Judges:. 2. Ezra 9· 5· Ycr. $· Vcr. to. ' JLrolmig unto 'j)cfu.s. raft in his thoughts one thin& upon another; q. d. Jefus Cl1rifl was my Mafter :ind yet I denyed .hun, be told me ot dus before-hand, that I m1ght take heed of it, and yet I denyed h1m; I profetTed to h1m that I would never do u, I would never forfake him and yet 1denyed him; yea, thi' "ery night, and no longer fine<, 1 fad it again and again that I would not deny bun, and yet I denycd him; yea, I f~il'd,, Altho 11ghrJthm deny thee, yet 1w/l not I; and yet worfe than all others, I denyed h1m wHh a witnefs, for I affirmed defperately that I knew not the man, nay I fware defparately that I knew not the man, nay more than fo,I fw~r~, and I curfed.too, If Jk.!~ew the m.w, let Gotl'scurfe fall 11ponme ; ani! all tillS I d1d wul!m afew findes of my Lord; at that very time when I !l10~ld have flood fo~my Lord, Ill' that.all.rhe World forfook him; why, dtefe were the Clrcum!lances of 1etcrs fin, and meduatmg on them, He wem <Ht and wept bitterly. And thus we !l10uld aggravate our fins in our confefiions; 0 my fins were out of mea. fure finful.. 0 they ~ere fins againfl knowledge, and light, again!l many mercies re– cetved, agamfl: many JUdgments threatned, agamfl many checks of confcience, again!!: many vows and promtfes; thus ofr, and m thts place, and at thattime, and in that man– ner, .I commimed thefe and thefe fins; but of all the aggravations, let us be fure to re. member how we finned again!l the goodnefs, and patience, and love, and mercy of God. furely thefe circumflances will make our fins our of meafure tinful. The Angel that re~ proved the children of ljrael at Bochim, after the repetition of his mercies towards them, and of their fins againfl him, he queflions them in thefe words, Oh why havt J'e done this ?q. d. the Lord hath done thus and thus mercifully unto you, oh why have ye done thus unthankfully towards him? why was his mercy abufed, his goodnefs {lighted, his patience defpifed? do you thus requite the Lord OfooliflJ people and un– wife? in like manner !lwuld we confefs and aggravate our fins, 0 my God, thou art my Fmher; WM I ever in WAnt~ and thsu didff not relieve me? WM I ever in ~veak.._nefs~ and thoH didH not ftrengthen me? w.u I ever in ftraits, And thou didH not deliver me ? w.u I ever infickz~efs, and thou didH not cure me? w.u I ever in mifery, and tho11 didH not fuccor me?h~H thDII notbeen agracioUI God to me? a!lmybonescanfay,,who u lik! unto thee Lord, who u lik! unto thee ? and jh:</1 I thUI and thu< rc1va>·d the Lordfor all hu merciet towards me? hear 0 Heavens, and hearkfn 0 Earth; S1m ftand thou ftill, and thou Moon bt thou 11maz.ed at thu! hear Angtls, and hear Devils; hrar Heaven, and hear Hell, and beyou avenged onfuch afin M thu is! 0 thefinfulnefs•f myfin in reg•rdofthefe many cirtumftances! · 3. We muft condemn our felves, or pafs fenrence againll our own fouls; Lora, the worH place in Hell u too good fqr me; Lord here u my foul, !ho11 "!"Yfl: if thou pleafeH fend Satan for it, andgivemt a portion among the damned. Thrs felf-Judgmg, or fe]f.condemning is exempli~ed to the life in Ezxa; for~--;---- . . I. He fell on hu knees; he d1d not bow down hts knees, but like aman aflonrilted he fell on his knees; he bad before rent his garment, and mantle, and pluckt olf the hair of his bead and olf his beard, and fate down aflonifl1ed; and now at the evening facrilice !Je falls on his knees, and on the ground in great amazement. ~. He jjmad out hu hands unto the Lord; q. d. here is my brefl, and here is my bean-blood, I fjmad my arms, and lay all open, that thou mayfl fetthenaked point of thy fword of jufl:ice at my very heart. / 3. 1-le is dumb, and fpeechlefs (as it were) before the Lord; And now0 our God, what 0!.111 IV< fay after all thu? for we have for{ak!n thy commandments. q. d. fl1all I excu(e the matter? alas! it is inexcufable? what fl1all we fay after all th1s ? !lJall ,we call for thy patience? we have had ic, bur how did we abufe it? 010uld we call for mercy I indeecj we had it, but our fiubborn hearts would never come down : 0 our God what fhall we fay? I know not what to fay, for we have Cinoed againfl thee. . 4 · He hys down his foul, and all the peoples foul s at God's feet, 'q. d. here we are, thou may!!: damn us if thou wilt, Behold we are all here before ~hee in our trejpa!Jes, for wecannot jfand before thee, becaufe of thu. Behold here we are, rebels we are; here are our beads and throats before the naked point of thy vengeance, 1f now thou flJOuldefl take us from our knees, and throw us into Hell/ if we mull: go fr.om our prayers to damnation, we cannot bqt fay that thou a.rt jufl an~ righteous? oh Its mer– cy, its mercy indeed that we have been fpared, its JUfr and ngbteous wtth God that we !l10uld be damned . In
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=