212 S ERMONSsfpos Serm. XXIX. and fo the calamities of the Saints,John 16 :21,22.A woman when the is in travel bath for - row, becaufe her hour 'is come : but moon as the is delivered of child, the is no more in anguifh, for joy a man is born into the world : and yenow are in forrow, but I will fee you again, and your hearts(hall rejoice, and Air joy no man taheth from you. The throws of our farrow, may be very (harpand bitter, but the birth will occafion joy enough tocoun- tervail thetedioufnefs of it. , 4. They are complaining, arcs/ing groans; the Apoftle faith, Yam. 5. 4. Grudg not one againfi another ; groan not one againft another ; that is, give not occafion to one ano- ther tocomplain againft you to God : 'Tis fad when one Chriftian complaineth againft another for his froward and perverfe and unbrotherly carriage, much more of near rela- tions,Husbands and Wives, Minifters and People : The Apoftle faith, 'cis not profitable, when they give their account with grief, and and not with joy, Heb.13. 17. This groan- ing of the creature mutt be interpreted by the ftandard of this notion, The creature groaneth not with us, but groaneth againft us, becaufe of the (livery we put them unto, they groan for vengeance and deftruâion, not in fellow - feeling with thee, but in indig- nation againft thee , if thou be a wicked man : There is a groaning by way of Sympa- thy and Compafon, as we are bidden, Rom. 12. 15. to rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep. And there is a groaning by way of accufation and appeal, for revenge againft thofe that have wronged us ; we have abufed the creature ; the groan of a worm in the ear of the Lord of Hofts will be heard ; fo James 5. 2, 3. Tour rich- es are corrupted,yoyr garments are moth - eaten, ysur gold and flyer is canikered, and the ruff of them fhallbe a witnefs again(( you, andfhalleat your flefh, as it were fire ; you have heaped up treafure together for the !aft days. In the day of Judgment the groans of the creature and the circumftances of our frnful actions (hall be brought forth as witneffes againft us; the moth-eaten garments, the cankered Siver fhall be produced, fo Hab. 2. u r. The floue (hall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber (hall anfwer tt. That is, the mate- rials of the houfe built by oppreffion,(hall come as witneffes 5 there is a kind of anti - pathy between them therein reprefented ; The (tones of the wall (hall cry, Lord we were built up by rapine and violence; and the beam (hall anfwer, True, Lord, even fo it is : The ftones Shall cry, Vengeance, Lord, upon our ungodly ones; and the Beam Than anfwer, Wo to him becaufe he built his houfe with blood. Confcience is a terrible re- membrancer : The very creatures which finners abufed will be brought in te(timony againft them to their cotiviftion and condemnation:You will fay, What is this to the Re- ftoration of the Univerfe, or thole Elementary Bodies in this lower world, to which you feem to confine this reftoration ? Thefe creatures (hall be confumed in the Sail fire ; how then brought into the Judgment ? Anfwer, 1. The Elementary bodies do concur to the increafe and prefervation of thefe things; Lands gotten by violence are made fruitful by Sun, Air, and Rain ; the Sun now fhineth upon thefe wicked men, and theRain falleth upon their fields ; the creatures abufed to excels come from both the Sunthine and the Earths Fertility, which is the mother of all wealth. 2. Tho many of thefe creatures (hall be confumed in this laft fire ; yet they (hall have an effe cognitum in the memory and confcience of the firmer, tho not an e rei,, an aduaI exittence : And thus, the wine abufed to drunkennefs may witnefs againft the drunkard; the facrilegious models which the glutton alienated from the poor, and devoted to lull and appetite,fhall witnefs againft the glutton : Memoria preteritorum, is one of the pu- ni(hments in Hell, Luke 16. 25. Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedff thy good things. The very cloathing by which they did manifett their Pride, (hall witnefs againft the proud : The Lands, Goods, and Houfes of worldlings, Ifa. 5.8. (hall wit- nefs againft the worldling: The Gold and Silver which they preferred before everlafting riches,fhall witnefs againft the carnal; The Place, the Room, the Bed wherein men com- mitted filthinefs and lewdnefs, shall witnefs againft the unclean; when confcience (ball be forced to the review,all there things (hall come into his mind : To this alto may be refer- red that palfage, Jofh. 24. 27. And fofbua[aid unto all the people, Behold this florae (hall be a witnefs unto us, fora bath heard allthe words of the Lord, which hefpalte unto us: it ¡ball be there for a witnefs to you, lelf you deny your God. How could the ftone which he had pla- ced under a great Oak, which was very near the San &nary of the Lord, hear or give witnefs a Partly, by Gods Appeal, and partly by their memory and confcience; it was a monument to put them inmmd of this folemn covenant, and fo might ferve to convince thetas
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