[Terribilia Dei. Remarkable judgements of God, on several sorts of offenders, in several scores…

The Second Rule.

The Judgments of God in Former Ages, They should make us Afraid of the Sins which procured those Judgments. There came the Judgments of God upon the Murmurous Israelites; 'Tis said in 1 Cor. 10.11. All these things happened unto them, for Examples, and they are written for our Admonition. Behold those Judgments then, and be Afraid of all Murmuring, be Afraid of all Impatience, be Afraid of all Discontent under the Difficulties of a Wilderness, Lest we be Destroyed of the Destroyer. There came the Judgments of God upon the Debauched Sodomites; 'Tis said in 2 Pet. 2.6. God made them an Example unto those that after should Live Ungodly. Behold those Judgments then, and be Afraid of all Debauchery, be Afraid of all Uncleanness, be Afraid of all Intemperance, Lest God condemn us with a Fiery and an Early Overthrow. Sirs, The History which the Bible hath given us, of the Judgments which have come from God, upon them that Sinned against Him, 'tis not only a Chronicle of what is past, but also a Calendar of what is to come. We have the History; There we may Consider the Days of Old, the Years of Ancient Times. But when we do so, Let us be Afraid. Lest by Repeating of Old Sins, we bring a Repetition of Old Plagues upon our selves. When ⟨p. 18⟩Thunder and Lightning from Heaven, suddenly calcined a poor Woman into a Lump of Salt, for her Covetousness, near three Thousand and Eight Hundred Years ago, that Salt was to Season us with a Fear, Lest near the Time of the End, we perish like her; by setting our Hearts upon the World. Our Lord therefore said, on that occasion, in Luk. 17.32. Remember Lots Wife. Thus, I may say, Remember Judas, and be Afraid, Lest we perish as he did in betraying the Interests of the Lord Jesus Christ, for some Worldly Benefit Remember Herod, and be Afraid, Lest we perish as he did, in proud affectations of what belongs not unto us. Remember all the rest.

The Judgments of God in Former Ages, They should make us Afraid of the Sins which procured those Judgments. There came the Judgments of God upon the Murmurous Israelites; 'Tis said in 1 Cor. 10.11. All these things happened unto them, for Examples, and they are written for our Admonition. Behold those Judgments then, and be Afraid of all Murmuring, be Afraid of all Impatience, be Afraid of all Discontent under the Difficulties of a Wilderness, Lest we be Destroy'd of the Destroyer. There came the Judgments of God upon the Debauched Sodomites; 'Tis said in 2 Pet. 2.6. God made them an Example unto those that after should Live Ungodly. Behold those Judgments then, and be Afraid of all Debauchery, be Afraid of all Uncleanness, be Afraid of all Intemperance, Lest God condemn us with a Fiery and an Early Overthrow. Syrs, The History which the Bible hath given us, of the Judgmen•s which have come from God, upon them that Sinn'd against Him, 'tis not only a Chronicle of what is past, but also a Calender of what is to come. We have the History; There we may Consider the Dayes of Old, the Years of Ancient Times. But when we do so, Let us be Afraid. Lest by Repeating of Old Sins, we bring a Repetition of Old Plagues upon our selves. When ⟨p. 18⟩Thunder and Lightning from Heaven, suddenly calcin'd a poor Woman into a Lump of Salt, for her Coveteousness, near three Thousand and Eight Hundred Years ago, that Salt was to Season us with a Fear, Lest near the Time of the End, we perish like her; by setting our Hearts upon the World. Our Lord therefore said, on that occasion, in Luk. 17.32. Remember Lots Wife. Thus, I may say, Remember Judas, and be Afraid, Lest we perish as he did in betraying the Interests of the Lord Jesus Christ, for some Worldly Benefit Remember Herod, and be Afraid, Lest we perish as he did, in proud affectations of what belongs not unto us. Remember all the rest.

The Third Rule.

The Judgments of God on other places, They should make us Afraid, Lest we fall within the Circuit of those Judgments. When the Judgments of God, have begun their Walk, we have cause to be Afraid, Lest we fall into their Walk; because, with us, even with us also, there are Sins against the Lord our God. It was prophesied, in Jer. 25.32. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Behold, Evil shall go forth from Nation to Nation. Do we Behold other Nations, grievously sharing in Distress of Nations, and great perplexity, we should be Afraid Lest we also have our share in the Distressing Judgments of God. Have the Judgments of God, sent War, and Poverty and Scarcity, upon other Nations? We have cause to ⟨p. 19⟩be Afraid Lest the Evil of those Judgments reach unto our selves; and lest we Drink of that Cup of Trembling, which God seems to be putting into the Hands of all the Nations. A Fire on one House alarums all the Town. The Judgments of God have set all Europe on Fire; yea, the Sparks are flown over into America: Lamentable Desolations have been made both Northward & Southward of us; Be Afraid then, O poor people of God, Lest thou also become Desolate. When the Judgments of God, were in their course, He said unto His people, in Zeph. 3.6, 7. I have cut off the Nations, their Towers are Desolate, their Cities are Destroyed: I said, Surely Thou wilt Fear me. Thus, Do We see Destructions come upon other Countries? Our God says thereupon, Surely, This Country too should be Afraid, Lest I bring the like upon them.

The Judgments of God on other places, They should make us Afr•id, Lest we fall within the Circuit of those Judgments. When the Judgments of God, have begun their Walk, we have cause to be Afraid, Lest we fall into their Walk; because, with us, even with us also, there are Sins against the Lord our God. It was prophesied, in Jer. 25.32. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Behold, Evil shall go forth from Nation to Nation. Do we Behold other Nations, grievously sharing in Distress of Nations, and great perplexity, we should be Afraid Lest we also have our share in the Distressing Judgments of God. Have the Judgments of God, sent War, and Poverty and Scarcity, upon other Nations? We have cause to ⟨p. 19⟩be Afraid Lest the Evil of those Judgments reach unto our selves; and lest we Drink of that Cup of Trembling, which God seems to be putting into the Hands of all the Nations. A Fire on one House alarums all the Town. The Judgments of God have set all Europe on Fire; yea, the Sparks are flown over into America: Lamentable Desolations have been made both Northward & Southward of us; Be Afraid then, O poor people of God, Lest thou also become Desolate. When the Judgments of God, were in their course, He said unto His people, in Zeph. 3.6, 7. I have cut off the Nations, their Towers are Desolate, their Cities are Destroyed: I said, Surely Thou wilt Fear me. Thus, Do We see Destructions come upon other Countreys? Our God says thereupon, Surely, This Country too should be Afraid, Lest I bring the like upon them.

The Fourth Rule.

The Judgments of God, seizing upon a Few persons only, before our Eyes, They should make us Afraid, Lest we be the Next, that those Judgments do seize upon. When One Malefactor dyed it was said, All the People shall Hear and Fear. Thus, if the Judgments of God single out one Malefactor, to punish him, His voice is, Let all be Afraid! It is noted of a miserable Minister, who falling into a Scandal, was presently overwhelmed by the Judgments of God, in Act. 5.5. Great Fear came upon all them that Heard these things. When the ⟨p. 20⟩Judgments of God, had signalized themselves upon any Scandalous Wretches, we should all be struck, with a Great Fear, Lest our Sins Expose us also to the Signal Rebukes of Heaven. As, if one Drunkard in a Town be Drowned, it is a Loud Sermon to all the Brutes about the Town, to be Afraid, of being so cut off in their Brutish Follies: Thus, in all the Special Judgments of God upon any Offenders whatsoever, there is that voice from Heaven to all such Offenders, Tremble, and Repent, Lest all of you likewise perish! Yea, The Judgments of God upon a Few, often should be seriously pondered by the Whole Body of the People, whom they belong unto, as a Decimation made by that God, who gives none Account of His matters. God hath a Controversy with the Whole Body of the People; He might have pitched upon me or thee, to have been the Subjects, on which he does manage this Controversy, as well as any other of our Neighbours. Oh! what cause have we now to be Afraid, of what we also have to meet withal! When the Judgments of God followed one man aboard the Vessel, bound for Tar tessus, 'tis said, in Jon. 1.16. All the other men, feared the Lord exceedingly. Truly, If any one man aboard the Vessel of the Public, be followed with a Storm of Judgments from God, it becomes us all, to Fear Exceedingly!

The Judgments of God, seizing upon a Few persons only, before our Eyes, They should make us Afraid, Lest we be the Next, that those Judgments do seiz upon. When One Malefactor dyed it was said, All the People shall Hear and Fear. Thus, if the Judgments of God single out one Malefactor, to punish him, His voice is, Let all be Afraid! It is noted of a miserable Minister, who falling into a Scandal, was presently overwhelmed by the Judgments of God, in Act. 5.5. Great Fear came upon all them that Heard these things. When the ⟨p. 20⟩Judgments of God, had signalized themselves upon any Scandalous Wretches, we should all be struck, with a Great Fear, Lest our Sins Expose us also to the Signal Rebukes of Heaven. As, if one Drunkard in a Town be Drowned, it is a Loud Sermon to all the Bruits about the Town, to be Afraid, of being so cut off in their Bruitish Follies: Thus, in all the Special Judgments of God upon any Offenders whatsoever, there is that voice from Heaven to all such Offenders, Tremble, and Repent, Lest all of you likewise perish! Yea, The Judgments of God upon a Few, often should be seriously pondered by the Whole Body of the People, whom they belong unto, as a Decimation made by that God, who gives none Account of His matters. God hath a Controversy with the Whole Body of the People; He might have pitch'd upon me or thee, to have been the Subjects, on which he does manage this Controversy, as well as any other of our Neighbours. Oh! what cause have we now to be Afraid, of what we also have to meet withal! When the Judgments of God followed one man aboard the Vessel, bound for Tar tessus, 'tis said, in Jon. 1.16. All the other men, feared the Lord exceedingly. Truly, If any one man aboard the Vessel of the Publick, be follow'd with a Storm of Judgments from God, it becomes us all, to Fear Exceedingly!

The Fifth Rule.

When Things that look like Judgments of God, ⟨p. 21⟩befall the dear people of God, it highly concerns other people to be Afraid, of the Greater Judgments, which they may reasonably Look for. 'Tis an Inference, whereto we are Directed, in 1 Pet. 4.17. Judgment must begin at the House of God, — And if the Righteous scarcely be Saved, where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear? Which is but the Translation of what we have in Prov. 11.31. Behold▪ the Righteous shall be Recompensed in the Earth; much more the Wicked and the Sinner. Sometimes the most Eminent Christians in a Land, yea, and whole Churches of such Christians, meet with Troublesome Difficulties, in their way to Salvation: yea, they meet with Troubles upon Earth ▪ that seem to be Recompenses from Heaven upon them, for their miscarriages. Come Let all Ungodly Sinners now be Afraid: I that never was Reconciled unto God, by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; what, what will become of me, throughout the Days of Eternity! Our Saviour has taught us to Argue thus, upon the Afflictions of Good men; If these things be done to the Green Tree, what shall be done to the Dry? Those men that bring forth much of that Fruit, whereby God is Glorified, are cast into a Fire of many Afflictions. Yea, but you then that bring forth No Fruit, or •ll Fruit, and never were United unto the Lord Jesus Christ, what a Formidable, Intolerable, Interminable Fire, is Reserved for you! Oh! be Afraid of that Fire! That Blessed Prophet of God, even Ezekiel, ⟨p. 22⟩must have the best Thing in his Family, snatched out of it, by the stroke of Death: Behold, I take away from thee, the Desire of thine Eyes, with a stroke; yet shall not thy Tears run down saith the Lord. And what? was this a Judgment on the Prophet? It seemed so; But it was indeed a Warning to the people; of whom the Lord then said, in Ezek. 24.24. Ezekiel is a Sign unto you: According to all that he hath done, shall ye do. Sirs, Those things that appear like Judgments of God, upon His own Faithful Servants, they are awful Warnings unto those that Serve Him not: God therein says unto Profane, Christless, and Graceless Creatures; If I do these things to those whom yet I pity as a Father does the Children that serve him, what shall I do unto you, that are my Enemies, and that Serve none but my Greatest Enemy? What shall I do unto you? Wretches, what shall I do unto you?

When Things that look like Judgments of God, ⟨p. 21⟩befal the dear people of God, it highly concerns other people to be Afraid, of the Greater Judgments, which they may reasonably Look for. 'Tis an Inference, whereto we are Directed, in 1 Pet. 4.17. Judgment must begin at the House of God, — And if the Righteous scarcely be Saved, where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear? Which is but the Translation of what we have in Prov. 11.31. Behold▪ the Righteous shall be Recompenced in the Earth; much more the Wicked and the Sinner. Sometimes the most Eminent Christians in a Land, yea, and whole Churches of such Christians, meet with Troublesome Difficulties, in their way to Salvation: yea, they meet with Troubles upon Earth ▪ that seem to be Recompences from Heaven upon them, for their miscarriages. Come Let all Ungodly Sinners now be Afraid: I that never was Reconciled unto God, by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; what, what will become of me, throughout the Dayes of Eternity! Our Saviour has taught us to Argue thus, upon the Afflictions of Good men; If these things be done to the Green Tree, what shall be done to the Dry? Those men that bring forth much of that Fruit, whereby God is Glorified, are cast into a Fire of many Afflictions. Yea, but you then that bring forth No Fruit, or •ll Fruit, and never were United unto the Lord Jesus Christ, what a Formidable, Intolerable, Interminable Fire, is Reserved for you! Oh! be Afraid of that Fire! That Blessed Prophet of God, even Ezekikiel, ⟨p. 22⟩must have the best Thing in his Family, snatch'd out of it, by the stroke of Death: Behold, I take away from thee, the Desire of thine Eyes, with a stroke; yet shall not thy Tears run down saith the Lord. And what? was this a Judgment on the Prophet? It seem'd so; But it was indeed a Warning to the people; of whom the Lord then said, in Ezek. 24.24. Ezekiel is a Sign unto you: According to all that he hath done, shall ye do. Syrs, Those things that appear like Judgments of God, upon His own Faithful Servants, they are awful Warnings unto those that Serve Him not: God therein says unto Profane, Christless, and Graceless Creatures; If I do these things to those whom yet I pity as a Father does the Children that serve him, what shall I do unto you, that are my Enemies, and that Serve none but my Greatest Enemy? What shall I do unto you? Wretches, what shall I do unto you?

If God have such Rods for His Dutiful Children, what Scourges, what Scorpions, hath He for His Adversaries!

The Sixth Rule.

Among all the Judgments of God, I know none more Tremendous, than His leaving here and there some Famous Professors and Pretenders of Religion, to some Horribly Irreligious Actions. When we see ••ose Judgments, Then, Then above all, should our Flesh Tremble for Fear of God, and we should be afraid of His Judgments. Tis a Thing, that sometimes does happen among us. Persons ⟨p. 23⟩that have been Exemplary for Piety & Charity all their Days, yet have at last grown Melancholy, & God hath so left them to the Possession of some Devil, that they have laid Violent Hands upon themselves; they have Starved themselves, Hanged themselves, Drowned themselves, yea, and had a Preternatural Assistance in their doing of it. Who can Behold these unaccountable Tragedies without that out cry, Lord, I am afraid of thy Judgments! What Use can we make of these Tragical Things, but that in 1 Pet. 1.17. To pass the Time of our Sojourning here in Fear? What, but that in Phil. 2.12. To work out our own Salvation with Fear & Trembling? And, alas, what shall we say, of those Prodigious Falls into Sin, which the Lives of some that were counted First-rate Christians, have been Reproached withal? What shall we say, Oh! our God, what shall we say, of the monstrous Crimes, which we have seen some that have seemed Pillars of Christianity among us, to fall into? This I will say; That the Burning Wrath of a Righteous and a Terrible God, ha's never been so much discovered, in all our Losses by Sea and Land, and in all the bloody Depredations of our Adversaries, as in this One Thing: That ever now and then some one or other, that ha's been much Noted for Zeal in the ways of God, ha's been found in some Damnable Act of Wickedness. There is the very Venom and Spirit of Hell, in these Judgments of God upon a Land; God would never ⟨p. 24⟩have permitted these Judgments, if there were not a Generation of His Wrath, to be precipitated down into the fiery Bottom of Hell, by His Wrath, so Darkening of the Land. Infinitely better had it been for those Woeful men, to have Died with Millstones about their Necks, many years ago, than thus to have Offended and Poisoned the Souls of Multitudes; And, Oh! Woe, Woe, unto multitudes of Souls, that have hence taken an Incurable and an Everlasting Offence, against the Blessed ways of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Among all the Judgments of God, I know none more Tremendous, than His leaving here and there some Famous Professors and Pretenders of Religion, to some Horribly Irreligious Actions. When we see ••ose Judgments, Then, Then above all, should our Flesh Tremble for Fear of God, and we should be afraid of His Judgments. Tis a Thing, that sometimes does happen among us. Persons ⟨p. 23⟩that have been Exemplary for Piety & Charity all their Dayes, yet have at last grown Melancholy, & God hath so left them to the Possession of some Devil, that they have laid Violent Hands upon themselves; they have Starv'd themselves, Hang'd themselves, Drown'd themselves, yea, and had a Preternatural Assistence in their doing of it. Who can Behold these unaccountable Tragaedies without that out cry, Lord, I am afraid of thy Judgments! What Use can we make of these Tragical Things, but that in 1 Pet. 1.17. To pass the Time of our Sojourning here in Fear? What, but that in Phil. 2.12. To work out our own Salvation with Fear & Trembling? And, alas, what shall we say, of those Prodigious Falls into Sin, which the Lives of some that were counted First-rate Christians, have been Reproached withal? What shall we say, Oh! our God, what shall we say, of the monstrous Crimes, which we have seen some that have seem'd Pillars of Christianity among us, to fall into? This I will say; That the Burning Wrath of a Righteous and a Terrible God, ha's never been so much discovered, in all our Losses by Sea and Land, and in all the bloody Depredations of our Adversaries, as in this One Thing: That ever now and then some one or other, that ha's been much Noted for Zeal in the wayes of God, ha's been found in some Damnable Act of Wickedness. There is the very Venome and Spirit of Hell, in these Judgments of God upon a Land; God would never ⟨p. 24⟩have permitted these Judgments, if there were not a Generation of His Wrath, to be praecipitated down into the fiery Bottom of Hell, by His Wrath, so Darkning of the Land. Infinitely better had it been for those Woful men, to have Dy'd with Milstones about their Necks, many years ago, than thus to have Offended and Poisoned the Souls of Multitudes; And, Oh! Wo, Wo, unto multitudes of Souls, that have hence taken an Incureable and an Everlasting Offence, against the Blessed wayes of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sirs, When a provoked God, shall permit the Dragon to Sweep Stars down from Heaven with his Tail, and permit the Devil to Enter and Possess and befool, and be•o•, and confound, such as have made a show of a more Heavenly Frame than other men, how can we forbear crying out, Lord, I am afraid of thy Judgments! What says the Apostle, in Rom. 11.20. Thou standest by Faith: Be not High minded, but Fear? Oh! Be afraid, Be afraid, lest by some Secret Sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. If He withdraw, Ah! Lord, who, shall stand?

Sirs, When a provoked God, shall permit the Dragon to Sweep Starrs down from Heaven with his Tail, and permit the Devil to Enter and Possess and befool, and be•o•, and confound, such as have made a show of a more Heavenly Frame than other men, how can we forbear crying out, Lord, I am afraid of thy Judgments! What sayes the Apostle, in Rom. 11.20. Thou standest by Faith: Be not High minded, but Fear? Oh! Be afraid, Be afraid, lest by some Secret Sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. If He withdraw, Ah! Lord, who, shall stand?

The Seventh Rule.