Humour , our foul and shameful Non-proficiency under so plentiful a Grace . For though the Text indeed speaks of our learning Righteousness , when God's Judgments are upon us ; yet ( if the Appearances of the World abroad suggested nothing to the contrary ) 't is introduc'd here in the Text too , as the Effect of the last Form in God's School , in exclusion of all the former as ineffectual ; his utmost Method not to be used but at a pinch , when all the rest are basfled , and prove improsperous upon us : And then 't is exprest in the Original , and learned Versions with so many Limitations and Abatements ( as we shall see by and by ) that we may well give it up as the sum and upshot of all , that our All-merciful God omits no Means or Methods of our Improvement ; but we ( supinely negligent , and prodigiously stubborn as we are ) render them all ineffectual . That we may do so no longer , but rather make good the profession , with which we have dar'd to appear this Day before God , of humbling our selves under his Almighty Hand ; Let us , before we pass on any further , lift up our Hands and our Hearts to Him in the Heavens , beseeching him by the Power of his Mighty Grace so to sanctifie to us All , both the Sense of his present Judgment , and all our Meditations and Discourses thereupon , that by all we may be promoted in learning Righteousness . THe Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness or Justice : What 's that ? Is there such a thing in the World ? Or is it a Name onely , and a glorious pretence ? Is it not only another word for Interest or Utility , and so nothing just , but what is profitable ; Carneades his infamous Assertion retriv'd and own'd with open face by Christians ? Is it not the taking of a party , or the espousing of a Faction , and appearing for it with heat and animosity ; and a savage condemning and destroying All that are not of it ? Is it not the Profession to believe such a a System of Opinions , what life soever is consequent thereupon ? an airy invisible Righteousness , that never embodies or appears in our Actions , but hovers in the Clouds , in speculations and fancies , where no Man can find it ? The Truth is , there is no piece of Unrighteousness more common in the World , than thus to weigh Justice it self in an unjust Ballance ; while every one contrives his Hypothesis , so as to salve the Phaenomena , so declares his Notion , as may best suit and comport with his own unrighteous practices . But the Righteousness we are to learn in God's School , must not be a self-chosen Righteousness : We must not pay God our Soveraign , the Tribute of our Obedience in Coyn of our own stamping ; it must be such as will abide the Touchstone of his Word , and the Ballance of his Sanctuary . To make short , Righteousness or Justice , though elsewhere a single Vertue , yet here 't is vittually All : — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , said the Poet ; and the Philosopher after him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not a part , but all Vertue : and so often both in Scripture , and Fathers , comprehensively all Religion , the whole Duty of Man. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith S. Chrisostome : Omnes Virtutum species uno Justitiae nomine , saith S. Jerome . Not a particular Star , nor a single Constellation , but a whole Heaven of Vertues , an entire Globe of Moral and Christian Perfections ; an Universal Rectitude of the Will , conforming us in all Points to God's Righteous Law , the Rule of our Righteousness , Or if you will in two words , 't is Suum cuique to give every one his Due ; Suum Deo first , and then Suum proximo ; give God his Due , and your Neighbour too : These are the integral parts of it . So that Righteousness , as the great Rule of it , hath two Tables , or , if you will two Hemispheres , the upper and the nether : Both so vast , that we cannot measure them in a Span ( the Span of time allotted me ; ) I shall therefore contract them to the occasion , and give you only some of those particular Lessons of Righteousness , which this present Judgment of God upon our Land seems most clearly to take us forth , both in relation to God himself , and to our Neighbours ; and then call you , and my self to a serious Scrutiny , how well we have learn'd them , and so an end . And first we begin ( as we ought ) in giving God his due ; in rendring to God the things that are Gods. To limit this wide Universality too , and render it more proper , and peculiar , we may reduce all to that first of Esai's three Songs mention'd at the beginning , Glorifie ye the Lord in the Fires ; giving him upon this sad Occasion the Glory of that great Trinity of his Attributes ; the Glory of his Power , and Majesty ; the Glory of his Justice and Equity ; the Glory of his Goodness and Mercy . Give him the Glory of his Power and Greatness ; which the Prophet calls , singing for the Majesty of the Lord , Cap. xxiv . 15. or beholding the Majesty of the Lord , when his Hand is lifted up , in the verse after my Text. How great and glorious our God is , who is in himself incomprehensible , appears best by the glorious greatness of his Works . If he builds , it is a World , Heaven and Earth , and the Fulness of both . If he gives , it is his only Son out of his Bosom , the Brightness of his Glory , and the express Image of his Person . If he rewards , 't is a Crown , 't is a whole Heaven of Glories . If he be angry , he sends a deluge ; opens the Cataracts of Heaven above , and breaks up the Fountains of the great Deep below , and pours forth whole Flouds of Vengeance : Or else he rains down Hell out of Heaven , and in a moment turns a Land like the Garden of God into a dead Sea , and a lake of Brimstone . If he discover himself by any overt expression of his Power , though the Intention be meer Mercy , and loving Kindness , Mortality shrinks from it , and cannot bear it . When his Glory descends on Mount Sinai , the people remove , and stand afar off , and Let not God speak with us ( say they ) lest we die : and Depart from me , O Lord , saith S. Peter . amaz'd at that miraculous draught of Fishes : How much more should the Inhabitants of the World tremble before him , when his great and sore Judgments are in the Earth : Tremble thou Earth , the presence of God ( saith the Psalmist ) even when he improves the hard Rock into a Springing Well : much more when a fruitful Land he turns into barrenness , or a stately City into Ashes , for the wickedness of them that dwell therein . I am horribly asraid , saith David , for the ungodly that sorsake thy Law ; and I exceedingly sear , and quake , said Moses , at the giving of it : But when our Lord shall come again to require it , The Powers of Heaven shall be shaken too ; the Angels themselves ( as S. Chrysestom interprets ) though pure and innocent Creatures shall tremble ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) to see the severity of that Judgment . How much rather ought we , wretched Creatures that we are , conscious to our selves , of Dust , and Sin , to tremble and quake at the Wrath of this dread Lord of the Universe ; at whose Voice alone , the great Emporous Caligula runs under the Bed , and the mighty Bel-shazzar's Loins are loosed , and his knees knock one against another , when God but writes bitter things against him on the Wall. It were a vain Affectation , to attempt a Description of the greatness of our late horrible Devastation . This were to be Ambitiosus in Malis , to chew over all our Wormwood , and our Gall again : This were Rogum ascia polire , which the xii . TABLES forbad , to carve and paint the wood of our Funeral pile . I shall only call back your thoughts to stand with me upon the prospect of that horrid Theatre of the divine Judgments , and say , Come hither , and behold the Works of the Lord , what Desolation he hath made in the Earth ; and then who will not joyn with me to say upon so convincing an occasion ? We humble our selves under the Almighty Hand of God , the Lord of all the World ; We adore his Power and Majesty in lowly prostrations ; before whom all the Nations of the World are as a Drop of the Bucket , the Globe of the Earth as the small Dust of the Balance , and who taketh up the Isles ( even our Great Britains too , as we call them ) as a very little thing . Great and marvelous are thy Works , O Lord God Almighty ! who would not fear thee , and glorifie thy Name , when thy Judgments are thus manifest ? Thou hast brought them down that dwell on high , and laid the lofty City low , even to the Ground ; the Joyous City of our Solemnities , the Royal Chamber , the Emporium of the World , the Mart of Nations , the very Top Gallant of all our Glory in the Dust. Even so Holy Father , for so it seemed good in thy sight . We say not to our God , What do'st thou ? Wherefore hath the Lord done thus to this great City ? we reply not , we answer not again : The Lord hath spoken ; let all the Earth keep silence before him . We acknowledg thy Hand in it , O our God ; we submit to thy good pleasure in it ; we wait for thy Comfort , and thy Salvation in it . We meekly kiss the Rod that strikes us : With dying Jacob we desire to worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , with perfect Resignation as we are able , leaning and reposing upon the top of this thy severe Rod. For shall we rcceive Good at the hand of our God , and shall we not receive Evil ? 'T is the same Blessed Hand that distributes and strikes ; and with equal Reverence and Affection we adore it , whether he opens it wide in Bounty , or contracts it close in severity : The one the Divine Rhetorick to perswade us to learn Righteousnes ; the other his more irrefragable Logick to convince and constrain us . And therefore , we charge not our Maker foolishly ; but meekly accept the punishment of our Iniquity . And having thus ador'd his Power ( which was the First ) we go on in the next place to acknowledg his Justice too ; saying with holy DAVID , Righteous art thou , O Lord , and just are thy Judgments : The second part of God's Due . Give him the Glory of his Justice also ; and if you learn no other Righteousness in his School , at least learn His , and frankly confess it too . For though God's Judgments may be secret , yet they cannot be unjust : Like the great Deep indeed , an Abyss unfathomable ; But though we have no Plumb-line of Reason , that can reach it , our Faith assures us , there 's Justice at the Bottom . Clouds and Darkness are round about him , saith the Psalmist ; but , as it follows , Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne : So much we may easily discern through all the Veils and Curtains that invelop him , that Justice stands always fast by his Judgment-seat . And therefore though it be a nice , and a delicate point to assign the particular sins , for which God hath thus sorely afflicted us ; yet must we declare ( as we are warranted by sacred Authority ) That God hath laid his heavy Judgment upon us All , as an Evidence of his Displeasure for our Sins in general . Not to engage in that Common Theme ; we may clear it a little by the Light of our own Fires , ( the particular Instrument of our Calamity ) in two or three Reflections upon that . God spake his Righteous Law at first out of the midst of the Fire , Exod. xix . 18. And he shall appear from Heaven again in flaming Fire , taking vengeance on them that obey it not , saith the Apostle . Now as the Prophet Amos argues from another circumstance of Terrour , wherewith the Law was given , the sound of the Trumpet ( the first Trumpét certainly , we ever read of in any Record in the World , as the last Trumpet ( the Apostle tells us ) shall be that of the Arch-angel to summon us to account for it ) Shall a Trumpet be blown ( and so say I , shall a Fire be kindled ) in the City ( nay , a whole City become but one great Fire ) and the people not be afraid ; We not reflect upon our own Guiltiness before God , who came at first with a Fiery Law in his Right Hand to teach us our Duty , and shall come again at last with Fiery Indignation at his left to devour all those that perform it not ? Again , Fire and Water are the two great Instruments of God's double Vengeance upon the World of the Ungodly : The One long since past recorded for our Instruction ; the Other yet to come , the Matter ( it ought to be , I am sure ) of our continual Terror . The World that then was , perished by Water ( saith S. Peter ) and the World that is now , is reserv'd unto Fire : In the mean time , Fire and Water , things of commonest Use with us , are also the standing Metaphors almost in every verse of Scripture , to express God's Judgments of all sorts : Is it not on purpose to remind us , when ever we hear the sound , or make use of the things , or feel the smart of either , to reslect upon the heavy wrath of God against Sin in his so solemn expressions of it ? Once more , Fire is the Tyrant in Nature , the King of the Elements , the mighty Nimrod in the Material World. God hath given us this Active Creature for our Servant , and we degrade him to the meanest Offices , to the Drudgery of the Kitchin , and the labour of the Furnace . But God can infranchize him when he pleases , and let him loose upon us ; and for our sins , of an useful Servant , make him to us a a rigorous , and a Tyrannical Master . You saw him the other Day , when he escaped from all your Restraints , mockt all your Resistance , scorn'd the Limits , you would have set him : Wing'd with our Guilt , he flew triumphant over our proudest Heights , waving his curl'd Head , seeming to repeat us that Lesson which holy S. Austin taught us long since , That the inferiour Creatures serve us Men , only that we may serve him , who made both us and them too . If we rebel against Heaven , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith the Wiseman ; The World shall rise in Arms upon us , and fight with him against the Unwise . Even the Holy Fires of the Altar too , though kindled from Heaven on purpose to propitiate an angry Deity , prov'd often through Man's provocations the Instruments of his Fury ; the Mercy-seat became the Arsenal of Vengeance , and from the presence of God himself went forth those Flames that devour'd his Adversaries ? And all to teach us this Lesson , That 't is Sin puts the Thunder into God's Hand , and turns Flames of Love into a consuming Fire . And therefore dream no longer of Granado's or Fire-Balls , or the rest of those witty Mischiefs ; search no more for Boutefieus or Incendiaries , Dutch or French : The Dutch Intemperance , and the French Pride and Vanity , and the rest of their Sins , we are so fond off , are infinitely more dangerous to us , than the Enmity of either Nation ; for these make God our Enemy too . Or if you 'l needs find out the Incendiary , look not abroad ; Intus host is , intus periculum , saith St. Jerome . Turn your Eyes inward into your own Bosoms ; there lurks the great Make-bate , the grand Boutefieu between Heaven and us . Trouble not your selves with Planetary Aspects , or great Conjunctions ; but for your own Oppositions direct and Diametral to God , and his Holy Law. Fear not the Signs of Heaven , but the Sins on Earth , which hath made a separation between you and your God. 'T is injurious to the sweet Influences of the Stars , to charge them with such dire Effects , as Wars , and Pestilences and Conflagrations : Divinae Justitiae opera haec , sunt ( saith the Father ) & humanae injustitiae . These are the Products of God's Righteousness upon our Unrighteousness . Wherefore glorifie we God in these our Fires , saying with the Prophet , Righteousness belongs to thee , O Lord , but unto us confusion of Faces , as it is this day , because of our manifold Trespasses that we have trespassed against thee . If yet it be expected I should be more particular , in assigning the very Sins that have occasian'd this heavy Judgment , 't is a slippery place , and hard to keep firm footing in it . The mysterious Text of God's Holy Providence ( as I said before ) is dark and obscure ; and so much the more , because there are so many Interpreters , ( for though there be no infallible Judge of the Sense of it , yet all Fingers itch to be doing ; ) their Conjectures so various , and full of contradiction , so tincted and debaucht with private prejudice , that they do but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , wrest it unskilfully , as they do the other holy Text , Convertunt in mentem suam ( as the aethiopick turns that place in St. Peter ) torture , and torment it , till it confess their own Sense . As for the many spiteful and unrighteous Glosses upon the sad Text of our present Calamity ( on which every Faction amongst us hath a Revelation , hath an Interpretation ; ) I will not mention , much less imitate them . Justus Accusator sui , saith the Wiseman . 'T is a righteous thing for every Man to suspect himself , to look first into the plague of his own Heart , and to be ready to say with the Disciples , Master , Is it not I ? We are all over apt to charge one another foolishly enough ; to take St. Peter's counsel , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be kind and favourable to our selves in our Interpretations and Censures ; but God methinks , at present seems to accuse us All. When a Judgment is particular and reacheth but a few , we have a savage promptness in condemning the Sufferers , with , This is God's just Judgment for such a thing , which we , it seems like not , though perhaps God himself doth . So long as the Thunder-bolt flies over our own Heads , we hug our selves , and All is well ; 't is our dear pastime , and a high voluptuousness to sit and censure others , and flatter our selves , that we are more righteous than they . To meet with this ill Humour , God hath reacht us now an universal stroak that comes home to every Man : So that 't is as our Prophet states it in the beginning of this Sermon , As with the Prince and the Priest , ( for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both ) so with the people , as with the Master , and the Mistress , so with the Servant , as with the Buyer , and the Borrower , so with the Seller and the Lender . In fine , He is no Englishman that feels not this Blow : And therefore as the Judgment is Universal , let us give Glory to God , and confess , that the Sin is so too ; saying with the good Nehemiah , Thou art just , O God , in All that is brought upon us ; on our King , and on our Princes ; on our Priests , and on our Prophets ; on our Fathers , and on all thy People ; For thou hast done Right , but we have All done Wickedly . God give us Grace to take every one the shame that belongs properly to himself , and to joyn heartily together in a full Chorus at the last , repeating that excellent Exomologesis of holy David , with which I began this point , and shall now conclud it , Righteous art thou , O Lord , and just are thy Judgments . But there is another yet behind . — Lastly , give God the Glory of his Mercy too ; that must in no wise be forgotten . 'T is the priviledge and prerogative of Mercy , that it mixeth it self in all God's Works ; even in Justice it self too . He sendeth forth Lightnings with the Rain ( saith the Psalmist ) he bringeth the Winds out of his Treasuries . Strange Furniture , one would think for a Treasury , Storms and Tempests ! But there is so very much of Mercy even in God's Judgments too , that they also deserve a place amongst his Treasures , ay and amongst ours too . For he licenseth not a Wind , or a Storm , le ts not fly a flash of Lightning , or a Ball of Fire , but a Mercy goes along with it ; comes flying to us ( if we miss it not by our Negligence or Inadvertency ) upon the Wings of that Wind ; and discovers it self to us even by the Light of those Fires . And therefore turn not away your Eyes in Horror , but study the late Conflagration : And even in the Dust and Ashes of our City , if we sift and examine them well , we may find rich Treasures of Mercy hidden . Mercy first , that God spar'd us , and preserv'd us so long . For without his Divine Manutenency , our strongest Fabricks had faln immediately upon their very Builders , He that made all things at first , by preserving makes them still ; new makes them every Moment ; and for his Will 's sake alone they were and are created . He carries Nature alwayes in his Bosom , fostering and cherishing her ; and that not only as she came out of his own hand , and bears the Impresses of his Infinite Wisdom and Power ; but as we have transform'd and disguis'd her by our petty skill ; as she is fettered and shackled by our silly Artifices : Even the World of Fancy too , the poor Attempts and Bunglings of Art , our Houses of Dirt and Clay ( which we call Pálaces and so please our selves in ) would quickly fall asunder , and moulder all into the Dust they consist of , did not an Almighty Hand uphold them . If he keep not the House and the City , in vain the Builder builds , and the Watchman wakes , and the Centinel stands perdu . And therefore give we him the Glory of this Mercy , saying Thanks be to the Lord , who so long shew'd us marvellous great Kindness , I say not with the Psalm , in a strong City , ( though the strongest without him is weakness ) but in a very weak One : A City in the Meanness of the Materials , the Oldness of the Buildings , the streightness of some Streets , the ill Situation of others , and many like Inconveniencies , so expos'd to this dismal Accident , that it must needs have been long since in Ashes , had not his miraculous Mercy preserv'd it , who , so long as he pleaseth ( and that is just so long as we please Him ) continues the Fire to us useful and safe , serviceable , and yet innocent , with as much ease as he lays it asleep , and quiet in the Bosom of a Flint . Mercy again , That he afflicts us at all ; that we are yet in his School ; that he hath not quite given us over , and turn'd us out as unteachable and incorrigible . Felix cui Deus dignatur irasci , saith Tertullian ; in David's Language Blessed is the Man whom thou chastnest , O Lord , and teachest him in thy Law ; send'st him thy Judgments , and learn'st him thy Righteousness . But to sin , and not be punisht , is the sorest punishment of all , saith S. Chrysostome . Dimisit eos secundum desideria Cordis , He suffer'd them to walk after their own Heart's Lusts , that 's a dreadful portion : Let them alone , Why should they be stricken any more ? that 's the prosperity of Fools that destroys them , as Solomon ; or as David phraseth it ; This is for God to rain Snares upon the ungodly : A horrible Tempest indeed ! as he there calls it , and worse than the Fire and Brimstone in the same Verse . Mercy too , That he afflicts us himself , keeps us still under his own Discipline , and hath not yet given us over unto the Will of our Adversaries . The hand of an Enemy poysons the Wound : His Malice or his Insolence doubles and trebles the Vexation . The Malignity of the Instrument may invenom a Scratch into a Gangrene . But the Blessed Hand of God , even when it strikes , drops Balsom . His very Rods are bound up in Silk and Softness , and dipt before hand in Balm : He wounds that he may heal , and in wounding heals : Una , eademque Manus Vulnus , opemque — And therefore may we never be beaten by the hand of a cruel and insulting Slave : But let our Righteous Lord himself smite us , and it shall be a Kindness ; let him correct us , and it shall be an excellent Oyl . O let us us still fall into the Hands of God ( for great are his Mercies ) but let us not fall into the hands of Men. Mercy lastly in the Degree of the Affliction ; That he hath punisht us less than our Iniquities deserve ; afflicted us in measure ; corrected us in Judgment , not in his Fury , for then we had been utterly brought to nothing : That we have had our Lives for a Prey , and are as so many Fire-brands pluckt out of the Burning . And therefore , why should a living Man complain ? Say we rather as Abraham did in the Case of Sodom , when he had that horrible Scene of Vengeance now in his Eye , We are but Dust and Ashes : Not only Dust in the course of ordinary Frailty , but Ashes too in the merit of a far sharper Doom ; deserve , that God should bring us to Dust , nay , even turn us to Ashes too , as our Houses . It is of the Lord's Mercies , that We our selves also are not consumed , because his compassions fail not ; that any part of our City is still remaining ; that God hath left us yet a holy place to assemble in , solemnly to acknowledge ( as we do this Day ) his most miraculous Mercy : That when all our Wit was puzzl'd , and all our Industry tir'd out ; when the Wind was at the highest , and the Fire at the hottest , and all our hopes were now giving up the Ghost , Then He , whose season is our greatest extremity ; He , who stayeth his rough Wind in the Day of the East-wind , as 't is in the next Chapter ; He , who alone sets Bounds to the Rage of the Waters ; restrain'd also on the suddain , the Fury of this other merciless and unruly Element , by the Interposition of his Almighty Hucusque , hitherto shalt thou go , and no further . Ay this deserves indeed to be the Matter of a Song , Joy in the Lord upon so great an Occasion , upon so noble an Experience , sits not unhandsome on the Brow of so sad a Day as this is . It shall be said in that Day , saith our Prophet , and let us all say it ; say it with Triumph , and Jubilee too , ) Lo , this is our God , we have waited for him , and He hath saved us ; This is the Lord , we will be glad , and rejoyce in his Salvation : — The third and last part ( we shall mention ) of God's Due , the Glory of his Mercy . And now having thus clear'd and secur'd the Fountain of Righteousness , in the Discharge of some part of our Duty to God ( where regularly it must begin ; ) it remains , Ut ducatur Rivus Justitiae de fonte Pietatis , as St. Gregory speaks : It must not be a Fountain seal'd or shut up within it self ; ( Religion is not , as some would have it , a Supersedeas to Common Honesty ; the performing our Duty towards God , no Discharge of our Duty to Man : ) In the next place it should run down like a River , in mighty Streams of Righteousness to all our Neighbours round about us ; the other great Branch , the second Table , or ( if you will ) the other Hemisphere in this great Globe of Righteousness . And here , Ecce nouas Hyadas , aliumque Oriona — So many new Asterisms and Constellations of Vertues appear , that the time will not give leave to number them , or call them all by their Names : I can only touch lightly the greater Circles , some of the more comprehensive Lines and Measures of them in these few Generals , and so pass on . 'T is Righteousness Indefinitely First , and so Universally . So that 't will not be sufficient to take forth some part of it in God's School , a line or two , it may be , of our great Lesson , and neglect the Rest ; to study some one Page or Paragraph , and tear all the Book besides ; to break the Tables ( to far worse Effect than Moses did ) and content our selves with some sorry Fragment : No , What ever goes under the common style of Universal Justice ; whatever falls within the large Bosom of that comprehensive Epitome , into which our Lord himself abridg'd the Law and the Prophets , All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you , do even so to them ; Whatever comes within compass of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as S. James calls it , the Royal Law , ( the latter part of the holy Institutes , the other tome of the Christian Pandects , the second great Commandment like the first , as our Saviour styles it ) Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self ; Even all the Offices and Instances of duty between man & man ; ( Reverence and Obedience to our Superiors , Courtesie and Humanity to our Equals ; Kindness and Condescension to our Inferiours ; Gratitude and Thankfulness to our Benefactors ; Justice and Upright-dealing towards All ; Truth in our Words , and Faithfulness in our Trusts , and Constancy to our Promises , and Candor , and Sincerity and Honesty in all our Actions : And yet further and higher , for 't is a Righteousness improv'd & heightned , or at least interpreted by our Lord into Love , and so obligeth us beyond the strict Measures of Common Justice , and not only renders , what is legally due , but gives and forgives beyond it ; ) Equity and Moderation to those , that are any way obnoxious to us ; Mildness and Gentleness to those that have any way offended us ; Sympathy and Compassion towards them that suffer ; Mercy and Bounty to them that need ; Goodness and Peaceableness , and Charity to all the World : ) These are all parts of this great Lesson , and whatever else may help to denominate us The Righteous Nation that keepeth the Truth ( as 't is in the second verse of this Chapter ) or the City in which dwells Rightcousness . But then as 't is Righteousness indefinitely , ( the Commandment exceeding broad , as David speaks , wide in the Extension ; so is it also as deep in the Intension , ) 't is Righteousness Internally and Spiritually too ; as being a Righteousness taught us by God's , and not by Mans Judgments only , and consequently must have an Effect proportionable : 'T is when Thy Judgments are in the Earth , Men will learn — As the Jews , while their fear towards God was taught them by the Precepts of Men , drew near to him , and honoured him with their Mouth only , but removed their Hearts far away from him , Isai. xxix 13. Upon the same Ground , our Righteousness will never exceed the Righteousness of Scribes , and Pharisees Hypocrites , must needs prove Noise , and appearance only , a meer and vain Semblance , if we learn it in no higher School than Mans ; take it forth from the XII Tables only , not from the Two , and have no other Tutor in it than Solon , or Lycurgus , or Justinian . For the Derivation can return no higher than the Fountain-head ; and what is taught us only by the Statutes of Omri , or at Caesar's Judgment-seat , will never come up to what the perfect Law of God requires . While we are under this lower and external Discipline only , if we can but skulk and shift , and play least in sight , and seem to be Righteous , though we are not so ; Recti●in Curia , though not upright in Heart : Or if we be discovered and impleaded too , if we can , whether by Power or Artifice , break through the venerable Cobweb , and run under the miserable shelter of a Temporal Indemnity at these lower Bars : Why , All is well ; with Solomon's Wanton we wipe our Mouths , and are suddenly very Virgins again , not only safe , but innocent too . But though Humane Laws exact only outward Compliances , assume not to themselves to judge the Heart , because they cannot discern it , nor take Cognizance of secret Thoughts and Purposes , further than they are declar'd by overt Acts : Yet God is a Spirit , and a Discerner of the inmost Thoughts and Intentions ; and his Law Spiritual too , and given to the Spirit ; and the Righteousness taught in his School , is not a Carcase , or an Outside only , but a living Soul , and a Spirit of Righteousness : and by con'equence it stays not in the outward Act , ( the proper Object of Humane Laws and Provisions ; ) restrains not only open violences ( such as the Judgment-seat of Man condemns , and the Scaffold , or the Gibbet take notice of ; ) not only smooths and polisheth the outward Garb , to render that plausible in the eyes of the World : But goes yet further and deeper , even to the Heart ; composeth the whole Inner-Man too , and labours to approve that to the Righteous Judge , who sees not as Man sees ; and in fine , calls us up to that glorious height of the Primitive Christians in Justin Martyr , who obey'd indeed the Municipal Laws of their Countrey , but out-liv'd them too , and surmounted them far , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as he speaks ; they contented not themselves with so seant Measures , but flew a higher and a nobler pitch , aiming at a more re●in'd and perfect Righteousness , the worthy Effect of God's Judgments , and not of Mans only ; taught in his School alone , and not at our Tribunals . And then , Lastly , 'T is Righteousness Positively and Affirmatively too . For though the Decalogue is almost all over Negative in the Style and Form of it ; yet , our Lord , by reducing all the Precepts of it to one Affirmative ( Love , ) and also by his Affirmative Glosses or Additions to it in his Sermon on the Mount , seems to have authorised the Rule of their Exposition , receiv'd generally by Christian Divines , That the Negative still infers the Affirmative , and that there are many Yeas conceal'd in the Bosom of every such No. So that however 't is indeed a part of our Duty , not to Murther , and not so Slander , and not to Covet , and the like , ( an Obligation consequent upon God's prohibition ; and he takes it well , when for his sake we abstain from the Evil we are inclin'd or strongly solicited to , and so accepts graciously our very Nothing , as I may call it , our not doing amiss ; thus giving us leave to inclose , as it were , a part of our Waste , and to ●aise some Revenue upon it : ) Yet this is so much short of the Height of the Lesson we are to learn in God's School , that 't is only the unlearning something that might obstruct it ; so far from making us truly Righteous , that it can only style us Innocent , and set us Extra vitia rather than Intra virtutem . We must not then content our selves with a Negative Righteousness ; nor confine , and limit it within the sorry Bounds of the Pharisaical Boast , That we are not , as other Men are , Extortioners or Unjust : In some Cases he is unjust too , that gives not his own , as well as he that takes away what is anothers : In the Sacred Dialect , Alms-deeds are Justice too ; even Acts of Mercy , and Bounty to those that need them , stricti Juris , a part of our Righteousness sometimes so indispensable , as not to be omitted without Sin. And therefore glorifie thy self no longer , that thou do'st harm to no Man : — Cum dicis stultum , qui donat Amico , Qui paupertatem levat , attollitque propinqui , Et spoliare doces — could the Heathen Poet say : He robs his neighbour , that relieves him not : He spoils his Friend , that in some Cases doth not supply him . And though 't is well ( a good Degree ) if we can say with S. Paul , I have wronged no Man ; yet he only is perfectly blameless in this kind , Qui ne in eo quidem ulli noceat , quo prodesse desistat , as S. Jerome excellently ; who doth not this Evil to his Neighbour , that he omits to do him all the good he can . Thou didst not burn thy Neighbours house , ( a strange piece of uncouth Righteousness ! ) But do'st thou receive him into thy own , now he is harborless ? Thou hast not opprest , or impoverisht thy Brother ; 'T is well : But is thy Abundance the Supply of his Want in this present exigent ? thy Superfluity the Ransom and Redemption of his extream Necessities ? If not , remember , that Dives is in torments , not for robbing Lazarus , but for not relieving Sin : And the dreadful Decretory Sentence proceeds at the last Day , not for oppressing the Poor , but for not feeding , not cloathing , not visiting them : A Reflection very common indeed ; yet never more proper or seasonable than at this time , when God presents us an Object of Charity , the greatest , I think , and the most considerable that was ever offer'd to this Nation , and when Heaven and Earth expect , that something extraordinary should be done . I have now opened the Book , and laid it before you , and given you a short Draught of this very important Lesson : a Lesson so considerable , that our Wise and Good God thinks it worth the while to rout Armies , and sink Navies ; to burn up Cities , and turn Kingdoms upside down ; to send Wars , and Plagues , and Conflagrations amongst us ; to set open all his Schools , and ply all his severest Methods to teach it us the more effectually . Think now , that he looks down this Day from Heaven to take Notice of our Proficiency ; to see how far we are advanc'd by these his Judgments in learning Righteousness . And is it possible , we should stand out any longer ? Can we still resist so powerful a Grace ? Are not the parts of the Text by this time , happily met together ? and the Truth of it accomplisht , and exemplified in us to the full ? — Gods Judgments on us , and his Righteousness in us ? Who would not think and hope so ? But as S. Jerome complains of his Age ( which was indeed very calamitous ) Orbis Romanus ruit , & tamen Cervix nostra non flectitur : The World sinks and cracks about our Ears , and yet our Neck as stiff , and the Crest of our Pride as lofty , and as erect as ever . How few are they that repent in Dust and Ashes , even Now , that God hath laid our City in Dust , and our Houses in Ashes ! Look we first upon the Text , and then upon our selves , and we must ingenuously acknowledge , that whatever Abatements or Diminutions to the Height of the design'd event of God's Judgments upon us the Text , or any Version of it note , or imply , our wretched evil Lives do but too plainly express and justifie . For — 1. Who are they that are said here to learn Righteousness in the Text ? Not always the Afflicted themselves , it seems ; but some others that stand by and look on . For 't is not to be omitted , that the phrase manifestly varies in the parts of the Proposition : Judgments in the Earth , or upon the Land , some particular Countrey ; and the World at large , or some few in it learn Righteousness . Thus Tyrus shall be devour'd with Fire , saith the Prophet : Ashkelon shall see it , and fear ; Gaza and Ekron shall be very sorrowful : But not a word how Tyrus her self is affected . God forbid it should be so with us ! May it never be said , that any of our neighbors make better use of our calamities , than we our selves ! Have we any so hard-hearted amongst us , that can look upon so sad a Spectacle , as if they sate all the while in the Theater , or walkt in a Gallery of Pictures ; little more concern'd , than at the Siege of Rhodes , or the Ruines of Troy ? Shall any Neighbour-City say wisely — Mea res agitur , jam proximus ardet Vcalegon — ? Shall our enemies themselves ( the sober and the Wise amongst them , at the least ) tremble at the Relation , and we continue stupid , and senseless ? Shall Constantinople and Alexandria resent it , and we not regard it as we ought ? Nay , shall China and Peru ( it may be ) Surat and Mexico , both the Indies hear , and be affected with it , and we our selves insensible ? Shall the Inhabitants of the World abroad warm themselves at our Fires , with kindly and holy Heats ; while in the mean time our Repentings are not kindled , nor our Charity inflam'd , and our Devotion as cold and frozen as ever ? Shall our Mountain ( which we said in our jolly pride should never be removed ) be fulminated , and thunder-strook , but the Blessed shower , that follows , the Instruction , that descends after , like the Rain , slide off to the Vallies , to Others , that are round about us ? Our Lord wept over Jerusalem , because she knew not then ( at forty years distance ) the time of her Visitation ; for the Days will come , saith He , when there shall not be lest one stone upon another : But Wo is me ! Our Day is come already , and our Visitation now actually upon us ; and yet I fear , we will not know it , as we ought . For — 2. Reflect a little upon the Tense of the Verb , how that varies too in the parts of the Proposition : The Judgments Are in the Earth , and the Inhabitants Will learn — ( So the Vulgar Latin & the English : ) 'T is still per verba de suturo . For we list not to hand-fast our selves to God Almighty , to make our selves over to him by present Deed of Gift ; but would fain , forsooth , bequeath our selves to him a Legacy in our last Will and Testament . Ay but In necessitatibus nemo Liberalis : 'T is not a free or a noble Donation , which we bestow , when we can keep it no longer our selves : For such a Bequest we may thank Death , rather than the Testator , saith S. Chrysostome . But we are all Clinicks in this point ; would fain have a Baptism in Reserve , a Wash for all our Sins , when we cannot possibly commit them any more . Like Felix the unjust Governour , when S. Paul reasons of Righteousness , our Heads begin to ake , and presently we adjourn , with , Go thy way for this time ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ( as he pretended ) when we have time and Opportunity , and convenient Leisure ( which we read not , that he ever found ) in plain English , when we have nothing else to do , or can do nothing else , then wee 'l take forth this Lesson ; — Learn Righteousness , as Cato did Greek , Jam Septuagenarius , just when we are a dying ; — Begin then to con our part , when we are ready to be hist off the Stage , and Death is now pulling off our properties . But take we heed in time : He may prove a false Prophet , that promiseth himself to die the Death of the Righteous , when he hath lov'd , and pursu'd the Ways , and Wages of Unrighteousness all his life long : Who thinks if he can but shape the last faint Breath he draws into a formal pretence of forgiving all the World , and a sly desire of being forgiven ; Upon these two hangs the whole stress of his Righteousness , he goes out of God's School upon fair terms , and thinks to render a plausible Account of himself . No no ; the great Lesson of the Text is harder and deeper than so : 'T is that we must sweat for , 't is that we may bleed for : 'T is all that Adam lost , and All that Christ came to recover : 'T is the Business of our whole life , and 't is desperate Folly and Madness to defer to learn it till Death , when God now calls us to account for it . Though the Verb in some Versions be future ( as I said ) yet still 't is Discent Habitatores , we must learn it while we dwell here in the World , and who can secure us that beyond the next moment ? When once we remove hence , there 's no School beyond : The Platonick Eruditorum in ORIGEN ( a place under Ground , I know not where , in which separated Souls are suppos'd to learn what they mist of , or neglected here ) as very a Fable as the Platonick Purgatory . As there is no Work , nor Labour ; so no Device , nor Knowledge , nor Wisdom in the Grave . The Schools are all in this World : All beyond is Prison , and Dungeon , and place of Torment , for such as learn not their Duty here ; Fire without Light , and utter Darkness . 3. Again , They did learn ( so the Syriac , and the Interlineary Latin ) when thy Judgments were in the Earth : For there is an Ellipsis in the Original of the former clause , and the Verb Substantive may be supplied either way , when thy Judgments Are or Were in the Earth : And the Conjunction may seem to stand fair for the later 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in quantum , or juxta quod ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as R. David glosseth it ) qua mensura , aut modo ; and so the Syriac , Qualia Judicia , talem Justitiam dedicerunt : So much Judgment , so much Justice ; Righteousness they did learn , just while God's Rod was over them , and no longer . Thus while God's Plagues lay heavy upon Pharaoh , even that stiff neck bow'd , and that hard heart was softned ; As Iron in a quick Fire relents and melts ; but take it out of the Furnace , and it grows hard again , nay worse , Churlish and Unmalleable : And so he , When he saw that there was Respite , saith the Text , or a breathing time , He hardned his Heart , Ex. viii . 15. And do not we all the same ? Like teeming Women , while the pangs are upon us , we have sorrow ; when some great Affliction gives us a smart Visit , strikes home , and deep , we seem to be a little sensible Ay but the Throws once over , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith our Lord , the Woman remembers them no more ; and so we , If but for a little space Grace be shewed us , if God gives us but a little Respite in our Bondage , like Israel newly returned from Babel , we streight forget his Commandments ; which made the good Ezra asham'd and blush to lift up his Face to Heaven ; Ezra , Cap. ix . Vers. 8 , 10. Happy We , if , as Pliny adviseth his friend Maximus , Tales esse sani perseveremus , quales futuros profitemur infirmi ; if we continue such in Health , as we promise to be upon our sick-beds . But alas ! Convaluit ; Mansit , ut ante . How few with David pay the Vows which they spake with their Mouths , when they were in trouble ? Do not the engagements on the sick-bed vanish , like the Dreams of the sick , forgotten , as if they had never been ? I appeal to your own Bosoms ; though affected at first with this late dismal Accident , doth it not prove to you a nine-days Wonder , and your Thoughts though much startled at first , by degrees reconcile to it ? Do not your Devotions begin to grow cold with the Fires ; rak'd up , like those dying sparks in dead Ashes , and buried in the Dust ; — Ignes suppositi Cineri doloso ? Just as our Prophet states it here , While thy Judgments were upon them , they learn'd ; But as it follows immediately , Fiat Gratia Impio , Let Favour be shewed to the Wicked , the least Intermission or kind Interval , and he will not learn Righteousness , saith the Text expresly ; he soon lays by his Book , and gives over . But 4. Lastly , What is it that we learn ? or , to what good end or purpose ? The Chaldee Paraphrast interposeth here a very Material and Operative word , Discent operari , they will learn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to do , or to work Righteousness . And this Addition shews us another of our Defects ; cuts off , I fear , above half the Roll of our Learners at once . We live ( as I said ) in a learned Age : But in all this Croud and Throng of Learners , how few put themselves in good earnest into God's School ? And of them that do , how much fewer yet take forth their Lesson aright ? — Learn any thing else they will , but not Righteousness ; and if that , any thing , but to do it ? But this is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , rightly to divide ; this is to mangle the Text , and to saw Isaiah asunder again . Would learning or talking , or pretending serve the turn , We might find Righteousness enough in the World : We can define it , and distinguish it , Criticize upon the Word , & dispute of the Thing without end : we stuff our Heads with the Notion , and tip our Tongues with the Language , and fill the World with our pretences to it : But Little Children , saith S. John , ( Oye World of Learners ) Be not deceived , ( Let no Man seduce you into this piece of Gnosticism , as if to learn , or to know , were sufficient ; No , ) ' O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , He that Doth Righteousness , he is Righteous . Non fortia loquimur , sed vivimus , saith S. Cyprian ; The life of Religion is Doing . What we know , we must practice too ; Whereto we have already attained , we must walk in it , saith the Apostle . They , that follow'd Christ , were first indeed call'd Disciples , that is , Learners , ( for there we must begin ; ) But they soon after commenc'd Christians at Antioch , Anointed to Action , as the word implies ; and this Name sticks by them still , as the more essential . Their Oyl must not be spent all in the Lamp , In Schola Sapientiae , that they may shine by Knowledge ; they must do their Exercises too In Gymnasio Justitiae , be anointed to the Agon , and to the Combat ( as the Champions of old ; ) and if they expect the Crown of Righteousness , must not only learn Righteousness , but learn to do it . ANd therefore ( to shut up All , and to inforce it a little upon such Topicks , as the Text , and the sad Face of things amongst us suggest ; ) Let us no longer trifle with God Almighty , now we find to our cost , that He is in good earnest with us . Be not deceived ; God , I 'me sure , is not mock'd . 'T is not our fasting , and looking demure a little , and hanging down the Head , like a Bull-rush for a Day ; 'T is not a few Grimaces of sorrow , a sad word or two , or a weeping Eye will serve the turn : — Our Hearts must bleed too , our Souls must be afflicted , and mourn for our old Unrighteousnesses , and forsake them too , and renounce them all for ever ; and yet further , take forth new Lessons of Righteousness in all holy Conversations and Godlinesses , as S. Peter speaks , even in all the instances of Piety , and Justice , and Charity , ye heard of even now , or all this holy Discipline of God is lost , and spent in vain upon us . For this is all the Fruit , saith our Prophet , to take away sin : If that remain still in us , Adversity is a bitter Cup indeed . To keep our sins , and hold them fast , even when God's Judgments are upon us for them , this is with Copronymus , to pollute the Fountain that should wash us , to defile the salutary Waters of Affliction , to prophane the holy Fires of God's Furnace , and to pass through the Fire to Moloch , to some reigning and domineering Sin , some Tyrant-lust , or Mistress-passion . Correction without Instruction , this is the Scourge of Asses , not the Discipline of Men , nor the Rod of the Sons of Men. To suffer much , and not to be at all the better for it , 't is certainly one of the saddest portions that can befal us in this World ; if not the fore-boding and prognostick of a far sadder yet to come , the very beginnings of Hell here , the Fore-tasts of that Cup of Bitterness , of which the Damned suck out the Dreggs . And wilt thou after all this hide the sweet Morsel under thy Tongue , when thou sensibly perceiv'st it already turning into the Gall of Asps ? — Still long for the delicious portion , consecrated and snatch it greedily from God's Altars , though thou seest thy Fingers burn , and thy Nest on fire with it ? — Still retain the old Complacence in thy sparkling Cup , though thou feel'st it already biting like a Serpent , and stinging like an Adder ? — say still , Stoln Waters are sweet , though like those bitter Ones of Jealousie , thou perceiv'st them carry a Curse along with them into thy very Bowels ? Dare we thus provoke the Lord to Jealousie ? Are we stronger than He ? Gird up now thy loyns like a Man , thou stoutest , and gallantest of the Sons of Earth . Hast thou an Arm like God ? or canst thou thunder with a Voice like him ? Wilt thou set the Briars and Thorns of the Wilderness against him in Battel-Array ? or canst thou dwell with everlasting Burnings ? Or despisest thou the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance ; not knowing ( refusing to know ) that the Long-suffering of our Lord is Salvation , and that his Goodness leadeth thee to Repentance ? If not , know assuredly , that thy Hardness and Impenitent Heart , do but treasure up for thee , yet a fiercer , and a more insupportable Wrath. And therefore let us not flatter our selves , nor think that God hath now emptied his Quiver , and spent all his Artillery upon us ; Let us not come forth delicately with the foolish Agag , saying , Surely the Bitterness of Death is past : No , the Dregs of the Cup of Fury are still behind ; God grant we be not forc'd at last to drink them , and suck them up . Great Plagues remain for the ungodly , saith the Psalmist . Vae unum abiit ; Ecce duo veniunt . One Wo is past , but behold there come two Woes more ; for the rest of Men that were not kill'd by the former Plagues , repented not , Apoc. ix . 12. 20. When God's Rods and his Ferulaes ( the Discipline of Children ) are contemn'd , he hath a lash of Scorpions to scourge the obstinate . When the ten dreadful . Plagues are spent all upon a stubborn Egypt without effect , there 's a Red Sea yet in Reserve , that at last swallows all : And if our present Affictions reform us not , that we sin no more ; take we heed , lest yet a worse thing befal us . Remember , that when the Touch of God's little Finger did not terrifie us , he soon made us feel the stroak of his heavy hand . If the more benign , and benedict Medicines will not work , nor stir us at all , he can prepare us a rougher Receipt , or a stronger Dose ; retrive and bring back his former Judgments in a sharper Degree , or else send upon us new ones , which we never dream of . The Devil of Rebellion and Disobedience , which not long since possest the Nation , rent and tore it till it fom'd again , and pin'd away in lingring Cousumptions ; that cast it oft times into the Fire , and oft times into the Water ( calamities of all sorts ) to destroy it ; is now through God's Mercies cast out , and we seem to sit quiet , and sober at the Feet of our Deliverer , cloath'd , and in our right Minds again . But yet this ill Spirit , this restless Fury ( this unquiet and dreadful Alastor , the eldest Son of Nemesis , and heir apparent to all the Teriours and Mischiefs of his Mother ) walks about day and night , seeking Rest , and finds none ; and he saith in his heart , I will return some time or other to my House from whence I came out . Oh let us take heed of provoking that God , who alone chains up his Fury , least for our Sins he permit him to return once more , with seven other Spirits more wicked than himself , and so our last Estate prove worse than the former . The Sword of the Angel of Death , which the last year cut down almost a hundred thousand of us , may seem to have been glutted with our Blood , and to have put up it self into the Scabbard . Quiesce & sile , as the Prophet speaks : God grant it may rest here , and be still . But , as it follows there , How can it be quiet , if the Lord give it a new Commission against us ? Methinks I see the Hand still upon the Guard , and unless we prevent it by our speedy Repentance , it may quickly be drawn again more terrible than ever , new furbisht , and whetted with the keener edge , and point , our wretched Ingratitude must needs have given it . The Sun of Righteousness was ready to rise upon us , with healing in his Wings , to clear our Heaven again , and to scatter the Cloud of the last years unhealthiness . But yet , methinks , this slow-moving Cloud hangs still o're our Heads , hovers yet in view , with God knows how many Plagues and Deaths in the Bosome of it : and without our serious Amendment we have no Rainbow to assure us , that we shall not again be drencht in that horrible Tempest . Though the best Naturalists say , That great publick Fires are a proper Remedy for the Plague , Yet God , if he be angry , can send a ruffling Wind into the very Ashes of our City , blow them into the Air , and turn them as those of the Egyptian Furnace , into a Blain , and a Botch , and a Plague-sore upon us . Nay even out of those dead Ashes , can He raise yet a fiercer Flame , to consume what still remains . As the Lightning comes out of the East , saith our Lord , and shineth even unto the West , so shall my coming be , ( sc. to destroy Jerusalem , ) and wherever the Carcase is , will the Eagles be gathered together , Matth. xxiv . Fire is the Eagle in Nature ; nothing in the Elementary World mounts so high to its place , and stoops so low to its prey : the two properties God himself ascribes to that Bird , Job xxxix 27 , 30. And if we still refuse obstinately to be gathered , like Chickens under our Lord's Wing , he can again let loose this Bird of Prey , this Eagle of Heaven upon us ; and from the East , where it began before , flie it home like Lightning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , even to the utmost West , to seize , and to devour where ever there is the least Quarry remaining . Or if this move us not , let us remember that we have another City upon the Waters , a floating Town of moveable Forts and Castles , the Walls and Bulwarks of the Nation ; stronger than those of Brass , the Fable speaks of . As we desire that God would ever fill their Sails with prosperous Gales , & still bring them home with Honor and Victory , and good Success , Let us take heed that we fight not against them too . Our Sin , like a Talent of Lead , may sink them to the Bottom ; our Lusts , and Passions , and Animosities may fire them ; our Drunkenness , and deep Excesses may drown them ; our Vollies of Oaths and Blasphemies may pierce them ; nay , our Seditious Murmurings , and Privy Whisperings may blow them'over . For God is Piorum Rupes , Reorum Scopulus ; a Rock to found the Just upon , but a Shelf to shipwrack , and confound the Unrighteous . And yet all these are but the common Roads , and ordinary Instances of God's Displeasures : But he hath also , besides , and beyond all these , unknown Treasures of Wrath , vast stores of hidden Judgments ( for who knows the Power , or the extent of his Anger ? ) laid up in those secret Magazines , where his Judgments are , when they are not in the Earth , reserv'd as his dreadful Artillery against the time of trouble , against the day of Battel and War , as he speaks himself , Job xxxviii . 23. Oh let us take heed of treasuring up to our selves Wrath against that day of Wrath , and the Revelatian of his Righteous Judgments . And now what shall I say more , if all that hath been said hitherto , prove ineffectual ? The Text affords yet one Expedient as the Chaldee Paraphrast may seem to have understood it : Because thy Judgment , saith he ( not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the Hebrew , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Jews call it , and S. Jude from them , The Judgment of the great Day ) because that Judgment , though not as yet in the Earth , is yet fixt , and appointed , and prepared for all the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew it self too , for rather than in the Earth ) therefore most certainly , if at all , or for any thing , the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness . But if they put far from them this evil day too , as if they had made a Covenant with Death and with Hell ; if they finally refuse to come under God's Discipline , and to take forth to themselves Lessons of Righteousness here , they shall then be made themselves great Lessons , and dreadful examples of God's Righteousness to all the World. If they will not glorifie God in these Fires , as they ought , nor walk in the light of them ; let them remember that there are Fires without Light , where none glorifie him , but by suffering the Eternal Vengeance of their Sins . There must they learn by saddest experience , who obstinately refuse the more gainful Method , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , That 't is a searful thing to fall into the Hands of a living God. For our enemies here must die , and our storms at last blow over , and our Fires , you see , though never so great , in time go out and vanish : But God lives ; hath a Worm too , that dies not ( for those that live not as they ought ) and a fire that is not quenched : The Babylonian Furnace , seven times hotter than usual , a cool walk to that ; all our Vulcans and Etnas , our Heclas and Andes faint types and shadows of it ; the great Conflagration , we so lately trembled at , and still bewail , but a spark to that infernal Tophet , but a painted Fire to that dreadful Mongibel ; even Everlasting Burnings . From which , God of his tender Mercy deliver us All ; and give us Grace in this our Day , ( the Day of his Judgments ) so to learn Righteousness , and so to do it , that at the last , and great Day of Judgment , when he shall come again to Account with us for all our Learning , and for all our Doings , we may through his Mercy receive the Crown of Righteousness , for his sake alone , who so dearly bought it for us , even Jesus Christ the Righteous : To whom with the Father , and the Holy Ghost , be ascribed by us , and all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth , Blessing , Honour , Glory and Power , henceforth and for evermore . Amen . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A61503-e190 V. 1. & 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lacrymam Vulg. Rom. xi . 15. Ezek. xxxvii . Dan. xii . V. 19. Ezek. xi . 16. 2 Tim. 3. 6 , 7. 1. 2. Ezek. xvi . 8. 3 Hos. xi , 4. 4. 1. Jo b. xi . 12. 2. Col. iii. 10. Ephes. iv . 24. 3. V. Lactant. lib. v. Theogn . Ethic. v. 1. Hom. 12. in S. Matth. C. xxiv . 15. 1. Salvian . Ex. xx . 18 , 19. Luc. v. 8. Ps. cxiv . 7 , 8. Ps. evii . 34. Ps. cxix . 53. Hebr. xii 21. Matth. xxiv . 29. Hom. 77. in Matth. Sueton. l. V. n. 51. Dan. v. 6. Ps. xlvi . ● . Isai. xi . 15. Apoc. . xv . 3 , 4. Mattli . xi . 26. Hebr. xi . 21. Job . ii . 10. Ps. cxix . 137. Ps. xxxvi . 6. Ps. xcvii . 2. The King's Declaration . 2 Thes. i. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 52. Amos iii. 6. Deut. xxxiii . 2. Hebr. x. 27. 2 Pet. iii. 6 , 7. Wisd. v. 20. Dan. ix . 7. 2 Pet. iii. 16. Prov. xviii . 17. Cap. xxiv . 2. Cap. ix . 32 , 33. 3. S. Ambrose , Suo jure omnibus Dei operibus superingreditur & supernatat . Ps. cxxxv . 7. 1. Ps. xxxi . 23. 2. Ps. xciv . 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Ps. lxxxi . 13. Isai. i. 5. Prov. i. 32. Ps. xi . 6. 3. Ps. xxvii . 14. Ps. cxli. 5. 2 Sam. xxiv 14. 4. Gen. xviii . 27. Lam. iii. 22. Cap. xxvii . 8. Cap. xxv . 9. 2. Amos. v. 24. 1. Matth. vii 12. Jam. ii . 8. Matth. xxil . 38 , 39. 2. Ps. cxix . 96. Prov. xxx . 20 3● . Luc. xxiii . 11. Ps. cxii . 9. Isai. lviii . 7 , 8. Juvenal . Sat. xiv . 2 Cor. vii . 2. Lib i. Epist. 14. ad celantiam . Matth. xxxv . Zach. ix . 4 , 5. Luc xix . 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. xviii . in Ephes. Acts xxiv . 25. Eccles. ix . 10. Joh. xvi . 21. Lib. 7. Ep. 27. Ps. lxvi . 14. Vers. 10. 1 Joh. iii. 7. Phil. iii. 16. Actsxi . 26. 2 Pet. iii. 11. Cap. xxvii . 9. Prov. ix 17. 1 Cor. x. 22. Job xxviii . 3. Job xli . 9. Isai. xxxiii . 14. Rom. ii . 4. 2 Pet. iii. 15 , 1 Sam. xv . 32. Ps. xxxii . 11. Jer. xlvii . 6. Diamerbr . depeste Noviomag . Ex. ix . 8 , 9. Ps. xc . il . Rom. 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Jude 6.