by his many bleffings and favours, to return to him and therefore hath he fent amongst us the terrible mef fengers of his wrath. Firft we were engaged in a fo reign war; and though God was pleafed to give us fome confiderable fuccefs in it, yet it feems our provocations were fo great, that he was refolved to punish us. He was loath to let us fall into the hands of men, and therefore he took the work into his own hand, and punifhed us himself, by fending a peftilence amongst us, the forest and most deftru&tive that hath befallen this nation for many ages. But we did not upon this return to him; and therefore his fierce anger kindled a fearful fire amongst us, which hath laid the honour of our nation, one of the greateft and richest cities in the world, in the duft; and that by fo fudden and irrefiflible, fo dismal and amazing a devaftation, as in all the circumstances of it is fcarce to be parallelled in any hiftory.

I doubt not but most of us were mightily affected with this judgement whilft it was upon us. So aftonifhing a calamity could not but make us open our eyes a little, and awaken us to confideration. Even the rich man in the gofpel, though he had all his lifetime been immerfed in fenfuality, yet could not but lift uf his eyes when he was in flames.

And furely God expects that fuch judgements as thefe fhould not only roufe us a little for the prefent, but that they should have a permanent operation and effect upon : us, and work a thorough and lafting reformation amongst us; but yet I am afraid that this dreadful fire: hath had no other influence upon us, but what it ufes to have upon metals, which are only melted by it for the prefent, but when the fire is removed, they suddenly cool, and return to their former hardnefs.

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One would have thought, that the fenfe of fuch a calamity as this fhould have remained longer upon us. Methinks God feemed to fay to us after this judgement, as he did once to Jerufalem, Zeph. iii. 7. Surely thou wilt fear me; thou wilt receive inftruction. But we, like them, have been but the more forward to provoke him: They rofe early, and corrupted their doings: we have, after all this, hardened our hearts from his fear, and refused to return. And therefore God is now come to one of his last judgements: Our enemy diftreffeth us P 2.

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in our gates, God hath begun to let us fall into the hands of men; and, by giving our enemies a fudden and fatal advantage upon us, hath fmitten us with a breach great as the fea.

There were terrible calamities indeed, to come fo thick and fo fwiftly upon us, like defolation, and as a whirlwind. Such a quick fucceffion of judgements, treading almost upon one another's heels, does but too plainly declare that God is highly incenfed against us. For furely thefe are not the wounds of a friend, but the terrible affaults of an enemy: they do not look like the difpleafare of a father, but the feverity of a judge; not like vifitation, but like vengeance.

And, befides thefe more vifible judgements upon the nation, we are by a fecret curfe of God infenfibly decayed in our riches and ftrength; we are, I know not how, ftrangely impoverished in the midst of plenty, and almoft undone by victories: and, which adds to our mifery, few among us feem to be fufficiently fenfible of it, or to take any notice by what filent fteps and imperceptible degrees, like gray hairs, and the infirmities of old age, poverty and weakness are stealing in upon us. So that we may fitly apply to ourselves what the Prophet fays of Ephraim, Hof, vii. 9. Strangers have devoured his firength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and yet he knoweth it not.

And our condition, as we are a church, is not much better. How is this famous Proteftant church of ours, which was once the admiration of her friends, and the envy of her enemies, funk and declined in her glory,' and reduced into a very narrow compass? fo that the is left like the daughter of Zion, If. i. 8. as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a be fieged city traitened and hemmed in on all parts, by the impudence of Atheism, the infolencies of Popery, and the turbulency of faction; all which do every day vifibly and apace gain ground upon her, and diftrefs her on every fide: juft as the condition of the Jewish church is defcribed before my text, The Syrians before, and the Philiftines behind, both ready to devour Ifrael with open 7 mouth.

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And furely it is not for nothing that God hath brought is thus. low, that he hath fent all thefe judgements upon

us,

us, and that he doth ftill threaten us with more. The reafon is plain; because we are ftill impenitent: The people turneth not to him that fmiteth them. There hath · been almost an univerfal degeneracy amongst us, and there is ftill, I fear, a general impenitency: The people turneth not, &c. Notwithstanding all thofe difmal calamities which our eyes have feen, wickedness doth ftill prevail in the nation, and overflows it like a mightydeluge, fo as to overfpread all ranks and orders of men and not only fo, but is grown impudent, and. appears with a whore's forehead; all kind of modesty feems to have forfaken the finners of this age.

And is this repentance? to live in filthy and abominable lufts; to tear the name of God by horrid oaths. and imprecations; to be Atheistical and profane; and, by an unexampled boldness, to turn the word of God: itself, and the gravet and most serious matters of religion, into raillery? This is not to turn to him that fmiteth us; but to turn upon him, and fmite him again. And yet fuch crying and clamorous fins as thefe, are almoft come to be the garb and fashion of the nation, and to be accounted the wit and gallantry of. the age.

And fhall not God vifit for these things? fhall not his foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this? Yes; he hath vifited; and it is for thefe things that the wrath of God hath been fo manifeftly revealed from heaven against us. For this caufe mifery and deftruction have been in our · way, and the way of peace have we not known, because there hath been no fear of God before our eyes. Hence it is, that God's anger is not turned away, but his hand is Stretched out fill; because the people turneth not to him : that fmiteth them, neither do they feek the Lord of hosts.

But do not we feek God? Do we not every day acknowledge our fins to him, and pray that he would have mercy upon us miferable offenders, and grant that we may bereafter live godly, righteous, and fober lives? Do not we feek the Lord of hofts, when we continually beg of. him to fave and deliver us from the hand of our enemies? Indeed we do thus feck him; but we should first turn to him; otherwife if we hope our prayers will prevail with God to do us good, we do but truft in lying words. If we go on in our fins, our very prayers will become fin,

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and increase our guilt: for the prayer of the wicked, that is, of one that is refolved to continue fo, is an abomination to the Lord. Can we think it reasonable for men to addrefs themselves to God after this manner : "Lord, though we have no mind to turn to thee, yet we pray thee turn away thine anger from us; though we are refolved not to forfake our fins, yet we make 66 no doubt but that thy mercy will forgive them. "Give peace in our time, O Lord, that we may pur "fue our lufts fecurely, and without disturbance; deli

ver us, we pray thee, from the hands of our ene-"mies, that we may fin against thee without fear all "the days of our lives?" Would it not be horrible impudence and impiety to put up any fuch petitions to God? And yet this, I fear, is the moft genuine inter-pretation of our prayers and lives compared together.

And if this be our cafe, what can we expect? God may give us peace with our enemies, but then he will find out fome other way to punifh us: for if we fill perfit in our Atheifm and profanenefs, in our contempt of God and of his holy worfhip, in our fcorn and derifion of religion, in our abominable lufts and horrid impieties, what can we look for, but that God fhould be angry with us until he have confumed us, and there be no efcaping? Nothing can be a fadder prefage of our ruin, than not to be reformed by thofe dreadful judgements of God which have been upon us. This was that which brought final deftruction upon the Egyptians in the Red fea, that they had held out fo obftinately againft fo many judgements, and had been hardened under ten plagues. To be impenitent, after fuch fevere corrections, is to poilon ourfelves with that which is intendedfor our phyfic, and, by a miraculous kind of obftinacy, to turn the rods of God into ferpents.

And now perhaps fome will be apt to fay, that these are things fit for men of our profeffion; because it is our trade, and we live by it. Indeed they are fo; things very fit to be faid, and withal very fit for every one to confider, who profeffeth himfelf a Chriftian, and who owns the belief of a God, and a providence, and another world. And if they be fo, where is the fault? Is it, that there is a peculiar profeflion of men, whofe pro

per

per work it is to tell men of their faults, and to perfuade them to reform? No; there is no harm in that neither. Is it then, that they live by their profeffion, and yet would be believed? Yes; there lies the force of the ob jection. To which I fhall only at prefent return this anfwer, That men do not argue thus in other cafes, when yet the reafon feems to be the very fame. In matters that concern their bodies and estates, the phyfician and the lawyer are believed, though it is verily thought that they live by their profeffions as well as we; why then fhould men deal fo partially and unequally only with their souls ? Were we not moved by better principles, and fwayed by the arguments and confiderations of another world, we might, for ought we know, with every whit as much advantage to ourfelves, fuffer men to be quiet and to fleep on fecurely in their fins; if we did not believe ourselves in thefe matters, what should hinder but that we might with as much gravity and confidence cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace; and flatter men with as much art, and as good a grace, as any of thofe can do who live delicately, and wear foft cloathing?

But we believe the threatenings of God, and therefore do we speak. We know the terrors of the Lord, and therefore we endeavour to persuade men. And oh! that we could perfuade them to break off their fin by righteoufnefs, and to turn every one from the evil of his way, and from the violence that is in his hands: and then who can tell but God may turn, and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perifh not?

The good God make us all wife to know in this our day the things that belong to our peace, before they be hid from our eyes and grant that we may all turn to him that hath fmitten us, by repentance, and real reformation of our lives; that God may be pleased to turn away bis anger from us, and to ftretch out his hand for our deli verance. Which we humbly beg of him for the fake of Chrift. To whom, with the Father, &c.

SER