[7.] Seventhly, Such act counter-cross to tlie examples of the most eminent saints. To the example of Moses : Num. xvi. 15, ' I have not taken an ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.' Of Samuel, 1 Sam. xii. 3-5 ; of Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke i. 5, G ; of Paul, Acts xxiv. 16 ; yea, to the examples of all the apostles, Judas excepted : 2 Cor. i. 12, and vii. 2, ' Keceive us ; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. But,
[8.] Eighthly and lastly. Such act counter-cross to their oion ever- lasting happiness and blessedness : 1 Cor. vi. 8, 9, ' Nay, you do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unright- eous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven ?' Unrighteous persons may hear much of heaven, and talk much of heaven, and set their faces towards heaven ; but they shall never inherit the kingdom of heaven. God himself has locked fast the gate of blessedness against the unrighteous ; and therefore all the world shall never be able to open it. Heaven would be no heaven, but a hell, if the unrighteous should inhabit there. To sum up all : If such persons run counter- cross to God's commands, if their persons and practices are an abomina- tion to the Lord, if they act counter-cross to God's delight and to his nature, yea, to the very light and law of nature, to the best examples, and to their own happiness and blessedness, is it any wonder tlien to see divine justice set such men's houses on fire about their ears, and to see the flames consume such estates as were got either by fraud or force, by craft or cruelty, &c. ?
Now the gaining of the things of this world by hook or by crook, or by such wicked courses and cursed practices that we have been dis- coursing on, I cannot charge upon the people of God, that did truly fear him, whose habitations were once within or without the walls of London, because such practices would neither stand with grace, nor with the honour of God, nor with the credit of religion, nor with the law of God, nor with the law of nature, nor with the peace of a saint's soul. Besides, it is very observable to me, that those that have the balances of deceit in their hand, are called Canaanites in that 12th of Hosea 7th verse, ' He is a merchant ; the balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress' — Heb., he is Canaan, that is, a mere natural man, that hath no common honesty in him, a money-merchant, one that cares not how he comes by it, so he may have it ; one that counts all good fish that comes to his net, though it be through cun- ning contrivances or violent practices. But,
4. Fourthly, Desperate incorrigihleness and, unreformedness under wasting and destroying judgmeids, brings the desolating judgment of fire upon a people, Lev. xxvi. ; Deut. xxviii. ; turn to that Jer. xxx. 23, 24. Isa. xlii. 24, 25, ' Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle : and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not ; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.' Lev.
76 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
xxvi. 27, 28, 31-33, ' And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto mo ; tlien will I walk contrary unto you also in fury ; and I, even 1, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. And I will bring the land into desolation ; and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you ; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.' Isa. i. 5, 7, 8, ' Why should you be stricken any more ? ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire : your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.' Amos iv. 7-11, 'And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city : one piece was rained upon, and the piece where- upon it rained not withered. So two or tlu-ee cities wandered unto one city to drink water ; but they were not satisfied : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blast- ing and miklew : when your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees, and your olive-trees increased, the palmer-worm devoured them : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence, after the manner of Egypt ; your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses, and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nos- trils : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have over- thrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning : yet have ye not re- turned unto me, saith the Lord.' By all these scriptures it is most evident that desperate incorrigibleness and unreformedness under wasting and destroying judgments brings the fiery dis[)ensations of God upon a people. Ah London, London ! how long has the Lord been striving with thee by his S})irit, by his word, by his messengers, by his mercies, and by lesser judgments, and yet thou hast been in- corrigible, incurable, and irrecoverable under all 1 God looked that the agues, fevers, small-pox, strange sicknesses, want of trade, and poverty that was coming on like an armed man upon thee, with all the lesser fires that have been jdndled in the midst of thee, should have awakened thee to repentance; and yet under all, how proud, how stout, how hard, how^ obdurate hast thou been ! God looked that the bloody sword that the nations round hath drawn against thee should have humbled thee, and brought thee to his foot : and yet thou hast rejected the remedy of thy recovery. God looked that the raging, devouring pestilence that in 1GG5 destroyed so many ten thousands of thy inhabitants should have astonished thee, and have been as a prodigy unto thee, to have allVighted thee out of thy sins, and to have turned thee to the Most High : but yet after so stupendous and amazing
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 77