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Brance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

Thirdly, Our days are evil, in regard they are days of the hiding of the Lord's face. Well may we fay as If. xlv. 15. Verily thou art a God that hideft thyfelf, O God of Ifrael the Saviour. The Lord's gracious appearances in the powerful operations of his Holy Spirit on the fouls of men, make good days; and fometimes there have been fuch eminently good days: but, alas! our days are evil, being days of God's hiding his face ;. whereof take these eviden

ces.

1. The little power and efficacy on the fouls of men, that accompanies ordinances at this day. Well may we fay, as If. liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? A found work of conviction is very rare, and the work of converfion is yet more rare. The word is

heard, but where is the fruit of it? They that were filthy are filthy ftill. The profane are not reformed, the fecure finner is not awakened, the formal profeffor is not brought acquainted with the power of godlinefs, and they that have the root of the matter in them are not fo liberally fed as fometimes they were. Whence is all this, but that the Lord hides himself, and appears not in the affemblies of his people as fometime a-day? We have finned away his prefence, and provoked him to fay, Your new moons, and your appointed feafts my foul hateth: they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them, If. i. 14.

2. The great rarity of lively experienced Chriftians in our day. It is the promise, Mal. iv. 2. Unto you that fear my name, fhall the Sun of righteousness arife with healing in his wings; and ye fball go forth, and grow up as calves of the fall. Some fuch there are, but, alas! the number of them is very fmall. Moft of the virgins are afleep; deadness and formality, and eftrangedness from the life of faith, prevail among those who are called by the Lord's name; and foul

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exercise is rare to be heard of. The beft that can be made of our cafe is that, Rev. iii. 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they fhall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

3. The divifions, diffenfions, and oppofition one to another, that are to be found among the Lord's own faints and people. Sometimes there has been in our land a very fair feparation betwixt the enemies and the friends of real godlinefs; fo that whatever difficulties the children of God had with the common adverfary, they were at one among themselves: but now, alas! it is otherwife; the Lord's own children are fallen out by the way, and those who are dear to God, and fhall meet in heaven, cannot hit it upon earth. For the Lord is hiding his face from us, and we are left in a mist.

4. The Spirit of counsel and wisdom is with-held.In the management of civil and church matters at this day, that feems to be much accomplished, If. xxix. 14.-The wisdom of their wife men shall peris, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. We are rowed into deep waters, and instead of bringing us fafe back, we are carried further and further into the depths. The Lord is provoked to withdraw, and fo our wounds cannot be healed. The days must needs be evil in this refpect: for,

ift, Such days cannot be thriving days for religion, and the cause and intereft of God; Pfal. lxxxi. 12. I gave them up, fays JEHOVAH, unto their own hearts luft and they walked in their own counfels. When the fun withdraws in the winter, nothing can be expected but that the face of the earth will be barren :and when the Lord hides his face from a church,.. matters cannot profper there. Backflidings are in-. creased, all goes to wreck, for that which holds matters right is withdrawn.

2dly, Such a day is a day of spiritual plagues. As. God's prefence goes, all darkness, diforder, and con

fufion follows, according to the measure of the Lord's withdrawing. The gospel does men hurt instead of doing them good; the wild grapes of wickedness are brought forth inftead of good grapes, &c.

This calls aloud for redeeming of time; and,

(1.) To beftir ourselves to lament after, and to lay hold upon a departing God and glory. We fhould make that our work, 1 Sam. vii. 2. All the house of Ifrael lamented after the Lord. And let it not be faid of us as If. lxiv. 7. There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou haft hid thy face from us, and haft confumed us, because of our iniquities. We fhould be as Jacob, faying, I will not let thee go, except thou blefs me, Gen. xxxii. 26. and the difciples, Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent, Luke xxiv. 29. And this we should be as we would not be esteemed to be of the Gadarene temper, who befought Chrift to depart out of their coafts. O cry mightily, that the Lord may not leave us nor forfake

-us.

(2.) Endeavour to walk uprightly in fuch a crooked generation; for in the worft of times fuch fhall get good of the Lord's word, Micah ii. 7. Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? The Lord never forfakes his people utterly; and the more that any do fet themselves to be perfect in their generation, they may be fure it will go the better with their fpirits.

(3.) Laftly, Double your diligence in fecret duties; be much, in prayer; and efpecially cry with much fervency to find a meal for yourfelves in public ordinances. I think we ought to confider, when we are to go to ordinances, that this is a day of the hiding of the Lord's face, wherein he is angry with our mother, and therefore is but little feen in her house; and therefore we had need to be more importunate in Letting the appointment.

Fourthly, Our days are evil, in regard they are

days

days of threatened wrath and impending judgements. The clouds of wrath are hanging over our heads, and we have many fad prefages of a stroke. We may here notice three things.

1. The fins of the generation are come to a monftrous height. And as the progrefs thereof is fomewhat unordinary, fo it feems to fhew that the cup of these nations is near the brim.

2. The Lord's hand has been heavily laid on a nation abroad, from which these nations have taken an example of finning, and the Lord may justly punish us accordingly.

3. Enemies are still bufy in their contrivances to bring the nations into blood and confufion; and the increase of Popery, and the divifions in the nations on civil and facred concerns, do expose us to be the more easy prey.

This calls aloud to the redeeming of time; and,

ift, To awaken out of fleep, and seriously to confider the figns of the time, the tokens of wrath gone out against us, that the day may not overtake us unawares, Matth. xvi. 3. We have had many warnings of an approaching stroke, but mercy has so often interpofed for our delivery, that grace to improve them not coming along with them, we are generally more fecure than formerly; and the more secure, the more likely is the ftroke to be near: 1 Theff. v. 3. For when they fball fay, Peace and fafety; then fudden deftruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a wor man with child; and they fhall not escape.

ly, To prepare for a time of trial, Amos iv. 12. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Ifrael: and becaufe I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Ifrael. The time should be improved as Noah did his, Heb. xi. 7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not feen as yet, moved with fear, prepared

The author means the plague, which firft began at Marfeilles in France, and made terrible havock in that kingdom.

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an ark to the faving of his houfe. And the best preparation is that, Micah v. 5. This man fball be the peace, when the Affyrian cometh into our land. Their cafe was fad in Noah's days who were without the ark; fo when the Lord's anger goes through a land,、 the cafe of those must be very fad who are out of Chrift.

3dly, To ftay our too eager purfuit after the world, and be content with little, and rather to be taken up about our fouls, and how to be carried through in the evil day. Let us regard what Jeremiah faid to Baruch, Jer. xlv. 5. Seekeft thou great things for thyfelf? feek them not.

4thly, To labour to settle matters, and keep them clear between God and you, that there be no standing controversy betwixt the Lord and you.

Fifthly, and lastly, Our days are evil, in respect of the guilt of former times yet unpurged away. Our days are like thofe of Jofiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 26. Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fiercenefs of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manaffeh had provoked him withal. The perfidious treachery and apoftafy of the land from the covenanted work of reformation, the blood of the faints fhed for the caufe of God, with the oppreffions, violence, and. perfecution on that score, are like the iniquity of Baal-peor, from which the land is not purged to this day. And this generation are ferving themselves heirs to it, by the many pieces of defection faft carried on at this day. So that God feems to be about to reckon with the prefent generation for all together.

This calls to the redeeming of time, to be taking a back-look of the national controverfies of old and of late, to be mourning over them, and the disho nour done to God by them; and to be preparing to meet the Lord in the way of his judgements.

I fhall conclude all with another ufe, namely,
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