Ohs. 1. Cities and countries suffer for the evil of the inhabitants, as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities round about them were consumed with fire and brimstone, and turned into a dead lake. Original sin brought on an original curse ; Adam's fall a curse upon the whole earth : Gen. iii. 17, ' Cursed is the ground for thy sake, thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ;' and actual sins do bring on an actual curse : Ps. cvii. 34, ' He turneth a pleasant land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.' A traitor forfeits not only his life but his goods ; so do we not only forfeit our persons, but all our comforts into God's hands ; and it is but fit that the earth should be to us, after all our labours, what we are to God after all his husbandry bestowed upon us ; we are barren of good fruits as to God, and so justly may the land be to us. I remember the apostle saith, ' The creature was made subject to vanity,' ov')(^ eKovaa, 'not willingly,' Rom. viii. 20 ; the creature hath only a natural tendency and inclina- tion, and that carries it to its own good ; we had free-will and choice, but abused it, and so brought ourselves and the creature under the bondage and thraldom of corruption ; so that the earth, which was in- tended to be a monument of God's glory, is now in great part a monu- ment of God's displeasure and our rebellion. It is observable, on the contrary side, that the glorious times of the gospel are expressed by the restoration of the creatures, Isa. xxx. 23-26, and Isa. xi. 6-8. For as the condition of the servant doth depend on the master, so doth the state of the creature upon our conformity or disobedience to God. Well, then, avoid sin, if not in pity to your poor souls, in pity to the poor creatures, to your poor country ; as David said, 'What have these poor sheep done?' So what have the creatures done that you kindle a burning under their glory? See Jer. ii. 15-19, ' The land is laid waste, and cities burnt without an inhabitant.' What is the cause of all this? Even our sins against the Lord, that a man shall be the ruin of his country and native soil ; this should go near to us ; shall we turn this pleasant land into saltness, and lay these dwellings waste, these streets into ashes ? Carnal men are usually moved by carnal arguments, and tremble more to hear of the loss of their estates than of their souls ; we are startled to hear of scarcity, and famine, and fires, and pestilences ; all these are the fruits of sin.
Ohs. 2. Those cities were utterly destroyed, and accordingly is the destruction of Sodom put for an utter overthrow. See Isa. xiii. 19, Zeph. ii. 9, Jer. xlviii. 18, Jer. 1. 40, 2 Peter ii. 6. Observe thence, that in judgments wicked men may be brought to an utter destruction.
222 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeK. 7.
The synagogue of Satan may be utterly destroyed, but not the city of God ; in the saddest miseries there is hope of God's children, that their dead stock will bud and scent again : Zech. ix. 12, ' Prisoners of hope ;* the cutting off of ' root and branch' is the judgment of the wicked, Mai. iv. 1. Their memorial may be blotted out, but Sion's cannot. It is the design of the enemies to extinguish the memory of the church ; and many times, to appearance, there is none left, yet out of their ruins and ashes there springeth up a new brood and holy seed to God : they are ' sorely afflicted,' Ps. cxxix. 1, 2 ; yet Christ stands his ground; they are not wholly prevailed over ; the church may visibly fail, but not totally. Well, then, in the midst of sad miseries, bless God for a remnant ; it may be bad, but it is not as Sodom, Isa. i. 9, In times of general defection there will be ' two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,' Isa. xvii. 6. Some that may continue the name of God, and survive the church's troubles, that may yet praise him. Again, do not haunt with the wicked, and suffer your souls to enter into their secret ; evil societies may be absolutely destroyed, root and branch. Sodom was ' condemned with an overthrow.' It is seasonable advice, ' Come out of her, my people, lest you partake of her plagues,' Rev. xviii. 4. Babylon, that was a nest for unclean sinners, will be made ' a cage for unclean birds.'
Obs. 3. From that, and the cities about them in like manner, observe, likeness in sin will involve us in the same punishment ; they perished, and ' the other cities in like manner:' none had safety but Lot, who consented not, but grieved for these impurities, 2 Peter ii. 8. God's wrath maketh no distinction. Qicos una impietas profanavit, una sententia dejicit, saith Ambrose ; they were found in the same sin, and therefore surprised by the same judgment: 'The destruction of the transgressors and sinners shall be together,' Isa. i. 28 ; that is, the one as well as the other, by what names or titles soever distinguished. Why ? I answer — Fellowship in evil can neither excuse sin nor keep off wrath. It cannot excuse sin ; nothing more usual than for men to say, they do as others do ; if you do as others do, you shall suffer as others do : example doth not lessen sin, but increase it, partly because their own act is an approbation of the act of others ; imitation is a post constat, and so, besides your own guilt, you are guilty of their sins that sinned before ; partly because it is hard to sin against ex- ample, but we sin against conscience, we allowing that in ourselves which we formerly condemned in another ; partly because it is a sin against warning ; to stumble at the stone at which we see others stum- ble is an error and without excuse. Say not, then, it is the fashion and guise, how can we do otherwise ? ^ Be not conformed to the fashions of this world ; you should be like Lot, chaste in Sodom, or like those Christians that were godly in Nero's court. Again, it doth not keep off wrath ; multitudes and single persons are all one to aveng- ing justice ; the devouring burning of God's wrath can break through briars and thorns. It is said, Prov. xi. 21, ' Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.' Confederations and soci- eties in evil are as nothing to the power of God, though sometimes the sons of Zeruiah, powerful oppressors, with their combined interests,