that are the witnesses for the truth, have cause to prophefie even in fack-cloth now; O if we did but understand the wofull evill and miferies of warre: it is an evill that hath aboundance of evills (as it were) in the belly of it: It's the cup of Gods anger, and the wine thereof is red, it's as red even as blood and it's a mixt wine; The ingredients in the cup are murder & robbery, and rape, and deflowering, and cuelty, and torment and famine, and peftilence; there are the ingredients in the cup, and therefore though we fer here in our houfes quietly & find not the woful evills of this civill warres, yet others can tell us,did you but fee thofe dolefull miferies that they fee: men that were of good ranke and fashion, thatliv'd comfortably, and were of publick use and eminent Saints. how they are driven from their house and home like bruic beafts; O fhould we but fee what hath been done in Ireland, they cry to us, O you that patfe by, is it nothing to you all that we have fuffered, was there ever forrow like our forrow. It might be of very great ufe to lay open the wofull inifery of others: But Ile fhew you how bletfed are thote that do mourn for the afflictions of others: They are blessed.

First, Because they have much of the Spirit of Chrift in them, theirs is fuch a kind of Spirit as Jefus Chrift had when he liv'd upon the earth, and this was a bleffed Spirit.

Secondly, They doe evidence that they are members of the fame body, thou that canft heare of the wofull evills that the Churches fuffer, and not mourne, thou doft evidently declare to all the world, and God tells thee to thy confcience that thou art but a dead member, and not a living member of the Body of Jefus Chrift,but when your hearts can be affected with the miferies of the Churches, you have evidence to your souls that you are living members of Jefus Chrift.

And then bleffed are you, Becaufe in this you doe walke with God, that is, you obferve Gods way; When God comes in mercy to his Church then you can rejoyce, & when God is in a way of afflicting then you mourne, Iay this is to walke with God,to have our hearts affected according to the feverall adminiftrations of Gods providence, and blefied are they that walke with God,

Ton:

You shall be comforted: That is,

First, Know there is a time that Gods people fhall be delivered from all their forrowes, that all teares fhall be wiped away from their eyes; That there shall be no more pricking bry- Ezek. 28. 24. ar nor grieving thorne; This is promited to the Saints, and I hope that this time must be even in this world, that the Saints fhall be as much honoured as ever they have been dishonoured, and that wicked men fhall no more perfecute them, but fhall be brought under them: and there is a morning wherein the Saints (hall have dominion over the wicked and ungodly: you fhall have comfort in this you that doe mourne for the affliction of the Saints; Othon afflicted and toffed with tempests: now Ifa. 24. 11. thou art afflicted and toffed, but thy foundations fhall be laid with faphirs and with precious ftones; The foundation of the Church thall be fo, the Church fhall be a burdenfome ftone to all that doe perfecute them: Arife, fhine, O fhine for the Glory lla. 6c. 1. of God is rifen upon thee, faith the Lord unto the Churches, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, fpeake ye comfortably to Jerufa- Ila 40. 1, 2. lem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: There is fuch a time that the people of God shall be fo comforted, and when the Saints fhall triumph in the Salvation of God,and thall fay,Loe this is our God we have waited for him, this is the God of our falvation. There is I fay fuch a time.

And then there are many promifes to you who do mourne for the affliction of the Saints, in the 41 Pfal. Bleffed is he that confidereth the Poor, Thofe that confider fuch as are afflicted are bleffed and in the 57 of Ifa. 18. There the Lord promifes unto his Church that he will reftore comforts to her and to her mourners; To them both, they fhall be comforted: those that now mourn with the Saints they shall rejoyce with them : In the 66 of Ifa. v. 10. There you have a promise to them: Thofe that mourne with the people of God they fhall rejoyce: and then in the 3 Zeph. 18. There's a promife that thofe that did account the reproach of the follemne affembly to be a burden,

Y 2

God

God would gather them. The Saints of God are reproacht,they are perfecuted, others can rejoyce now, but there were thofe that accounted it a burden to them, and to them the Lord makes a gracious promie.

Again, You that mourn for the affliction of the Saints are blefled, For when Jo1 fhall bring you into affliction, God will own your foules in the day of affiction, if at any time your children should be afflicted, your deare Wives &c, you may with comfort go to God and pray, O Lord comfort me in mine affliction, and comfort me in the affliction of my Wife, my Children, my Father, my Mother, you may have comfort I fay, why, because you did mourn for the afflictions of his children: Nay faith God here's one indeed that is afflicted, what is the mans child or wife under any affliction, why I remember when my children were afflicted, they mourned for my children, why now their children are afflicted, ile take that to heart and have compaffion up on them in their affliction, and therefore bleffed are they that mourne. Now for the Application of it.

First, It should have been to rebuke the jollity of mens fpirits in thefe fad times. O'tis a wicked thing in thefe fad times to have a carnall jolly fpirit, God indeed gives you liberty to have comfort,and to rejoyce in him elf: For fo you will fiy we are bidden to rejoyce alwayes, I but know spirituall joy & this mourning may ftand both together: know that God expects that you should abate of your carnall joy: Ile give you but two Scriptures for this, which are very terrible against thofe that are fo jolly and merry in fad times: The firft is in the 22 Ifa. 12. verf. And in that day did the Lord God of Hofts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldnesse, and to girding with fack-cloath, and behold joy and gladneffe flaying Oxen,and filling Sheep, eating fleh and drinking wine, let us eat and drinke for to morrow we shall dye, and it was revealed in mine eares by the Lord of Hofts, furely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you dye, faith the Lord of Hofts; it's a dainting O Scripture to thofe that in thefe times take liberty to the flesh: I beseech you if you do beleeve that this Scripture is the word of God,when you come home lay it upon your hearts and consciences,

fciences, faith God when I call'd to mourning and weeping, behold there was joy and gladnefle, and mirth, and drinking of wine: This iniquity shall not be purged till jou dye, faith God, Ile never pardon it, It's fpoken, as in the New Tettamem, it's faie of the fin against the Holy Ghoft, that it should never be forgiven. And fo this is made a kinde of an unpardonable fin, though I think that it is not fo unpardonable as that;but though God thould give you a heart to fee the evill of it never fo much, yet you may fmart for it in this world, even as the Lord did concerning Mofes, he would not heare him, but bid him fpeak no more of that matter, but he muft dye in the wildernelle: O the Lord cannot but look with indignacion upon fuch as thefe are; what faith God? fhall I chaftie my own dear children, and thall this wretch that's good for nothing, but to eat and drink and get money here, fhall he not take it at all to heart, Ile never bear this faith God, it fhall never be purged from him till he dye: O my brethren if ever God calls to weeping and mourning it is now, and therefore not to have a heart in these mourning times, it's a fign that thy heart is hardned from the teare of God: If ever this text of Chrift were futable it is in these mourning times,wherein those are held forth to be blefied that do mourne, and on the other fide, thofe that doe not mourne, they will certainly prove to be accurfed by Chrift when they fhall come to ftand before him.

And then the other Scripture is in the 6 Amos, where the Lord complaines, That they dranke wine in Bowles, and had their mufick and all kind of jollity, &c. O but faith he, there was none that did remember the afflictions of Jofeph, Jofeph might be imprisoned, might be told, might endure any afflictions, what was it to them? they would not fo much as Remember, O wo to them.

SERMON,

Exhortation

SE-R MON XI.

OR

How to mourn for the afflictions of Saints.

MATH. 5. 4.

Blessed are they that mourne for they fhall be Comforted.

OUT now my Brethren, the thing I fhall fpeak a little to is this,to fhew unto you how we fhould mourne for the afflictions of the Saints, that fo you might mourne kindly for their afflictions.

B

For fome will fay, We are affected, and God forbid but that we fhould be grieved, when we hear that the Church is fo afflicted, it doth grieve our hearts when we hear of the plundering of fo many good people, and how they are put out of their houfes and homes; But now,

Firft, There may be a naturall mourning for the afflictions of others which is not this bleffed mourning, and therefore if you would know the difference between the naturall and fpiritual mourning for the afflictions of the Church,take it briefly in these three or foure particulars, which I shall but name.

The firft is, Thofe that mourne for the afflictions of the Church in a spirituall way, they mourne upon fpiritual grounds, and a naturall man is upon naturall grounds,you mourne to hear fuch woful blood shed, deffolations of Countries; As you are

me