Ezekiel 7:7 — The Day of Trouble is Near

This chapter does contain a denunciation of judgment, which judgment is described,

1. From the causes of it. The principal efficient cause was God; he is the cause of all evils of punishment: there is no evil in the city, and the Lord has not done it; he creates darkness. The instrumental adjuvent cause was the Caldeans; they did help forward the affliction, and are therefore said to be the worst of men, yes the worst of the heathen. The impulsive procuring cause was sin: there are three sins mentioned in this chapter (of which afterwards) as the procurers of the judgment threatened. The final cause was the glory of God, even that he might be known to be the Lord.

2. The judgment here denounced is set forth from the subject of it, or the persons upon whom it came, v. 2. Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: which is not to be understood of the Ten Tribes, who were gone into captivity before this prophecy was written, but the Jews are here called Israel. Often in the Scripture, not only in the New Testament, but in the Old, the Jews are called Israel: therefore Jehoshaphat King of Judah is styled, The King of Israel.

3. The judgment here threatened is set forth from the greatness of it: therefore it is called the end, ver. 2, 3. and an only evil, ver. 5. that is, a grand evil: as when David confesses, Against you, you [only] have I sinned (Psalm 51:4), that is, against you chiefly: so an only evil here notes a principal evil, yes a sweeping judgment, so as that there should not be need for affliction to rise up the second time.

4. This judgment is set forth from the certainty of it: therefore ver. 6. 'tis said, It is come, it is come. The Prophet does repeat those words, It is come, six times over, which shows not only the vehemency of the speaker, but the certain undoubted futurition of the evil spoken of.

5. The judgment here denounced is described from the celerity and proximity of it. This may likewise be intimated by those repetitions and iterations, but now hinted. As Joseph said to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:32), And for that the dream was doubled twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. So, inasmuch as the Prophet is so repetitious, as here we see, it was to show that the evil would certainly and shortly come to pass. And that is the scope of this verse, The morning is come, that is to say, execution-day is at hand: for those words seem to be an allusion to the Jews' custom of executing malefactors in the morning. Hence David says (Psalm 101:8), I will early destroy the wicked; or as the words are, In the morning I will destroy them, it being the custom in Israel of old, to cut off malefactors betimes in the morning. But a little for opening the words.

Day] here notes time. We must not think that the trouble here spoken of continued but for the space of 24 hours; for the words have respect to the Caldean siege, which lasted two years, yes to the captivity, which lasted seventy years. It is therefore usual in the Scripture to denote a time of very long continuance by the name and notion of a day.

Of Trouble] The Hebrew word [⟨in non-Latin alphabet⟩] notes great trouble. Junius translates it, The day of vexation. It is the same day of trouble which is spoken of (Jeremiah 30:7), Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it, it is even the time of Jacob's trouble. When the city and temple were taken, and burnt with fire; when the King had all his children slain before his eyes, and then his eyes put out, and he clapt in chains, and carried captive, that was a day of trouble that had none like it.

Is near] It is not here said how near that day was, but it is certain from other Scriptures that this trouble began within three or four years after this prophecy. For Ezekiel wrote in the fifth year of Zedekiah, and the Caldean siege began in the ninth year of Zedekiah; so that this trouble began within four years after these words were preached, and within six years execution was done upon Israel: therefore well might the Prophet say, The day of trouble is near.

And trouble may be said to be near in a double respect: 1. In appearance, and probability. As it is said of Epaphroditus, that he was nigh to death (Philippians 2:27), that is, in appearance, and as to an eye of reason. 2. Trouble may be said to be near in reality. And so was this day of trouble of which the text speaks, near not only in appearance, but in reality; and therefore the next words are, and not the sounding again of the mountains, that is to say, there should be more than a mere ([⟨in non-Latin alphabet⟩], fragor Montium) echo of troubles. If men shout (as in the mountainous land of Israel they were wont to do) among mountains, it will cause an echo, a sounding again, which soon vanishes, and comes to nothing; but says the Prophet, the sound of troubles at hand shall not vanish so. The Jews heard a report, a rumor, as if the Caldeans, whose cry was in their ships, were coming against them; now the Lord would have them to understand, that it should be more than a sound or rumor, even a reality. The divine threatenings were but an empty sound with them, but the troubles coming for the contempt thereof, should be more than an empty sound.

From the judgment here threatened, in consideration with the author and subject of it, we may observe,

That God does sometimes bring times of great trouble upon his own people.

Now in the doctrinal handling of this truth, there are four things may be spoken to. 1. That Israel, that is, the Church of God, is subject to troubles in this world. 2. What troubles they are which God's people are here subject to. 3. What are the signs of a day of trouble being near. 4. The reasons of this doctrine, from where it is that God does bring times of great trouble upon his own people.

That the Lords people are subject to great troubles, Scriptures are abundant in bearing witness to that (Acts 14:22): We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. As the children of Israel went through the Red Sea, and through the Wilderness, before they could enter into Canaan, so must we wade through a Red Sea of troubles, and pass through a Wilderness of miseries, e're we can arrive at the heavenly Canaan. Here is the difference between this world and that which is to come. Indeed in the world to come, the Church shall be freed from troubles: it is therefore said (Revelation 21:1), There was no more sea, such a day will come, when there shall be no more sea, no more troubles and combustions in the world as now there is, but as for the Saints, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: but before this day, Heaven and earth shall pass away, and there must be a new heaven, and a new earth; that is to say, this will be fulfilled in the world to come, but not in this world. Hence the Apostle speaks of the sufferings of this present time (Romans 8:18), so that during this present time, the Church will be subject to sufferings. Therefore also the same Apostle calls this present world, an evil world (Galatians 1:4). So that Christians must look for evils, they must look for troubles, as long as the present world shall endure. Two or three things may be briefly touched on, as demonstrations of this.

Christ himself was exposed to sufferings when in this world. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. David speaking in the person, and as a type of Christ, says, You have showed me great and sore troubles (Psalm 71:20). And again (Psalm 25:17), The troubles of my heart are enlarged, O bring you me out of my distresses. Therefore believers must undergo troubles and distresses also: for God has predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29), that is, not only in respect of grace, or of glory, but in respect of sufferings, for of them is the Apostle discoursing in that context. Should not the members be like the Head? Shall we be monsters in the mystical body of Christ? Truly, if we should meet with no troubles in the world, we should rather be monsters than members in the mystical body of Christ.

The verity and veracity of God proves the truth of this. The Lord has said, In the world you shall have tribulation (John 16:33). But if Christians should live and die, and never meet with any troubles, how should those words be true? Moreover, God has covenanted with his people, that sanctified afflictions shall be their portion, if need be (Psalm 89:32). The Lord has put it into the indenture which he has made with his servants, that they shall have physic as well as food: now afflictions are physic for the soul. There are Covenant-afflictions, as well as Covenant-mercies: yes, all the afflictions which befall the Lords faithful servants, are ordered according to the Covenant of Grace (2 Samuel 23:5). Hence when God entered into Covenant with Abraham, there was an appearance of great darkness (Genesis 15:17), signifying, that all dark dispensations of providence are ordered by a gracious Covenant.

The instruments, and immediate causes of trouble to the Church, have ever been. Causes of trouble there are both within and without. Within, there is sin and corruptions in the hearts of the best; and it will be vain to expect that the Saints shall be freed from all suffering, until such time as they are freed from sin. Without, there is Satan to raise storms of affliction. Indeed if the Devil were cast into the bottomless Pit, and shut up there, we might think that there would be less trouble in the world: but we know, that as yet though he be a prisoner, yet he is a prisoner at large, he has a long chain given him, and goes with it ranging and raging up and down the world, and makes it his great design to raise persecutions against the Church. Also instruments of persecution in the hands of Satan have ever been: there was the Egyptian, and the Babylonian, and the Grecian, of old: and in these days of the New Testament, first the heathen emperors persecuted the Church ten times. They were no sooner gone, but the Arrians arose, and persecuted worse than ever professed Pagans had done before them, so that the Church was in great danger of being swallowed up with that flood (Revelation 12:15). And by that time the Arrians were down, Antichrist got up, who has persecuted more than all that ever were [illegible] him. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, were all but types of Antichrist. Therefore, as long as there is a Devil out of Hell, or a Pope in Rome, we may be sure that there will be days of trouble to the Church of God.

But what troubles are they, which the Saints are here subject to?

That's the second thing propounded to be spoken to. And in general, it is true, that Christians are in this life exposed to all manner of miseries. This we may see in that little Book of Martyrs, as it is wont to be called, namely, the 11th chapter to the Hebrews.

There are inward spiritual troubles, soul-troubles, which believers may be afflicted with: they may be molested with Satan's temptations, the best saint upon earth may so, as Paul was, which caused him to pour forth many a bitter and bleeding complaint into the bosom of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 12:8). He besought the Lord three times, that is, many a time. A true child of God may also be under divine desertion: hence the Church said, The Comforter which should relieve my soul is far from me (Lamentations 1:16). God may hide his face from his dearest servants sometimes, and those are troubles indeed (Psalm 30:7): You did hide your face, and I was troubled. But these are not the troubles which the text speaks of, and therefore I will not insist there.

There are outward troubles; for example, sufferings as to losses and crosses respecting a man's outward worldly estate. This is partly meant in the Text, a day of trouble is near, that is, a day wherein all men's estates shall go to wrack and ruin. Hence ver. 12. it is said, Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn — why? Because he should not have kept his estate long, though he had not sold it, inasmuch as enemies were at hand to take it away. Again, troubles upon the body in respect of sicknesses, mortalities, etc. are here intended: therefore in ver. 15. the pestilence is mentioned. Some have made a question of it, whether a godly man may be sick of the plague? A needless question. It is generally conceived that Hezekiah was sick of that disease: and some interpreters on Psalms 38:11. think that David was visited with that stroke. And the like is apprehended concerning Lazarus. In Cyprian's time there were many thousands of godly men and women that died of that disease. It should seem, that the believing Corinthians, many of them were sick, and some died of the pestilence. We should be very uncharitable, did we conclude, that all those that died of the plague, in that day of trouble and mortality which the Text speaks of, perished eternally. And the like may be said with respect to those seventy thousand that were swept away when David numbered the people. Again, when wars arise, it is a day of trouble: that is here meant in a special manner. Hence some render the words, A day of tumult is near, namely, in respect of confused noise, and garments rolled in blood. This may well be called a day of trouble, because war is the greatest of all outward judgements, and from there is by way of eminency termed evil (Isaiah 45:7), I create evil, that is, war: those words relating to Cyrus his expedition against Babylon.

We come then to the third thing propounded, namely, what are the signs of a day of trouble being near?

There are signs of the times, whereby whoever is wise, and does observe these things, may discern when a day of trouble is near. It was a sad complaint which the Lord took up against his people of old, saying, The stork in the heaven knows her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming, but my people know not the judgement of the Lord (Jeremiah 8:7). These creatures could tell when winter was at hand, but there was a winter coming upon the Jews, even judgement of the Lord was at hand, and yet they knew it not. Christ also does blame the Pharisees for not discerning the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3). Look as God has stretched the firmament over this natural world, and has placed the stars there, to be for signs as to natural events in the ordinary course of providence; so has he stretched out the expansum of his Word over the rational world, and therein set his statutes and his judgements, from where the wise-hearted may conjecture what is like to come to pass. Now I have nothing curious or critical to present you with, only a few plain Scripture truths.

The abounding of iniquity is a sign that the day of trouble is near. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the signs fore-running that day of calamity which then was coming upon Jerusalem, says, Iniquity shall abound (Matthew 24:12). If iniquity do abound among those that are the professed enemies of God, and of his people, that's a sign that their day is near, and that the things which shall come upon them do make haste (Joel 3:13). Their wickedness is great; and then it follows in the next verse, The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. So we see in Sodom, wickedness was grown to a marvellous height there, and then on a sudden the fatal morning came upon them. If strange prodigious wickednesses are breaking forth, that's a sign that strange punishments are at hand: but especially if it be thus among a professing people. Hence it's said concerning the old world (Genesis 6:12), God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh, even the sons of God and all, had corrupted his way upon the earth: and [illegible] follows, ver. 13. The end of all flesh is come, even such an end, as that which the Prophet speaks of in this Chapter.

2. Great Security is a sign that trouble is near. This we see, if we look no further than the Text, The morning is come: As if it were said, You are asleep in your sins — but there's that at hand that will awaken you; you think it is not midnight, but that you may sleep on securely still, but it's morning. So in ver. 6. It watcheth for you; that is, you are asleep, and you think that Judgement is slumbering too, whereas it's waiting ready to take hold on you. Zephaniah speaks of the same day of trouble, with this in the Text, and stupendous Security is mentioned as a fore-running sign thereof (Zephaniah 1:12–13): I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Wonderful Security! Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation — and what follows? The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hastens greatly; that day is a day of trouble, and distress, a day of the Trumpet, and alarm against the fenced Cities. Look as before the day of general judgement, there will be great Security among men on the earth (1 Thessalonians 5:3): For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. So it is wont to be as to lesser days of Judgement, which may come upon particular persons or places: How has the doleful experience of all ages proved this? Thus if we look back into the old world, they were minding little besides their sensual pleasures, until the very day when the Flood came. And they of Sodom were strangely secure, when trouble was near to them: when Lot preached to them, that ruin was at hand, he seemed as one that mocked, to his sons in law; they could hardly believe that he was in good earnest. There's a jest indeed (say they) shall fire come from Heaven and destroy us? They thought Lot had dreamed of a dry Summer. And the like do we see in Laish (Judges 18:27): they were a people at quiet, and secure, and now were the Danites at hand, to smite with the edge of the sword, and to burn the city with fire. So in Babylon; we read (Daniel 5:1) that Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his Lords, and drank wine before them. A wonderful Security, that at such a season he should mind his Kingdom no more, for at this very time the city was besieged with enemies. But the Chaldeans thought with themselves, they had the River Euphrates, and a triple wall belonging to the city to secure them, and also twenty years' provision wherewith they were stored, so that they laughed at Cyrus his expedition against them: well but, that very night was Belshazzar the King of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median took the Kingdom. And the like is to be said concerning Mystical Babylon; at that very time when Rome shall say in her heart, I see no sorrow, her plagues shall come in one day, and she shall be utterly burnt with fire.

Nevertheless, 3. Secret dismal fears upon the spirits of men, are sometimes a sign that a day of trouble is near. So it was in the day of Midian, the Lord sent a panic terror among the Midianites, which was a sign of the day of tumult in the host of Midian. This some take to be meant by the Hornet (though I believe that was literally fulfilled) spoken of (Deuteronomy 7:20). Augustine, and some others, understand it spiritually, namely, that the Lord sent stinging fears into the hearts of the Canaanites, as a sign that they should be dispossessed of their land. However, it is certain that such fears there were, and that they were ominous. Therefore Rahab said to the Spies (Joshua 2:9): I know the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. And again, ver. 11: As soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. The Lord is wont to cause such fears to come upon men, that so they may be left without excuse if they do not prepare for the day of trouble. Hence then, when every man's hands are upon his loins, and all faces are gathering paleness, it is an ominous sign. This is mentioned as a sign fore-going the troubles of the last times (Luke 21:26): Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. Look as a spirit of courage is a good sign, yes an evident token of salvation, and that of God — so on the other hand, a spirit of cowardice and servile fear is an ill sign. Thus it was at last with those my Text has immediate reference to, in the 14th verse of this chapter it is said, They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready, but none goes to the battle. They would go to pressing of soldiers, and make a great stir, as if they would do some great matter against the enemy, but when it came to it, none goes to the battle; their courage failed them — this was an ominous sign.

4. When God begins to depart, that's a sign that trouble is near. For the Lord is a Sun and a Shield to his people (Psalm 84:11). When a man's shield is gone, what can he expect but blows? And when the Sun is gone, darkness follows; so if the Lord depart, troubles and miseries must needs follow. And if God once begin to forsake a people, many times when he begins, he makes an end also. We see in these following chapters in Ezekiel, when the glory of the Lord began to remove, it went further and further, until at last there was a total departure thereof. In which respect, if our glory begin to remove, it is very sad and ominous: if God be at the threshold, trouble is at the door. Hence, when the signs of the Lord's presence are taken away, it argues that a day of trouble is coming on apace. Unity, is a sign of the Lord's presence; live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Hence breaches and divisions, inasmuch as they are an evidence of the Lord's departure from a people, are a sign of miseries at hand. So again, ordinances, civil, but especially sacred ordinances, when administered according to the mind of Christ, are tokens of the Lord's gracious presence in the midst of his people. Therefore when the Lord removes these, or the instruments of upholding and managing these, for the edification of his people, it is a sad sign. Hence also, lesser judgments are signs of greater troubles at hand, because they are arguments of the Lord's beginning to forsake such places where those judgments take effect. Thus we find in the fourth chapter of Amos, that droughts, and blastings, and mildews, &c. are signs that the morning shall be made darkness. Yes, bad harvests are sometimes a sign, that a day of great trouble is at hand; Joel 1:15. "Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand": how does that appear? Verses 16, 17: "Is not the meat cut off before our eyes — the seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the corn is withered."

5. When God stirs up the spirits of his messengers to sound the trumpet, and to cry an alarm against his people, that's a sign that the day of trouble is near. Micah 6:9: the Lord's voice cries to the city; that is to say, the trumpet of the Word is sounded to give the alarm, but if that voice be not regarded, then hear the rod — judgments follow. "Son of man" (says the Lord to Ezekiel) "speak to the children of your people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman, if when he sees the sword come upon the land, and he blow the trumpet, and warn the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and takes not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head" (Ezekiel 33:2, 3, 4). So then, if God's Ezekiels sound the trumpet, it's a fair warning that the sword is coming: for is it not said (Amos 3:7), "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets"? God by a secret providence is wont to move upon the hearts of his faithful servants, that they should speak according to what is in the Lord's heart to do. Therefore ever observe it, (for it is an observation that is not wont to fail) that if the Lord's watchmen do with one voice cry, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains, it is so indeed. Men may slight this sign, as the Edomites did; but believe it, it is a dangerous thing so to do, as we see (Isaiah 21:11). "Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night?" O say they, you have been preaching to us these several years, that there is a night coming upon us, but we see no such thing. The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night": albeit at present you have a morning, you are in a prosperous state, yet a night of misery is nearer to you, than you are aware of.

6. When the Lord does mingle a perverse spirit among a people, it is a sign that the day of trouble is near. This we may see mentioned as the forerunner of Egypt's ruin (Isaiah 19:14): "The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof." When men are resolved to oppose and thwart one another whatever come of it; that a man will not be for such a thing, only because such an one is for it; and he will be sure to oppose such a motion, only because such an one, whom he is resolved to contradict, pleads for it: this is a perverse spirit. Hence when there are prevailing factions among a people, it is an ominous sign: so it was in Jerusalem before their last destruction. The love of many was grown cold. There were (as historians have noted) very great factions among the Jews, when the Romans came against them. Some interpreters think, that this is hinted at Zechariah 11:8, "Three shepherds I cut off in one month": those three shepherds are thought to intend those three great heads of factions, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Esseans, into which the Jews were divided. Hence also, divided counsels are signs that bode no good to such a people. When one shall be violent for this, and another shall be as strong and resolute against it; this is wont to be the judicial effect of the Lord's mingling a perverse spirit: for then he does set the Egyptians against the Egyptians (Isaiah 19:2). This we see (Psalm 55:9): "Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues." According to that prayer of David, Absalom's counsellors were divided, which proved the ruin of that party.

When glorious promises are near to their birth, we may conclude that a day of trouble is also near. Zech. 14:7: At evening time it shall be light. If light be ready to break forth, we may well conjecture that a dark evening will go before it. Naturalists observe, that a little before break of day, is the darkest time of all the night; so when the day break of any eminent mercy to the Church is at hand, dark and dismal dispensations are wont immediately to precede: it has ever been so. A little before the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, they were in the saddest condition that could be. David, a little before Saul's death, whereby way was made for David's enlargement and advancement, was in the greatest distress that ever he was in all his life, namely, when Ziklag was burnt, and his own friends spake of stoning him. And in the primitive times, the last of the ten pagan persecutions was the bloodiest of all, namely, that under Dioclesian, who made full account that he had utterly destroyed the Christian name, and therefore would have pillars erected in divers places, as monuments of his victory over Christ, as he vainly imagined, and caused to be written on divers of them, Christi Superstitione deletâ, that the superstition of Christ (as he blasphemously called the Christian religion) was abolished out of the world. Now when things were come to this extremity, God raised up Constantine, the great Christian emperor, according to that prophesy (Revelation 12:5): The woman, that is, the Church, brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (that is, a scepter, for in old times scepters were rods of iron) and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. But before this eminent mercy to the Church, and the happy times which followed, when those in authority were none but Christians, the Church cried, travailing in birth. So then, if glorious things be coming to their birth, cries and travailing pains must go before deliverance can be expected. In these days into which we are fallen, before the witnesses do ascend into heaven, the beast which ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. This is the usual method of divine providence, to bring light out of darkness, by the greatest miseries to prepare for the greatest mercies.

We come now to the fourth thing propounded, in order to the clearing of the truth before us, namely, to enquire into the reasons of this doctrine, from where is it that the Lord does sometimes bring days of great trouble upon his own people? The reasons may be referred to two heads.

1. The Lord does this with respect to himself.

2. With respect to his people. As indeed all the providences of God, all that he does in the world, may be referred to those two heads: the Lord therein aims at his own glory, and his people's good.

1. The Lord has respect to himself, in those troubles which come upon the Church. Hereby his faithfulness is manifested and glorified: therefore David says (Psalm 119:75), I know, O Lord, that your judgements are right, and that you in faithfulness has afflicted me. The Lord shows his great faithfulness as to the time, the kind, the measure, the manner, the duration of whatever afflictions may befall any of his faithful servants. And his power also is hereby discovered: it is a glorious evidence of the wonderful power of God, that the Church should be upheld and preserved in the world, notwithstanding the troubles and miseries thereof. The Church's being continued in the world is one of the great wonders of divine providence, wherein the mighty power of God is seen. It is said, that the children of Israel were like two little flocks of kids before the Syrians (1 Kings 20:27). Should we see a little flock of kids, or of sheep, in the midst of wolves and devourers, and yet not destroyed, we should say, The finger of God is here. Truly thus it is: the Church is a little-little flock of sheep, and that in the midst of thousands of wolves and tigers, yet this flock is saved alive; so then the power of God is seen and glorified. Moses did sometimes marvel at this thing (Exodus 3:2–3): And he looked, and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed; and Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. The children of Israel were the bush that was all on fire, in respect of the Egyptian persecution, which then they were under; but the Lord by a mighty hand of providence upheld them, so that the fire did not consume them. Moreover, the saints are wont to glorify God more in a day of trouble than at other times: Isaiah 24:15, Glorify you the Lord in the fires; so are the saints wont to do, when in the fires of affliction, they bring more glory to God, it may be in one day, than in many years of prosperity. How was the name of Christ advanced, and his interest promoted in the world in the primitive times? And the reason was, because those were times of great suffering. Hence then the Lord brings such times upon his people.

2. God brings days of trouble with respect to his people. And that especially on a fourfold account: 1. For their probation. 2. For their instruction. 3. For their correction. 4. In order to their purgation.

1. The Lord aimeth at the probation of his people, in those troubles which befall them in the world. Hence Ezek. 21:13. the Prophet there speaking of the same day of trouble which the Text has reference to, says, Because it is a triall, &c. So Rev. 2:10. Fear none of those things you shall suffer; behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. Hence the afflictions of God's children are compared to a refining furnace, or to a calcining pot, wherein metals are tried, 1 Pet. 1:7. The triall of your faith, &c. The Greek word signifieth a furnace wherein goldsmiths try metals; even so the Lord by afflictions trieth what metal men are made of, whether they be gold or dross, whether they be silver, or lead onely. The faith and patience of his servants are hereby put to the trial: therefore John speaking concerning the troubles which should come upon the Church under Antichrist, says, Here is the patience and faith of the saints (Rev. 13:10), that is to say, by these troubles it is exercised and manifested. By this means the Lord trieth the sincerity and fidelity of his servants; yes, and what measure of grace they have too. If they [illegible] in the day of adversity, their strength is small; but they that hold out faithfully and courageously in times of great trouble, have received a good measure of grace.

2. The Lord by bringing days of trouble upon his servants, aimeth at their instruction. Psal. 94:12. Blessed is the man whom you chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of your Law. Therefore does the Lord bring his precious ones under chastening dispensations of Providence sometimes, that so he may teach them; yes, and many a blessed lesson does he teach them thereby. Afflicting times are not only trying times, but also teaching times: Psal. 119:[illegible]. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Hereby the children of God learn, yes they learn to know more of God, and of themselves too: as we see in Job, who after his troubles could say, Mine eye seeth you; and, I abhor my self in dust and ashes. By afflictions, men are taught to know that God is God, and that sin is sin. Ever since that day of trouble which the Text speaketh of, the Jews have dreaded that sin which was the principal cause of all their miseries.

3. The Lord in afflicting his people, aimeth at their correction. Hence affliction is called a rod (Ezek. 21:10): It is the rod of my son, contemning every tree. Israel was God's son, as the Lord said to Pharaoh, Israel is my son, my first-born; now the Chaldeans were a rod, whereby God scourged that son of his. It is true, that personal afflictions oftentimes come onely or chiefly in a way of trial, but public calamities are wont to come as corrections and just punishments for sin: Jer. 30:15. Why criest you for your affliction? For the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins were increased, have I done these things to you. And to the like purpose does the Lord speak by the Prophet Micah (Chap. 1, ver. 5): For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel.

Quest. But you will say, What sins are they for which God is wont to bring days of trouble upon his people?

Ans. We shall here take notice onely of such sins as are mentioned in this context, as the procuring cause of that day of calamity here threatened. And they are three:

The not ordering matters aright, respecting the worship of God, was the principal crime which brought this trouble. Idolatry was the sin, that at this time above others, troubled Israel. Hence it is said, ver. 3, 4. I will recompence upon you all your abominations; that is, I will punish you for your Idols: for usually in the Scripture, Idols are called abominations. It is said (Revelation 21:27), he that makes an abomination, that is, he that makes an Idol, shall not enter into the Heavenly Jerusalem. That sin of corrupting the worship of God, has been the grand procuring cause of those astonishing and desolating plagues that have come upon the earth. If men worship a false God, their sorrows shall be multiplied; or if they worship the true God in false ways, by means which he never appointed, and which never came into his heart, that's a sin that procures great wrath. If men shall add to what the Lord has commanded, and so corrupt his pure worship with their own devices, vengeance will come for it (Psalm 99:8): You took vengeance of their inventions; (Hosea 11:6) the sword shall abide on his cities, because of their own counsels; that is to say, because they corrupted the worship of God with inventions of their own. So on the other hand, if there be a taking from the Word of God, in matters referring to his worship, days of trouble will come. In case churches shall not come up fully to practice the institutions of Christ, and to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, the Lord will punish them for their neglects; as we see in the Jewish Church, who met with sore troubles after the return from Captivity, and the reason of it was, because they did not carry on Temple-work to that perfection which should have been (Haggai 1:4). Yes moreover, if men grow careless as to the manner of their worshipping God, (though object and means should be according to his will) the Lord will visit for that iniquity. When the Corinthians were not duly careful as to the manner of worshipping, for this cause many were weak and sick among them (1 Corinthians 11:30). It is (as was hinted but now) conceived by some expositors, that the Lord sent the plague among them, for that sin. We read in Ezekiel, that fire was taken from between the Cherubims, that is, from off the Incense-Altar, and scattered over the city (chapter 10:2). Why? To signify that here was the cause therefore the city was burnt, it was the Lord's controversy respecting his Altar, his worship that is, which brought that famous city into ruinous heaps. So again (Isaiah 29:1), it is there said, Wo to Ariel, to Ariel the city where David dwelt. Ariel signifies the Lion of God, and may intend the Altar, which like a lion did devour the sacrifices offered thereon: here then was the true cause of that wo which befell that city and nation, in that matters respecting Ariel, even the Altar and worship of God, were not as should have been. Look as when things are managed aright as to divine worship, great prosperity is wont to follow (Ezra 3:3): they set the Altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them, because of the people of those countries: they knew that that was the way to engage the Lord to be with them, and to defend them against their enemies, even to set the Altar upon his right bases; so the contrary is to be affirmed, when the Altar is not set upon his bases, great troubles are then like to come.

Pride is another sin here mentioned, as the cause of this day of trouble: ver. 10. Behold the day, behold it is come, the morning is gone forth, the rod has blossomed, pride has budded: the buddings of pride, do cause the rod to blossom against a people. Hence the morning, even the fatal day came upon Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49): this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness. Pride is mentioned in first place, because that indeed was the first firebrand which set Sodom on fire. It was for that sin in special, that those proud cities were brought down into ashes.

Oppression is another evil mentioned, as the procuring cause of this trouble, ver. 11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness. Violence, oppression that is, brought the wicked Chaldeans upon the Jews. There seems to be a marvelous elegancy in the prophet's words: the tribe (the same Hebrew word signifies a rod, and a tribe) of Judah is compared to a rod; now what were the buds that grew upon this rod? Even pride and oppression: therefore did the day of trouble draw near. Thus we see the Lord brings troubles upon his people, that so he may correct them for their sins.

God herein also aims at their purgation. So is it said concerning the day of trouble that was inflicted on the Church by the Babylonians (Isaiah 27:9): by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin. And concerning the troubles under Antiochus, of which Daniel speaks (chapter 11:35): some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white. To the same purpose is that (Zechariah 13:9): and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, &c. So then, that which the Lord intends by bringing his people into the furnace of affliction, is that he may make pure metal of them, yes, that they may be purged and sanctified, and become vessels meet for their Master's use.

We have done with the doctrinal handling of the truth before us, the uses of it follow.

VSE I. If the Lord does sometimes bring dayes of great trouble upon his own people, then we ought not to think it strange, or to be any wayes dismayed at it, if we see it so now: I say we should not think it strange. So does the Apostle instruct us (1 Peter 4:12): Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial [illegible] is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Why [illegible] is no more than what has been in almost all ages of the Church, and will be to the world's end, and therefore why should we strange at it? Nor should we be dismayed thereat, but rather say as the Church does, in Psalm 46: God is very a present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, and though the waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. Truly thus it is at this day, the multitude of many people make a noise like the noise of the seas: we have heard the rushing of the Nations; yes, we have heard the sea and the waves thereof roaring. What roarings have there been on the sea, in these late dayes? And the mountains begin to shake with the swelling thereof. Kingdoms shake, Nations shake, yet let us not be dismayed, for the Lord will carry on his own good work and glorious designs, in the midst of these troubles. It is said (Deuteronomy 9:25) that the city should be built in troublous times: the Lord is carrying on the building of his own house even in these troublous times. And why should we be dismayed, for all these affairs are ordered and managed by the hand of him that is our Mediator. Therefore in Ezekiel's vision of the wheel, that is, the wheel of providence, it is indeed said, that the rings were high and dreadful (Chapter 1, verse 18), but it is said, verse 26: There is a Man above upon the throne, that is to say, Jesus Christ, who is Man as well as God, even He as Mediator does order all the affairs and motions of that wheel of providence, which is matter of wonderful encouragement, when the revolutions thereof are dreadful for us to behold. Christ is become Head of all things to his Church; all power in heaven and in earth is given to him, that so he might manage all things, so as shall be for the good of his Church, as well as for his Father's glory. And therefore though troubles come, why should we be dismayed thereat? Yes, why should we be dismayed thereat? For a glorious issue and happy deliverance [illegible] of all these troubles, shall certainly arise to the Church in due time: Jeremiah 30:7, it is even the time of Jacob's [illegible]; he shall be saved out of it.

VSE II. If the Lord bring dayes of trouble upon his people, what will he do to his and their enemies? If trouble may come upon Israel, what then will become of Babylon? If this be done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry, that is fit for nothing else but the fire? To this purpose does the Prophet speak to Moab (Jeremiah 49:12): Behold, they whose judgement was not to drink of the cup, have assuredly drunken, and are you he that shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. Jewish expositors (and that not altogether without reason) when Moab is spoken of in the Scripture, are wont to apply it to Rome: for indeed the Moabites were types of the present Antichristian generation. Why, behold at this day, they whose judgement it was not to drink of the cup, have assuredly drunk thereof; the Lord we see has begun with Protestant nations, and has made them to drink deep of the cup of his indignation, in this day wherein he is giving of the cup to the nations round, beginning at Jerusalem. And are you he, O Moab? Are you he, O Roman Antichrist, that shall escape? You shall not escape, but shall certainly drink thereof; yes, drink thereof until you spue, and fall, and rise no more.

And this we see is the use which the Apostle Peter makes of this doctrine (1 Peter 4:17, 18): For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? This might be applied to public and professed enemies to the cause and kingdom of the Lord Jesus; where shall they appear? The Seventh Trumpet (which is the last of the Wo-Trumpets) will sound quickly; and the woes thereof will light upon the heads of the Antichristian party in the world. Woe, woe be to them, says the Lord. This might also be applied to every ungodly sinner: all you that continue in your sins, what will your end be? Troubles may come upon the Lord's people, but they shall soon be over: but as for you, if you die in your sins, without repentance, and without an interest in Jesus Christ by faith unfeigned in his name, your sorrows shall never have an end.

VSE III. If God does sometimes bring dayes of trouble upon his own people, here then is matter of solemn awakening to us; it concerns us well to consider, whether there be not a day of trouble near to us. For awakening here, I shall mention some things, which look awfully upon us. Some arguments let us here take notice of, which seem to speak as if a day of trouble were near to us, yes, and not the sounding again of the mountains.

1. (To begin with that which is most general) There is a day of trouble coming upon all the World; and such trouble too, as the like has not been: for I am perswaded that Scripture is yet to be fulfilled, even that (Daniel 12:1) where it is said, There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a Nation, to that same time. We are in expectation of glorious times, wherein Peace and Prosperity shall run down like a River, and like a mighty stream over all the earth; but immediately before those dayes, there will be such horrible Combustions and Confusions, as the like never was. It is said (Psalm 46:9), He maketh Wars to cease to the end of the earth: but the words immediately foregoing are, Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made in the earth. Before the dayes come, wherein the Nations shall learn war no more, O what desolations wil the Lord make in the earth? We look that the Church shall be in its Philadelphian state, when Enemies shall come and bow before the feet of Jerusalem, as Christ speaketh in his Epistle to the Church of Philadelphia, but first there will an hour of Temptation come upon all the world (Revelation 3:10). We look that the Jews shall be Converted; I know, and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus, that it shall be so in the appointed time. We look that Chittim and Ashur (that is, Pope and Turk) shall perish for ever; but is it not said, Alas, who shall live when God does these things (Numbers 24:23)? We know that in Abraham's Vision, when the Sun was going down, an horrour of great darkness fell upon him (Genesis 15:12). Why so? But to signifie, that when the Sun is going down, even in the end of the World, when Christ is ready to come and set up his Kingdom, and judge the earth, there shall be great horrour of darkness and misery upon the world: Darkness shall then cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.

2. Our eyes see, and our ears hear of the beginnings of sorrows. That which Christ spake with immediate reference to the troubles preceding the destruction of the Jewish Church and State, may be applied to the troubles of the last times, the former being a Type of the latter (Matthew 24:6, 7, 8). And you shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars, see that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet: for Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom, and there shall be Famines, and Pestilences, and Earthquakes in divers places: All these are the beginnings of sorrows. What do we hear of at this day, but Wars, and rumours of Wars? And Nation rising up against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom? Now if these are the beginnings of sorrows, what, and where, and when will the end be? There's an over flowing scourge breaking in upon the world, even a judgement, that will not keep within ordinary banks or bounds, but shall pass over into many Lands. And how far will it go? Where will the Tayle of this Storm fall at last, do we think? How if it should fall upon America? Will not some drops at least light upon New-England? We may speak in the words of the Prophet in my Text, and say, The morning is come, The day of trouble begins to dawn upon the world. Alas for this day, it is great, there is none like it. It is then high time for us to awake out of sleep.

3. To come nearer home; The fatal Strokes which have been among us speak ominously. Is not that a plain Scripture (Isaiah 57:1), The righteous is taken away from the evil to come? The Lord has been taking away many righteous ones from the midst of us; yes righteous ones, that should have stood in the gap, now when the waters of many Troubles are breaking in upon us, whereby he has made a way to his anger (Psalm 78:50). How many Magistrates, and Ministers especially, has the Lord bereaved us of? When Kings call home their Ambassadors, it's a sign they will proclaim War. God has called home many of his Ambassadors of late, and that's a sign that War is determined in Heaven against us. Our Enemies are coming, and our Chariots and our Horsmen are gone. Ah! poor New-England, your Chariots and your Horsmen are gone from you, and now your Enemies are coming against you. And I would not pass by in silence, the observable Providence of God, who has so ordered, that many Ancient Christians have been taken away of late, as it were together. I have made some Enquiry about that matter, and finde it to be a general observation, That in many Plantations round about, in one or two years time, a great number of aged Christians have been hid in their graves. The taking away of the Ancient, is mentioned as an ominous sign (Isaiah 3:2). Methuselah was the oldest man in the old world, and he died the year before the Flood came. Inasmuch as many of our Methuselahs are lately gone, and that so near together, we may fear that a Flood is coming. It's a sign of a Winter at hand, that so many aged ones should drop down into the grave together. Nor would I omit here, the sudden Deaths whereby many have been snatched away. When Christ was told of some that were taken away by sudden death, he replied, I tell you, no: except you repent, you shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3). As if the Lord had said, I would have you take these sudden destructions which befall some, as an Item to you, that your Enemies will come and make a general slaughter among you, except you do by Repentance prevent it. And in the 4th of Amos, it is set down as a sign fore-running a day of great and general trouble, ver. 11. I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah. And how did God overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah? Was it not with Thunder and Lightning from Heaven? Many among us of late years have been so overthrown: yes this year, at least four persons have been so, and sundry of them good men, which maketh the Strokes the more awful and ominous.

There are manifold transgressions, and mighty sins among us. And here if I should leave off speaking, and we should all of us joyn together in weeping and lamenting, it would be the best course that could be taken. Brethren, what shall I say? As to matters of religion, things are not as should be. There is a great decay as to the power of godliness among us. Professors are many of them of a loose, carnal, ungirt conversation. We can now see little difference between church-members and other men, as to their discourses, or their spirits, or their walking, or their garb, but professors of religion fashion themselves according to the world. And what pride is there? Spiritual pride, in parts and common gifts of the Spirit, and in spiritual privileges; yes carnal, shameful, foolish pride, in apparel, fashions, and the like. From where is all that rising up, and disobedience in inferiors towards superiors, in families in churches, and in the commonwealth, but from the unmortified pride which is in the hearts of the sons and daughters of men? And is there not oppression among us? Are there no biting usurers in New-England? Are there not those that grinde the faces of the poor? A poor man comes among you, and he must have a commodity whatever it cost him, and you will make him give whatever you please, and put what price you please upon what he has to give too, without respecting the just value of the thing. Verily I am afraid, that the oppressing sword will come upon us, because of the oppressions and extortions which the eyes of the Lord's glory have seen among us. And are there not contentions and divisions among us? It is in vain for us to go about to palliate this matter, or to cover this sure, for the shame of our nakedness does appear, so as that we are become a derision among our enemies. We are divided in our judgements; and if that were all, the matter were not much: but we are divided in our affections, divided in our prayers, divided in our counsels. And will not a house divided be brought to desolation? We may say as that blessed Burroughs once complained, We have been so divided, that it is the infinite mercy of God that our enemies have not come in at our breaches, and divided all among themselves. Alas! that God's diamonds should be cutting one another. I do believe, that one reason why the Lord threatens to send upon us that calamity of war at this day, is because of wars and fightings which he has seen, and been provoked with in the midst of us. If you will needs be fighting (says God) I'll send those upon you, that shall give you enough of it (James 4:1). The clashings and tumults which have been among us, may cause us to fear, that such a day of tumult as the text speaks of, is hastening upon us. And what a woful worldly spirit is there in many? Hence God, and Christ, and Heaven, and the concernments of men's own souls, are not minded: yes, duties of communion with the Lord are either totally neglected, or slubbered over. Some don't pray in their families above once a day: Why? They have not time, they say. Why not? How is your time taken up? Is it in doing public service for God or for his people? If it were so, we must have a care that it be not said to us, You were made the keeper of the vineyard, but your own vineyard you have not kept. But that's not the reason why men neglect duty; no, it is because they have not time for their worldly occasions. O this world, this world, undoeth many a man, that thinks he shall go to Heaven when he dies. And in this respect our land is full of idolatry. What is like to come on us? Alas! we have changed our interest. The interest of New-England was religion, which did distinguish us from other English plantations, they were built upon a worldly design, but we upon a religious design, when as now we begin to espouse a worldly interest, and so to choose a new God, therefore no wonder that war is like to be in the gates. I cannot but admire the providence of God, that he should threaten to punish us with a generation of men that are notorious for that sin of worldliness, as if the Lord would make us see what our great sin is, in the instruments of our trouble. David might see by the instrument of his trouble, what sin it was which God afflicted him for, when Achitophel, who was Bathshebah's Grandfather, rose up against him. Truly so may we in the instruments of our present affliction, read what our sin has been. And is there not woful covenant-breaking among us? Men when they come into the church, enter into the solemnest covenant that can be; they promise in the presence of God, angels and saints, that they will watch over one another's souls: but how little is that Christian and brotherly watchfulness attended ever after? Indeed, if men fall out one with another, then they can watch for haltings, and prosecute to the utmost, which is to serve themselves, and their own vile lusts and passions, upon Christ and his holy ordinance; but otherwise, there are too many that can see one another sin, and never attend the rules of Christ appointed for the healing of every sinning, offending brother. This is lamentable! And as for the children of the Covenant, as the Scripture calls them, are not they lamentably neglected? Methinks it is a very solemn providence, that the Lord should seem at this day to be numbering many of the rising generation for the sword; as if the Lord should say, I will bring a sword to avenge the quarrel of a neglected covenant. Churches have not so performed covenant-duties towards their children, as should have been; and especially, the rising generation have many of them broken the covenant themselves, in that they do not endeavour to come up to that which their solemn vow in baptism does engage them to before the Lord, even to know and serve the Lord God of their fathers. Yet again, how unfruitful have we been under precious means of grace? How has the Lord been disappointed in his righteous and reasonable expectations concerning us? We have not in this our day known the things that do belong to our peace, and therefore now things look as if the days of our peace were ended. It is not long since that Scripture was opened and applied in the hearing of many of you (Luke 19:43, 44): The days shall come upon you, that your enemies shall keep you in on every side, because you knew not the time of your visitation. How righteous is it, that the Lord should make us to know the difference that is between the service of the Lord, and the service of Shishak (2 Chronicles 12:8)? O New-England, because you served not the Lord your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore it is just with God to say, You shall serve your enemies which the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things (Deuteronomy 28:47, 48).

5. Signs have appeared in Heaven and Earth, presaging sad mutations to be at hand. By signs, I mean prodigies, which the Scripture calls signs. It is a celebrated saying, that God never brings great judgements upon any place, but he first gives warning of it, by some portentous signs. So did the Lord deal by Egypt in the days of old: and so it was with Jerusalem, a few years before the Roman destruction. Therefore Christ said (Luke 21:11), Fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from Heaven. Josephus does relate at large, what terrible prodigies appeared before those miserable days. The like also happened before the troubles under Antiochus, as the historiographers of that age have declared. There appeared troops of horsemen in array, encountering and running one against another, with shaking of shields, and multitude of pikes, and drawing of swords, &c. Something like to that, is said to have been among us. I confess I am very slow to give credit to reports of that nature: but it is credibly reported, that in sundry places volleys of small shot have been heard in the air, yes and great pieces of ordnance discharged, when there has been no such thing in reality. And I think God would not have us altogether slight that bloody prodigy which happened about this time twelve-month (as eye-witnesses have affirmed) in that neighbouring place, which since is fallen into the hands of our enemies. However, it puts me in mind of what I have read, namely, that in York in England it rained blood, a little before the Danes' entrance into the land. Moreover, we have all seen and felt blazing stars, earthquakes, prodigious thunders, and lightnings, and tempests. We may here make use of that Scripture, which though it have a spiritual meaning, yet some good interpreters do not reject a literal sense of the words (Isaiah 29:6): And you shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm, and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. Has it not been so with us? We have been visited with great noise, and with the devouring flame, that is, with terrible thunders and lightnings, and with earthquakes, which are often a prognostic of state-quakes, yes and heart-quakes, not far off; and with storms and tempests, and that too upon Lord's days, in a very dismal manner. Now let us not be of those, that regard not the work of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands.

6. There is a black cloud over our heads, which begins to drop upon us. Providence has so ordered, that our enemies are come near, and may we not then think that trouble is near? The Lord has been whetting his glittering sword a long time; we have heard a noise, and a dismal din has been in our ears, but now the sword seems to be facing and marching directly towards us: yes, we see Jerusalem compassed about with enemies. Christ said to his disciples (Luke 21:20), When you shall see Jerusalem compassed with enemies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Is not our Jerusalem compassed with armies? There are pretended friends at our backs, and professed enemies before our faces. The sky looks red and lowering, we may therefore fear, that foul weather is at hand: as once that prophet said, There is a sound of an abundance of rain, and in the mean-while, the heaven was black with clouds. Truly so it is at this day, the heavens are black over our heads. The clouds begin to gather thick in our horizon: yes, there is a cloud of blood, which begins to drop upon us. When once a cloud begins to drop, you know that a shower is wont to follow. The cloud of blood over our heads begins to drop; there was one drop fell the other day — witness the man that was slain upon the coasts: the Lord grant that a shower of blood may not follow. What need have we to pray, that this cloud may blow over, and pass away.

7. Without doubt the Lord Jesus has a peculiar respect to this place, and for this people. This is Immanuel's Land. Christ by a wonderful providence has dispossessed Satan, who reigned securely in these ends of the earth, for ages the Lord knows how many, and here the Lord has caused as it were New Jerusalem to come down from Heaven; he dwells in this place: therefore we may conclude that he will scourge us for our backslidings. So does he say (Revelation 3:19), As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. It is not only true concerning particular persons, but as to churches, (those words were spoken to a church) that if Christ has a peculiar love to them, then he will rebuke and chasten them, as there shall be cause for it. Indeed we may therefore hope that the Lord will not destroy us. Through the grace of Christ, I am not at all afraid of that. The Lord will not as yet destroy this place: our fathers have built sanctuaries for his name therein, and therefore he will not destroy us. The planting of these heavens, and the laying the foundations of this earth, is one of the wonders of this last age. As Moses said, Ask now of the days that are past, ask from one side of Heaven to the other, has God essayed to go and take him a nation out of the midst of a nation (Deuteronomy 4:32, 34)? God has culled out a people, even out of all parts of a nation, which he has also had a great favor towards, and has brought them by a mighty hand, and an out-stretched arm, over a greater than the Red Sea, and here has he planted them, and has caused them to grow up as it were into a little nation: and shall we think that all this is to destroy them within forty or fifty years? Destruction shall not as yet be. Nevertheless, the Lord may greatly afflict us, and bring us very low. It is a notable observation, which I remember a Jewish writer has, who lived in the days of the second Temple; The dealings of God with our nation (says he) and with the nations of the world, is very different: for other nations may sin and do wickedly, and God does not punish them, until they have filled up the measure of their sins, and then he utterly destroys them; but if our nation forsake the God of their fathers never so little, God presently comes upon us with one judgement or other, that so he may prevent our destruction. So let me say, neighbouring plantations about us may possibly sin grievously, and yet it may be long before the Lord takes them to do, because it may be he'll reckon with them once for all at last; but if New England shall forsake the Lord, judgement shall quickly overtake us, because the God of our fathers is not willing to destroy us their children.

These things then are enough to awaken us out of our security. I have thought of three other signs of approaching misery, which I shall not mention at this time, albeit they are (in my apprehension) no less ominous than anything that has been spoken.

VSE 4. I conclude with a word of exhortation. Let us carry ourselves as does become those that have a day of trouble near to them; yes, so as that we may prevent the troubles which seem to be near. I need not say much by way of motive. Remember the arguments mentioned in the last Use and the signs of troubles being near, insisted on in the former part of the day. And consider, that if we carry ourselves in a suitable manner, we may possibly escape those evils, that otherwise are like to overtake us. It is possible that this cloud may blow over (Amos 5:15). It may be the Lord of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Truly we are the remnant of Joseph; we are (as Joseph was) separated from our brethren, who can tell but that the Lord may be gracious to us? Zeph. 2:3. Seek you the Lord, all the meek of the earth; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. No, if we carry ourselves as does become us in a day of trouble, it's past a may be, that we shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.

Quest. But how ought we to carry ourselves now that trouble is near to us?

Ans. 1. It does concern us and become us to be a humble people. As sometimes the Lord said to his people of old, Now put off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you (Exodus 33:5), so does the Lord by his providence speak to us, Put off your ornaments, O New-England, that I may know what to do to you, that I may know whether I had best spare you, or punish you. Prepare to meet your God; even to meet him as sometimes Abigail did David, with confessions, and humble supplications. And if we humble ourselves deeply and unfeignedly, God cannot find in his heart to destroy us. It is a wonderful scripture which we have (1 Chronicles 21:16): David lift up his eyes, and saw the Angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem; then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. Indeed the Angel of the Lord is standing over us with a drawn sword in his hand, but if we fall upon our faces before the Lord, as does become us, God will say, Let it be enough that the sword is held over this people, stay your hand, put up the sword.

2. It becomes us in such a day as this, to be a very heavenly people. As Elisha said, Is it a time to receive money, and garments, and olive yards, &c? So is it now a time for us to set our minds upon the world, and the things of the world? We should now remember what the prophet Jeremiah said to Baruch (Jeremiah 45:5), And do you seek great things for yourself? seek them not: for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, says the Lord. Now will nothing serve you but the world, in this day wherein God is shaking all nations, yes shaking heaven and earth, and sea and dry land? What is the voice of God to us in these dreadful dispensations, but this, See that your hearts be taken off from the world, and set them more upon those things that cannot be shaken?

3. We should be a believing people. That's the way to be delivered out of trouble (Psalms 22:4): Our fathers trusted in you; they trusted, and you did deliver them. O the mighty things that faith can do! It is said (Hebrews 11:34), By faith they escaped the edge of the sword, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Though armies should come against us, the spirit of faith may turn them back. In the times of the Maccabees (for to those troubles does the Apostle there allude) sometimes a small handful worsted great armies that came against them, because they acted faith upon the name of the Lord. Or if troubles should overtake us, faith will help us to suffer, as well as to do great things for God.

4. It concerns us in this day of trouble to be a reforming people. Let us amend our ways and our doings, and the Lord will cause us to dwell in this place (Jeremiah 7:3). Certainly we need reformation. Where is the old New-England spirit, that once was among us? Where is our first love? Where is our zeal for God, especially in matters respecting the first table, which once was our glory? What is become of that life and power of godliness, that has been in this place? Now if the Lord help us to reform whatever is amiss, he will still do us good, notwithstanding all our sins, which have provoked him, and caused him to frown upon us. We have a plain text for this (Jeremiah 18:7–8): At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, then will I repent of the evil which I thought to do to them.

It concerns us and becomes us, now that trouble is near, to be a united people: otherwise our enemies will say, that we are under a penal infatuation. We may well say as that worthy divine was wont to express, Haec non sunt litigandi, sed orandi tempora; These are not times for us to be contending one against another, but rather to be praying one with another, and one for another. Shall we be worse than dumb, and brute, and savage creatures have sometimes been? It is a memorable passage, which some historians make mention of, that once in Somersetshire in England, when there was a sudden flood, wherein many men were drowned, the dumb creatures ran to the top of a hill, that so they might escape the fury and destruction of the flood; and there such creatures as had an antipathy in their natures, even dogs and hares, yes cats and mice, could sit quietly together, and never offer to molest one another. Why behold, there is a flood coming in upon us, and shall we not now live quietly by one another? Shall we not at such a time as this lay aside our animosities and variances about matters, which it's great pity that ever a contention should be upheld among good men, about such small differences? Naturalists write concerning the Stone Tyrrhenus, that if it be cast upon the water whole, it will swim, but if it be broken it will sink presently. Would we sink, or would we swim in this sea of trouble that is a coming? If we break, we shall sink; if we divide, we perish, and are like to be an undone people: but if we be whole, if we unite, we shall swim, our heads will then be above water, let what troubles can come: yes, and we shall then be a burdensome stone to all that shall burden themselves with us. If we do but become one with God and one another, as we ought to be, we need not fear all the world. Oh that our divisions, and other evils that are among us, might be repented of, and then I dare speak it boldly before all this congregation, God will make New-England a burdensome stone, yes though all the nations of the earth should be gathered together against it, they shall be broken in pieces.

We should be a praying people. Call upon me in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15). Thus David (Psalm 22:11): Be not far from me, for trouble is near. In a time when trouble was near, he does betake himself to God by faith and prayer. What people under heaven have ever had more encouragement to prayer, than we have had? Know it, enemies, to your terror; know it all the world, that the Lord's poor New-England people have ever found him to be a God that hears prayer: and therefore let's be at that work still. And truly, there is as much need now as ever. We may even say, as sometimes that blessed martyr did, Pray, pray, pray, never more need than now. Alas, that we are no oftener in such a solemn manner, as at this day before the Lord! We may here allude to that which is spoken (Revelation 8): we there read that there was silence in heaven half an hour, and then follows an earthquake. It's sad to consider, that there has been so great a silence in heaven among us: I have thought on it with some grief of heart, that there has not been so much fasting and praying in New-England of late years, as sometimes formerly, though never so much need as now. Who knows, but the Lord may bring these troubles within our sight, that so we may seek him early, yes that so the spirit of prayer may be awakened among us? There are some that cannot pray, all unregenerate sinners are destitute of the spirit of prayer; many poor miserable souls, that keep their prayers and tears till such time as they will do them no good. But I know that there are many, scores, hundreds here this day, that have an interest in heaven, and know how to improve it. Why then, up and be doing. If you have but one tear in your eyes, if you have but one prayer in your heart, spend it now. And let us remember the words of the Lord Jesus (Luke 21:36): Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which shall come to pass.

FINIS.