A sermon preached at the funeral of reverend Mr. Will. Whitaker, late minister of…

I'll do thee as much service as shall make amends for such a peccatillo, let me keep but this small sin, and I'll stick at nothing else. Wicked men will pretend well, and promise fair, and plead hard, so they may but keep their sin, so God would but let them do what they have a mind to; but if not, they care not for hearing from him. Take notice of a doleful instance of this in a reserved remnant, wonderfully delivered from several sweeping Judgments; those Jews I mean that were preserved from the Sword, Famine and Pestilence, by which so many were destroyed, that had escaped being carried captive to Babylon, and were delivered from being carried captive by Ishmael: we might rationally think, the sense of these mercies being so fresh, and present, they would be very much afraid of displeasing God, and that they would not venture upon a known sin, to prevent danger. But see the story, Jer. 42.2.—6. they would have the Prophet tell them from God what they should do, when as they were before hand resolved what they would do. Yea, further, they are so impudent as to call God to be a true ⟨p. 13⟩and faithful witness to what they nothing less intended, than what they so solemnly professed and pretended. They seemed resolved to do what ever God directed, were it never so disadvantageous and dangerous to them: but when God forbids what they have a mind to, then Jer. 43.2. they say to Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there. Whereas the plain truth is, had they not been resolved even to pick a quarrel with God himself, they would never have proposed a case so expressly already determined in Scripture, as this was, Deut. 17.16. You shall not return to Egypt—forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto them, ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Whence the Hebrews have a saying, That it is lawful to dwell in all the world, save in the Land of Egypt: and therefore the Prophet might easily tell them, whence it was they picked quarrels with the message, Jer. 42.20, 21. Ye dissembled in your hearts when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, pray for us unto the Lord our God: and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. Verse 21.