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thing from their wilderness-retirements, but the sharpness of the place which was a part of the punishment of their sin, and by no means sanctified for the furtherance of their obedience. These two things then are evident.

1. That the principle of men's unbelief and disobedience is in themselves, and in their own hearts, which leaves them not on any change of their outward condition.

2. That no outward state of things, whether we voluntarily choose ourselves, or we be brought into it by the providence of God, will either cure or conquer, or can restrain the inward principles of sin and unbelief. I remember old Jerome somewhere complains, that when he was in his horrid cave at Bethlehem, his mind was frequently among the delicacies of Rome. And this will teach us,

.23 .Prov. iv : משמר נצר לבך

First, In every outward condition to look principally to our own hearts. We may expect great advantages from various conditions, but shall indeed meet with none of them, unless we fix and water the root of them in ourselves. One thinks he could serve God better in prosperity, if freed from the perplexities of poverty, sickness or persecution. Others that they should serve him better if called to afflictions and trials. Some think it would be better with them if retired and solitary; others if they had more society and company. But the only way indeed to serve God better is to abide in our station or condition, and therein to get better hearts. It is Solomon's advice, "Above or before every watch or keeping, keep thy heart." It is good to keep the tongue, and it is good to keep the feet, and it is good to keep the way, as he farther declares in that place; but, saith he, "Above all keepings, keep thy heart;" and he adds a great reason for his caution, for, saith he, "out of it are the issues of life." Life and death, in the means and causes of them, do come out of the heart. So our Saviour instructs us, that in our hearts lie our treasures; what they are, that are we and nothing else. Thence are all our actions drawn forth, which not only smell of the cask, but receive thence principally their whole moral nature, whether they are good or bad.

Secondly, Look for all relief and for help against sin, merely from grace. A wilderness will not help you, nor a paradise. In the one Adam sinned, in whom we all sinned: in the other all Israel sinned, who were an example to us all. Men may to good purpose go into a wilderness to exercise grace, and principles of truth, when the acting of them is denied elsewhere. But it is to no purpose to go into a wilderness to seek for these things: their dwelling is in the love and favour of God, and no where else can they be found. See Job xxviii. 12-26. Do not expect that mercies of themselves will do you good, or that

afflictions will do you good; that the city or the wilderness will do you good: it is grace alone that can do you good. And if you find inward benefits by outward things, it is merely from the grace that God is pleased to administer and dispense with them. And he can separate them when he pleaseth. He can give mercies that shall be so materially, but not eventually: like the quails which fed the bodies of the people whilst leanness possessed their souls. And he can send affliction that shall have nothing in it but affliction; present troubles leading on to future troubles. Learn then in all places, in every state and condition to live in the freedom, riches and efficacy of grace, for other helps other advantages have we none.

Thirdly, Let us learn, that whithersoever sin can enter, punishment can follow. Culpam sequitur pæna pede claudo. Though vengeance seems to have a lame foot, yet it will hunt sin till it overtake the sinner. Psal. cxl. 11. " Evil shall hunt the violent man to overtake him." Go where he will, the fruits of his own evil and violence, the punishment due to them, shall hunt him and follow him, and though it should sometimes appear to be out of sight, or off from the scent, yet it will recover its view and chase, till it hath brought him to destruction;

to thrustings down,' till he be utterly thrust down; saith the Targum, The angel of death shall haunt him, until he thrust him down into hell.' The heathen owned this;

Quo fugis Encelade, quascunque accesseris oras,
Sub Jove semper eris.

Punishment will follow sin into the wilderness, where they are separated from all the world, and climb up after it to the top of the tower of Babel, where all the world conspired to defend it. It will follow it into the dark, the dark corners of their hearts and lives, and overtake them in the light of the world. God hath sxdxor oppa, an eye of revenge that nothing can escape. "Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" Jer. xxiii. 24. God declares whence it is, that none can hide from his presence, or escape his justice. It is from his omnipresence; he is every where, and all places are alike to him. Adam when he had sinned went behind a tree. And others, they would go under rocks and mountains, but all is one, vengeance will find them out. This is that in which the barbarians thought would not let a murderer live, however he might escape for a season, Acts xxviii. 4.

Obs. XX. Great works of providence are a great means of instruction; and a neglect of them as to their instructive end, is a great aggravation of the sin of those who live when and where they are performed.-They saw my works, saith God; works great and wonderful; and yet continued in their sin and dis

obedience. This heightened their sin, and hastened their punish

ment.

We shall take an instance in one of the works here intended, which will acquaint us with the design, end and use of them all. And this shall be the appearance of the majesty of God on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law. The works accompanying it consisted much in things miraculous, strange and unusual, as thunder, lightening, fire, smoke, earthquakes, the sound of a trumpet and the like. The usual working of the minds of men, towards these unusual effects of the power of God, is to gaze on them with admiration and astonishment. This God forbids in them, Exod. xix. 21. "Charge the people lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze." This is not the end or design of God in these works of his power, in these appearances and evidences of his majesty, that men should gaze at them to'satisfy their curiosity. What then was aimed at in and by them? It was to instruct them to a due fear and awful reverence of God, whose holiness and majesty was represented to them, that they might know him as a consuming fire. And this was declared in the issue. For the people coming up to a due fear of God for the present, and promising obedience thereon, God took it well of them, and approved it in them, as that which answered the design of his works, Deut. v. 23-29." And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire) that ye came near unto me," (they are the words of Moses to the people,) " even all the heads of And ye tribes and your elders. said, Behold the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire; now therefore why should we die, for this great fire will consume us. Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it, and do it. And the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spake unto me, and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and their children for ever." God never casts bruta fulmina, all his works are vocal. They speak or rather he speaks in them. Now that they may be instructive to us, sundry things are re-. quired.

your

First, That we take notice of them, and notice of them to be his. Some are so stayed or so obstinate, or so full of self and other things, that they will take no notice at all of any of the works of God. His hand is lifted up, and they will not see, they will not behold it. He passeth by them in his works

on the right hand and on the left, but they perceive it not. Others, though they take notice of the works themselves, yet they will not take notice of them to be his; like the Philistines, they knew not whether the strange plague that consumed them and destroyed their cities, were God's hand or a chance. But till we seriously consider them and really own them to be the works of God, we can make no improvement of them.

Secondly, We are to inquire into the special meaning of them. This is wisdom, and that which God requireth at our hands. So Micah vi. 9. "The voice of the Lord' crieth unto the city, the man of wisdom shall see thy name, hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." the voice of the Lord,' is often taken for the power of God manifesting itself in its effects and mighty works. In this sense it is repeated six The voice of or seven times in one psalm, Psal. xxix. 3—9. God here then is the works of God, and what do they do? they have a voice, they "cry to the city." The voice of God in his rod doth so, that is his afflicting and correcting works, as in the end of the verse. It cries,, to the city," that is the city of God, Jerusalem or the church. Though some think that is put for yn ad excitandum, it cries to excite or stir up men, that is, to repentance and amendment. And what is It is wisthe issue? win, "the man of wisdom" say we. dom, or rather substance, that is, the substantial wise man," who gives no place to vanity and lightness. He shall see the name of God, that is, he shall discern the power and wisdom of God in his works; and not only so, but the mind of God also in them, which is often signified by his name. See John xvii. 6. And so it follows, "Hear ye the rod," they are works of the rod or correction that he speaks of. This he commands us to hear, that is, to understand. So o frequently signifies! So speak the servants of Hezekiah to Rabshakeb, Isa. xxxvi. Speak we pray thee unto thy servants in the Syrian language, "UN SYDw:"for we hear it," that is, can understand it. So are we to "hear the rod," that is, to learn and understand the mind of God in his works. This is required of us. And that we may do so, two things are necessary.

11.

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1. That we consider and be well acquainted with our own condition. If we are ignorant hereof we shall understand no thing of the mind of God in his dispensations. Security in sin will take away all understanding of judgments. Let God thun der from heaven in the revelation of his wrath against sin, yet such persons will be secure still. God doth not often utterly destroy men with great and tremendous destructions, before he hath given them previous warnings of his indignation. But yet men that are secure in sin, will know so little of the sense of them, that they will be crying peace and safety, when their final VOL. IV:

1 G

destruction is seizing on them, 1 Thess. v. 3. God speaks out the curse of the law in his works of judgment. For thereby is the "wrath of God revealed from heaven against the ungodliness of men," Rom. i. 18. But yet when men hear the voice of the curse so spoken out, if they are secure they will bless themselves and say, They shall have peace, though they "add drunkenness to thirst," Deut. xxix. 19. And this for the most part blinds the eyes of the wise men of this world. They neither see nor understand any of the works of God, though never so full of dread or terror; because being secure in their sin, they know not that they have any concern in them. If they do at any time attend to them, it is as the people did to the voice that came from heaven to our Saviour; some said it thundered, others that an angel spake: one says one thing of them, another, another thing, but they endeavour not to come to any certainty about them. This is complained of Isa. xxvi. 11. “ Lord, when thy hand is lifted up they will not see." The lifting up of the hand in general is to work or to effect any thing; in particular to correct, to punish, it being the posture of one ready to strike, or redoubling his blows in striking, as God doth wheu his judgments are in the earth, ver. 9. In this state of things, saith the prophet, "they will not see," they will neither consider, nor endeavour to understand the mind of God in his works and judgments. And how doth God take this of them? Saith he, "The fire of thine adversaries shall devour them." That is, either their own fiery envy at the people of God, mentioned in the foregoing words, shall consume themselves; they shall be eaten up and consumed with it, whilst they will not take notice of the mind of God in his judgments towards them. Or the fire wherewith at length thou wilt consume all thine adversaries shall fall on them; or lastly, thou wilt turn in on them a wicked furious people, who shall destroy them, as it befel the Jews to whom he speaks in particular. One way or other God will severely revenge this security, and neglect of his works thereon. But they who will wisely consider their own condition, how it is between God and them, wherein they have been faithful, wherein false or backsliding, what controversy God hath, or justly may have with them, what is the condition of the state, church or nation whereunto they do belong, will discern the voice of God in his great works of providence. So is the matter stated, Dan. xii. 10. " Many shall be purified, and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." And when shall this be?" When there is a time of great trouble," ver. 1. When God's judgments are greatly in the world. The end of these troubles is to purify men, to cleanse them by the removal of all filth of flesh and spirit that they may have

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