Sermon 11 May 1652

Ezra 9.13, 14.

Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less then our, &c.

THe wickedness of Israel in matching with the daughters of a strange God, after the Lord had sharply punished them, and then delivered them again by a miracle of Mercy; was the occasion of these words. The whole story certifies us, that when the time of their Captivity in Babylon was expired and run out, God wonderfully stirred up the heart of Cyrus first, and after of Darius, to make a Proclamation and Edict, by which the Jews (who then were Captives under their Dominions) were permitted to return, to settle in their own Country, to repair the desolation of the Temple, and therefore to re-erect and re-establish the worship of the Lord amongst them. An incomparable mercy if we consider whence they were delivered, and to what they were restored, and such as should have been a strong engagement, and mighty obligation to obedience. But alas! it proved not strong enough for their Corruptions, for they no sooner were again replanted in the Land of Canaan, but they turned aside from God, and waxing wanton with their Peace and Mercy, joined themselves in Marriage with the people of the Lands, that were about them, and mingled the profane and holy Seed together, which Ezra being made acquainted with, he was exceedingly affected with it, so that he rent his clothes and tore away the hair of his head and of his beard, and having spent his spirits in a holy passion, he sat down astonished; until at length returning out of this amazement, he betakes himself unto the Lord in prayer, and there exceedingly bewails the people's sin, and manifests withal a horrid apprehension of it, if they should yet again return to their old abominations, which it seems he much feared; Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less then, &c.

Two things we have especially to be considered in the words, First, a rare and eminent Mercy acknowledged, Our God hath punished us less then our Iniquities deserve, and given us such a deliverance as this. And then a horrible abuse supposed, should we again break thy commandments: in the same kind, and in the same degree, in such a manner and in such a measure as before. I do not say we shall, but if we should, what then? Why then our condition would be desparat, there would be no possibility almost of an evasion? Wouldst not thou be angry with us, till thou hadst consumed us, that there should be no remnant nor escaping? There are a remnant of us yet, but then thou wouldst destroy that remnant too, and so there would be none left. In the mercy acknowledged you may take notice with me of these two particulars.

First, something Negative or Privative, the withholding of evil: Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less then our iniquities deserve? Punished us thou hast indeed by our cruel enemies, but not to the extent and latitude of our deserts. Then something positive, the bestowing of good, and given us such a deliverance as this: Not barely a deliverance only, but such deliverance, such as cannot be expressed.

So that you see my Brethren, here is mercy upon all hands, mercy in the punishment, mercy in the deliverance from it; mercy in the punishment, that it was such, so little, mercy in the deliverance from it, that it was such, so great: Mercy in the punishment, that it was infinitely less mercy in the deliverance, that it was infinitely more then they deserved. All the ways of God are mercy and truth, mercy not only when he saves, but mercy when he strikes his people: When he strikes he doth so little, and when he saves he doth so much: when he strikes he is so gracious, and when he saves he is so glorious, that he is wonderful in both these.

Well then my brethren, here is a Treble and a Base, to make you music on this solemn Day of Joy; the one is very low, and the other very high: The punishment is very low and flat, abundantly below their sins, beneath their merits and deserts. But the deliverance on the other side is high and shril, indeed above Ela, Such as the Prophet cannot reach in his expression; and therefore mentions it in such a manner, that he leaves it rather to be wondered at, then distinctly understood. And given us such a deliverance as this. These two my brethren will do very well together, though they be of divers sounds, yet if we join them, they will make a good concord. And therefore that I may not mar the music, you shall hear them go together; and out of both, I shall raise this observation.

Doctr. It is the manner of the Lord when he punisheth his people, to abate and to be very moderate, when he delivers them and shows them mercy, to exceed and to transcend all measure.

Both these you see are set together in my Text, that so the one of them might sound the better for the other: Seeing thou our God hast punished us less then our iniquities deserve, and given us such a deliverance as this: The prophet lays the punishment and the deliverance side by side, that you may look upon them both at once, and compare both together, that you may see the smalnes of the one and the greatness of the other: For if you mark it well, he sets a special emphasis on the Deliverance, no emphasis at all on the Affliction. The punishment is spoken of by way of diminution and abatement in a lessening way, less then our iniquities deserve: But the deliverance on the other side, is spoken of by way of augmentation and enlargement, such a deliverance as this. I shall proceed with both the branches of the text and point in order.

It is the manner of the Lord when he punishes his people to abate and to be very moderate. There hath been a question started in these latter days, whether the Lord at any time in any case doth punish his people. And true it is, he doth not neither can he punish them in a way of Vindication or revenge, for Christ hath fully satisfied for them.

But he is often said to punish then in scripture in a way of castigation and correction: So the Original, is renderd in my text thou hast punished us saith Ezra. And for my own part, because I am not so far skilled in the Hebrew, as to adventure to control the translators of the Bible; I allow of that expression in the sense before mentioned. And so I should advise all those to do, who have no better skill then I have.

Well, when the Lord doth punish or correct, or chasten his people (call it how you will) it is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate; to do too little, rather then too much; to do rather less then more; Less then their iniquities deserve, as you have it in my text. He often lays on many stripes under, never one stripe over. Never more then we deserved: When he is sharpest, we must acknowledge with the Church, that he hath not rewarded us according to our sins. Psal. 103.10. Never more then we can bear, for the Lord knoweth whereof we are made, remembereth that we are but dust. He understandeth very well how weak we are, and therefore he debates with the affliction, as the Prophet speaks, Isa. 27.8. whether it be too heavy for us, yea or no, and if he find it be, if he perceive the storm of wrath to blow too rough upon his people, he stays his rough wind, in the day of the East-wind, as it is added there in that place. Nay, my beloved, as he never gives us more in a correcting way, then we deserve, never more then we can bear, so never more then we do need. If need be, we are in heaviness, as the Apostle in that known place, 1 Pet. 1.6. God never lays a stroke, a trial, an affliction more then needs upon his people. He always keeps himself within compass: And therefore he is said to spare his people according to his promise, Mal. 3.17.

There is a twofold mercy opposed to the strictness of a twofold Justice, with which the rigor and exactness of it is qualified and allayed. Either misericordia parcens, or, remunerans, either sparing, or remunerating mercy. The exactness of Justice in dispensing recompenses, is tempered with remunerating mercy, when there is more bestowed on men then they deserve: The rigor of Justice in dispensing punishments, is qualified with sparing mercy, when there is less inflicted upon men then they deserve. And this God always exercises in the corrections that he lays upon his people, he tempers them with sparing mercy; he stays his hand, and refrains his indignation. It is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate, as you have heard. That Phrase of the Apostle in another case, may be applied to God in this particular, his moderation is known to all men. And it is singularly known to you the people of this place, how he qualified his wrath in all the late afflictions, that have been upon you: so that you must confess with Ezra in my Text, That he hath punished you far less then your iniquities deserved. And there are many reasons of the point, I shall touch the principal.

1. And first of all, to say the truth, he hath no mind to punish or correct at all; so that it is no wonder, though he be very moderate in his corrections, he afflicts not willingly, nor grieves the sons of men. Lam. 3.33. He hath no will at all to do it, no of himself he delights in showing mercy, Mich. 7.18. The act of Justice is a little strange to him, what the act of Mercy is? for he is rather, though not more merciful then just; and hence he styleth it, his strange act, which he is not so well acquainted with, Isa. 28.21. It is not with our heavenly, as it is often, with our earthly parents; they correct us for their pleasure, as the Apostle speaks, Hebr. 12.10. to satisfy their humor, and their passion, and the like. So doth not God, he takes no pleasure to afflict us; no, his delight and pleasure is rather to be showing mercy. You may observe how loath he is to deal against us, and how unwillingly he takes us up to lash us, Hos. 11.8. How shall I give thee up Ephraim, how shall I deliver thee Israel, &c. That hand cannot be cruel in correction, that takes the rod with such abundant reluctance.

2. When he is forced to correct us, he doth it in a good temper, and that is another reason, why he is so moderate: He corrects us not in anger, at least not in the heat of his anger, which hath no measure in it, no mixture of compassion with it, which is the thing the Prophet prays against, Jer. 10.25. but with judgment, that you with serious counsel, and mature deliberation, as is added, &c. he is not like a furious man striketh, and on a sudden and in a rage, and felleth to the ground, never considering with himself, whether the blow be is about to reach, be fitted and proportioned to the strength of him that is to under go it, yea or no: No he chastens his with judgment and advice: He doth it in a settled and composed way, he is not angry, at least, but a little angry. When he deals against the wicked, he is sore displeased at them, as his own expression is, Zech. 1.15. but he is but a little angry with his own people, as is added, &c. and because he is angry but a little, he corrects them but a little.

3. The Lord is very moderate; because as he corrects his people in little anger, so in great love: They may look up and see him smiling, when he lays upon them; when he is most severe and bitter with his people, his kindness to them works still, according to that sweet and precious promise, Psal. 89.31. If his children forsake, &c. Then will I visit their transgressions, &c. If he be in a little heat at any time, he recollects himself again, and in the midst of wrath remembers mercy, as the Prophet speaks, and tempers it with this allay; he considers with himself, as once he did with Ephraim, Jer. 31.20. Is not this my own son, is he not my pleasant child, whom I am laying on upon. And shall I use my own sweet child thus? Shall I show him no compassion? With that his bowels turn within him, and he saith, that he will surely have mercy upon him.

4. When he punisheth his people it is his manner to abate, and to be very moderate, because he aims not at revenge, but reformation. Indeed revenge will have the most in a business, it will have full and perfect satisfaction, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. And hence it is that when God deals against ungodly men in such away, he pays them home; because he doth it, as his own expression is, to satisfy and ease himself, and not to benefit or profit them. So that the Lord may say, when he is laying on them in the heat of his displeasure, as Isaiah 1.24. Ah, I will ease me of my enemies! Now I shall ease myself of such a drunkard, of such a swearer and blasphemer, of such a lewd profane and vicious liver that was always vexing me. Now I shall hear him swear no more, now I shall have him rend my wounds no more; I shall be pressed with his sins no more; I shall be quiet now I see, I shall be eased of him forever.

But now (my brethren) when he deals against his own people, it is a greater trouble to him, to make them suffer his corrections, then for himself to suffer their indignities and provocations: Nor doth he aim a whit at satisfaction (for that he hath received from Christ to the extremity of Justice) but only at their reformation: So that he gives correction to them, as physic to recover, and not as poison to destroy. And hence it is, that he deals moderately with them, according as he finds their strength and case to be; yet he may not kill, but cure them: He doth so chastise his people, as that he doth not loose the weakest of them by the extremity, or length of the affliction that he lays upon them. The rod of trouble shall not rest upon them, least they put forth their hand to evil, Psal. 125.3. I will sift the house of Israel saith the Lord, as corn is sifted in sive, Amos 9.9. But yet the least grain shall not fall upon the earth. I will not loose one grain of good wheat, as it is added, &c. and this for clearring of the former member of the point. It is the manner of the Lord when he punisheth his people to abate and to be very moderate.

But now (my Brethren) on the other side, when he delivers them, and shows them mercy, it is his manner to exceed and to transcend all measure: Then he takes his full scope, and doth not bound and stint himself as in the former: No he bestows upon his people superlative and matchless mercies, and salvations; he gives them such a deliverance as this, such as hath no parallel, no equal, with which it may be sampled or compared: Of which that may be said, which the Holy Ghost affirmeth of the spice, which the Ethiopian Queen presented to King Solomon, 2 Chron. 9.9. There was not any such spice; so there was never such mercy. In delivering, the Lord sometimes out-dares himself in showing mercy, does rare and singular, and extraodinary things, such as he is not wont to do at other times; such as his people are not able to express, as David speaks, Psal. 106.2. Who can utter the great and mighty acts of God? who can show forth all his praise? Such as they are not able to believe; no, they seem like men that dream, as Israel did, Psal. 126.1. such as they are not able to imagine; he doth abundantly above all that they can think, as the Apostle speaks, Eph. 6.20. nay to go higher yet, such as they are not able (in some sort) to bear: As it is said of Jacob, when they told him that his son Joseph was alive, and that he was made governor over all land of the Egypt; his heart fainted, Gen. 45.26. so God sometimes gives such transcendent mercies and deliverances to his people, that their hearts faint within them, they have not strength enough to bear the sudden flush of joy, that comes breaking in upon them. He loadeth them, yea, over loadeth them with benefits, powers out upon them such a heap of mercy as they cannot stand under. And whether the deliverance of this Day, were such a signal one, such a deliverance as this, such as you are not able to express, such as you were not able to believe, nor to imagine, nor to bear almost, I leave it to yourselves (my brethren) to consider. Ah my beloved, when you were first informed that relief was come, and that the Enemy was drawing off the Town, tell me how it fared with you, was not the joy too great for you? too large for those poor hearts of yours to hold? did it not stretch them, and dilate them overmuch; so that your spirits even fainted in you? I know when you reflect upon those days of old, you will seal to this truth; That when the Lord delivers his, and shows them mercy, it is his manner to exceed, &c. And this he doth for many reasons; I shall name a few of them, &c.

1. The condition of his people may be such, that in respect of them it may be necessary, that God stretch himself a little, and go beyond himself (I mean his ordinary course) in their deliverance: Unless the Lord be pleased to exceed, it will not reach them to be beneficial to them. As there are sins of divers sizes and punishments of divers sizes, so there are mercies and deliverances of divers sizes too, and one of them must be proportioned to the other. If the affliction and distress be of the large size, so must the deliverance be. And hence it is that God sometimes makes the salvation of his people out of measure great, because their troubles and afflictions have been so: Such a distress must have such a deliverance.

2. When God delivers his, and shows them mercy, it is his manner sometimes to exceed, &c. that he may make them recompense for their former miseries. And even as Joseph, when he had dealt somewhat roughly and unkindely with his brethren for a while, and used them so, as if be had forgotten all affection and relation to them; yet in the end, his bowels yearned upon them, so that he was not able to contain himself; and then he opened all his heart, and shown his love more fully to them then he had ever done before: So when the Lord hath dealt a while severely with his people, as they think (though it be always less then their iniquities deserve) and when he sees them likely to be swallowed up of sorrow and dispair, then his bowels work within him, and he can hold no longer, but is overcome: And out he breaks into such sweet and melting declarations of his love, as come not from him at another time; when he perceives his people at the point to sink, and to be overcome in their afflictions, he labors to revive and cheer them up again, with more then ordinary revelations and discoveries of his mercy: He sees the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he hath made; if he should be always wroth, and if he should contend forever, Isa. 57.16. And therefore as the loving father when he perceives the child about to swound, while he is laying on upon it, presently lets fall the rod, and falls a kissing and embracing of it, and speaking very kindly to it, to fetch life in it again: So deals God with his people, when they faint in their distresses, and sink away under his hand, away he flings the rod, and falls upon their necks, kisses away their tears, and makes them know how dear and precious they are to him, notwithstanding this sharpness.

What was the time that God did so abundantly reveal his love to Hezekiah's soul, as himself expresseth it, Isa. 38. but after that extreme affliction, when instead of peace, his soul was full of bitterness; so that he could not speak in prayer, but chatter'd like a Swallow, and mourned like a Dove. You have heard of Jobs affliction, how unparalleled it was in all respects, and what end the Lord made, James 5.11. and that end was all mercy, God did exceed in that business, and transcend all measure: So that me thinks, I see Job even ravished to an ecstacy of joy, and I am confident that God had never shown him so many choice and pregnant tokens of his favor all his life before, as in the end of that affliction. And verily the Lord is never wont to manifest such singular and extraordinary mercy to his Church and People, as when they have been dead and buried as it were; when they have been in a remediless and desperate case but just before, that he may make them full requital to the utmost, for all the trouble that hath been upon them.

3. When God delivers his people, it is his manner sometimes to exceed, &c. that he may lay upon them mighty Obligations. The Lord delights to have his people much engaged, exceedingly endeared and bound to him; and upon this account sometimes, he doth over and above for them, that they may see how much they are beholding to him, and how much they ow him. That by this means he may oblige and bind them strongly to obedience: And therefore this is made the scope and aim of God in all the great things that he did for Israel, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. The Prophet makes a Catalogue before of many rare, choice, and precious mercies, which he followed them withal: And then at last, he shuts up all with this, which shows the end of God in all; That they might keep his statutes and observe his laws, Psal. 105. last verse.

4. When God delivers his people, it is his manner sometimes to exceed, &c. that he may raise the greater trophie to his own honor, and make his name be remembered in all generations. The Lord sometimes is pleased (my brethren) to erect pillars, to set up monuments of mercy, that the memorial of it may not die forever. He builds a None-such, by the greatness of his power, and for the honor of his majesty: He gives his people such a deliverance, talis that you cannot find a qualis, it is not to be matched again. And even as Princes when they have a mind to make their greatness known and spoken off, are wont to do some extraordinary act; so God execeds in ways of kindness to his people, to this end, that he may appear the more glorious, and that he may show forth to the ages to come, the unsearchable riches of his power and mercy. Its true, that both of them appear, even in his common works, and the least and lowest of his favors; But in such rare and choice deliverances and salvations that transcend all measure, they sparkle forth with dazzling luster.

Use 1. Is it the manner of the Lord when he punishes his people to abate, &c. Then let us be exact observers and admirers of the rich mercy of the Lord both ways: When his work is in his hand, let our eyes be in our head, and let us diligently look to one side and the other, when he strikes, how he refrains; when he saves, how he exceeds. The Prophet Ezra very acurately notes them both, Thou hast punished us less then our iniquities deserve, and given us such a deliverance as this? and we should strive to do as he did. But alas we use to be quite upon the other hand, our manner is to amplify crosses, and to diminish mercies; when God afflicts, we tell over; when he delivers, we tell short: We look on our afflictions in a multiplying glass, which represents them more and greater then indeed they are: But when we look on our salvations, we turn the other end, which makes them to appear as nothing: When we speak of our distresses, we aggravate them to the utmost; we rise, we grow in our discourse, as he in the Poet, I am twice, thrice miserable, nay ten times, nay twenty times, nay a hundred times miserable. But when we speak of our deliverances, we extenuate; we are miserably short, low and flat: we are quite contrary to God, we exceed where he abates; and we abate where he exceeds: Oh my beloved, let us not be so cross to God, who is so kind to us; but let us learn of Ezra here, to think and speak of our afflictions in a way of diminution; and on the other side, of our salvations, in a way of augmentation: And this let me apply a little to the business of this Day.

1. Learn to lessen your afflictions, at least with reference to your deserts: Acknowledge with the Prophet, in my Text, That they were less then your iniquities deserved. Its true, you suffered sharp and bitter things, when you were shut up by the Enemies, and many of you more then others: Your feelings, I confess, were much, your fears were more: But what were all these to your sins, if God had dealt in rigor with you? Some of you I suppose lost your most choice and precious friends, which next to God were dearest to you in the world; Why, it is a mercy that you have one friend left: Some of you lost your goods and your estates; why, it is a mercy that you have a penny left: some of you lost your limbs; why, it is a mercy that you did not lose your lives: some of you lost your houses, you saw them flame and burn till they were raked in their own ashes; why, it is a mercy that yourselves are not at this instant burning in the flames of Hell itself: Many of you were swept away by the Bullet and Sword; why, it is a mercy there was any remnant or escaping; that there is one left to tell the news of this deliverance, to magnify the Lord for it. In death there is no remembrance of him, in the grave, who can praise him? Where are they that lost their lives in the sieges of this place? they are not here to join with us in the solemnity and cheerful celebration of this happy Day; to magnify the Lord with us, and to exalt his name together: some of them, were they here no doubt, would be as forward as the best of us: But we may say to God concerning them, as sometimes Hezekiah did, The grave cannot praise thee, &c. Isa. 38.18. or as Heman sometimes did, Psal. 88.10. Wilt thou show wonders to the dead, shall the dead arise and praise thee? No, this is our Prerogative who are preserved from the grave, and rescued from destruction: And it is an extraordinary mercy of the Lord to us, that while others are gone down into the place of silence, our lives are lengthened out to sing his praises, and to speak good of his name, to keep another day of of thankfulness to him, who is the God of our life: O let us say, as Hezekiah did in such a case; The living, the living, they shall praise thee, as we do this day. And thus if you survey your sharpest troubles and afflictions; you shall find a mixture and allay of mercy in them, and so be forced to acknowledge, that God hath punished you far less then your iniquities deserve.

2. Learn hence to amplify deliverances and salvations, to raise them to the very height, above expression with the Prophet in my Text, such a deliverance as this, as hath no words to set it forth: such as posterity will not be able to believe: and truly (my Beloved) even such a one was yours; it was a None-such in the land, God dealt not so with any other people, so that it shines among deliverances, even as the Moon among the lesser Stars: Survey the great things that the Lord hath done in these late years of wonder, and you shall find that the salvation of this place was the greatest of them all, none to be compared with it; it had an asterisme of mercies in it, body mercies, soul mercies, estate mercies; which conspired altogether to make it out of measure glorious: Among the rest, this excellency was peculiar to it, that it turned the scales of the whole business in these late wars: Oh my beloved, look round about this rare deliverance, and amplify it all the ways that you can think upon; remember how you prized it, when you were pleading for your lives, before the Lord, in the day of your distress, what you would have done or given to be assured of a deliverance, from that cruel death, which with amazing thoughts you looked for, when you were ready to be taken by an enemy, whose rage and malice was boiled up to the height against you, &c. who would in probability have spared neither age nor sex; I say, remember how you prized it then, and do not let the price to fall again: Then it was valued at the highest, when you were reaching after it with fainting souls; now it is nothing with abundance of you: Oh loath yourselves, for this baseness, and make it your great business of this Day, to raise and to keep up the price of this incomparable mercy, to make the most of such a rare deliverance as this.

Use 2. It is the manner of the Lord when he punisheth his people, to abate and to be very moderate; when he delivers them and shows them mercy, to exceed and to transcend all measure; and do we find that he hath so exceeded as in other mercies, so specially in the deliverance of this Day. Then let us seriously consider, what a weight of duty lies upon us, and how we ought to transcend and to exceed in our returns to God again. Believe it (brethren) ordinary matters will not serve the turn; as God hath done more for us, so he must have more from us then from any other people: we must do singular and extraordinary things; if he exceed in mercy, we must accordingly exceed in duty, there must be some proportion of the one unto the other; we must strive to render to him according to the benefits that he hath done us, and to come up as near as it is possible to his measure; such a deliverance must have such returns, and here to pitch upon particulars.

1. Such a deliverance must have such a remembrance, it must have some memorial answerable to it. As for ourselves (my brethren) we must engrave it on our hearts, and keep a Register of all the mercies that concurred in it. As David had an inventory of the Gold and Silver that he provided for the temple, but the iron and the brass he numbereth not, because it was without weight, 1 Chron. 22.14. So though we cannot reckon all the mercies of the Lord, his daily, and his hourly mercies, because indeed they are without number, yet we must be exact in numbering and setting down his Golden and his Silver mercies. Such a deliverance as this, with all the circumstances of it, must not be forgotten by us.

And yet this is not all my berthren: we must not only keep these rare and extraordinary mercies in our minds ourselves, but we must take some course that others may be mindful of them, and that while the world lasts, that the Lord may have his glory kept afoot in following ages, A duty much commended to us in the Scripture, upon such occasions. When God had wrought a great salvation for his people Israel, Moses commanded them to write a song, and to teach it to their children, that it might be a witness for the Lord against them, viz. if they should prove unthankful, Deut. 31.19. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory, saith the Psalmist, Psal. 102.16. And what then, must they keep one day of thankfulness, and so an end? No there is somewhat further to be done, this shall be written for the generations to come, and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord. Indeed there is an Ordinance of the high Court of heaven, to this purpose, Psal. 78.5. He appointed a Law in Israel, which he did command our fathers, and what did he command our fathers? That they should make the praises of the Lord his strength and wondrous works, that he had done, that they should make them known unto their children, and to the generation that was yet to come. And therefore I beseech you (my beloved) let us think upon it, let us indevor to perpetuate the praise of God, let us use some means or other to transmit it to posterity, to make succeeding generations know what God had done for this Land, for this place, that he may have the glory of it as long as the sun & moon endureth. Brethren we have a great task in this kind, we have very much to do, because the Lord hath done so much: truly I think, that there was never any generation that had such a weight of duty lay upon them. It was the saying of a wiseman, that troublesome times were good for the writer, & il for the liver, he that lives in them shall have sorrow enough: He that writes of them shall have matter enough; & certainly these times of ours, yield matter of transmission to succeeding generations more then any former ages. Let us take care as much as lies in us, that nothing be lost, not a scrap of anything that God hath done for this Land, or for this Town, in plague, and in the sieges, but that it may be all conveyed down entire and whole and undiminisht to following ages; that the generations that are yet to come may praise the Lord; And to this end I shall set before you two things.

1. God will be a gainer by it. Alas (my brethren) it is little glory, we can bring him in ourselves, and in our own time, if we should spend all our days in praising him, they are short and will be done upon the sudden. But if we can take course that all the generations, that are yet to come, shall praise him for the mercy which we have received, as long as the world lasts: this will be a great advantage, and truly if we love him, & be affected with his mercy as we ought to be; we will endeavor what we can to raise, and to advance the little tribute of glory and thanksgiving, which he is like to have among us, after so many rich and precious favors heaped upon us. And seeing we ourselves who have received so much, can pay so little; we will be so honest yet, to charge our heirs, with what is coming from us to the Lord. And even as David lays a tax on all Nations, all Angels, all Creatures, to come in and to attribute what they can to the praises of the Lord, so we will lay a tax on all succeeding generations, while the world continues, that God may not lose all; but that he may in some proportion have the glory that is due unto his name.

2. Succeeding generations will be gainers by it too; me thinks the Prophet mentions it as advantage and privilege to them of those times, Psal. 44.1. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what works thou didst in their days, & in the times of old: He seems to be affected very much with the relation; And truly (my beloved) it may be very beneficial to after ages, to be acquainted with the work of God, to know what he hath done in former times; it will bind them and engage them, to walk in some proportion answerable to them; or if they do not, it will be a witness for the Lord against them: As Deut. 31.19. It will testify what God hath done, and what they ought to do; that they will not be able to be quiet, if they be unthankful. And therefore I beseech you (my beloved) let us think of something in this kind or other, after such a rare deliverance. The people of the Lord of old, were wont to set up monuments of the great works of God, as Jacob's El Elohe Israel, Gen. 33.20. Moses his Jehovah Nissi, Exod. 17.5. and Samuel's Eben Ezer, 1. Sam. 7.12. And shall there be no monument of such astrange salvation as ours was? No memorial of such a deliverance as this? Truly (my Brethren) if you will set up some remembrance of it, some work of Piety or Charity, to be a stranding monument of this deliverance; you would do something worthy of yourselves, and of the Lord who hath been so gracious to you.

2. Such a deliverance must have such a celebration, as is answerable to it; and truly for the outward part, I must acknowledge you exceed in this place; you do well that you triumph and Shout, Ring, make Fires, and feed upon the Creatures, and that liberally too: but yet you must not think that this is the main business (for bodily exercise profiteth little) nay which is worse, you must not suffer it to be a hindrance to the main business. Truly (my brethren) I have observed heretofore, that there hath been too much flesh, too little spirit, in the observation of this Day. The bodily and fleshly part, hath been very high indeed, but the spiritual part which God alone regardeth, for itself, hath been very low and flat. Men's Tables have been better furnished, and their bodies finer dressed, but for their prayers and their praises in their Families, or in their Closets, they have been either none at all, or all one as at other times. There are too many of us, who have taken too much liberty upon such days as these, in a carnal fleshly way, and have been over-charged, and made unfit for spiritual service: I say, as the Apostle, Such rejoicing is not good; rejoicing is good, but such rejoicing is not good. Oh my beloved, I beseech you, let not the mercy of the Lord have a return of sin instead of a return of praise; yea under the show and color of praise: do not make this blessed day an occasion to the flesh; let this be such a feast as follows a holy convocation, and is agreeable and suitable to it. While we are at it, let us do as birds do, sip a little and look up, take the creature moderately, and and look up with thankfulness, to the God of our mercies; let us rejoice with trembling, tremble to sin against God on the day of our rejoicing.

3. Such a deliverance must have such a Reformation, as is answerable to it, a choice and singular and extraordinary reformation, such a one as is not to be matched again in all the Land. As there was no deliverance like ours, so there must be no Reformation like ours, it must be high and full, beyond any other people, that it may be said of us as of Josiah once, with reference to the exact and glorious Reformation that he made, like unto him there was no King before him, nor after him arose there any such. So there was never any people like to Taunton for thankfulness and for obedience, nor after them shall there be any such, that they that look upon us, and observe us, may say to us as they did to the virtuous woman, Prov. 31.29. Many people have done virtuously, but you have excelled them all. Never did God exceed in mercy to a People, as he did to Taunton, and never did a people excel in holiness as they have done. Ah my beloved, think upon it after the Lord hath given us such a deliverance as this, shall we again break his commandments? as you have it in my Text. Shall we do it, who have been so signally delivered by the naked arm of God? and shall we do it in the self same kind, that we have done in former times? As Ezra speaks expressly here, shall we again break thy Commandments, by joining in affinity with the people of the Land? after this, shall we return to our old corruptions, and our wonted ways again? shall those which have been heretofore the sins of Taunton, be the sins of Taunton still? Beloved, look a little back upon your former practices, and see what alterations this signal mercy of the Lord hath made among you, especially those which are the public known and noted; evil of this place. Not to speak of pride or covetousness, or Sabbath profanation. Some say the Taverns and the Alehouses, were never so frequented, that Drunkenness was never so common, and so rife amongst us, as it is at this day. Ah (my beloved) what will become of this in the latter end? why verily if God be still provoked thus, he will exceed in wrath as he hath done in mercy, he will be angry till he hath consumed us, that there will be no remnant nor escaping: He saved a remnant last, but now he will destroy that remnant too, and make an utter desolation.

Oh (my beloved) let us who are before the Lord this day, remember, that we are the remainder that are left, the residue that are escaped from the late judgments that have been upon this place, to tell the world how sharp God hath been to others, and how merciful to us. And therefore let the fear of the great God of heaven be upon us the remainder of our days, let us consider why he hath preserved us, not to be instruments of his dishonor, but monuments of his praise: That present and succeeding generations, may say of us, as the Prophet did of Israel, Deut. 33.29, Happy art thou O Taunton, who is like to thee, O people saved of the Lord: None have been like to thee in mercy and salvation, and none are like to thee in holiness and Reformation.