A10944:212
Samuel's encounter with Saul. I Sam. chap. 15 from ver. 13 to ver. 30.…Samuels encounter with Saul. I Sam. chap. 15 from ver. 13 to ver. 30.…
Samuel's encounter with Saul. I Sam. chap. 15 from ver. 13 to ver. 30. Preached and penned, by that worthy servant of God, Mr. Richard Rogers, late preacher of Wetherfield, in Essex. And published word for word, according to this own copy, finished before his deathSamuels encounter with Saul. I Sam. chap. 15 from ver. 13 to ver. 30. Preached and penned, by that worthy seruant of God, Mr. Richard Rogers, late preacher of Wetherfield, in Essex. And published word for word, according to this owne coppy, finished before his death
London: printed by Edw. Griffin for Samuel Man, 1620London: printed by Edw. Grifin for Samuel Man, 1620
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Whereby it may be seen,1 that we, by our preaching and private conferring, may a long time travel and labour with wicked persons, before we can bring them to see, and turn from their wicked lives, for the most will not be brought to it (but hope they serve God, as well as others do) and when we have prevailed so far with them, as to make them see and confess, as Saul here did somewhat; yet at times, we have them in never the better case, for all that: but they deceive us still: yea, themselves rather, & frustrate our hope, that we shall seem to have don no good, in wearying our selves about them: so that the prophecy is fulfilled:2 The bellows are burnt, ⟨p. 278⟩the lead is consumed in the fire, the Founder melteth in vain, for the wicked are not taken away: as if he should say, that all the labour that is taken with them, is lost: and is it not come to this same, or like point at this day? for, to say nothing of sundry, yea, too many Ministers, who are far from burning the bellows with any great painstaking (who yet must know,3 that they were hired by the Master of the work to labour, and not to loiter, and to use their talent, and not to bury it in a napkin) how many diligent and faithful Pastors,4 may make this complaint of the people: We have piped unto yo•, and ye have not danced: we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. ⟨p. 279⟩All the day long hath the Lord stretched out his hand, 5but to a disobedient and gain-saying people: for, though they will hear us, yet they do but as the people did to Ezekiel in his time:6 they sate and heard his words, but they did not after them.