26 Chap.7. OftheFear o fGod; andits contraries. Cont r. dren in Bethlehem,and the Coafts round about;from two Years old,and under. And the gems were afraid, that ifthey fuffered Chrift to proceed inhis DoEtrine and Miracles, ail would believe on him ; and the Romans would come and take away 3óh'1)11.47. their Kingdom : and therefore they confpired toput him to death: The Wit .matt faith , n&d time[ invites td acsidetei, that which the wicked feareth theft Prov.t°24. come upon him. And fo it happened in the four Examples mentioned. The I amans difpoffelt theYews of their Kingdom, Herodmiffed ofhis purpofe, and loft his King- dom. jeroboams Ilfue was re;eEted in the next Generation. And the1J-ratites inb creafed, and prevailed againft Pharaoh and the /Egyptians. tiay,64 a. Seeing then, that this duty of fear is fo neceffffary; and that the Prophetin the PerlonofGod tells us, that to himwill he look that trembleth at his words ; it ftatad3 us upon tokeep this fear ever in our hearts. And the belt motives to induce us, is to take to us the consideration of Gods Judgements; and to confiderwith the Apoftte, Heb,iè. ;r, How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God ; for ifhe [hall be Prat. r4ó.3. extreme to mark what is doneemits, no Man (hallabide his wrath. t. And the hrft is the confideration of the examples of the judgements ofGod ìn for- cot,: r. mer Ages,left upon record in holy Scriptures.Ofwhich the Apoftle laith,That allthefe things ( meaning the Judgements fpoken of him inthe former Verfes of that Chap, ter ) hapned unto them, for enfamples; and are written for our admonition. They thould be our Monitors, Quot habebis jadicii Dei hiflorias in $ibliio , tar babet ton. times, The Hiftories of God's judgements in the facred Scripture,are as fomany Set. mons to us , to move us to the fear of God. As when we fee his Juftice upon his Angels , upon Man in Paradife , upon his whole Pofterity in the deluge , upon tjaefive Cities , upon the vEgyptians, upon his cttafen People the ?ow , upon his own Church 7erufalem; and lait of all , upon his own, and dearly beloved Sun, in proceeding.againft him, in the fulnefs of bitternefs at his patriot' : infomuch as one of the Fathers faith upon it, O magna amaritsdo peccati gairantam amaritudirtem pe. ferie , Oh the great bitternefs of fin that brought forth fo great bitternefs. Can we read and hear thefe things, and not fear and tremble. a. Andas theJudgements of former Ages aretobeconfdered, fo thof which are more veer our felves, efpecially there three. 1. Mara inheremia, thofe croffes that it pleafeth God tolet us feel inTome marine, as ficknefs, poverty, affliEtions by bad Children, and the like, 2. Mala impendentia, thofe croffes which we do not feel at the prefent, but hang. over out heads , and which we have caufe to fear may daily fall upon us; as Pelli. lente, Sword &c. 3. Malam excubans praforibus, as they call it the horrour of a guilty Confcience, Gen,4, which is always ready to accule and terrifie us, in which regard God told Cain,that fin lyeth at the door, thoughConfcience teem to fleep, yet it lyes like a Maftiff at the Door; which when the Confcience (hall be awakened, will be ready to fly in our faces. 3. Befades there , we fhould confider thofe tria novima, as they are called, thofe three raft things,Death,Judgement,and Hell torments:1irft the terrour ofDeath,which is as the Philofopher called it, the terrible ofterribles ; this would make us to number our days, and labour to fpend our time well; therefore Moles? prayed , that God would teach Men to number their days that, they might apply Pfalge.i i. their hearts to wisdom. a. Terror 7udicü , the terrour ofGods Judgement after death, and what account we areable to give, when as the Apoftle (peaks, Weshall appear before the Judge a r®r,s,ro, ment SeatofGod : which Judgement Seatcannot but be terrible. t. Ifwe confider the Authority of the Judge, from whole sentence there lies no appeal, it is fententiadefinetiva, a definitive fentence. y. In regard ofhis wisdom, and knowledge of all our offences. Omnis nada, all I-Ieb.4r,;, things are naked in his fight; neither will he leave any of our AEts indifcuffed, Amos, I kow your manifold tranfgreffions , faith God. And he. judgeth not as 1 Chrou.aS for Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the n 8.g. Man ; heart. He fearcheth all hearts , and underflandtth all the immaginations of the thoughts. 3. In refpedt ofhis omnipotency. He is God of all power and might, power be
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