sins, and saddest signs upon them. This spirit of enmity sowed by the devil among them, hastened their calamity. If Ephraim ^vill envy Judah, and Judah vex Ephraim, the common enemy shall part the fray : when the whole nation was under water, and the Roman armies under the very walls of Jerusalem, their own historians tells us, what bitter contentions and shaip conflicts con- tinued among them to the very last ; these things must be looked upon by all wise and considerate men, no otherwise than we look upon glaring meteors, and blazing comets portending judgment and ruin at the door. We have had indeed terrible signs in heaven, a dreadful rod of God shaken over us of late, which all men ought to behold with trembling; yet I must say those moral signs of judgments fore-mentioned, are much m>ore terrible and por- tentous. According therefore to the evidence of these signs among us, let all upright hearts be affected and awakened with ex- pectations of God's righteous judgments. It is indeed below faith to expect evil days with despondency and distraction ; but surely it is a noble exercise of faith, so to expect them, as to make due pre}>aration for them.
Section 9.. And if we enquire for what end God gives such warning to the world, and premonishes them from heaven of the judgments that are coming on the earth, know that he doth it upon a threefold account.
1. To prevent their execution.
2. To leave the careless inexcusable.
3. To make them more tolerable and easy to his own people.
1. Warning is given with a design to prevent the execution of judgments; this is plain from Amos iv. 12. " Therefore will I " do this unto thee ;"" there is warning given ; " and because I will " do this, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel :"" there is the gracious designs of preventing it, by bringing them seasonably upon their knees at the foot of an angry God : you see the Lord expects it from all his children, that they fall at his feet in deep humilia- tion, and fervent intercession, whenever he goes forth in the way of judgment. What else was the design of God in sending Jonah to Nineveh with that dreadful message, but to excite them to re- pentance, and prevent their ruin ? This Jonah guessed at, and therefore declined the message, to secure his credit, well knowing, that if they took warning and repented, the gracious nature of God would soon melt into compassion over them : free grace would make him appear as a liar among the people ; for to that sense his own words sound, Jonah iv. 2. " Was not this my saying, when " I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish, " for I knew that thou art a gracious God."" q. d. I thought before-hand it would come to this ; I knew how wilhng thou art
THE RIGHTEOUS MAn's REFUGE. 343
to be prevented by repentance ; therefore to secure my credit, 1 fled to Tarshisli.
2. He forewarns of judgments to leave the incorrigible wholly inexcusable, that those who have neither sense of sin, nor fear of judgment before, might have no cloak for their folly, nor plea for themselves afterward ? " What wilt thou say when he shall punish "thee?" Jer. xiii. 21, 22. q. d. What plea or apology is left thee, after so many fair warnings ? You cannot say you were sur- prized before you were admonished, or ruined before you were warned.
3. God warns of judgments before they come, to make them the more easy to his people when they come indeed ; thus in John xvi. 4. Christ foretold his disciples of their approaching sufferings, that when they come, they should not be found amazed at them, or unprovided for them ; for unexpected miseries are astonishing to the best men, and destructive to wicked men, Luke xvii. 26, 27, 28.
Well then, if it be so, let all that are wise in heart consider the signs of the times, and seasonably liearken to God's warnings. " The Lord's voice crieth to the city, and the man of wisdom "shall see thy name; hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed " it," Mic. vi. 9. It is our wisdom to way-lay our troubles, and provide for the worst estate, whilst we enjoy the best : happy is he that is at once believing and praying for good days, and pre- paring for the worst. Noah's example is our advantage, Heb. xi. 7. " Who, by faith being warned of God, of things not seen as " yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark." Preventing mercies are the most ravishing mercies, Psal. Ixix. 10. And preventing calamities are the sorest calamities, Amos ix. 10.
And let us heartily beware the supineness and carelessness of the world in which we live, who take no notice of God's warning, ])ut put the evil day far from them, Amos vi. 3. who will admit no fear till they are past all hope ; they see God housing his saints apace, yet will not see the evil to come from which God takes them, Isa. Ivii. 1, 2. " The righteous perisheth, and no man lay- " eth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away, none con- " sidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. " He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one " walking in his uprightness." They hear the cry of sin which is gone up to heaven, but cry not for the abominations that are com- mitted, nor tremble at the judgments that they will procure.
O careless sinners, drowned in stupidity, and sleeping like Jonah under the hatches, when others are upon their knees, and at their wits-end ! Do saints tremble, and are you secure .? Have not you more reason to be afraid than they.? if judgments come, the great
S-i^ THE RIGHTEOUS MAx's REFUGE.
est harm it can do them is but to hasten them to heaven : but as for you, it may huny yo^i away to hell : they only fear tribulation in the way ; but you will not fear danmation in the end. Believe it reader, in days of common calamity both heaven and hell will fill apace.
Demonstrating the Jlfth proposition, viz. That God^s attributes, pro^ mises, and providences, are prepared Jbr the security of his peo^ pie, in the greatest distresses that can hefal them in the world.
Sect. I.-tJ-AVING more briefly dispatched the foregoing preli- minary propositions, it remains that we now more fully open this fifth proposition, which contains the main subject matter of this discourse ; here therefore our meditations must fix and abide, and truly such is the deliciousness of the subject to spiritual hearts, that I judge it wholly needless to offer any other motive besides itself to engage your affections. Let us therefore view our chambers, and see how well God hath provided for his children in all the distresses that befal them in this world ; it is our Father's voice that calls to us, Qome, my people, enter thou into thy chambers. And the