ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 37
come and speak with him ; but when he saw that Joah would not come, he commands his corn-fiekls to be set on fire, and this awakens him, and fetches him with a witness, 2 Sam. xiv. 30. So God, by fiery afflic- tions, and by burning up our comforts round about us, awakens us, and brings us to himself with a witness. When iron grows rusty, we put it into the fire to purify it ; and so when the people of God grow rusty and secure, then the Lord brings them under fiery trials to awaken them, and to purify them. If Nero was so angry w^th Vespasian because he slept at his music, how much more may the Lord be angry with all such as sleep and are secure under the most amazing and awakening judgments ? But my hope and prayer is, that the Lord has, and will more and more graciously and effectually awaken all the wise slumbering virgins upon whom this fiery dispensation has passed. And therefore,
(3.) Thirdly, In respect of his people's sins, God has several siDCcial ends that he aims at by all the fiery trials and smart providences that he exercises them and others with. As,
[1.] First, God by these means designs a further and a /idler dis- covery of their sins. In standing waters you cannot see the mud that lies at the bottom of the pool or pond ; but when once the water is drawn away, then it appears, Deut. viii. 2. In times of prosperity there is a great deal of mud, a great deal of atheism, unbelief, dis- content, murmuring, impatience, passion, pride, &c., that lies at the bot- tom of men's hearts undiscovered. Oh, but when God shall once empty them of their estates, and burn up all their outward comforts, and set them with Job upon the dunghill, then the mud appears, then a whole army of lusts discover themselves, as we see in many this day, whom you shall rarely find without tears in their eyes, sighs in their hearts, and complaints in their mouths. Severe providences are pills made purposely to clear the eyesight : 1 Kings xvii. 18, ' And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, 0 thou man of God ? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ?' If God had not taken away her son, her sin had not been brought to remembrance. 0 sirs ! if God by this late dreadful fire had not taken away your houses, your goods, your estates, your trades, many of your sins had not been brought to your remembrance, though now you have lost most or all. You may say with the psalmist, ' My sins are ever before me,' Ps. li. 3. My pride is ever before me, my unbelief is ever before me, my frowardness is ever before me, my murmuring is ever before me, my discontent is ever before me, and my impatience is ever before me, &c.i Good men never come to know how bad they are, till they come to be exercised with severe providences and smart trials. It was the speech of a holy man in a gi-eat sickness. In this disease I have learned how great God is, and what the evil of sin is ; I never knew to purpose what God was before, nor what sin was before. Afflictions are a Christian's glass, in which they may run and read the greatness of God and the vileness of sin. But,
[2.] Secondly, By severe providences and fiery trials God designs tlie preventing of sin. Paul was one of the holiest men on earth,
' Turn to the scriptures, Gen. xiii. 21 ; Jonah iv. 8, 9 ; Jer. ix. 7, seq.
38 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
called by some an earthly augel, and yet he needed a thorn in the flesh to prevent pride : 2 Cor. xii. 7, ' And lest I sliunld be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buftet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.' Paul was in very great danger of being exalted above measure. Witness the doubling of those words in one verse, ' Lest I should be exalted, lest I should be exalted.' Prudent physicians sometimes give physic to prevent diseases ; and so does the Physician of souls, as you may see by comixiring the scriptures in the margin together, i The burnt child dreads the fire. 8in is but a bitter sweet, it is an evil worse than hell itself. Salt brine preserves from putrefaction, and salt marshes keep the sheep from rotting ; and so sharp trials, severe providences preserve the saints from spiritual putrefying, and from spiritual rotting. The Rabbins, to keep their scholars from sin, were wont to tell them that sin made God's head ache ; and saints under fiery trials do find by experience that sin makes not only their heads, but also their hearts ache ; and by this means God preserves his people from many sins which otherwise they would certainly fall into. Be- loved, God by his fiery dispensations has destroyed many or most of your outward comforts ; but little do you know the horrU)le sins that by this means the Lord has preserved you from. A full estate lays men most open to the greatest sins, the w^orst of snares, and the deadliest temptations. The best of men have fallen foulest under their highest worldly enjoyments. Witness David, Solomon, Heze- kiah, &c. Under your outward fulness, how low was your communion with God ! how languishing were your graces ! how lean were your souls ! and how was your spring of inwartl comforts dried up ! How little had God of your thoughts, your hearts, your time, your strength ! 0 sirs ! how bad would you have been by this time if God had not removed those things that were but fuel to your lusts, and quench-coals to your grace ! Well, often think of this : it is a greater mercy to be preserved from sin, yea, from the least sin, than it is to enjoy the whole world. But,
[3.] Thirdly, By severe providences and by fiery trials God designs the wihittering of sin to his people. When God shall come and burn up mens comforts round about them, then they will cry out. Ah ! what a bitter thing is sin ! That puts God upon burning work ! Then they will speak that language to their own souls that the prophet once spake to the Jews: Jer. ii. 1», ' They made his land waste : his cities are burnt with fire.' Yer. 17, ' Hast thou not pro- cured these things to thyself?' Ver. 19, ' Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saitli the Lord God of hosts.' So chap. iv. 18, ' Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee : this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thy heart.' Yea, now they will say that sin is bitterness in the abstract, and in the plural number also, accord- ing to that of the prophet Hosea, chap. xii. 14, ' Ephraim provoked
^ Job xxxiii. 19, 17, xxxiv. 31, 32, and xl. 4, 5 ; Ilosca ii. 6, 7.
ISA. XLII. 24, 25,] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 39