t66 A SERMON on kind11e{s, lfrzi. )4 8. he never had his mind off thee; and'do!\ thou think he will lorget thee for a little Adverlity, No, he lhould not be a friend then. Now is all the trial of him, he will not f~il thee in thy gr<ate!l need. Therefore fays 'Dczvzd, Tr11f/ hzm czt all tzmes, Pja/.62.8. for God zs a refuge, and tha( cfpe– C!ally m the Ev!l day, Jer.I6.19. Oh Lord, my flrmgth,f!Jc.mzdmy rt{ug• i 11 the rvit d''>:· The chiefefi ufe of him lies then, and if it were not for that we were in worle cafe than others, for all our hopes are in him; as Jer,t7·'7. Be uot a terrour to me, lays Jeremy to God, for thou art my hope i11 the rvzl day. all the hope he had, He were undone, if he lhould find him look aloof off fro 1 n him then. No, then is the blelfednefs of a godly man feen. P{"'· 2. If hebe a11g>y, theu 6/effed is he that trujls in him; then efpecially. And if 'he fee m neverfo angry, yet trufi him, for he means thee no hurt ]er.29.1l. when they were carried into Captivity, they thought he meant t~ defiroy them; nay, faies God, Be not,Jealous of me, I know the thoughts th,zt I th111k towardsy·o11, thoughiS of ltace, andtwtof evzt, to giveyofl a 11 ex– peefed end; as good an end as you can look for, if you but let him alone, and do Ills do. And this is the llrongeft Motive to move him to be merciful to thee, for there– by thou becomefi his Guardian, his Pupil, and he is engaged to take the tuition of thee. 'fis againfi the Law of Nations, to betray thofe that fly for fuc– cour to us. In the Captiviry of Bab)•lo11, faies God to E6edmelech, ]er. 59· ult I wztlJurely detivt~ thee, a11d thy lzfe jbatl 6e givtn thet for a prty, 6rcauft thou haflpt~t thy trtif/ mme,jatth the Lord, That is all the reafon ; and fo Ijai. 26.5. Becaufe he tmfls in thee. Only, in the Third place, carry thy felf fearful of offending him; which is =nother way to win his favour, as indeed the befiof you havecaufe to do; in time of Judgments, Rw.1 r+ whojbalt not [tar thee? for he is a Father, who without refpect of Pcrfons judgeth every manaccording to hu works,t Pet.,.q, therefore fear, · When Vzzahwas ftricken for that (mall and but ralh act, as the Holy Ghofl: himfelf acknowledgeth it, 2 Sam.6. 7• it is faid of 'David, the he was afraidof tbe Lordthat day, and thought with himfelf, how !hall the Ark of the Lord come to me,that am as linful as Vzzah,and committed many a worfe errour,not ralhly, but prefumptuoully. So when thou lhalt fee God come out of his place with fury, to puni!h the Inhabitants of the Earth, becaufe there is wrath; as they fay to Job, Beware I•JI he take thee away with his flroke, ]ob.J6. 18. rhat is, whilfr thou lookefi at thy felf and thy obnoxioufncfs. It is good to fear; it is a fign of fiubbornnefs if thou do{\ not. If Children fee their Father beat but the Servants ; if they fear not, 'tis align they are llubborn Children. And to fear is a means to prevent thy being firickcn in thy particular. Jf lha– l<ing Rod works awfulnefs, God loves not to llrike; and there lore in Habak. l· 16.when he faw Pejlzlmce and Sword a coming as God's Harbingers, fays he, I tremblfd,th.1t I might refl iu the ell)' of trouble. Only this, Fear f!Ot theirfMr, as God fl\'S J{;zi.8.II· that is, not punilhment only, but fear to offend, fear fin. S,mefzjie God i11 y·our he,.,.ts, a11d let him be your drfrld; fear him ill all y•our w .zies, To fear punilhment only is not to fanctific him. My Brethren, Take heed of walking ralhlv now in thefe times, that is hand over head, as not caring what you do, as Levit. 26. 40. which is rranllated Walkiug coutrary, and is read by others, Watkiug ra)bb , not much rn~nding what he doth. It bchovs you to look about you, alwaies walking circum– fpectly;lell for want oftaking heed,you grievoufly offend God ere you are aware; rake heed forGod will walk ralhly to fuch,!lrike a ralh !lroi<e as it were,and cut off even one otherwifc dear to him,as it were unawares; becaufe there is wrath,tJke · heed lcfi he take thee away by his firoke. Fourthly, Make him now the end of all thy actions, more than ever, Rev. 1 ~+ Who wilt 11ot g!orifi~ thn whm thy 1udgmmts are tn•lde mamfefl, for 1bott only art Holy•; and this Holinefs of his God manife!ls in his Judgments, as Rluch as in any other works; and his end when he comes, is to glonfie htmfelf of thofe that would not do it aforehand, to recover his Glory of. men that re– garded it not, Ezek, 28. 22,· B~hotd I am agai11j/ thre, a11d I will be glorJftd tn
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