Suppose that all the sins that ever were committed , from the murther of Cain to the treason of Judas , laid upon thy shoulders , there is no more proportion between them and Gods mercie , Cicero de finibus . then between stillam muriae & mare Aegaeum , betwixt a drop of brine and the Aegean , nay the great Ocean , the snuff of the Candle , and the light of the day , or a mote in the Sun , and the Globe of the high Heaven . Flie unto the throne of grace , and though thy sins were bloody like Scarlet , he will make them as Wool ; and though thou be as Purple which is twice dyed , to wit , in the Wooll and in the Cloth : Though thou be dyed in the Wooll ( the first lineaments of nature ) with original d●pravation , and in the Cloth ( after thy natural perfection ) with actual transgression , yet he will make thee as white as the snow in Salmon : Esay 1. he will binde all thy sins in a bundle , and cast them into the bottom of the Sea , he will nail them unto his Sons Crosse , he will remove them as far from thee as the East is from the West , or the North distant from the South . No man ever begged an alms at Gods hand in faith , and returned empty . Heaven gates are never shut when penitent sinners knock , there is a Master of requests in that Court , which is more ready to prefer thy Petition unto God , then thou canst be to request his help , and will he which for ten mens sake would have spared Sodom , and for one mans sake have passed by the crimson sins of Jerusalem , who was moved with compassion at the hypocritical repentance of wicked Ahab , and revoked his Sentence at the counterfeit humiliation of proud Niniveh , stop his ears at the petition of any penitent sinner ? doubt not but he will hear thy petition and give his royal assent to that thou desirest , though thou canst but with David roar and not speak , or with the poor Publican utter a short and abrupt speech , O Lord be merciful unto me a sinner , &c. or with Hezekiah chatter like a crane , Esay 38. 14. and mourn like a Dove . Oh then flee unto him as a Dove unto the Windows , Cant. 2. hide thy self in the holes of the true Rock , put thy finger in Christs side , there thou shalt finde both Oyl to soften and Wine to cure thy festered soul , cry mightily to God with Niniveh , 2 Sam. 12. 13. say with David , I have sinned , mourn with Hezekiah , weep bitterly with Peter , fall down at Jesus his feet with Mary Magdalen , Matth. 26. say with blinde Bartimaeus in the Gospel , John 11. O Son of David have mercy upon me . Mark 10. 47. And doubt not but God will be mercifull unto thy sinnes , and make his favourable countenance shine upon thee .

Again , Vse 2. is Gods mercy such that hee will spare the wicked for the righteous sake ? Here then yee sonnes of Belial , may learne this lesson to spare the righteous for the wickeds sake . I mean to cherish and to make much of all those that fear the Lord , if for no other reason , yet even for this , because such men are often times a means to keep away Gods judgements from the evill doers , the chaffe shall not be burned as long as it is mingled with the wheat . Plut●rch saith , that in the sacking of Cities such houses as were erected near unto a Temple , of any of the heathen Gods , were untouched , when the rest were overthrowne by the enemy : as long as a sinner standeth near unto a Temple of the living God , he needeth not feare an overthrow . God could do no hurt unto the Sodomites as long as just Lot was in their company , Gen. 19. as he blessed the house of Obed Edom , 2 Sam. 6. 12. and all that hee had because of the Ark that was with him , so the blessings that fall upon the wicked mans head , are because of the godly with whom he dwelleth ; Plutar : in Caesare . it was the encouragement that Casan gave unto the Boatman , when his Boat was almost over-whelmed by the violence of the waves , in the river Anius , that hee should not fear because Caesar was in his company . And the best encouragement that can be given to the wicked , in the time of danger , is that some good man is in their company , then they may say as Michah said , when he had hyred a Levite to be his Priest , now I know that the Lord will be good unto me , Jud. 17. 13. seeing a Levite ( a man that feareth the Lord ) is with me , and therefore at the least in this one point , let them resemble the just man , which maketh much of them that fear the Lord , Psal. 15. because they are as it were Bucklers to keep away the force of the blow , and with faithfull Moses they stand in the gappe to turn away his wrathfull indignation , Psa. 106. 23. lest it should destroy them . But if they seek ( as the custome of so many is ) by all means possible to destroy them , to trample them in the dust , and ( as much as in them lieth ) to root them out of the land of the living , that they may have none to controle them for their unlawfull deeds , then they do their best to cut asunder the thread that keepeth up the sword of vengeance , or Sampson like to pull downe the pillers upon which their house standeth , and so to bring all down upon their heads .

Again , Vse 3. is God so slow to anger , so unwilling to revenge ? had he rather save one righteous man then punish a whole City , of such as sinne against him ? Where be the gallants of our dayes , who will not brook the least offence offered against them ? Nothing shall wash it away but the peccants Blood , it is a disgrace unto me , an ignominy unto my whole kinred , is that a disgrace in thee which is an honour in God ? For thy kinred I little account of it . If thou canst draw it from the loynes of Adam , thou gettest nothing there but shame , Luk. 3. 38. unlesse thou canst step a foot higher ( as Luke doth in the Genealogy of Joseph ) and say that Alam was the Sonne of God , if thou wouldest be counted the Sonne of God , tread in his steps , walk as thou hast him for an example . Be thou mercifull as thy Father which is in Heaven is mercifull . For so doing thou shewest thy self to be a sparkle derived from that infinite flame , a droppe taken from that bottomlesse Ocean , it is remarkable ( which one observeth ) that God hath given unto Beasts both weapons of defence and offence , the Lyon hath his Pawes , the Oxe Horns , the Boar Tusks , the Serpent his Sting , the Birds Clawes , the Fishes Scales , the very Hedge-hog is not without his Pricks : But man the excellency of his dignity , and the excellency of his power ( as Jacob speaks of Reuben ) he brings into the world smooth and naked , Gen. 49. 3. in token that hee should be like unto him , Gen. 25. 25. soft to anger , slow to revenge . Esau , that was borne red , and rough God disinherited as a Monster , and no true Child of his , but smooth Jacob hee acknowledged to be his Sonne . The child of wrath is no Sonne unto the God of mercy . How often doest thou sinne against thy God ? By thy blasphemous oathes thou tearest him , by thy hypocriticall holinesse thou mockest him , by thy uncleannesse thou pollutest him , by thy arrogant pride thou disdainest him , and spittest in his face . The least trespasse that thou committest against him , is no lesse then treason against his royall person , and doth God for every offence un-sh●ath his sword against thee ? Si quoties peccant homines sua fulmina mittat Jupiter , &c. If God should in judgement punish every sinne upon the offendor , where should wretched man be ? now when God writeth thy sinnes in dust , wilt thou write thy Brothers in Marble ? When he forgiveth thee ten thousand talents , wilt not thou forgive thy Brother an hundreth pence ? If thou wilt be indeed his Sonne , be like unto him , be pitiful , tender-hearted , full of mercy and compassion , Eph. 4. 26. if thou be angry beware that thou sin not , by speedy revenge , if thy wrath be conceived in the morning , and perchance increase his heat with the Sunne till mid-day , yet let it settle with the Sunne at afternoon , and set with it at night , 1 Kings 3. Let not the Sunne go down upon thy wrath , if its conception be in the night , use it as the harlot used her child , smother it in thy bed , Psal. and make it like the untimely fruit of a woman which perisheth before i● see the Sun , to this purpose remember that the Citizens of this Jerusalem are at unity amongst themselves , the stones of this temple are fast coupled and linked together , the members of this Body as they are united in one head with the nerves of a justifying faith : So are they knit in one heart with the Arteries of love : The branches of this Vine as they are united with the boale ( from whence they receive nutriment ) so have they certain tend●els whereby they are fastned , and linked one to another . Now if without compassion thou seekest thy brothers hurt , thou dost as it were divide Christ , thou pullest a stone out of this Temple , thou breakest a branch from this Vine , nay ( more then so ) thou cuttest the Vine it self . Aeneid . 3. Virgil tels us that when Aeneas was pulling a bough from a mi●tle tree to shadow his sacrifice , there issued drops of blood from the boale trickling down unto the ground : at length he heard a voice crying unto him thus , Quid miserum Aenea laceras ? jam parce sepulto , parce pias scelerare manus ; the Poet tels us that it was the blood of Polydorus Priamus his sonne which cried for vengeance against Polymnester the Thracian King which had slain him , in like manner whensoever thou seekest the overthrow of thy Christian Brother , and hast a desire to revenge thy self of him ( as hee had to pull a bough from the Tree ) think that it is not the branches but the Vine thou seekest to cut down . Think that Christ will count this indignity done to his members as it were done to himselfe . Think that thou hearest him cry unto thee after this manner , jam parce sepulto , parce tuas scelerare manus , imbrue not thy hands in my blood , hand cruor hic de stipite manat , it is not the branches thou fightest against , Nam Polydorus ego , I am Jesus whom thou persecutest . Acts 9. 5. I am now come near to a point , which I have pressed heretofore in the other publick place of this citie , At the Spittle . therefore I proceed no further , but turn aside to my second general point observed in this verse , which was Jerusalems miserie .

The Tree is very fruitful , and I am but a passenger , and therefore must be contented to pull two or three clusters which I conceived to be the ripest , and the readiest to part with the boughs , which when I have commended to your several tastes , I will commit you to God .

First , the Paucity of true Professors ( if ye can finde a man , or if there be any ) . Secondly , the place where , ( In Jerusalem . ) Thirdly , that God will bring his judgements upon her , because of her wickednesse ; not expressed but necessarily understood .

From these three I collect three Propositions ; from the first , Gods flock militant may consist of a small number : from the second , There is no particular place so priviledged , but that it may revolt and fall from God : from the third , No place is so strong , nor city so fenced , but the sins of the people will bring it to ruine . Of these three in order , Gods holy Spirit directing me , and first of the first .

God made all the world , Proposition . and therefore it is great reason that he should have it all to himself : yea , and he challengeth it as his own right : Hag. 2. 8. The gold is his , and the silver is his , and all the beasts of the field 〈◊〉 his , and so are the cattel upon a thousand hills : and the Heavens are his , for they are his Throne , and the earth is his , Psal. 110. for it is his footstool , and the reprobate are his , for Nebuchadnezzar is his servant , Acts 7. 49. and as Judah is his , Jerem. 25. so is Moab likewise : but in another kinde of service : Psal. 24. in a word , The earth is the Lords and all that therein is , the compasse of the world , and all that dwell therein , but not in that property , which is now meant , for that belongs only unto men , and yet not unto all , but to a few , which are appointed to be heirs of salvation . Heb. 1. 14.

God made all men , so that they are all his sons by creation , but he ordained not all to life , so that there is but a remnant which are his sons by adoption : our first Father did eat such a sowre grape as did set all his childrens teeth on edge : by transgressing Gods commandment he lost his birth-right , and was shut out of Paradise , by committing treason against his Lord and King , Gen. 3 ▪ his blood was stained , and all his children were made uncapable of their fathers inheritance , but God ( who is rightly termed the Father of all mercy and God of all consolation ) as he purposed to shew his justice in punishing the greater part of such , 2 Cor. 1. 3. as so grievously incurred his displeasure : so on the contrary side , it was his good pleasure to shew his mercy in saving of some , though they deserved as great a degree of punishment as the other ; and therefore in a Parliment holden before all times , it was enacted , that the natural son of God , the second person in the Trinity , should in the fulnesse of time take upon him mans flesh , and suffer for our transgressions , and gather a certain number out of that Masse of corruption , Augustin . wherein all mankinde lay : these be they which shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth ; these be his people , and the sheep of his pasture , these be they which have this prerogative to be called the Sons of God , Psal. 100. and the heirs of God annexed with Christ : Gal. 4. 1. and these are they which I affirm to be often contained in a very narrow room in respect of the wicked . Rom. 8. 17.

There is much chaffe and little wheat , it is the wheat that God keeps for his garner : there are many stones , but few pearls : it is the pearl which Christ hath bought with his blood . 2 Cor. 4. Many fowls but only the Eagles be good birds . Sathan hath a Kingdom , and Christ but a little flock , it is like to Bethleem in the land of Judah , but a little one amongst the Princes of Judah , it is like to Noahs flood , Luke 12. 32. going and returning , like the 〈◊〉 flowing and ebbing , Mich. 5. 2. or like to the Moon filling and waining , Gen. 8. 3. and sometimes so eclipsed and darked with the earth , that thou canst not perceive , that Christ the son of righteousnesse doth shine upon it .

The story of times will make this plain , innumerous were the men of the old world , yet Gods flock was only contained in the family of Sheth , they only were called the Sons of God , afterward this flock was compassed in a very narrow fold , Gen. 6. 2. in Noahs family , Nat lupus inter oves . Ovid. Metam . lib. 1. it was enclosed in one Ark , and yet there was one wolf amongst these few sheep . Thus it continued in a very narrow compasse till Abrahams time , and so downward , till it began to multiplie in the land of Egypt , and afterward in the promised Canaan , as yet it was still tyed to one place , there was but one pasture for Gods sheep , the rest of the world played the Harlot with other Lovers , and went a whoring after their own inventions , and in this one pasture there were more goats then sheep , for though the number of the children of Israel were as the sand upon the sea shore , Rom. 4. 27. yet only a remnant was to be saved . When the fulnesse of time was come that God had sent his Son made of a woman , this Moon did suffer such an eclipse , as that the quickest eye could hardly perceive her : then she began to recover her light , for God broke down the partition wall , and rent the veil of the Temple , and made no difference betwixt the Jew and the Gentile , Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine agetur .